USA > Pennsylvania > The Wyoming Valley in the nineteenth century > 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
ஜிரின்
小号
中午吃
T
Gc 974.801 L97 smi 1742393
M. L'
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
V
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02219 8680
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/wyomingvalleyinn00smit_0
-
The WYOMING VALLEY
IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY.
BY S. R. SMITH,
AUTHOR OF "THE WYOMING VALLEY IN 1892" AND "THE LACKAWANNA VALLEY FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY."
7
ART EDITION.
V.1
VOLUME I.
WILKES-BARRE LEADER PRINT. 1894.
494
1742393
WYOMING VAL.
S. R. SMITH.
ST STEPHENS EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
NEAR FORT FORT
i
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
JONAS LOTIES SONO SÃOLA.
COURT HOUSE.
ON THE SUSQUEHANNA
-
13-1555
A REVIEW.
BY S. K. SMITHI.
THIS VALLEY is the fairest in all the earth; it is a page on which we are writing an epic; it is a field wherein we are turning daring furrows from which we hope to grow a better moral, intellectual and spiritual life.
Our history is a sad tale, and the giving it immortality was the accident of circumstance and position. Its weakness and misfortune in that one supreme summer of '78 give it a claim to the sympathy of humanity. It is an act of devotion to bring back the past from the many vanished years, and to remember with affection those who are waiting for us in the dust and silence of the cemetery.
It is something in the nature of a crime against human nature and our progenitors to idly disregard the past. On the contrary, we should say grace when we start to read the history of the early settlers of this Valley, and the descendants of those carly settlers, with many new-comers as well, are not to be blamed for the jealous solicitude with which they seek for and take down the narratives that fall from the trembling lips of the aged. Their words are gathered up as a precious legacy which they will preserve and hand down to posterity, that their own descendants will not some day have to seek in vain for memorials of their ancestry.
Our forefathers were Puritans; and all we are and all we possess we owe to them. They were the boldest and bravest men that ever lived; they made that which had been for centuries the nightmare of kings and the dream of the common people, prevail; they plucked the fairest jewel from the British crown, and made this nation the world's ideal ; they created a new world on the foundation of civil and religious liberty ; they gave us a country without a dominant church, an inquisition or king; they gave us a new life from out the eternal dust-heap of the waste of centuries. These men had a spirit of unconquer- able resistance, and were cast in heroic mold. Their mission was to pluck the mantle of authority from the shoulders of royalty, and place it on the back of the unjustly oppressed. Moreover, these forefathers of ours were a homogeneous people: they spoke but one language, had but one form of religious worship, recognized no social barriers, had been religious rebels at home, and, above all, had, under Cromwell, overthrown royalty in the Civil War.
And although they were inconoclasts, image-smashers, idealists, yet with all their cruelty and fanaticism their memory comes down to us with the perfume of poetry as if blown over hills of roses.
4
A REVIEW.
The Indian and the Puritan had little in common; one represented a wild democracy, the other was the incarnation of individualism. The Puritan loved the Indian because he had so little skill in driving bargains, but after that had for them nothing but degrada- tion and annihilation. In return, the only satisfaction the Indian bad was to creep up to the settler's door and utter that never-to-be-forgotten, soul-appalling yel! which he loved so much. The tawny brave was the embodiment of physical courage, for while his tormentors were lopping his ears, splitting his nose, smearing his wounds with hot ashes, while all the time his naked body was roasting in the flames, even then he shouted his death-song with a steady voice until his tormentors plucked out his tongue or dashed out his brains.
As Indian names often sounded harsh in the original tongue, which we changed into melodious accent, so it is to a great extent true that much of the poetry and romance with · which we invest the forest denizens are of our own invention. The truth is, their lives were too hard to be romantic, and while their women were faithful as wives, they spent their youth in unrestrained licentiousness, and in their old age were vindictive hags. The stoicism of the Indian had its foundation in pride, for his delight was to boast of his deeds in the presence of the unblushing squaw. He was the only American aristocrat, the tribe composed the only American aristocracy.
We have attempted to establish an aristocracy on the basis of ancestry, but the source from which we come is too near. An aristocracy of wealth has proven impossible, for wealth gathers all kind of fish into its net ; and an aristocracy of talent is equally impossible, for talent cares not for the bauble.
Our forefathers in this Valley were poor. They were obliged to subsist on what the soil could be made to produce. Indeed, in the year 1784, after the great flood had swept the Valley from mountain to mountain, had it not been for the shad coming up the river in the spring, all the settlers would have perished.
Before they gained their independence, they dare not make so much as a tooth for a rake, or wear a home-made garment, without being rebels in the eyes of the home govern- ment. They were not allowed to manufacture the most common necessities for domestic uses, without paying a heavy tax : and what they needed the most was taxed the highest. But the colonists put a tariff cob in the Lion's mouth, and George Washington pulled down the flag of George the Third; they refused to let England convert this country into a royal hunting-park, or to pay their bills.
The Puritans had a licentious soldiery saddled upon them. In this Valley, they also had the Pennamites, who, like so many in Virginia and the Carolinas, inclined to Toryism, to torment them. These Tories, while their patriotic neighbors were away with the Conti- nental army, were selling stock to the Hessians, and faring sumptuously on their substance. Our Connecticut ancestors were therefore never lacking a foe, either at home or abroad. And to-day, there is no royal family in Europe but would openly or secretly rejoice at any evidence of our decay and approaching downfall, for a republic is a menace and a reproach to monarchy.
The every-day life of one hundred years ago presents much to us that is wholesome and attractive. The people knew little of luxury, and simple piety, kindliness and good sense were the foundation of their lives. They were isolated, and consequently provincial; their
5
THE WYOMING VALLEY.
lives were narrow, hard, and commonplace; and were spent mostly in the kitchen. Their houses were without paint, the floors were white sand sprinkled on the earth; the only piece of furniture of any importance was a chest of drawers where the family linens were kept, and in which the matron invariably rummaged while entertaining her guests. Their eating was out of wooden trenchers, and their seat was a straight-backed wooden "setter." Their hair they wore tied back in a cue, and lace hanging down over their hands gave them an air of unmistakable gentility. The test of a well-made man was to keep his breeches above his hips, without suspenders, and his garterless stockings above the calf of his leg. The poorer people wore petticoat breeches that came to the knee, and no farther; when the seat became prematurely worn out they made front and rear reverse situations.
The houses were scattered loosely about the Valley, and for protection they would hurry to the fort when the signal-gun warned them of danger. The roads were not much more than lanes, except the stage route. The arrival of the stage, by the way, was the event of the week. An entire family would simultaneously drop all work and rush to the doors when the old lumbering box swept by with two or three passengers. The front, yard was a medley of dog-kennel, grindstone, beehive, blue-flag, marigold, bachelor-button, sweet-william, caraway and tansy. The front gate was a pair of bars; one of the windows was usually adorned in some quarter by an old hat.
The old people were much attached to the church ; they revered the house of God, and their religions meant much to them; they were as familiar with the passages of God's Word as with the blue sky above them. The old hymns were engraved on their hearts. The women took their knitting to meeting, and worked and worshipped at the same time. The minister was loved and venerated. He dared to be bold. He would mention the individual sins of each member of his congregation, as well as the collective sins of the community. He would make very pointed remarks, during a political campaign, to the candidates of each opposing party. On the other hand, he himself could get drunk, if not too drunk, without affecting his prospects in this world or the next.
The young people had no amusements except balls and parties. The old people believed that the young were dancing on the edge of perdition, and that a pack of cards and a fiddle were the devil's kit. Children were taught to obey; they did not get much book-learning, because "toeing the mark " was more important than correct spelling. The poor little things would strain their necks to sit up stiffly in church, like their elders, and they probably wondered if the lower regions were paved with infants' skulls. At public gatherings the old men would be extravagantly polite, and would endeavor to outdo nobility in point of punctilio. The host would fill the guest's plate many times, and it was bad form for the guest to refuse to eat if his stomach could accommodate another grain. When repletion was complete, he put his knife across the plate and his spoon across the tea-cup, as a sign that he could eat no more. Many of these old customs come down to within fifty years ago. Even then flint and tallow-candles were in vogue.
We are filled with amazement when we think of what these men accomplished, and are led to exclaim that surely humor and caprice do not determine human destiny. These Yankees were the men who gave us, their descendants, " letters-patent of nobility." We are proud of the distinction because to be without ancestry is a serious thing in this Valley.
---
6
A REVIEW.
To come down, now, to a much later period. The Civil War resulted in a great revo- lution of our social and public life. Old conditions were overthrown and new ones created, and the result has been to direct the public mind to the studying of economic questions. Suddenly the nation's thought found new and deeper channels in which to flow. We may say that we are in a way to realize the Puritan dream of government. We have a higher type of civilization and a quickened intellectual growth; a warmer, and more earnest, moral sentiment ; a stronger sense of national patriotism ; more contentment among the masses ; more purity and seriousness among all people.
We owe much to the English nation. Britain boasts that three-fourths of our popu- lation are of their flesh and blood, and thereby hangs our greatness. This, strictly speaking, is a vast error. However, had the British written that the British Isles furnished us with three-fourths of our population the statement would then be nearer correct. They have given us a host during the last forty years who came here vicious and illiterate, without the first conception of civil liberty. They assumed to control the government and capital of our institutions by violence. They have planted a saloon on nearly every street in the Valley. Unprincipled men have become more or less supreme, and have left the public helpless. The demagogue has inflamed. for his own ends, the working man against capital, and raised a barrier between them that has resulted in the loss of millions in this section. We have an ultra-English element, who, when England flung over the ocean during the Civil War the cry that the United States was a bursted bubble, and that slavery was the irremovable corner-stone of the republic, echoed the lie.
At the present time, we have between these mountains the most varied population ever gathered in common citizenship, but, fortunately, we will not allow foreign inter- meddling, and all citizens must become Americanized in spirit and in speech.
No power can perpetuate in this country European tongue, institutions, or sentiments. The foreign element has had full swing. They have played the statesman and legislator. While we have not altogether held this element in check, we have civilized it, and in the rising generation the distinctions of nationality show signs of disappearing. The host of emigrants on our heels impose a great responsibility and task upon us. The melting pot of the common schools has a great part of that task, and the church worker the rest, of fusing this heterogeneous multitude of many languages into one English-speaking people. We must produce public men with inspiring policies that dare speak of the divine mission of America. Let us realize that it is the want of knowledge that causes mankind to perish ; let us learn that ignorance is more a barrier to business and social success than poverty,-infinitely more. Let us hope that there even now is a great revolution taking place, and that something splendidly American is beginning to make itself dominant. Certainly one favorable sign is that so much money is being given to institutions that aim to improve the social, religious and intellectual status of man. This is the crowning glory of the nineteenth century.
Another gratifying aspect is the fact that among the young men of to-day, more so than at any previous time, there is a sentiment which tends to prevent them from fre- quenting saloons. The cause is undoubtedly that men are increasing in self-respect.
Those who come after us, it is hoped, will live a freer and higher life, and will make our towns and cities centres of morality and culture; that they will have different and better ideals than ours, where wealth will be less centralized ; that reforms will be less
-
7
THE WYOMING VALLEY.
confined; and that knowledge of every university and college will be brought to every door for the asking; when the coloring element of life will not be of the ancestral type; when the divided segments of our life will be gathered together and find harmonious expression. We are of the faith that what is right must triumph; what is evil must perish. The most striking feature of our life is its many woven threads of infinitely diverse elements that hold each other in check and prevail together.
The power of an enlightened public opinion is fast becoming the power that will cure vice and punish crime. It is like the golden smithy of Aaron, where the high priest throws the jewels and pounded ornaments of the people which are fused into objects of public adoration. The nineteen century has been a period of struggle, of trials, and of victories. The irrepressible conflict of light with darkness, of truth witl. error, of super- stition with demonstration, through these years, has brought the dawn of a brighter day which steadily grows more roseate, and we are about to see the full glory of a day in which ideals shall become actualities, and America shail exhibit to the world manhood in its highest development.
THE FAMILIES OF THE VALLEY FIFTY YEARS AGO.
All the facts used in these annals were obtained from the score or more of old white- haired men who still occupy the old arm-chair in the shadow of the porch, with life's battle all fought and their part acted to admiration, waiting, justified and fully contented, for the last summons.
The people of the valley fifty and sixty years ago were mostly Anglo Saxon. They have divided their possessions among the Celts and other foreign people and given place to this mongrel, sharp and restless generation.
In the changes that the years have wrought we have lost much, but we have gained more. The old neighborly feeling has passed away, yet in our cosmopolitan population we have conditions that make the best kind of a community for the development of all classes and the general good.
The thrush has been silenced and the blue-jay has fled to the grove of odorous pine. We still have the old-fashioned daisies blooming on the hillside and old-fashioned birds singing old-fashioned songs in the hedges, and in the garrets are broken spindles, shad seines and pigeon nets, rotting with the rusting accoutrements of war-their occupation gone. All the wild beasts have fled, but will return again in a few centuries to undisturbed possession of their ancestral haunts in these hills and plains.
These records are but little more than gossip about our progenitors, yet we all love gossip better than all the classical literature of the past.
The writer believes that this little history will prove a lasting contribution to the historical literature of the Valley and bring the past to the remembrance of this forgetful generation, so that the past and the present may be an unbroken thread.
Wilkes Barre became a borough in 1806. Lord Butler was the first President of the Town Council. It was incorporated into a city in 1871, and Charles Parrish served as the first President of the City Council. The position has been filled by Charles A. Miner, Herman C. Fry, G. M. Reynolds, D. A. Frantz, E. W. Sturdevant, E. L. Dana, II. Il. Derr, William J. Harvey, and the present officer, W. H. McCartney. The first Mayor was
-
8
A REVIEW.
Ira M. Kirkendall. who was followed by M. A. Kearney, W. W. Loomis, Thomas Brodrick, C. B. Sutton and F. M. Nichols.
Sixty years ago there were no paved streets nor sewers: now we have over twenty miles of the former and thirty of the latter.
Beginning at the corner of West Market street and Public Square, where the Long block stands, was originally a frame house, occupied fifty years ago by Rev. Rufus Lane, who preached in the old church on the Square. The late Isaac Osterhout bought the property and built a store that was burned down in a fire which swept that side of the Square to the Luzerne House. Adjoining he built a brick block. Where the bank build- ing of the Wyoming Valley Trust Company, formerly the Rockafellow bank, stands, was a frame house, the residence of Anthony Brower; Mrs. Squire Parson was his daughter. Barnet Ulp lived in a frame house adjoining. Next to the alley stood a small house, the occupant not known. Across the alley lived Daniel Collings, who was postmaster; he kept a jewelry store also. J. B. Collings, Esq., of Scranton, and Samuel, who married a daughter of Andrew Beaumont, Mrs. A. J. Baldwin, Mrs. Charles Dougherty are his children. James Sutton had a store for many years where Isaac Livingston has his store; formerly the lot was occupied by a frame house used by William Carey for a cigar store. Beyond him was the store and house of Jonathan Bulkeley; he was Sheriff of the county ; Dr. Bulkeley and Charles, the Alderman, Mrs. A. R. Brundage, are his children. The property where the Luzerne House stands was owned by him. George P. Steel built a hotel, one of the famous hotels in those days. Later the property became apart of the Ziba Bennett estate.
On the corner of the east side of the Square lived Lord Butler, the father of E. G. Butler, Esq., and Mrs. William Hillard. Lord and John Butler built and occupied the first steam grist mill in this town; it stood on the spot where the Hillard grocery store now stands. The next property was the currier shop of Wm. Bowman and Josiah Lewis. The next property was where Judge Kidder and Lawyer Nicholson had their offices. Dr. Boyd came next. Then Mrs. Overton. Where the Exchange Hotel stands there was a tavern kept by John D. Shafer. The old building was burned in one of the many fires that were so common in this city before we had a paid fire department. Then the present structure was erected. The corner property was where Judge Scott lived for many years; Mrs. Judge Kidder was his daughter. On the south side of the Square, on the . corner where the Osterhout block stands, was a tavern famous in its day as the resort for the public and professional men of the county; it was kept by Archippus Parrish ; Charles, Archibald, George, Gould, Bradley, Mrs. F. W. Hunt and Mrs. Hugh Fell are his chil- dren. Joseph Slocum lived in the building now occupied by S. L. Brown; he was the brother of Francis Slocum. James Helme carried on the cabinet business on the next lot ; he was the son of Oliver Helme. Next to him was the tin-shop of Samuel Howe. Next, on the corner, was the blacksmith shop of Laning & Drake.
On the opposite side, where Robert Baur has his printing office, was a store kept by Whitney Smith. On the next property stood a foundry and blacksmith shop of Mr. Laning. Where the Welles Building stands were a few frame buildings called Rag Row, in one of which lived Conrad Teeter. the proprietor of the semi-weekly stage from Wilkes-Barre to Painted Post, N. Y. Then came the Anhaeuser house. On the corner General Isaac Bow- man lived ; Miss Mary is a daughter: Monroe, Horatio, Frank and Samuel were his sons.
-
9
THE WYOMING VALLEY.
Main and Market street crossed each other in the centre of the Square. On Market street, west of Main were four brick pillars, two on each side of the street, covered with a roof, but open on the sides. This was the market house. On the east plot was the fire-proof, on the southern plot the court house, on the western plot the old Ship Zion, on the northern plot the Academy.
North Main, on the east side, next to the corner, was where Alderman Gilbert Burrows had his office. Here was a number of offices called Buzzard Row. Above was Benjamin Drake, a blacksmith ; his children were Rev. George. C., Thomas, and the first wife of W. W. Loomis, Mrs. Miner Blackman, Mrs. Polly Marcy and Sarah Helme. The adjoining lots were occupied by a number of old buildings, tenant houses.
There was a cabinet shop near where Adam Behee built his brick block. Mr. Behee is still alive ; he was a blacksmith. Where the Forrest House stands Dr. Jones lived. James, of the Wyoming bank, William and three daughters were his children. On the corner of Union street was a log house. Near the canal were a few old wooden buildings, owned by Joseph Slocum. Oliver Hillard's property adjoined ; Mrs. Samuel Lynch, Mrs. W. L. Conyngham, Mrs. Rufus Bell are his daughters.
John Myers, the father of Lawrence, Henry, William, Charles and three daughters lived in the next house. Then came the shop of William Hoffman. This was Gabtown. On the north side of Main street from Public Square, the first buildings were two stores and next was the residence, still standing, of Ziba Bennett, the father of Mrs. John C. Phelps and George S. Bennett. Mr. Bennett was an influential man in his day. Where James Laird's harness shop stands was the office of Lawyer Winchester. Above this was the Methodist class room. Above that was the law office of George Dennison, and his residence was adjoining. Then came the office of Dr. Jackson. Beyond him was Job Gibbs. Z. Grey's bakery stood next. Then came the residence of Sharp D. Lewis. Later Byron Nicholson, Esq., erected a building on the lot, after the old one had burned down. Gilbert Barnes lived next. On the corner was a log house. Across Union street, on the corner, Dr. Thomas W. Miner lived Over the canal lived a Mr. Phillips and Jake Sauber. Be- vond them was a wheelwright shop. Then a tavern kept by Paul Dunn. Then came the shop of Mr. Gilchrist. Above Jackson street was a log house, still standing.
West Market street, from Public Square, on the north side : Next to what is now the Long block was the Ebenezer Bowman property, extending to the property of Henry F. Lamb, a druggist. The Bowman residence was on this property. Mr. Bowman was a prominent man. Mrs. Thomas W. Miner was his daughter. Then came the Lamb property on the corner of what is now North Franklin street. There was a drug store near the corner. The property at an earlier date belonged to Edward McShane ; his widow married H. F. Lamb. The property came into the possession of the youngest daughter, Mary, who sold it to Robert Pettebone, the son of the late Payne Pettebone, of Wyoming. Where the Second National Bank stands was owned by Jacob J. Dennis, who kept a tavern. Gilbert Laird kept the first drug store, on the corner, afterward used as a tavern. The next property belonged to Abram Thomas. On this property was a double house. His daughter, Emily, married Washington Lee. There were four daughters. Next was Thomas Hutchings, who traded the property to Charles Terwilliger. Mrs. Nancy S. Drake owned the next property. She subsequently sold it to William Wood. A two-story frame stood on the ground, where Mrs. Drake carried on the millinery business. Mrs. Drake was a large owner of real estate and
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.