History

In 1729, Lancaster County, named after Lancashire, England, was organized as a County and, also, the Townships within it were established. Among those Townships was Earl, named after Hans Graf, a Swiss Mennonite. "Earl" is the English name for "Graf" or "Groff".

Earl Township was settled mainly by Germans from the Palatinate area in Europe. Coming for religious and economic reasons, these German-speaking people rejoiced at the naturally endowed area to which they had come. These pioneers, who were mainly farmers, have handed down their rich farmland through generations maintaining an unswerving fidelity to the soil.

Earl Township originally encompassed part of present day West Earl Township, and all of present day Earl and East Earl Townships. As this area prospered, the need to split Earl Township became apparent. Accordingly, on November 18, 1833, West Earl Township was formed by taking part of Cocalico Township and part of Earl Township. This new Township possessed 11,390 acres and 345 taxables or heads of households.

Of the present day villages, Talmage evolved first. Originally called Earlville, Talmage began in conjunction with a gristmill which was built before 1800. Talmage was at one time part of Brownstown. Brownstown and Farmersville were both started in 1843. In 1878, four churches existed in West Earl Township and are still active today.

Brownstown was named after the Brown Family that settled 1 mile east of present day Brownstown. In 1728, Henry Brown, a native of Switzlerland, secured a grant for 1,000 acres of land. The land extended from the Conestoga Creek and east to what was then known as Lauber's Hill. The deed bore the signature of Richard Penn, a son of William Penn. In 1772, Richard Penn signed a patent to this land called "Brown's Choice" which was deeded to John "Adam" Braun and contained 142 acres. Although the community dates back to 1728, it was not considered a village until 1860, when the first post office was opened.