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 78
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When, in May, 1784, several hundred New Englanders were expelled from Wyoming Valley by the Pennsylvanians (as described in Chapter XXI), John Jenkins and his family were among those who were thus ontraged, and they fled to Goshen, Orange County, New York. Col. John Franklin, referring in his diary to this expulsion, says : "Two aged gentlemen, John Jenkins, Esq., and a Mr. Gardner, who were cripples, were obliged to hobble through the dismal road with crutches." Mr. Jenkins never returned to Wyoming. He became ill in consequence of the hardships and exposures experienced at the time of the expulsion, and in the following November died and was buried at a place called the "Drowned Lands," in the Minisink region, not far from Goshen, New York. His widow ultimately returned to Exeter Township, in Wyoming Valley, where she died October 22, 1804.
¿ WILLIAM BUCK became a member of The Susquehanna Company in 1753, being then an inhabitant of that part of "The Great Nine Partners' Patent" which later became Amenia Precinct, Dutchess County, New York. The following is a copy of a receipt, or certificate (see page 255, ante, for another of like character), recorded August 30, 1774, on page 244 of Book "B" of the original records of The Susquehanna Company.
"The Great Nine Partners, November 14, 1753 .- Then received of WILLIAM BUCK of the Great Nine Partners the sum of £6, 10 sh., equal to two Spanish mill'd dollars In the Susquehannah affair. Received by us a Committee appointed for that Purpose. [Signed] "STEPHEN GARDNER,
"JOHN SMITH, Committee." "EZEKIEL PEIRCE,
William Buck was in Wyoming with the original settlers in 1762 (see page 403), and again in 1763 at the time of the massacre. Being among those who escaped the fury of the savages, he made his way back to Amenia Precinct, where, without doubt, he continued to reside until the "First Forty" marched to Wyoming, when be accompanied them. Elijah Buck, who was in this same party, was either a brother or a son of William. Both William and Elijah Buck settled in Kingston Township in 1772. The place and date of death of William Buck we are unable to state, but, as shown in the report mentioned on page 403, he was still living in Wyoming in April, 1783.
Asahel Buck, whose name is mentioned several times hereinafter, was a son of William Buck, and was born prior to 1747. He was living at Amenia Precinct in 1768, when he purchased a "right" in The Susquehanna Company. In a deed which he executed July 5, 1773, and which was witnessed by William and Aholiab Buck, he described himself as of "Mayfield, Tryon County, New York." This was within the limits of the present Dutchess County. Shortly after that time, and before August, 1774, Asahel Buck removed to Wyoming with his family, consisting of his wife Mehetabel and their children William (born about 1764 and killed at the battle of Wyoming), Asahel (who died, without heirs, abont 1791) and Pamelia (who was married prior to April, 1796, to Daniel Ayers-born 1773-son of Samuel and Elizabeth Nesbitt Ayers of Plymouth Township). In 1775 Asahel Buck was Lientenant of the 2d Company in the 24th Regi- ment (Westmoreland), Connecticut Militia. He was killed by Indians in Kingston Township February 23, 1779, and on the 2d of the following April his widow Mehetabel was appointed administratrix of his estate, a bond in the sum of £1,000 being given, with William Hooker Smith as surety.
Aholiab Buck (born in 1751 or '52) was a younger son of William Buck. He accompanied his father's family to Wyoming in 1770 or '71, and at Wilkes-Barre, July 5, 1772, purchased from his father one "right" in The Susquehanna Company. November 18, 1772, he purchased from Perrin Ross for £60 "House Lot No. 30" in Kingston Township. In 1777 he was married to Lucretia (born April 21, 1757), third child and daughter of Amos and Lucretia (Miner) York, formerly of Voluntown, Windham (now New London) County, Connecticut, but then settled on a 600-acre tract of land near the old Indian village of Friedens- hütten (previously mentioned) in the township of Springfield, laid out by The Susquehanna Company. (See map facing this page.) At the time of the battle of Wyoming, July 3, 1778, Aholiab Buck, his wife and their daughter Deborah, three months old, resided only a few rods from Forty Fort. He was Captain of the Kingston company of militia that took part in the battle, and was killed early in the engagement. October 5, 1778, Asahel and Lucretia Buck were appointed administrators of the estate of Capt. Aholiab Buck-William Buck becoming their surety on a bond for £500. About 1786 Mrs. Lucretia ( York) Buck became the wife of Justus Gaylord, Jr. She died at Wyalusing-near the old home of her parents-January 15, 1846. Prior to August, 1796, Deborah, daughter of Captain Buck, was married to John Taylor, an early settler at Wyalusing.
| BENJAMIN SHOEMAKER (Sr.) was of either Dutch or German descent and was born about the beginning of the eighteenth century-probably in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was an early settler in that part of Bucks County which in 1752 was erected into Northampton, and is now Monroe, County. About the time of his settlement there he was married to Elizabeth De Pui, daughter of Nicholas De Pui (and presumably a sister of Samuel and Aaron De Pui mentioned on pages 254 and 280) of French Huguenot ancestry. In 1753 Benjamin Shoemaker and his brother Daniel were enrolled as inembers of The Sus- quehanna Company (see page 254), and both are named as grantees in the Indian deed of 1754. Benjamin Shoemaker was in Wyoming with the first settlers in 1762 (see page 403), and was also here in 1763 ; although whether or not at the time of the massacre we are unable to state. He and his son Elijah came on with the "First Forty" in 1769, and were here for the greater part of that year. The father did not fix his abode here, but came and went between Wyoming and his home near the Delaware River. There he died in 1775, being survived by his sons Daniel and Elijah and six daughters-his eldest son, Benjamin, Jr., who was in Wyoming in 1769, having died prior to 1775.
Elijah Shoemaker, having married Jane, daughter of John McDowell (an immigrant from the north of Ireland in 1735, who soon settled in what became Northampton County and who later acquired a pro- prietorship in The Susquehanna Company), settled in Kingston Township, near Forty Fort. At the time of the battle of Wyoming he was Lieutenant of the Kingston company commanded by Capt. Aholiab Buck, previously mentioned. He took part in the battle, but while escaping from the field during the rout of the Americans he was treacherously slain by one of the enemy. (See Chapter XV.) He was sur- vived by his wife and one son, Elijah, born in Kingston Township May 20, 1778.
Elijah Shoemaker, Jr., last mentioned, spent his earliest years with his mother at the latter's old home in Northampton County. Some time after the close of what, in Wyoming history, is known as the "Second Pennamite-Yankee War," Mrs. Jane (McDowell) Shoemaker and her young son returned to Wyoming and took possession of their lands in Kingston Township. There they lived until their respective deaths .. Elijah Shoemaker was married May 28, 1800, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Col. Nathan aud Elizabeth (Sill) Denison. (For sketches of the Denison and Sill families see subsequent chapters.) In October, 1813, Elijah Shoemaker was nominated for the office of Sheriff of Luzerne County, and, although there were five other candidates in the field on election-day, Mr. Shoemaker was elected to the office-in which he subsequently served with great satisfaction to the people. Prior to 1823 he was a Colonel in the Penn- sylvania militia. He died July 14, 1829, leaving a large and valuable estate and survived by his wife (who died two years later), three danghters and six sons.
The eldest daughter, Elizabeth Shoemaker, was married in Kingston, August 14, 1823, to John Donley, formerly of Philadelphia, but then a merchant in Wilkes-Barré. After his death, some years later, Mrs. Donley became the wife of Dr. - Spence, whom, also, she survived-dying in Wilkes-Barre about 1884.
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MAP OF THE SUSQUEHANNA COMPANY'S SURVEY. Photo-reproduction of the original in the collections of the American Philosophical Society. See page 27, ante.
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inittee-a Directing Committee-"to approve of and admit, and oversee, superintend, manage and order the affairs and proceedings of, the 'First Forty' settlers ; and to lay out and prepare a convenient road to said Susquehanna River"-for which purpose they were to receive €50. The following resolutions were then passed :
"Upon the arrival of the 200, on purpose to join the said 'Forty' in the Spring, they may, if they see cause, together with the said 'Forty,' by the major vote add to the said [Directing] Committee so as to make the whole to the number of nine ; who shall then be a Committee to preserve order and regulate the affairs of said settlers-and others of said Company who may join them-until further or otherwise ordered by said Com- pany. Which said Committee, by a major vote of the settlers there present duly con- vened, may expel from them any person or persons among them who shall so disorderly conduct and behave as shall by them be judged inconsistent with the good and interest of said Company, and may declare the right of such persons forfeit ; which shall so remain, unless the said Company at any time after, upon hearing the cause of complaint, shall otherwise determine.
"V'oted, That some proper, well-disposed person, or persons, be procured-by those persons who shall undertake to settle on the Susquelianna lands according to the above vote-in order to be as a head, or teacher, to carry on religious instruction and worship among the settlers-viz .: of such denomination as any particular nttinber inay be agreed upon ; and to be at the expense of such denomination as such person so procured shall be-until some further arrangement can be made.
"l'oted, That if any settler, or settlers, on the aforesaid lands in pursuance of the vote of this Company, shall be sued or prosecuted in the law by the Proprietaries of Penn- sylvania, or any under them (on account of such his settlement and possessions), on proper notice being given to the Standing [or Executive] Committee of said Company, this Company will be at the cost of his or their defence in said suit.
"Voted, That Col. Eliphalet Dyer, Col. Samuel Talcott, Elisha Sheldon, Esq., Capt. Jonathan Pettibone and Mr. Benjamin Payne be a committee to apply to the General Assembly of this Colony in January next, in behalf of this Company, for the obtaining of such further favor of said Assembly as they shall think proper, by investing said Company with the Colony's right to such lands (as they have purchased of the Indians, and lying on the Susquehanna River, or otherwise ) not inconsistent with the interest of said Colony. "Voted, to grant to Dr. Eleazar Wheelock* a tract of land in the easterly part of the Susquehanna Purchase, ten miles long and six miles wide, for the use of the Indian school under his care-Provided he shall set up and keep said school on the premises."
The company then adjourned, to meet at Hartford, April 12, 1769. At the January (1769) session of the General Assembly of Connecticut a lengthy petition, t dated January 4, 1769, and signed by Colonels Dyer and Talcott and the other members of the committee inentioned above, was presented. The document contained a statement of the pro- ceedings of The Susquehanna Company with reference to the purchase
Jane, second daughter of Colonel Shoemaker, became the wife of the Hon. John Passmore, and died at .. her home in Rome, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1868. Caroline, the youngest daughter of Colonel Shoemaker, became the wife of Dr. Levi Ives, a graduate of the Medical Department of Yale Col- lege in the class of 1838, and who practised his profession in New Haven, Connecticut, until his death in 1891. Charles Denison Shoemaker, the eldest child of Col. Elijah Shoemaker, was born in Kingston Town- - ship July 9, 1802, and was graduated at Yale College in 1824. Between that year and 1830 he held, at differ- ent times, the offices of Prothonotary and Clerk of the Courts, Register of Wills, and Recorder of Deeds in and for Luzerne County. August 21, 1830, at the age of twenty-eight years, he was appointed by the Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania an Associate Judge of the Courts of Luzerne County, to succeed Judge Jesse Fell, deceased. He was twice married : (Ist) October 4, 1825, to Mary E., eldest daughter of Austin and Martha Denison of New Haven, Connecticut. (2d) May 18, 1835, to Mrs. Stella (Mercer) Sprigg, a native . of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Judge Shoemaker was noted for his courteous manners and kindness of heart. Few men of his time in this locality were more generally and favorably known. He died at his home in what is now the borough of Forty Fort, Kingston Township, August 1, 1861, and was survived by his wife (who died November 3, 1875) and four sons. Nathan, second son of Col. Elijah Shoemaker, died at Muncy, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1835. George, the third son, was married January 14, 1835, to Rebecca, daughter of John Jones, of Berwick, Pennsylvania, and died a good many years ago, leaving two sons. Robert McDowell, fourth son of Col. Elijah Shoemaker, was born in Kingston Township, February 12, 1812, and died there November 22, 1886. Elijah, fifth son of Colonel Elijah, died a good inany years ago, and was survived by his wife and two children, all of whom are now dead. The sixth and youngest son of Col. Elijah and Elizabeth (Denison) Shoemaker was Lazarus Denison Shoemaker, who was born in . Kingston Township November 5, 1819. He was graduated at Yale College in 1840 and in August, 1842, was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County. Thenceforth until his death he resided in Wilkes-Barre, with the social, business and political life of which he was prominently identified for half a century. A man of kindly nature, he was genial and gentle in his manners, forgiving in his disposition and always con- siderate of the feelings and failings of his friends. His name is frequently mentioned hereinafter. He was married in 1848 to Esther W., daughter of Samuel and Clorinda Starr ( Catlin ) Wadhams of Plymouth, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Shoemaker died in Wilkes-Barré August 4, 1889, and Lazarus Deni- son Shoemaker died here September 9, 1893. He was survived by one son and five daugliters.
* See pages 409 and 450.
¡ The original petition is document "No. 11" in the volume of MSS. entitled "Susquehannah Settlers, 1755-1796, Vol. I"-mentioned on page 29, ante.
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of and attempts to settle the Wyoming lands, the presentation of the Company's case to King George, etc., and then stated that the Company had recently "voted to proceed to take possession of and settle those lands on said Susquehanna." The petition further set forth that "whereas, for the quiet holding, possessing and enjoying those lands," it might become "necessary for the tenants in possession not only to set up and shew the undoubted prior title of this Colony [of Connecticut] to those lands as being expressly contained in the royal Charter, but also to shew that they [the Company] are well vested with the title of this Colony ;" therefore the petitioners prayed that a lease and release of the said lands be properly executed to the Company by the Colony of Connecticut. Upon this prayer the Lower House voted "No," and the Upper House "Yes," whereupon a committee of conference was appointed and the matter was continued to the May session of the Assembly .*
Joseph Chew (whose name is mentioned on page 402) wrote to Sir William Johnson from New London, Connecticut, under date of January 24, 1769, as followst :
"I was at New Haven last week when the General Assembly of this Colony were setting, and heard Colonel Dyer make his application to them for a deed of the Susque- hanna lands. In doing this he was pleased to say some things that I knew were not true, and informed several of the House of it ; and could I have staid until he came out should have told him so. I have since heard the Assembly did not choose to give any deed."
At Lebanon, Connecticut, under date of January 7, 1769, Joseph Trumbullt (mentioned on page 441), who had returned from England
* It may be remarked here that when the subject of the Susquehanna lands was brought up at the May session of the Assembly it was voted, after a short debate, to postpone action till the October session1 ; and at that time a committee of conference was again appointed.
+ See "Documentary History of New York," IV : 253.
# JOSEPH TRUMBULL was the eldest child of Gov. Jonathan and Faith (Robinson) Trumbull of Con- necticut. John Trumbull (or "Trumble," as the surname seems to have been spelled at one time-as late, even, as 1754), the ancestor of the Connecticut family of Trumbull-one of the most distinguished families in the history of the Colony and State-came from England and settled in Rowley, Essex County, Massa- chusetts. Capt. Joseph Trumbull (born at Rowley in 1679) became an inhabitant of Suffield, Connecticut, whence he removed to Simsbury, Connecticut, about 1703. Soon afterwards he was married to Hannah Higley, a native of Windsor, Connecticut, and in 1704 they settled in the town of Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut. There Captain Trumbull became a well-to-do farmerand merchant, and continued as such until his death, June 16, 1755.
Jonathan Trumbull, third child of Capt. Joseph and Hannah (Higley) Trumbull, was born at Lebanon October 12, 1710. At the age of thirteen years he entered Harvard College, and having been graduated with distinction in 1727 he began the study of theology. About two years later he was licensed to preach, but in 1731 he resigned from the ministry in order to take the place vacated by his elder brother in the store of their father. While managing the latter's mercantile business Jonathan Trumbull studied law, and in 1733 was elected to represent Lebanon in the General Assembly of Connecticut. In 1739, being still a Representative from Lebanon, he was chosen Speaker of the Lower House. In 1740 he was elected an Assistant (see page 248), and to that office was subsequently re-elected twenty-two times. In the course of a few years he became Judge of the Windham County Court (Lebanon being at that time in Windham County), later an Assistant Judge of the Superior Court of the Colony, and from 1766 to 1769 Chief Judge of the latter Court. In October, 1739, he was appointed and commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the 12th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and in October, 1753, was promoted Colonel of the regiment. He became a proprietor in The Susquehanna Company as early, at least, as 1761. (See page 393.)
In 1767 Colonel Trumbull was elected Assistant, or Deputy, Governor of Connecticut, and held the office for one year-being succeeded by Roger Sherman. In October, 1769, upon the death in office of the Hon. William Pitkin, Governor of Connecticut (see page 283), Colonel Trumbull was chosen to fill the vacancy. In the following May he was elected to serve a full term in this office, and thereafter, by suc- cessive elections, he was continued in the office of Governor until May, 1784, when, having expressed a desire to be "excused from any further service in public life," he was succeeded by Matthew Griswold, of Lyme, New London County.
Concerning Trumbull, at the time he was chosen Governor, the historian Bancroft says : "He was the model of the virtues of a rural magistrate; profoundly religious, grave in manuer, discriminating in judgment, fixed in his principles." "When Trumbull became Governor," writes Frederic C. Norton (in The Connecticut Magazine, VII : 170), "the people of Connecticut were convinced that in him the Colony had found the man the people needed at that time. Before Trumbull doubt and hesitation flew in the twinkling of an eye. He threw his whole soul into the impending struggle, and while the war-clouds were not as black in Connecticut as in the neighboring Colony of Massachusetts, * * yet the crisis called for a man in whom craven frailty was an unknown quantity. * * His private opinions were quickly set aside, however, when the declaration of war came; and from that time Trumbull was labor- ing day and night for the cause for which the Colonies were making such a sacrifice. A correspondence soon ensued between Governor Trumbull and Gen. George Washington. It gradually assumed a close, personal cast, which was continued throughout and after the Revolution. In August, 1776, when Wash- ington wrote Governor Trumbull concerning the weakness of the Continental army, the latter immedi- ately called together the Council of Safety [see page;283, ante] and supplemented the five Connecticut regiments already in the field by nine more, which proved to be of incalculable benefit to the cause." Governor Trumbull took a very prominent part in forwarding the war for independence, and Washington
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your obutsint humble Servant Som Trum bull
THE HON. JONATHAN TRUMBULL.
A photo-reproduction of an original portrait in oils in the State Capitol at Hartford Connecticut. By courtesy of The Connecticut Magazine.
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in the latter part of December, 1768, wrote to William Samuel Johnson, Esq., of Stratford, Connecticut, but then temporarily in London (at Lancaster Court, near St. Martin's-in-the-Fields), as follows* :
"The Susquehanna Company, at a meeting at Hartford last week [December 28th], unanimously agreed to pursue the settlements, etc. Forty men of the Company are to go and take possession of the lands by February Ist, that they may get possession, if possible, before Mr. Penn. At the 1st of June 200 more heads of families are to go on. * * * They are all in high spirits, and no want of people to embrace the offered encouragements for settling. Their ardour will rather want restraining, than need any prompting. Mr. Penn, in their opinion, is now all their obstacle, and that point they think may as well be determined now as ever." * * *
By the middle of January, 1769, the Executive, or Standing, Com- mittee of The Susquehanna Company, aided by the special committee
placed great reliance on him and frequently consulted him. To this habit, and his phrase-often repeated, when in doubt-"Let us hear what Brother Jonathan says !" has been traced the name which stands (though not so generally now as "Uncle Sam") for a personification of the United States.
Jonathan Trumbull was married December 9, 1735, to Faith, daughter of the Rev. John and Hannah (Wiswall) Robinson of Duxbury, Massachusetts. She was born at Duxbury December 11, 1718, and died at Lebanon, Connecticut, May 29, 1780. Governor Trumbull died at Lebanon August 17, 1785.
Jonathan and Faith ( Robinson) Trumbull were the parents of two daughters and four sons. Faith Trumbull, the elder daughter, became tlie wife of Gen. Jedidialı Huntington of the Revolutionary army, whose father, Gen. Jabez Huntington, wasa second-cousin of the Rev. Enoch Huntington whose wife was Mary Gray. (See page 293.) Mary Trumbull, the second daughter, was married February 14, 1771, to Col. William Williams, mentioned on page 283. Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., the second son (born March 26, 1740), was graduated with honors at Harvard College in 1759. He was married March 26, 1767, to Eunice, daughter of Ebenezer Backus of Norwich, Connecticut. When the Revolutionary War began he was a member of the General Assembly of Connecticut. By the Continental Congress he was appointed Pay- master General for the Northern Department of the army. This office he filled with great credit until 1781, when he succeeded Alexander Hamilton as private secretary and first aide-de-camp to General Wash- ington. In this position he continued till the end of the war, when he returned to Connecticut. Later he was a Representative in Congress from his native State and became the second Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1795 he was elected to the United States Senate, but resigned the office in 1796 to become Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut. This office he held two years, when he was elected Gover- nor to suceed Oliver Wolcott, imentioned on page 285. He was Governor for eleven consecutive years. He died at Lebanon August 7, 1809. David, third son of Jonathan and Faith Trumbull, was an Assistant Commissary in the Continental army during the Revolutionary War. His son Joseph became a Repre- sentative in Congress, and was Governor of Connecticut in 1849 and '50. John Trumbull, youngest son of Governor Jonathan, was born at Lebanon June 6, 1756. He served in the Continental army, and became Assistant Adjutant General, with the rank of Colonel, on the staff of General Washington. After the war he studied painting in London under Benjamin West, and on the Continent. In 1804 he settled as a por- trait painter in New York, where he continued to make his home until his death, November 10, 1843. A valuable collection of his paintings is owned by Yale University, and upon the walls of the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington are four of his largest productions : "The Declaration of Independence," "The Surrender of Burgoyne," "The Surrender of Cornwallis" and "The Resignation of Washington."
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