A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. I, Part 38

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray
Publication date: 1909-1930
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press
Number of Pages: 734

USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. I > Part 38

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"ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT made and settled between us the subscribers, inhabit- ants of His Majesty's English Colony of Connecticut in New England, being memorial- ists to the General Assembly of said Colony at their sessions in May last for the title of said Colony to a certain tract of land lying on Susquehanna River at or near a place called CHIWAUMUCKÝ, an islandt in said river-and other subscribers hereunto-is as followeth, viz. :

"THAT WHEREAS we being desirous to enlarge His Majesty's English settlements in North America, and further to spread Christianity, as also to promote our own temporal interest, do hereby each of us covenant and engage-for ourselves and for those we any of ns represent by signing for them-each of us to pay to Mr. JOSEPH SKINNER, JABEZ

* From "Wyoming ; or Connecticut's East India Company," mentioned on page 248.

+ Wyoming. See pages 59, 60 and 248.

Richard's Island, described on page 52. Miner "presumed" ( "History of Wyoming," page xi) that the island referred to was "Monocasy" (Monocanock) Island, mentioned on page 51, ante. This is not at all probable, inasmuch as Richard's Island is, and has been from the time of the white man's earliest knowl- edge of Wyoming Valley, the largest island within the limits of the valley. Besides, the earliest Indian settlement known as "Wyoming" to the people living in 1753, was within a very short distance of this island, as we have previously shown.

Wind ham July 2 18/4/53 Articles of agreement made and feled Between is the Subjectbert, Inhabitants of his majeftin English Coloney General africably of 1. Koloxay all their fildor fo mei laf for the Ville of 9 stoney to a Certain track ofle." lying on Jufque haunch River all of Me çar a place able. hilvan much an Island In 10 Skiver and Other Suffers hermuuto is as followsthe, dix-

That Whereas De Being defineout to Enlarge, his Majete, Suglify Settlewewhy the North Americas and prixther To Inthread Christianity as alto to youto our con James sarah Juleleft 3 hereby lack of thi Conevalut and Pagan, for our ilor and for those we any of up the profit, 3

by Signing for them, Lack of ons to pay Is I'll Yofoph Whilened Saber Stitch, "let Chp'li Dyar Ily& fo hn, Tuich Ef. Enchiel Phites Etat Mit Findel Nuit. Capt Robert DixJours a Committee by us Nominale To repair to sonplace Af lufque durch fronter do Hier Said Trach Afstand Hard to purchase of the Nations there Inhabiting their Ville and Litere fr Ke Said Trach ofLand har to fawory & Lay out and received Jesper Seeds of Conveyacies offs Land 2 auf for Each of us for equates proportion, back on of the two Spanish mille datant bettes Com going o etting gut on 10 buthe fe, "return uppal and Com "rendering Mais accounting Their reafour des Charges Travle Repasser & Transaction. Insaid affair aus of what Ever may by Them Be Ex fenced In purchasing the Same! the lack of ust

Photo-reproduction of a portion of the first page of the minute-book of The Susquehanna Company.

251

FITCH, Esq., ELIPHALET DYER, Esq., + JOHN SMITH, Esq.,; EZEKIEL PEIRCE, Esq., Mr. LEMUEL SMITH and Capt. ROBERT DIXSONG (a committee by us nominated to

* JABEZ Firen was born in New London County, Connecticut, in 1702, the eighth child of Maj. James Fitch and his second wife Mrs. Alice ( Bradford) Adams, and grandson of the Rev. James Fitch of Nor- wich, New London County, Connecticut. James Fitch, the last mentioned, was born at Bocking, in the county of Essex, England, December 21, 1622, and came to America in 1638 with his widowed mother and his four brothers. In 1616 he was ordained pastor of the Church at Saybrook, New London County, Connecticut. There he remained until 1660, when, though urgently desired to continue as pastor, he decided to go with the majority of his Church members to found the town of Norwich, in New London County. Here he served as pastor thirty-four years. Mr. Fitch took a deepinterest in the Indians, learn- ed their language, preached to them and especially befriended those who were rendered homeless by the Narragansett War. He was considered a man of great learning, and was called by the Rev. Cotton Mather (mentioned on page 83, ante) "the holy, acute and learned Mr. Fitch." He was twice married, the first time, in 1618, to Abigail, daughter of the Rev. Henry Whitfield of Guilford, Connecticut. She died in 1659, leaving two sons and four daughters. Five years later Mr. Fitch was married to Priscilla Mason, daughter of Maj. John Mason, mentioned in the note on page 193. The Rev. James Fitch died at Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1702.

Maj. James Fitch, the eldest child of the Rev. James and Abigail ( Il'hitfield ) Fitch, was born at Say- brook in 1649 and accompanied his father's family to Norwich. After he had grown to manhood he took a leading part in all the town affairs of Norwich, and served as Land-surveyor, Registrar, Commissioner of Boundaries and Captain of the Train-band. He was appointed Captain in the militia in 1680 and Sergeant Major of New London County in 1696. A few years later he removed to Plainfield (see foot- note | below), then in the County of New London, but now in Windham. In 1703 that portion of Plainfield in which Major Fitch resided was erected into the town of Canterbury, and there hecontinued to live until his death in 1727. Miss 1,arned, in her "History of Windham County," says: "Maj. James Fitch was unquestionably the leading citizen of Canterbury for many years, though his pretensions and exac- tions involved him in frequent quarrels with his fellow-townsmen. * * * With all his faults he was an ardent patriot and a firm friend of popular liberty. He was a friend of progress, ready to initiate and carry on public improvements; a friend of education-endowing Yale College in 1701 with over 600 acres of land in what was afterwards Killingly [Windham County], and furnishing glass and nails for the first college edifice in New Haven." Major Fitch was twice married; first, in 1676, to Elizabeth Mason (a younger sister of his father's second wife), who died in 1684, and second, in 1687, to Alice (Bradford) Adams, widow of the Rev. William Adams of Dedham, Massachusetts, and daughter of the Hon. William Bradford, Lieutenant Governor of Plymouth Colony. By these two wives sixteen children were born, eleven of whom grew to maturity.

Jabez Fitch, son of Maj. James Fitch by his second wife, as previously mentioned, spent nearly all his life in what is now the town of Canterbury, Windham County. In May, 1734, he first represented this town as Deputy in the General Court, or Assembly, of Connecticut, and from that time until 1775 he served, by election, thirty-two years altogether in the office mentioned-being a member of the Assembly when the Connecticut Susquehanna Company was organized. In May, 1749. he was appointed by the General Court a Justice of the Peace in and for Windham County, and by successive appointments held this office until 1755, when he was appointed Justice of the Peace and Quorum of the County. This office he held by successive appointments until 1779. In May, 1759, he was appointed Probate Judge of the Plainfield District, and the duties of this office he performed for a period of twenty years. In October, 1740, he was "established and confirmed" by the General Court "Captain of the Troop in the Eleventh Regiment of the Colony," and in May, 1771, he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of this regiment.

Jabez Fitch was married three times-first. May 29, 1722, to Lydia Gale of Canterbury. A son by this marriage-Dr. Jabez Fitch, Jr .- was a Surgeon's Mate in the Connecticut forces engaged in the expedition against Crown Point in 1756. In 1759 he was commissioned Captain of the 10th Company in the 3d Regi- ment of the Colony.

Col. Jabez Fitch died at Canterbury in 1784.

+ ELIPHALET DYER of Windham, Windham County, Connecticut; lawyer, legislator and soldier. For his portrait and a sketch of his life, see Chapter V.

# JOHN SMITH of Voluntown, Windham County, Connecticut. See Chapter VI for a sketch of his life. ¿ EZEKIEL PEIRCE of Plainfield, Windham County, Connecticut. See a sketch of his life in a subse- quent chapter. He was a brother-in-law of the abovementioned John Smith.

" LEMUEL SMITH, younger brother of John Smith, abovementioned, was born at Plainfield, New London (now Windham) County, Connecticut, in 1710, the sixth child of John Smith, Jr., and his wife Susanna Hall. John Smith, Jr., was the son of John Smith, Sr., and the grandson of Francis Smith, an early settler at Taunton, Massachusetts. About 1690 or '91 John Smith, Jr., removed to what was known as the "Quinebaug Plantation" on the Quinebaug River, in eastern Connecticut, adjoining the town, or township, of Windham. This "Plantation" had been granted to Gov. John Winthrop of New London, and was being settled by emigrants from Massachusetts. In October, 1697, "Quinebaug Plantation" was annexed to New London County, and out of this territory the town of Plainfield was erected early in 1699

In 1704 John Smith was Constable of Plainfield, and also a member of a committee appointed to lay out certain lands. In 1709 he was one of the two Representatives, or Deputies, elected from Plainfield to the General Court of Connecticut, and was re-elected to the same office in 1710, '11. '12, '13, '14, '15 and '16. In 1717 he removed with his family from Plainfield to a locality in the same county that in 1719 was an- nexed to the town of Voluntown, of which he was already one of the proprietors. In 1721 he was granted "liberty to keep a house of entertainment at the crossing of Moosup River". In 1722 and '23 he was active in helping to organize the Voluntown Church and to secure the services as minister of the Rev. Samuel Dorrance, a Scots-Irish Presbyterian (concerning whom fuller mention is made in a subsequent chapter). April 8, 1740, John Smith was admitted as a freeman. As one of the two elected Deputies from Voluntown he attended the sessions of the General Court of Connecticut in 1748, '50 and '51. He died at Voluntown in the Summer of 1752.

He had been married at Plainfield June 25, 1699, to Susanna, daughter of Stephen Hall, an early settler in the "Quinebaug Plantation", one of the original proprietors of Plainfield and the holder of vanous offices in that town. The fourth child of John and Susanna ( Hall) Smith was Elizabeth (born July 30, 1706), who was married August 1, 1726, to the Rev. Samuel Dorrance, previously mentioned, as his first wife.

Lemuel Smith, son of John and Susanna, and who died at Voluntown in 1760, was the father of Benja- min (born August 30, 1738), Lemuel, Jr. (who was at Wyoming in 1769), and probably other children.

" ROBERT DIXSON was born in the North of Ireland in 1701, eldest child of John and Agnes Dixson and great-grandson of the Rev. David Dickson, D. D. ( born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1583), sometime Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow, and later in the University of Edinburgh. Doctor Dickson was Moderator of the General Assembly in 1653 when it was broken up by order of Cromwell, and its members were dispersed and ordered not to re-convene.

In the Summer of 1726, or perhaps earlier, Robert Dixson immigrated to America and proceeded to Londonderry, New Hampshire, where there was a newly-settled colony of Scots-Irish and North of Ireland Protestants. Later he removed to the North Parisli of New London, Connecticut ; but in Decem- ber, 1728, he was admitted an inhabitant of Voluntown, Windham (now New London) County, and there

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repair to said place at Susquehanna, in order to view said tract of land and to purchase of the natives there inhabiting their title and interest to said tract of land; and to survey, lay out, and receive proper deeds or conveyances of said land to and for each of us in equal proportion ), each one of us Two SPANISH MILLED DOLLARS,# before said com- mittee's going and setting out on said business.

"And on their return, upon said committee's rendering their account of their rea- sonable charges, trouble, expenses and transactions in said affair, and of whatever may by them be expended in purchasing the same, we each of us oblige ourselves, our heirs, &c., to pay each one his equal proportion thereof, of what the same shall surmount the sum before paid ; and if the sum advanced as aforesaid shall exceed what may reasonably be expended in said business and affair, said committee to be accountable to and refund back to each subscriber, that shall pay as aforesaid, his equal proportion of what shall re- main not expended as aforesaid.

"AND FURTHER, we do each of us instruct and order said committee to set forth on said affair and business on or before the first day of September next, and use their utmost endeavors to purchase, survey, take and receive proper conveyances of a tract of land at or near said place called Chiwaumuck, at Susquehanna aforesaid-or some said place in that country not heretofore granted, patented or conveyed to any person or per- sons, corporation or corporations, in opposition to or alien from the title of this Colony; and that the extent thereof be not less than about twenty miles one way and ten tlie other, and the money by them expended not to exceed £1,000 lawful moneyt.

"And in order for the true performance of the above written, we have hereunto set and affixed our names ; excluding all right or pretence of right to any benefit or privilege to any thing that may be obtained or procured, if we fail or omit to pay the two dollars to said committee before their setting out as aforesaid, but the same to be void as to us as if our names were not subscribed."

At the same meeting at which the foregoing "Articles" were adopt- ed the Company voted that Capt. John Fitch, Jedidiah Elderkin, Esq.,

he continued to reside for fifty-four years. Upon the date of his admission to the town he was elected Lister for the ensuing year, and thenceforward for many years he was continually in some public office, either by election or appointment. In April, 1740, he was elected the first Deputy, or Representative, from Voluntown to the General Assembly of Connecticut. From May, 1742, to May, 1771, inclusive, he attended fifty-six sessions of the General Assembly as one of the two duly elected Deputies from Volun- town. (See "The Connecticut Colonial Records".)

At every annual town-meeting, except eight, held in Voluntown from December, 1740, to December, 1767, Robert Dixson presided as Moderator, and during the same period he served, by successive elections, in the office of Townsman, or Selectman, for twenty-one years. In May, 173], he was "established and confirmed" by the Assembly Ensign of the Voluntown train-band, and in October, 1742, was promoted Captain of the North Company of Voluntown, attached to the Eleventh Regiment of Connecticut, com- manded by Col. Timothy Peirce. In May, 1754, Captain Dixson was appointed by the General Assembly a Justice of the Peace in and for the county of Windham, and by successive annual re-appointments held the office until 1778, when he was succeeded by his son John. Captain Dixson was by profession a surveyor, and in October, 1770, was appointed by the General Assembly "Surveyor of Lands in and for the county of Windham." This office he held for several years.

Captain Dixson was twice married, and was the father of two children-a daughter, Agnes (born 1723), by his first wife, and a son, John (born 1733), by his second wife. In 1782 Captain Dixson removed to Plainfield, previously mentioned, where, six years later, he died. He was interred in the Oneco burial- ground, where a grave-stone, erected shortly after his death, still stands, bearing this inscription: "In Memory of ROBERT DIXON, who departed this life August 10th, 1788, in the SSth year of his age. He served his State in Sundry important offices with Fidelity."

Agnes Dixson, elder child of Captain Dixson, became the wife of Robert Jameson of Voluntown and the mother of several children, some of whom in later life became prominently identified with the early history of Wyoming, and are referred to hereinafter. For the pedigree of Capt. Robert Dixson and a fuller account of his life, see "The Harvey Book" (Wilkes-Barré, 1899).

* Previous to the establishment of the United States Mint in 1792 much perplexity arose in this country from the use of no less than four different currencies, or rates, at which one species of coin was received in different parts of the land. The real money then in use here was in the form of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese gold and silver coins, and various copper coins of foreign and domestic production. The nominal money was paper, reckoned in pounds, shillings and pence (according to the English system), of different valnes in the different Colonies and Provinces when compared with real money. "The close connection the Colonies held with the traders of the Spanish Indies, and the near- ness of the Spanish possessions at the mouth of the Mississippi and along the Gulf of Mexico, had made Americans familiar with all denominations of Spanish coins. They had long circulated freely among all classes of buyers and sellers. One of them, the Spanish milled dollar, had become as much a unit of value as the pound." In 1753 many hammered silver coins were still in circulation, and it took repeated acts of legislation in the following years to put an end to them.

The Spanish milled dollar (sometimes called a "Piece of Eight") was a silver coin of seventeen and a-half pennyweights, and, as indicated by its name, was not a hammered coin. In 1753-and for many years later-its value in this country was 4sh. and 6d., sterling; or, in American money of to-day, $1.09. At the period mentioned its value was 8 shillings in New York money; in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland currencies its value was 7sh. and 6d., and in the currency, or "lawful money, of New England it was valued at 6 shillings. In 1753, and for a number of years following, the Spanish milled dollar was equivalent to £3 and 10sh. in "money of the old tenor" of the New England Colonies; but in 1777 it was equivalent to £2 and 5sh. of that species of money.

May 3, 1805, all foreign coins, excepting Spanish dollars and parts of dollars, ceased to be a legal tender for the payment of debts in the United States, as the Act of Congress making French, Spanish and Portu- guese gold coins and French crowns (silver) a tender expired on that day. In 1830 it was stated in Haz- ard's Pennsylvania Register (V: 109): "The foreign coins which are now legal tender [in the United States] are the Spanish dollar and its parts. * * * Probably one-half the Spanish coins now in use here were made before 1792, when our Mint was established. * * The coins of all kinds now in the United States are estimated at $23,000,000. [in value], of which $5,000,000. are of Spanish coinage."

+ Equivalent to 3,33313 Spanish milled dollars, or to $3,633.33 in American money of to-day. See the preceding note. # For his portrait and a sketch of his life, see Chapter V.

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and Samuel Gray, Esq., * be a committee to receive the money that should be paid in by the members of the Company ; to settle and pay the accounts that should be rendered by the committee appointed to "view" and secure the land at Wyoming (the "Journeying Committee" it was called), and to do other things mentioned-in fact, to act as an execut- tive and auditing committee. Having accomplished thus much the Company adjourned to meet at the call of its Executive Committee. Vigorous efforts were immediately begun to increase the membership of the Company, so that sufficient money could be procured prior to Sep- tember 1st to provide for the expenses of the "Journeying Committee" in viewing the Wyoming lands and securing a proper conveyance of the same.

September 1st arrived, but, as only about 350 memberst had then been enrolled in the Company, the "Journeying Committee" did not set out for the Susquehanna as they had been directed to do by a clause in the "Articles of Agreement." On the 6th of September a largely- attended meeting of the Company was held at Canterbury, Windham County, when it was voted that the "Journeying Committee" be "al- lowed until the beginning of October next to set out on their journey, and that they have liberty to take in subscribers on the journey." It was also resolved that no minor should "have any benefit" by signing the "Articles."

The minutes of this meeting of the Company show, also, that on the 2Sth of the previous month a number of people had mnet at Col- chester, New London County, Connecticut, and "entered into an agree- ment to purchase the native right to a certain quantity of land lying at or near the Susquehanna, or the Forks of the Delaware River"-Capt. William Whitney and Isaac Woodworth being appointed a committee to act for the association. These facts having been brought before the Susquehanna Company the latter "voted that the company aforesaid be and they are hereby incorporated with us as one entire body, for the purposes aforesaid, with all the privileges and advantages that we and each of us have, provided said company do come into and pass" certain resolutions referred to, and appoint a committee to join with the Susquehanna Company's committee in "repairing to said Sus- quehanna River on or before October 1st." It was further voted, that, in case the Colchester association should enter into the agreement pro- posed and appoint a committee, then "but three of our said committee shall go on said affair." There is no further reference among the records of the Susquehanna Company to the Colchester association, and therefore it is impossible to state whether or not the latter was formally merged in the former. It is quite probable, however, that the younger company came to an early and uneventful end, and that some of its for- mer members individually connected themselves with the Susquehanna Company.

Early in October Stephen Gardnert and Stephen Gardner, Jr., of the town of Colchester were admitted to membership in the Susque-

* For a sketch of his life see post, in this Chapter.

+ The names of many, if not all, of these men are printed in "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XVIII : 4-12.

# STEPHEN GARDNER was among the early settlers in New London County, and was probably a descendant of the Rhode Island family of Gardner or Gardiner. He purchased land near "Great Pond," now known as Gardner's Lake, lying partly in the towns of Bozrah, Montville and Salem, New London County. On this land he settled (in what was then the town of Colchester) and reared a large family of children. He was married about 1700 to Amy Sherman (born October 25, 16>1), daughter of Benjamin

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hanna Company ; and when, a week or two later, as the "Journey- ing Committee" was about to set out for the Susquehanna and it was found that Capt. Robert Dixson, a member of the Committee, was un- able to go along, Stephen Gardner was selected to go in his stead. This fact leads to the belief that Mr. Gardner had been a member of the Colchester association.

The members of the "Journeying Committee" who, about the mid- dle of October, 1753, started from eastern Connecticut for Wyoming, were Stephen Gardner, John Smith and Ezekiel Peirce. What route they took through Connecticut and New York on their outward journey we do not know ; but having reached the Delaware River, probably in the locality of the present Port Jervis, they followed the stream down to Delaware Water Gap, mentioned on page 45. There, leaving the river, they traveled in a north-westerly direction through the present Monroe County, crossing first over the Pocono Mountains, then the Wyoming- Moosic range and finally the Wilkes-Barre-Lackawanna range. That this was the course they traveled we are quite certain, for the following reasons : (1) This committee secured at that time subscriptions from, and enrolled as members of the Company, the following-named men* who then resided along or near the Delaware River in what are now the counties of Pike and Monroe: Daniel Shoemaker, Benjamin Shoe- maker (at that time one of the Commissioners of the new county of Northampton), Abrain Van Camp, John Panather, Solomon Jennings, John Atkins, James Hyndshaw, Joseph Skinner and Samuel and Aaron De Pui, or Depew. (2) Capt. William Parsonst of Easton, Pennsylvania, in a letter to Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania relative, to certain smy

and Hannah (MMowry) Sherman of Kingston, Rhode Island, and had twelve children, five of whom were sons, as follows : 1 att an the

(III) STEPHEN, b. February 24, 1704; (IV) BENJAMIN, b. April 18, 1706; (V) PEREGRINE, b. January 24, 1707 ; (VI) DANIEL, b. December 14, 1709; (XI) DAVID, b. January 28, 1720, and md. to Jemima Gustin. (III) STEPHEN GARDNER was born at Kingston, Rhode Island, and was ind. in 1722 to Frances, daughter of Benjamin Congdon. They had ten children, some of whom were: (i) Amy, b. February 17, 1725, and md. to Capt. Stephen Harding (q. v.) ; (ii) Lydia, b. March 20, 1727, and md. to John Jenkins (g. v.) ; (iii) Sarah, b. February 10, 1731, and md. to Thomas Jenkins; (iv) Stephen, b. March 27, 1735, and md. (1) to Frances Brown, (2) to Alice ( Fuller), widow of John Abbott. (iv) Stephen Gardner died in August, 1811, and his widow Alice died in June, 1816, in the 76th year of her age. Their remains lie in the old grave-yard near the river in Plains Township, between Port Bowkley and Plainsville, Inzerne County. (III) STEPHEN GARDNER died in 1776.

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A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. I, Part 38

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray Publication date: 1909-1930 Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press Number of Pages: 734

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851-1922; Smith, Ernest Gray
Publication date: 1909-1930
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre : Raeder Press
Number of Pages: 734