Valley Girl Views
Sights To See, Events To Attend, & History To Know, in the Central Susquehanna Valley
Saturday, April 26, 2025
Jimmy Carter - Missionary in Lock Haven, Campaigned in Williamsport
Monday, April 21, 2025
HISTORY OF POTTSGROVE by John F. Mack
Sunday, April 20, 2025
The Montour Preserve Fossil Pit
Saturday, April 19, 2025
The Second Stone House In Milton
A marker at the corner of Mahoning and Front Streets in Milton Reads:
"On this site stood the second stone house in Milton.
It was built in 1803 by Peter Swartz for Dr. James Dougal, Milton's first permanent physician and ancestor of a long line of physicians to practice in this community.
It Survived the Great Milton Fire of 1880 and was demolished in 1974, stones from the structure form the base of this plaque."
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From the History Of Northumberland County, 1876:
THE FIRST STONE HOUSE
In Milton was built in 1796, by Peter Swartz, stone-mason, for James Black, Esq., on his land on Water street [today Front st.] , just north of Broadway. Before this, all buildings had been of wood - either log or frame - and this one was looked upon as a very superior structure. When Mr. Black’s financial troubles came, the house and land fell into the possession of William and Thomas Pollock, and is now owned by ex-Governor James Pollock, who is making elegant and extensive repairs upon it. The character of the old mansion may be judged from the fact that, on May 4th, 1876, when (in it’s eighteenth year) it was damaged by the fire at the corner of Water street and Broadway, the insurance upon it (exclusive of furniture) was three thousand dollars.
Was that of Dr. James Dougal, also built by Peter Swartz, in 1803. It is still occupied by Dr. James Dougal, the son of the first proprietor. It is a large, solid, quadrangular house, and certainly does not seem to have lived out half it’s days.
The same, or the following year, Swartz built a third house, of the same material, for John Hetherington, in the lower part of the town.
THE FIRST BRICK BUILDING
In Milton, was a one-and-a-half story dwelling-house, built in 1802, for Miss Ellen Sanderson, who afterwards became Mrs. David Ireland. The house stood on the north side of Market street, directly east of, and adjoining the residence of George Corry, deceased.
Dr. James S. Dougal:
READ MORE
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Saturday, April 12, 2025
Red Bank School, Mifflinburg Pa
805 Red Bank Road, Mifflinburg, PA
The Grozing, of French Jacobs, Mill Monument
"Near this spot JACOB GROZING erected a grist mill in 1776, which was used as a place of refuge by the settlers during the Indian troubles, here on May 16 1780. A patrol of Revolutionary Soldiers was attacked by a band of Delaware Indians.
As recounted in the Selinsgrove Times Tribune, 1939
At the end of Brush Valley Narrows, Union county, about one-half mile southeast of the Forest House is the location of what was known as French Jacob's Mill. The land has long been in the possession of the Wohlheiter family. There in the spring of 1780 occurred a massacre known in history as the Massacre of French Jacob's Mill. The mill was built in 1776 by Jacob Groshong, or "French Jacob," as he was called by his neighbors. Groshong's nickname, "French Jacob" is still preserved in that section in connection with a large spring a short distance above the Forest House. In 1787 he was assessed in his nickname instead of his proper name.
On May 16, 1780, a patrol of Continental soldiers was on duty as a garrison at the mill, and was attacked by a party of Indians. Four of the garrison were killed and several wounded. Those killed were John Foster, James Chambers, George Etzweiler, and Samuel McLaughlin.
The story is that the soldiers were swimming in the mill race, having just returned from a patrol of the neighborhood and were confident no Indians were in that neighborhood. Christian Shively, who lived near the mill, heard the firing while threshing grain in his field. He immediately hid his wife and two small children near the creek. He then rolled some logs into Penn's Creek and tied them to the raft. In this way they floated down the stream to Beatty's, where New BerIin is now located.
In the Annals of Buffalo Valley, Philip Pontius relates that his father also heard the signal, unhitched his horse and made a circuit thru the woods, gun in hand, to the mill. He related how one man named William Fisher narrowly escaped. He was running to the mill during the attack. Just as he reached the door his foot slipped on a wet board and he fell into the door. The bullet intended for him struck into the building on a line where his head would have been had he not fallen.
"John Foster was an uncle of Captain John Foster, of Mifflinburg, and a brother of the old Major Thomas Foster. James Chambers was the son of Robert Chambers. "George Etzweiler, Junior, left a widow, Mary. George Etzweiler, a son of the one killed, kept hotel at McKee's Half Falls, as late as 1812. William Fisher was the grandfather of James Crossgrove and Sheriff John Crossgrove, and resided in Limestone, where James Crossgrove lately resided.
William Gill told me he heard old Mrs. Overmeter say that the e people who were killed, were brought over to the place adjoining Philip Seebold's residence, above New Berlin, and were buried in the old graveyard on the bluff at the creek, where Dry Run comes in, nearly opposite where Tuscarpa Run enters Penn's Creek, on the Snyder county side. (Philip Seebold said, in 1872, that George Etzweiler was buried on Jacob Cook's place, now Peter Slear's, in Limestone township.) Here old John Trester and the first settlers were buried. The graveyard, probably the oldest in the county, was not used after 1791, when the people commenced burying in New Berlin. It belonged to Thomas Barber, who was killed in 1792, by the timbers of an old barn falling on him...."
Researching J. Martin Heiner, Bodyguard to Washington In Sunbury
Recently, during a cemetery clean up in Sunbury, the owner of the Sunbury Pa list [an excellent, well run, on topic facebook group, for those interested in Sunbury Memories and History] found a burial record for "George Washington's Bodyguard".
This is an incredibly interesting topic, but to get a new stone and marker to recognize this location, more facts are needed. What we have so far are a lot of stories, and some obvious errors. I could spend weeks on this and get nowhere on my own, so I am hoping that if I put all of the information in one place, some of you who enjoy research and have subscriptions to various research sites may be able to chime in and see what you can find.
Here's what we Know:
[In an attempt to make this easier for comments, each of the items below has a link to a facebook photo where anyone can add comments and photos with more information]
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However, Martin Heiner, Tillie's father, could also not have served in the civil war - having died in 1847. This record states that he served in the Revolutionary War. The death date is one I commonly see used for Martin Jr in Sunbury, but the only record of his death I have found so far is in the newspaper in May of 1847. Was there more than one Martin Heiner in Sunbury at this time, or are the dates simply not correct? Census Records, and church burial records , may help sort this out. |
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And - DAR #387888 I used that number to do an online search on the DAR site, but I don't know enough about how these numbers are used. my search returned no results with that number. |
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Death announcement for Tillie [Heiner] Wray In the Miltonian, April 4th 1912 Stating that her father served in the Revolution [which we know is not possible. Possibly her grandfather?] |
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"When I was a kid, my mother died, so I was raised by my grandparents, Alexander and Matilda Wray, who lived at 252 S. Front St. My grandmother told me that her great -grandmother told her that her (the great-grandmother's) great-great-grandfather, Martin Hiner, was one of Washington's bodyguards when they crossed the Delaware River" in 1776. "The other things I know of him are," Wray, who lives at 445 S. Awl St., says, "that he sometime after that married a young girl. They came to the forks of the Susquehanna River here at Sunbury and decided to stay. "*He was the first white man to live here at Sunbury. My grandmother said she was told that the Indians, who were still on Blue Hill, would come down and steal things but that they wouldn't harm you. Martin Hiner is buried on the Wray plot at the Sunbury cemetery.' Because he is the only living member of the family line allegedly descended from Hiner and has no children, Wray believes he may be the last man to have such historical ties to Sunbury's past.. |
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- Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania, by Sherman Day, Philadelphia, 1843, Page 524 -537
- Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania .. by Floyd, J.L., & Co., Chicago, pub
- History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania by Bell, Herbert C. [does show a William Heiner in Milton]
- Fold 3 - trying a variety of searches including name, and the location of Sunbury Pa. I found nothing that seems to pertain to a Heiner in Northumberland County.
Matilda "Tille" Susan [Heiner] Wray
Martin , her father, died in 1847, age 70. His death notice is in the May 1 1847 issue of the Sunbury Gazette. If all of that is correct, Martin was 60 years old when Tillie was born. Her mother Mary [Miller] Heiner is shown age 54 in the census with Alexander and Tillie Wray. If her age is correct, she was born about 1806. The 1850 census shows Mary as a widow, age 45, with 13 year old Matilda living with her - keeping her age consistent, and consistent with Martin's death notice in 1847.
Tillie was 9 or 10 years old when her father died, in 1847, which may be why she was confused in her later years. The Revolutionary war ended in 1783, when Tillie's father was about 6 years old. Possibly her grandfather served in the Revolution? Can we confirm who Martin Jr's father was?
1 Male aged 60-69 [Martin age 63 ] 1 Female 40-49 [Mary age 34] 1 Female Under 5 [Tillie age 2] | |
The Sunbury Gazette Sat, May 1, 1847 Pg 3 Martin Heiner who died in Sunbury in 1847 was said to be 70 years old, making his birth year approximately 1777. | |
The 1850 Census in Sunbury, Northumberland County, shows: Mary Heiner age 45 [b. abt. 1805] Matilda Heiner age 13 [b. abt 1837] | |
Could her father possibly have served in the War of 1812? | |
Alexander Ray 27 Matilda Ray 20 Eleanora Ray 4 Harriet Ray 1 Mary Heiner 54 |
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Chronicles of a Germany family, or, Heiners of Germany, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Texas
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