Exeter-Township

Early History Of Exeter Township

   Exeter Township, Luzerne County, as now existing is part of old Exeter Township, which originally included Franklin and Ransom Townships. It contains an area of about twenty-three square miles in the extreme north-eastern corner of Luzerne County, on the right bank of the Susquehanna River.

    The early settlers made their homes and farms in the level valley of the township. The flood of 1785 caused many settlers to abandon their valley land or sell it at a low price and move to the hills. The heavy growth of timber on the back hills was taken as evidence by many that the soil must be rich and productive, and this helped many to decide to pass over the valley, cleared of much of its lumber by the indians.

    Exeter Township was a red man's paradise before the white man came. While there is no record of an Indian villge in the immediate vicinity, there is little doubt that it was familiar ground to the Indians. It is easy to stretch our imagination and picture Indian warriors passing along the Susquehanna and following the graceful sweep of the river around the Exeter Township of today.

    Exeter Township Settlement was one of the oldest in Wyoming Valley, and has the distinction of having had the earliest business enterprises. Lumbering was the first chief occupation, and farming followed it.

    In the spring of 1776, James Sutton with James Hadsall as partner built the first gristmill and sawmill on Sutton's Creek, later called Coray's Glen, still later called Simko's Grove. There the first grist was ground and the first board sawed. Hadsall was murdered and the mill destroyed during the invasion of 1778, and all that remains of the old mill is a crank preserved by the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society in its museum in Wilkes-Barre, as a relic of the oldest mill in the Wyoming Valley.

    Several years later Samuel Sutton, a son of James Sutton, built a second gristmill on the same site. In 1846 E.A.Coray, having become the owner of the site, erected the mill which existed until 1974 when it was destroyed by fire.

    E.A.Coray also built a sawmill farther up Sutton Creek. Lloyd Jones operated a plaster and clover-mill on Lewis Creek in 1845. The farmers brought their clover seed in the chaff to the mill to be separated and cleaned. The introduction of horse-power threshers put an end to this enterprise.

    One of the first taverns here was built by Lewis Jones in 1806. He also had a still, which did a fair business and constituted a valuable auxiliary to his tavern. He opened a store in 1806 and kept it two years.

    The "Red Tavern" was built the same year by Peter Sharpe and was kept by John Harding. It was a stage house at one time kept by Isaac Harding.

    There was also another tavern kept by the Scovells down river near the home of Squire Slocum. It was used for years as headquarters for the raftsmen of the river.

    The principal stock in trade was salt, which was worth $4.00 per bushel. Salt was used to cure the shad from the river. The salt came from Philadelphia and was carted over the mountains.

    The first Exeter Township post office, known as the Charleston post office, was established about 1865 with Charles Mantanye as post master. The name Charleston, was in reference to his name. In 1873 the name was changed to Harding through the instrumentality of William H. Wetherbee, the post master.

To the memory of those whose apsirations, efforts and endurance established our community.