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WHEN Ulster township was formed, it was supposed its northern line was the State line; hence, that being the most northerly it was called the 11 Seventeenth township," the north line of Which crossed the river east and west a short distance above 11 Mile Hill." But after the survey of the State line in 1786, it was found there was an interval of two or three miles between that line and the supposed north line of Ulster. Therefore, the township of Athens was surveyed the May following, and tile north line of Ulster was removed to its present position, a little below where the two rivers meet, and this formed the "Eighteenth township," or Athens. Prior to that Tio "a Point was Supposed to be in Ulster township, and for years letters for this place were directed to Ulster postoffice. Col. John Jenkins surveyed the lines of the township in 1786. His notes describe it: Beginning on the Tioga north, running five and one-half miles south then east five miles; then north five and one half miles; then on the State line five miles. On each side are conver ging ranges of mountains and along the base of each flow the two beautiful rivers, and then mingling their waters they go singing to the sea.

There is not in the wide world a valley more sweet Than this vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet."

Prospect Hill and Spanish Hill present as delightful landscape views as ever greeted the eye of beholder.

Athens is the oldest platted village in northern Pennsylvania, that remains substantially as laid out by its founders. There were Indian and Missionary villages that were laid out in the early part of the last half of the eighteenth century, but these had a brief existence, or were so changed as to have lost all original identity. An ancient record, not all now legible but mostly so, reads as follows: "Athens and Tioga Point, as laid out in 1786 by John Jenkins, under a grant to Prince Bryant and others, from the Conn.-Susquehanna Company May 9, 1796; also Milltown, between said town and State line." A careful and accurate copy of the original town plat was made in 1886, by Z. F. Walker. This old town plat is historical, it is now one hundred and five years old, and on its margin is a complete list of the first proprietors or lot-holders, with some account of the chain of title in the earliest transfers thereof. The map is Athens township in its entirety an exact square, and the system of water courses within its limits-the two rivers, 11 Great," or Susquehanna, and the " Tioga branch " and their junction near the south line of the township the location of "Queen Esther's village " on the west bank. ust below the river junction, and on the map, is the information that the Queen's village was 11 burned by Col. Hartley, September 28, 1778." It was claimed by Prince Bryant, Elisha Satterlee and their associates, fifty others,' that theirs was the original grant from the Susquehanna Company, although there was a claim made of an earlier grant of August 28, 1775, to Asahel -Bud(], and others, to the " Point " as a part of Ulster. The map shows the location of Sullivan Fort-a triangle reaching from river to river, at the narrowest point in the peninsula, on the street leading to the bridge giving a port face to the two rivers above and below, and at the point where the rivers came nearest together and about the center of the island in the Susquehanna river. This old fort site is now near the southern extremity of the built portion of Athens borough In the first division of the old town plat, the lots are divided by a main street running nearly north and south, and fronting respectively on the two rivers, shortening, and lengthening as the rivers approached or widened from each other-they passed below the fort a short distance. They numbered, commencing in the north line and west side, " No. I," and continued on down to " No. 27, " and then commencing oil the south line, at 11 No. 28," they reached to " No, 53," when the remainder on the east side was made a burying ground; -round for a public square ran from river to river, and lay between lots 14 and 15 on the west side, and the corresponding ground between 40 and 41 on the east side was given for an academy, and known as " Academy ,Square." The following were the original village proprietors: lohn Franklin, John Jenkins, Elisha Satterlee, Prince Allen, William Slocum, Elisha Mathewson, Christopher Hurlburt, William Jenkins, John Swift, Reuben Cook, Abram Nesbit, Nathaniel Cook, Benjamin Allen, Ira Stephens, Waterman Baldwin, John Hurlburt, Oliver Bige- William Jackways, Elijah, Harding, William Jones, Nathan Cawrey, Uriah Stephens, Thomas McClure, Benjamin Gardner, Abra- Miller, Asahel Buck's heirs, Phineas Stephens. Mathias Hollen, -Jonathan Burwell, Nathan Dennison, Joel Thomas, John O'Neal, Thomas Handy, Mason F. Alden, Solomon Bennett, Eldad Kellogg Gideon Church, Benjamin Smith, Ethan Allen, Ebenezer Slocum, Thomas Baldwin, John Hagerman, Ishmael Bennett, Duane 0. Patrick, Richard Halsted, and William Hyde.

Lot No. 45 was James Irvin's hotel, built in 1791, and in 1818 conveyed to J. F. Satterlee. On lot 40 was the famous old Red Tavern built in 1975--owned by John Franklin in 1786 ; he sold to Elisha Mathewson ; Stephen Hopkins built a residence on lot No. 38 in 1790 ; David Paine on lot -No. 37 in 1794; Enos Paine on lot No. 36; on lot No. 3.5 was Samuel Hepburn, merchant, his tavern built in 1784, and the same year was the store of David Alexander on lot No. 34; he bad also a distillery ; George A. Perkins lived also on lot No. 34, just north of the fort ; John Reddington sold lot No. 32 to Austin Forbes in 1817. On the west side, and facing Tioga river, Elisha Mathewson owned lot No. 1, and George Welles had his distillery on lot No. 2, and his homestead included lots Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9; Clement Paine built his new house and store in 1802 on lots Nos. 10, 11 and 12; Edward Herrick lived on lot No. 13; John Miller built a house and store on lot No. 14, in 1812 (Stephens lived and died in this place). The public square was deeded to Athens' trustees, July 21, 1812. Mathias Hollenback had his hewed to- house and store. and his wharf and store built in 1786, on lot No. 15; this was torn (town in 18-19, and was eventually built on by A. Budd; Justin Forbes occupied lot No. 18, and L. S. Ellsworth was on lot No. 19. As early as 1784, Samuel Hepburn built his store and tavern on lot No. 19; Noah Murray lived on lot No. 22, a part of the old fort ground, and Abner Murray was on lot No. 23, also a part of the fort ground. A. Decker occupied lot No. 27,the south lot on the west side in the original plat of the village. A street or road at this southline ran from river to river, and in 1801 John Saltmarsh built on the south side of this roadway; then came the house of Hon. Horace Williston, built in 1819; then Obadiah Spalding's residence ; next was Brazilla Cook's and then Joseph Hopkin's residences, latter built in 1811, and the last house on the west side was that of Jeremiah Decker. From Obadiah Spalding's, south for some distance on the west side, the land belonged to Richard Canton. These lots, from No. 1 to No. 53, were the first division ; then was added on the south the second division, still divided only by a roadway or street in the center and continuing (town to the junction of the rivers. These were numbered second division, and commenced on the north line and west side 11 No. 1," and reach to -No. 45, as the last north lot on the east side, opposite the starting point. They were simply irregular 11 out lots " or acre property. Lots No. 1 and No. 2 were Richard Canton's. Henry Welles' residence was on lot No. 30. The old ferry road to the Susquehanna river ferry was nearly east of Jeremiah Decker's. Two circular lines in the point below the regular town are written Indian town of the Susquehanna and Iroquois, which was burned by Col. Thomas Hartley." This line runs with the Tioga river and circles near the point of junction. The other line bends the opposite way, and reads: 11 Land set off to George Welles in the partition of Canton and Welles, September 1, 1802--350 acres. From these indications it is to be inferred that originally all the land south of Jenkins belonged to Welles and Canton. April 13, 1789, Solomon Bennett deeded to Andreas Budd Nos. 6 and 40 in the second division.

The land north of the old town plat, and between the two rivers, which is now the main center of the borough of Athens, was laid off in irregular lines, and sold by the Susquehanna Company, by numbers. These were still divided by a roadway in the center, equi-distant and running with the rivers. The first lots north of the old village plat was intended for the " minister's " residence; then came Elisha Satterlee's purchase, made in 1768, on the east side, and John O'Neal, Shephard and Joseph Tylerson, on the west side; then following up .the west side or Tioga river front came Francis Tyler, Dan and Hugh McDuffie , Samuel McDuffie, Joseph and Charles McDuffie; returning to the south. and going tip the east side we came to Julius Tozer's, and then to Guy Tozer's ; "next was Samuel Q ueenshire and A. H. Spald- then Cornelius Quick. The next improvement was that of Jonathan Harris. who came in 1789, and built here in 1791. Then going to the northeast corner of the old Athens township, and east of the Susquehanna river, the grants commence at Number 1, John Jenkins;Nos. 2 and 3, John Franklin ; Nos. 4 and 5, William Slocum; No. 6, Richard Halsted ; No. 7, Abram Nesbitt; No. 9, Benjamin Allen Nos. 10 and It, Elisha Satterlee; No. 12, Elisha Mathewson ; No. 13, Eldad Kellogg; No. 14, Waterman Baldwin; No. 15, McKinstry N o. 16, John Franklin ; and No. IS, Waterman Baldwin.

Commencing at the south, of the township and west of the Tioga and Susquehanna down to Queen Esther's, the tracts or grants are again numbered, commencing at No. 1, purchased by Theodore Loomis; the Indian village was on the west end of this tract; No. 2, Erastus Loomis; No. 3, Peter Garrington-he sold to John Griffin; No. 4, Daniel Satterlee sold in 1788 to Ben Green; No. 5, sold by Dan Satterlee in 1788 to Henry Green; No. 6, John P. Green and Thomas Lane; No. 7, Ludwig Green; No. 8, Isaac Morley, Sr., in 1800 transferred to G. 11. Morley; No. 9, Alvin Morley; No. 10, Isaac Morley ; No. 11, Joseph Spalding, in 1791 sold to John Spalding; Nos. 12 and 13, Abner Murray, sold in 1791 to E. A. Murray ; No. 14, Stephen Hopkins, sold to Chauncey N. Shipman; No. 15, Elisha Satterlee sold to Alanson D. Whitmarsh. The next five tracts were those of John Abram, Jacob and Henry Snell. On lot No. IS, Jacob Snell's son was born, Abram Snell, July 5,1785, the first white child born here. Then there was an unoccupied strip, and then came the tracts of Daniel and Hugh McDuffie and Col. Tozer, who made his improvement in 1795. The next was No. 21, William Scott, and on the east end of his lot, on the Tioga river bank, was the ancient Turtleloe village. The place had been wiped out completely by Col. Hartley, and Mr. Scott built just west, a few feet from where it had stood; No. 20, Samuel Shoemaker; No. 19, Albert and J. M. Tozer.

Mathias Hollenback, of Wilkes-Barre, was one of the earliest to establish himself in business at this place; fie was a brave defender of the Yankee claimants, but submitted to the decree of Trenton. Ile was one of the heroic Revolutionary soldiers; a stocky Dutchman, and a vigorous strong man in body and mind. At the close of the war he was Indian supply agent in treaties with those people, and was stationed at Newtown. His clerk was John Shepard, father of Mrs. George A. Perkins, author of 11 Early Times on The Susquehanna." Soon after the war he built his store in Athens, 1786, but had really located here in 1783. He first occupied a small house of Mr. Alexander, near where Samuel Hepburn afterward had a store, near the old fort. Ile built his new store in 1786, on the corner of the public square, a two-story, of hewed logs, and in time it was clapboarded -house and store together. This was a noted first building in Athens. His clerk, when the new store was opened, was Daniel McDowell. So important was ' Hollenback's Store " that often letters sent to men in this section of the State were thus addressed-this was for some time the out y y name Athens had. Holtenback's was a truly historical house; he dug the first well, and planted the first apple trees at Tioga Point, some of which trees are still living; he built a warehouse on the bank of the Chemung river that accommodated, many years, the merchants; when a boat arrived bringing new goods the horn was blown to announce the fact. Hollenback's house and store was torn (town in 1849. In 1793, when the revolution in France was raging Col. Hollenback was employed, by the Governor of Pennsylvania, to procure a place of retreat for the royal family of France, at some secluded spot on the Susquehanna, and he purchased Asylum township, Bradford county, to which place came the French colony, a few of whose descendants are yet with us. The royal family never came-for the (rood reason they had lost their heads.

The contention over these lands is given in full in another chapter, and it is only necessary here to give the chain of title front Pennsylvania in order to preserve historical accuracy. In 1786 Andrew Elliott, on the part of Pennsylvania, and James Clinton and Simeon Dewitt, on the part of the State of New York, were appointed commissioners. In 1784 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought a, large tract of land of the Indians at Fort Stanwix. The land office was opened for the sale of these lands, May 1, 1785. tinder the law, applications filed within ten days should have priority of location. " No. 1" was drawn from the wheel, and the name of the applicant was Josiah Lockhart. This gave him the first choice. He applied for 1038 acres, and made his selection on the point of land between the Tioga and Susquehanna rivers-or Tioga Point (now Athens. His land commenced at the point and extended a little above " Mile Hill," from river to river. The Indian name for the 11 Point" was Ta-ga-o- meaning 11 at the forks." This land cost Mr. Lockhart about twenty-six cents per acre. In the early part of the century Mr. Lockhart sold to Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, one of the notable signers of the Declaration, as well as one of the last survivors of these immortals; he was ninty-five years old when he died. From Carroll these lands fell to Richard Caton, his son-in-law, and from him to Welles. He made easy and generous settlement with the most of the Connecticut claimants in their " paying twice for their lands." A notable mark of these lands was the heavy growth of yellow pine that covered the ground. This timber was all killed off by the worm that attacked i in 1796, and the tall dead trees towered as ghastly sentinels many years. The other put-chasers at the same time as Lockhart were Nicholas Kiester, Arthur Erwin, Joseph Erwin, Timothy Pickering Samuel Hodgson, Duncan Ingraham and Tench Cox. Erwin sold to Duffle, and Pickering to John Shepard. It was under the company of the Susquehanna that the village was platted and the lots laid off. The upper end of the old original village plat is indicated by the grave-yard. There was no cross street in the place until you reached this point, and only one roadway north and south, equi-distant from the two rivers. Prince Bryant owned 600 acres, and on his land built a grist and saw mill, and in 1788 sold to Nathaniel Shaw. Paine island was named for Clement Paine. Guy Maxwell came in 1778, and in company with Samuel Hepburn sold goods in Hollenback's store building, Jonathan Harris, grandfather of N. C. Harris, came in 1789, and located on lot No. 37, now the Leggett farm in Sayre borough; his brother, Alpheus Harris, came in 1786, and purchased of S. Swift; he was ejected in 181.0 by J. L. Kean. Col. Julius Tozer came in 1794, and first settled at Tozer's Cove. Daniel McDuffie settled on lot No. 32 in 1788. Noah Murray came in 1791 and located -west of the Chemung river. At the mouth of Satterlee creek J. V. Nathan Cantlin settled. Noah Murray in 1791 settled on lot 13. Capt. Joseph Spalding came in 1791, and made his improvement on lot 12, lie was succeeded by his son, John Spalding. James Irvine came in 1794, and built the once noted 1, Pike Tavern " on lot 43; this was burned in 1875; during its time was kept first by Irvine, in 1798 by George Welles, in 1809 by David Paine; the last named, with his brother Clement, came to the place in 1794 and settled on lot 37 and built the "new store" and dwelling in 1802. Daniel Elwell came in 1798 and built on lot 18. Nehemiah Northrop came in 1795; his widowed mother, at the age of ninety years, walked six miles, to Squire Gore's, Sheshequin, for the purpose of being married to Mr. Howard, and returned the same day on foot, The married life of this couple lasted sixteen years, and the old lady died at the age of one hundred and six. The Northrops came in 1830. The old "Red Tavern," mentioned previously, was put up in 1795, the first thing of the kind from Elmira to Wilkes-Barre.

The noted Tioga Indian treaty was held on the banks of the Susquehanna river, November 23, 1790, on the ground now back of the Episcopal church. This was, a red-letter day in the village. Indians in great numbers were here, and their big and little chiefs and heads Of tribes were all here, and their followers came in swarms-all rigged out in barbaric splendor, paints, feathers, red blankets, etc. g g The township, as surveyed in 1777, and re-adjusted in 1786, contained twenty-five square miles; was located and laid out by John Franklin and John Jenkins at the request of Prince Bryant, Elisha Satterlee and their associates. The two rivers, Susquehanna and Tioga (in New York, the Chemung), meet within the confines of the township, and these streams divide the township into nearly three equal parts. It has more broad fertile valleys in it than has any other township in the county. The present township includes the grant to Satterlee, Franklin and others, and a strip about three-fourths of a mile wide on the north, which was made by carrying the north line to the State line, and also " the gore " which was added on the west side and taken from Durkee township, and a point, taken off the south line and given to Sheshequin, extending up the river nearly to the junction; this chancre in the south I ine was a matter of convenience in working the road running along the east side of the river.

This fertile spot attracted the earliest attention of the whites. In 1768 Penn purchased the land lying east of the river, of the Indians, and as early is 1773 Charles Stewart surveyed this purchase, and that year there were three warrants laid in Athens by Jacob Wetmore, 'John Stover and David Trisler; these embraced all the level land east of the Susquehanna. These titles subsequently passed to Joseph Wharton, of Philadelphia, and finally this became the source from which title was derived by the settlers. The land west of the Susque- hanna was purchased of the Indians, in 178-1, at Ft. Stanwix. The first purchase here was by Josiah Lockhart, of Lancaster, whose first choice took the land on the point lying between the rivers; this is the source of title to most of the land within the borough of Athens When platted, the lands within the point were laid off into small town lots in the lower portion, ten acre lots above, and on both sides of the rivers, east and west of the point, were one hundred acre lots. The smoke of the -tins of the Revolution had hardly passed away when the first settler, after the war, caene here Benjamin Patterson -and located east of the Susquehanna river, in 1783. He was from Stratford, Conn., where he was born January 15, 1752, and the sup- position is lie was in Sullivan's expedition, and while soldiering selected his future home; he sold to Robert McIlhoe, -and kept moving west until he reached Missouri ; he died in New Madrid, in 1840. Thomas Maclure caeie here in 1786, and two years after lie was licensed to keep a tavern, and whether lie really kept a tavern or not (for nearly every cabin in the land would entertain the weary trav- eler), yet lie renewed, it seems. his tavern license in 1789, but soon after left the place and went to New York. Col. John Franklin built in 1786 on lot 40, just south of the public square and near the bank of the Susquehanna. Ile was carried a pris- oner the next year to Philadelphia, and therefore could not make his home here until 1789. The Satterlees, who figure prominently in the early history, were the children of Benedict Sattterlee, who was killed during the' Revo- lution in the Wyoming country, leaving a widow and six children, of A whom Elizabeth (Mrs. Major Elisha Mathewson) was aged thirteen at the time of the Wyoming battle - the other children were Elisha, Elias, Benedict, Nathaniel and Samuel the mother fleeing with her children from the valley, after the massacre, perished in the wilderness of exposure and fatigue-no aid, with her infants, no protection from the elements, and scarcity of food-no words could add to this brief state- ment, to this sad tale of suffering and woe. Elisha, the elder brother, had to assume charge of the younger children ; he married Cynthia Stephens, sister of Capt. Ira Stephens. John F. Satterlee, a son from this marriage, and for years a prominent citizen of the county, died February 11, 1856. He was twice married, first to Julia Prentice (daughter of Amos Prentice), who died December 12,1823, aged thirty- seven ; and his second marriage was with Elizabeth, who died Decem- ber 5, 1871, aged seventy-seven. Benedict Satterlee taught school in Athens, in 1791, in the log house on "school lot" in the original village plat; lie married Wealthia, daughter of Capt. Joseph Spalding and died at Mount Morris, N. Y., January 8, 1813. Elias Satterlee commenced in Athens as a shoemaker, and is so mentioned in the assessment of 1796; he afterward studied medicine removed to Elmira and practiced with cry-eat success; was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun November 11, 1815, Samuel and Nathaniel settled at Smithfield. Nathaniel's son, Samuel, was colonel in the War of 1812, and a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature. Elisha Mathewson, who married the only daughter, was tile son of Winchester Mathewson, who was born in Rhode Island in 1714, and exchanged valuable property in that State for " Connecticut rights," on the Susquehanna, and came to Wyoming, where he (lied, in 1778, leaving sons, Elisha, Constant and N ero, all of whom were in the Revolutionary War. Nero was killed at Wyoming; Constant was killed at the battle of Mud Fort, Philadelphia; Elisha served through the war in Capt. Spalding's near company; discharged in 1783, after seven years' honorable service. Ile was one of the original proprietors of Athens, and made his permanent home here in 1788; was elected major in the militia soon after his arrival, and was one of the overseers of the poor of Tioga township. On arrival lie moved into Col. Franklin's log house, on lot 40; in 1795 he built the old "Red Tavern," and kept it until his death, April 11, 1805. His children were Constant, born in 1792; Elias S., born June 16,1796; Cynthia (Mrs. Hammond); Fanny (Mrs. White); Clarissa (Mrs. John Duffle), and Lydia (Mrs. Means). The widow of Major Mathewson (Satterlee) was one of tile last survivors of the Wyoming massacre; died December 14, 1851.

Ira Stephens was another grand old Revolutionary soldier; a native of Connecticut, born July 24, 1760; son of Jedediah Stephens, who married Sybil Ransom, a daughter of Capt. Samuel Ransom, who was born in Connecticut February 1, 1764. Ile was also a soldier in Capt. Spalding's company.

Col. Julius Tozer and Jonathan Harris were brothers-in-law. Tozer was born in Colchester, June 16, 1.764, and accompanied his family to the Wyoming valley. After the battle they returned to Connecticut, where Julius, though quite young, enlisted in the Colonial army. After the war he married Hannah Conklin, daughter of Ananias Conklin.

He was colonel and came to Athens, from Luzerne county, in 1794. of a regiment of militia of this State; during the War of 1812 he

raised a. company, of which lie was captain, and served during the war his two sons, Samuel and Guy, were in his company. His children were: Hannah, born October 4, 1788; Alice, March 5, 1789; Elizabeth R., August 28, 1791; Samuel, August 1, 1792; Julius, March 7, 1794; Lucy, Januar 25, 1796; Dorothy, January 28, 1798; Guy,

March 7, 1799; Albert, May 30, 1801 ; Susan, March 1, 1803; Joel Murray, August 11, 1805; Mary Ann, January 21, 1807, and Cynthia, May 1, 1809. Col. Julius Tozer died December 7, 1852; his wife died March 5, 1832. Ills sons, Albert, Murray and Guy, lived long and honorable lives in the vicinity where they were born. Guy was elected sheriff in 1837 ; his wife was Wealthy Kenney, and they were married October 4, 1827. Sheriff Tozer died September 20, 1877; his wife. August 18, 1868.

Civil Proceedings and Titles.-The town was laid out, as said, under warrants of Connecticut, and in 1786 Pennsylvania bad sold these lands to speculators, not one of whom was a settler, and hence the conflict of titles. This contention went on until March 19, 1810, when the General Assembly of Pennsylvania passed an act for adjusting the title to the lands in Ulster and Bedford townships, Luzerne county, and this included Athens. This act gave the settlers prior rights, if in actual possession, and they could perfect title by the legal price of " seated lands " prior to the act. Under this act the lots were in time paid for and patented to the claimants. The proprietors set apart certain lots for public use-the public square in the middle of the village, and also a little over twenty-one acres, known as the 11 Public Plat," in the modern borough ; these were duly patented to John Franklin, Elisha Satterlee and John Shepard, trustees of Athens township-the stewardship of which trust is to this day maintained, and the trustee's record book is quite a connected history of the acts and doings of the people; however, it should be stated that their record book from 1786 to I815 is lost. The trustees, Franklin. Satterlee and Shepard, called a meeting of the people, April 15, 1815. The meeting voted to employ a sur-veyor to survey the public lands into town lots and offer the same for sale. Five acres of the land were to be reserved from sale at that time ; conditions of sale to be ten dollars in hand, and balance on ten years' time. The meeting elected John Franklin, Edward Herrick and David Paine, new trustees. The proceeds of the sale were to be paid the Common wealth in payment for the Athen's lands under the settlement; the interest on sales to be appropriated to tile Athens academy fund for its support. Maj. Zephon Flower, who was the surveyor, laid off 30 lots, and these were sold as follows: Lots 5 and 6 to Obadiah Spalding, $100 ; 9 and 10, Daniel Park, $100 ; 12 and 19, George Hallock, $100 ; 2 and 24, Nehemiah Northrop, $146 ; 23,John Redington, $57 ; 14 and 15, Isaac S. Board man, $1.55 ; 1, 2, 29 and 80, Michael R. Sharp , $ 219 ; 13 and 17, James Hoxton and E. Shaw, $100 ; 16, James Parks, 1; David Briggs, $100 :8, Uriah Wilson, $50.

On June 18, 1829, the trustees reported as due $1,498.24. This day a public meeting of the taxables of Athens township was con-veyed-to consider the Subject of the sale or the public lands by the trustees on the public square, which had been made to Guy Tozer. The people voted to rescind the sale--58 votes against and 28 for.

On July 25, 1829, a public meeting on the same subject convened at the store of 1). A. Saltmarsh-Stephen Hopkins, chairman, and William Robb, clerk.

On August 29, following, trustees Franklin, Shepard and Thomas Wilcox called another meeting to consider matters relating, to the public lots in said village. At this meeting it was unanimously resolved: "We wholly and totally disapprove of the pretended sale by the trustees of the township of the public common in the Center of the village of Athens; that the said commons having been surveyed as such, more than forty years ago, and so appropriated from that time."' A resolution was passed removing trustees John Franklin, John and Henry Welles, Horace Shepard and Thomas Wilcox, Williston and Francis Tyler were appointed, by the meeting, trustees of the township

Some evidence of the acrimony of feeling engendered in the disposition of the subject is to be found in the resignation of David Paine, trustee. He tenders his resignation and adds: " I beg to recommend the trust to the fostering, care of the mob, who sanctioned the recent riotous proceedings in wantonly destroying the fences and cutting away the trees around the public square."

On January 13, 1836, the qualified citizens held an election of Athens township and borough, at the house of Jason K. Wright, and elected Francis Tyler. Nathan Clapp and L. S. Ellsworth, trustees.

June 23, 1836, on settlement it was found there was due on sales $2,333.82.

July 9, 1836, at a meeting, it was resolved to divide it into eight lots and offer the same for sale, the lot now in the occupancy of N. Flower; also the two reserved lots at the north side of the public plat, to be staked out as soon as the present crop is off."

June 27, 1837, at the annual meeting of the qualified citizens of the township, Thomas Wilcox, Julius Tozer, Jr., and Clark McCall were acting judges of election ; J. F. Satterlee, clerk, Charles Comstock, elected trustee. July 10, 1837, a public meeting assembled for the purpose of effecting a division between the township and borough of the respective interests in the lot sales. A committee of five was appointed-three from the township and two from the borough-to make the settlement. Members of this committee: On part of township-John Watkins, Robert Spalding and J. F. Satterlee; on part of borough-L. S. Ellsworth and George A. Perkins. The committee reported to an adjourned meeting Saturday, August 26. 'They preface this report by saying they had obtained the opinion of Hon. Judge Williston, and proceed as follows: " The patent from the Commonwealth vested the title to the land in Messrs. Franklin, Shepard and Satterlee as trustees for the township of Athens. No provision bylaw was made for the disposition of this land until the act of March 27, 1827." This law, they say, authorized the trustees to sell and convey. But no provision was made by law for the election of trustees to supply vacancies, and the act was so defective that in 1835 an amending, act was passed ; this act authorized the trustees to sell, except the public square.

Under the law, and the action of the people in 1815, it is supposed there is really nothing to-clay to prevent the trustees from selling the public reserved lots and square.

The committee reported that, 11 first, the funds now in the hands of the trustees of said township be divided, the township to have twothirds and the borough one-third; second, that the two reserved lots, or Boardman lots, on the north side of the public lot, and also one-half of the four-acre lot on the front or west end, be sold and the proceeds divided as above; third, that the residue or one-half part of the fouracre lot, being the east half, be divided into two equal parts, the township to have one-half and the borough the other ; -fourth, that the debt, that has accrued in re-building and re-furnishing the academy, ought in justice to be paid at present, as that debt bearshard and to the manifest injury of a few individuals, who in good faith and with a public it worthy of imitation, made advances necessary to complete the spirit Linder a confident belief that their advances would be refunded by a liberal, generous public." * * 11 The completing and furnishin (r the academy has resulted in great credit to the village and a benefit and convenience to the public generally, providing a suitable building for all public meetings necessary for the township and borough, as welt as a convenient house for public worship, free to all denominations of professing Christians without molestation. From this view your committee consider that the township has a relative interest in common with the borough in the academy, consequently ought, upon every principal of fair dealing, pay her proportional part of the expenses." The committee then recommended that the borough pay two-thirds and the township one-third of the academy debt, and conclude by recommending that the interest arising from tile unsold land be specifically appropriated for the benefit of the district schools. The report was unanimously adopted and approved.

July 20, 1840, the books show total resources from lot sales, $3,234.27. Of this, $244.95 were paid for rebuilding academy, and $701.12 additional was paid to the borough. The township fund, from year to year, in 1846 amounted to $3,000. The interest on this is paid annually to the township school treasurer. Thus the township has carried out, and is carrying out the intention of the proprietors.

It is doubtful if the borough has kept a like faith, and no fixed fund can now be found that has come from the sale of the public land. The land where the new brick school-house stands, as well as the $2,000 appropriated by the State to the academy fund (in which the township had a common interest), a fund donated before Athens became a borough, and given exclusively in support of the Academy school, and there is grave doubt if this fund is yet intact, and was not put into the high school building

Postoffice.-The first postoffice established at Tioga Point was in 1800, William Prentice being first appointed, and his office was in Mathias Hollen back's store. After serving five years, he suddenly died. No appointment was made for two years, Col. Samuel Satterlee officiating pro tem; David Paine was then appointed postmaster, in 1808, and served until 1824, when he resigned and D. A. Saltmarsh was appointed; in 1827, Ebenezer Backus; 1831, Lemuel Ellsworth; 1840, John Judson; 1841, 0. 1). Satterlee; 1844, C. S. Park; 1845, C. 11. Herrick; 1848, N. C. Harris; 1853, W. Olmstead; 1856, C. 11. Herrick; 1861, William Fritcher; 1864, S. 13. Hoyt.

Cayuta Mill- " The old stone mill " is the outcome of the first mill in Bradford county, built in the other century by John Shepard, and was the beginning and gave the name of Milltown, now in the borough was of Sayre. Its present owners are F. J. Philips and Levi Curtis. The old frame mill stands near the 11 stone mill,"' and lately was a plaster mill. The present mill is water-power, on Cayuta creek, has a capacity of about 1,700 bushels daily. The present firm has operated it the past twenty-two years. They purchased of Simon Morley and Horace Shipman.

The Shingle and Planing -Mill of Campbell Bros. is in North Athens.

Cayuta Axle Company.-President and general manager, H. B. Stimpson; secretary and treasurer, B. F. Taylor; have thirty employees. Company incorporated in 1882.

Milltown was laid out by John Jenkins in 1786, also "under a grant from the Susquehanna company to Prince Bryant and fifty others." It lies 11 between said town (Athens) and the State line." These tracts were settled under the Pennsylvania title, as follows: Lot 1, Theodore Morgan August 21, 182-1 ; Lot 2, Reuben Hatch, September 2, 1821; Lot 3, Reuben Muzzy, August 21, 1824; No. 4, Silas C. Perry, March 16, 1825; No. 5, John Shepard, September 2, 1824; No. 6, school-house, same date; No. 8, Clement Paine, same date; No. 9, Reuben Muzzy, September 30, 1826; No. 10, Samuel Chapman, same date; No. 11, Judson Griswold same; No. 12, John Shepard, same; No. 13, James Elmstead, March 15, 1826; No. 14, Moses W. Wheelock, same; No. 15, George Haddock, October 20, I 829; No. 19, M. Shepherd's homestead; No. 20. W. B. Swain, May 20, 1825; No. 21, Samuel Warner, March 16, I825; No. 22, Solomon Fuitts, September 7, 1825 ; No. 23, Adam Crause, 1816; No. 247. Wanton Rice, April 27, 1815; No. 25, William W. Rice, June 15, 1815 No. 26, Jere Adams June 26, 1819; No. 27, Joseph Crocker, April 24, I816; No. 28, Francis Snackenberger; No. 29, Daniel Elwell, April 23, 1816; No. 30, Ozias Spring; No. 31, Theodore Wilcox, 1800; No. 32, Dr. Ozias Spring; No. 33, school lot; No. 31, Ozias Spring; No. 35, burying ground - No. 36, Benj. Jacobs, March 31, 1816; No. 38, L. Hopkins No. 39, L. Strait; No. 40, Henry Welles. June 4, 1817, Then came Muzzy's, Griswold's and Elwell's lots, 1826; Dennis Fuller's, 1828; M. B. Wheelock's, 1827, and Samuel Wheelock's.

These lay along Mill creek on each side. Prince Bryant had built a mill on the creek on the east side, and this important improvement was the nucleus of Milltown. He sold to John Shepard and Nathaniel Shaw in January, 1788. Lot 1 was an island, just below the old mill. Tract No. 36 was sold by John Jenkins to John Shepard in June, 1790, and he sold to Benjamin Jacobs, March 21, 1816. The tract adjoining west of the last-named was sold by John Harris to Simon Spalding, September 13, 1828, and No. 38, Just south of this, was owned by Charles D. Hopkins. The tract abutting this and fronting on the Tioga river originally belonged to Sybil Stephens, who sold to Elias Mathewson. The tract of John Harris, just north of this, was origin- ally S. Swift's, who came and occupied it in 1786 ; lie was ejected by tile Pennsylvania authorities in 1810, and it came into the possession of Alpheus Harris, June 19, 1811, and north of this to the State line was purchased by Samuel Harris, July 4. 1815. In this tract is Span-ish Hill. Across the river opposite Spanish Hill, is the John II. Avery tract ; lie sold to Edward Herrick, April 26, 1826; adjoining this on the south was Levi Spalding's; lie sold to Francis Tyler, April 26,1826. The next going south belonged to Daniel and Hugh McDuffie, who sold to Eben Dunham. Passing to the north-east corner of the township is the Adam Crause tract, No. 23, purchased in ISM; No. 22 is west of this, by Solomon Evits, September 7, 1825; Nos. 21 and 20 adjoin this on the south-west; the former owned b ' y Samuel Warner in 1826, and tile latter by William B. Swain, May 281 1823 ; No. 19, John Shepard's, who moved into his new house on this tract in 1817. Just north of Prince Bryant's mill were the houses of William Rice and Dr. Amos Prentice, and Prentice's tannery. As already stated, Prince Bryant sold his mill to Shepard and Shaw in January, 1788. This John Shepard came to this country a clerk for Hollenback. He was a nephew of Capt. Simon Spalding, and came with him to the new country soon after the war, when eighteen years old, first stopping in Sheshequin. After much experience in trading with the Indians, lie purchased Bryant's mill -a saw and grist mill and two dwelling houses, purchased under the Connecticut title ; the land embraced both sides of Cayuta creek, or Shepard's or Mill creek, and included about all that eventually became Milltown-600 acres. The gristmill was the only one within a range of fifty miles. John Shepard married Anna, daughter of Judge Gore of Sheshequin, and made his permanent settlement on his Milltown property. He bought of John Jenkins three hundred and forty acres opposite his mills, across the creek. He was a large land buyer, and at one time owned all the land on which is Waverly. The first interment in the Milltown cemetery was a youth of eighteen, Chester, a son of Josiah Pierce, who had been thrown from his horse and dragged to death. In December, 1798, Shepard's gristmill burned, and with difficulty the sawmill was saved. The whole population turned out and helped rebuild it; in the meantime the people had to go to Wilkes-Barre, one hundred miles, to mill. About the beginning of this century Mr. Shepard had a gristmill, sawmill, fulling-mill, oilmill and a distillery, and was one of the leading business men of northern Pennsylvania. An entry in his diary in 1804 says: 11 Began to build my large house in Milltown, and made preparations to build my new mill near the river." Under adte of September 7, 1805, he says: The wife of my youth was taken from me by death, by a fall from a carriage The preceding February 7, his first-born son, Prentice, died, and August following his uncle and next-door neighbor, Dr. Amos Prentice, died. In 1809 Mr. Shepard sold his old mill to Samuel Naglee, of Philadelphia. That year he sent to Stonington, Conn., for his sister. Mrs. Grant, and two daughters to come and keep house for him. These daughters became Mrs. Stephens and Mrs. Howard. In 1809 Mr. Shepard received the first commission from Gov. Simon Snyder, as justice.

The Wolf Invasion.-Mr. Shepard's diary, 1814, says: " This year there was heavy snow and a hard winter. The wolves were driven down from the mountains in search of food, and many sheep were devoured by them. They could be heard howling at all times of tile night; the inhabitants were much in fear of them and were afraid to pass from Milltown to Athens, even in the day time. There was no traveling after dark, so great was the fear and danger. The sheep were often called into the door-yard and lights, were kept burning for their protection. Bears and panthers were sometimes seen between the rivers."

See Also - ATHENS BOROUGH

See Also - SAYRE AND SOUTH WAVERLY BOROUGHS.

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