ATHENS TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH

Athens, or Tioga Point, is one of the best known localities in Northern Pennsylvania.  It is
situated at the junction of the Chemung and east branch of the Susquehanna river, thus forming the North Branch of the Susquehanna.  It is generally believed that John Secord was the first white settler at this point before the close of the Revolutionary war in 1778.  For years before the Revolutionary war, however, it was a great resort of the Indians of the six nations.  It was there that the British and Indians met and planned the expedition against Wyoming in 1778.  It was there that after the close of the Revolutionary war in 1790, General Timothy Pickering held a council with the Indians and the year following at Kanewola, now Elmira, in fact no other section of Northern Pennsylvania is more fully associated with early events in the history and developments of Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New York, then Athens or Tioga Point.  It was known by the Indians, by the soldiers of the revolution, by the early pioneers, by the lumbermen and raftsmen.

 In May, 1786, the Susquehanna Land Company, organized in the State of Connecticut, issued a grant for the formation of the township of Athens, and in June following, a village was laid out by col. Elias Satterlee, Col. John Franklin and Col. John Jenkins.  A year previous, however, in May, 1785, the State of Pennsylvania, granted the same lands to a gentleman from Lancaster, Pa., Josiah Lockhart, out of which grew a great amount of litigation, bad feeling and suffering.  In 1787, Col. John Franklin, one of the Connecticut claimants, was arrested and imprisoned, charged with high treason; but we have not space to narrate the events in detail which transpired during those exciting times, in what has been known as the “Pennamite war.”

 Early settlers were:  Benjamin Patterson, Joseph Kinney, Mathias Hollenback, Jacob Snell, John Hulburt, Elisha Mathewson, Justus Gaylord, William Miller, Eldad Kellogg, Mason Carey, Christopher Hurlburt, Daniel Moore, David Alexander, Samuel Hepburn, John Shepard, Andreos Budd, Thomas McClure, Col. John Franklin, Elisha Satterlee, Ira Stevens, Benedict Satterlee, Nathaniel Satterlee, Constant Mathewson, Samuel Ransom, Guy Maxwell, Jonathan Harris, George Wells, Nathaniel Clapp, Alpheus Harris, Julius Tozier, Daniel McDuffee, Noah Murray, Jr., Capt. Joseph Spalding, James Irwin, Stephen Hopkins, David Paine, Clement Paine, Enoch Paine, Daniel Elwell, John Saltmarsh, Moses Park, Zephon Flower, Joseph Tyler, Samuel Ovenshire, Arnold Colt, Prince Bryant, Thomas Baldwin, Ismahel Bennett, Solomon Bennett, Richard Halstead, Green Bentley, John Winters, Isaiah J. A. Jones, Thomas Hendy, John Hendy, Nathaniel Shaw, Doctor Prentice, Francis Snechenberger, Capt. Thomas Wilcox, Josiah Crocker, Josiah Lockhart, Richard Caton, Ashbel Wells, Isaac Cash, Nehemiah Northrop, Henry Decker, Jonathan Harris, Nathan Bull.

 --In September 1778, col. Hartley, with a regiment of men, went into the valley of Wyoming to
    chastise the Indians; burnt Diahago (Tioga) and visited Tioga Point.
 --General Sullivan, in 1779, made Tioga Point the base of his operations against the Indians.
 --In 1812 a Presbyterian Church was organized.
--Andreas Budd built the first house at Tioga Point.
--In 1796 a Masonic Lodge was established at Athens.
--A bridge was erected across the Tioga River in 1820.
--Col. John Franklin erected a house in Athens, in 1786.
--Benjamin Patterson settled at Tioga Point in 1783 or 4.
--Thomas McClure kept the first tavern at Athens, in 1788.
--A post-office was established at Athens. (Tioga Point) in 1800.
--The first burgess of Athens borough, was David Paine, in 1831.
--An early circuit Methodist minister was Rev. John Hill, in 1792.
--Thomas Maclure was licensed to keep a tavern at Athens, in 1788.
--Athens borough was erected in 1831, taken from Athens township.
--Col. John Franklin died March 1, 1831, aged 81 years, 3 months and 5 days.
--Arnold Colt was the first Master of Amity Masonic Lodge, in 1796, at Athens.
--M. E. Church class was organized in 1832, and in 1844 erected Church at Athens.
--Zephon Flower was the first man initiated as a Free Mason, in Athens, June 12, 1798.
--Protestant Episcopal (Christ) Church, organized August 30, 1833, by Rev. Samuel T. Lord.
--Key Stone Lodge, Independant Order of Good Templars, organized at Athens, in April, 1853.
--Trinity Church of Athens, Protestant Episcopal, organized in 1842.  Church erected in 1843.
--The earliest Baptist ministers, between Towanda and Chemung, were Rev. Roswell Goff and Rev. Mr. Smiley.
--Col. Ethan Allen, of revolutionary fame, temporarily resided at Athens, in 1786, and purchased lands—Lot No. 3.
--Henry Wells, of Athens, was a member of the State Legislature several terms, before the county of Bradford was formed.
--July 5, 1784, Abraham Snell was born at Tioga Point.  It is believed he was the first white child born in Athens township.
--After remaining two years in prison, Col. John Franklin, in 1799, returned to Tioga Point and became a permanent settler.
--The Congregational Church, of Athens, was organized July 12, 1812, Rev. William Wisner,  minister.  Church erected in 1825.
--In 1797 an academy of learning was established, and about the year 1813 received an  endowment from the state of Pennsylvania of $2,000.
--Col. Arthur Erwin was shot in the house of Daniel McDuffee, in 1791.  The colonel was a large land owner at Athens and Pointed Post, N. Y.
--In 1779, Rev. William Rogers, a chaplain in General Sullivan’s army, preached a memorial sermon, in Masonic form, upon the lives and character of Capt. Davis and Lieutenant Jones,  at Athens.
--Captain Cornelius (Ka-naw Kwis) an Indian Chief, who had, in a measure adopted the customs of the white people, was murdered at Athens, by an Indian, in 1787.
--The first school was established at Athens, in 1788, Ezekiel Root, teacher.
--In 1773, Charles Stewart, Deputy Survey General of the State of Pennsylvania, or Colony, or    Proprietaryship of Pennsylvania, laid out lots in Athens.
--Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, A. Y. Masons organized in 1798.  Officers, Arnold Colt, W. M.;    Dr. Stephen Hopkins, S. W.; Capt. Ira Hopkins, J. W.  Fourteen original members.
--Athens township, east of the Susquehanna river, was embraced in a purchase made of the  Indians at Fort Stanwix, in 1768.  The lands west of the river were purchased on the Indians  In 1784.
--Guy Maxwell was appointed Justice of the Peace, at Athens, Sept. 1, 1791.  In 1796, he  removed to Elmira.  The late Hon. Thomas Maxwell was born at Athens during the residence of his father there.
--Athens Lodge, No. 165, I. O. O. F., organized March 9, 1846.  Reorganized Nov. 2, 1874;    J. B. Reeve, Noble Grand; D. W. Tripp, Vice Grand; J. M. Ely, Secretary; A. F. Ovenshire,  Treasurer.
--Hon Samuel J. Atlee, Hon. William Maclay and Francis Johnson, held a council with the Indians, at Athens, in 1784, in behalf of the State of Pennsylvania.  They distributed a large Number of presents to the Indians, and secured the right of settlement upon the west side of the Susquehanna.
--In 1785, William Maclay, as a Commissioner of Pennsylvania, established a temporary line between New York and Pennsylvania, at Athens.  The line was again run by State Commissioners of New York and Pennsylvania, in 1786, and permanently established.  It Commenced about sixty-four miles east of Athens, on the Delaware and continued to Lake Erie.

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