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1885 Seven Counties History - Bradford
County PA
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| Pike Township Page |
ReTyped for Tri-Counties by Pat SMITH Raymond .
Book Submitted by Walt Samson |
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“HISTORY OF SEVEN COUNTIES presented by the Elmira Weekly
Gazette". It is an “Outline History of Tioga and Bradford Counties in
Pennsylvania, Chemung, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins and Schuyler in New York by
TOWNSHIPS, VILLAGES, BORO’S AND CITIES.” Written expressly for the Gazette
Company, Elmira, N. Y. Copyright 1885.From AN OUTLINE
HISTORY of Tioga and
Bradford
Counties in Pennsylvania, Chemung, Steuben,
Tioga, Tompkins and Schuyler in New York by TOWNSHIPS, VILLAGES, BORO'S AND
CITIES"
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PIKE TOWNSHIP AND THE
BOROUGH OF LE RAYSVILLE
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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