{"id":3532,"date":"2015-07-10T17:44:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T22:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/?p=3532"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T15:50:20","slug":"pennsylvania-counties-relevant-to-my-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/pennsylvania-counties-relevant-to-my-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Counties Relevant to My Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berks County<\/h2>\n

Luzerne County<\/h2>\n

Luzerne County was created on September 25, 1786, from part of Northumberland County and name for the Chevalier de la Luzerne, French minister to the United States. Wilkes-Barre, the county seat, was laid out in 1772 and named for two members of Parliament, John Wilkes and Isaac Barre, both advocates of American rights. <\/p>\n

Pennsylvania settlers, Indians, and a Connecticut settlement company engaged in a three-way struggle for the Wyoming Valley. The Yankee Pennamite Wars were fought there from 1769 to 1782. In 1786 Connecticut’s acceptance of a federal award to Pennsylvania allowed Pennsylvania to form the county, and a 1799 statute compromised the land titles claimed by Connecticut families. Led by the Delaware “King” Teedyuscung, Indians committed the first Wyoming Massacre of settlers on October 15, 1763; with British assistance Indians led the second Wyoming Massacre on July 3, 1778. <\/p>\n

Northampton County<\/h2>\n

Northampton County was formed from parts of Bucks County on March 11, 1752. It originally encompassed the areas now covered by Northampton, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne Counties in northeastern PA. It was named for Northamptonshire, England, where Thomas Penn’s father-in-law, the Earl of Pomfret, lived. In 1812, part of the county became Lehigh County and in 1843, another chunk was lost to become Carbon County. <\/p>\n

\"Northampton<\/a>
Northampton County Map<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The county seat is Easton, named for the Earl’s estate. It was incorporated as a borough on September 23, 1789, and became a city on November 2, 1886. <\/p>\n

The original inhabitants, the Lenni Lenape, had a peaceful relationship with the early settlers as a result of the diplomatic talent of William Penn. The relationship deteriorated when Penn’s two sons orchestrated the notorious Walking Purchase in 1737. Tragic Indian raids occurred in both Northampton and Lehigh counties which culminated in Sullivan’s march from Easton, PA, to northeast PA and NY state. The Indian threat was finally eliminated and settlement of the area progressed at a fast pace. <\/p>\n

Moravians, a religious sect from Germany, were prominent among the early settlers of Northampton County. They founded Bethlehem in 1740 and Nazareth in 1741. Other early settlers were German farmers from Bucks County and Perkiomen Valley and Scots-Irish from New Castle. <\/p>\n

The region is known for coal, railroads, steel, slate, education, and canals. Lehigh Canal opened in 1829. There were also flour mills, textile factories and zinc mines. <\/p>\n

In 1798, discontent over the federal tax on windows resulted in Fries’ Rebellion. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Berks County Luzerne County Luzerne County was created on September 25, 1786, from part of Northumberland County and name for the Chevalier de la Luzerne, French minister to the United States. Wilkes-Barre, the county seat, was laid out in 1772 and named for two members of Parliament, John Wilkes and Isaac Barre, both advocates of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[53,69,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pennsylvania","category-places","category-united-states"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3viLY-UY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9496,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/useful-genealogy-links\/","url_meta":{"origin":3532,"position":0},"title":"Useful Genealogy Links","author":"Karen","date":"September 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Primary Sources Making of America is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. 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I put them out here to share this info for anyone researching this subject. Thrown, Molded, Dipped, and Glazed explores the history of ceramics in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chester County"","block_context":{"text":"Chester County","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/places\/united-states\/pennsylvania\/chester-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Thrown, Molded, Dipped, & Glazed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ThrownMoldedDippedGlazed01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ThrownMoldedDippedGlazed01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ThrownMoldedDippedGlazed01.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9986,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/the-french-racial-strain-in-colonial-pennsylvania\/","url_meta":{"origin":3532,"position":2},"title":"The French Racial Strain in Colonial Pennsylvania","author":"Karen","date":"October 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This article caught my attention because of my own LaBar family in Northampton and Lehigh Counties, Pennsylvania. 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Beaver","author":"Karen","date":"October 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In my files is a booklet from 1963 titled \"Greenville, Pennsylvania, 125th Anniversary\". Most of the booklet is comprised of a history of Greenville written by Roy C. Beaver. I've transcribed his essay here and provided scans of the booklet. The Booklet Tucked inside the booklet was a letter from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mercer County"","block_context":{"text":"Mercer County","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/places\/united-states\/pennsylvania\/mercer-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1963-07-07-Throngs-Turn-Out-for-Greenvilles-125th-Anniversary.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1963-07-07-Throngs-Turn-Out-for-Greenvilles-125th-Anniversary.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1963-07-07-Throngs-Turn-Out-for-Greenvilles-125th-Anniversary.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1963-07-07-Throngs-Turn-Out-for-Greenvilles-125th-Anniversary.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/1963-07-07-Throngs-Turn-Out-for-Greenvilles-125th-Anniversary.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4004,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/chadds-ford-area-timeline\/","url_meta":{"origin":3532,"position":4},"title":"Chadds Ford Area Timeline","author":"Karen","date":"March 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"1655 Dutch ship wrecked within the mouth of the Brandywine River, laden with brandy or \u201cbrandewijn.\u201d 1684 Birmingham Township settled and incorporated. Chichester Meeting founded. 1686 Concord Meeting established. 1690 Birmingham Meeting founded. 1670 Andrew Braindwine received a grant of land near the mouth of the Brandywine River. 1704 William\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Around Chadds Ford"","block_context":{"text":"Around Chadds Ford","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/category\/places\/united-states\/pennsylvania\/delaware-county\/around-chadds-ford\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chadds Ford Inn, 2007, Photo Courtesy Karen Furst, for web","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chadds-Ford-Inn-2007-Photo-Courtesy-Karen-Furst-for-web.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chadds-Ford-Inn-2007-Photo-Courtesy-Karen-Furst-for-web.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chadds-Ford-Inn-2007-Photo-Courtesy-Karen-Furst-for-web.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chadds-Ford-Inn-2007-Photo-Courtesy-Karen-Furst-for-web.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6299,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/indian-captivity-narratives\/","url_meta":{"origin":3532,"position":5},"title":"Indian Captivity Narratives","author":"Karen","date":"November 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My husband and I both have ancestors who were abducted by native peoples in the 18th century. 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