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125 Years Ago - 1885
      A party from West Beaver township, how have a bear pen on Jack's mountain, recently caught one. Some say it weighed 300 pounds, but according to the feet (for that is all we saw) it did not weigh more than 299 1/2 pounds. It was very large for its size.
    Middleburgh fared well at the Washingtonville Fair last week. Stetler's Cornet Band contested for a $100 prize and won it handily over the Danville city Band.

100 Years Ago - 1910
   The Reliance Hose Company of Middleburg has been revived. There were no meetings held for nearly two years, until Thursday evening of last week. The company is in good financial shape and has a membership of twenty-five in good standing. The next meeting will be for nomination of officers.
    Winfield is now in the throes of a mad dog scare, and already there is one victim, who is the seven year old daughter of Elmer Klinger, of that town. The dog belonging to Mr. Klinger bit the little girl. The dog was caught and caged for observation. On Thursday, the dog died and had all the symptoms of rabies.

75 Years Ago - 1935
     The brick plant at Beavertown, which has been idle for some time past, Monday began operations with 15 to 18 men employed and with at least 40 to be hired within the next few months. The plant is now organized as the Hill Brick Company, with W.H. Hill serving as President of the company.

35 Years Ago - 1975
   A time capsule will be buried in the Village Green in McClure next year during the Bicenten-nial celebration to be held in McClure. The metal box will contain photographs of McClure and West Beaver township. Citizens can pay $1.00 to have a photo included in the box.
     Thirteen refugees from war ravaged South Vietnam have come to live on a quiet farm near Middleburg. The Vietnam-ese, all members of one family, moved to their new home on Sunday afternoon from the refugee center at Indiantown Gap.

From the Archives of
The
Middleburg Post

255 Years Ago This Week...
The Penns Creek Massacre of 1755

    Along the Penn's Creek, near the iron bridge that crosses it at Selinsgrove, are placed two granite markers which mark the location of an Indian raid that took the lives of 14 people and 11 more missing. Known as the Penn's Creek Massacre, it took place on October 16, 1755.
    With the defeat of General Braddock, of the Army of England, those living in the central Pa. area feared that it would be overrun by French, and by the savage Indians who they were aligned with, coming from the Allegheny Mountains in western Pa.
    Rumors reached the ears of the colonial officers of the renewed activities towards the conquest of the Susquehanna Valley, under the authority of the Six Nations Indian Confedera-tion. The French and Indians set out for the forks of the Susquehanna.
   In October, there was a settle-ment at Selinsgrove along the creek. Settlers of this place included names such as Curry, Fryer, Gliwell, LeRoy, and Young.
   The following description of the massacre was given by some of those named above in a petition to then Governor Morris:

"...the enemy came down upon said creek, killed, scalped and carried away all the men, women and children, amounting to twenty-five in number, and wounded one man, who, fortunately made his escape and brought us the news. Whereupon, we the undersigned, went out and buried the dead. We found thirteen, who are men and elderly women, and one child, two weeks old, the rest being young women and children, we supposed to be carried away. The house, (where we suppose they finish their murder) we found burned up, the man of it, named Jacob King, a Swisser, laying just by it. He lay on his back, barbarously burned, and two tomahawks sticking out of his forehead; one of them newly marked W.D.

We have sent them to your honor. The terror of which has drove away all the inhabitants except us. We are willing to stay and defend the land, but need arms, ammunition and assistance. Without them, we must flee and leave the country to the mercy of the enemy..."

John Harris, of Paxton, and the founder of Harrisburg (then called Harris Ferry) wrote the governor and told him he would lead an expedition upriver to try to pacify the Indians and find out the minds of the Indians at Sunbury (at that time, called Shamokin), since the Indians there were known to be friendly to whites.
John Harris and his party of 40 or more men, after arriving at the scene of the massacre and finding the dead buried, went onto Sunbury to find out the motives and intentions of the Indians there. However, Harris' party became wary of the

Indians and decided to turn back.
They intended to return along the east side of the river, where it was safer, but instead they crossed over to the west side and moved again toward the mouth of Penns Creek. There they were ambushed by twenty or thirty Inidans.
    Harris retreated, having lost seven men, and five men who drowned. The Indians lost only five men. Harris' life was saved when a doctor sitting behind him blocked a shot from an Indian's gun. Shortly afterwards, Harris' horse was shot and Harris had to swim across the river.
   This ambush occurred on the east bank of Penns Creek about midway between the Isle of Que Mills and the State bridge, in the northern end of the borough of Selinsgrove.
    Thus marked the first Indian attack in the area of Penn's Woods. Visitors can still visit the site, found by the former Ulrich's Seafood Market, by the iron bridge in Selinsgrove.

Two granite markers show the traditional location of the Penns Creek Massacre, where 25 settlers were killed, wounded or captured by Indians who terrorized the area in the mid to late 1700's.

Fort Augusta Plans Lamplight Tour
At Hunter House

free event, which is open to the public, at its headquarters at 1150 North Front Street in Sunbury. Visitors will view the two remaining fort features on the property, the well and the powder magazine, as well as the Hunter-Grant cemetery.

The golden light of the Hunters’ Moon, the warm glow of candle lanterns, and the dancing flames of a crackling campfire will add to the ambience of the evening as tour guides attired in 18th-century period clothing conduct Lantern Tours at the site of Fort Augusta on Saturday, October 23 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
The Northumberland County Historical Society will host this

Soldiers will discuss Fort Augusta’s history and the role of soldiers at this important frontier installation. In addition, the recently refurbished Fort Augusta exhibit in the Hunter House will be open. It features an extensive collection of artifacts recovered on the fort site during archaeological digs.