COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES in 17 7 5 (o fonn Malioning* and in 1786 another portion wa$ ronoved to lorm D erry township. The same year Chillisquaque was lonncd Irom Malioning. In 1785 "C ataw assa" w as (ormed from Augusta* the name o f that township grad ually being changed in spelling to "Catawese*” "Catawcssa*” and tinally remaining as "C ata w issa." T his latter township w as again re duced by the erection o f Kalpho or Shamokin township in 1788* and by Mifflin towmsliip in 1797. In 1786 the county o f Luzerne took aw ay part of W yoming township and the remainder w as named Fishingereek. In 1797 this area w as again abbreviated by the formation of Green Briarcrcek township, and the following ye ar (he township o f Bloom w as erected. In 179 9 Greenwood w as formed from Fishingcreck* and in 18 1a H arrison or Sugarloaf w as form ed from the latter. Columbia county was taken from North umberland and separately organized in 1813* by an act of Assembly o f M arch azd, and in** eluded the townships o f Chillisquaque and Turbut. Danville w as named in the report of the commissioners appointed by the governor to lay out the county and select a county scat. In 18 1 5 the two townships o f Chillisquaque and Turbott (o r Turbut* as it is now s p e lls ) were returned to Northumberland. This prompt return of (he townships after the loca* (k>n of the county seat was construed by many to be a trick to give Danville preference over Bloomsburg, and for years thereafter a con tinual controversy raged between the rival towns as to the location of the courthouse. In 18 16 the .Assembly restored a portion of the two townships (0 Columbia county, the parts annexed being now Liberty and Lim e stone tow'oships in Montour county. Again in 18 18 another legislative act cut o ff a large part of the eastern side o f Columbia and gave it to Schuylkill county. T his dismemberment of the county did not satisfy any of the rival claimants for the county seat. Repeated ap plications were made (0 (he Legislature to re move the scat of government to Bloomsburg, and finally in 1845 the act w as passed to author ize a vote on the question. The result w as a decisive one, the m ajority for removal hcing 1,334 out o f a total o f 4 49 2 votes. The county buildings being completed, the records were removed from Danville in November. f ^ 7 . and the first session o f court was held in Bloomsburg in Jan u ary. 1848. B u t the location of the county seat at Bloomshurg created another complaint from those who now had to travel a great distance
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to reach the courts and officials* and the case w*as as bad as before* except that now Danville was the sufferer. So by an act approved M ay 3* 1850, the county o f Montour was created* including the townships o f Franklin, Mahoningi Valley* Liberty* Limestone* Derry* A n thony* and the borough o f Danville. The wrangling w as not over* however* and complaints were made that too much territory had been taken from Columbia* so finally in (853 the division line between the (wo counties was established as it is at present. B y the same act* what w as Madison township in Columbia county w as renamed Pine* and the parts o f Madison township which had been set off to Mount Pleasant and Hemlock were reannexed to (he old territory in Columbia county. T h e division line as named in the act w as as follow s: Beginning at (he Northumberland count)' line* at or near the house o f Samuel Reader* thence a direct course to the center o f Roaring creek in Franklin township* twenty rods above a point in said crcck opM site the lK>use o f John V^ought, thence from the middle o f said creek to the Susquehanna river, thence up the center of the same to a point opposite where the present county line o f Columbia and Montour strikes the north bank of the river* thcncc to the 5iaid north bank, thence lo the schoolhouse near the residence of David Smith* thence to a point near the residence o f Daniel Smith, thence lo the bridge over Dcerlick run on (he line between Derry and Madison town ships, thcncc by the line between said town ship o f Madison and (he townships of Derry and Anthony to the line o f Lycoming county. The township o f Roaringcreek and parts of the townships o f Franklin, Madison and West Hemlock were also taken from Montour and rcanncxed to Columbia. A s at present consti tuted, Columbia county contains an area o f a little over 40a square miles, and a population of 48.467 persons. The division line o f 1850 so dismembered the townships o f Madison, Hemlock and Mon tour that some readjustment of the lines be came necessar)’, so in (852 what rcniaincd of Madison south o f M illville w as attached in part to Mount Pleasant and part to Hemlock, the old name adhering to that portion which extended along the county line northwest of Greenworxl. B y the act o f 18 53 the latter was renamed Pine, and the r c sto r^ portion, with those atlachc<l to Hemlock and Mount Pleas ant. formed into a township under the old name. The division effected in the township o f
