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. II > Part 104
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Late in 1762, or early in 1763, Noah Pettibone, Sr., removed with his wife and children from Simsbury to Amenia Precinct, Dutchess County, New York, and there, a year or two later, Mrs. Huldah (Williams) Pettibone died. The present writer, following in the footsteps of other writers, has stated in his "History of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M." (published in 1897), that "Noah Petti- bone, Sr., was one of the settlers who came to Wyoming from Connecticut in the Spring of 1769, but who were driven from the Valley by the Pennamites in November of the same year." This state- ment is erroneous, inasmuch as Mr. Pettibone came to Wyoming for the first time in July, 1771, be and several of his friends and neighbors in Amenia being members of the company of adventurers (commanded by Zebulon Butler) which had been organized under the auspices of The Susquehanna Company to retake possession of the Wyoming lands from the Pennamites. (See pages 691-694, ante.) At Wilkes-Barre, August 16, 1773, Noah Pettibone, Sr., received payment from Captain Butler of his "bounty of five dollars" for "assisting" in that successful work. (See page 710, ante.)
At that time Mr. Pettibone was, undoubtedly, a proprietor in The Susquehanna Company, and, as such, entitled to a share, or right, of land in the Company's Purchase; but early in 1772 he bought of Asahel Buck (see page 1149)-then of Amenia Precinct, but later of Kingston, Wyoming Valley- Meadow Lot No. 22 in Kingston. Upon this lot (which lies wholly, or in part, in the upper end of the present borough of Dorranceton) Mr. Pettibone immediately erected a log house and established his home-being joined in the Spring of 1772 by his sons Noah and Stephen. Shortly afterwards he was married (2d) to Phebe Tubbs, and later he brought from Amenia to his home in Kingston three of his daughters (who were still unmarried) and his youngest son. The name of Noah Pettibone appears in the Kingston tax-lists for 1776, 1777 and 1778.
Although Noah Pettibone, Sr., was sixty-four years of age in 1778, yet he was an enrolled mem- ber of the 1st Alarm List Company of the 24th Regiment (see page 922), and when the battle of July 3d took place he was on duty at Forty Fort. After the capitulation of the fort he made his way to Fort Penn with his wife, his son Oliver, and one or two of his daughters. There he joined the detachment of militia commanded by Colonel Butler, and marched with it to Wilkes-Barre in August (see page 1080), while his wife and children made their way to Amenia Precinct. As shown by the muster-roll printed on page 1096, Mr. Pettibone was in continuous service as a militia-man from June 28 till, at least, October 1, 1778. After the murder of his son Stephen he joined his wife and children in Amenia Precinct, where he resided until the Summer or early Autumn of 1781, when, with his wife, he returned to his former home in Kingston. There he resided until his death, March 28, 1791. His wife, Phebe, died at some time between the years 1784 and 1791.
(iii) Noah Pettibone, (Jr.), came to Wyoming first in the Spring of 1778, being then in the twen- ty-first year of his life. In 1775 or '76 he was married to Lucy, daughter of Obadiah Scott of West- moreland, and they settled in Plymouth. A year or more later Noah Pettibone acquired certain lands in the new township of Huntington, which lay in the district of Plymouth-as established by vote of the inhabitants of Westmoreland. (See page 794.) The name of Noah Pettibone, Jr., appears in the tax-lists of "Plymouth District" for the years 1776, '77 and '78. He was a private in the 8d Company, 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and, taking part with his company in the battle of Wyoming, fell early in the engagement. Under the date of November 27, 1778, letters of admin- istration upon his estate were granted by Nathan Denison, "Judge of the Court of Probate for the District of Westmoreland, in the State of Connecticut, in New England," to "Noah Pettiboon." The original "Letters," in the handwriting of, and signed by, "John Jenkins, Clark [of the Court]," are now in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. In 1800 or 1801 Obadiah Scott deposed before the Commissioners under the Compromise Law of 1799 (see page 25, Vol. I, and Chapter XXVI) that Noah Pettibone, Jr., came to Huntington early in the Spring of 1778 and built a house and planted a garden on Lot No. 16, 1st Division; that he was killed in the "Indian battle;" that he had two children by his wife, both of whom died in childhood; that his widow mar- ried Amariah Watson of Huntington.
(v) Stephen Pettibone was just twenty-one years of age when, in September, 1776, he was mus- tered into the Continental service as a private in the "First Westmoreland Independent Company," commanded by Capt. Robert Durkee. (See page 892.) With this company he served until it was con- solidated with the "Second Company" (Ransom's) under Captain Spalding. With the latter he marched to Wilkes-Barre in August, 1778, and was in service at the Wyoming Garrison at the time of his death. His name was unintentionally omitted by the writer from the list of Spalding's com- pany printed on page 981. Stephen Pettibone was unmarried.
(viii) Oliver Pettibone, or Pettebone, born in Simsbury, Connecticut, May 18, 1762, removed with his parents to Amenia Precinct, and in 1778 or '78 joined his father and brothers in Kingston, Wyoming Valley. He was nearly sixteen years old when the battle of Wyoming occurred, and was
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in Forty Fort when it was surrendered to the British. As previously related, he made his way back to his old home in Amenia, where he continued to reside until December 21, 1783, when he was mar- ried to Martha (born July 25, 1763), daughter of Dr. Barnabas and Mary (Burrows) Payne, and then settled at Livingston Manor, New York. In the Spring of 1788, having purchased a tract of land in Kingston Township, Wyoming Valley, near that of his father, Oliver Pettibone removed thither with his wife and three children, and there he continued to live until his death. In 1799 and 1800 he was a member of the Kingston Town Committee for the sale of the public lands of the town- ship. In 1802-'05 he was one of the Commissioners of Luzerne County, and for several years about 1813 he was a Captain in the Pennsylvania Militia. Charles Miner (in his "Wyoming," Appendix, page 18) wrote of him in 1888: "The writer remembers him well as he appeared thirty years ago. He was tall, slender, but well made, of frank and agreeable manners. We knew him in public life as Commissioner of the County, a vigilant and faithful officer; and as a private gentleman, liberal and kind, ever assiduous to please. He was a man of perfect integrity and honor." Capt. Oliver Petti- bone died March 17, 1832, at his home in Kingston Township, and his wife died there on Christmas day 1833.
The children of Oliver and Martha (Payne) Pettibone were as follows: (1) Oliver, born at Liv- ingston Manor September 9, 1784; died in Kingston Township December 6, 1818. (2) Esther, born at Livingston Manor September 15, 1785; married at Wilkes-Barre February 25, 1804, to George Trucks; died September 25, 1835. (3) Payne, born at Livingston Manor January 24, 1787; died August 13, 1814. (See below.) (4) Joshua, born in Kingston Township August 31, 1788; died March 29, 1877. (See below.) (5) Marcia, born November 8, 1790; became the wife of Samuel Thomas; died July 24, 1865. (See below.) (6) Lucy, born September 12, 1792; became the wife of Col. Eras- tus Hill; died at Kingston January 12, 1842. (7) Mary, born October 21, 1794; died January 19, 1869. (8) Nancy, born November 13, 1796; died May 14, 1888. (9) Noah, born July 27, 1798; died December 11, 1866. (See below.) (10) Huldak, born February 14, 1801; died November 25, 1801. (11) Henry, born October 5, 1808; died May 5, 1861. (See next page.) (12) Martha, born December 30, 1804; died February 26, 1838. (18) Stephen, born February 2, 1807; died August 5, 1810.
(3) Payne Pettebone was married in Kingston Township November 27, 1810, by the Rev. Ard Hoyt, to Sarah (born April 4, 1798), eldest daughter of Joseph and Mary (Lee) Tuttle. Joseph Tuttle, son of Henry Tuttle, was born in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey, January 19, 1772, and removed with his father to Kingston Township, Wyoming Valley, in 1785-settling on the banks of Abraham's Creek. Prior to 1798 Henry Tuttle built a small two-story frame grist-mill on this creek, just south-east of the road running from Kingston to Pittston. It stood very near what is now known as the "stone-arched bridge," almost on the dividing line between the present boroughs of Forty Fort and Wyoming. Henry Tuttle ran this mill until 1812, when his son Joseph came into possession of it and ran it for twenty-six years. Forty years ago this little brown mill, perched on the bank of the creek, high above the clear and quiet waters, and overhung and almost surrounded by noble trees, formed a very picturesque view. Joseph Tuttle, mentioned above, was married Sep- tember 26, 1792, to Mary Lee, daughter of Jesse Lee (originally of Connecticut, but, as early, at least, as 1774 or '75, a resident of Kingston in Wyoming Valley) and his wife Sarah, a daughter of John McDowel, mentioned on page 730, ante. Joseph Tuttle died February 11, 1849. Payne Pette- bone died in Kingston August 13, 1814, and some years later his widow became the wife of David Perkins, Jr., of Kingston. (See page 1108.) She died April 27, 1869. The children of Payne and Sarah (Tuttle) Pettebone were: (a) Stoughton, born April 9, 1812; married (1st) in 1835 to An- toinette Dunning, who died March 9, 1845; married (2d) in 1846 to Cornelia Bellamy. For many years Stoughton Pettebone was a manufacturer of paper at Niagara Falls, New York, where he died September 1, 1888. (b) Payne, born December 23, 1818; married October 8, 1887, to Caroline M. Swetland. (See note on page 1085.) Payne Pettebone was for many years a prominent and influ- ential citizen of Wyoming Valley and a man of large wealth. For some time he was Treasurer of the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad Company and a member of its Board of Directors. At the time of his death he was a Director of the Miners' Savings Bank and the Wyoming National Bank of Wilkes-Barre; President of the Board of Trustees of Wyoming Seminary; a Trustee of Wesleyan University, and also of Drew Theological Seminary. He was also identified with other important institutions and business enterprises, and was an earnest member and a liberal supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died at his home in the borough of Wyoming March 80, 1888, being survived by his wife and two children-Mrs. Kate Swetland (Pettebone) Dickson and Robert Treat Pettebone.
(4) Joshua Pettebone, born in Kingston August 81, 1788, was married there in February, 1810, to Eleanor, daughter of Col. Ebenezer Gay, Sr. (born at Litchfield, Connecticut, December 26, 1725; died July 16, 1787) and his second wife, Elizabeth Fairbanks (married November 21, 1765; died December 8, 1827). Fisher Gay of Kingston Township (born at Sharon, Connecticut, May 6, 1778; died July 8, 1857, at his home near the Wyoming Monument, where he had lived for fifty years) was one of the two brothers of Mrs. Eleanor (Gay) Pettebone. Joshua and Eleanor (Gay) Pettebone were the parents of the following-named children: (a) Sarah Ann, born April 4, 1810; married September 6, 1888, to George Reese; died February 18, 1888. (b) Oliver, born June 22, 1811; died July 17, 1874. (c) Samuel Thomas, born April 27, 1818; married November 18, 1834, to Ann Reel of Kings- ton ; died April 18, 1880. (d) Elisabeth, born January 20, 1815; married December 15, 1835, to Oliver Gates Pettebone of Kingston; died July 28, 1857. (e) Jane, born February 16, 1817; died December 7, 1889. (f) Ebeneser Gay, born. November 1, 1818; married to Margaret Seagraves; died February 17, 1887. (g) Benjamin Dorrance, born April 20, 1820; died October 16, 1820. (h) Fisher, born January 1, 1823; died February 8, 1884. (i) Mary, born February 14, 1825; died June 28, 1863. (j) Esther M., born February 84, 1827; died February 20, 1874. (k) George Trucks, born October 25, 1829; died March 9, 1849. (1) Lucinda C., born April 6, 1832; married January 24, 1854, to Stephen Hill Pettebone (born August 11, 1829; died October 4, 1905), son of (9) Noah Pettebone.
(5) Marcia Pettebone, born in Kingston Township November 8, 1790, was married there May 10, 1807, to Samuel Thomas, who was born in Connecticut February 2, 1787, and removed to Kings- ton in 1806. Samuel Thomas was Captain of the Wyoming Volunteer Matross, an artillery company in the service of the United States during the War of 1812. (See a subsequent chapter for a further account of this organization.) In 1881 Captain Thomas was elected. Brigade Inspector of the 2d Brigade, 8th Division, Pennsylvania Militia. "This office he held until 1828, when he was elected and commissioned Brigadier General of the 2d Brigade for a term of seven years. In 1825 and again in 1826 he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Luzerne County. In 1884 General Thomas removed with his family from Kingston to the State of Illinois, and settled in Stark County, a few miles east of Toulon, where, in the Spring of 1836, he located and laid out a town which' he named "Wyoming"-now a large and thriving place. For many years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits and in farming. In 1846 he represented Stark County in the Illinois Legislature. General Thomas became a member of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkes-Barre, November 4, 1811, and retained his connection therewith until his removal to Illinois. He became one of the charter members of Toulon Lodge, No. 93, F. and A. M., constituted at Toulon November 19, 1846. He held at different times important offices in the Lodge, and continued to be a member in good standing until his death, which occurred at his home in Wyoming, Illinois, July 13, 1879.
(9) Noah Pettebone, born in Kingston July 27, 1798, was married there (1st) November 80, 1820, to Sarah Sharps (born January 17, 1800), daughter of John Sharps of Wyoming, and granddaughter of John Sharps (born in 1752; died October 3, 1831) and his wife Christianna, of Greenwich, New
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sizable elm trees* which stood alongside the road, and within less than 400 yards of the Kingston block-house, previously mentioned, they were ambushed by a band of twenty Delaware Indians. Lieutenant Buck and Messrs. Williams and Pettebone were instantly killed, while Fred- erick Follett fell lacerated with seven spear-wounds. Knowing that the Indians would strike while signs of life remained, Mr. Follett, by the exercise of all his fortitude and will power, managed to lie perfectly still. Believing him to be dead the Indians hastily scalped him, as well as the three men who were unquestionably dead. All this was done in
Jersey. Mrs. Sarah (Sharps) Pettebone having died December 20, 1843, Noah Pettebone was mar- ried (2d) to Margaret Nice (born at Philadelphia November 8, 1811), daughter of William and Nancy (Nice) Speece. Noah Pettebone died at his home in Kingston December 11, 1867, and his wife Mar- garet Nice died there June 12, 1882. The following are the names of the children of (9) Noah and Sarah (Sharps) Pettebone: (a) Jacob Sharps, born September 17, 1881; married March 8, 1851, to Sarah Williamson; died December. 26, 1895. (b) Henry, born February 8, 1824; died November 4, 1886. (c) John Sharps, born May 2, 1826. (d) Stephen Hill, born August 11, 1829; married January 84, 1854, to (1) Lucinda Pettebone; died October 4, 1905. (e) Martha Ann, born April 24, 1882; died January 28, 1884. (f) George, born February 24, 1885; died October 12, 1886. (g) Noah, born August 5, 1888; married January 14, 1864, to Jane, daughter of George and Sarah (White) Renard, and has two sons and two daughters living. The children of (9) Noah and Margaret N. (Speece) Pettebone are as follows: (h) Sarah Elisabeth, born November 18, 1847; married to Wesley N. Johnson. (i) Walter Speece, born December 21, 1852. (j) Harper Nice, born March 14, 1857.
(11) Henry Pettebone was born in Kingston Township October 5, 1802. He entered the Wilkes- Barre Academy in 1818, and having pursued a course of study there he studied law with Garrick Mallery, Wilkes-Barre, and was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County August 8, 1825. In 1828, in conjunction with Henry Held, be established in Wilkes-Barre the Republican Farmer and Dew- ocratic Journal, a weekly newspaper, of which he served as editor for a time. In 1831 he sold out his interest in the establishment to f. J. Adam. Mr. Pettebone was appointed by Governor Wolf of Pennsylvania, February 17, 1880, Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, and Clerk of the Orphans' Court, Quarter Sessions and Oyer and Terminer, of Luzerne County, for the regular term of three years. January 21, 1833, he was reappointed for a second term, which he served, and was succeeded in January, 1886, by Dr. John Smith. From 1886 to 1888 Mr. Pettebone was one of the Managers of the Wilkes-Barre Bridge Company. From 1886 to 1848 he was engaged-part of the time alone and the rest of the time as a partner of Charles Denison- in the practise of his pro- fession before the Courts of Luzerne County; also, during the same period, he carried on alone, and then in partnership with others, a mercantile business in Wilkes-Barre. (In July, 1841, "Henry Pet- tebone & Co." opened a store for the sale of general merchandise "at the store-room formerly occu- pied by Jacob Cist, a few doors below the Phoenix Hotel, on River Street.")
In 1841 Henry Pettebone, the Hon. Chester Butler and Capt. Hezekiah Parsons were appointed by the citizens of Wyoming Valley to repair to Hartford, Connecticut, to petition the General Assem- bly of that State for pecuniary aid in finishing the Wyoming Monument. (See Chapter XXVII.) To succeed the Hon. Ziba Bennett, who had resigned, Governor Shunk of Pennsylvania appointed Mr. Pettebone an Associate Judge of the Courts of Luzerne County March 6, 1845; and in November of the same year the Governor commissioned him a Notary Public. He served as Judge until Novem- ber, 1849, when he resigned and was succeeded by Edmund Taylor of Wilkes-Barre. Judge Pettebone then served for a time as Clerk of the Pennsylvania State Senate. For several years after that -- until about 1857-he was actively engaged in superintending extensive contracts which he had in hand on the Pennsylvania Gravity Railroad and on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In 1857 or '58 he became Secretary and General Ticket Agent of the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad Com- pany. This position he held until the day of his death-having his office in the borough of Kingston. Henry Pettebone became a member of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkes-Barre, April 9, 1884, and in the following December was elected and installed Junior Warden of the Lodge Garrick Mal- lery, his preceptor in the law, being at that time Master of the Lodge. Mr. Pettebone served as Master of the Lodge in 1888, 1845 and 1848, and in the years 1846-'51 and 1856-'57 he was District Deputy Grand Master of the Masonic District comprising the counties of Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne, Bradford and Pike. He was the first Scribe of Shekinah Chapter, No. 182, Royal Arch Masons, constituted at Wilkes-Barre February 18, 1856, and in 1857 was High Priest of the Chapter. He was also a Knight Templar.
Henry Pettebone was married in 1825 to Elizabeth (born September 80, 1808; died July 8, 1847), daughter of John Sharps, previously mentioned, and they became the parents of three children, to wit: (a) Martha, born in 1826; married in 1844 to William Streater, son of Dr. Charles Streater of Wilkes-Barre. (b) Sarah, born March 12, 1828; died April 81, 1886. (c) William S., born July 1, 1880; died April 15, 1847.
Judge Pettebone died suddenly at his home in Kingston May 5, 1861. His remains were interred with the honors of Free Masonry by Lodge No. 61 in St. Stephen's Episcopal Church-yard, Wilkes- Barre, but some years later they were removed to Forty Fort Cemetery, where they now lie.
* These trees are still (1907) standing, although the trunk of the larger of the two-the one at the right hand side in the illustration on page 1149-weakened by decay, has recently been split in twain by a wind storm. The following paragraph concerning these trees was printed in the Record of the Times, Wilkes-Barre, June 28, 1854. "We must, however, ascribe the greatest perfection of symmetry and grace to the two noble old elms that stand, adorned with every shade of beauty, upon the left of the road, near the 'Pond Hole,' as you go from Wilkes-Barre to Kingston. As we gaze upon them we are struck with admiration at their surpassing loveliness. In their perfect magnificence they arrest and completely fascinate every admirer that watches the graceful waving of their long, arched, pendulous branches. Such trees are sacred. They were left by our fathers, and they should be left by us, to stand not only as ornaments, but also as representatives of past generations. They are too noble to be cut down!" Sixteen years later, in the Record of the Times of June 1, 1870, the following was printed relative to these same trees. "It may not be generally known that the two beautiful elm trees on the Hollenback estate, just beyond the first 'Pond Hole,' long ago received the name "Twin Sisters.' One of our citizens lately visiting Norwich, Connecticut, was startled by an inquiry in regard to these "Twin Sisters' of Wyoming by one whose recollections of the past disposed him to express an interest in the present landmarks of this historic region. These elms have been the observed of all observers. It is to be lamented that cattle browsing in the field have been allowed to trim away the lowest boughs springing from the trunks of these trees. ยท Can any one assign a good and adequate reason for the inequality between these two trees, as they stand upon the same elevation, in the same soil, and with the same exposure?"
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plain sight of the occupants of the Kingston block-house and of Fort Wyoming, and a detachment of armed men was immediately sent across the river from the fort ; but the Indians had fled and could not be over- taken .* Follett, weltering in his blood, gave signs of life and was taken over to the fort. Dr. William Hooker Smith, on examining his wounds, said that, while everything should be done that kindness and skill could suggest, he regarded a recovery as hopeless. And yet Fol- lett did recover, although his stomach was pierced by a spear-thrust to such an extent that the contents thereof came out through the opening. Miner says that Dr. Smith "gained great credit for restoring Follett to health and usefulness."
Miner says that in March, 1779, bands of savages began to make their appearance, as if, from the contiguity of their towns, an incursion into the Valley, instead of being a matter of toil, was but a pleasure party. On Sunday, the 21st of the month, Josiah Rogerst and Capt.
. On the same day, or the next day, Abel Dewey, Robert Alexander and Amos Parker were killed and scalped by a band of Indians below Salem, on the opposite side of the river, while Michael Kelley and his daughter, of Westmoreland, were taken prisoners. At Fort Niagara, under the date of March 8, 1779, Maj. John Butler reported to General Haldimand that a band of Delawares had "had a skirmish with the enemy at Wyoming," in which they took "three prisoners and seven scalps." (See the "Haldimand Papers," B. M. 21,765, Book CV : 113.)
t JOSIAH ROGERS, son of Hope and Esther (Mecomb) Rogers, was born in New England in 1720, and early in 1776 he and his wife (Hannah Ford, born in 1727), accompanied by their son Jonah and his wife and family, immigrated to Wyoming Valley and settled in Plymouth Township. After the battle of Wyoming the Rogerses made preparations to flee from Plymouth. Mrs. Hannah Rogers was in ill health, and in order that she might be taken to a place of safety she was laid on a bed which was lashed to two horses traveling abreast. The party then set out in the night-time, taking their course down along the Susquehanna, two days' journey, and then making their way across the moun- tains towards the Lehigh. `The fatigues and trials of this journey were too great for Mrs. Rogers, and on the 9th of July she died in the wilderness, many miles from any human habitation. A broken piece of board that lay in the path was used for a spade, and in a hollow, formed by the upturned roots of a fallen tree, a shallow grave was made, where the remains of the dead wife and mother were laid. On the board, placed above the grave, was written, with a piece of charred wood, this inscription: "Here rest the remains of HANNAH, wife of JOSIAH ROGERS, who died while fleeing from the Indians after the massacre at Wyoming." The surviving members of the family continued their journey to the German settlements below the Blue Mountains, in Berks County, where they were treated with great kindness and consideration-being supplied with food and helped on their way to New England. In the Autumn of 1778 they returned to Wyoming Valley, but did not venture to take up their residence in Plymouth until the next year, or later. Josiah Rogers died at Plymouth in 1815, in the ninety-sixth year of his age.
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