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The Star-Gazette reported some bad news. It was Friday the 13th, June 1930. Rush hour traffic was heavy downtown when a roar echoed through the streets at 4:55 p.m. A wooden walkway on Main Street between the Gorton Coy building and Iszard’s department store collapsed into a 15-foot hole. The crashing walkway took with it 24 pedestrians. A child died instantly: Maria Smolka, age 11, of Elmira Heights. Other people suffered broken legs, arms, skulls, collarbones, fractured ribs, and many lacerations, abrasions, contusions, concussions, sprains, shock and lots of blood. Screaming and suffering followed the catastrophe. An estimated 200 were in the near vicinity. ....
Matthias Hollenback was born on Feb. 15, 1752 in either Virginia or Jonestown, Pennsylvania, depending on the source. He was my husband’s great-great-great-great-grandfather. My stepson is named for him. When Matthias Hollenback was 18 years old, he moved from Lancaster County to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Already in his teen years, he was an enterprising merchant and trader. In 1776, Hollenback was an ensign in the Continental Army (Sixth Company, 24th Regiment Connecticut Militia). He became a lieutenant colonel in the Revolutionary War (1776-1777) and served in battles, including the Battle of Wyoming, also known as the Wyoming Massacre. A rich hunting and fishing ground, the Chemung River basin was occupied successively by the Algonquin, Andaste, Delaware and Seneca tribes. The colonial settlement, precluded for decades by Iroquois loyalty to the British, began after the Revolutionary War when settlers began moving up the river from Pennsylvania. ....