The purpose of this website is to make publicly available the lists contained within the abovementioned book that may be of interest to genealogists or historians.  This book contains several lists of persons associated with the settlement of Wyoming Valley and the formation and history of Hanover Township up to 1885.  It focuses on the area located along the Susquehanna River surrounding today's city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  Much of the early history of the valley, up to about 1800, draws heavily from an earlier text by Charles Miner, 1845, History of Wyoming, which I strongly recommend to those seeking more information about these places and time periods.

I own a copy of the valuable history referenced above, which has been passed down in my family because we can trace some of our ancestors back to three of the old families of Hanover listed in this book, the Keisers, Saums, and Sorbers.

I am interested in supplementing and correcting the information presented here, and encourgage persons to contact me if they wish to make such contributions, or serve as a contact for one or more of these families.

Any differences between what is found here and what the text contains are my editorial attempts to condense this material, my misunderstanding of the material, or my typographical errors.  I apologize beforehand should this lead anyone astray.  The material on these pages found in red text is supplemental information not found in the abovementioned book.

This book is now available on CD, which can be obtained from:

THE LISTS:

1. The first two hundred persons enrolled as actual settlers to man their rights in the first five townships established in Wyoming Valley, dated 2 June 1769.  [Note: to man one's rights meant that the person settled on the land, built upon it and lived there.] (pp. 70-71)

2. The forty men from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania who accompanied Captain Lazarus STEWART into the Wyoming Valley in February, 1770, and expelled from the valley the Pennamites at Fort Durkee at Wilkes-Barre.  [Note: Pennamites were Pennsylvania residents who had leased one hundred acres in Wyoming Valley for seven years from the heirs of William PENN on the condition that they defend these lands from the Connecticut claimants.  They first arrived to this area in January, 1769 and occupied the buildings (located at Mill Creek, one mile above the present city of Wilkes-Barre) that were left by the massacred settlers in 1763.] (pp. 144-145)

3. The associates of Captain Lazarus STEWART and William STEWART who received rights to the First Division of lots in Hanover Township because of their service to the Susquehanna Company, made sometime between 1771 and 1772, and a short narrative on the history of each lot. (p. 151, pp. 167-175, p. 179)

4. The 100 officers first designated on 2 March, 1774, to serve the town of Westmoreland (located on the site of today's Wilkes- Barre, PA).  At this time Westmoreland included the following Districts: Wilkes-Barre; Hanover (from Wilkes-Barre south and west along the Susquehanna River, and east on the Lehigh River); Plymouth (all land west of the Susquehanna R. for 15 miles); Kingston (with land west to the town line); Pittston; North (including Exeter, Providence and all land west and north to the town line); Lackaway (including the Lackaway settlement, Blooming Grove, and Sheolah - mostly on the Lackawaxen River in Pike Co. [in 1885]); East (including Coshutunk, and all settlements on the Delaware). (pp. 85-86)

5. The persons receiving rights to lots in the Second Hanover Division, dated 8 June, 1776, and a short narrative on the history of some of those lots. (p. 158, pp. 175-177, p. 179)

6. A list of the men, as far as can be recollected, who were killed in or escaped during the Wyoming Battle and Massacre of 3 July, 1778.  Those who were resident landowners of Hanover, and generally over the age of 21 at that time, are also shown, including those residents not involved in the battle or massacre because they were too old, too sick, had no firearms, or absent from the valley at that time. (pp. 104-108, 164-165)  In addition, I have provided a brief account of the Wyoming Battle and Massacre as a separate link.

7. The persons receiving rights to lots in the Third Hanover Division, dated 12 Sept 1787, and a short narrative on the history of some of those lots. (p. 166, pp. 177-179)

8. The persons who purchased the first thirty-six lots in the town of Nanticoke between 9 Feb and 14 March 1794 at a cost of 3 pounds 15 shillings each (about $ 10.00).  These lots were subdivided from Lot 27 of the First Division of Hanover by it's owner, William STEWART. (p. 181)

9. The earliest remaining list of taxable landowners of Hanover Township, dated 1796, consisting of eighty-six men. (p. 245- 246)

10. The 1799 tax assessment list of Hanover Township, consisting of 110 residents and non- residents, along with the size of their landholdings, their taxable possessions, and the total value of land and possessions. (pp. 250-252)  [Note: in 1796, Hanover consisted of all lands from the Susquehanna River to the Lehigh River, 15 miles beyond the eventual certified Hanover Township boundary.  About half of Hanover south of the certified Township boundary was cut off in 1839, the remainder in 1853. (p. 246-247)

11. Those men from Hanover Township known to have served in the War of 1812.  The war ended in January, 1815.  No list of volunteers or drafted men from Hanover is known to exist.  Only these few listed below have been identified. (p. 265)

12. The tax assessment list of 1830, along with those who were single freemen.  Single freement were probably those not owning land.  This list included all men living in Hanover Township at this time.  Also at this time, "Hanover is bounded N.E. by Wilkes-Barre, E. and S.E. by the Lehigh River and Northampton County, S.W. by Sugarloaf and Newport, and N.W. by the Susquehanna River, which separates it from Plymouth." (p. 280, quoted from Chapman's History of Wyoming, 1830)  These lands included all that were called Hanover, Bear Creek, Denison, and Foster Townships and White Haven Borough. (p. 283)

13. The list men from Hanover known to have fought in the Mexican War of 1846-48.  No record of those men from Hanover who fought in this war has been found.  Those few known are listed below. (p. 301)

14. The one hundred thirty-five Hanover Township soldiers serving in the United States army for any length of time during the rebellion of 1861-1865 who received an honorable discharge, were killed, or died in during their army service.  Note that those men not naturalized could claim exemption from military service. (pp. 315-316)

15. A selected list from Israel Daniel Rupp's, Collection of Upwards of 30,000 Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French, and Other immigrants in Pennsylvania From 1727 to 1776.  These selected entries consist of those German, Dutch, or Swiss male immigrants to Pennsylvania, along with their arrival year in America, that bear the same or a similar surname to the early inhabitants of Hanover Township.  Doubtless, these immigrants are the ancestors of many of those Hanover inhabitants found in this history book. (p. 377)

16. Genealogical tables of the old Hanover Township families to 1830. (pp. 387-486) 

17. Descriptions of the old homes standing about 1840-1850 along the River, Middle, and Back Roads of Hanover pertaining to the Hanover families listed in the genealogical tables above. (pp. 354-375)  This information is organized with each road on a separate page, and links between them.