When Connecticut Yankees began to settle the Wyoming Valley in the 1760s, both the local Pennsylvanians and the powerful native Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) strenuously objected. The Connecticut Colony and William Penn had been granted the same land by King Charles II of England, resulting in the instigation of the Yankee-Pennamite Wars. In 1788, during ongoing conflict, a band of young Yankee ruffians abducted Pennsylvania official Timothy Pickering, holding him hostage for nineteen days. Some kidnappers were prosecuted, and several fled to New York's Finger Lakes as the political incident motivated state leaders to resolve the fighting. Bloody skirmishes, the American Revolution and the Sullivan campaign to destroy the Iroquois all formed the backdrop to the territorial dispute. Author Kathleen A. Earle covers the early history of colonial life, war and frontier justice in the Wyoming Valley.

Thomas Sayre came with his family from England to Lynn, Massachusetts, in the early 1630's. Among descendants of Thomas were clergymen, surgeons, attorneys, ambassadors, and representatives of almost every profession. Francis B., cowboy, professor of law, and ambassador, was son-in-law of President Woodrow Wilson. Zelda was the wife of American novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and subject of one of his books. David A. was a silversmith, banker, and founder of Lexington's Sayre School. Many Sayre descendants were taken by wars in service to America and never had the chance to win recognition for their inherent abilities. SAYRE FAMILY, Another 100-years, in a large part, focuses on the early pioneers who came to or passed through the Ohio Valley of West Virginia and Ohio. At least three direct descendants of Thomas had made settlements in that area by the Nineteenth Century. One, David Sayre, came from New Jersey about 1778, and left many descendants who still lived in that area at the beginning of the Twenty-first Century. The bulk of this genealogy covers those, while other Sayre families whose ancestral links were not discovered are also included. The three generations of ancestors above each family block makes tracing easier.