Cogan House Township, in Pennsylvania’s mountainous Lycoming County, can
boast that its entire 155-year-history is available in book form. "The
Early History of Cogan House Township," published in 1980 by Dr. Carl Taylor
and Milton Landis, chronicles the region from its incorporation
in 1843 to 1900. Authors Landis and Taylor examine the area’s great virgin forests that were responsible for drawing men to this region during the lumber boom of the late 1800s. Many chapters are devoted to the operation of sawmills and the
details of pioneer life. Thebook also covers early roads, formation of the township’s educational, religious and government
systems and the settlements that evolved into busy rural villages by the turn of the century.
The township’s story is continued in "CoganHouse
Township-The 1900s" published in December 1998 by Nancy E. Baumgartner.
A journalist and free lance writer
for the past twenty-five years, Nancy collected data, talked
with old timers, photographed ancient barns and gathered
intriguing stories about twentieth century rural life in preparation
for this book. She takes the reader through small villages, into one room
schools, hundred year old churches and mountain top hunting and fishing
camps. Intimate peeks into everyday life are delivered through the "voices
of the people" drawn from a collection of fifty tape recordings Nancy did
during seven years of research. In "Cogan House Township-The 1900s" the
changing face of rural life is woven into a readable story format liberally
laced with over 200 photographs and numerous maps. Genealogists will find
rich digging in the 61 page data section that includes lists of burials
in the Summit, Persun, Steam Valley and Cogan House Cemeteries; names of
deceased veterans in those cemeteries; extensive pupil lists from the township’s
early schools, as well as baptism, marriage and membership lists from area
churches. Family names like Ayres, Alexander, Bonnell, Connelly,
Harlan, Litzelman, McCracken, Ross, Roupp, Stryker, Thurston, Wittig, Zinck
and hundreds more appear in the pages of these two books. Together, the
volumes create a valuable resource for genealogists and researchers interested
in rural history. They provide a vivid, well documented and interesting
story of life during the past century and a half.
The books are available at the following Pennsylvania locations:
Otto’s Book Store in Williamsport; The Lycoming County Historical Society
in Williamsport; Cohick’s Trading Post in Salladasburg; Fry’s Restaurant
on Steam Valley Mountain and the Tioga County Historical Society inWellsboro.
The prices offered below are available only when ordering by mail from
Nancy E. Baumgartner, 468 Frenchtown Road, Trout Run, PA 17771.
Phone-570-634-2451. E-mail: <nanbau@juno.com>
_____"Early History of Cogan House Township," by Landis & Taylor.
Soft
bound, 274 pages, extensive photos and maps. $22.00 + 2.50 shipping:
PA
residents must include 6% sales tax.
_____"Index to The Early History " Notebook bound, 37 pages, $2.00.
_____"Cogan House Township-The 1900s," by Nancy E. Baumgartner: Soft
bound, 312 pages, 200 photographs, 3 maps, 66 page data section, indexed:
$27.00 + 2.50 shipping: PA residents must include 6% sales tax.
Both volumes can be shipped to one address for $3.50 postage.