Seth Nelson, original outdoorsman of the PA Wilds

By Bees O’Brien

KEATING, PA- As the days tend to get colder and shorter, it’s a reminder to local residents in rural Pennsylvania that hunting and trapping seasons are quickly sneaking up on all of us. You can’t talk of such seasons in this end of the county without somebody mentioning the original pioneer of the outdoors for Clinton County.

His name was Seth Nelson. He lived a long life and lived until the ripe old age of 94, although that may be contested as you will see later in this writing. Lou Bernard has written about Seth on occasion for The Record and being the season for such, I decided to remind the good people of Western Clinton County of a true legend, or at least he believed in that fact.

Seth Nelson may have in fact been the originator of crazy, often time hard to believe outdoor stories. He may have told the very first hunting B.S. stories on record.

To truly understand Seth Nelson’s legendary status, one must understand first the area that he set up his homestead and raised a family. He was born in Penns Valley, but eventually found his way to Potter County, Cameron County and eventually the Keating area of Clinton County. He would father six daughters, three sons and even have a small town named after him on top of Keating Mountain. Nelsonville thrived during Seth’s lifetime. Foundations and a cemetery are all that remains of Nelsonville, but the legacy is still very much alive and well.

Keating during this time period was a bit strange. Witchcraft was a big local interest and they even had their own monster hunter in Isaac “Loop Hill Ike” Gaines. This is why Seth Nelson was a perfect character for the Keating area.

I say “character” out of the utmost respect for Mr. Nelson. Stories of Seth Nelson are legendary and perfect campfire talk.

Seth Nelson claimed to have killed the last mountain lion in Pennsylvania, a fact that had since been rebuffed. He did in fact live during the time period that the last known lion was killed in PA, but it was actually recorded to have been killed hundreds of miles from Keating. This story has made its rounds and to this day people still claim to have “seen” mountain lions on Keating Mountain. Maybe it’s possible, but science has led many to believe otherwise.

He also claimed to once come home after a day of checking traps and found a wildcat in his house. Seth fought off the cat with only his bare hands and chased it through the night and away from his home.

Another outlandish story originated from Alter Rock along present day Rt. 120. Nelson claimed that he was camping on the rock formation and fire began to rain down on him during a meteor shower, but who am I to doubt him?

The craziest and creepiest Seth Nelson story didn’t even originate from Nelson himself.

It is well documented that Seth did everything by the books, including purchasing hunting licenses. This was before the automobile, so Nelson would walk every September from Nelsonville to the county courthouse in Lock Haven to purchase his hunting license. The trip is almost 40 miles, 80 miles round trip and he was said to do this every year even at the age of 93. This is where the story gets weird. In 1907, two years after his death a county clerk claimed that Seth Nelson walked into the courthouse and purchased a hunting license. The clerk had grown to know Mr. Nelson quite well over the years and swore that it was in fact Seth Nelson. Nobody has ever been able to disprove this event, but that was just a normal happening when dealing with Keating area mystique.

Did Seth Nelson kill PA’s last mountain lion, did he fight off an irate wildcat in his home, did fire rain down on him and did he really live beyond his recorded date of death? Nobody may ever know the answers to these questions, but one thing is for sure.

Seth Nelson was a true Clinton County outdoors legend.