The local history of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania is full of interesting stories about the intrepid souls who settled there, building the first towns and industries of the region. This is a well-researched and superbly composed chronicle which traverses various aspects of Schuylkill life. It begins with a profile of the German settlers who were the majority group who established themselves in areas of Penn State during the mid-1700s. We continue onto accounts of the initial settlements; essential matters include agriculture and an effective defense from aggressive Native American tribes. To better place the reader character profiles are given, describing certain people and the environs that surrounded them. As the decades went by, hamlets and villages grew into towns such as Pottsville. New industries were born and developed rapidly as the population burgeoned. The discovery of coal plus the advent of steam engines and the railroad led the economy of Schuylkill to prosperity. Churches were built to keep the locals mindful of the Lord, and schools were set up to educate the new generations. Amid all this activity, many intriguing stories and events ensued - together, these bring alive a distant era of grit, determination and hardiness.

Excerpt from Old Schuylkill Tales: A History of Interesting Events, Traditions and Anecdotes of the Early Settlers of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Those who have attempted to merge general historical facts with local incidents know what difficulty is encountered in pre serving a consecutive chronological arrangement of the events. The consequent irrelevant lapses that will occur in the embodi ment of such history and narratives, the latter of which, to assume an attractive and readable form, must necessarily be dressed in a style resembling, more or less, fiction. It should, however, be borne in mind that truth is stranger than fiction and that the rich vein of folk lore in Schuylkill Countv has not yet been sounded to its depths, there are still rich treasures to unearth. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Old Schuylkill Tales: A History of Interesting Events, Traditions and Anecdotes of the Early Settlers of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania by Ella Zerbey Elliott, first published in 1906, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

Devoted to the history, biography, genealogy, poetry, folk-lore and general interests of the Pennsylvania Germans and their descendants.