Immigrants found opportunity in Scranton

All our cities and states have stories like this one, especially in the Eastern U.S.  - - Donna Poisl

by CHERYL A. KASHUBA

The streets of Scranton never were paved with gold. But from its beginnings as a group of tiny pioneer settlements in the wilderness, it offered thousands who came here the opportunity to strive to fulfill the American Dream.

For the earliest settlers, those who came from New England, the Lackawanna Valley was "out west." While Charles Fuller was growing up in Montrose, Northeast Pennsylvania industries typified those found in other pioneer communities: wool and tanneries, timber and grist mills. Charles' father was a pioneer settler from Connecticut.

Like his father, Charles was a pioneer. He came to Slocum Hollow in the 1840s and built a comfortable house in a dense forest. Building a better life for your family has long been a key component of the American Dream. Charles Fuller started one of the first fire insurance businesses in the area.

Later, his son joined him in a business they called Charles Fuller & Son. George Fuller followed his older brother Charles to Scranton in 1856. A printer by trade, he already had a profession that could sustain him.
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