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 23
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"Capt Zebulon Butler was chosen Moderator for the work of ye Day.
"Voted-That Each of ye Propriators & setlers Belonging to ye township Kings- town shall by themselves or some meet Persons by them Provided within 30 Days be at their Equal Proportionable Parts of Building a sufficient Fortifycation for their. Defence & Remove themselves Into ye same in order for ye Defence of themselves and ye Rest of
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Photo-reproduction of a part of page 1,308 of "The 'Town Book of Wilkes Barre."
ye setlers on this Land or Forfitt their setling Right in sd town or such other sum or Penalty as this meeting shall see cause to Inflict, Regard being Had to the Nature and agrevation of there offence. & also keep up such a watch and Gaurd as shall from time to time be thought Proper by ye Comtee and setlers on this Land.
"Voted-That each of the Propriators & setlers belonging to township of Plymouth shall by themselves &c. within 40 Days be at their Equal Proportionable Parts of build- ing a sufficient Fortifycation for their Defence & Remove themselves Into ye same, &c. [as in the case of Kingstown].
"Voted-That this meeting is adjourned until to-morrow morning at six o'clock in ye forenoon at this place."
The business transacted at the town-meeting held June 30, 1772, pursuant to adjournment, is shown by the original minutes, herewith re- printed in part-the spelling of many of the words in the original not being adhered to, however.
.* See page 1,308 of "The Town Book of Wilkes Barre."
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"Voted and Determined, That whenever any contention shall Happen between any two of this communety about the Property of any Goods, Cattle or any other thing as In- sulting, Slandering, abuseing, cheeting or in any way to Injure his Neighbour, or by swareing, cursing or stealing shall Brake the Law ; that ye Meathod of setling ye same for ye Futer shall be by ye Determination of 3 Juditious freeholders-two appointed by ye two Contending parties & the other by the Comtee of Setlers. And that such Freeholders when met shall have Power to Determin all Reasonable fines and Demands Pursuant to ye Laws of this Coloney and their Best Judgment.
"Whereas there is and may be miany Disorders committed by ye Retailing of spirituous Lickquor in small Quanteties Both to ye setlers Now on ye Land, also strangers and Trantiant Persons coming into this place & Companey, also to ye Indians Natives- which Disorders to prevent it is Now Voted, That there shall be but one Publick house to Retail speriteous Lickquors in sinall Quanteties in Each of ye first five towns ; and that Each Person for ye Purpose of Retailing as aforesd shall be appointed by the Comtee of eaclı Respective town in which they Live or to which they Belong ; and that they and Each of them shall be under the Direction of sd. Comtee by whom they are appointed, Not Repugnant to ye Laws of the Coloney of Connecticutt ; and that such Retailers that shall not Duly observe such Directions and Restrictions as they shall severally receive from sd Comtee shall on complaint made to this Companey suffer such Pains and Pennalties as this Company shall see cause to Inflict-Not exceeding his or their setling Right. Regard being Had to ye Nature & agrevation of ye offence.
"Voted, also, that if any other Person or Persons whatsoever shall Presume to Re- tail any such Sperituous Licquours as abovesd without ye Liberty first had and obtained as aforesd they shall be Lyable to suffer ye same pains & Pennalties, as aforesd; and that sd Comtee shall take ye oversite of ye same and make complaint thereof to this Company.
"Voted, That this Company shall at ye cost and charge of this Company as soon as may be send out to ye Nearest County town in ye Coloney of Connecticutt, or to suni other of ye Neighbouring Coloneys, and Procure a sealed Half Bushel & a peck measure and one Gallon pot, Quart pott, point pot, Half point & Gill measures for a standard & Rule for this Company to by and sell by &c .; and for ye Comitee to procure them as soon as may be ; and also sutable weights as ye Law Prescribes, &c.
"Whereas James Foresides Being a Propriator and setler on ye Susqh Purchase, and by his unfaithfulness Has Forfited His setling Right-voted by this Compy that John McDole* shall be Intitled to sd Right on account of paying a sum of money for sd Fore- sides, as McDole was Bondsman for sd Foresides-Provided ye sd McDole settles sd Right in a Reasonable time.
"Voted, That Mr. Christopher Avery have pay for his ox killed by this Companey in January, 1771, & that Captain Butler, this Company's Treasurer, pay sd Avery out of this Companey's money, &c."
Among the collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society is an original "List of Settlers at Wyoming in June, 1772," pre- pared at that time by the Committee of Settlers. In that list are the following names which do not appear in the list for May, reprinted on page 732.
Avery, Christopher-18th. Jenkins, John-16th.
Blackman, Elisha
Johnson, Solomon-18tl1.
Upson, Asa
Tracy, Solonion-20th.
Home 26th for six weeks.
Terry, Jonathan-27th.
Dole, Hendrick-30th.
Marvin, Seth-25tl1.
Verner, Jacob -D. D. July 4th.
Harrington, Peter
Hopkius, Gardner-26th.
Phillips, Nicholas
Williams, William-8th.
Wart, John-17th. .
Harvey, Elisha-25th.
Parke, Isaiah
Rose, Timothy-6th.
Harding, Abraham-20th. Out 26th for six weeks. Hopkins, Timothy -- Jr .-- 20th.
Slocum, Joseph
Stephens, Benjamin
Baker, Coonrod-30th.
Malry, N. Jonathan
Baker, Coonrod-Jr .- 28th.
Dougherty, John-24th.
Moss, [or Morse ], Joseph -18tl1.
Fish, Jabez
Murphy, John-30tl1.
Perkins, John-Jr.
Wintermute, Philip-27th.
Young, David Young, Robert Young, John
In the latter part of May, 1772, the situation of affairs in Wyoming Valley being deemed satisfactory by the Committee of Settlers, as well as by the Standing Committee of The Susquehanna Company, it was decided to take steps to lay out and settle a township at or near the mouth of Muncy Creek on the West Branch of the Susquehanna (with- in the present limits of Lycoming County), in accordance with the reso- lution of The Susquehanna Company adopted at its meeting held April 1, 1772. (See page 726.) Therefore a company of five or six New * John McDowel of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, mentioned on page 730.
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Englanders-an advance party-proceeded from Wilkes-Barré down the Susquehanna to Sunbury, intending to journey thence up the West Branch to the designated locality. The object of their journey becom- ing known to the authorities of Northumberland County at Sunbury, the latter proceeded, by force, to prevent the New Englanders from con- tinuing their journey. In the melee which ensued Crocker Jones of Wilkes-Barré was severely wounded, taken prisoner and conveyed to Fort Augusta, where, after a hearing before Justices William Maclay and Samuel Hunter, he was committed to the jail at Carlisle, in Cum- berland County (Northumberland not being provided with a jail then), to appear and answer at the next term of the Northumberland Court of Quarter Sessions .*
Another member of this advance party of Yankees was the Rev. Benajah Roots, who was taken prisoner and detained at Fort Augusta. The others of the party eluded the authorities and returned to Wilkes- Barré. Thereupon a company of some twenty or thirty prospective set- tlers was organized, and about the middle of June they set out for the West Branch. John Blair Linn, in his "Annals of Buffalo Valley" pub- lished a number of years ago, says (page 45):
"It appears that in June, 1772, a large band of armed men from Connecticut ap- peared on the West Branch to dispossess [?] the inhabitants, and were prevented. * * John Scott of Northumberland County deposed that June 15, 1772, William Speddyt met him and companions from Bucks County, near Buffalo Creek [in what was then North- umberland, and is now Union, County]; * * he said he supposed they were travelers and looking for lands to buy. He desired them to be careful how they purchased of Penn, unless they had likewise New England rights. *
* He [Speddy] owned that he stood by and saw [Lazarus] Stewart shoot [Nathan] Ogden, ; and justified the action."
By order of the Northumberland County Court early in July, 1772, the posse comitatus was raised, and, proceeding up the West Branch to the tract of land occupied by Marcus Huling (see page 666), dispersed the Yankees who were collected there. § About the same time Col. Elizur Talcott (whose name is frequently mentioned in the preceding pages) and Noah Phelps (see page 480) of Connecticut, | accompanied
* In the year 1790 Robert King of Northumberland County presented an account against the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania, reading in part as follows (see "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XVIII : 697): "1772-June 6. To taking Crook [Crocker] Jones, an inhabitant of Wyoming (he being a prisoner), from Fort Augusta to the Goal of Carlisle (distant 73 miles), by order of Samuel Hunter and William Maclay, Esquires ; to cash pd. for hand-cuffs ; to cash pd. the prisoner's expenses three days on the road ; to cash pd. my own and prisoner's expenses two days in Carlisle before the jailor would receive him, on account of a fracture in his scull, which he received at his being taken-the Doc's bill included. ['Total] £2, 15s. 10d."
Jones was released from jail (see the following page), and returned to Wilkes-Barre July 26, 1772 (as noted on page 732). November 29, 1773, Seth Marvin of Wilkes-Barre conveyed to Crocker Jones of Wilkes- Barré, for £100, one settling right in Plymouth which Marvin had purchased from Samuel Holden Parsons of Lyme, Connecticut, and which consisted of House Lot No. 5, one-half of Meadow Lot No. 5 and one- half of Meadow Lot No. 8. January 6, 1778, Crocker Jones conveyed to Silas Harvey "all title and interest to ye improvements that have been done by me [Jones] on a certain tract of sixty acres, with two log houses, on the East side of Susquehanna River, opposite ye mouth of Shickshinny Creek ; it being land that Samuel Gordon surveyed to ye said Silas Harvey."
t This was WILLIAM SPEEDY, mentioned on pages 676 and 717. Mr. Linn spells his surname "Speddy," as shown in the extract given above and in the one in this note ; but in all the original records of The Susquehanna Company, and in the Philadelphia newspapers giving an account of his trial at Philadel- phia, and in other publications of early days, his name is spelled "Speedy." Mr. Linn says : "Speddy was the pioneer of New England civilization in Buffalo Valley. He chose for his residence a little dale on Turtle Creek. In December, 1776, he volunteered in Capt. John Clarke's company of Northumberland County, and served during the campaign of Trenton and Princeton." In 1778 he resided on the tract of land mentioned above. About 1785 he removed to Lost Creek Valley, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, and died at a place called Speddy's Gap, near McAllisterville. He had, says Mr. Linn, a son named William Speddy, Jr., and the latter's grandson, J. W. Speddy, lived at Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, in 1877.
Į See page 679.
¿ In 1790 Robert King of Northumberland County, previously mentioned, rendered an account against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, reading in part as follows (see "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XVIII : 698): "1772-July 3. To myself and horse five days, viz : from 3d to 7th, both days in- cluded, collecting the inhabitants of Northumberland County in order to apprehend a party front Wyo- ming (then Assembled at Marcus Huling's on the West Branch of Susquehanna River), by order of Doc. William Plunket, Fsq .- £1, 17s. 6d."
| It seems that Colonel Talcott and Mr. Phelps had come to Wyoming for the purpose of locating and laying out a township for a company of shareholders in The Susquehanna Company whose agents they were. At Glastonbury, Connecticut, under date of September 25, 1772, Colonel Talcott wrote to Samuel Gray, Esq., Clerk of The Susquehanna Company, in part as follows (see the original letter now in the
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by John Hutchins of Wyoming (see his name in the list of settlers on page 741), arrived at Sunbury, where they duly executed bonds, or recognizances, for the release from custody of Crocker Jones and the Rev. Benajah Roots, and for their appearance at the next terin of Court. The original recognizance executed for Mr. Roots is now in the posses- sion of Mr. James Terry of New Haven, Connecticut (see page 30), and by his courtesy a verbatim copy of it is here printed for the first time, as follows :
"Northumberland County, ss :
"Be it remembered that on the Sixth Day of July Anno Dom. 1772, Before WILLIAM PLUNKET, Esquire, One of his Majesties Justices for the County aforesaid personally ap- peared The Revd Benajah Roots, Col. Elizur Talcott, Noah Phelps and John Hutchins, and acknowledged to owe to our Soverign Lord the King, that is to say
The Revd BENAJAH Roofs in One Thousand Pounds, ) Col. ELIZUR TALCOTT in Five Hundred Pounds,
NOAH PHELPS in Five Hundred Pounds, JOHN HUTCHINS in Five Hundred Pounds,
Money of Pennsylvania of their goods and Chattels, Lands and Tenements to be levyed, Subject to the following Conditions. That the above named BENAJAH ROOTS Shall im- mediately evacuate depart from and intirely remove out of any Settlement he has or may have made for him in any part of the Province of Pennsylvania aforesaid as granted by Charter, without the leave or lycence of the Proprietors of said Province, and that he will not associate with or join himself unto the people called Connecticut Intruders nor Aid, Assist or Abet them, nor shall he molest or disturb in their Settlements any people settled under Pennsylvania, nor shall he allure, Inveigle or persuade any of the Inhabitants of this Province to join with them or attempt to do it ; nor shall he attempt to Survey, mark or lay out any Lots of Land or Townships within the said Province unless by the leave of the Surveyor General of said Province. And shall in the mean while behave himself orderly and Soberly, towards all his Majesties Subjects in General, and be and appear at the next Court of Quarter-Sessions at Fort Augusta the Fourth Tuesday in August next, then and there to answer, &c.
"Acknowledged & subscribed Before WM PLUNKET.
[Signed]
"BENAJAH ROOTS,
"JOHN HUTCHINS,
"ELIZUR TALCOTT,
"NOAH PHELPS."
Who the Rev. Benajah Roots was, whence he came, or whither he went after his experience with the Pennamites at Fort Augusta, we have been unable to learn.
Shortly after the occurrence of the incident just narrated the Wyo- mning settlements were visited by another minister of the gospel -- the Rev. Noah Wadhams,* A. M., of New Preston, Litchfield County, Con-
possession of Mr. James Terry, mentioned above): "The proprietors of the town that I made a pitch for meet at Wethersfield this week to consult what is best to be done in our Susquehanna affair. * * Some think it best to agree with Governor Penn, or to call help from New York, as they say they offer to defend us. But this must be the last shift for us to make, I think. * * That country is worth contending for." The town referred to above by Colonel Talcott was probably "Hungary," inasmuch as, November 1, 1774, Zebulon Butler, agent for Col. Elizur Talcott, Capt. Gad Stanley, Capt. Elisha Phelps and Capt. Aaron Cleveland, laid out a township by that name containing twenty-five square miles. The same was approved November 1, 1774, by the proper committee of The Susquehanna Company.
* NOAH WADHAMS-or WADHAM, as he himself wrote his surname in 1773 and earlier-was born in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, May 17, 1726, the son of Noah and Anne ( Hurlbut) Wadham. Noah Wadham, Sr., last-mentioned, was born August 10, 1695; in 1736 he removed from Wethersfield to Middletown, Connecticut, and thence, about 1773, to Goshen, Litchfield County, Connecticut, where he died in 1783 He was the son of John Wadham (born July 8, 1655), who was the son of John Wadham who came froni England to America, as early as 1650, and settled in Wethersfield, where he died in 1676. Noah Wadhamn, Jr .. was graduated at the College of New Jersey ( Princeton University) in September, 1754, with the degree of A. B. Subsequently he studied theology with the Rev. Abel Newell at Goshen, Con- necticut, and in 1757, upon the organization of the Society, or Parish, of New Preston in the towns of New Milford and Kent in Litchfield County, Connecticut, he was ordained to the gospel ministry and installed pastor of the Congregational Church of New Preston. November 8, 1758, he was married to Elizabeth (born October 9, 1731), daughter of Moses Ingersoll of Westfield, and later of Great Barrington, Massa- chusetts. Moses Ingersoll, who was born February 10, 1694, the son of Thomas, was a first cousin of the Hon. Jared Ingersoll, mentioned on page 585, as well as hereinafter.
In 1764 the honorary degree of A. M. was conferred upon the Rev. Noah Wadham by Yale College. After his return from Wyoming late in the Summer of 1772, Mr. Wadham continued to serve as pastor of the Church at New Preston until March, 1773.
Under date of February 14, 1773, Mr. Wadham wrote from New Preston to Zebulon Butler at Wilkes- Barré in part as follows (see original letter in the collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society): "I have heard often of you this Winter, and take it that you are almost fearless about Penne- mites, and I hope it is upon sufficient foundation ; and I desire you may be directed to what is wise and for your safety to keep up a watch. From the little acquaintance I have about the Susquehanna proprie- tors I can't see but that there is a great prospect that they will be in a short time the quiet possessors as can be expected in such weighty unsettled matters. From what I can learn friends to the Susquehanna
settlements much increase in the Government. * * * If it should be thought expedient by the people
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that I should come over to preach in any of your towns, I should be willing if the state of my family should admit. * *
* An affectionate regard to all friends and to Mr. [Jacob] Johnson. * * I have not forgot the state I see the inhabitants were in, as sheep without a shepherd, when I was with you, and as there was a comfortable prospect that Mr. Johnson would come and settle with you. And as there was some that talked with me about my coming again, for they should want another preacher the Sum- mer coming, if they were prosperous."
Mr. Wadham having decided to remove to Wyoming Valley, arrived at Wilkes-Barre early in April, 1773, and on the 22d of that month. at Wilkes-Barre-as shown by the original records of The Susquehanna Company (Book "C," page 100)-Zebulon Butler, "one of the committee empowered to admit settlers," re- ceived of "Rev. Mr. Noah Wadham 42 dollars," entitling him to "one whole right or share in the Susque- hanna Purchase, agreeable to the vote of The Susquehanna Company at their meeting in 1772." October 14, 1773, Philemon Sanford and wife of Goshen, Litchfield County, Connecticut, conveyed their interest in a half-right in the Susquehanna Purchase to "Mr. Noah Wadham of New Milford," for £7.
Mr. Wadham settled in the township of Plymouth, and about that time his surname was metamor- phosed into "Wadhams," either by his own act or through the careless speech and writing of his friends and neighbors. Col. H. B. Wright, in his "Historical Sketches of Plymouth," states (page 375) that "Mr. Wadhams continued his pastoral relations [at Plymouth], interrupted by an occasional visit to his family in Litchfield, until the year [1779] succeeding the Wyoming massacre, when he removed them to Ply- mouth." Undoubtedly this is an erroneous statement, as there is evidence that some or all of Mr. Wad- hams' family were living in Plymouth prior to 1778. The Rev George Peck, D. D., in his "Early Methodism," states that the Rev. Noah Wadhams "was baptized with the spirit of Methodism, and com- menced preaching here and there, wherever he found an opening. He joined the Methodist Church and became a local preacher. He spent his latter years in preaching and laboring with great zealand accept- ability for the promotion of the interests of the societies." The fact is, that at about the time of his com- ing to Plymouth Mr. Wadhams became a Wesleyan in his theological opinions-which, like those of his friend and brother-in-law, the Rev. Samuel Hopkins (the celebrated Presbyterian divine, and the hero of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "A Minister's Wooing"), had undergone a change under the preaching of John Wesley and George Whitefield.
In the "Bill of Losses Sustained by the Inhabitants of Westmoreland" from July 3, 1778, to May, 1780 (see Chapter XIX), the amount of the Rev. Noah Wadhams' losses is stated at £193, 6sh.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Ingersoll) Wadhams having died at New Preston, Connecticut, February 19, 1793, the Rev. Noah Wadhams was married a few years later to Diana, daughter of Jeremiah and Ann ( Paine) Ross of Wilkes-Barre, and widow of John Hageman of Kingston. She died at Plymouth in October, 1804, and Mr. Wadhams died at Plymouth May 22, 1806, being survived by four sons, as follows : (i) Noah Ingersoll (born at New Preston October 14, 1761, and died at Plymouth May 12, 1845), (ii) Calvin, (iii) Noah and (iv) Moses. A daughter, Anna (born November 20, 1763), and a son, Samuel (born April 27, 1767), had died previously at New Preston ; the former, December 5, 1799, and the latter, February 4, 1785.
(iii) Noah Wadhams was born June 6, 1770, at New Preston, Connecticut, and came to Plymouth with the other members of his father's family. Some years later he returned to Connecticut, studied law at the famous Litchfield Law School, and was admitted to practise before the Supreme Court of Connecticut. He returned to Plymouth in 1793 or '94, and in the latter year was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County. November 7, 1814, he became a member of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkes-Barre. His wife was Eliza- beth Barney of Plymouth. For a number of years he was a Justice of the Peace in Plymouth, where he died September 30, 1846.
(iv) Moses Wadhams was born February 8, 1773, at New Preston, Connecticut, the sixth child and fifth son of the Rev. Noah and Elizabeth (Ingersoll) Wadhams. January 11, 1801, he was married to Ellen (born January 12, 1776), daughter of John and Eunice ( Bradley) Hendrick of New Fairfield, Con- necticut. Eunice Bradley was a daughter of David and Damaris Bradley of Fairfield, Connecticut, and John Hendrick was a descendant, in the fourth generation, of Hendrick Hendricksen, a Hollander who was settled in Fairfield County, Connecticut, as early as 1664. His wife was "Heinechy," or Hannah (surname unknown). During the lifetime of their only son, Hendrick Hendricksen ("Henry the son of Henry"), the latter's name was anglicized into Henry Hendricks. Some of his descendants, at a later period, lopped off the "s" of their surname. Moses Wadhams and his wife established their home in Plymouth, and there he died September 25, 1801, of yellow fever, which was epidemic in Wyoming Valley that year. He was survived by his wife (who subsequently became the wife of Joseph Wright -q. v.) and two daughters, viz .. Phebe (born October 26, 1801; died in September, 1867) and Lydia (born October 23, 1803 ; died January 2, 1890).
(ii) Calvin Wadhams, the second son of the Rev. Noah and Elizabeth (Ingersoll) Wadhams, was born at New Preston, Connecticut, December 22, 1765. Coming with the other members of his father's family to Plymouth, he lived there until his death. The Rev. George Peck, in his "Early Methodism," previously referred to, says that Calvin Wadhams contributed largely to the erection in Plymouth of "a building called the 'Academy,' adapted both to the purposes of a school and of religious worship. The upper story was seated and fitted up with a pulpit and an altar, and was the only church in Plymouth for perhaps fifty years. Mr. Wadhams' house was ever open to the preachers, and was often filled full on quarterly-meeting occasions." Col. H. B. Wright, in his "Historical Sketches of Plymouth," says that Calvin Wadhams "possessed an agreeable presence and always had a kind expression upon his lips. He was strictly temperate, very industrious, and no man knew better the value of real estate." Calvin Wadhams was married February 10, 1791, to Esther (born June 10, 1768), daughter of Elijahand Susannah (Henderson) Waller of Kent, Connecticut. She died February 19, 1818, and on April 28, 1820, Mr. Wad- hams was married (2d) to Lucy, third daughter of Capt. Samuel and Chloe ( Cruttenden ) Starr of Middle- town, Connecticut, and widow of Samuel L.ucas of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and Berkshire, New York. Samuel Starr, who was a sea-captain, was born at Middletown, Connectcut, April 25, 1725, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth ( De Jersey) Starr. He was lost at sea in November, 1765. Chloe Cruttenden, to whom he was married May 31, 1748, was the daughter of Dr. Daniel Cruttenden. Calvin Wadhams died at Plymouth April 22, 1845, and his wife Lucy died there September 21, 1840, aged seventy-eight years.
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