The Townships

By Christopher Miller

Cut. Chop. Slice. Dice. No, I am not giving you my salsa recipe, if I had one that would be nice, but rather I am telling you the story of Grove Township’s short (21 year) history in Clinton County.

Not much exists in the written record about Grove Township’s existence. It does however exist, as it appears on an 1860ish map of Clinton County which is on display at Ross Library in Lock Haven.

It was formed originally as a part of Lycoming County, before Lycoming and Centre Counties met the chef for slicin’ and dicin’ to form Clinton. It was named, as legend has it, in honor of Peter Grove whose dealings with the early Native American peoples of the area were noted.

In 1839 Grove Township also had the lands of modern-day East and West Keating Townships within its borders. It was, though, only five years later that the slicin’ started and Grove lost part of its land mass to form the original Keating Township. Grove then regained some of its original landmass in 1860 when a chunk of Keating was returned, but this only added to the greater confusion as Cameron County, next door and on a border line with Grove Township in Clinton County, also had their own version of Grove Township. Confused yet? Basically Clinton and Cameron Counties had their own Grove Township which only added into the confusion of telling stories of Clinton, err, or Cameron Counties.

Anywho, this “tale of two Grove Townships” was short lived. In 1860 Clinton’s Grove Township was added back to Keating Township thus officially ending the reign and changing the world maps forever. (That sounds a bit more dramatic than it should, but it makes for humorous reporting.)

An old historical atlas recorded the following people and a hotel residing within Grove Township: Bingham Heirs, A. Cameron, H. Jordan, D. Keller, J. Kunes, G. Mason, T. Perry (hotel owner), and G. Trump. It is unclear if these are just the notable or documented homesteads, but old census records record anywhere from 239 people (1840), 258 people (1850) 487 people (1860) and 494 people at the drawing of the old Clinton County map at the library.
As I saw those names, I chose a few at random to look up in the card file at the library.

D. Keller – nothing. J. Kunes – no hits. T. Perry – nada. But I had an interesting bite on H. Jordan.

A short note was published in Renovo Record on April 4, 1872: “The last will of Hugh Jordan, of Keating Township (formerly Grove), was placed upon record in the Recorder’s office, Lock Haven, on Friday last. Upon the death of his wife, Elizabeth, (she having no children) his farm is bequeathed to the trustees of the Central Normal School.”

So knowing this information and asking myself “why would a farmer way out in Keating Township (formerly Grove) donate his farm and lands to the future Lock Haven University,” I went out on a quest for knowledge.

Being a former student and protégé of Lou Bernard, and wanting to feel a moment of “the student outshining the master,” I began writing this column.

I went to the courthouse to pull the Will records, which are housed in a book labeled Orphan’s Court, and found the Will for Hugh Jordan being recorded very early on. If only “the master” would have passed on his knowledge of how to read the fancy old script of the early county documents.

The early handwriting is very difficult to read, but this much can be discerned, “…that all my real estate shall be sold to the best advantage and the proceeds being paid to the Board of Trustees of the New Central Normal School Association of the State of Pennsylvania…”

The Central State Normal School, as Lock Haven University was first called, was chartered in 1870. Hugh Jordan passed on in 1872 only two years after the charter of the Normal School. According to the 1870 census record, Hugh Jordan, farmer, 73, died a semi-wealthy man having real estate valued at $3,000 and personal estate (bonds, stocks, livestock, plate, jewels, furniture, etc.) valued at $160. Interestingly enough, the 1870 Census Instructions were given to not list personal property that was valued at under $100, so this $160 was kind of a big deal. His wife Elizabeth was listed on this enumeration record as “keeping house” as a profession, and unfortunately could not read. Things such as cannot write, cannot read, attended school, or blind were classified on the early enumeration records.

Though Grove Township does not exist anymore today as it once was, it can be celebrated in this article. All in its 21 year history.

And this concludes The Townships series. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for The Boroughs, The Villages, and The City!