Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

Stephen King is afraid of a lot of things. Cars, houses, animals, children….The list goes on. He’s scared of plenty of stuff. How do I know this? Because he frightens me, and half the country. A writer can’t make someone feel something unless they feel it themselves. So Stephen King finds fear in things. Dave Barry finds humor in things.

And E.L. James….Well, anyway, writers have to feel something deeply in order to convey that feeling.

Me? I write to fascinate. And in order to do that, I need to be fascinated myself. Clearly, I am fascinated by Clinton County. One of the things that interests me is the geography, the townships and the facts around them. Since I need a column today, let me throw a few random township facts at you.

When Clinton County was founded in 1839, there were originally twelve townships. This later grew to twenty-one. (And let me tell you, if you’re writing a list of them, you do NOT want to miss one, or there will be hell to pay from the residents.) One of the earliest was Allison Township, named after Reverend Francis Allison. It was once one of the biggest, too, but it was eliminated in 1870 and made part of Lock Haven. Later, Allison was recreated, but only a smaller portion of it, making it the smallest township.

Did you know that Lamar Township was named after a guy who had nothing to do with Clinton County? Major Marion Lamar, Revolutionary War soldier. He died during the battle of Paoli, after shouting some encouraging words to his men. To the best of my knowledge, Marion Lamar never set foot in this area, but a local judge was enough of a fan to push for a township being named after him.

Castanea Township, on the other hand, was named after the chestnut trees. It was settled by Italians, and the word for chestnut in Italian is Castagna. Over time, this was adjusted to Castanea. (Cas-tan-EE-uh. NOT Cas-TEE-nuh. I’ve stated this before, and been praised for it by practically every Castanea resident.)

And how about Chapman Township being the birthplace of voter fraud? Seriously. In 1837, a representative from Governor Joseph Ritner came to North Bend and created ballot box stuffing. He encouraged people to vote for Ritner, go have a beer, and then come back and vote for Ritner again.

There are two Keating Townships: East Keating and West Keating. Which is a little ridiculous, as the collective population of both is about thirteen people. East Keating was originally Grove Township, but it was later renamed East Keating Township to avoid confusion with the Grove Township over in Cameron County. Both were settled by fugitives running north on the Underground Railroad.

Wayne Township is named after a man who is buried in two graves. Revolutionary War hero Mad Anthony Wayne was buried on Presque Isle, but his family later wanted him to be returned to Radnor, on the other end of the state. His son Isaac rode up, found out that his father had not decomposed, and bribed a local doctor to boil his father’s body, pouring the flesh back into the first grave. The bones were transported to Radnor, where they were interred.

Colebrook Township was once in two unconnected sections. Currently, it’s mostly on the north side of the Susquehanna River, but there was a spot to the far northeast corner of the county, as well, later ceded to Tioga County, that was also Colebrook Township. On the old maps, it’s labeled “Part of Colebrook” with no further explanation.

This is the kind of thing that fascinates me, these random facts. I hope, reading this, I’ve made them fascinate you, too. I’m no Stephen King, but I do try.