Editing Elkland, Pennsylvania (section)

===Pioneer Settlers===

A man named Baker Pierce, who died in 1815, and whose remains were buried in the old [[Settler|pioneer]] graveyard at Osceola, appears to have been the first settler within the boundaries of Elkland borough. Just when he settled or how long he remained cannot now be ascertained, but it must have been during the earlier years of the first decade of the present century. The next to settle was the Taylor family, who located at Barney Hill. The family consisted of Mrs. Permelia Taylor and her three sons, Ebenezer, Philip and Mitchell, who emigrated from the [[Delaware Water Gap]], New Jersey, to the Wyoming valley, thence to Pipe Creek, below Owego, from which place, in 1806, they came to the Cowanesque valley. Ebenezer and Philip soon afterward removed to Osceola. The latter, his mother and his brother, Mitchell, all died before 1815, and were buried at Barney Hill. In 1882, their resting place being disturbed by the building of the Addison and Pennsylvania railroad, Capt. Charles R. Taylor and Charles Tubbs—descendants in the fourth generation of Mrs. Permelia Taylor—removed their remains to the cemetery at Osceola.

It appears that William Courtright acquired title to the land first bought and settled on by Philip Taylor, which, in 1814, he conveyed to Lintsford Coates. The Coates family came early, as early, so it has been stated, as 1806. In 1808, however, Timothy Coates Sr. acquired the title to {{convert|170|acre|km2}} of land, situated between the lands of Cyprian Wright and those of Amasa Culver, and covered by warrant No. 233 within the limits of what is now Nelson borough, and later he and his son, Lintsford, bought land and became residents of Elkland. The exact year is, however, difficult to ascertain. Daniel Holiday was here previous to 1810, in which year his son, Daniel, now a resident of Holidaytown, Middlebury township, was born.

In March 1811, came a colony from [[Elmira, New York]] and [[Southport, New York]], consisting of Samuel Tubbs Sr., his sons, Samuel, James and Benjamin, and his sons-in-law, John Ryon Jr., David Hammond, and Martin Stevens. The members of this colony became the owners and occupants of all the land from Barney Hill on the east to the Stull farm on the west, including the Davenport Island and farm on the south side of the river. John Ryon Jr. and his brother James settled in the center of Elkland, which became known as Ryonsville. John Ryon Sr., who joined the settlement later, was the first postmaster of the village and resided there until his death in 1832. John Ryon Jr. early became a prominent and leading spirit. He was elected a justice of the peace in 1816, a member of the legislature in 1822 and 1823, and a member of the state senate in 1824. He was the first [[merchant]] of the village and its most prominent citizen. In 1848, he removed to [[Lawrenceville, PA]], where he died July 22, 1859. Samuel Tubbs settled on what is now known as the Dorrance farm and soon became identified with the material growth of the village. David Hammond settled on the old Hammond homestead now owned by Mrs. C. L. Pattison.

The names given are those of the pioneers who settled within the borough limits, so far as it has been possible to ascertain them. In time the village took the name of Elkland, growing steadily year by year. it is now one of the most prosperous and progressive boroughs in the county.