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 early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume I > Part 38
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Peter Ayers,
John Kinne,
Nehemiah Parke,
Ephras Andrus,
Jeremialı Kinne,
John Parke,
William Andrews,
Moses Kinne,
William Parke,
Nath. Babcock,
Gideon Keeney,
John Pike,
Noah Briggs,
Nathan Keeney,
Jonathan Pettibone,
Benjamin Crary,
Stephen Keeney,
Josiah Russell,
Christopher Crary,
Thomas Keeney,
Stephen Rhodes,
George Crary,
Samuel Kasson,
Cyprian Stevens,
Oliver Crary,
Adam Kasson, Archibald Kasson,
John Stevens,
William Cady,
John Keigwin,
Samuel Smith,
William Church,
James Keigwin,
Francis Smith, 3d,
Josiah Curtis,
Hugh Kennedy, Jr ,
John Smith, Jr.,
Jedidiah Darbe,
Stephen Kellogg,
John Smith, 2d,
Thomas Douglas,
Henry Linkon,
Benjamin Smith, Ebenezer Smith, Jr.,
John Dorrance,
James Montgomery,
Stephen Stoyell,
Lemuel Deane,
Timothy More,
Jonas Shepard,
David Downing,
Matthew Patrick, Sr.,
Ezra Spalding,
Patrick Fay,
Matthew Patrick, Jr.,
John Spalding,
Jabez Fitch,
Jacob Patrick,
Eleazer Spalding,
Elijah Francis,
Ezekiel Peirce,
Amos Spalding,
Isaac Gallup,
John Pellet,
Solomon Stoddard,
William Gallup,
Joseph Parks,
Thomas Stewart,
George Gordon,
Nathan Parke,
Phinehas Tracy,
Robert Gordon,
Robert Parke,
Samuel Thomas,
Samuel Gordon,
Thomas Parke, Sr.,
David Waters,
Phinehas Green,
Thomas Parke, Jr.,
Eliphalet Whiting,
Henry Hart,
Joseph Parke,
Ichabod Welles,
Robert Hunter,
Benjamin Parke,
Joshua Whitney.
Robert Jameson,
Asa Parke,
Just when and where the project for the purchase and settlement of the Wyoming lands by inhabitants of Connecticut had its inception it is impossible now to state, but, judging by the fact that a large number of the memorialists hereinbefore named were residents of the county of Windham, and that some of them were men of more than local promi- nence, it is quite probable that Windham County was the birth-place of the movement, and that the work preliminary to the signing of the memorial and its presentation to the Assembly was done in the town of Windham-the shire-town, the center of whose business and social life was at "Windham Green," near the center of the town and about two miles south-east of the present city of Willimantic.
"The occasional traveler who strolls along the silent streets of the venerable town of Windham, meeting no inhabitant except perhaps a straggling cow, and hearing no sound but the hum of a drowsy insect, or the feeble croak of a town-born frog, receives little impression of its activity and importance as a political and business center before the Revolution. Then it was one of the wealthiest, most bustling and . thriving towns of the Colony ; gay with elegant social life and the home of influential leaders in Connecticut affairs. Within its limits were in- cluded as parishes several of the now adjoining towns. It had four well-trained military companies, four meeting-houses, a court-house and · jail and numerous stores. It furnished nineteen Captains and more than sixty other officers and soldiers to the old French War. Its appearance was far more attractive than at the present time. At the head of its capacious public square stood the Congregational Church, elegantly painted in a brilliant yellow, and around the square stood public build- ings and stores and the handsome dwellings of the aristocracy.
Robert Dixson, 3d,
Peter Miller,
David Stevens,
Thomas Cole,
250
"The prosperity of Windham has departed, its glory has faded away, the ancient church and other public edifices have disappeared, and solitude and silence have taken possession of the streets."* The population of the town of Windham was probably between 2,200 and 2,300 in 1753. For its population and that of Windham County three years later, see page 246.
The published records of the Colony of Connecticut do not give any information as to what disposition was made by the General Assembly of the memorial presented to it at its session in May, 1753 ; but we learn from those records that four of the memorialists-Capt. Jabez Fitch, Capt. Isaac Gallup, Ezekiel Peirce and Joseph Parke-were members of the Assembly at that time. Evidently the project proposed in the memorial was looked upon generally with favor in the Assembly, for we find that within a very short time after the matter had been presented to that body the Hon. Hezekiah Huntington, Col. (later Maj. Gen.) Phineas Lyman, Maj. (later Col.) Eliphalet Dyer, William Williams (in 1776 a signer of the Declaration of Independence), Capt. Stephen Lee, Isaac and Elisha Tracy and other gentlemen of prominence who had been Representatives at the May session, together with George Wyllys, Secretary of the Colony, and Roger Wolcott, Jr., son of the then Governor of Connecticut, became participators in the movement on foot.
In the meantime the projectors of this movement were busy in dif- ferent quarters of Connecticut soliciting their neighbors and friends to join them in the "Susquehanna affair"-as it was commonly called at the time. At length, on the 18th of the ensuing July, some 250 of the men who had become interested in the "affair" met at Windham and organized "THE SUSQUEHANNA COMPANY." "Articles of Agreement" were drawn up and recorded at length in the record- or minute-book of the Company, referred to on page 28, ante ; it being intended, evidently, that each person who might become a member of the Company should sign these "Articles." This intention was never carried out, however ; but the names of all shareholders and members were duly entered in the books of the Company by the Secretary. A reduced photo-repro- duction of a portion of the original "Articles of Agreement," as recorded on the first page of the "minute-book" mentioned above, will be found facing this page ; while the following is a copy of the document in full -except that the punctuation, capitalization and spelling (save in two or three instances) of the original have not been followed.
"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 us 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.
į 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 in1 1753, was within a very short distance of this island, as we have previously shown.
Windham July 18 4153 Articles of agreement made and Filled Between ins the Jublerthe Inhabitants of his majestic laget Colony
General Avilably of S felony all Their filtros In Ma leth for the fillet of Money to a Certain File lying on Julquehaunch Baser all of Agar a place Called Chilean much an feland In 10 Driver and Other Subjects hermalo y al followed der
That Whereas We being Defireout to lalarge his Mayette, Suglify Settlement The North American and further to Uphead Christianity as alfo to promote our ces Jung mal Juteeth Do hereby Each of the Cusnach and lugn for bus flow and for Those we any of in the preferity by digging for them, Lack of ant to pay's miguel Stalex Fitch 2/
Cant Robert DixJours a Sommille by i Nominate To repair to silence of chefque tidanaly In order to Hier Vaid Trach afstand Had to purchase of Nations there's ahabiting their Fille ad Juter fris das Trach Stand and Is Sorry " Say ally and receive Jumper Seeds of Conveyance ofI saw to 0 quale proportion back on of my two fanich will Gothers better Com young I setting get in dobufuchs , and on Their return, upout said Com " rendering Their accounting Their reasonable Charges Trouble Regency & Framanta halid affair and of what lever may by Them be ix Reader In purchasing the damned the lack of text
Photo-reproduction of a portion of the first page of the minute-book of The Susquehanna Company.
251
FITCH, Esq.,* ELIPHALET DYER, Esq., t JOHN SMITH, Esq., ¿ EZEKIEL PEIRCE, Esq., ¿ Mr. LEMUEL SMITH | and Capt. ROBERT DIXSONT (a committee by us nominated to
* JABEZ FITCH 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 24, 1622, and came to America in 1638 with his widowed mother and his four brothers. In 1646 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 1648, 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 ( Whitfield) 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 he continued to live until his death in 1727. Miss Larned, 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- tionsinvolved 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.
I11 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 various 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 Parish of New London, Connecticut ; but in Decem- ber, 1728, he was admitted an inhabitant of Voluntown, Windham (now New London) County, and there
252
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 the 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, 1731, 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, con1- 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. I11 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 88th 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 values in the different Colonies and Provinces when compared with real mioney. "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.
253
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 execu- 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.
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