When the whites first settled in Lycoming Creek valley they found an Indian village of some pretentions located on the stream about where the Town of Hepburnville is situated. The place was called Eeltown, but this name must have been given to it by some white man either before then or afterwards, for there is no such name in the Indian language. It is frequently referred to in the early records, but nowhere is there any explanation of why it was called Keltown. At any rate little is known of the place except from tradition and the finding of a large number of Indian tools and utensils where the village is supposed to have stood. This site is included within the limits of what is now Hepburn Township, which is one of the most productive in the county and which has an interesting history by reason of the fact that it was settled by three distinct sets of emigrants. The western end was occupied by Scotch-Irish, the middle section by the German Dunkards; and the eastern end by Quakers.

Hepburn Township was erected in 1804 and was named in honor of William Hepburn, who had so much to do with having Lycoming established as a separate county in 1795. It is the thirty-fifth in size and has an area of 8,320 acres. Copper ore and Galena have been found at some places, but not in sufficient quantities to be of commercial value. Most of the land is rolling except in the northern part, where it is mountainous. Lycoming Creek washes its western border and Mill Run flows through a portion of it. There is another small stream which empties into Lycoming Creek known as Long Run. The land is fertile and there are many good farms. It is almost wholly an agricultural section.

One of the earliest settlers was James Thompson, who opened a hotel at Cogan Station in 1820. Samuel Reed was another early comer and built a house on the site of the present Hepburnville in 1800. Peter Marshall was a pioneer who came to the section in the neighborhood of Balls Mills in 1801. He was a son of the famous Edward Marshall, the principal in the noted "Indian Walk" which commenced September 19, 1737, and which has been the subject of so much historical controversy over the question as to whether the Indians were fairly treated. Henry Southard, a Revolutionary war soldier, came to Blooming Grove about the beginning of the nineteenth century and some of his descendants are still living in the township.

Blooming Grove was settled by Germans. In 1804 Wendle Harman came to this country and purchased a tract of land in Hepburn Township, which had just been erected. His idea was to found a colony of his countrymen, and in this he was successful. John Heim, Leonard Ulmer, Gottlieb Heim, Michael Bertsch, Leonard Staiger, Ferdinand Frederick Scheel, John George Waltz and George Kiess, Sr., followed him to the new settlement and began the development of the country. Many of these men had suffered persecution in Germany and came to the United States to secure freedom. The religious belief of the colonists was Dunkard, and one of the first things they did after they had erected log cabins for themselves was to build a church, which is still standing and used as a place of worship. Their first crops proved so successful and bloomed so exuberantly that the colonists gave to the place the name of Blooming Grove, and by this name the settlement is still known. One of the prominent men of the colony at an early day was Rev. Gustavus Schultze, a Lutheran minister of the gospel, who had served as a mere boy under Napoleon Bonaparte. He left a lasting influence on the community, which he served for many years. Many of the descendants of the original families still live in the township.

Balls Mills, another important hamlet in the township, was settled by a number of pioneers, one of whom was John Ball, who came to this country from England in 1798 and first settled near Hillsgrove, Sullivan County, afterwards coming to Hepburn Township. It was from him that Balls Mills took its name. His descendants are still living near the old homestead which he established, and the family has always been closely identified with the development of the township. One of John Ball’s sons, William Ball, built a fulling mill, a clover mill and later a cradle mill for manufacturing grain cradles. The product of this mill was sold all over the country, but principally in the West. It is still standing. Afterwards William Ball erected a woolen factory and a sawmill. Samuel Ball operated the cradle mill for several years and was very successful. The clover mill also proved a paying investment. Samuel Ball was an inventive genius, and many devices which afterwards proved profitable were the creatures of his active brain.

Cogan Station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, is a postoffice established March 30, 1860, with Josiah Bartlett as the first postmaster. At one time there was an iron works at Crescent of a rather pretentious character, which subsequently became the property of Peter Herdic and was operated successfully down to the time of his failure. Education and religion have always been carefully looked after by the people of the township, and today there are ample provisions for both. The old Dunkard Church in Blooming Grove is a landmark and is preserved in all its original character except in recent years it has been weatherboarded. At the time of its erection it was built of logs. Quakers were among the earliest settlers in the eastern part of the township, but their community is now located in Eldred Township, which was formerly a part of Hepburn. In 1890 Hepburn Township had a population of 688.