certificate of his having taken the oath of allegiance, might be suspected of being a spy and to hold principles inimical to •the United States, should be taken before the nearest Justice of the Peace to take the oath of alle- giance, and upon his refusal to do so be jailed and remain so without bail until he

- many and in Switzerland until the middle of the fifteenth century. But in 1452, says Ezra Eby in his history of the Eby family, page five, the whole valley of Luzerne, Switzer- land, was laid under an interdict against the Waldenses by the Church of Rome. In the fifteenth century, also, religious

' History of Lancaster County that he had probably become addicted to a roving life in consequence of having accompanied the well-known trader and soldier, Colonel George Cro- gan, who, the same authority states, was his uncle, while on the latter's trading excursions into the regions be- yond Ohio. On this

Pennsylvania troops that marched to �the defense of Baltimore, in 1812. He served an appointment as Prosecuting Attorney for Dauphin coudty, and later was thrice elected to fill the same posi- tion. Meanwhile, his reputation was rapidly growing, and in 1814 he was elected to the Congress of the United States

wielders of the whip and goose-quill pen. The old log meeting-house was used for a while as a school, when the first public school building was erected be- tween the present brick meeting- house of the Old Mennonites and the Bethel Church on the hill. This pub- lic school building nurtured some of the

THE ELSER HOMESTEAD AND FAMILY HISTORY, The Elser homestead, better known as Elser's saw mill, is located on Mid- dle Creek, in Clay township, about one-half mile southeast of the village of Clay. The original tract contained 104 acres of limestone land, while the tract at present contains 96 acres

Strasburg and was engaged in "mechanicai pur- suits," and it was from 1787 to 1810 that he resided there, and during that period made some clocks. In 1810 he returned to Ireland, where he inher- ited an interest in an estate, which he collected, and, in 1822, he returned to the United States and to

the Revolution, serving in Capt. John Boyd's battalion. He was prominently identified with the his- tory of the church. He died November Capt. Hugh Pedan. Capt. Hugh Pedan, who lived at Big Chickies, was with Col. Lowry in 1777 in the battles of Germantown and Brandywine and theJersey campaigns. He