The Sullivan Review
January 20, 1983

Where Sullivan County Fits in the Commonwealth’s Genealogy

By Don Cox
The Country Squire of Appledeere Farm

Readers of the “Sully” who have followed the fascinating Ingham’s History of Sullivan County going back to the early 1800’s should be interested in the early genealogical history of the Commonwealth and where this county fits into the growth pattern of Pennsylvania.

Since Pennsylvania is presently celebrating its 300^th anniversary this year, citizens of the 67 counties should show a sense of pride in their roots.  Thanks to the 1981 Pennsylvania Genealogical Map of the Counties and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, located at 1300 Locust St., Philadelphia, 19107, the following historical facts are worth noting:

Sullivan County was incorporated prior to the Civil War on March 15, 1847, as the 60^th of 67 counties.  Ironically, all of the surrounding counties that border Sullivan were incorporated much earlier. Witness Lycoming (1795), Bradford (1810), Luzerne (1786), Columbia (1813), and Susquehanna (1810).

Only seven other counties, mainly in the northwestern quadrant, like Forest (1848), Lawrence (1849), and Cameron (1860) came into the fold after Sullivan.  Few could guess that the last to enter was nearby Lackawanna (which made its bow in 1878 when Luzerne was cut in half.  It seems that Wilkes-Barre and Scranton wanted separate governing bodies.)

In 1850, shortly after the county was incorporated, the census showed a population of 3690.  Fifty years later, the population tripled to 11, 290 in 1900.  The 1980 population was 6, 349, marking quite a drop in 80 years.

The county was created by chopping off a part of Lycoming Co, and it was named for Senator Charles C. Sullivan who took an active part in procuring passage of the bill creating the county in the legislature.  Laporte, the county seat, was laid out three years after incorporation (in 1850) and was named for John LaPorte, the Surveyor General of Pennsylvania from 1845-1851.

The Genealogical Map of the Commonwealth (that can be obtained by writing to the State Capitol in Harrisburg) shows the expansion of the Commonwealth over a 210-year span commencing with the initial landing of William Penn at Philadelphia in 1682.  The first three counties, Bucks, Chester and Philadelphia, were incorporated a year later in 1683, with the rest following until Lackawanna came in last in 1878.  Before the counties could be created, the deeded sections of land had to be created, beginning of course with the southeastern portion that Penn got by purchasing the land from the Indians that now comprises the first three counties.  All in all, there were 12 major deeded land additions ending with the Erie Triangle (jutting out into Lake Erie) that was purchased from the Indians in 1792.

The land comprising that present Sullivan County was deeded to the pre-Revolutionary War colony on November 5, 1768, at Fort Stanwix following the defeat of the French in the French and Indian War.  This tenth major slice of added land to the burgeoning Commonwealth was called the “New Purchase” and ran from the northeast where Wayne County is located to the southwest, following the Allegheny Mountain range lines.  There were two final additional deeded purchases made after 1768, one encompassing the present Allegheny County area and its neighbors and the Erie Triangle.

So, from twelve major deeded areas, beginning with William Penn’s landing on the banks of the Delaware,the 67 counties were carved during the two centuries of growth of the Commonwealth.

Some of the counties are so small that they do not make much sense logically, but were created as a result of political back-scratching and gerrymandering over the years by legislators with peculiar axes to grind.

Fortunately, Sullivan was not one of those since its natural geographical boundaries give it a unique place in the Commonwealth.