Life wasn’t easy for the early settlers in the area that would eventually become Clinton Township and Montgomery Borough. Conflicts with Native Americans were something to be feared and the “Big Runaway” occurred in 1778 (from the book, “The History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania,” by John Franklin Meginness). Early settlers had to flee for their lives after a compassionate Native American named Shaney John found out that an attack was being planned and he warned Cornelius Low, who was one of the earliest known settlers to come to what’s now Clinton Township. The settlers had to escape down the river to Fort Augusta, which was located in what’s now Sunbury. Some of the settlers were too fearful to return to the area, including Cornelius Low, his wife, and children.

Eventually settlers began to come back to the area, and Meginness’ book tells the story about the winter of 1787 that brought such extreme cold and snowfall that the early Montgomery-area settlers were “half-starved” before it was over.

During that winter, snow fell, but the bitter cold temperatures wouldn’t allow it to melt, so it kept accumulating until it reached over four feet deep.

The settlers ate the food that they had put back for the winter, but it wasn’t enough for many of them.

The weather made hunting extremely difficult. The area was sparsely populated. Roads had been established, but pack animals were needed to keep the roads clear in the winter, but there simply weren’t enough to do the job. It was reported that men could only leave their home with snowshoes. “The hunters searched the woods on snow shoes; sometimes they fell through the crust over deep drifts, and they had to ‘tramp, tramp, tramp’ under them until they packed the snow into a stairway to get out” (Meginness).

One early settler was Major John Ten Brook. He was a Revolutionary War veteran from New Jersey and a relative of Cornelius Low. In 1876, Major Ten Brook came to the area to establish a farm.

Major Ten Brook was a kind and compassionate man who tried to help his struggling neighbors. Meginness wrote, “Major Ten Brook was a good marksmen and hunter, and he kept several families in venison through the winter. The snow had bent down many small trees and broken large ones. The bent and broken trees formed a sheltering place for the deer, where they huddled, starved, or froze to death during the long and rigorous winter.” It was reported that on one hunt, he fired one shot at two deer sheltering under the trees and killed both deer.

Relief for the settlers came in the spring when the roads became passable. Major Ten Brook’s father-in-law, whose name was only listed as Mr. Emmons, came to the rescue with a wagon so full of supplies it took four horses to haul it. He brought corn, wheat, seed, salt, and garden seeds. But perhaps one of the most important things he brought was a fishing seine, a large net that resembles a modern-day tennis net. It was reported to be hundreds of feet long.

Meginness wrote, “With this seine the settlers went to the fishery at Lawson’s island, about two miles above the mouth of Black Hole creek, and at the first haul caught 2,500 shad, each weighing from four to eight pounds! The half-starved people thought this haul almost as miraculous as when the net was cast in the sea of Galilee! The statement was cut in the bark of a soft maple standing on Lawson’s island, which could be plainly read for 20 years afterwards.”

Mr. Emmons came back to the area again that same spring with his son, “with another four-horse wagon load of salt, seeds, and provisions, which they distributed among the needy. In return for their kindness the people turned in and assisted them with the big seine to catch a wagon load of shad, which they dressed, salted, packed in barrels, and took back with them.”

On the way home to New Jersey, Mr. Emmons died in a tragic accident. He was camping in his wagon when a tree fell on it. Meginness reported, “the sharp end of a limb was driven through his head, killing him instantly. Thus died the kind hearted man while returning from an errand of mercy to the starving settlers of Black Hole valley.”

Major John Ten Brook eventually moved to White Deer and began a farm. He lived a long life and passed away about the age of eighty.

Lawson’s island doesn’t appear on any modern maps. According to Meginness, after the canal system was built, the change in the waters caused the island, which was between seven to ten acres, to erode away. The state later compensated the owner.