JERSEY SHORE – The “most remarkable coincident” of the Revolutionary struggle, according to one historian, happened under an elm tree on what was Indian land not far from here.

Beneath the canopy of what became known as the Tiadaghton Elm, a group called the Fair Play men signed their own declaration of independence from Great Britain – at about the same time as the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia and unbeknownst to them.

“Fair Play”was a system of government used by the settlers between today’s Lycoming and Pine creeks between 1773 and 1778, according to John F. Meginness, author of the 1892 book, “History of Lycoming County.”

Dating to William Penn’s establishment of Pennsylvania, new settlers in the commonwealth paid Indians for their land. In all, 18 land purchases were made between 1682 and 1792, according to the Daughters of the American Revolution.

A Royal Proclamation of 1763 put a temporary hold on the movement of settlers beyond Tiadaghton Creek, known today as Lycoming Creek. Land north of the river was known as “disputed land” and was not legally open to settlement.

But the wide expanse of land was too much for some, and about 40 family land claims eventually were filed by about 150 squatters.

“Ever increasing clashes with the Indians prompted John Penn’s Proclamation of 1773 which also forbade settlement between Lycoming and Pine Creeks and beyond,” according to the Fort Antes Chapter of DAR.

John Penn was a son of William Penn who had control of the colony for some time after William Penn’s death, according to a DAR document.

The settlers who chose to move into the area were outside of the laws of both Britain and Pennsylvania. Having no legal recourse, they established a system of “fair play” that settled disputes fairly and finally, Meginness wrote.

Col. John Henry Antes’s fort provided the best source for news of the growing conflict at the time between Great Britain and the Colonies.

“The spirit of patriotism ran high among the majority of the settlers on the West Branch at this time, and when it was rumored that the Continental Congress contemplated declaring the colonies independent, the leading Fair Play men, living on the forbidden territory west of Lycoming creek, were greatly elated,” Meginness wrote.

“As they lived on Indian lands, outside of the jurisdiction of all provincial law, they at once set about making preparations to indorse the proposed action of Congress by an emphatic expression of their sentiments.”

On July 4, 1776, the group held a mass meeting just west of Pine Creek.

Anna Jackson Hamilton, daughter-in-law of Capt. Alexander Hamilton, recalled a “gathering of people under a great elm tree along the banks of the Pine Creek for the signing of the Pine Creek Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776,” according to the DAR.

Not to be confused with the founding father of the same name, Capt. Alexander Hamilton was a member of the Committee of Safety of Northumberland County. At the time, Lycoming County had not yet been created, and its area was part of Northumberland County. The captain later was killed by Indians in 1781, according to DAR records.

“A good supply of old rye was laid in for this momentous occasion and the topic of independence was freely discussed, speeches were made and, as the crowd warmed up, it was decided to ratify the proposition under discussion in Congress,” Anna Hamilton said.

“It was remarkable that the Continental Congress and the Squatter Sovereigns on the West Branch, separated by more than 200 miles, and without any knowledge of what each other was doing, should declare for freedom and independence about the same time,” Meginness wrote.

The names of all of those involved may have been lost to history, according to Meginness, who noted a number that had been preserved: “Thomas, Francis, and John Clark, Alexander Donaldson, John Jackson, Adam Carson, Henry McCracken, Adam De Witt, Robert Love, and Hugh Nichols.”

Area resident Wayne Welshans, who has collected a number of historical documents and artifacts related to this area, has a longer list of signers, including those listed by Meginness.

Alexander Hamilton is among them, along with Hugh White, Peter Pence, Thomas Francis, James Crawford, John Pfouts, Philip Quiggle, Thomas Nichols, Samuel Horn, William Campbell, Simon Kurtz, Peter Grove and Robert Covenhoven.

Today, a historical marker is located near a farmer’s field on the Clinton County side of Pine Creek near the site of the tree. It reads: “Under this elm on July 4, 1776, resolves declaring independence were drawn prior to news of action by Congress at Philadelphia. This was an expression of the spirit common to the frontier and led by the famous Fair Play men.”

For over two centuries, the tree flourished. A caption beneath a 1930 photograph provided by Welshans indicates the tree spread out 105 feet, had a trunk nearly 18 inches in circumference and large limbs that dipped as low as 9 feet from the ground.