USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Plymouth > Reminiscences of Plymouth, Luzerne County, Penna.; a pen picture of the old landmarks of the town; the names of old residents; the manners, customs and descriptive scenes, and incidents of its early history > 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
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 44000879635 1
-
VIEW FROM WRIGHT HOMESTEAD
Reminiscences of Plymouth Luzerne County, Penna.
A PEN PICTURE OF THE OLD LANDMARKS OF THE TOWN; THE NAMES OF OLD RESIDENTS; THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS AND DESCRIPTIVE SCENES, AND INCIDENTS OF ITS EARLY HISTORY.
BY SAMUEL LIVINGSTON FRENCH 1914.
Copyrighted, 1915, by SAMUEL LIVINGSTON FRENCH PLYMOUTH, PENNA.
PREFACE
S OME time ago an elderly gentleman of near my own age and a stranger in the town, called upon me in search of information regarding some of the old landmarks of Plymouth which he remembered, but had not seen since his young boyhood. I have also heard of other old people, who, in response to that inherent longing, or natural instinct which impels a return to the paternal nest, having visited the town to view the scenes of their youth, and revive the precious memories of their happy childhood.
There are doubtless many others who are imbued with the same natural human desire; and in a measure to gratify such, it was suggested to me, that perhaps I, as one of the few remaining relics of a past age was properly qualified and therefore in duty bound, so far as possible, to rescue from oblivion and perpetuate the old memories, by placing on record enduring evidence of bygone scenes and incidents. In the contemplation of that task, in the efforts in tracing up obliterated, or fast disappearing landmarks, I have been somewhat sur- prised to discover but comparatively few persons re- maining here whose knowledge regarding the past was in that respect much, if any better or more reliable than my own.
That circumstance, while strangely enough arousing a suspicion in my mind that I too must be getting old and fossilized, also tended to add force to the sugges- tion that perhaps a duty was devolving upon me to under- take a task which in the course of nature, "if it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly."
The describing and recounting of old scenes and incidents as they have been recalled by my researches has been to me a labor of love, and I submit the results of my efforts in endeavoring to comply with the injunc- tion, "rejoice and do good," in the hope that by reviving memories of long forgotten scenes may assist perhaps some despondent natives to live again in memory the happy days of their youth.
S. L. FRENCH.
PLYMOUTH, PA.,
December 15th, 1914.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Early History-Connecticut Charter-Shawnee Indians-Town Name-Erection of the Borough-Petitioners for-First Officials-Boundaries of-Elections-Cliques and Fights. I
CHAPTER II.
Lower End of Town-The Old Hodge House-The Wright Homestead-Silk Industry-Mrs. Ellen Wright-Landscape Scenery-Samuel Ransom-John Kreidler-Thos. Mast --- Isaac Kreidler-Home Sweet Home-Query for Naturalists -Old Scenes-Hodge Cemetery. 5
CHAPTER III.
Col. Ransom's Homestead-His Capture by Indians-Ira Ran- som-The "Swing Gate"-School Boy's Pranks-Old Sucker Hole - Round Stakes - Thos. Davenport's House - Ira Davenport-His Store-Post Office-Mails and Stage Coach -John and Elijah Davenport-Cider Press-John B. Smith's House-Jessop's Hotel-Chas. Water's Shoe Shop-Samuel Davenport's Store-Chauncey Reynolds' House-Albert Ga- briel-C. E. Young-Turner's Tannery-"Aunt" Fanny Turner-Turner's Store-Wadham's Store-The M. E. Church-Old Kingston Church. 14
CHAPTER IV.
Old M. E. Parsonage-Donation parties-H. Gaylord's Home- stead-Old Store-James Macfarlane-First National Bank -Conrad Shafer-Draper Smith's Store-F. E. Spry-Par- dee and Winters-C. L. Farnum-Jos. Preston-C. A. Kuschke-Gaylord's Store-Capt. Asher Gaylord-Gaylord's Railroad and Wharf-Dietrick's Hotel-Samuel Turner- James McAlarney-Eli Bittenbender-Querin Krothe- Noah Wadham's Homestead-Andrew Shupp-Geo. P. Richard's-"Squire" Brown-Nesbitt Homstead-Old Scenes -Elm Hill and Tree-John J. Shonk-Olewine-Culver- "Sammy" Gould. 24
CHAPTER V.
Coal Street-Oliver Davenport-Edwin Davenport-Christopher Garrahan - Patrick Cullen - Phoebe Pringle - Carpenter Rinus-French's Grist Mill-John Smith-"Aunt" Charry Clark-The French Tunnel-Francis J. Smith-Calathum- pian Serenades-The Horse Fiddle-The "Big Coal Bed"- William Dennis-Richard Egbertson-Robt. Davenport- Samuel Vanloon-Benj. and Fuller Reynolds-Calvin and Samuel Wadhams-Manny Wharram-Benj. Pringle-Sam'l Lewis-Sam'l Harrison. 32
CHAPTER VI.
Early Religious Services-The Old Academy-Lorenzo Dow- Great Religious Revival-Revs. Miles and Snowden-Pres- byterians-A Personal Episode and Erection of a Church- First Church Edifice-Christian Church-Early Ministers of -Early Schools and Teachers-The Bachelor's Club-Their Rules and Proceedings-Benj. Parke-Other Teachers- Corporal Punishment-The Old Lecture Room School House -The Spelling School. 39
CHAPTER VII.
Farming Methods-Threshing and Marketing Grain-Flax In- dustry-The Old Spinning Wheels-Dipping Candles-Grist Mills-Coal Industry-Building of Arks and Boats-Shaw- nee Against the World-Origin of Slogan-Methods of Pre- paring and Shipping Coal-Old Records-Coal Markets- Cost of Mining and Selling-Prices for Coal-Hard Times -Deplorable Conditions-Wages and Cost of Commodities. 48
CHAPTER VIII.
Early Coal Operators and Mines-Choke Island-Broderick and Conyngham's Troubles-Exit of Individual Operators and the Entrance of Corporations-Capture of Fugitive Slaves-Bru- talities of the Fugitive Slave Law-Uncle Tom's Cabin. 56
CHAPTER IX.
Reverie-Wild Pigeons-Swimming-Rafting-A Disappointing Experience-Traveling Inconveniencies-Flood of 1852 and the Resulting Hardships-Flood of 1865-Incidents of the Flood-Early Military Organizations-The Shawnee Rang- ers-General Training-Martial Music-Black Jack-Later Military Companies-Top Heaviness of the Military Estab- lishments. 62
CHAPTER X.
Early Methods of Traveling-W caver's Stage Line-Steamboats -The Little Jim-Transferring Canal Boats-Shows and Circuses-Burial Grounds and Cemeteries-Early Medical Methods-Doctors-Bogus Diplomas. 70
CHAPTER XI.
Early Methods of Weighing-System of Barter-Reason for Peculiarity of Prices of Commodities-Currency Conditions -Spanish Coins-Fips and Shillings-Counterfeit Notes- Era of Shinplasters-Customs of Early Merchants-Means of Travel-Wholesale Merchants-Arrival of Goods- Pedlars and Their Wares. 77
CHAPTER XII.
The Past and the Present, Comparisons-The "Appy Og"- Mythical Superior Traits of Honesty -Early Habits and Characteristics of People - Social Customs - Sociability Among Neighbors-Quilting Parties-Visiting-Apple Cuts and Candy Pulls-Deferences to Old People-Incidents- The 400 Society-Town Newspapers-Names of Business Men and Firms. 81
CHAPTER XIII.
The War of the Rebellion-Captain Gaylord-Copperheads- Fishing Creek Confederacy-Skulkers-Funeral of First Vic- tim-Rev. Thomas P. Hunt-An Incident-Bounty Bonds -Railroad Riots of 1877-Acts of Lawlessness-Arrival of Troops-The Molly Maguires-Killing of Dunleavy. 87
CHAPTER XIV.
The Avondale Disaster-Typhoid Fever Epidemic-The Changes in Population-A Filial Tribute-Conclusion. 91
ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing Page.
View from Wright Homestead
Frontispiece
The Wright Homestead. 6
The French Homestead 12
The Big Coal Bed.
36
The Old Academy 39
Academy Street from Shawnee Avenue 72
CHAPTER I.
Early History-Connecticut Charter-Shawnee Indians-Town Name-Erection of the Borough-Petitioners for-First Officials-Boundaries of-Elections-Cliques and Fights
IN the Historical Sketches of Plymouth by the Honorable Hendrick B. Wright, to whose history I acknowledge indebtedness for much of the historical data relating to the earlier history of the town which I shall have occasion to refer to in the following pages, that author gives the date of "birth of Plymouth," as December 28th, 1768.
It was one of the noted seventeen townships em- braced within the territory vested in the "Susquehanna Company," by charter granted by King Charles II. of England, in 1662, and known as the "Connecticut Charter," which covered a tract of land extending be- tween two parallel lines of latitude some fifty miles north and south, and from east to west, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. As King Charles, in his generosity nineteen years later, to-wit: March 4, 1681, granted precisely the same tract or parcel of land to William Penn and his associates, known as the "Proprietary Government of Pennsylvania," this slight lapse of memory, or lack of knowledge of geography on the part of George, was subsequently the cause of some very serious misunderstandings, and differences of opinion in the minds of the early settlers, to say nothing about the rights and claims of the Shawnee Tribe of Indians, who were the original landlords and proprietors of the real estate in dispute. But, as these reminiscences concern only the scenes and occurrences transpiring within the last hundred years, it is not my purpose to mix into that quarrel, nor discuss the subject, pro and con, of the exer- cise therein, of the right of eminent domain, which in
2
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
plain vernacular, means the acquisition, under color of law, of valuable possessions by brute force; further than to intimate that the above-mentioned clerical or geo- graphical error created a very unpleasant muss which lasted many years, but is now barred out from con- troversy by the statute of limitations.
The town of Plymouth is often in derision, disdain- fully called "Black Shawnee," when referred to by some well-to-do people, whose non-aristocratic ancestors in all probability may have accumulated the wealth which they enjoy by selling rum over the counter at three cents a drink, or perhaps, whose barefooted grandmothers drove cows to pasture on the mountain sides or on Shawnee Flats.
The name "Shawnee" ought to have been retained, as being more original and appropriate, and much more preferable to the Puritan one of "Plymouth," and, in commemoration of the original aborigines, whose belli- gerent characteristics were doubtless inherited by their later successors, and in a measure, is being perpetuated in the well-known slogan of "Shawnee against the World !"
The present Borough of Plymouth was erected by decree of Honorable John N. Conyngham, President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County, on the 23rd day of April, A. D., 1866, upon the recommendation of the Grand Jury, upon petition therefor of the following named residents, to-wit:
JOHN B. SMITH
H. GAYLORD
PETER SHUPP
DRAPER SMITH
JOSIAH M. ENO
DANIEL GARDINER
A. R. MATTHEWS
WILLIAM JENKINS
GEO. P. RICHARDS
S. M. DAVENPORT
EDWARD GRIFFITH
LEWIS BOUGHTON
A. F. SHUPP
JOHN J. SHONK
JAMES MCALARNEY
J. P. DAVENPORT
3
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
ELI BITTENBENDER
THEODORE RENSHAW
DAVID McDONALD
EDWARD G. JONES
C. A. KUSCHKE
J. L. NESBITT
ANDREW F. LEVI
J. W. WESTON
QUERIN KROTHE
J. H. WATERS
DAVID MADDEN
JOHN E. HALLECK
JOHN DODSON
E. R. WOLFE
DARIUS GARDINER
F. E. SPRY
JOHN COBLEY
C. F. DERBY
W. L. LANCE, JR.
ANTHONY DUFFY
J. E. SMITH
D. BROWN
R. N. SMITH
A. G. RICKARD
JOHN DENNIS
T. P. MACFARLANE
DAVID LEVI
W. L. LANCE
W. W. LANCE
LEWIS GORHAM
WM. W. DIETRICK
JOHN JESSOP
JAMES HUTCHINSON
A. S. DAVENPORT
GEORGE BROWN
A. HUTCHINSON
OLIVER DAVENPORT
BRICE S. BLAIR
SAMUEL FRENCH
JOHN S. GEDDIS
A. GABRIEL
C. H. WILSON, M.D.
The first borough election under that decree was held in the "Old Academy," under the auspices of Oliver Davenport as judge, and John J. Shonk and Ira Daven- port as inspectors, on the second Tuesday of the follow- ing May, when Elijah C. Wadhams was elected Burgess.
The boundaries of the borough embraced approxi- mately the territory extending from the line of No. 11 Coal Breaker property of the L. & W. B. Coal Com- pany on the east, to the old Mud Tunnel Road-prob- ably a mile and a half distant-on the west; and from the river on the south up to a little beyond a line parallel with Back Street, now known as Shawnee Avenue, or from near the river, excluding farm lands, to near the foot of the mountain. The borough was divided into two wards, the East and the West, the dividing line being Academy Street, and the borough elections were held in the Old Academy where the township elections had previously been held.
4
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
These township or general elections in the days of my boyhood were always looked upon as gala days. On those occasions the pent up enthusiasm of the patriots would make itself manifest, and in consequence there would be more or less excitement the entire day. During the preliminary campaigns the ardor of the voters would be frequently aroused and kept at proper temperature by means of "flag-pole raisings," on which occasions speeches by prominent orators were the dominant fea- tures. Hickory poles, in reference to "Old Hickory"- General Jackson-would symbolize the loco-foco or Democratic party, and pine, that of the whigs or Repub- lican, and which were also called "liberty poles." On the tops of these poles there would usually be retained the natural branches and foliage that there might be no mistake made as to their political identity.
The voters on election days would assemble from the Kingston line on the east, to West Nanticoke on the west, and almost invariably, when the Nanticoke contin- gent had arrived upon the ground in the afternoon, there would start a fight, and torn clothes and bloody heads would be conspicuously in evidence. These patriotic ebullitions, however, must not be wholly credited to the Nanticoke boys, for since the earliest times there seems to have been a jealous clique existing between the "up- town" and "downtown" sections of the community; the dividing line between the factions being the old Acad- emy; and, like their aboriginal predecessors, when the two factions happened to meet in numbers, there was likely to be a scrimmage. At one of these general elec- tions I recall, a new element from the neighborhood of Welsh Hill, or Poke Hollow, was injected, which united the factions, and there resulted a general battle in which clubs and stones were very much in evidence. The in-
5
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
vaders, however, were ignominiously driven from the field without any serious damage resulting. Another in- stance about the time of the outbreak of the rebellion, when a clash occurred between a copper-head preacher named Headly and one of the prominent citizens for a time threatened more serious results.
CHAPTER II.
Lower End of Town-The Old Hodge House-The Wright Homestead-Silk Industry-Mrs. Ellen Wright-Landscape Scenery-Samuel Ransom-John Kreidler-Thos. Mast- Isaac Kreidler-Home Sweet Home-Query for Naturalists -Old Scenes-Hodge Cemetery.
I N recounting my recollections and impressions of the scenes, old landmarks and old residents of Plymouth, I will commence at the lower, or west end of the borough; that locality being the place of my birth and where the larger part of my boyhood days were spent; and thence, following the main or principal thor- oughfare eastward, will endeavor to picture the scenes in regular order as I recall them upwards of sixty years ago :
Beginning at a point on the lower side of the road nearby the bridge which crosses the excavation made for the old Jersey plane, there stood an old black house two stories high which, I think, was known as the "Old Hodge House," and where lived in early days, if I am not mistaken, a man named Skadden, who was a cabinet- maker. I have in my possession an old writing desk and bookcase more than a hundred years old which belonged to my grandfather; it is made of cherry wood, which grew on Shawnee Flats, and which, I believe, was made by Mr. Skadden, and still attests the superiority of his
6
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
workmanship. This house was later occupied by a family named Bangs, and later still by Carpenter Rinus, an old citizen, and at the time of the building of the L. & B. R.R., Anthony Duffy, a section boss, lived there. Mr. Duffy, who was quite an original, afterwards be- came one of Plymouth's foremost and enterprising citi- zens. He built Duffy's Hall, now occupied as a saloon and public hall by F. L. Donn. He used to tell of an opportunity he once had of buying a town site in Ireland for a pair of boots, and the only reason the purchase was not made was because he didn't have the boots.
A little further down and on the opposite side of the road, in a little one and a half story building there lived an old colored man with a white wife, who was known as Black Anthony. This house was later occupied by Thomas Worman. Coming up the road, on the upper side, near the Mud Tunnel Road, stood the large Andrus barn, so named for a former occupant of a red house a few rods further up. Directly in front of this house and on the lower side of the road, stood a large walnut tree, and near it was a road leading down to my step grand- father's barn, behind which there usually stood several large stacks of hay and grain. Almost precisely on this spot now stands the fan house and Wright slope of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company.
Coming up on the upper side of the main road was the dwelling house of my step-grandfather, Joseph Wright, the father of Hendrick B., Caleb E. and Har- rison Wright. This house is yet standing, though in a dilapidated condition. On the westerly side of this house there used to be a stream of clear water and by the side of the road stood a public watering trough. Here was also a beautiful grove of mulberry trees covering prob- ably two or three acres of ground, and there, when a boy,
THE WRIGHT HOMESTEAD
ـمايرد
السير
7
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
I used to spread salt in long troughs for the benefit of a flock of sheep, and at certain seasons of the year my task was to gather mulberry leaves to feed my grandmother's silk worms, which she raised in the front room of her house, where they were spread out on long tables built for the purpose. They grew to be large green, repulsive looking things, about the size of a man's finger, and when fully engaged in devouring the leaves, their masti- cation exertions were quite noisy. I don't just remem- ber the process, but after a short period these nasty looking varments would roll, or transform themselves into the most beautiful golden cocoons, which my grand- mother would somehow or other manipulate into silk thread, which was later transformed into stockings or other articles of wearing apparel. She also had a weaver's loom in another building in the rear of the house, where, like others of her neighbors, she wove wool and flaxen cloths. In the yard beside the garden fence. there stood a tall hop pole-a familiar sight at nearly all the dwellings-where a profusion of hops were grown for use in making yeast to raise bread and for the manufacture of hop poultices, but these articles are now numbered among the lost arts and about the only useful purpose this. valuable vegetable promoter of health and comfort now serves in this enlightened age is in the manufacture of beer, with which to raise-well, domestic infelicity.
My grandmother, who died in the ninety-seventh year of her age, was in very many respects a most re- markable woman. She was a great reader, well versed in all the current events of the day, and I have reason to believe, she thoroughly understood the almanac and knew the Bible almost by heart, from Genesis to Reva- lations, including the Apochrypha. I lived with her when
.
8
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
quite a young man, and upon returning from church on Sundays, where I sometimes went, if I could manage to remember but three or four words of the text, she could most always locate, if not repeat it. One night I was out pretty late-I was old enough to attend "apple cuts"- and I came into the house on tip-toe, and as I imagined, had made a safe retreat. The next morning she said to me, "Livingston, what time did you come, in last night?" "Oh," I replied, "I guess it must have been about 10 o'clock." "Well!" she said, "the moon didn't rise last night until after I o'clock, and it was some time after that before you came in."
There was no immediate occasion for any further argument, and I had urgent business out in the yard.
In front of this house was a beautiful view of broad and fertile fields and meadows, where many a day I have worked at hoeing corn or making hay, but this is now all obscured and obliterated; the greater portion of the landscape being covered over with huge piles of culm and debris from the old Washington coal breaker and the Wright slope, and its former beauty exists only in memory.
A few rods on further up the road was the residence of Samuel Ransom-yet standing. This house was originally built for use as a hotel, but was not so used within my remembrance. On the lower side of the road and in front of the house stood his barn, and just above the house was the dairy house which was supplied with water from a small stream coming from a spring a little way above. Just below this and near the road was the hennery, and on the upper side of the road was a public watering trough. These last named premises later gave place to the residence and surroundings of William L. Lance.
9
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
Samuel Ransom had several children, only three of whom I recall as living with him. They were Court- right and Jamison, both near my own age, and a younger daughter, Margretta. There was also a daughter, Hannah, who died. They subsequently removed to the neighborhood of Muncy, on the west branch of the Susquehanna.
Coming a little farther up and on the same side of the road, I have a faint recollection of there having stood a blacksmith's shop conducted by a colored man known as "Black John," and next above, there stands yet, a one and a half story red house where lived in my earliest recollection, Elias Petty, who drove team for my father. Mrs. Katy Gabriel also at one time lived there. Later, this building was converted into and used as a store by my father. It is now used as a tenement house. On the opposite side of the road was the wheelwright shop and residence of John Kreidler, and the black- smith shop and residence of Thomas Mast.
Almost in front of Kreidler's shop, and quite in the roadway, there stood a very large walnut tree. This wheelwright shop and residence was afterwards occu- pied by Isaac Kreidler, who used to make for us boys hand sleds with oak runners, for which he charged, first a shilling (121/2 cents), then 15 cents each, which was a fabulous sum of money; later he declared he could not afford to make any more for less than 25 cents, which was an utterly prohibitory price, and that industry ceased. In emergent cases, he would also occasionally make coffins. These were made with double folding lids and were invariably stained red.
The residence of Mr. Mast, which is yet standing, was afterwards occupied by the family of Robert Hun- ter, who drove the Chauncey tunnel, the coal mine now
IO
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
operated by the George F. Lee Coal Company. Mr. Hunter had a large family; two of his sons, Robert and James, served in the army during the war of the re- bellion, and a daughter, Ellen, married Philip Keller, and was the mother of Joseph H. Schwartz's first wife. Mr. Mast removed to the West Branch of the Susque- hanna.
John Kreidler had two children, George and Sabina. The family removed to Illinois, and George died from the effects of wounds received in the battle of Pittsburgh Landing.
Next in order comes the most interesting place to me of all, the old paternal homestead. On the upper side of the road there stands today the main part of the old stone house which was probably built by a man named Coleman, who was of the early large property owners in Plymouth, or possibly, by James Hodge, who had for- merly lived in it; and, although it is probably more than a hundred years old, is apparently in as good condition now as ever. There, on the 28th day of September, 1839, I first saw the light of day, and there, barring the time I spent away at school or in the army, I spent the most of, and the happiest days of my early life. How often I recall, and realize the truth of the words of my revered old maiden aunt, who, when I would be fretting and worrying over some boyish troubles, would say: "Poor child, he is living the happiest days of his life and don't know it."
The front and side of the house was almost entirely covered over with climbing ivy, and the spacious yard was filled with large black cherry and other trees and shrubbery, affording abundant and delightful shade in hot weather, and likewise, a safe retreat for innumer- able birds of varied kinds and plumage, in which to hold
II
Reminiscences of Plymouth, Pa.
their daily concerts. But these beautiful feathered musicians of nature, like the original aborigines, have en- tirely disappeared before the onward sweep of civiliza- tion; most of their species, if not now become extinct, are but reminiscences of natural history, and the sweet melody of birds has given place to yelping mongrel dogs -and such is civilization.
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.