Purchase and Founding (1768-1776)

   
   

The land for Northumberland borough was officially purchased from the Iroquois in 1768 in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix.  Fort Stanwix marked an important treaty between representatives of each of the Six Nations and the English government, one in which the British government hoped to end hostile frontier relations with the Native Americans.  Likewise, the Native Americans hoped that a new, more permanent line would stifle British expansion, preserving their lands. 

After the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the plans for Northumberland borough were laid out in 1772 by John Lowden and William Patterson.  The area of Northumberland and Point Township is said to expand from the confluence on the Susquehanna river up toward the Montour ridges.  Robert Martin of New Jersey was the first official settler, having built a house and kept a tavern there since 1760.  Northumberland’s development briefly spiked, but the onset of the revolutionary war abruptly stunted the township’s growth.

Above Information from Herbet C. Bell (see bibliography)

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Map of Northumberland Borough

courtesy of ancestortracks.com

 

 
   
 

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