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 II > Part 21
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The children of Stephen and Abigail (Searle) Abbott were as follows: (1) John, born in Wilkes- Barre Township April 8, 1800 ; died November 27, 1861. (2) William, born about 1803; married to Ellen, daughter of Cornelius and Catharine (Kennedy) Courtright of Plains (Wilkes-Barre Township), and sub- sequently to 1843 removed to Ohio. (3) Eliza, born October 21, 1806; married January 3. 1826. to Robert (born August 17, 1805 ; died December 9, 1842), son of Asher and Mary ( Wright) Miner of Wilkes-Barre. (See a sketch of the Miner family in a subsequent chapter.) Mrs. Eliza ( Abbott) Miner died August 18, 1846, in Wilkes-Barre Township. (4) Stephen Fuller, b. July 14, 1809 ; died February 11, 1856.
(1) John Abbott remained on his father's farm, in what is now Plains Township, until he became of age, when he went to Manch Chunk, Pennsylvania, and entered the employ of The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. In 1829 he returned to hisancestral home, and there remained successfully engaged in farming until his death. He was married March 11, 1830, to Hannah (born in Wilkes-Barre Township February 7, 1798), daughter of Cornelius and Catharine (Kennedy) Courtright of Plains. Cornelius
Courtright (or "Cortright" as he, himself, wrote his surname), son of Benjamin, was born March 19, 1764, in the Minisink region, New Jersey (see note, page 189, Vol. I), not far from the Delaware Water Gap. In 1784 or '85 he removed to Wilkes-Barre Township, where he was married October 1, 1786, to Catharine, daughter of John Kennedy, a native of Dublin, Ireland. In November, 1787, Mr. Courtright was elected Ensign of the militia company of the "Upper District of Wilkes-Barre" (Daniel Gore, Captain), in the Battalion commanded by Lieut. Col. Matthias Hollenback. Mr. Courtright settled in that part of Wilkes- Barre which later was erected into Plains Township, and there he lived the remainder of his life-becom- ing a large landholder. January 1, 1806, he was commissioned a Justice of the Peace, and in that office he was continued until 1840. He was one of the Commissioners of Luzerne County in 1813, '14. '15, '30, '31 and '32 ; in 1816 he was a candidate for State Senator in the district composed of the counties of Northumber- land, Columbia, Union, Luzerne and Susquehanna, but was defeated at the polls by Charles Frazer. In 1820, '21 and '23 he was elected one of the Representatives fromn Luzernie County to the State Legislature. "For a long series of years he was one of the most public-spirited, active men of our county." Benjamin (born March 17, 1789 ; died January 22, 1867), John (born October 21, 1790; died May 16, 1830), Mrs. Horace G. Phelps, Mrs. William Abbott and Mrs. John Abbott were the children of Cornelius and Catharine ( Kennedy) Courtright. Mrs. Catharine (Kennedy) Courtright died at her home in Plains May 12, 1846, and Cornelius Courtright died at the residence of his son-in-law in Plains May 25, 1848.
(1) John Abbott died at his home in Plains November 27, 1861, and his widow, Mrs. Haunalı (Court- right) Abbott, died at her residence on North Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, May 3, 1892. John and Hannah (Courtright) Abbott were the parents of the following-named children : (i) Robert Miner, born ; resides at Davenport, Iowa. (ii) Catharine C., born December 16, 1838 ; died April 8, 1894. (iv) Lucy W .- who resides in Wilkes-Barre.
(4) Stephen Fuller Abbott, born July 14, 1809, in what is now Plains Township, spent his life there as a farmer. March 1, 1847, he became a member of Lodge No 61, F. and A M., Wilkes-Barre. In 1837 he was married to Charlotte ( born June 30, 1810), daughter of Charles and Letitia ( Wright) Miner of Plains. (See a sketch of the Miner family in a subsequent chapter.) Stephen Fuller Abbott died February 11. 1856, and his wife died July 28, 1859. Their children were: The Rev. William P. Abbott, D. D. (bor11 December 31, 1838 ; died December 22, 1878), a prominent minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Stephen H. Abbott (born October 24, 1844 ; died September 12, 1887).
724
money as above sd on or Before ye first Day of July which will be in ye year of our Lord 1773 with ye Lawfull Interest from and after ye first Day of July Next after ye Date of sd Bond and Do all Duties on sd Right agreeable to ye Rest of sd Propriators then ye above obligation is to be void. But on ye sd Abbotts Non performance thereof then to stand and remain in full force and virtue in ye Law.
"Signed Sealed and Delivered [Signed]
"JOHN ABBOTT, [L. S. ]" In Presence of
"JOSEPH SPRAGUE,
"EZEKIEL PEIRCE,
The following is a verbatim copy of the original ininutes of a town- meeting held at Fort Wyoming, as recorded on page 1,061 of "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre."
"At a meeting of ye Proprietors now at Wyoming Legally warned & held in Wilks- bury fort March 12, 1772-It was then put to vote by this Company that those people called ye Dutch People to whom ye township down at ye Fishing Creek* so called was laid out for, have forfited their Rights to this company by their unfaithfullness, &c .; and it was then voted in ye affirmative by this Company.
"Voted, That ye Six-mile township that was voted to ye Paxton Boys, so called, shall now be laid out in lieu of Nantecook (which ye Paxton [Boys] took in lieu of ye six-mile township)| at or near ye Fishing Creek so called, for ye benefitt of ye 240 first settlers.
"Voted, That Esquire [John] Smith, Lieutenant [William] Buck, Mr. [Peregrine] Gardner, Daniel Gore and Oliver Smith are appointed by this company a Comtee to go down to ye Fishing Creek to view and look out a township of Six-miles square for ye Benefitt of ye 240 settlers.±
"Voted, That Esquire Smith, Captain [Lazarus] Stewart and Mr. Gardner be and they are hereby appointed a Comtee to regulate ye scouting and guarding, and station ye People at each Block-house &c., & make their report to ye adjourned meeting."
At a town-meeting held at "Wilksbury fort" March 31, 1772, with "Esquire Smith Moderator for the day," it was "Voted, That there shall be twelve men to stand on ye guard twenty-four hours, and a scout to be taken out of ye twelve men to scout ye next day."
By an Act of the Pennsylvania Legislature passed March 21, 1772, the county of Northumberland was erected out of parts of the counties of Lancaster, Cumberland, Berks, Bedford and Northampton. The bounds of the new county stretched to the New York-Pennsylvania boundary-line, and included not only Wyoming Valley, but the entire territory, and inore, claimed by The Susquehanna Company under its deed from the Six Nation Indians. In other words, the Northumber- land County of that day comprehended the territory included within the limits of the present-day counties of Potter, Tioga, Bradford, Susque- hanna, Lackawanna, Wyoming, Sullivan, Lycoming, Clinton, Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union, and parts of Schuylkill, Mifflin, Juniata, Center, Clearfield, Cameron, Elk and Mc- Kean. March 24th the Provincial Council commissioned Dr. Williamn Plunket Chief, or President, Judge of the Northumberland County Courts, and William Maclay, Samuel Hunter, Turbutt Francis (see page 664) and others Assistant, or Associate, Judges. The first Court in and for the new county was held at Fort Augusta§ April 9, 1772; and the first Court of Common Pleas was held there May 26, 1772, at which
* The East Branch of Fishing Creek, now known as Huntington Creek.
t See page 652.
# The township laid out in accordance with this vote was subsequently named "Huntington."
¿ By order of Governor Penn in Council, June 16, 1772, Surveyor General John Lukens was directed to lay out a town for the county-seat of Northumberland County between Fort Augusta and the mouth of Shamokin Creek, to be called "SUNBURY." The order was executed between June 26 and July 3, 1772, and return was made July 4th. The first house erected in Sunbury seems to have been a frame one, built by Surveyor General Lukens for his own use. The second house built in Sunbury, and now the most historic house in the town, was a stone dwelling-house erected for William Maclay in 1773 on the lot fronting the river, at the foot of the present Arch Street. It is now owned and occupied by the Hon. S. P. Wolverton. The Rev. P. V. Fithian, a Presbyterian minister and a graduate of Princeton College in 1772, made a journey through a part of Northumberland County in the Summer of 1775, and in his journal he wrote : "The town of Sunbury lies near a half milc below the fort [Augusta], on the north side of the Main Branch [of the Susquehanna]. It may contain 100 houses. All the buildings are of logs but Mr. Maclay's, which is of stone."
725
time the cominission of William Maclay (abovementioned) as Prothono- tary, Clerk of the Courts and Register of Wills was read, and several at- torneys were admitted to practise before the Court-among them being James Wilson, of York, mentioned in the note on page 653.
According to the records of the Court held April 9th it was ordered by the Court that the County should be divided into seven townships, one of which was to be called "Wyoming." Mahoning Township em- braced the territory between Mahoning Creek and the West, or Main, Branch of Fishing Creek (emptying into the Susquehanna about a mile below the present borough of Bloomsburg), and immediately above the mouth of Fishing Creek the township of Wyoming began, and extended northward along the Susquehanna, and westward, far beyond the limits of Wyoming Valley. Some time later, by order of the Northumberland County Court, the townships of "Stoke" and "Shawanese" were erected out of the township of Wyoming-Stoke including the Manor of Stoke and, of course, Wilkes-Barre, and Shawanese including the Manor of Sunbury (as laid out for the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania) and, of course, The Susquehanna Company's townships of Plymouth and Kingston. From 1778 to 1787, inclusive-and perhaps for a longer period-North- umberland County; comprehended ten townships, of which Wyoming was one. During that period none of the New England settlers in and near Wyoming Valley were assessed for taxes, nor did any of them pay taxes to the county of Northumberland or to the Cominonwealth of Pennsylvania. In 1781 and 1786, as well as in other years at that period, the following-namned "non-residents" were assessed by the Northumberland County authorities for lands in Wyoming Township. Benjamin Chew, 5,000 acres, the Estate of Turbutt Francis, 900 acres, John M. Nesbitt, 300 acres, Dr. William Plunket, 580 acres, and Joseph Shippen, 1,800 acres. In August, 1786, a return was made to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania of the number of taxable inhabitants in the State. The report for Northumberland County was as follows : "2,102 men and 44 women-the townships of Stoke and Shawanese not included."
A lawfully-warned meeting of The Susquehanna Company was held at Norwich, New London County, Connecticut, April 1, 1772, and the following preamble and resolutions were adopted.
"WHEREAS, This Company are fully sensible of the equity and justice of their claims to the Susquehanna country, and of the rectitude of their intention in prosecuting their claims (which has been to gain possession of those lands in order to lay a foundation for a legal trial and decision of their cause); yet, instead of the Proprietors of Pennsylvania bringing forward or prosecuting any proper civil action in which the title to those lands might be set up and brought into question for a legal decision and determination, instead thereof have made divers attempts to drive us off by force (though under pretext of law process for riots and actions of a criminal nature), by which means great violence and some bloodshed has happened, contrary to our intentions and inclinations. But as we are determined to prosecute our claims by every legal way and means, and to prevent future violence and bloodshed- Voted, That some proper person or persons be appointed to proceed to Philadelphia as soon as may be and address his Honor Governor Penn, and with him confer upon what method may be taken to bring the contending claims of the Proprietors of Pennsylvania and The Susquehanna Company to a legal and equitable decision, that all tumults and violences for the future may be prevented.
"Voted, That Capt. Joseph Trumbull* be, and he is hereby, appointed agent for this Company, as soon as may be to repair to Philadelphia and wait on his Honor Governor Penn, agreeable to the above vote.
"Voted, That application be made to the General Assembly of this Colony in May next for the establishment of civil government among the settlers in the Susquehanna country, within the limits of the Charter of this Colony.
* See page 470, Vol. I.
726
"Voted, That Col. Elizur Talcott be appointed to forward and prosecute the petition as abovementioned.
"Whereas, There are many proprietors of the Susquehanna Purchase that have not paid up the taxes already granted on the Susquehanna rights, it is now Voted, That the same be paid by the first day of May, next ; and all such proprietors as shall refuse or neglect to pay the same by that tinie, their rights shall be forfeited and revert to the Company. "Voted, That the thanks of this Company be returned to the Hon. Wm. Samuel Johnson,* Esq., for his special services done for this Company in Great Britain, and that the Hon. Eliphalet Dyer be desired to present the same accordingly.
"Voted, That there be a committee of five men appointed, who shall be empowered to receive in settlers who have been sufferers-by reason of their being drove off their settling-rights or by being imprisoned, or that have been hindered from repairing to or holding their said rights by act of Providence -- to fill up the five townshipst that are already laid out. Provided, that no person or persons that now are admitted, and that are now on or in said townships (holding the same according to the former votes of this Company), or are now imprisoned, or absent by leave from the Committee ( who return according to the license from said Committee), shall be liable to be removed, or be re- moved, from or out of any of the said five townships.
"Also Voted, That the Committee now appointed are hereby empowered to lay out to forty settlers, at Capouse Meadows, one or more townships five miles square, divided into forty-three shares-three for public use, as in the other townships-in order to supply said sufferers (respect being had to the time and nature of their sufferings); provided the said sufferers shall apply to the said committee any time before the first day of July next, and then go to the said township and hold and improve the same upon the same terms the other settlers hold the other townships.
"Voted, That said Committee are likewise empowered to order and direct where new townships shall be laid of five miles square, divided into fifty-three rights or shares (three of which shall be for public use), when they shall be applied to by twenty pro- prietors, by themselves or agents, for lands to settle on as a part of their proprietors' rights. Provided, always, that no person shall have any lands laid out to him, or shall be received into any township as a proprietor, until he brings a certificate from the Clerk of this Company that he is a proprietor and has paid all the taxes due on his rights, or otherwise satisfied the Committee now appointed to lay out townships that he is a pro- prietor in said Purchase, and has paid all the taxes due on his said right ; * * and * that there shall be twenty settlers settled within each of sd townships within two years from ye time of laying out ye same, in order that sd proprietors of sd township shall hold ye same.
"Also Voted, That if there shall be more of the aggrieved settlers that shall appear by the time aforesaid to settle on said lands, the said Committee are hereby empowered to lay out a township on Muncy Creek, of six miles square, to fifty proprietors-if so many shall appear by the time aforesaid -- to be laid out into fifty-three shares ; and if not filled up by such suffering settlers, the other shares to be filled up by the proprietors that come on to settle on their original rights. * *
"Voted, That Capt. Zebulon Butler, Maj. Ezekiel Peirce, Stephen Fuller, Robert Hunter and Obadiah Gore, Jr., be and they are hereby appointed a Committee to order and regulate the settlement of our lands in the Susquehanna Purchase according to the foregoing votes."
Zebulon Butler was in attendance upon the aforementioned meet- ing, and at its close spent a few days with his family at North Lyme. Thence, on the 16th of April, he set out for Wilkes-Barre. In his journal he recorded the route he traveled-which was the one then usually followed by travelers between New London County and Wilkes- Barré-and it was as follows: "North Lyme to Hartford, to Farming- ton, to Woodbury, to Roxbury, to North Fairfield, to Fishkill ; April 21st crossed the North River and went [undoubtedly by way of Goshen, Orange County, New York] to Owens'; 23d went to Minisink ; 25th to Big Lackawanna ; 26th (Sunday) to Capouse ; 27th to Wyoming."
During March, 1772, the weather in eastern Pennsylvania was very severe. From the Pennsylvania Packet (Philadelphia) of March 16, 1772, we glean the following :
"During the last week there fell so large a quantity of snow that in many places it was two feet deep. The weather has been extreniely cold for some days past."
On the 2d of April there was again a heavy fall of snow. At Phila- delphia six inches fell, which, however, had melted by the 5th of the * See page 478. + Pittston, Wilkes-Barré, Hanover, Plymouth and Kingston.
.
727
month. On Saturday, April 25th, about eight o'clock in the morning, a slight shock of earthquake occurred in eastern Pennsylvania, which was perceptible at Wilkes-Barré as well as at Philadelphia. At the former place, just about the time of the quaking, the men of the settle- inent had assembled at Fort Wyoming to hold a town-meeting, in pur- suance of an adjournment. Capt. Obadiah Gore was chosen Moderator "in ye room of Esquire Smith, he being not well enough to attend."* The most important items of business transacted were the following :
"Voted, That ye Proprietors belonging to ye several townships have the liberty to move into their own town and there fortifie and guard by themselves by ye 4th day of May next.
"Voted, That those thirty-five men that is now in ye township of Lackawornat shall be entitled to all ye Company's right to said township." * *
With the coming of Spring in 1772 many of the settlers at Wyoming departed for their old homes in New England and elsewhere and soon returned with their wives and children, their live stock and their per- sonal and household effects. Many new settlers, also, came to the valley to cast in their lots with the hardy pioneers, and were welcomed and admitted, under the regulations of The Susquehanna Company, as in- habitants in some one of the several townships. The surveys of the five settling townships were perfected, and in April, or May, 1772, there was a redistribution, or a new allotment, of the lands in those townships to their respective proprietors. As near as can be learned from the meager original records now accessible, the lands in Wilkes-Barré were distributed on or about April 30, 1772.} The following-entitled "A Copy of the List of Names of the Inhabitants of Wilkesbarré, and the Number of the Lots they are entitled to in the year 1772; Copied from 'Wilkesbarre Town Votes, No. 1'"§-is a transcript from page 26, Book I, of the manuscript "Minutes of Evidence" of the Compromise Commissioners, referred to on page 25, Volume I. This list has never been printed heretofore.
"DRAWERS' NAMES.
IST DIVISION, 2D DIVISION, OR
OR
3D DIVISION, OR
4TH DIVISION,
OR
MEADOW, LOTS. HOUSE, LOTS. ||
BACK, LOTS.
5-ACRE, LOTS.
Avery, Solonion
12
36
49
50
Abbott, John
48
35
10
2
Abbott, Philip
44
34
37
11
Atherton, Asahel
39
40
29
29
Butler, Zebulon
4
3
50
49
Bennet, Isaac
6
19
3
10
Colt, Harris
1
8
4
25
Comstock, William
42
14
16
39
Dixson, Robert
14
18
11
44
Durkee, John
5
4
6
14
Downing, Jonathan
25
22
46
46
Farnham, Ebenezer
23
32
2
38
Farnum, Levy
'24
28
48
9
Fish, Jabez
27
13
26
35
Frazier, Robert
31
10
45
12
Fuller, Stephen
11
16
20
40
* His illness increasing in severity, Mr. Smith, accompanied by his sons Timothy and Abel. set out a few weeks later for his home in Voluntown, Connecticut, where his wife and the majority of his children were still residing. There he died in August or September, 1772.
+ Later, Pittston.
# It appears, however, according to the MS. records of the "Confirming Commissioners"-see para- graph "(4)," page 29, Vol. 1. of this history-that some, or possibly all, of the lots in the 4th Division of Wilkes-Barre were not drawn until the Spring of 1773. For example : At "a proprietors' meeting held May 31, 1773," John Abbott drew Lot No. 2, Levi Farnum drew Lot No. 9, and Roasel Franklin drew Lot No. 13-all of the 4th Division. Subsequently (prior to 1787) these three lots became the property of Obadiah Gore, Jr.
¿ Concerning this book of town records see "(iii)," on pages 26 and 27, Volume I.
|| The Town-plot (see page 655) comprised these lots.
728
1ST DIVISION, 2D DIVISION, 3D DIVISION,
"DRAWERS' NAMES.
OR MEADOW, LOTS. 26
OR HOUSE, LOTS.
OR BACK, LOTS.
4TH DIVISION, OR 5-ACRE, LOTS
Fish, Thomas
Gore, Obadiah-Jr.
8
6
24
21
Gardner, Peregrine
13
9
34
33
Gore, Daniel
38
20
22
15
Gore, Silas*
50
38
44
28
Gardner, Peregrine
32
50
13
32
Gardner, Peregrine
33
49
18
5
Hibbard, Cypriant
20
27
8
8
Hopson, Jordan
9
41
40
1
Jones, Crocker
10
31
5
47
Kentner, George
29
24
23
48
Peirce, Abel
40
42
27
26
Ross, Jeremiah
43
23
32
37
Rude, Michael
28
33
17
3
Reynolds, Christopher
18
47
33
17
Stark, Aaron
35
29
25
4
Smith, John-Esquire
.45
48
21
19
Sill, Jabez
22
1
35
27
Stark, James
34
30
41
36
Stark, James
2
12
15
6
Spencer, Caleb
41
46
7
34
Stevens, Asa
49
7
47
20
Sprague, Joseph
46
45
30
31
Stephens, John
47
25
38
23
Stephens, Thomast
36
2.
28
13
Staples, John
17
39
42
22
Staples, John
16
26
31
45
Utter, Moses
35
5
12
41
Wilder, Aaron
19.
44
39
30 1
Warner, William
7
43
14
24
Walker, George
21
37
36
42
Weeks, Philip
3
11
1
43
Weeks, Thomas
30
17
9
16 "
At the time of the allotment of the Wilkes-Barre lands what was called the town-plot was still "a sterile plain, covered with pitch pine and scrub oak." However, within a very short time the first house within the bounds of the town-plot was erected, a well was dug, and other improvements were made by Capt. Stephen Fuller (previously mentioned) on his lot (No. 16) at the south-west corner of Main and Northampton Streets. The carpentry was done by Jolin Abbott (previ- ously mentioned), Captain Fuller's brother-in-law, and the stone-work- foundation walls, fireplace, chimney, and well lining-was, presumably, done by Captain Fuller himself, he being a mason by trade. "The re- mains of the old fireplace of this house were to be seen as late as 1812 -the building itself having been burned down either in 1778 or 1784 -while the well on the premises was in evidence, and perhaps in use, as late as 1830.
Miner ("History of Wyoming," Appendix, 47) says: "Mr. John
Abbott * put up the first house, on the south-west corner of Main and Northampton Streets." Pearce ("Annals of Luzerne County," 229) says : "The first dwelling, within the limits of the town-plot [of Wilkes-Barré], was a log cabin built by John Abbott on the south-west corner of Main and Northampton Streets, in 1769." Both these state-
* July 6, 1772, Silas Gore sold the lots drawn by him in Wilkes-Barre, "together with all the after divisions which may be made," to Jonathan Stowell of Ashford, Connecticut, for £20.
+ Cyprian Hibbard subsequently disposed of the lots which he had drawn to Asa Stevens (see page 729), who, August 21, 1772, sold the same to Enoch Judd for £43.
# Thomas Stephens subsequently disposed of the lots drawn by him to Elijah Loomis of Harrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, who, February 22, 1773, sold the same to Elisha Swift-then or later of Kingston-for £100.
:
„
19
7
Weeks, Jonathan
,15
15
21
43
18
729
ments give the impression that this first house was the property of John Abbott, which, of a certainty, was not the case. Nor was the house in question erected in 1769, for, as we have heretofore shown, John Abbott was not in Wyoming in that year, there was then no town-plot, and in the year mentioned there was no house erected either in the locality inentioned or elsewhere in what is now Wilkes-Barré, save the houses at Fort Durkee. As previously stated, John Abbott's house-lot was No. 35 (at the south-east corner of Main and Union Streets) in the town-plot.
Judge Jonathan Stevens of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, some years before his death in June, 1850, wrote* that his father, Asa Stevens, t "in the month of April, 1773, moved his family into a house erected on the Wilkes-Barre town-plot. Previous thereto only two houses had been erected thereon." In one of them resided Stephen Fuller, and in the other Benjamin Clark. # Near the lower, or south-west, corner of the plot were two more houses. In one lived Jabez Sill§ with his family, and in the other two brothers, Jabez and Elisha Fish, || single men." Judge Stevens was, evidently, under the impression when he wrote the fore- going that the two house-lots occupied in 1772 and '73 by Jabez Sill and the Messrs. Fish were not within the bounds of the town-plot. They were, however-the foriner occupying Lot No. 1 and the latter Lot No. 13. According to Miner Jabez Sill "built the second house erected in Wilkes-Barre," at the north-east corner of River and South Streets. Benjamin Clark was not a Wilkes-Barré proprietor in 1772, and there- fore could not have been occupying then in that township a house and lot of his own. He was, undoubtedly, "manning" and improving a "right" in Wilkes-Barre owned by some one of' the proprietors of the township.
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