Joseph B Deise was born Oct. 16, 1809 at Wayne Township, Clinton County, PA. Most family trees have his parents listed as George Deise and Mary Deshner.
Joseph was married to Sarah Quiggle.
Joseph died May, 22, 1890 at Harrisburg, PA and was taken to Wayne Township, Clinton County, PA for his burial.
The Clinton Democrat, Lock Haven, PA, Thur., May 29, 1890.
Death of Joseph B. Deise.
Joseph B. Deise, father of John Q. Deise, of Wayne township, this county, died at the residence of his son-in-law ? B Houtz, in Harrisburg, on Thursday morning, in the 81st year of his age. Funeral services were held in Harrisburg on Saturday, and the remains reached Wayne on news express Sunday where interment was made in the lower cemetery. The following were the pall bearers who officiated at the funeral: Jacob Quiggle, G. W. Sours, M. H. Shurr, John Simcox, G. M. Biser and George Mitcheltree. Rev. Shambach conducted the religious services.
The deceased gentleman was the father of the noted and eloquent Hon. G. Omet Deise, who died many years ago, and also of James M. Deise, Esq. formerly district attorney of this county, who has also been reposing beneath the sod for many years. The deceased was well known to nearly everybody in Lock Haven and particularly from the older residents. (entire line unreadable). We are told that he suffered with cancer, but do not know whether that was the cause of his death or not. He was a man of rugged frame and had always, until lately, enjoyed good health. Mr. Deise was likewise the father of Mrs. John F. Throne, who moved from here to Pittsburgh.
Mr. Deise was born in Wayne township, this county, October 16, 1809. He was converted and joined the Methodist church in 1844, and served as class leader and steward in said church until 1861, when he withdrew from the Methodist and attached himself to the Evangelical church, of which he continued to be a member until his death. He was a kind father to his family and a man who commanded the respect and esteem of his fellow men. Politically Mr. D. was Democrat, strong to the faith and ardent and active in the work. He was one of the first two Democrats in Wayne township, the other one being Benjamin Sours, father of the present Col. G. W. Sours. The two elected themselves delegates to represent the Democracy of Wayne in the convention at Williamsport, the said township, then being Lycoming county.
The Clinton Democrat, Fri., Feb. 5, 1858.
Died. In Wayne township, Clinton county, on the 21st of January, Joseph Graffius, youngest son of Joseph B Deise, aged 9 years, 7 months, and 5 days.
(Does not specify burial place).
The Wild Animals of Clinton County, Pennsylvania, complied by Henry W Shoemaker, From Conversations and Notes of John H Chatham, John Q Dyce, Thomas G Simcox, Seth Iredell Nelson, Seth Nelson Jr, and other Clinton County Naturalists. Previously the compiler had frequently discussed the wild animals of Clinton County with the late John Q. Dyce, also of McElhattan, and had made many trips to study the animals and birds with the late Thomas G. Simcox, of the same place, an ardent outdoor man and naturalist.
“John Q. Dyce, in 1900, stated that there was a log showing marks of beaver's teeth in McElhattan Run until 1865 flood carried it away, and that John Stake, of McElhattan, who had trapped beavers all his life secured the last beaver in Kammerdiner Run, a tributary of McElhattan Run, in 1863.”
S. Marion Smith, born in 1837, a former resident of Wayne Township, Clinton County, stated that about 1845 wild cats were plentiful along the north slope of the Bald Eagle Mountains and several were "treed", and shot from the tall rock oaks which used to stand where the present McElhattan Boy Scout Camp is located. C. Adolphe Shurr, born in 1872, said that about 1892 the Dyce and Shurr boys, great hunters, treed a wild cat on the Abe Simcox place back of Bald Eagle Mountain (Wayne Twp.) and shot it; as it fell the cat clutched a branch with its teeth, and dying hung from the bough by its teeth. One of the boys climbed up the tree and chopped off the branch and two of the hunters carried the dead cat to McElhattan hanging by the teeth.
John Q. Dyce placed the date of the taking of the last otter on McElhattan Run, as 1885, by a party of Sugar Valley hunters."
"A sable was killed near the Rockey place, at head of Rockey's Run, in fall of 1895. T. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“Of all the bats in Clinton County the old-timers liked least of all the rare Pigmy Bat, or Night Wren. Probably that was because so many of the early settlers were of Scotch-Irish origin, or at least had Scotch blood in their veins. Though classed by hasty genealogists as a P. D., I am a Scot by blood. During the Seventeenth Century my ancestor Alexander Dyce, a schoolmaster, migrated to Germany to teach conic sections to a Prince of the Blood, who eventually gave him a monopoly and he became a successful merchant of Hungarian wines. The name became Germanized into Deyse, and when they landed in Pennsylvania English scribes altered it to Deise, but we have now gone back to the original Scottish spelling "Dyce." Throughout our wanderings we never lost our Caledonian traditions, and Christian names, together with the superstitions of the Highlands. One of them was a dread of the appearance at certain times of small bats or wrens. A Pigmy Bat in the house meant a disaster of some kind, it never failed in ten generations of Dyces. The old families of Clinton County, no matter what their origin, Greek, Scotch-Irish, Huguenot, Waldensian, Spanish, German, or Dutch, each had its familiar animal spirit or token; I know them all, and could tell them to you if you cared to hear them. And though we knew that trouble followed these visitors from another world, we were in a sense proud of them, as the families of newer origins did not have them all of the Scotch-German families had them, the Campbells, Camerons, Buchanans, Nelsons, Hays, Youngs, Jacks, Barclays, Peppers, Kerrs, Reids, Silvius, and others. Their names had all been slightly altered to German pronunciation after they had gone to Germany for business advancement and then come to Pennsylvania, but they were a wheel within a wheel, a clannish group, who considered themselves above the rank and file of Pennsylvania Germans, married only among themselves, cherished their armorial bearings, traditions and ghosts, and many have been the great men in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, including Major William McKinley, who have this blood in their veins. J. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“Old settlers used to claim that the Vampire Bat would milk cows, goats, and sheep, and some times puncture their backs and drain them of blood. I have found dead lambs in a pasture so emaciated that they really looked as if they had been sucked dry of all their blood. J. Q. Dyce, 1901.”
“Those of us who liked to play jokes always called the Hairy Bat the "Vampire", and ascribed to it all kinds of evil doings. They have been occasionally met with in Clinton County, especially near the river banks. J. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“When one of these House Bats got in a room it always made for the hair of unmarried girls or maidens. Hence we always called it a Maiden Hair bat. It was always a proof of the girl's virginity if a bat entangled itself in her hair. Girls so visited were always treated with unusual respect at all Church gatherings, and were the vestals of our pioneer mountain meeting-houses. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The last herd of old-fashioned big deer were crusted and killed by some of our home boys, near head of McElhattan Run, in winter of 1869-1870. A few scattering ones were run to the river by dogs after that, but they were entirely gone in Wayne Township by 1885. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The Moose came down from the North in particularly severe winters. They were killed in Centre, Clearfield, and Blair Counties, so undoubtedly they crossed Clinton County in their migrations. I think that the Poorman family were the last Clinton County hunters who had killed these magnificent animals. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The smoky shrew was prevalent about Keating when I worked on the log drives near there, about 1870. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
Joseph was married to Sarah Quiggle.
Joseph died May, 22, 1890 at Harrisburg, PA and was taken to Wayne Township, Clinton County, PA for his burial.
The Clinton Democrat, Lock Haven, PA, Thur., May 29, 1890.
Death of Joseph B. Deise.
Joseph B. Deise, father of John Q. Deise, of Wayne township, this county, died at the residence of his son-in-law ? B Houtz, in Harrisburg, on Thursday morning, in the 81st year of his age. Funeral services were held in Harrisburg on Saturday, and the remains reached Wayne on news express Sunday where interment was made in the lower cemetery. The following were the pall bearers who officiated at the funeral: Jacob Quiggle, G. W. Sours, M. H. Shurr, John Simcox, G. M. Biser and George Mitcheltree. Rev. Shambach conducted the religious services.
The deceased gentleman was the father of the noted and eloquent Hon. G. Omet Deise, who died many years ago, and also of James M. Deise, Esq. formerly district attorney of this county, who has also been reposing beneath the sod for many years. The deceased was well known to nearly everybody in Lock Haven and particularly from the older residents. (entire line unreadable). We are told that he suffered with cancer, but do not know whether that was the cause of his death or not. He was a man of rugged frame and had always, until lately, enjoyed good health. Mr. Deise was likewise the father of Mrs. John F. Throne, who moved from here to Pittsburgh.
Mr. Deise was born in Wayne township, this county, October 16, 1809. He was converted and joined the Methodist church in 1844, and served as class leader and steward in said church until 1861, when he withdrew from the Methodist and attached himself to the Evangelical church, of which he continued to be a member until his death. He was a kind father to his family and a man who commanded the respect and esteem of his fellow men. Politically Mr. D. was Democrat, strong to the faith and ardent and active in the work. He was one of the first two Democrats in Wayne township, the other one being Benjamin Sours, father of the present Col. G. W. Sours. The two elected themselves delegates to represent the Democracy of Wayne in the convention at Williamsport, the said township, then being Lycoming county.
The Clinton Democrat, Fri., Feb. 5, 1858.
Died. In Wayne township, Clinton county, on the 21st of January, Joseph Graffius, youngest son of Joseph B Deise, aged 9 years, 7 months, and 5 days.
(Does not specify burial place).
The Wild Animals of Clinton County, Pennsylvania, complied by Henry W Shoemaker, From Conversations and Notes of John H Chatham, John Q Dyce, Thomas G Simcox, Seth Iredell Nelson, Seth Nelson Jr, and other Clinton County Naturalists. Previously the compiler had frequently discussed the wild animals of Clinton County with the late John Q. Dyce, also of McElhattan, and had made many trips to study the animals and birds with the late Thomas G. Simcox, of the same place, an ardent outdoor man and naturalist.
“John Q. Dyce, in 1900, stated that there was a log showing marks of beaver's teeth in McElhattan Run until 1865 flood carried it away, and that John Stake, of McElhattan, who had trapped beavers all his life secured the last beaver in Kammerdiner Run, a tributary of McElhattan Run, in 1863.”
S. Marion Smith, born in 1837, a former resident of Wayne Township, Clinton County, stated that about 1845 wild cats were plentiful along the north slope of the Bald Eagle Mountains and several were "treed", and shot from the tall rock oaks which used to stand where the present McElhattan Boy Scout Camp is located. C. Adolphe Shurr, born in 1872, said that about 1892 the Dyce and Shurr boys, great hunters, treed a wild cat on the Abe Simcox place back of Bald Eagle Mountain (Wayne Twp.) and shot it; as it fell the cat clutched a branch with its teeth, and dying hung from the bough by its teeth. One of the boys climbed up the tree and chopped off the branch and two of the hunters carried the dead cat to McElhattan hanging by the teeth.
John Q. Dyce placed the date of the taking of the last otter on McElhattan Run, as 1885, by a party of Sugar Valley hunters."
"A sable was killed near the Rockey place, at head of Rockey's Run, in fall of 1895. T. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“Of all the bats in Clinton County the old-timers liked least of all the rare Pigmy Bat, or Night Wren. Probably that was because so many of the early settlers were of Scotch-Irish origin, or at least had Scotch blood in their veins. Though classed by hasty genealogists as a P. D., I am a Scot by blood. During the Seventeenth Century my ancestor Alexander Dyce, a schoolmaster, migrated to Germany to teach conic sections to a Prince of the Blood, who eventually gave him a monopoly and he became a successful merchant of Hungarian wines. The name became Germanized into Deyse, and when they landed in Pennsylvania English scribes altered it to Deise, but we have now gone back to the original Scottish spelling "Dyce." Throughout our wanderings we never lost our Caledonian traditions, and Christian names, together with the superstitions of the Highlands. One of them was a dread of the appearance at certain times of small bats or wrens. A Pigmy Bat in the house meant a disaster of some kind, it never failed in ten generations of Dyces. The old families of Clinton County, no matter what their origin, Greek, Scotch-Irish, Huguenot, Waldensian, Spanish, German, or Dutch, each had its familiar animal spirit or token; I know them all, and could tell them to you if you cared to hear them. And though we knew that trouble followed these visitors from another world, we were in a sense proud of them, as the families of newer origins did not have them all of the Scotch-German families had them, the Campbells, Camerons, Buchanans, Nelsons, Hays, Youngs, Jacks, Barclays, Peppers, Kerrs, Reids, Silvius, and others. Their names had all been slightly altered to German pronunciation after they had gone to Germany for business advancement and then come to Pennsylvania, but they were a wheel within a wheel, a clannish group, who considered themselves above the rank and file of Pennsylvania Germans, married only among themselves, cherished their armorial bearings, traditions and ghosts, and many have been the great men in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, including Major William McKinley, who have this blood in their veins. J. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“Old settlers used to claim that the Vampire Bat would milk cows, goats, and sheep, and some times puncture their backs and drain them of blood. I have found dead lambs in a pasture so emaciated that they really looked as if they had been sucked dry of all their blood. J. Q. Dyce, 1901.”
“Those of us who liked to play jokes always called the Hairy Bat the "Vampire", and ascribed to it all kinds of evil doings. They have been occasionally met with in Clinton County, especially near the river banks. J. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“When one of these House Bats got in a room it always made for the hair of unmarried girls or maidens. Hence we always called it a Maiden Hair bat. It was always a proof of the girl's virginity if a bat entangled itself in her hair. Girls so visited were always treated with unusual respect at all Church gatherings, and were the vestals of our pioneer mountain meeting-houses. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The last herd of old-fashioned big deer were crusted and killed by some of our home boys, near head of McElhattan Run, in winter of 1869-1870. A few scattering ones were run to the river by dogs after that, but they were entirely gone in Wayne Township by 1885. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The Moose came down from the North in particularly severe winters. They were killed in Centre, Clearfield, and Blair Counties, so undoubtedly they crossed Clinton County in their migrations. I think that the Poorman family were the last Clinton County hunters who had killed these magnificent animals. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The smoky shrew was prevalent about Keating when I worked on the log drives near there, about 1870. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
Joseph B Deise was born Oct. 16, 1809 at Wayne Township, Clinton County, PA. Most family trees have his parents listed as George Deise and Mary Deshner.
Joseph was married to Sarah Quiggle.
Joseph died May, 22, 1890 at Harrisburg, PA and was taken to Wayne Township, Clinton County, PA for his burial.
The Clinton Democrat, Lock Haven, PA, Thur., May 29, 1890.
Death of Joseph B. Deise.
Joseph B. Deise, father of John Q. Deise, of Wayne township, this county, died at the residence of his son-in-law ? B Houtz, in Harrisburg, on Thursday morning, in the 81st year of his age. Funeral services were held in Harrisburg on Saturday, and the remains reached Wayne on news express Sunday where interment was made in the lower cemetery. The following were the pall bearers who officiated at the funeral: Jacob Quiggle, G. W. Sours, M. H. Shurr, John Simcox, G. M. Biser and George Mitcheltree. Rev. Shambach conducted the religious services.
The deceased gentleman was the father of the noted and eloquent Hon. G. Omet Deise, who died many years ago, and also of James M. Deise, Esq. formerly district attorney of this county, who has also been reposing beneath the sod for many years. The deceased was well known to nearly everybody in Lock Haven and particularly from the older residents. (entire line unreadable). We are told that he suffered with cancer, but do not know whether that was the cause of his death or not. He was a man of rugged frame and had always, until lately, enjoyed good health. Mr. Deise was likewise the father of Mrs. John F. Throne, who moved from here to Pittsburgh.
Mr. Deise was born in Wayne township, this county, October 16, 1809. He was converted and joined the Methodist church in 1844, and served as class leader and steward in said church until 1861, when he withdrew from the Methodist and attached himself to the Evangelical church, of which he continued to be a member until his death. He was a kind father to his family and a man who commanded the respect and esteem of his fellow men. Politically Mr. D. was Democrat, strong to the faith and ardent and active in the work. He was one of the first two Democrats in Wayne township, the other one being Benjamin Sours, father of the present Col. G. W. Sours. The two elected themselves delegates to represent the Democracy of Wayne in the convention at Williamsport, the said township, then being Lycoming county.
The Clinton Democrat, Fri., Feb. 5, 1858.
Died. In Wayne township, Clinton county, on the 21st of January, Joseph Graffius, youngest son of Joseph B Deise, aged 9 years, 7 months, and 5 days.
(Does not specify burial place).
The Wild Animals of Clinton County, Pennsylvania, complied by Henry W Shoemaker, From Conversations and Notes of John H Chatham, John Q Dyce, Thomas G Simcox, Seth Iredell Nelson, Seth Nelson Jr, and other Clinton County Naturalists. Previously the compiler had frequently discussed the wild animals of Clinton County with the late John Q. Dyce, also of McElhattan, and had made many trips to study the animals and birds with the late Thomas G. Simcox, of the same place, an ardent outdoor man and naturalist.
“John Q. Dyce, in 1900, stated that there was a log showing marks of beaver's teeth in McElhattan Run until 1865 flood carried it away, and that John Stake, of McElhattan, who had trapped beavers all his life secured the last beaver in Kammerdiner Run, a tributary of McElhattan Run, in 1863.”
S. Marion Smith, born in 1837, a former resident of Wayne Township, Clinton County, stated that about 1845 wild cats were plentiful along the north slope of the Bald Eagle Mountains and several were "treed", and shot from the tall rock oaks which used to stand where the present McElhattan Boy Scout Camp is located. C. Adolphe Shurr, born in 1872, said that about 1892 the Dyce and Shurr boys, great hunters, treed a wild cat on the Abe Simcox place back of Bald Eagle Mountain (Wayne Twp.) and shot it; as it fell the cat clutched a branch with its teeth, and dying hung from the bough by its teeth. One of the boys climbed up the tree and chopped off the branch and two of the hunters carried the dead cat to McElhattan hanging by the teeth.
John Q. Dyce placed the date of the taking of the last otter on McElhattan Run, as 1885, by a party of Sugar Valley hunters."
"A sable was killed near the Rockey place, at head of Rockey's Run, in fall of 1895. T. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“Of all the bats in Clinton County the old-timers liked least of all the rare Pigmy Bat, or Night Wren. Probably that was because so many of the early settlers were of Scotch-Irish origin, or at least had Scotch blood in their veins. Though classed by hasty genealogists as a P. D., I am a Scot by blood. During the Seventeenth Century my ancestor Alexander Dyce, a schoolmaster, migrated to Germany to teach conic sections to a Prince of the Blood, who eventually gave him a monopoly and he became a successful merchant of Hungarian wines. The name became Germanized into Deyse, and when they landed in Pennsylvania English scribes altered it to Deise, but we have now gone back to the original Scottish spelling "Dyce." Throughout our wanderings we never lost our Caledonian traditions, and Christian names, together with the superstitions of the Highlands. One of them was a dread of the appearance at certain times of small bats or wrens. A Pigmy Bat in the house meant a disaster of some kind, it never failed in ten generations of Dyces. The old families of Clinton County, no matter what their origin, Greek, Scotch-Irish, Huguenot, Waldensian, Spanish, German, or Dutch, each had its familiar animal spirit or token; I know them all, and could tell them to you if you cared to hear them. And though we knew that trouble followed these visitors from another world, we were in a sense proud of them, as the families of newer origins did not have them all of the Scotch-German families had them, the Campbells, Camerons, Buchanans, Nelsons, Hays, Youngs, Jacks, Barclays, Peppers, Kerrs, Reids, Silvius, and others. Their names had all been slightly altered to German pronunciation after they had gone to Germany for business advancement and then come to Pennsylvania, but they were a wheel within a wheel, a clannish group, who considered themselves above the rank and file of Pennsylvania Germans, married only among themselves, cherished their armorial bearings, traditions and ghosts, and many have been the great men in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, including Major William McKinley, who have this blood in their veins. J. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“Old settlers used to claim that the Vampire Bat would milk cows, goats, and sheep, and some times puncture their backs and drain them of blood. I have found dead lambs in a pasture so emaciated that they really looked as if they had been sucked dry of all their blood. J. Q. Dyce, 1901.”
“Those of us who liked to play jokes always called the Hairy Bat the "Vampire", and ascribed to it all kinds of evil doings. They have been occasionally met with in Clinton County, especially near the river banks. J. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“When one of these House Bats got in a room it always made for the hair of unmarried girls or maidens. Hence we always called it a Maiden Hair bat. It was always a proof of the girl's virginity if a bat entangled itself in her hair. Girls so visited were always treated with unusual respect at all Church gatherings, and were the vestals of our pioneer mountain meeting-houses. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The last herd of old-fashioned big deer were crusted and killed by some of our home boys, near head of McElhattan Run, in winter of 1869-1870. A few scattering ones were run to the river by dogs after that, but they were entirely gone in Wayne Township by 1885. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The Moose came down from the North in particularly severe winters. They were killed in Centre, Clearfield, and Blair Counties, so undoubtedly they crossed Clinton County in their migrations. I think that the Poorman family were the last Clinton County hunters who had killed these magnificent animals. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The smoky shrew was prevalent about Keating when I worked on the log drives near there, about 1870. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
Joseph was married to Sarah Quiggle.
Joseph died May, 22, 1890 at Harrisburg, PA and was taken to Wayne Township, Clinton County, PA for his burial.
The Clinton Democrat, Lock Haven, PA, Thur., May 29, 1890.
Death of Joseph B. Deise.
Joseph B. Deise, father of John Q. Deise, of Wayne township, this county, died at the residence of his son-in-law ? B Houtz, in Harrisburg, on Thursday morning, in the 81st year of his age. Funeral services were held in Harrisburg on Saturday, and the remains reached Wayne on news express Sunday where interment was made in the lower cemetery. The following were the pall bearers who officiated at the funeral: Jacob Quiggle, G. W. Sours, M. H. Shurr, John Simcox, G. M. Biser and George Mitcheltree. Rev. Shambach conducted the religious services.
The deceased gentleman was the father of the noted and eloquent Hon. G. Omet Deise, who died many years ago, and also of James M. Deise, Esq. formerly district attorney of this county, who has also been reposing beneath the sod for many years. The deceased was well known to nearly everybody in Lock Haven and particularly from the older residents. (entire line unreadable). We are told that he suffered with cancer, but do not know whether that was the cause of his death or not. He was a man of rugged frame and had always, until lately, enjoyed good health. Mr. Deise was likewise the father of Mrs. John F. Throne, who moved from here to Pittsburgh.
Mr. Deise was born in Wayne township, this county, October 16, 1809. He was converted and joined the Methodist church in 1844, and served as class leader and steward in said church until 1861, when he withdrew from the Methodist and attached himself to the Evangelical church, of which he continued to be a member until his death. He was a kind father to his family and a man who commanded the respect and esteem of his fellow men. Politically Mr. D. was Democrat, strong to the faith and ardent and active in the work. He was one of the first two Democrats in Wayne township, the other one being Benjamin Sours, father of the present Col. G. W. Sours. The two elected themselves delegates to represent the Democracy of Wayne in the convention at Williamsport, the said township, then being Lycoming county.
The Clinton Democrat, Fri., Feb. 5, 1858.
Died. In Wayne township, Clinton county, on the 21st of January, Joseph Graffius, youngest son of Joseph B Deise, aged 9 years, 7 months, and 5 days.
(Does not specify burial place).
The Wild Animals of Clinton County, Pennsylvania, complied by Henry W Shoemaker, From Conversations and Notes of John H Chatham, John Q Dyce, Thomas G Simcox, Seth Iredell Nelson, Seth Nelson Jr, and other Clinton County Naturalists. Previously the compiler had frequently discussed the wild animals of Clinton County with the late John Q. Dyce, also of McElhattan, and had made many trips to study the animals and birds with the late Thomas G. Simcox, of the same place, an ardent outdoor man and naturalist.
“John Q. Dyce, in 1900, stated that there was a log showing marks of beaver's teeth in McElhattan Run until 1865 flood carried it away, and that John Stake, of McElhattan, who had trapped beavers all his life secured the last beaver in Kammerdiner Run, a tributary of McElhattan Run, in 1863.”
S. Marion Smith, born in 1837, a former resident of Wayne Township, Clinton County, stated that about 1845 wild cats were plentiful along the north slope of the Bald Eagle Mountains and several were "treed", and shot from the tall rock oaks which used to stand where the present McElhattan Boy Scout Camp is located. C. Adolphe Shurr, born in 1872, said that about 1892 the Dyce and Shurr boys, great hunters, treed a wild cat on the Abe Simcox place back of Bald Eagle Mountain (Wayne Twp.) and shot it; as it fell the cat clutched a branch with its teeth, and dying hung from the bough by its teeth. One of the boys climbed up the tree and chopped off the branch and two of the hunters carried the dead cat to McElhattan hanging by the teeth.
John Q. Dyce placed the date of the taking of the last otter on McElhattan Run, as 1885, by a party of Sugar Valley hunters."
"A sable was killed near the Rockey place, at head of Rockey's Run, in fall of 1895. T. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“Of all the bats in Clinton County the old-timers liked least of all the rare Pigmy Bat, or Night Wren. Probably that was because so many of the early settlers were of Scotch-Irish origin, or at least had Scotch blood in their veins. Though classed by hasty genealogists as a P. D., I am a Scot by blood. During the Seventeenth Century my ancestor Alexander Dyce, a schoolmaster, migrated to Germany to teach conic sections to a Prince of the Blood, who eventually gave him a monopoly and he became a successful merchant of Hungarian wines. The name became Germanized into Deyse, and when they landed in Pennsylvania English scribes altered it to Deise, but we have now gone back to the original Scottish spelling "Dyce." Throughout our wanderings we never lost our Caledonian traditions, and Christian names, together with the superstitions of the Highlands. One of them was a dread of the appearance at certain times of small bats or wrens. A Pigmy Bat in the house meant a disaster of some kind, it never failed in ten generations of Dyces. The old families of Clinton County, no matter what their origin, Greek, Scotch-Irish, Huguenot, Waldensian, Spanish, German, or Dutch, each had its familiar animal spirit or token; I know them all, and could tell them to you if you cared to hear them. And though we knew that trouble followed these visitors from another world, we were in a sense proud of them, as the families of newer origins did not have them all of the Scotch-German families had them, the Campbells, Camerons, Buchanans, Nelsons, Hays, Youngs, Jacks, Barclays, Peppers, Kerrs, Reids, Silvius, and others. Their names had all been slightly altered to German pronunciation after they had gone to Germany for business advancement and then come to Pennsylvania, but they were a wheel within a wheel, a clannish group, who considered themselves above the rank and file of Pennsylvania Germans, married only among themselves, cherished their armorial bearings, traditions and ghosts, and many have been the great men in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, including Major William McKinley, who have this blood in their veins. J. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“Old settlers used to claim that the Vampire Bat would milk cows, goats, and sheep, and some times puncture their backs and drain them of blood. I have found dead lambs in a pasture so emaciated that they really looked as if they had been sucked dry of all their blood. J. Q. Dyce, 1901.”
“Those of us who liked to play jokes always called the Hairy Bat the "Vampire", and ascribed to it all kinds of evil doings. They have been occasionally met with in Clinton County, especially near the river banks. J. Q. Dyce, 1902.”
“When one of these House Bats got in a room it always made for the hair of unmarried girls or maidens. Hence we always called it a Maiden Hair bat. It was always a proof of the girl's virginity if a bat entangled itself in her hair. Girls so visited were always treated with unusual respect at all Church gatherings, and were the vestals of our pioneer mountain meeting-houses. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The last herd of old-fashioned big deer were crusted and killed by some of our home boys, near head of McElhattan Run, in winter of 1869-1870. A few scattering ones were run to the river by dogs after that, but they were entirely gone in Wayne Township by 1885. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The Moose came down from the North in particularly severe winters. They were killed in Centre, Clearfield, and Blair Counties, so undoubtedly they crossed Clinton County in their migrations. I think that the Poorman family were the last Clinton County hunters who had killed these magnificent animals. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
“The smoky shrew was prevalent about Keating when I worked on the log drives near there, about 1870. J. Q. Dyce, 1903.”
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