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 29
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"Voted, That there be a constant guard kept at the fort in Wilks Barre of twelve men, and that they keep it day & night, & that they be relieved every twenty four hours.
"Voted, That the fort be immediately repaired by the first guard that comes on duty.
"Voted, That Pittstown & the lower end of Plymouth-up as far as Mr. Frederick Eveland's-and the township of Hanover keep a good guard by themselves in their own towns.
"Voted, That Lieut. John Grant be apptd to oversee the guarding & scouting at Pittstown, & to give out the list of the names of the guard to the sergeants ; and to give orders about scouting as he shall think proper. That Capt. David Marvint be appointed
* WILLIAM REYNOLDS, SR., mentioned in the note on page 628.
+ DAVID MARVIN was born about 1710 at Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut, the son of John Marvin. Matthew Marvin, Sr., was one of the earliest settlers at Hartford, Connecticut, where he was an original proprietor in 1635. His eldest son was Matthew, Jr., born about 1627, who married in Hart- ford and removed to Norwalk, where he died in 1712. John Marvin, born September 2, 1678, third son of Matthew, Jr., was a Representative in the General Assembly of Connecticut in 1734 and 1738. In 1752 he removed from Norwalk to Sharon, Connecticut, where he died February 9, 1774. He was twice married -(1st) to Mary Beers of Fairfield, and (2d) to Rachel, daughter of Matthias St. John-and had seven children by each wife. David, mentioned above, was one of these children.
David Marvin was married about 1733, and settled in New Canaan (an adjoining town to Norwalk), Fairfield County, Connecticut. A number of years later he removed with his wife and children to Goshen, Orange County, New York. He was one of the body of New Englanders who in 1762 and '63 attempted to establish a settlement at Mill Creek (see page 404, Vol. I), and was there at the time of the massacre in Octoher, 1763. Prior to 1762 he had gained the title of "Captain"-by service in the militia of either Connecticut or New York. Accompanied by his sons Uriah and Samuel he returned to Wyoming with the body of settlers led by Major Durkee in the Spring of 1769, and they continued here during the Sum- mer of that year. (See pages 498 and 510.) Captain Marvin and his sons Uriah and Matthew were mem- bers of the expedition commanded by Captain Butler which in July, 1771, marched to Wilkes-Barre and besieged and captured Fort Wyoming (see pages 691 and 694); and the original receipts of David and Uriah Marvin, given for the "bounty ' of five dollars (see page 710) paid to each of them for their services on that occasion, are now in the possession of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. Captain Marvin settled in Plymouth Township, where he died in 1778, prior to June. He was the father of the following-named children :
(i) Matthew Marvin, who died prior to April 8, 1782, when Timothy Hopkins of Plymouth was ap- pointed administrator of his estate.
(ii) David Marvin. He was baptized at Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, August 5, 1739. He was married to Sarah - He was a member of the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and his name appears in the list of the men of that regiment in service under Colonel Butler at Wyoming in the Autumn of 1778. (See Chapter XVI.) David Marvin died before April, 1782, being survived by his wife and the following-named children : David, Nathan (who in 1800 was living in Orange County, New York) and Isaiah (who died prior to March, 1801, leaving a son Ira, a youth under age).
(iii) Isaiah Marvin. He was baptized at Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, May 29, 1737. He left Wyoming after the battle of July 3, 1778, and never returned to the valley again. He was dead in 1801. (iv) Sarah Marvin, who became the wife of Amariah Cleveland, and, with her husband, removed from Wyoming prior to July, 1778.
(v) Hannah Marvin. She was living in 1790, unmarried.
(vi) Ruah Marvin. She was haptized at Ridgefield, Connecticut, June 4, 1738. She became the wife of . - Allison, or Ellison, and in 1800 was living at Goshen, New York.
(vii) Mary Marvin. She was baptized at New Canaan, Connecticut, November 16, 1735, and was, un- doubtedly, the eldest child of Captain Marvin. She was living in 1790, unmarried.
(viii) Samuel Marvin. He settled in Plymouth Township, and, according to testimony produced be- fore the Compromise Commissioners (see page 25, Vol. I), left Wyoming "iminediately after the Indian battle [July 3, 1778] and returned in about three years, when he took out letters of administration on the estate of his father." In 1800-'02 Samuel Marvin was living in Northmoreland, Luzerne County, Penn- sylvania.
(ix) Esther Marvin. She was married (Ist) about 1770 to - - Taylor, to whom she bore one child- Ebenezer Taylor (born about 1773). After the death of her husband Mrs. Esther ( Marvin ) Taylor became the wife of Ephraim Mckay, or McCoy, of Plymouth, to whom she bore a daughter, Sarah, who, prior to March, 1797. became the wife of James Marvin. Mrs. Esther ( Marvin ) Mckay died before 1801. Ephraim McCoy was a member of the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, and his naine appears in the inuster-roll . of the detachment commanded by Colonel Butler at Wyoming in the Autumn of 1778. (See Chapter XVI.) He was wounded while in the military service, and became a pensioner. He was one of the earliest set- tlers within the bounds of the present township of Dallas, and several references are made to him in the history of Dallas printed in the "Proceedings and Collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society," VI : 146, &c.
(x) Uriah Marvin, born in Connecticut about 1742, and married at Plymouth, Pennsylvania, in 1774 to Phebe (born February 18. 1759), daughter of James and Phebe ( Harrison ) Nesbitt of Plymouth. Uriah Marvin died at Wilkes-Barre in 1779. For further references to him and his family see "The Harvey Book," page 296, et seq.
(xi) Daniel Marvin, who died prior to January, 1794, leaving several children.
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in like manner for the lower end of Plymouth, and Seth Marvin* for the township of Wilks Barre ; Capt. Obadh Gore & Mr. Elisha Swift for the township of Kingstown & the upper end of Plymouth. Mr. Anderson Dana to warn the guard in the lower district in Wilks Barre, and Mr. Daniel Gore in the Upper District.
"Voted, That Kingstown & the upper end of Plymouth keep the guard at the fort in Wilks Barre two days, and Wilks Barre keep it three, and so continue until otherwise ordered.
"Voted, That there be a ferry-boat kept on both sides of the river against the fort in Wilks Barre ; and that Mr. Partial Terry be apptd to keep that on the west side of the River, & that the fare be stated at 3 pence per man & horse, and 1}d. for a single man, in the Summer season ; and 4d. for man & horse in the Winter season, and 2d. for a single man ; and that the ferry-man be obliged to carry the guard across on free cost, and the people across on Sunday to meeting on free cost. Voted that Mr. Thomas Robin- son is apptd in like manner to keep the ferry on the East side of the River."
The General Assembly of Connecticut met at Hartford May 12, 1773, for the Spring session. On the opening day Capt. Timothy Smith and Obadiah Gore, Jr., were in attendance to present-in pur- suance of the instructions of the Wyoming settlers-the memorial men- tioned on page 760, ante. Col. Elizur Talcott and Samuel Gray, Esq., were also present to represent The Susquehanna Company, and they presented a petitiont in which the history of the Company and its efforts to settle the Wyoming lands was concisely set forth. The petition con- cluded with a prayer for the erection of the Wyoming region into a county of the Colony of Connecticut. One paragraph of this petition reads as follows :
"In the year 1769 said Company sent out a part of their number to settle. * Many of them were, under pretence of authority from the Province of Pennsylvania, arrested, and their horses, cattle and other property taken from them to the amount of many hundred pounds, and their persons carried to Easton in said Province and there closely imprison'd and fetter'd with heavy iron fetters, in an inhuman manner, and fed with only bread and water till almost famish'd with hunger ; and, upon the most illegal and unfair pretended trial, convicted of a pretended riot for attempting to settle their own lands ; *
* and were also fined, and large sums extorted from them, which they were obliged to pay before they could procure their inlargement and discharge from said gaol."
The Assembly was in session for a week or more, but, apparently, it took no action with respect to either the memorial or the petition abovementioned. In the meantime Timothy Smith had had printed in proper form a petition to the Assembly, asking that action might be taken in regard to the jurisdiction, title, etc., of the Susquehanna Pur- chase. Numerous copies of this petition he distributed in various parts of Connecticut among the shareholders of The Susquehanna Company and their friends, to be signed by them and forwarded to the Assembly. He busied himself chiefly in this manner until June 2d, when he re- turned to Hartford to be present at the important meeting of The Sus- quehanna Company begun there on that day. He, Obadiah Gore, Jr., Capt. Zebulon Butler, Capt. Caleb Bates and others from Wyoming were present ; Maj. John Durkee was there from Norwich, while a large num- ber of the members of the Company from various other localities attended the meeting-which continued over two or three days.
* SETH MARVIN was born in Lyme, New London County, Connecticut, July 12, 1733, eldest child of Capt. Matthew and Mary (Beckwith) Marvin. Capt. Matthew Marvin (who kept a tavern in Lyme) was a son of "Deacon" Samuel Marvin, who was the fourth child of Lieut. Reinold and Sarah (Clark ) Marvin of Lyme. Both Capt. Matthew Marvin and his wife died of small-pox at Lyme on Christ- mas-day, 1760. Seth Marvin was Constable of the town of Lyme in 1759. He came to Wyoming in the Spring of 1772, but in the Autumn returned to Lyme. About March 1, 1773, he came again to Wyoming, bearing from Samuel Mather, Jr., of Lyme, to Capt. Zebulon Butler, a letter reading in part as follows : "Uncle Seth has served in ye character of Chief Judge [in the Court held by the Justices of the Peace of the town of Lyme] this winter to very good acceptance, & think you would do well to employ him that way among you." Seth Marvin continued in Wyoming Valley for a number of years, and his name is mentioned several times hereinafter.
+ The original is now "No. 27" in the collection of documents in the State Library at Hartford, as described in paragraph "(3)", page 29, Vol. I.
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Pearce, in referring to the condition of affairs at Wyoming in the year 1772, says ("Annals of Luzerne County," page 73): "During that year the people were so busily engaged in preparing to live that there was no time to think of a regular form of government. When difficul- ties arose in respect to land rights the dispute was decided by town com- mittees. Those were halcyon days, for there was order without law, and peace without the Constable-that was the Golden Age of Wyo- ming. Ferries and mills were provided for the people, and finally, as soon as practicable, * * provisions were made for the permanent support of the gospel and of schools. * At length, as the popula- tion increased and the interests of the community became in some degree conflicting, it was deemed necessary by The Susquehanna Com- pany, on the 2d day of June, 1773, at Hartford, to adopt a code of laws for the government of the settlement." This code-denominated by its framers "Articles of Agreement"-is recorded in full in the original minute-book of The Susquehanna Company, and reads as follows :
"WHEREAS, we the subscribers, inhabitants of Connecticut in New England, in America, already settled and about to settle on certain lands on the river Susquehanna in said Colony, by us and our associates some time since purchased of the original natives by and with the Consent of the said Colony of Connecticut ;
"AND WHEREAS, the same lands are claimed to be within the jurisdiction of the Province of Pennsylvania, and the Colony of Connecticut, choosing to proceed with caution and deliberation, have applied to counsel learned in the law, in Great Britain, for their advice therein, which at present the Colony have not received-by reason whereof we have as yet no established Civil Authority residing among us in said settlement ; in consequence of which deficiency disorders may arise tending to disturb the peace and Harmony of the settlers, as well as the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King-which to remedy we have this day come into the following heads of ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT WITH EACH OTHER :
"Firstly. We do solemnly profess and declare true and sincere allegiance to His Majesty, King George III, and that no foreign Prince, person, prelate, potentate or State hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power or authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within the realm of England.
"Secondly. We do solemnly promise and engage that we will, so far as lieth in our power, behave ourselves peaceably, Soberly and orderly toward each other in particular and the world in general. Carefully observing and obeying the laws of this Colony as binding and of force with us, equally and in all respects as though we actually resided within any of the Counties of this Colony.
"Thirdly. For the due enforcing of such laws, as well as such other orders and reg- ulations as shall from time to time be found to be necessary to be come into by said Set- tlers and Company, we will immediately, within each town already settled, and immedi- ately after the settlement of those that may be hereafter settled, choose three able and Judicious men among such settlers, to take upon them, under the general directions of the Company, the direction of the settlement of each such town, and the well ordering and governing the same ; to suppress vice of Every Kind, preserve the peace of God and the King therein. To whom each inhabitant shall pay such and the same Submission as is paid to the Civil authority in the several towns of this Colony. Such inhabitants shall also choose in each of their respective towns one person of trust to be their officer, who shall be vested with the same power and authority as a Constable by the laws of this Colony is, for preserving the peace and apprehending offenders of a Criminal or Civil nature.
"Fourthly. The Directors in each town shall, on the first Monday of each montli -and oftener if need be-with such their peace officers meet together, as well to consult for the good regulating thereof, as well to hear and decide any differences that may arise, and to inflict proper fines or other punishment on offenders according to the general laws and rules of this Colony-so far as the peculiar Situation and Circumstances of such town and plantation will admit of. And, as the reformnation of offenders is the principal object in view, always preferring Serious admonition and advice to them, and their making public Satisfaction by public acknowledgment of their fault, and doing such public service to the plantation as the Directors shall judge nieet, to fines in money or corporal punisli- ment-which, however, in extreme cases, such Directors shall inflict as said laws direct.
"Fifthly. The Directors of each individual town or plantation shall, once every quarter or three months, meet together to confer with each other on the state of each par- ticular town in the Settlement, and to come into suchi resolutions concerning them as they
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shall find for their best good ; and also to hear the complaints of any that may judge themselves aggrieved by the decisions of the Directors in the several towns, who shall have right to appeal to such quarterly meeting.
"Sixthly. No one convicted of sudden and violent breach of the peace, of swear- ing, drunkenness, stealing, gaming, fraud, idleness and the like, before the Directors of the particular town in which he lives, shall have liberty of appeal to such quarterly meet- ing from the sentence of such particular Directors, without first procuring good security (to the satisfaction of such Directors ) for his orderly and sober behaviour until such meet- ing, and for his submitting to and complying with the sentence of such meeting. No one, in matters of private property, shall have liberty of appeal from such particular Directors to such quarterly general meeting of Directors where the controversy is not more than twenty shillings.
"Seventhly. Such quarterly meeting of the Directors shall appoint an officer statedly to attend them as their Clerk, who shall carefully register their proceedings ; also an officer in the character of a General Peace Officer, or Sheriff, who shall also attend them, and to whom the inhabitants of the whole settlement shall submit, in the same manner as the inhabitants of any County within this Colony by law are obliged [to sub- mit ] to their respective High Sheriffs.
"Eighthly. All persons within such Settlement accused of the high-handed crimes of Adultery, Burglary and the like, shall be arraigned before such quarterly meet- ing, and, if convicted, shall be sentenced to banishment from such settlement and a con- fiscation of all their personal effects therein, to the use of the town where such offence is committed ; and should the still more heinous crime of Murder be committed-which God forbid-the offender shall be instantly arrested and delivered into the hands of the nearest Civil authority of Connecticut ; and should any person or persons be accused of Counterfeiting the bills or coins of any Province on this Continent, and be thereof con- victed before such quarterly meeting, the Colony whose bills thereof are thus counter- feited shall have liberty to take such offender and punish him. He shall be instantly banished the Settlement, and his personal effects confiscated as aforesaid. And all per- sons convicted or accused of any heinous crime in any Province on this Continent, and shall fly from Justice, the inhabitants shall-as well Directors, peace officers and others- aid and assist their pursuers in apprehending them, that they may be duly punished in the Government where they have offended.
"Ninthly. There shall be no appeal from the doings of such quarterly meeting, or their decrees, to The Susquehanna Company in general, save when the property of land is disputed ; in which case the appellant shall first secure the appellee his costs, if he make his appeal good before the Company.
"Tenthly. The Directors of each town shall make out and exhibit to their first quarterly meeting a list of the rateable estates and polls of the inhabitants of eachi town, and such quarterly meeting shall have power to assess the inhabitants for defraying pub- lic expenses, and also to enforce the assessments made in each particular town, if need be.
"Eleventhly. The inhabitants of each town, to wit : all the males of twenty-one years and upwards, and proprietors in one of the said towns, shall annually meet on the first Monday in December and choose Directors for said town, with their peace officer, and other officers that shall be found necessary for the ensuing year, and the Directors that may now be chosen shall have authority until new ones are chosen, and no longer.
"Twelfthly. The law regulating the Militia of the Colony shall be particularly at- tended to by the Directors of the respective towns, and the general regulation thereof, as the particular circumstances of the people require, shall be in the power of such general quarterly meeting.
"ALSO, WE DO SOLEMNLY DECLARE these and such other regulations as we shall hereafter come into, by and with the advice and consent of The Susquelianna Company in full meeting assembled, to be of force and binding on us and each of us, our heirs and assigns, until the Colony of Connecticut shall annex us to one of the counties of this Colony, or make us a distinct County, or we obtain from the said Colony, or from His Gracious Majesty King George III-whose true and loyal subjects we are-powers of Governnient in some more permanent method.
"AND IT IS FURTHER AGREED AND VOTED, That the Directors in each of the towns now settled, and that shall be settled, shall forthwith procure a copy of the foregoing Agreement, which shall be entered at large in a book [provided] for that purpose, and all the male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years shall personally subscribe the same with their own proper names or marks, and strictly abide by and fulfil the same ; and such inhabitants or settlers as are already conie in to settle, or shall hereafter appear to come in as settlers, as shall neglect or refuse to subscribe to and abide by tlie foregoing agreement, shall not continue there, nor be admitted as settlers on said land.
"Voted, That the following persons be, and they are hereby, appointed Directors in the several towns hereafter mentioned, [to serve] until the first Monday in December next, with the powers and authority according to the foregoing Agreement, to wit : Maj. JOHN DURKEE, Capt. ZEBULON BUTLER and OBADIAH GORE, JR., in the town of Wilks- bury ; PHINEAS NASH, Capt. DAVID MARVIN and JOSEPH GAYLORD in the town of Ply- mouth ; ISAAC TRIPP, Esq., TIMOTHY KEYES and GIDEON BALDWIN in the town of New
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Providence ; Capt. OBADIAH GORE, NATHAN DENISON and PARSHALL TERRY in the town of Kingstown ; Capt. LAZARUS STEWART, WILLIAM STEWART and JOHN FRANK- LIN in the town of Hanover ; Capt. CALEB BATES, JAMES BROWN and LEMUEL HARDING in the town of Pittstown."
Having adopted the foregoing code of laws, for the temporary gov- ernment of its settlements at Wyoming, The Susquehanna Company proceeded immediately to the transaction of considerable other business of importance. The original minutes, as transcribed by Samuel Gray, the Clerk, contain the following matters :
"Voted, That Major DURKEE, Capt. ZEBN BUTLER, OBADIAH GORE, JR., and NATHAN DENISON, or the major part of them that shall be present at Susquehanna, shall be a committee to direct the laying out of townships to such proprietors as shall apply for the same according to the votes of this Company ; and that those proprietors that have not settled and paid up the taxes due on their rights to the Clerk of this Company, shall satisfy the committee now appointed that they are proprietors, and shall pay all taxes due on said rights.
"Whereas, there is one particular Gentleman* of this Colony (a proprietor in the Susquehanna Purchase ) that has done Sundry Services for this Company, for which he has had no Compensation-In testimony of our gratitude to him we do hereby authorize ELIPHALET DYER, SAMUEL GRAY and JEDIDIAH ELDERKIN, Esqrs, a committee to give orders for locating and laying out to said gentleman a tract of land that will make a hand- some & convenient Settlement-in some place in said Purchase that shall not be any damage in laying out towns on said Purchase (to be in part of said gentleman's proprie- tor's rights)-not exceeding 500 acres.
"Whereas, there is a controversy between Abel Yarington, Ichabod Hopkins and William Hurlbut respecting a settling right in the township of Plymouth, which was on the 4th day of February last settled by the committee to said William Hurlbut. The parties appeared in this meeting and mutually agreed to submit the controversy to Maj. John Durkee, Capt. Benjamin Stevens and Mr. Noah Phelps, who undertook to hear the parties ; and under their hands [they] report, that they had determined said right in said Plymoutlı to said William Hurlbut, and the said Yarington and Hopkins to be other- wise provided for by this Company. It is now Voted, That the said William Hurlbut shall have said right in said township of Plymouth, on his continuing to do the duties due on said right according to the vote of this Company ; and that the said Yarington and Hopkins be further provided for by this Company.
"Voted, That Major Durkee, Captain Butler, Obadialı Gore, Jr., and Nathan Deni- son be a committee, with three more persons chosen by the settlers of the six townst (to be a joint-committee ), to regulate the settlement of said towns consistent with the former votes of this Company, and to redress those grievances that are agreed upon at this meeting, that are not particularly already provided with a committee.
"The following written report was submitted by a committee composed of Ebenezer Baldwin, Josiah Coles, Joseph Hurlbut, Gad Stanley and William Judd.
"'To the Gentlemen of The Susquehanna Company, in meeting convened :
"'We, your committee appointed to hear the complaints and grievances exhibited to this meeting and make report of the state of those grievances, beg leave to report : That we find that Stephen Rice has the legal and equitable title to the right in Plymouth that justly belonged to John Chase, who was killed at the retaking of the fort at Wyo- ming, &c., and that Captain Gore be made good by the Company elsewhere. We further find that Major Durkee, Messrs. Vine Elderkin, Ebenezer Gray, Jr., Andrew French and Capt. Ebenezer Backus have lost their rights-taken from thein-and we are of opinion that they be provided [for] by the Company and each be made equal to a right in the township of Kingstown-computing the same according to the present value thereof ; and that Capt. Zebulon Butler, Isaac Tripp, Esq., and Nathan Denison be, and they are hereby, appointed a Committee to determine the quantity of lands each of the above- named persons shall have as an equivalent to said right in Kingston.
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