A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 34

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press]
Number of Pages: 683

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 34

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 (link on the Part 1 page).

Next, the Assembly passed an Act authorizing and empowering the Governor to issue a proclamation forbidding "all and every person.

* See page 770, ante, relative to this pamphlet.

t See page 778.

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or persons whatsoever taking up, entering on, or settling any of the lands contained and included in the Charter from King Charles II to this Colony, lying westward of the Province of New York, without liberty first had and obtained from the General Assembly of the Colony." January 27, 1774, the Governor's proclamation was duly published in The Connecticut Courant and other newspapers.

Finally the Assembly passed the following :

" WHEREAS, the General Assembly of this Colony at their sessions in May, 1771, did resolve and declare that the lands west of the River Delaware, and in the latitude of that part of this Colony eastward of the Province of New York, are well contained within the boundaries and descriptions of the Charter of King Charles II to this Colony ; And Whereas a large number of people are settled on part of those lands, at or near a place called Wyoming, under the claim of this Colony, and have made their humble applica- tion to this Assembly to take them under the protection and government of this Colony; And Whereas many persons of suspicious and bad characters, to escape from Justice and to carry on their villainous designs with impunity, do resort to said place to the great disquiet of the well-disposed people settled there, whereby publick Justice may be evaded and Iniquity encouraged .-

"For remedy thereof, Be it enacted : That the inhabitants dwelling within the bounds of this Colony, on the west side of the River Delaware, be and they are hereby made and constituted a distinct Town, with like powers and privileges as other Towns in this Colony by law have, within the following bounds and limits, viz .: Bounded east by said Delaware River, north by the north line of this Colony, west by a north and south line across the Colony at fifteen miles distance west from a place on Susquehanna River called Wyoming, and south by the south line of this Colony ; which town is hereby an- nexed to the County of Litchfield, and shall be called by the name of WESTMORELAND. " Provided, nevertheless, that no person dwelling in any other town in this Colony shall be liable to be sued before any Justice of the Peace in Said Town of Westmoreland, nor shall any person inhabiting within said Town of Westmoreland be sued or called from thence to answer in any civil action before a Justice of the Peace in any other Town ; nor shall the Sheriff of the county of Litchfield, nor any of his deputies dwell- ing in any other town in this Colony, be compelled to receive any writs to be served in said Town of Westmoreland in any civil action.

" Resolved, That the committee appointed by this Assembly to assist his Honor Governor Trumbull in preparing the necessary exhibits and evidences to support the claim of the Colony to the western lands, be, and they are hereby, authorized to engage, procure and employ suitable persons to ascertain the latitudes and longitudes of the north and south lines of the Colony at such places as they shall find necessary and con- venient.

" Resolved by this Assembly, That Roger Sherman and James Abraham Hillhouse, Esquires, and Mr. Thomas Howell be and they are hereby appointed a committee, upon application to them made to take into consideration the claims and settlements lately made by divers persons on the lands situate on or near the waters of the Susquehanna River within the limits and boundaries of the Charter to this Colony, and to endeavor to adjust and settle with such claimants and settlers what and how much of their re- spective claims they shall hold and be quieted in under the title of this Colony, and on what terms ; * * * and that those people who have been settled within the limits of this Colony on the west side of the Delaware for more than fifteen years last past, be quieted in their respective settlements."

The last of the aforementioned resolutions related, of course, to those settlers who had not derived their titles or their "rights" from either The Susquehanna Company or The Delaware Company.

Having erected the town of Westmoreland, the Assembly appointed " Capt. Zebulon Butler and Mr. Nathan Denison* Justices of the Peace

*NATHAN DENISON was born in the Town of Windham, Windham County, Connecticut, September 17, 1740, according to the public records (Book " A," page 170) now preserved at Willimantic. He was the third child and second son of Nathan and Ann (Cary) Denison.

About 1631 William Denison and his wife Margaret, natives of England, immigrated to America with their three sons-Daniel, Edward and George-and settled at Roxbury, Massachusetts William Denison, who early became Deacon of the Church there-whose first pastor was the Rev. John Eliot, "the Apostle to the Indians"-died at Roxbury January 26, 1658, aged sixty-seven years. George Denison (born in 1618), youngest son of William and Margaret, resided with his parents at Roxbury until his marriage in 1640 to Bridget, daughter of John Thompson, deceased, a native of Preston, Northamptonshire, England, whose widow Alice had come to America and settled in Roxbury. Bridget ( Thompson) Denison died in the Summer of 1648, leaving two daughters, and almost immediately afterwards George Denison de- parted for England, where he joined the Parliament army under Oliver Cromwell. At the battle of Naseby, in Northamptonshire, June 14, 1645, when 7,500 Royalists under Charles I were defeated by 14,000 Parliamentarians under Fairfax and Cromwell, Capt. George Denison was severely wounded. While convalescing he formed the acquaintance of Anne Borodel, born in Corsica in 1615, the only daughter of Mr. John Borodel, an Irish gentleman of wealth. Captain Denison . having persuaded Anne to marry

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THE OLD NATHAN DENISON HOUSE MENTIONED ON PAGE 788. From a photograph taken in 1902.

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him, and to share his fortunes in the New World, they crossed the ocean early in 1646 and took up their residence at Roxbury. where, July 14. 1646, their first child, John, was born.

In 1651 Captain Denison removed with his family from Roxbury to the infant town of New London (founded by the Hon. John Winthrop. Jr., in June, 1646), on the western bank of the River Thames, near it's mouth. December 30, 1852, a grant was made to Captain Denison of 200 acres on the east side of Mystic River, in what was known as the Pawcatuck Plantation, and in the Spring of 1654 he sold his property in New London town-plot and removed to the new settlement. At that time the Colonies of Connecticut and Massachusetts were each claiming jurisdiction in Pawcatuck. In June, 1658, the Pawca- tuck settlers-two of whom were Capt. George Denison and Capt. John Gallup (mentioned in the note on page (29, ante)-signed " Articles of Association," wherein they did " promise, testify and declare to maintain and defend" with their " persons and estates the peace of the place, and to aid and assist one another according to law and rules of righteousness." The contention of the two Colonies relative to Paw- catuck was adverse to the prosperity and progress of the settlement, and in September. 1658, by the de- cision of a "Court of Commissioners " Pawcatuck was adjudged to Massachusetts. The privileges of a town were immediately conferred upon the inhabitants of the plantation, and with the new name of Southerton the town was annexed to Suffolk_County, Massachusetts. Captain Denison was authorized to solemnize marriages, and the prudential affairs of the town were confided to him and three others.

The Charter of Connecticut granted by King Charles II in 1662 (see page 242, Vol. I) extended the jurisdiction of the Colony to the Pawcatuck River. The title of Connecticut to " Pawcatuck Planta- tion." or " Southerton." could not now be disputed, and in October, 1664, the General Court, or Assembly, of Connecticut passed an " Act of Oblivion " for all past offenses, implying a contempt of their authority, to all inhabitants of Mystic and Pawcatuck-" Captain Denison only except." His offense was more aggravated than that of the others, for he had continued to exercise his office as magistrate, commissioned by Massachusetts, after the Charter of 1662 was in operation and he had been warned by the Connecticut authorities to desist. In October, 1665, the name of Mystic was given to Southerton, but the General Court at its session in May, 1666, changed the name of the town to "Stonington," which it has ever since borne. At that same session the Court passed an "Act of Indemnity " to Captain Denison, " upon the same grounds as was formerly granted to other inhabitants of Stonington."

In February, 1676, during the progress of King Philip's, or the Narragansett, War, some 200 Connec- ticut volunteers, belonging mainly to New London, Stonington and Norwich, were formed into compan- ies under Captain Denison, Capt. James Avery (see note on page 682, ante), and two other officers, " for the annoyance of the enemy." A number of Mohegan and Pequot Indians (see note, page 193, Vol. I) were engaged to be associated with them " for the sake of plunder and other considerations"-the Mohegans being under the command of Owaneco, the son and successor of the great sachem Uncas. the faithful ally of the English colonists. Early in March, 1676, the Council of War of Connecticut decreed that such soldiers as should go forth under the command of Captain Denison and the other officers previ- ously referred to " shall have all such plunder as they shall seize, both of persons, or corn, or other estate." Some days later Captain Denison began a very successful incursion into the country of the Narragansetts, and in the course of sixteen days his command killed and captured nearly fifty of the hostile Indians, without the loss of a single soldier. This success was the more important because of the capture of the chief sachem of all the Narragansetts-Canonchet, son of Miantonomoh and inheritor of all his pride and of his insolence and hatred towards the English. Governor Hutchinson, the carly historian of Massachusetts (see page 615. last paragraph), in referring to this campaign against the Indians, wrote : " The brave actions of the Connecticut volunteers have not been enough applauded. Denison's name ought to be perpetuated."

In May. 1676, George Denison was chosen by the General Court of Connecticut to be "Captain for New London County. and second to the Major [John Talcott], commander-in-chief of the army." Cap- tain Denison was a Deputy from Stonington to the General Court in 1671, 1689, 1698 and 1694. It is said that he " had no equal in any of the Colonies for conducting a war against the Indians, excepting per- haps Maj. John Mason." He is further described as having been "the Myles Standish of the Stonington settlement." Miss Caulkins, in her " History of New London," says : "Our early history presents no character of bolder and more active spirit than Capt George Denison ; he reminds us of the border-men of Scotland. In emergencies he was always in demand, and he was almost constantly placed in import- ant public positions."

Captain Denison's death occurred suddenly at Hartford, October 28, 1604, while he was in attendance at a session of the General Court. His widow died at Stonington September 26, 1712, aged ninety-seven years.

Capt. George and Anne (Borodel) Denison were the parents of three sons and four daughters, of whom George (born in 1668) was the fourth child. He was married to Mercy Gorham (born in 1659), daughter of Capt. John Gorham and his wife Desire Howland, daughter of John Howland of the May- Alouer company of Pilgrims. George Denison, Jr., died December 27, 1711, and his wife Mercy died September 24. 1725. Their second child was Joseph Denison, who was born in 1683. He was married February 17, 1707, to Prudence (born in 1669), daughter of Dr. Joseph and Mary ( Avery) Minor. Joseph Minor (baptized at Hingham, Massachusetts, August 26. 1644) was the fifth child of Lieut. Thomas and Grace (Palmer) Minor, who in 1645 removed to New London, Connecticut, from Hingham. and a fow years later settled in Stonington. Joseph Minor was married to Mary Avery October 23. 1668 She died February 2, 1008. Joseph and Prudence ( Minor) Denison lived and died in Stonington, the former dying February 18, 1725. and the latter May 26, 1726. Their fifth child was Nathan Denison, who was born at Stoningion February 20. 1716. He was married April 1. 1786. to Ann (born in 1711), daughter of Eleazar Cary, or Carey, of Windham, Connecticut-in which town the newly-wedded pair settled. May 26, 1758, Nathan Denison enlisted as a private in the Ist Company (Eleazar Fitch, Captain, and Elijah Simons, Captain-Lieutenant), 8d Connecticut Regiment (commanded by Col. Eleazar Fitch), mentioned in the eighth paragraph, page 481, Vol. I. Other members of this company, who subsequently became settlers at Wyoming, were Oliver Durkee and Ebenezer Heberd. Nathan Denison was with his company throughout the campaign of 1758, and was honorably discharged from the service November 30, 1758. (See " Connecticut Historical Society Collections. " X : 54.)

Mrs Ann (Cary) Denison died at Windham May 16, 1776, and Nathan Denison was married March 15, 1778, to Hannah Fuller of Windham. She died prior to 1800, in which year Nathan Denison removed to Kingston, Wyoming Valley, to the home of his son, where he died March 10, 1808. Nathan and Ann (Cary) Denison were the parents of the following-named children (see public records at Willimantic, Connecticut-Book " A," page 170) : (i) Prudence, born February 11, 1787. (ii) Joseph, born November 2 1788. (iii) Nathan, born September 17, 1740. (iv) Ann, born November 19, 1742; married to Solomon Huntington. (v) Eleazar, born December 24, 1744; married to Susanna Elderkin. (vi) Lydia. born April 27, 1747 ; married to Joshua Elderkin. (vii) Amos, born May 31, 1749 ; died September 19, 1758.

(iii) NATHAN DENISON was, as previously mentioned. born in the town of Windham, where he made his home until his removal to Wyoming Valley. At Windham, December 5, 1768. Nathan Denison, Sr., purchased from John Webb a half-right in the Susquehanna Purchase. January 18, 1769, Mr. Denison conveyed this half-right to his son, Nathan Denison, Jr., and a few days later the latter set out from Windham for Wyoming as one of the " First Forty " settlers-as related on pages 472 and 473. Vol. I. In every chapter of Wyoming history from that time until the death of Nathan Denison, Jr., his name appears. In other words, the history of his life after the age of twenty-nine years is, in a large measure, a logical and chronological record of Wyoming events. Necessarily, therefore, his name is frequently mentioned in these pages in connection with interesting and important happenings. Hence an extended sketch of his life is deemed unnecessary here. In the present writer's " History of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M.," published in 1897, it is stated (on page 497) that Col. Nathan Denison (Jr.) " did not come here until the

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Spring of 1772." What the writer meant to state was that Colonel Denison did not come to Wyoming to stay until the Spring of 1772. This is correct. He was here in 1769, for a while in 1770, and again in January, 1771 (at the time Nathan Ogden was killed), after which he returned to Connecticut and re- mained there until the Spring of 1772.

When the lands of the "Forty "-later Kingston-Township were allotted in 1770, Nathan Denison received his share and began to make some improvements thereon. Some two years later he took up his residence on his Kingston lands and continued to reside there until his death-excepting that in 1786 and '87. and probably other years about that period, he spent considerable time in clearing up and im- proving lands which he owned in Springfield Township (now Wyalusing Township, Bradford County. Pennsylvania). On the western bank of Abraham's Creek-which flowed through a part of his land in Kingston Township-Colonel Denison erected in 1790 a commodious and substantial dwelling-house, in which he spent his remaining years and which is still standing. Originally it was painted red. but in 1857 it was repainted white. In later years various improvements were made to the building. It is now, and for some years has been, occupied by Mrs. Sarah Reilay, a granddaughter of Colonel Denison. The house is shown near the right side of the picture facing page 786. It may also be dimly seen through the trees at the left side of the upper picture on page 65, Vol. I. In the assessment lists of Kingston Township for the years 1799, 1800, 1801, and other years, the name and occupation of Colonel Denison appear-uncouthly but unmistakably stated by the Assessor-" Nathan Denison ; Distillery and Juge." At a first glance the last word is taken to be "jugs," especially when one considers that jugs are the usual accompaniment of a distillery. At a second glance, however, it is apparent that, in the orthog- raphy of the Kingston Assessor, " juge " stood for " judge." As for the appearance of the word " dis- tillery " opposite Colonel Denison's name, it may be stated that in Wyoming Valley in the early part of the nineteenth century nearly every well-to-do farmer maintained upon his premises a distillery. by the aid of which his surplus grain and certain other farm products were transmuted into whisky.

Colonel Denison represented Westmoreland (Wyoming) in the General Assembly of Connecticut at the following-mentioned sessions : October, 1776, May and October, 1778, January and May, 1779, and October, 1780. From October, 1776, until June, 1783, he was Judge of Nathan Derifon Juge the Court of Probate for the dis- trict of Westmoreland, by ap- pointment of the General Assembly of Connecticut. In 1787, '88 and '89 he was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, and in January, (Facsimile of Signature written in January, 1783.) 1791, he was recommended to Gov- ernor Mifflin by Colonel Pickering and others for appointment to the office of County Lieutenant of Luzerne County, to succeed Zebulon Butler. August 17, 1791, upon the reorganization of the Courts of Luzerne County under the new Constitution of the State, Colonel Denison was appointed and commis- sioned one of the four Associate Judges of those Courts. This office he held until his death. Stone, in referring to Colonel Denison ("History of Wyoming," page 227) says : " He was a gentleman of highly respectable talents. * * He was regarded by all who served with or knew him as a brave and faithful officer. After the close of the war he held various important civil appointments under the authority of Pennsylvania, and died at a very advanced age-as eminent for his sweet and unaffected piety as he had ever been for his patriotism-honored, loved and wept by all." Miner says ("History of Wyoming," Appendix, page 18) : "Judge Denison, though cheerful in the social circle, never laughed and seldom smiled. His looks were grave, but pleasing-not sad, but externally sedate. Such was the character of all his deportment. His judgment was sound, as his heart was pure ; but there was nothing showy about him-no attempt at effect-but all reposed in him, because his integrity was undoubted, while his good sense and intelligence inspired unlimited confidence." As an evidence of the confidence in which he was held by his fellow-citizens it may be stated that in December, 1779, he presided as Moderator at the Westmoreland town-meeting held at Wilkes-Barre, at which time he was chosen Treasurer, one of the Selectmen and one of the School Committee of the town. He was already a Member of the Con- necticut Assembly, a Justice of the Peace, and Judge of the Probate Court of Westmoreland. In 1889 a new township was erected out of Hanover Township, Luzerne County, and was named for Colonel Denison.

Nathan Denison was married at Wilkes-Barre in November, 1772 to Elizabeth (born at Lyme. Con- necticut, November 22. 1750), eldest child of Jabez and Elizabeth (Noyes) Sill. (See a sketch of the Sill family hereinafter.) Miner says (" History of Wyoming," page 140) : " The first marriage in Wyoming was that of Mr. Nathan, afterwards Colonel, Denison, and Miss Sill. The Rev. Jacob Johnson was the officiating minister, and the place where the knot was tied, and the nuptials celebrated, was a house * * at the lower corner of River Street, of the Wilkesbarre town-plot." This was the house of Jabez Sill, mentioned on page 729, ante. Colonel Denison died at his home in Kingston Township January 25, 1800, and his wife died there April 27, 1812. Their remains have lain in the old cemetery at Forty Fort for many years now-their resting place being marked by the tall shaft shown in the lower picture facing this page. Col. Nathan and Elizabeth (Sill) Denison were the parents of the following-named children : (i) Lazarus, born in 1778; died March 15, 1841. See hereinafter. (ii) Elizabeth, born March 7, 1777; married May 28, 1800, to Elijah Shoemaker, as mentioned on page 468, Vol. I ; died in 1881. (iii) Mary, born January 2, 1779; married November 25, 1802, to Thomas Patterson (see next page); died June 10, 1858. (iv) Anna, born February 22, 1788; married to Daniel Turner of Kingston, Luzerne County, Penn- sylvania, and had one child (George Denison Turner), born December 27, 1809, and died at Hope. New Jersey, April 21. 1897. Mrs. Anna ( Denison ) Turner died June 4. 1828. (v) John, born June 20, 1787, mar- ried to Laura Fellows, and settled in Licking County, Ohio; died July 27, 1840. (vi) George, born Feb- ruary 22, 1790; died August 20. 1881. See next page. (vii) Sarah, born in 1794; married (Ist) to Thomas Ferrier ; married (2d) to Stephen Abbott, as mentioned on page 728, ante; died in 1888.

(i) Lazarus Denison was born in Kingston Township, near Forty Fort, in 1778. Charles Miner, in a letter printed in the Republican Farmer and Democratic Journal of May 5, 1811, wrote : "Col. Lazarus Denison, if not the first white male child born in Wyoming, was certainly among the number. Upon this point there may be some diversity of opinion, but such was the statement of Mrs. Phoebe Young. one of the earliest settlers of the Valley, whose memory retained with astonishing accuracy almost every incident connected with its stirring history." Except when driven from Wyoming by the Indians and the British in 1778, and a few years later by the Pennamites, Lazarus Denison spent all his life- for the greater part of it engaged in agricultural pursuits-in Kingston Township. In 1810 and 1811 he held, by appointment of Governor Snyder, the offices of Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds in and for Luzerne County. Prior to 1828 he held the rank of Colonel in the Pennsylvania Militia. Sunday, February 14, 1802, he was married at Kingston to Elizabeth (born in 1777), daughter of Benjamin Carpen- ter of Kingston, but formerly of Orange County, New York. Colonel Denison died at his home in Kings- ton January 24. 1841, and his wife died there iu 1870. Lazarus and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Denison were the parents of the following-named children : (1) Hiram, born in 1808; was at one time a Colonel in the Pennsylvania Militia ; died in Kingston August 27. 1868. (2) Mary, born in 1804; married November 6. 1832, to Chauncey A. Reynolds of Plymouth, Luzerne County (born December 31, 1803; died November 28. 1868); died in February, 1868. (8) Wayman Dwight, born April 21, 1806; died December 8, 1828. (4) Nathan, born in 1808; died in 1831. (5) Benjamin Carpenter, born in 1810; died in 1854. (6) Elizabeth Sill, born in 1812; married in 1848-as his second wife-to Judge William Hancock of

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RESIDENCE OF THE LATE HON. CHARLES D. SHOEMAKER, FORTY FORT. (See note on page 469, Vol. I.) From a photograph taken in May, 1902.

OLD FORTY FORT CHURCH AND CEMETERY. The tall monument in the middle-distance marks the grave of Col. Nathan Denison. From a photograph taken in May, 1902.

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Kingston Township (born December 18, 1799; died January 7, 1859); died in 1855. (7) Sarak, born March 13. 1814; married to Gilbert Reilay of Troy, New York (born in 1812; died in 1879). (8) Charles, born January 23, 1818 ; died June 27, 1867.

(iii) Mary Denison, second daughter of Col. Nathan and Elizabeth (Sill) Denison, was born in Kings- ton Township January 2, 1779, and was married November 25, 1802, to Thomas Patterson. He was born July 7, 1775, in the Parish of Leck, county of Donegal, Ireland, the son of Ezekiel and Elizabeth (Smiley) Patterson and the grandson of Archibald and Martha (Colbert) Patterson. Having taken part under the leadership of Theobald Wolfe Tone, in the "Rising of '98," fomented and managed by the " Society of United Irishmen" (an organization which had been formed about 1780 to assist Henry Grattan-the great Irish patriot and orator-in the carrying of his reforms, and which was got up and officered almost ex- clusively by Protestants-many of them young men of rank and influence), Thomas Patterson was forced to flee in disguise from Ireland and seek safety in the United States."He was accompanied by his brother Robert.

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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. II, Part 34

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press] Number of Pages: 683

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press]
Number of Pages: 683