The Townships
Greene: Known for a misspelled name, possible massacre, strong Amish influence
By Christopher Miller
This article headline in Clinton County Times caught my eye – Correct Spelling of Green Township is Established. It looks like the spelling of Green, or Greene Township caught the eye of the geographic police, also known as the Pennsylvania Geographic Board.
“Among other decisions made at a meeting of the United States Geographic Board on December 5, 1928, is one affecting the spelling of “Green” relating to Green township, Clinton County…the name is spelled “Green” on the headstone over the grave of Captain Harry Green, for whom the township is supposed to have been named, and not “Greene,” as the name has so often spelled in the past.”
Let’s back up a bit to when the township was organized in February 1840.
The township name was derived from a legend that a Captain Green, with a party of men, was captured by a band of Native Americans many years ago in the gap known as Greene’s Gap (or Green’s Gap, depending who you ask and how they wish to spell it – see the book Juniata Memories by Henry Shoemaker), and a number of the men killed.
Now before I go into the story of the township, I should probably touch on the story of the massacre of Captain Green and his men.
A monument marking the spot of a massacre was dedicated in November of 1916 at Carroll in Sugar Valley, to the memory of Captain Harry Green and comrades who were slain in February 1801.
“According to most reliable records,” the article said, “this was the last Indian massacre in Pennsylvania, having occurred long after peace had been declared between Great Britain and the United States and over a year after the death of George Washington.”
According to the story, Captain Green had been chasing the native peoples as far as the hills behind Renovo when they, and a large number of others, swooped down on Captain Green and his men and killed every one of them. The inscription of the marker, which still stands today, reads:
“One mile south of this marker is the spot reported in local history as the scene of the massacre of Captain Harry
Green and four companions, by marauding Indians, in February, 1801.”
Greene Township, as it is known, called, and spelled today, is located at the southeastern point of the county.
Because of its proximity to Sugar Valley, the soil of the region “compares favorably with that of other portions of the county.”
Alsom notably mentioned in the early history of the township was the public house that was kept by “an old German by the name of Zimmerman.” “He keeps a public house for the accommodation of people passing through the gap between Sugar and White Deer Valleys…his place is quite a resort for hunters.”
What may be more valuable than alcohol, to some, may be the early mineral wealth of the township. “Fine specimens of marble, suitable for statuary and like purposes, have been found at various places throughout Sugar Valley.”
The first known settlement in Greene Township was made about the year 1800 by Rudolph Karstetter. Many individuals of notable last names have been residents of the township since the early days, including those by the last name of Schrack, Brown, Snyder, Brumgard, and Stamm.
As of the writing of this early history in the 1870s, it was reported that the township had ten school houses “in which school is kept open five months each year, the teachers receiving twenty-seven to thirty dollars per month, and pay their own board.”
Those who know the township or even the Sugar Valley area well, are familiar with the Winter Road. But what about the Summer-side Road?
“The summer-side road is being used more in the summer and less in the winter than a parallel road running along the shady side of the valley, which is known as the winter-side road,” the book chapter recalled. “These two roads run about one mile apart nearly the whole length of the valley, and are connected every mile or so by crossroads.”
Logansville (Loganton), as it was once known, has always been a major village of industry and commerce in the general Greene Township area.
Today, Green Township rests with about 1,700 people living within her confines. It is a major agricultural center with a predominantly large Amish community.
