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a. Note:   POSTED ON FIND A GRAVE WEB SITE: Birth: Mar. 31, 1763
 New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, USA
 Death: Jan. 11, 1839
 Oakland, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, USA
  REVOLUTIONARY WAR VETERAN
 This brief bio text was created by Tim Troxell, who initiated this memorial:
 Isaac Hale was born to Reuben and Diantha (Ward) Hale. He married Elizabeth Lewis. He was a Farmer. Isaac also served his country in the Revolutionary war. He was a member of the Army.
 ~~~~~~~~~~
 This newspaper account offers the approximate date for when Isaac was re-interred to the McKune Cemetery:
 THE EVENING GAZETTE, Port Jervis, NY
 Tuesday, Oct. 23, 1888
 REMOVED HIS BONES.
 Isaac Hale, The Pioneer Settler and Hunter
 The widening of the Erie yard, just west of the railroad bridges at Susquehanna on the land recently purchased by the company of B. F. McKune, necessitated the removal of the remains of Isaac Hale, who once owned the farm and was buried upon it in a spot selected by himself 50 years ago last [next] Spring. Hale was the [a] first settler in this locality and was the father-in-law of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.
 The coffin which enclosed the remains was, as well as the bones which it contained, found to be in a good state of preservation although having been buried for such a long time. They were re-interred in the McKune cemetery nearby. Mr. B. F. McKune, who, when a boy four years of age, witnessed the burial of Hale, was present at the resurrection. -- SUSQUEHANNA JOURNAL.
 ~~~~~~~~
 Background:
 The first settlers in the county (then Luzerne), included but not limited to Ozias Strong, and Messrs. Buck, Leonard and Comstock. Isaac Hale arrived 4 to 5 years later. The county was settled by 151 Revolutionary veterans of which Isaac was one. When these earliest settlers arrived hundreds of white inhabitants existed, however, they were with penurious circumstances and starving. A few native Indians were known to be still residing in the region during 1789 and may have departed before Isaac's arrival.
 The early settlers soon realized those who succeeded with a harvest found the locals begged incessantly for food. They spared their grain, food, and game to relieve distress of their neighbors until they had none left for themselves. Many followed this practice throughout the county. When food was not to be had they existed on what could be considered edible to remain alive.
 When Isaac arrived, a few years later, at about age 28 years, he too followed those practices, sharing his own food supply, however his resources were not devastated from begging as was experienced by the earliest settlers.
 From the 1798 Tax listing, residing in Willingboro Township, Luzerne County, PA, the 150 acre property of Charles Francis, adjacent to Nathaniel Lewis, was occupied by Isaac Hale, on which stood a cabin 15` x 30`, no barn, valued at $26.
 The earliest church was established at "Strong's", later known as Great Bend, and then sectioned off as Hallstead. There a Presbyterian church was established with some of its first known members during 1790 to be Asa & Olive Adams, John & Susannah Baker, Jonathan & Priscilla Bennett, Daniel & Olive Buck, Elijah & Mary Leonard, Ozias & Susannah Strong, and Oracha [Orasha] & Patience Strong.
 Ozias and his cousin, Benejah, owned & occupied almost 1,100 acres of the land (within today's Hallstead) of which a portion was alongside the Susquehanna River.
 By 1800 the dispute ensued with settlers over claims to their land purchased in Pennsylvania via the Connecticut based Susquehanna Company. The established settlers again had to purchase their land, but this time payable to the state of Pennsylvania. Isaac`s land purchase was direct to Pennsylvania and he did not experience the additional hardships as did many nearby land owners. A large number of land owners refused to again pay for their land and moved nearby inside NY State or went west to Ohio.
 Typically when settlers first arrived, they constructed a crude one-room hut, a cabin of logs with a large stone chimney for the fireplace. Spaces between the logs were chinked with moss to keep the cold out. The floors, doors and rustic furniture were made of boards split from logs. To protect the animals, a shelter and an enclosure were constructed.
 Almost every home possessed a spinning wheel on which flax, raised in their garden, and wool from their sheep were spun into yarn. Before gristmills were established within traveling distance, it was necessary to grind grains by hand into flour.
 Potatoes, meat and gravy usually was the customary meal. Since wild game was plentiful, there could be considerable variety of both fresh and salted meat. (Salt then cost $5.00 a bushel) Berries, fresh, dried, or preserved were the common fruits. Chestnuts, butternuts, beechnuts and hickory nuts were gathered.
 Hops were used as a leavening agent to raise dough in the making of bread. Before retiring at day's end dough was prepared from flour & hops, placed within a metal tin, then set within the hearth's ashes. By morning the dough slow baked and offered breakfast for all.
 Candles, made of tallow, and the glow of the fireplace were the sources of light at night. Soap was made from hardwood ashes and fat. Cooking was done over the open fire of their fireplace. A big iron pot, a frying pan, a griddle and a tea-kettle, along with a dish pan, constituted their usual supply of cooking utensils.
 When a family size increased, early settlers pursued to build an actual home. They resided within the original cabin until their home was habitable. The cabin then took on a different purpose but usually remained habitable for humans. Some settlers expanded their cabins instead of building a home.
 As the region grew in population, more demand for navigable roads ensued. Messrs. Bennett, Parmeter, Strong, Leonard, Asa Adams, and Isaac Hale (the last in what is now Oakland), viewed the lay out for two roads, one of which was from Oakland to Great Bend.
 When Isaac Hale arrived to the area he was proactive with encouraging those of the Methodist faith to establish their house of worship nearby. Oftentimes the Methodist meetings occurred within homes large enough to accommodate a gathering, if not one's barn, or if a school house existed the gatherings were there as well until a building could be dedicated for religious services.
 The homes of Isaac Hale and neighbor, Joseph McKune, were regularly made available for circuit preachers of varying faiths.
 The earliest church in the region, Presbyterian, was formally established 1790 at Strongs (today's Hallstead) and was alongside the river and just north of today's Rt. 11 Great Bend-Hallstead bridge. Alva & Emma Hale as well as Levi Lewis were baptized at that Presbyterian Church on Jan. 11, 1797.
 The Methodist Church had similar beginnings where meetings were held within individual's homes until the first formal Methodist Church was built at Lanesboro in 1812 which remains standing at the time of this writing.
 ~~~~~~~~~
 Family links: Spouse: Elizabeth Lewis Hale (1767 - 1842) Children: Alva Hale (1795 - 1881)* David Hale (1797 - 1878)* Phebe Elizabeth Hale Root (1798 - 1836)* Isaac W. Hale (1802 - 1892)* Emma Hale Smith (1804 - 1879)* Tryael Hale Morse (1806 - 1860)* *Calculated relationship
  Inscription:
 "The body of Isaac Hale, the hunter,
 like the cover of an old book,
 its contents torn out
 and stript of its lettering and gilding,
 lies here, food for worms,
 yet the work itself shall not be lost,
 for it will, as he believed,
 appear in a new and more beautiful edition,
 corrected and amended."
  Note: White marble headstone
  Burial:
 McKune Cemetery
 Oakland
 Susquehanna County
 Pennsylvania, USA
 Plot: OLDEST SECTION closest to Oakland. Headstone located very close to access road. GPS coordinates offer approximate grave location - Revolutionary War Veteran
 GPS (lat/lon): 41.95094, -75.6367
  Maintained by: NancyM
 Originally Created by: Tim Troxell
 Record added: Jun 29, 2002
 Find A Grave Memorial# 6562331


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