They held a meeting yesterday at the residence of Mrs. William A. Wilcox in Scranton, and as the date was the wedding anniversaries of both Mrs. Wilcox and Mrs. Frear, these ladies furnished the refreshments. The spread was a delightful one and was partaken of with the greatest relish.

The principal item of business was to consider a plan for erecting a building in West Pittston, the same to be used for a public hall. Mrs. Thomas Ford had offered to donate a valuable lot and the ladies desire to erect a building to cost about $3,000, it to have a public hall on the ground floor and a flat up stairs. The ladies calculated that such a hall would be not only a self sustaining project, but a paying one, furnishing them a good place for meetings and supplying the borough with a hall much needed for festivals and entertainments. decision was come to.

No

Two ladies were elected members: Miss Ella Urquhart Sturdevant of Wilkes-Barre and Miss Mary L. D. Hart of Pittston, daughter of Hon. Theodore Hart.

By invitation Dr. F. C. Johnson of Wilkes-Barre then read his paper on the "Pioneer Women of Wyoming." detailing the part which they played in the settlement and early occupation of this valley.

Among those present were the following:

Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Wilcox, Scranton. Mr. and Mrs. J. Langford, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Fear, Mrs. W. T. McCabe, Mrs. George Johnson, Mrs. T. R. Coward, Mrs. S. A. Urquhart, West Pittston.

Mrs. E. A. Hill, Wilkes-Barre, Mrs. C. I. A. Chapman, Port Blanchard.

Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Day, Mrs. Dr. Bardwell, Tunkhannock.

STORY OF THE MASSACRE.

With reference to living persons who heard the story of the Wyoming massacre from the lips of active participants, the Record is informed that Mary E. Sutton (maiden name Heft) at Mill Creek is one of these. She heard the story from the lips of her uncle, Charles Harris, who at the time was a boy of about 15 years. He was at the front at the time of the massacre and afterwards helped bury the dead. Mrs. Sutton is now about 60 years of age. Harris lived to be over 90 years.

MARKS OF THE SCALPING KNIFE.

A ghastly reminder of the battle of Wyoming has found its way to the Historical Society. Recently there was exposed to view by an excavation in Wyoming a grave, though there was nothing else than a skeleton found. The skull gives unmistakable evidence that it was that of one of the unfortunate pioneers who lost his life at the hands of the savages. On top of the head is a bullet hole and on one temple what appears to have been a tomahawk thrust, the blade having been driven with such force as to carry away a piece of the skull and leave the brain exposed. But these wounds are not the most striking feature. The cruel savage scalped his victim so savagely that his blade sunk into the skull at each of the two motions made by him in the horrid act, The two semi-circular cuts are plainly distinguished at the very spot where the Indians were accustomed to remove the scalp lock. They form a circle about three inches in diameter. The grave was found in what was formerly a burying ground on the site of the village, but of which every trace vanished long ago. It was the first graveyard in the valley so far as appears.

THE STUDY OF GENEALOGY.

The recent growth and increase of socities in which eligibility to membership depends upon the deeds of ancestors rather than upon any personal qualifications of members, has resulted in a great revival of the study of genealogy in this country. We have the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution, the Society of Colonial Wars, Society of the War of 1812, Colonial Dames, Society of the Mayflower Descendants, Holland Society and others, organized and organizing. To become a member of any of these a record of the family history is required.

It

It is an injustice to characterize this movement as merely a society fad or passing fancy. It is much more. stimulates a desire for genealogical and historical research, a pleasing and interesting study. It leads to a proper respect for one's ancestors and creates a desire to emulate their work for the good of one's family and country. It revives an interest in American history and promotes patriotism, good citizenship and love of country. Therefore, the movement is one to be commended and thousands are now making

a study of their family history. In fact, every person should compile and preserve such a family record, for it may be of great value to future generations, if not to themselves.

Foremost among journals to aid in extending this interesting study is the Mail and Express, which maintains a weekly department devoted to queries for family records and replies thereto. The department is open to any one who wishes to make use of it. In this connection that paper is printing a long series of articles devoted to the history of the families and descendants of the signers of the Mayflower Compact, which are particularly timely just at present.

FIFTY YEARS A CUHRCH.

[Daily Record, May 4, 1897.]

The Providence (Lackawanna County) Presbyterian Church celebrated its semi-centennial on Sunday. The anniversary sermon was preached in the morning by the pastor, Rev. G. E. Guild, and Rev. P. H. Brooks of this city participated in all the services.

At the evening service Rev. Dr. N. G. Parke of West Pittston gave a valuable address on "Providence in 1844." He began by recalling the contests of authority and territorial rights in this region, when Indians, Yankees, Pennamites, Tories and other sympathizers laid claim to the lands in the Lackawanna and Susquehanna valleys. The venerable speaker referred to the events inseparable with the county's history and enacted in this valley and mentioned the Wyoming massacre as only an incident in the extended chapter of tragedies. From this he passed on to other types of conflicts on this historic ground.

The speaker explained the various causes which led up to the division of Presbyterial lines and stated that unfortunately for that part of Lackawanna Valley, the dividing line between two of the Presbyteries presenting different branches of the church was not as well established as Mason and Dixon's line. Honesdale, Carbondale, Dundaff and Montrose belonged to the Presbytery of Montrose, and that Presbytery which went with the new school claimed Abington, Providence and other places along the dividing line as within her jurisdiction, while Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Tunkhannock and Pittston belonged to the Luzerne Presbytery which claimed to a

territorial line north of Providence and Abington.

While the division took place in 1837, nothing was said as to this disputed line until 1842, when the Luzerne Presbytery organized a church in Scranton. This suggested to the brethren of the Montrose Presbytery the wisdom of looking after Providence and other places in the valley. Nothing was done, however, in this direction until the Luzerne Presbytery sent a missionary to Scranton with instructions to hold religious services at Providence and Abington. This moved the Montrose Presbytery to send a missionary to Abington, Providence and Hyde Park, who organized a church. Then the battle commenced in earnest. After much controversy a committee met to confer over the matter. The two branches of the church finally came together peace in 1870, after a separation thirty years.

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In 1844 Providence was the largest village between Wilkes-Barre and Carbondale.

There was in 1844 what was known as the underground railroad. Its "headquarters" were in Wilkes-Barre. At Providence it switched off from the valley and ran through "Leggett's Gap" in the direction of Abington and Montrose. This railroad attracted but little attention from the fact that it was only operated at night and only accommodated fugitive slaves seeking freedom in the Northern States and in Canada. The stock was not in the market. These fugitives, who kept themselves out of sight during the day, would leave Wilkes-Barre about 10 o'clock at night with instructions to keep to the main road until they reached Providence and then take to the left and "take to the woods." If they got through Providence and into the woods safely they were happy. They had some good friends in and around Providence. So far as known no fugitive slaves were ever captured and returned to slavery under the fugitive slave law in old Lackawanna Valley.

Dr. Parke served the people of Scranton five years, with two years in Providence. For sixty or seventy years after its settlement there were no houses of worship erected in the valley. Nor was any attempt made to establish other than common schools. There was an academy in Harford in 1844 and also one in Wilkes-Barre. These were the only classical schools in this part of the State. The contrast between the early settlers of the Lackawanna Valley in

the neglect of religious and educational facilities and the Presbyterians who settled the southern and western part of Pennsylvania is striking.

Dr. Parke then followed with a history of the church, showing how it was organized and had grown, the management of its finances and the work it had accomplished during the fifty years of its existence.

LOCAL MASONIC HISTORY.

One of the most valuable contributions to our local history that has appeared in years is Oscar J. Harvey's History of Masonic Lodge 61, this city. It took shape in the author's mind as a modest little publication of about 100 pages, but it grew with the passing years until it has become a splendid volume of over 650 pages. Its title needs an explanation. It is by no means restricted to Masonic affairs, though for a central idea it takes up the history of Lodge 61, that venerable Masonic body which celebrated its hundredth anniversary three years ago. There have been happenings in the lodge that have gone far beyond its boundaries, and the men who have figured in its history represent the very soul and life of early Wilkes-Barre. So that the book is much more than a history of the lodge, it is a history of Wyoming Valley as well.

Lodge No. 61 has a history, interesting not only to its members, but to all Free Masons. It is the oldest Masonic body in northeastern Pennsylvania. Many of the best and most eminent men of the Wyoming Valley have been Masons and it is doubtful if any other Masonic lodge in Pennsylvania bears on its roll the names of as many prominent men as does Lodge 61. The organization, by a singular coincidence, has had sixty-one masters. Of these twenty-five are still living.

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The volume opens with an interesting description of the introduction of Masonry into northeastern Pennsylvania and nearly thirty pages are devoted to the fanatical crusade against Masonry, which began with the mysterious disappearance of Morgan 1826 and continued for ten or a dozen years. Few in the younger generation are aware that this anti-Masonic crusade was carried into State and national politics. In Luzerne County the prominent opponents of the fraternity were Oristus Collins, Hendrick B. Wright, Chester Butler, James McClintock, Sharp D. Lewis and others. The feeling ran so high that a paper

was established in Wilkes-Barre, the Anti-Masonic Advocate, which ultimately became the Record of the Times. Years afterwards, some of these crusaders, notably Wright and Lewis, became active and zealous Free Masons, members of Lodge 61.

A valuable feature of the book is a series of biographical sketches of some of the men who figured prominently in the lodge. These sketches, together with numerous footnotes, furnish a mass of local history that is largely new. The author has wisely added a detailed index so that all this information can be readly put into use.

In these days, when so many historical and genealogical works are put on the market by authors too lazy to prepare an index, Mr. Harvey's thoroughness in this respect is truly refreshing. With the index and the alphabetical list of members the reader has all the material at his command.

The volume is enriched with numerous illustrations, most of them original, One of the finest is a portrait of Governor Henry M. Hoyt, which could not possibly be improved upon. No portrait of Judge Jesse Fell is known to exist, but Mr. Harvey has presented an excellent silhouette, given to him by a grandson, the late Capt. James P. Dennis. Other original portraits are of Chief Justice Gibson, Andrew Beaumont, Judge David Scott, Judge Conyngham, Arnold Colt, Gen. Isaac Bowman, Warren J. Woodward, Garrick Mallery.

Mr. Harvey has gone out of the beaten path. While he has had to utilize the earlier histories to some extent he has searched out much hitherto unpublished materials, from letters, newspapers and other sources. His book displays tireless and patient research and the recording with careful hand of the men and events he describes. The volume ought to be of interest to every Mason of this county. It ought to be of interest to every lover of the history of Wyoming Valley. The price is $5. The book is in blue buckram and reflects the best workmanship of J. W. Raeder's binding establishment. The typography is that of E. B. Yordy. The volume is dedicated to Abram Nesbitt, who, though not a Mason, is a great-grandson of one of the earliest Free Masons who emigrated from Connecticut to the Wyoming Valley. Mr. Harvey's history ought to be in every well appointed library in Luzerne County, but as the edition is limited to 300 copies this would not be possible.

GENEALOGICAL NOTES.

The following Fish family notes, which are furnished the Record by William H. Castle, Philadelphia, will be of interest in Wyoming Valley. That the line of descent is correct is shown by the fact that it has been accepted by the historian of the Mayflower Society:

Elder Wm. Brewster, born Scrooby, England, (1559-1560) died April 16, o. s. 1644; and Mary, his wife, born died 1627. (Heiman's Puritan Settlers, page 328.)

Their son was Jonathan Brewster, born 1585, died 1661; and Lucretia, his wife, born died 1678. (Calkin's History of New London, 1852, pages 285308.)

Their daughter was Ruth Brewster, born died April 3, 1677; married John Pickett, born died Aug. 16, 1667. (Calkins, page 308; also Savage's Genealogical Dic, of N. E., page 424.) Their daughter was Mary Pickett, born died Jan. 15, 1734-5; married Benjamin Shapley (or Shapleigh) April 10, 1672.

Their daughter was Ruth Shapley, born Dec. 24, 1672, died -; married Capt. John Morgan, of Groton, Conn., born June 10, 1667, died 1744-46. (Calkins, pages, 350, 419, 420.)

Their daughter was Jemima Morgan, born May 5, 1715, died -; married Thomas Fish on Aug. 25, 1743, born

died cords.) Their son was Jabez Fish, born July 10, 1747, died April 16, 1814; married Avery, born died (family papers; court records at WilkesBarre.)

(Groton, Conn., town re

Jabez Fish, born July 10, 1747. Jemima Fish, born Oct. 4, 1748. Thomas Fish, born Jan. 18, 1750.

Capt. George Sytez.

No. 1,452-George Sytez as second lieutenant in the Second New York Regiment, Continental Infantry, in 1775; adjutant of Col. Gansevoort's Third New York Regiment, 1776-78; promoted captain Jan. 7, 1780, and transferred to First New York Regiment. His name appears on half pay roll as major. From about 1793-96 Capt. Sytez resided in Wilkes-Barre. desire to know (1)

when and where he was born, (2) when and where he died and (3) name and address of any living descendant.-[Mail and Express.

Cooke, Chapman, Forsythe.

No. 1,450-Uriah Chapman and his wife, Sybil Cooke, with their daughter, Hannah, and her husband, Charles Forsythe, emigrated with other Connecticut settlers to Wyoming, Pa., leaving their home in Preston, Conn. They escaped the massacre, and Charles Forsythe and wife returned to Preston, the parents remaining in Pennsylvania. would like to learn the ancestry of Sybil Cooke, Uriah Chapman and Charles Forsythe. [Mail and Express.

Wallis and Evans Family.

John Jacob Wallis married Elizabeth Lukens, daughter of John Lukens, surveyor general of Pennsylvania, and located at Wilkes-Barre. They had John Lukens, who died 1863; Grace, who married Evan Rice Evans; Sarah, who married Daniel Smith; Elizabeth, who married John Evans, and died 1817; Gaynor, w ho married Enoch Smith; Dr. Thomas, and Joseph T., who married Catherine Schaffer. Can any one give information about the above persons?

CAME FROM A PIONEER FAMILY. [Daily Record, May 7, 1897.]

Daniel Hefft, a well known and highly respected citizen of Carverton, died on Friday morning at 4 o'clock at the old Hefft homestead, where he was born He was a son sixty-nine years ago.

of Jacob Hefft and grandson of Charles Harris, a pioneer settler near the village of Trucksville, where he built the first log cabin and felled the first trees of the forest. Mr. Hefft by thrift and

industry had accumulated a fine property and yet was generous. Any one asking aid was never refused. Always lenient in business, he sustained many losses for fear of distressing the poor. He leaves a widow and eight children.

SOME EARLY EXPERIENCES.

George Loveland, who resides at 34 West River street, this city, a likeness of whom is given in this column, is the oldest resident member of the Luzerne County bar, there being only one living member older than he, attorney Samuel McCarragher, now residing at Moscow, Lackawanna County. Mr. Loveland was born in the residence now occupied by Benjamin Tubbs on Main street, Kingston, Nov. 5, 1823. and is therefore in his seventy-fourth year. George Loveland was admitted to the Luzerne County

GEORGE LOVELAND. bar Aug. 19, 1848, having studied law with the late Gen. E. W. Sturdevant, and owing to ill health refrained from active practice to the extent than otherwise would have been the case but for this fact. Mr. Loveland, as an instance of the remarkable progress that has taken place during his lifetime, remark

ed that at the present time one may enter a luxuriously furnished passenger car and be whirled away from WilkesBarre to Easton, 100 miles, in two and one-half hours. Contrasting this with his experiences in 1841-2-3, when a student at Lafayette College, it is remembered by him that it was necessary to take the stage coach at 3 o'clock in the morning from in front of the old Phoenix Hotel, the site of the present Wyoming Valley Hotel on South River street, and the coach was due in Easton at 11 o'clock at night. A twenty hours' ride over the Wilkes-Barre and Easton turnpike of 1841 is now reduced to a little over two hours; the jolting and bumping ride on coach top, with its attendant hardships, is exchanged for the upholstered reclining chair of the pal

ace car.

Mr. Loveland recalls that upon his return from Easton on March 23, 1843, there was a terrible blizzard; and the expreiences of crossing the Pocono were quite severe. He came over the mountain in a sleigh with Austin Shoemaker, who was likewise a student at Lafayette, and upon arriving down in Wyoming Valley it was found that there were over fourteen inches of snow, while the Susquehanna was still frozen over and those en route for Kingston and the West Side crossed the stream over the ice. The ice did not go out from the river until April 10, the freshet having been unusually high, the water and ice breaking over the banks at Forty Fort and coming down between Kingston and the bridge with a strong current. Ice remained piled on the flats until late in May. That was the latest ice freshet known to the Susquehanna for something like a century.

Sylvester Dana, who was a graduate of Yale College late in the 30s, had an academy on South Main street in the second floor of a brick building located near the present site of the Hunt building, now occupied by Lazarus Bros. Mr. Loveland attended this academy one year. "Deacon" Dana then erected the old Wilkes-Barre Academy on Academy street, which thoroughfare took its name from the location thereon of this institution in 1840, and Mr. Loveland attended school there the first day it was opened. Angelo Jackson, father of Ernest and Arthur Jackson; Charles Lathrop, at present a resident of Carbondale, and Asher Miner, an uncle of Hon. Charles A. Miner, were classmates with Mr. Loveland at that time. While pursuing his studies he boarded with