page_title: Franklin Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Franklin Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania / History
caption_attribution_description: Roadside cemetery, Franklin Township, Lycoming County.
context_page_description: Franklin Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 933 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.
context_section_description: Franklin Township, named for Benjamin Franklin, was formed from part of Moreland Township in 1822. It included what is now Jordan Township until that was formed thirty-two years later. Another portion of Franklin Township was cut away in 1828 to form Penn Township.
  The earliest settlers to Franklin Township were farmers. They arrived in the early 19th century and cleared the hills and valleys. Many of the farms established by these early settlers are still thriving today. Other important business ventures in Franklin Township included a large tannery on Little Muncy Creek just south of Lairdsville and the lumber industry which swept throughout north central Pennsylvania during the mid-to-late 19th century. Thousands of acres of old-growth forests were stripped to the ground. The logs were floated down the streams to one of the many sawmills that were spread along the banks of Little Muncy Creek. Today the forests of Franklin Township have regrown, providing an excellent habitat for white-tailed deer, black bear and turkey.
  Enos Hawley, born in Chester County, was one of the first citizens to Lycoming County publicly to state an opposition to slavery. He was a member of the Religious Society of Friends. The Quakers were firmly against slavery and were noted for the assistance they provided the abolitionist movement in the years preceding the Civil War. Hawley was raised in Franklin Township in the vicinity of Lairdsville, which is the only village in the township. Hawley went on to serve as postmaster in the nearby borough of Muncy.
caption: A cemetery in Franklin Township
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