C H A PTER X IV BI.O O M SBLTR G Bloomsburg is essentially a city of homes. Its abundant resources make it an ideal place in which to live and raise a fam ily, and as the biographical portion o f this history will show the people have not been neglectful of these advant:^:^heart o f a rich and pro gressive agricultural district, supplied with the finest o f soil, provided with an abundance of pure water, elevated to a height above the sea which gives purity o f air, and with a popula tion noted fo r culture, refinement and intellec tual attainments, there is nothing to prevent the continued growth o f this beautiful town. And beautiful she is, in truth. Most of the streets are shaded by closely set maple trees, the roadways are kept in smooth and dustlcss condition, the residents vie with each other in the cultivation o f flowers, and a spirit o f civic pride induces everyone to exert his best efforts to keep the town at the front in every endeavor that will make for her growth and advance ment. F O U N D IN G T H E T O W N
In 177 3 the site of the present town of bloomsburg was not only located in the town ship o f Fishingereek, county o f N ’orthumberland, of the State o f Pennsylvania, but at the same time designated by the State o f Connec ticut as part of the township o f Wyoming, of their county o f Westmoreland, claimed by them at the time. Under the Connecticut claim Jam es McClure came here in M ay, 1769. and located a home site, while on his w ay to Wyoming, but he seems to have believed in the right o f Pennsylvania to dispose of the land, for he obtained a patent from Francis Stewart in 1772. Stew art had never at tempted to improve the land, which he had survc>'cd in 1^69 under the title o f "B e a u cham p." McClure, after his purchase of the tract, built a log house, and within that humble domicile Jam es McClure, J r ., the first white child born within the forks of the Susque hanna. saw the light.
The McClures were not long alone. During the year of their arrival Evan Owen (the founder of Berw ick) and John Doan came from Chester county with the intention o f founding a settlement o f Quakers. Owen lo cated south o f Kinney's run, while Doan set tled near its mouth. Samuel Boone, also a Quaker, emigrated from E xeter township, Northumberland county, in 1775, and secured title to four hundred acres at the "P o in t," be tween the river and Fishing creek, extending along the banks o f both. From all the evi dence so far unearthed it seems that the only other families living on the site o f Bloomsburg before the Rc%’olutionary w ar were the C lay tons, Coopers and Kinneys. Thom as C 1 a>’ton was a Quaker from Chester county, Kinney was from New Jersey, while nothing is known of the nativity o f Cooper. Ju st before (he commencement of the Revo lutionary w ar Jam es McClure died, but his widow c u ltiv a te the plantation until Ihe W y oming massacre, in 1778, when she placed all her portable possessions on a raft and floated down the Susquehanna to Lancaster, remain ing there until all danger was over. With her went the widow o f Capt. Lazarus Stew art, who had been killed at Wyoming. M aj. M oses V an Campen, who had married the daughter o f Widow KlcClure. built the second fort in the county on her farm, one mile above the mouth of Fishing creek, calling it after his respected mother-in-law. The site o f this fo rt is now marked by a tablet placed there by Fort McClure Chapter, D. A . R ., o f Bloomsburg. T he fate of the last of the pioneers o f Bloomsburg— Cooper— w as most unfortunate. Robert Lyon, a soldier o f Fort Augusta (S u n b u ry), was sent to W yoming with a boatload o f stores. H e landed at the mouth o f Fishing creek and left his canoe and gun in the care o f his dog, intending to visit the daughter o f Cooper. He was captured a short distance aw ay by Shenap, an Indian chief, and taken to Niagara, where he was finally released by his
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