Sunday, June 6, 1999
LONG-FORGOTTEN PLACE NAMES FOUND ON SITE ARE YOU HAVING
TROUBLE COLLARING THE OLD LUZERNE COUNTY COMMUNITY OF DOGTOWN?
IS YOUR SEARCH FOR PLEASANT VALLEY ANYTHING BUT ENJOYABLE?
YOU WON'T FIND DOGTOWN OR PLEASANT
VALLEY ON A MODERN COUNTY MAP. SO WHEN THESE NAMES, OR MANY OTHERS EQUALLY
PUZZLING, SUDDENLY TURN UP ON YOUR ANCESTORS' VITAL RECORDS, WHAT ARE YOU TO
DO?
NEW JERSEY RESIDENT GRAHAM
VAN SLYKE JR. TURNED HIS FRUSTRATION TO
Long-forgotten place names
found on site
Are you having trouble
collaring the old Luzerne County community of Dogtown?
Is your search for Pleasant
Valley anything but enjoyable?
You won't find Dogtown or
Pleasant Valley on a modern county map. So when these names, or many others
equally puzzling, suddenly turn up on your ancestors' vital records, what are
you to do?
New Jersey resident Graham
Van Slyke Jr. turned his frustration to productivity recently when he faced
that problem. Over the last few months he's built up a computerized data base
of forgotten or historical Luzerne County place names, along with a map showing
where they are or were. It's accessible on the Luzerne County Genweb site, a
Web site maintained by members of the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical
Society.
It all started when Van
Slyke found a reference to Mill Hollow on an 1884 birth certificate. Unable to
locate Mill Hollow on Luzerne County maps or on the U.S. Geological Survey's
Geological Names Information System, he posted a query on Genweb. Soon he received
a reply telling him that Mill Hollow was the original name of the borough of
Luzerne.
The mystery was solved. But
Van Slyke realized that there were still a lot of remaining old-time names that
would confuse genealogists, especially people who live outside Luzerne County
and would not have access to local libraries or historical societies.
So he got in touch with
Genweb. "My main focus is to make it useful for someone who comes up with
a name and doesn't know where to go," he says of his project.
To access Van Slyke's
information, call up Luzerne County Genweb at http://www.pagenweb.org/~luzerne/luzerne.htm.
On the menu you will find "Luzerne County Place Names." Open it up
and you'll see scores of old names, with coordinates so you can place them on an
accompanying map.
So where is (or was)
Dogtown? The coordinates put it in present-day Salem Township. Pleasant Valley
is the old name for Avoca. Intriguing, colorful and just plain discarded names
abound on the list. Bug Hollow was once in Swoyersville, while Kingtown was an
early name for Kingston. The sources of the information about the names are
also listed.
So far, Van Slyke has
relied on the Geological Survey for many of the names. But he adds more as fast
as he can find them in historical sources.
"It's a
challenge," he says. "I've seen it done in various degrees for other
counties."
He has taken on a big job.
Luzerne County has about 70 separate, self-governing municipalities, nearly all
of them containing sections or neighborhoods with their own names. Ask somebody
from Hanover Township where he lives and you might be told "Lee Park"
or "Askam."
A few towns have
consolidated with their neighbors over the years, leaving their names only in
memory or on the lintels of old school buildings. Many more have been created
by secession, the most recent being Bear Creek Village in 1991.
In some cases,
once-thriving settlements of mining or lumbering families have vanished
entirely. Other communities are still there but, like Duryea (formerly Marcy),
have adopted new names since the 19th century.
Van Slyke's interest in the
county stems from his wife, the former Viola Domain, a Nanticoke native whose
ancestors owned a farm in Dorrance Township. He has visited the area several
times and plans to return soon to collect more information about place names.
He believes the computer
age is a wonderful time for people studying family history.
"The Internet has done
it as far as genealogical information is concerned. Somebody could be out in
California doing research, and now they can do so much."
There are some good sources
here in Luzerne County for old-time community names. Stop by the Wyoming
Historical and Geological Society's library on South Franklin Street in
Wilkes-Barre and take a look at the Phillips compendium of local history- that
immense shelf of notebooks.
The books on Wilkes-Barre
and the chapters on the county's other cities, townships and boroughs all have
sections listing former names for communities, neighborhoods and settlements.
The old Wilkes-Barre Record
almanacs contain lists of the county's many rural post offices of times past,
often indicating what larger communities they were part of.
The society also has
numerous local histories containing information on the county's various towns.
Smaller local historical groups can offer town histories, sometimes compiled
for their communities' centennials.
The almanacs and some of
these books are also available at the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre.
Sheldon Spear's book "Wyoming Valley History Revisited" has a lengthy
chapter titled "The
Origin of Northeastern Pennsylvania Place Names."
News Notes: People
researching Irish ancestors are invited to check out the Irish Ancestral
Research Association's Web site at http://world.std.com/(tilde)ahern/TIARA.html.
The group describes itself as "a nonprofit organization established to
develop and promote the growth, study, and exchange of ideas among people
interested in Irish genealogical and historical research." Its mail
address is P.O. Box 619, Sudbury, Mass. 01776-0619.
If you have family
biographical and genealogical material about ancestors buried in Plymouth's
Shawnee Cemetery, the group that is restoring the old burial ground would like
to hear from you. You can send your material to Janice Williams, Shawnee
Cemetery, 388 W. Main St., Plymouth, Pa. 18651. All material will be turned
over to the Plymouth Historical Society. Incidentally, if you would like to
help the group financially, you can order a $1 iron-on decal commemorating the
cemetery project. Contact Williams at the above address. The group can always
use help with its ongoing cemetery cleanup too.
Remember, this column is
now accessible through your computer at www.leader.net. Then click on
"Genealogy." All back columns are available there as well.
Have you solved some tough
genealogical problems in your research? Do you have some tips you'd like to
share with others? Would you like to report a success story? Drop me a line
here at the paper. I'll get in touch with you and help you bring the benefits
of your experience to others.
Tom Mooney, The Times
Leader, 15 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711