Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net _The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784: A Study of Frontier Ethnography_ BY GEORGE D. WOLF Commonwealth of Pennsylvania THE PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL AND MUSEUM COMMISSION Harrisburg, 1969 THE PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL AND MUSEUM COMMISSION JAMES B. STEVENSON, _Chairman_ CHARLES G. WEBB, _Vice Chairman_ HERMAN BLUM MRS. FERNE SMITH HETRICK MARK S. GLEESON MRS. HENRY P. HOFFSTOT, JR. RALPH HAZELTINE MAURICE A. MOOK THOMAS ELLIOTT WYNNE DAVID H. KURTZMAN, _ex officio Superintendent of Public Instruction_ MEMBERS FROM THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY MRS. SARAH ANDERSON, _Representative_ PAUL W. MAHADY, _Senator_ ORVILLE E. SNARE, _Representative_ JOHN H. WARE, III, _Senator_ TRUSTEES EX OFFICIO RAYMOND P. SHAFER, _Governor of the Commonwealth_ ROBERT P. CASEY, _Auditor General_ GRACE M. SLOAN, _State Treasurer_ ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF SYLVESTER K. STEVENS, _Executive Director_ WILLIAM J. WEWER, _Deputy Executive Director_ DONALD H. KENT, _Director Bureau of Archives and History_ FRANK J. SCHMIDT, _Director Bureau of Historic Sites and Properties_ WILLIAM N. RICHARDS, _Director Bureau of Museums_ _Preface_ In an Age when man's horizons are constantly being widened to include hitherto little-known or non-existent countries, and even other planets and outer space, there is still much to be said for the oft-neglected study of man in his more immediate environs. Intrigued with the historical tale of the "Fair Play settlers" of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna River and practically a life-long resident of the West Branch Valley, this writer felt that their story was worth telling and that it might offer some insight into the development of democracy on the frontier. The result is an ethnography of the Fair Play settlers. This account, however, is not meant to typify the frontier experience; it is simply an illustration, and, the author hopes, a useful one.