Old Schuylkill Tales

Ella Zerbey Elliott’s Old Schuylkill Tales, published in 1906, presents today’s readers with an array of turn-of-the-century stories, anecdotes, and reminiscences of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, from its earliest settlement in the eighteenth century to its foundation as a county and growth into a major hub of mining and industry. A mixture of history and “stranger than fiction” folklore, these stories gathered from old settlers and their descendants make up what the author refers to as “little pleasantries of the early days."

Elliott’s name-heavy volume spans two centuries, detailing stories of the county’s founding families, captains of industry, notable citizens, and interesting personalities. A lengthy section relays tales recounted by some of the area’s oldest residents about their ancestors, lives, work, and memories of Schuylkill County. Old Schuylkill Tales covers everything from Pennsylvania German settlements, farm life, churches, schools, and celebrations to ghost stories, massacres, murders, and disasters. Tales of infrastructure, industry, military, locations of old buildings, and even the Underground Railroad grace its pages. Details about people and places bring the volume to life and have kept public interest in it alive to this day.

This Metalmark edition is a facsimile of the original 1906 publication.