Relive history
  through  the words
  of settlers
  in Somerset County
  during the 1770s:

• Chilling stories of close encounters with panthers, wolves & bears
  
  
• Tragic tales
  of Indian attacks
  and settlers
  carried off
  as hostages
  
  "...The author of this series ... was probably better equipped than any other person of his day, having in his possession valuable data in the memoranda of his father, who came to this country in the year 1771, when only a hunter's cabin here and there occupied it." – Editor, Somerset Standard, May 26, 1893.

    More than 135 years ago David Husband wrote a series of 52 articles detailing the early history of Somerset County, PA, and its founding families. Those articles were published in the Somerset Standard newspaper in 1869-70. They were then reprinted in the Standard 24 years later in 1893-94 with the addition of 14 more articles, some written by Florian Husband and some by noted historian W. H. Welfley.

    The articles quote extensively from the personal journal and private papers of Herman (Harmon) Husband, one of Somerset County's earliest settlers. Although Husband's Journal is believed to have been destroyed in a fire decades ago, much of its content is now available in these recently discovered articles.

    The articles – a total of 66 – have been meticulously retyped from the original (crumbling) newspapers and have been published in an easy-to-read 160-page book printed on archival quality acid-free paper. A descriptive Table of Contents allows quick reference to specific topics and an Index containing nearly 500 surnames provides genealogists with easy access to information on Somerset County's earliest settlers.