USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne County [Pa.] > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
1500
HISTORY
OF
WAYNE COUNTY,
BY PHINEAS G. GOODRICH, OF BETHANY, PENN.
10414 82
HONESDALE, PENN .: HAINES & BEARDSLEY. 1880.
F157 W35GG 1
copy 2
Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1550, by PHINEAS G. GOODRICH, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.
1-10529
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
WOODWARD'S COMMENCEMENT.
Act of Legislature Establishing Wayne County-Original Boundaries-Population in 1800-Milford and Wilsonville, the First Seats of Justice-Permanent Location of the Courts at Bethany and Erection of the First County Build- ings-Attempts to Change the Location Abortive-The People Refuse to Comply with Legislative Enactment- First County Commissioners-Beginning of Official Mis- deeds and Delinquencies-Sacredness of Public Trusts- A Depleted Treasury-Investigating County Finances- An Era of Progress and Prosperity-Navigating the Dela- ware-How Supplies were Procured-Division of the County 1.
CHAPTER II.
THE INDIANS.
Wronged and Abused by Invaders-The Tribes that Inhabited Wayne County-The Charter Granted to William Penn- A Treaty that was Never Broken-No Quaker Blood Ever Shed by an Indian-How the Boundaries of Penn's Prov- ince were Determined-Dissatisfaction of the Indians- Wars and Massacres-The Great Council at Easton -- Peace Concluded-Indian Plot to Annihilate the Whites -- Mountains and Valleys Crimsoned with Blood and Car- nage-Bounties Offered for Indian Scalps-The Red Men Alarmed and Plead for Peace-Final Purchase of their
iv
CONTENTS.
Lands-Charter Granted to Connecticut-Disputed Titles -Misguided Indian Revenge-Final Settlement of Diffi- culties-Description of the Indians and their Mode of Life -Their Belief in a Future State-The Tribes almost Ex- tinet 12
CHAPTER III.
WAYNE COUNTY.
After Whom it was Named-Its Geology, Climate, and For- ests. .32.
CHAPTER IV.
QUADRUPEDS.
The Animals that Once Roamed the County's Forests -- Anec- dotes about the Bear-Description of the Bear, Wolf, Panther, Deer, Elk, Beaver, Marten, Raccoon, Wood- chuck, Hedgehog, Skunk, Otter, Musk-Rat, Mink, Wea- sel, Squirrel, Wild-Cat, Fox, Hare, and Rabbit ... .. 42.
CHAPTER V.
BIRDS.
The Birds of the Past and Present-A Description of their Plumage and Peculiarities-Why they Rear their Young at the North-The Dyberry Taxidermist. .62.
CHAPTER VI.
FISH.
The Trout-Other Fish-Introduction of Black Bass by Me- Kown .91.
CHAPTER VII.
REPTILES.
The Rattlesnake-The Whiskey Antidote for its Bite-Unven- omous Reptiles. 94
V
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
INSECTS.
Those that Abound in the County-Honey-Bees-How they were Kept by the First Settlers-Their Wisdom ...... 95.
CHAPTER IX.
LAND-TITLES AND SURVEYS.
The Penn Family Accused of Being Adherents of the British Government-Confiscation of Estates-The Land-Office- Early Prices of Unimproved Land-Laws in Regard to State Lands-Unprofitable Investments-Jason Torrey, Agent for the Sale of Lands in Wayne and Pike Counties -Subsequent Agents-Inaccuracy of the Original Sur- veys-Present Declination of the Needle-Land-Warrants -How they were Granted-County Surveyor-"Cham- ber Surveys." .97.
CHAPTER X.
JUDICIARY.
The First Judges-President Judges-Associate Judges-Sher- iffs-Prothonotaries-Registers and Recorders. . .. ... 108.
CHAPTER XI.
TOWNSHIPS-DAMASCUS.
Damascus-Its Early Settlement-The Minisinks-First Set- tlers-First Attempt to Run Logs to Market on the Dela- ware a Failure-Perseverance and Ingenuity Rewarded with Success-The First Raft that Successfully Descended the River-Settlers Attacked by the Indians -The Mur- der of Kane and his Family-The Whites Flee from their Homes-Subsequent Attacks by Marauding Whites-Bit- ter Dissensions about Titles of Lands-Effect of the Wyo- ming Massacre-Battle of Minisink-Gen. Sullivan's Ex- pedition into the Indian Country-Return of the Settlers to their Homes and the Reign of Peace -- Brief Sketches of the Early Settlers-The Hamlets of Branningville, Darby- town, Damascus, Milanville, and Tyler Hill. 117.
vi
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
TOWNSHIPS-LEBANON.
Its Lands, Streams, and Ponds-First Settlements-Shields- boro'-Incidents of Pioneer Life-Sketches of the Early Settlers-Agriculture their Chief Pursuit and Depend- ence .140.
CHAPTER XIIL.
TOWNSHIPS-PALMYRA.
Taken Prisoner by the Indians-An Ingenious Escape-Jones, and not Haines, the Murderer of Canope-First Improve- ments-Sketches of the Pioneers-Strange Curiosities- Completion of the Delaware & Hudson Canal-The Penn- sylvania Company's Gravity Railroad-The Failure of a Great Project-Falls of the Wallenpaupack-A Water- power of Immense Magnitude-A Mammoth Pine-Schools and Churches. 156.
CHAPTER XIV.
TOWNSHIPS-PAUPACK.
When Erected-Silas Purdy, Sen., the First Settler-Names and Sketches of the Early Residents-"The Shades of Death"-A Tonching Incident. 165.
CHAPTER XV.
TOWNSHIPS-CANAAN.
One of the Original Townships-Its Soil and Productions- The Easton and Belmont, and Milford and Owego Turn- pikes-Great Thoroughfares in their Day-The First Fam- ilies that Settled in the Township -- A Sketch by Asa Stan- ton-Mrs. Frisbie-Her Interpretation of the Command, "Thon Shalt not Kill"-Merciful to all of God's Creatures -The Borough of Waymart .. 170.
CHAPTER XVI.
TOWNSHIPS-MOUNT PLEASANT.
The Switzerland of Northern Pennsylvania-A Paradise in
vii
CONTENTS.
Summer, and a Siberia in Winter-Streams and Ponds- Former Great Thoroughfares-The First Settler-First Public House-Sketches of the First Settlers -- Their Hard- ships and Struggles to Procure Food and Raiment-Lost Children-The Meredith Family-The First Treasurer of the United States-His Place of Interment Unmarked- An Aged Lady-Standing Sentinel for Her Husband dur- ing the Revolution-Poetry by Asa Stanton, Entitled " The Golden Age of Mount Pleasant. " 186.
CHAPTER XVII.
TOWNSHIPS-BUCKINGHAM.
Streams and Lakes-The Township Assessment in 1806-Sam- uel Preston, Sen., the First Settler-Stockport-How Merchandise was Conveyed up the Delaware-Durham Boats-Wayne County's First Associate Judge-The Pres- ton, Knight, and Dillon Families. 215.
CHAPTER XVIII.
TOWNSHIPS-MANCHESTER.
Its Original Name-A Box of Maple Sugar Sent to George Washington-His Letter of Acknowledgment-A Com- pany Formed to Manufacture Maple Sugar and Pearl Ashes-Streams and Ponds-Early Residents-Matthias Mogridge-His Eventful Life-He Fights Gen. Jackson at New Orleans-Accompanies Napoleon to St. Helena --- A Visit to His Native Country, and His Call on Horace Greeley-The Village of Equinunk. 224.
CHAPTER XIX.
TOWNSHIPS-SCOTT.
Streams and Lakelets-The Soil and its Productions-Sher- man-Names of the Early Settlers-The North-East Cor- ner of Pennsylvania. .236.
CHAPTER XX.
TOWNSHIPS-PRESTON.
Named in Honor of Judge Preston-Noted for its Numerous
viii
CONTENTS.
Lakes and Ponds-Destined to be an Important Butter- Making District-Early Settlers-A Sketch of Pioneer Life, and Some Interesting Anecdotes, by C. P. Tallman Starrueca Borough. 239.
CHAPTER XXI.
TOWNSHIPS-SALEM.
When Erected-Division of the Township and Erection of Lake-Names and Sketches of the First Settlers-Battles with the Indians-The Author of Woodbridge's Geogra- phy-The Township's Hamlets, Churches, and Schools- The First Postmaster and the First Store-The Time when only Two Newspapers were Taken in the Township -The News of the Battle of Waterloo Four Months in Reaching the Beech Woods. 260
CHAPTER XXII.
TOWNSHIPS-STERLING AND DREHER.
The Lands-The First Settler-Resident Taxables at the Time of the Town's Formation-The First Grist-Mill and Saw- Mill-Sketches of the Original Settlers-Mingled Nation- alities -- Peaceful, Law-Abiding People-New Township- Named in Honor of Judge Dreher. 279.
CHAPTER XXIII.
TOWNSHIPS-CHERRY RIDGE.
Settlement Commenced before the Organization of the County -The Assessment of 1799-Sketches of the First Settlers -Origin of the Township's Name. 286.
CHAPTER XXIV.
TOWNSHIPS-DYBERRY.
Formed from Palmyra, Canaan, and Damasens-Sketches of the First Settlers-The First County Commissioner Elec- ted by the People-The Hamlets of Dyberry and Tanners Falls-Establishment of a Glass-Factory 292.
ix
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXV.
BOROUGH OF BETHANY.
The County Seat-Land Deeded to the County by Henry Drinker -- Convening of the First Court-The First Court- House and Jail-Imprisonment for Debt-The First Dwelling and First Public House -- Growth of the Bor- ough-A Noted Surveyor-By Whom the First House was Built in Honesdale-Sketches of the Early Residents -An Impartial Judge-The First Newspaper Published in Wayne County-The Birth-place of "Ned Buntline" -Removal of the County-Seat -- The Old Court-House Converted into a University-Churches and Societies- Alonzo Collins' Poetic Description of the Place ...... 303.
CHAPTER XXVI.
TOWNSHIPS-CLINTON.
When Erected-Jefferson Railroad-Sketch by Alva W. Norton -Early Settlers-Aldenville-Churches and Schools. . 322.
CHAPTER XXVII.
BOROUGH of PROMPTON.
When Incorporated-First Settlers-Taxables-Schools .. 330.
CHAPTER XXVIII. TOWNSHIPS-BERLIN.
When Erected-The First Assessment and First Taxables- Transportation and Travel between Honesdale and the Erie Railroad-Sketches of Noted Settlers-Beech Pond-Tan- ning and Lumbering-Honesdale and Texas Poor .... 332.
CHAPTER XXIX.
TOWNSHIPS-OREGON.
When Erected -- Streams and Ponds -- The Adams Family -- Probable Origin of the Name-Early Events-Girdland- First Land Taken up by Jason Torrey .338.
CHAPTER XXX. TOWNSHIPS-TEXAS.
When Erected-White Mills-Dorflinger's Celebrated Glass-
x
CONTENTS.
Works-Indian Orchard -- Leonardsville -- Tracyville -- First Grist-mill-Honesdale Glass Company-White's Ax Fac- tory-Seelyville-Rev. Jonathan Seely-The First Settler -First House and First Road-Sketch of R. L. Seely- Other Settlers -Manufactures-Election Districts. ... 342.
CHAPTER XXXL.
BOROUGH OF HONESDALE.
First Clearing -- Attempts at Coal Transportation-Construc- tion of the D. & H. Canal-Gravity Railroad-Opening of the Canal-Original and Present Shipments of Coal-After whom Honesdale was Named -- When Incorporated-When Made the County Seat-Honesdale Bank-Hawley and Honesdale Branch of the Erie Railway-First Beginners in Honesdale-The First Locomotive in America-First Settlers and First Merchants-A Noted Tavern Keeper -- Surviving Old Settlers-Past and Present Physicians -- Postmasters-Christian Denominations-The Hebrews -- D. & H. Canal Company -- The Soldiers' Monument-The County's Soldier-Dead-Foster's Tannery-Members of Wayne County Bar -- Manufactures and Industries -- Schools and their Principals-Court-Houses-Newspapers. . . . 354.
CHAPTER XXXII. PALMYRA, PIKE COUNTY.
First Settlers-Troubles with the Indians and Tories-Battle of Wyoming-Fleeing of the Settlers -- Their Return . . 381.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Life in the Log-Cabins-School-Houses and Schools-The First Church Organized in the County-Religious Denom- inations-Manufactures-Agriculture -- Pennsylvania Coal Company-Population of the County. .387.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
PIKE COUNTY.
The County Seat-Milford-Noted Men-The Route over which the Early Pioneers "Columbused" their Way to Wyoming Valley-Conclusion .406.
PREFACE.
In the year 1873, Hon. Geo. W. Woodward an- nounced his purpose to write a history of Wayne county, and came hither to gather up materials for his work. Being a native of the county, reared and educated therein, and acquainted with many of the original settlers, also, having been a member of the conventions that framed the Constitutions of the State in 1838 and 1873, and a member of Congress, and judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, his position, legal attainments, and extensive knowledge peculiarly fitted him to write a popular history of his native county. In the summer of 1874 he told me that the task of compiling his history would take more time than he had at first anticipated; that he had written only a few pages, but that he intended to have it published by the commencement of the Centennial year. I never saw him afterwards, although I contin- ued, at his request, to collect materials for his proposed
xii
PREFACE.
work. He sailed for Europe, from Philadelphia, October 22d, 1874, and died at Rome, May 10th, 1875, of pneumonia, complicated with Roman fever. Some months after the death of the Judge, his son, Hon. Stanley Woodward, of Wilkesbarre, generously returned to me all the manuscripts and material that I had collected for the construction of his father's his- tory. He had written eleven pages. How large a book he designed to write, and in what manner he would have arranged its contents, I know not. He strongly assured me of his wish that in case he should be unable to finish his work, that I should undertake the task of completing it. But it may be asked, is such a history needed ? If it contained nothing but the truth, would it be valuable and interesting ? Whatever the answers may be to these questions, it must be conceded that an important part of our knowl- edge is derived from history. Therefrom we learn the rise and progress of our country through darkness and sunshine, war and peace, to its present eminence among the nations of the earth. We respect and ad- mire the Hebrew people who, although scattered abroad among all civilized nations, have preserved a history which, throughout Christendom, is believed to be commensurate with the morning of the world.
Almost every important county in Pennsylvania has
xiii
PREFACE.
published a history of its early settlement, the nation- ality of its people, their struggles, privations, and peculiar modes of living. Should the economy, indus- try, honesty, and self-denial of the primitive settlers be practiced for ten years to come, by all our inhabi- tants, the complaint of hard times would be heard no more in the land. There was little diversity in the hard experience of the pioneer settlers of Northern Pennsylvania. Many of them had been soldiers in the Revolutionary war, or were the children of those who had been impoverished thereby. Is there nothing in the history of such a people worthy of preservation ?
"Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny obscure ; Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile, The short and simple annals of the poor."
Judge Woodward regretted that he had not begun at an earlier day to collect materials for his history, which might have been obtained from the old settlers themselves. But those old settlers are now all gone, and but very few of their children survive. If their history is ever written it must be done soon. Already some of it is fragmentary and uncertain ; but such as it is, I have concluded, after much hesitation, to pre- sent what I have collected; not for fame, but as a tribute of respect to the people of my native county.
My main object will be to preserve a history of the
xiv
PREFACE.
primitive settlers, and of events which occurred in early times, not neglecting to give a cursory exhibit of the progress of the county from its erection to the present time.
As Pike county was formerly a part of Wayne, some of its history is so intermingled with ours, that it cannot, with propriety, be separated from it. The history of Palmyra in Pike county is so full of inter- est, and has been so well preserved, that I cannot fore- go the pleasure of giving it in detail, much of which I learned from the settlers themselves.
Those who have furnished sketches about the early settlers of their townships, will please accept the thanks of the writer. Want of space has forced me to condense their contributions, but the pith of them has been retained.
P. G. GOODRICH.
BETHANY, WAYNE COUNTY, P'A.,
June, 1880.
ERRATA ET CORRIGENDA.
Page 13, 26th line from the top of the page, "twenty-six mil- lions," should read sixteen millions.
33, 14th line from the top, "pots in which the glass is melted," should read arches of their furnaces.
107, in running title, "Judiciary," should read Land- Titles and Surveys.
155, in running title, " Palmyra," should read Lebanon.
204, 7th line, after " another," read Stephen J. Par- tridge, father of James and William Partridge, of Mount Pleasant, also, married a daughter of James Bigelow.
267, 5th line, after "age," read They have four sons living, adding to those mentioned the name of Alva Mitchell.
276, 17th line from top, "Asa Johnson," should read Asa Jones.
292, 6th line from the bottom, "Sand pond," should read Long pond.
" 300, 13th line from top, after "Dwight Henshaw," read and the wife of W. B. Arnold.
66
INDEPENDENCE
AND
LIBER
VIRTUE
GOODRICH'S HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
WOODWARD'S COMMENCEMENT.
THE territory which constitutes the counties of Wayne and Pike, in the State of Pennsylvania, was set off from the county of Northampton, in pursuance of an act of Legislature, passed on the 21st of March, 1798. "All that part of Northampton county," said the act, "lying, and being to the northward of a line to be drawn, and beginning at the west end of George Michael's farm, on the river Delaware, in Middle Smithfield township, and from thence a straight line to the mouth of Trout Creek, on the Lehigh, adjoin- ing Luzerne county, shall be and the same is hereby erected into a county henceforth to be called Wayne." This line of excision separated from Northampton not only the territory of the present counties of Wayne and Pike, but also two townships, subsequently taken from Pike and incorporated with other townships of Northampton, to form the present county of Monroe. The original boundaries of Wayne county were, there-
1
2
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
fore, the northern line of the state on the north, the Delaware river on the east, Northampton (now Mon- roe) on the south, and Luzerne and Susquehanna coun- ties on the west. The area of the county was 1,492 square miles, and the population in 1800 only 2,562, an average of less than two persons to the square mile.
A handful of people, scarcely more than an ordi- nary town-meeting in modern times, scattered over so large a space of rugged territory, destitute of roads, mills, and other conveniences of civilization, must have found it very difficult to maintain the necessary expen- ses of a county organization, and excessively incon- venient to attend the courts and places of election. The act of '98 established the courts in the house of George Buchanan, in the town of Milford, as a tempo- rary arrangement. The 10th section of the act (3rd Smith's Laws, p. 318) appointed Daniel Stroud, Abm. Ham, John Mahallen, Samuel C. Seely, and Samuel Stanton, of Northampton and Wayne, a board of trus- tees for the latter county, and empowered them to fix on the most eligible spot for the seat of justice in and for the said county, to purchase or take and receive any quantity of land within said county and to survey and lay out the same in town and outlots, and to sell as many of said lots at auction as they should think proper, and with the money arising from said sales and other moneys to be duly levied and collected as taxes, to pay for the lands they should purchase, and to build a court-house and jail on such of the town lots as they should require for that purpose.
The 11th section empowered the county commission- ers who should be elected at the next annual election, to take the title to such lot as the trustees should se- lect for the court house and jail, and to assess the necessary taxes for erecting said buildings, "not to exceed two thousand dollars.'
3 .
WOODWARD'S COMMENCEMENT.
The location of the county seat must have greatly agitated this sparse population scattered along the valleys of the principal streams, for the next year, : 1799, the Legislature removed the courts from Mil- ford to Wilsonville, until suitable. buildings should be erected, "within four miles of the Dyberry forks of the Lackawaxen river." This was the Legislative. mode of describing the junction, at what is now Hones -: dale, of the North and West branches of the Lacka- waxen.
But Wilsonville, a small manufacturing village at. the falls of the Wallenpaupack, a few miles above the . point at which that stream empties into the Lackar. waxen, was found not to be satisfactory, even as a : temporary location of the courts, for, on the 5th of April, 1802, the Legislature remanded them back to Milford for "three years and no longer."
Meanwhile, the trustees, under the organizing act ; of '98, accepted from Henry Drinker, Esq., of Phila- delphia, a large land proprietor in Wayne county, a conveyance, upon a nominal consideration, of a tract of 999 acres of land in trust for the county of Wayne, to be laid out in town and outlots, and to convey to the county commissioners such of said lots as they .: shall fix on for the purpose of erecting a court-house, jail, and offices for the safe-keeping of the records ... This deed, made the 30th of August, 1800, was a .. compliance with the act of 1799, for the land it con-,, veyed was within four miles of the Dyberry forks.
The trustees had the land surveyed into lots, and : on the 2d of January, 1802, conveyed to the county : commissioners the lots necessary for a public square ; and county buildings, and sold at public auction 241 ; lots, at prices ranging from a few cents to twenty-seven dollars each, the proceeds amounting in the aggregate! to $2,735.97. The remaining lots and outlots, 183 in
4
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
number, were then conveyed to the county commis- sioners, who continued to sell from time to time, until they were all disposed of, at an aggregate of $1,524.66, making a total of the proceeds of the Drinker grant $4,260.63. Besides this sum there was the land that forms the beautiful square in Bethany and the site of the public buildings, and several lots given to the town for church and school purposes.
It was in this manner Bethany became the county seat of Wayne. A frame court-house and a log jail were erected upon the public square and the court was removed there from Milford, in 1805. But no sooner was the seat of justice established at Bethany than the inhabitants of the lower end of the county began to complain of the hardship of going so far to attend courts and consult the records. The valleys of the Delaware and of the Wallenpaupack contained almost the entire population of the lower half of the county. The region lying between these rivers and called "The Barrens" to this day, was, at that time, an utter wilder- ness. But along the Delaware and the Wallenpau- pack were narrow but fertile valleys which invited a hardy and industrious population of farmers and lum- bermen. It was quite natural that these people should complain of the distance they had to travel over bad roads to the seat of justice, and, accordingly, they pre- vailed upon the Legislature to pass an act of the 19th of March, 1810, (5th S. L., p. 125) authorizing the Governor to appoint commissioners to fix a place for the county seat at or within five miles of the territo-
rial center of the county. The preamble to this act is in these words: "Whereas, it appears to the Legisla- ture that those inhabitants of Wayne county who live near the line of Northampton county, along the river Delaware, below Milford, are subjected to very great hardships in their attendance on courts and other pub-
5
WOODWARD'S COMMENCEMENT.
lic business at Bethany, on account of the great dis- tance and the uninhabitable region over which they are obliged to travel; and, whereas, it also appears that Bethany is situated many miles to the north of the territorial center of Wayne county, and that by a re- moval of the seat of justice to a place at or near the center, the inhabitants first above mentioned would gain some relief, whilst the inhabitants of the upper townships would not suffer any material disadvantage by such removal;" therefore it was enacted that the Governor should appoint three disinterested commis- sioners "to fix on a place for the seat of justice at or within five miles of the territorial center of said county," with power as to laying out and selling lots similar to those conferred upon the trustees by the act of '98. The commissioners appointed under this act reported on the 21st of August, 1810, that they had fixed on a place known as Blooming Grove, now within the limits of Pike county and called Nyce's Farm.
The county commissioners refused to levy the necessary taxes for the erection of public buildings at Blooming Grove and they set forth their reasons in a paper that was drawn with great ability. After co- gent statements for believing that the Legislature meant that the public buildings should be principally paid for by grants of land rather than by taxation of a people already heavily oppressed, the county com- missioners said in conclusion : "but while the county is annually subjected to a heavy tax without being able to discharge its just and necessary expenditures; while after the most vigorous exertions in collecting taxes there remain many orders on the Treasury unpaid, while the poor juror and laborer is compelled from his necessities to sell his hard-earned county orders to some speculator at a discount of from twelve to twen-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.