Potter County History Articles
Potter County was formed from Lycoming County in 1804.
Was the original name of County really Sinnemahoning?
Yes. The bill of January 13, 1804, proposed the creation of six new counties -- Jefferson, McKean, Clearfield, Sinnemahoning, Tioga and Cambria. It was the intention of the framers of the Act to give the Indian name Sinnemahoning, meaning "stony lick," to one (Potter) of the four new counties to be carved from Lycoming County. However, certain members of the General Assembly wanted to honor General James Potter, a hero of the American Revolution. Consequently, the name Sinnemahoning was dropped and Potter substituted. The Act was passed March 26, 1804.
Certainly, Potter is easier to spell. But, Sinnemahoning has such a nice ring when spoken. Dan
Reference: Chronicles of Central Pennsylvania, by Frederic A. Godcharles, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1944, Vol. VII, page 307.
Potter County was named for General James Potter, a hero of the American Revolution. He served under Washington during the Revolution. General Potter had never been in the area of the county, but he had surveyed the lands purchased from the Indians on 1768 as far up the West Branch of the Susquehanna River as the Forks of the Sinnemahoning.
Reference: Chronicles of Central Pennsylvania, by Frederic A. Godcharles, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1944, Vol. VII, page 307.
"Of the Lenni Lenape, the third tribe or division, were the Wolves (Minsi), who occupied the region which embraced the land along the Allegwi Lipu (Allegheny river) to its head waters [near Gold, Potter County]. So the aborigines, who held the land now embraced by Potter county, were the Minsi, or Monseys, as called by the whites. A portion of the Monseys joined their tribe on the head waters of the Allegheny after the sale of their lands, from which they were driven, on the Susquehanna, as late as 1768. ... the village of Muncy [Lycoming County] takes its name from this tribe of the Lenape, who once owned the lands upon which it stands. The largest settlement of the Minsi was at the mouth of the Tionesia [Forest County near south west corner of Allegheny National Forest], and above upon the Allegheny river to the swamp [near Gold, Potter County] from which the waters rise, the Minsi held the land. There is evidence of various encampments along the stream where it passes through Potter. That there was a large granary of corn at Roulette is proven, and some of the carbonized grains are still in existence [in 1890]."
In 1784, the Indian title to the hills and valleys and rivers of this area was destroyed by what is called the New Purchase, signed by the Chiefs of the Six Nations, October 23, 1784, and confirmed by the Wyandot and Delaware Indians January 21, 1785. The Lenape were forced to move again, this time to Ohio.
Reference: History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania with Biographical Selections, J. H. Beers and Co., 1890, page 989.
"The first white man known to have been in this area was Bishop David Zeisberger, the Moravian missionary, who, in 1767, conducted his Delaware Indian converts from Friedenshuetten, present Wyalusing, Bradford County, to near the present site of Punxsutawney, Jefferson County. Surveys running the boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania, started their work in 1776, but the line was not determined until 1786-87. Colonel Daniel Brodhead let his Pennsylvania regiment through the county following the Sullivan campaign into the county of the Six Nations in 1779. In 1788, New Englanders, under General Rufus Putnam, traveled up the West Branch of the Susquehanna, then into the Simmemahoning, in canoes, thence trekked over the Allegheny Divide at Keating Summit on their way to settle at Marietta, Ohio."
Reference: Chronicles of Central Pennsylvania, by Frederic A. Godcharles, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1944, Vol. VII, page 307. [Since this reference has lots of typographical errors, be careful using it. Dan]
Since the area of Potter County was "purchased" from the Indians in 1784, one would expect white settlers to arrive soon after.
Supposely, the first know white settler in Potter County was Thomas Butler, a deserter from the British Army. He built a crude cabin at the mouth of Honeoye Creek, at present site of Shinglehouse, but he did not reside there very long. However, the years of his stay are unknown.
The first settlement of any known date was that of a Frenchman by the name of Jaundrie, who in 1806, settled on the Oswayo at a point now called Shinglehouse.
Reference: Chronicles of Central Pennsylvania, by Frederic A. Godcharles, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1944, Vol. VII, page 307. [Since this reference has lots of typographical errors, be careful using it. Dan]
Reference: History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania with Biographical Selections, J. H. Beers and Co., 1890, pages 990.
"The sale of liquor was prohibited in Potter county by special act of assembly, in 1860. .... This law has remained in force to the present time [1890]. Potter county is noted as the only county in the State that has a special law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, except for medicinal or mechanical purposes, and this only by the prescription of a regularly practicing physician."
Reference: History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania with Biographical Selections, J. H. Beers and Co., 1890, page 1009.
Dr. Charles Meine was the leader of a group of about 100 Germans who settled in 1855 in Germania, Potter Co., PA.
(See page 1071 in "History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania with Biographical Selections," J. H. Beers and Co., 1890.)
Ole Bull was a great Norwegian violinist who had an idea of forming a colony in America. In 1852 he purchased land in Abbot and Stewardson Townships, Potter Co., PA and brought 300 Norwegians and Danes with him.
The Ole Bull Settlement had major hardships and Ole Bull and most of the others left after about a year and a half.
(See page 1122 in "History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania with Biographical Selections," J. H. Beers and Co., 1890.)
Ole Bull State Park now stands where Ole Bull built his home.
Return to the Potter County Genealogy Project