Editing Montoursville, Pennsylvania (section)

===Federal period and later===
Permanent European-American settlement of this site did not take place until after the American Revolutionary War.<ref name="history"/> John Burrows gained credit as the founder of Montoursville because he sold lots to other settlers, as well as achieving political power and wealth.<ref name="King"/> He was born near [[Rahway, New Jersey|Rahway]], [[New Jersey]]. In his youth Burrows carried mail by horseback between [[New York, New York|New York]] and [[Philadelphia]]. He also served as a [[courier]] for General [[George Washington]] during the [[American Revolution]] for fourteen months. Following the war, Burrows migrated to [[Muncy, Pennsylvania]] and worked in the [[distilling]] business for several years.

He built up capital to make an invest in land near the mouth of Loyalsock Creek, which was developed as Montoursville. He bought {{convert|570|acre|km2}} in 1812. Burrows divided his land into lots in 1820 and sold them for $50.00 each.<ref name="King"/> In Lycoming County government,  Burrows served as a [[justice of the peace]] before being elected [[county commissioner]] in 1802, and to the [[Pennsylvania State Senate]] in 1808.

The first buyers of lots in Montoursville settled according to [[ethnicity]]. The [[Germans]] settled in the eastern end in a neighborhood called [[Coffee]]town, while the [[English Americans|English]] settled in a western neighborhood known as [[Tea]]town. In addition to selling the lots in Montoursville, Burrows operated a highly successful [[farm]]. He sent his produce by [[raft]] down the [[Susquehanna River]] to [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], where he was able to turn a profit. Burrows built the first [[gristmill]] in the town. He continued to sell lots up until his death in 1837.

His son Nathaniel Burrows was also a businessman. He opened the first [[general store]] in the town. He received the contract for construction of the [[Pennsylvania Canal (West Branch Division)|West Branch Canal]] in this section of Lycoming County. Nathaniel Burrows influenced the routing of the canal so that it ran closer to the town and his businesses. Montoursville was incorporated as a borough on February 19, 1850.<ref name="history"/>

John Else came as a child with his family to the Montoursville area in 1807 from [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Bucks County]], [[Pennsylvania]]. His family farmed along Mill Creek in what is now [[Mill Creek Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania|Mill Creek Township]]. As a young man, John Else worked to build the first permanent [[bridge]] over [[Loyalsock Creek]] in 1815. He made numerous improvements in the community.<ref name="King">{{cite web |url = http://www.montoursville.k12.pa.us/MASD/MontHistory/narrative/narrative1.htm | title = Narrative: Montoursville's history presented by chapter | access-date = 2007-05-02 | author = Don King | publisher = Christopher Garneau |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061209070021/http://montoursville.k12.pa.us/MASD/MontHistory/narrative/narrative1.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2006-12-09}}</ref> Else built many structures in Montoursville, working with his father on the first permanent house.