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 34
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In May. 1676, George Denison was chosen by the General Court of Connecticut to be "Captain for New London County, and second to the Major [John Talcott], commander-in-chief of the army." Cap- tain Denison was a Deputy from Stonington to the General Court in1 1671, 1689, 1693 and 1694. It is said that he "had no equal in any of the Colonies for conducting a war against the Indians, excepting per- haps Maj. John Mason." He is further described as having been "the Myles Standish of the Stonington settlement." Miss Caulkins, in her "History of New London," says: "Our early history presents no character of bolder and more active spirit than Capt. George Denison ; he reminds us of the border-men of Scotland. In emergencies he was always in demand, and he was almost constantly placed in import- ant public positions."
Captain Denison's death occurred suddenly at Hartford, October 23, 1694, while he was in attendance at a session of the General Court. His widow died at Stonington September 26, 1712, aged ninety-seven years.
Capt. George and Anne (Borodel) Denison were the parents of three sons and four daughters, of whom George (born in 1653) was the fourth child. He was married to Mercy Gorham (born in )659), daughter of Capt. John Gorham and his wife Desire Howland, daughter of John Howland of the May- flower company of Pilgrims. George Denison, Jr., died December 27, 1711, and his wife Mercy died September 24, 1725. Their second child was Joseph Denison, who was born in 1683. He was married February 17, 1707, to Prudence (born in 1669), daughter of Dr. Joseph and Mary ( Avery) Minor. Joseph Minor (baptized at Hingham, Massachusetts, August 25. 1644) was the fifth child of Lieut. Thomas and Grace (Palmer ) Minor, who in 1645 removed to New London, Connecticut, front Hingham. and a few years later settled in Stonington. Joseph Minor was married to Mary Avery October 23. 1668 She died February 2, 1698. Joseph and Prudence (Minor) Denison lived and died in Stonington, the former dying February 18, 1725, and the latter May 26, 1726. Their fifth child was Nathan Dentison, who was born at Stonington February 20, 1716. He was married April 1, 1736, to Ann (born in 1711), daughter of Eleazar Cary, or Carey, of Windham, Connecticut-in which town the newly-wedded pair settled. May 26, 1758, Nathan Denison enlisted as a private in the 1st Company (Eleazar Fitch, Captain, and Elijah Simons, Captain-Lieutenant), 3d Connecticut Regiment (commanded by Col. Eleazar Fitch), mentioned in the eighth paragraph, page 481, Vol. I. Other members of this company, who subsequently became settlers at Wyoming, were Oliver Durkee and Ebenezer Heberd. Nathan Denison was with his company throughout the campaign of 1758. and was honorably discharged from the service Noveinber 30, 1758. (See " Connecticut Historical Society Collections." X : 54.)
Mrs Ann (Cary) Denison died at Windham May 16, 1776, and Nathan Denison was married March 15, 1778, to Hannah Fuller of Windham. She died prior to 1800, in which year Nathan Denison removed to Kingston, Wyoming Valley, to the home of his son, where he died March 10, 1803. Nathan and Anın (Cary) Denison were the parents of the following-named children (see public records at Willimantic, Connecticut-Book "A," page 170) : (i) Prudence, born February 11, 1737. (ii) Joseph, born November 2, 1738. (iii) Nathan, born September 17, 1740. (iv) Ann, born November 19, 1742 ; married to Solomon Huntington. (v) Eleazar, born December 24, 1744; married to Susanna Elderkin. (vi) Lydia. born April 27, 1747 ; married to Joshua Elderkin. (vii) Amos, born May 31, 1749 ; died September 19, 1753
(iii) NATHAN DENISON was, as previously mentioned. born in the town of Windham, where he made his home until his removal to Wyoming Valley. At Windham, December 5, 1768, Nathan Denison, Sr., purchased from John Webb a half-right in the Susquehanna Purchase. January 18, 1769, Mr. Denison conveyed this half-right to his son, Nathan Denison, Jr., and a few days later the latter set out from Windham for Wyoming as one of the "First Forty " settlers-as related on pages 472 and 473. Vol I. In every chapter of Wyoming history from that time until the death of Nathan Denison, Jr., his name appears. In other words, the history of his life after the age of twenty-nine years is, in a large measure, a logical and chronological record of Wyoming events. Necessarily, therefore, his name is frequently mentioned in these pages in connection with interesting and important happenings. Hence an extended sketch of his life is deemed unnecessary here. In the present writer's " History of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M.," published in 1897, it is stated (on page 497) that Col. Nathan Denison (Jr.) "did not come here intil the
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Spring of 1772." What the writer meant to state was that Colonel Denison did not come to Wyoming to stay until the Spring of 1772. This is correct. He was here in 1769, for a while in 1770, and again in January, 1771 (at the time Nathan Ogden was killed), after which he returned to Connecticut and re- mained there until the Spring of 1772.
When the lands of the "Forty "-later Kingston-Township were allotted in 1770, Nathan Denison received his share and began to make some improvements thereon. Some two years later he took up his residence on his Kingston lands and continued to reside there until his death-excepting that in 1786 and '87, and probably other years about that period, he spent considerable time in clearing up and im- proving lands which he owned in Springfield Township (now Wyalusing Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania). On the western bank of Abraham's Creek-which flowed through a part of his land in Kingston Township-Colonel Denison erected in 1790 a commodious and substantial dwelling-house, in which he spent his remaining years and which is still standing. Originally it was painted red. but in 1857 it was repainted white. In later years various improvements were made to the building. It is now, and for some years has been, occupied by Mrs. Sarah Reilay, a granddaughter of Colonel Denison. The house is shown near the right side of the picture facing page 786. It may also be dimly seen through the trees at the left side of the upper picture on page 53, Vol. I. In the assessment lists of Kingston Township for the years 1799, 1800, 1801, and other years, the name and occupation of Colonel Denison appear-uncouthly but unmistakably stated by the Assessor-" Nathan Denison ; Distillery and Juge." At a first glance the last word is taken to be "jugs," especially when one considers that jugs are the usual accompaniment of a distillery. At a second glance, however, it is apparent that, in the orthog- raphy of the Kingston Assessor, "juge " stood for "judge." As for the appearance of the word " dis- tillery " opposite Colonel Denison's name, it may be stated that in Wyoming Valley in the early part of the nineteenth century nearly every well-to-do farmer maintained upon his premises a distillery, by the aid of which his surplus grain and certain other farm products were transmuted into whisky.
Colonel Denison represented Westmoreland (Wyoming) in the General Assembly of Connecticut at the following-mentioned sessions : October, 1776, May and October, 1778, January and May, 1779, and October, 1780. From October, 1776, until June, 1783, he was Judge of Nathan Denijon Juge the Court of Probate for the dis- trict of Westmoreland, by ap- pointment of the General Assembly of Connecticut. I11 1787, '88 and '89 he was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, and in January, (Facsimile of Signature written in January, 1783.) 1791, he was recommended to Gov- ernor Mifflin by Colonel Pickering and others for appointment to the office of County Lieutenant of Luzerne County, to succeed Zebulon Butler. August 17, 1791, upon the reorganization of the Courts of Luzerne County under the new Constitution of the State, Colonel Denison was appointed and commis- sioned one of the four Associate Judges of those Courts. This office he held until his death. Stone, in referring to Colonel Denison ("History of Wyoming," page 227) says : "He was a gentleman of highly respectable talents. * * He was regarded by all who served with or knew him as a brave and faithful officer. After the close of the war he held various important civil appointments under the authority of Pennsylvania, and died at a very advanced age-as eminent for his sweet and unaffected piety as he had ever been for his patriotism-honored, loved and wept by all." Miner says (" History of Wyoming," Appendix, page 18) : "Judge Denison, though cheerful in the social circle, never laughed and seldom smiled. His looks were grave, but pleasing-not sad, but externally sedate. Such was the character of all his deportment. His judgment was sound, as his heart was pure; but there was nothing showy about him-no attempt at effect-but all reposed in him, because his integrity was undoubted, while his good sense and intelligence inspired unlimited confidence " As an evidence of the confidence in which he was held by his fellow-citizens it may be stated that in December, 1779, he presided as Moderator at the Westmoreland town-meeting held at Wilkes-Barre, at which time he was chosen Treasurer, one of the Selectmen and one of the School Committee of the town. He was already a Member of the Con- necticut Assembly, a Justice of the Peace, and Judge of the Probate Court of Westmoreland. In 1839 a new township was erected out of Hanover Township, Luzerne County, and was named for Colonel Denison.
Nathan Denison was married at Wilkes-Barré in November, 1772, to Elizabeth (born at Lyme. Con- necticut, November 22. 1750), eldest child of Jabez and Elizabeth ( Noyes) Sill. (See a sketch of the Sill family hereinafter.) Miner says (" History of Wyoming," page 140) : "The first marriage in Wyoming was that of Mr. Nathan, afterwards Colonel, Denison, and Miss Sill. The Rev. Jacob Johnson was the officiating minister, and the place where the knot was tied, and the nuptials celebrated, was a house * * at the lower corner of River Street, of the Wilkesbarre town-plot." This was the house of Jabez Sill, mentioned on page 729, ante. Colonel Denison died at his home in Kingston Township January 25, 1809, and his wife died there April 27, 1812. Their remains have lain in the old cemetery at Forty Fort for many years now-their resting place being marked by the tall shaft shown in the lower picture facing this page.
Col. Nathan and Elizabeth (Sill) Denison were the parents of the following-named children : (i) Lazarus, born in 1773; died March 15, 1841. See hereinafter. (ii) Elizabeth, born March 7, 1777 ; married May 28, 1800, to Elijah Shoemaker, as mentioned on page 468, Vol. I ; died in 1831. (iii) Mary, born January 2, 1779; married November 25, 1802, to Thomas Patterson (see next page); died June 10, 1858. (iv) Anna, born February 22, 1783 ; married to Daniel Turner of Kingston, Luzerne County, Penn- sylvania, and had one child (George Denison Turner), born December 27, 1809, and died at Hope, New Jersey, April 21. 1897. Mrs. Anna (Denison) Turner died June 4, 1823. (v) John, born June 20, 1787, mar- ried to Laura Fellows, and settled in Licking County, Ohio; died July 27, 1840. (vi) George, born Feb- ruary 22, 1790; died August 20, 1831. See next page. (vii) Sarah, born in 1794; married (Ist) to Thomas Ferrier ; married (2d) to Stephen Abbott, as mentioned on page 723, ante ; died in 1883.
(i) Lazarus Denison was born in Kingston Township, near Forty Fort, in 1773. Charles Miner, in a letter printed in the Republican Farmer and Democratic Journal of May 5, 1841, wrote : "Col. Lazarus Denison, if not the first white male child born in Wyoming, was certainly among the number. Upon this point there may be some diversity of opinion, but such was the statement of Mrs. Phoebe Young, one of the earliest settlers of the Valley, whose memory retained with astonishing accuracy almost every incident connected with its stirring history." Except when driven from Wyoming by the Indians and the British in 1778, and a few years later by the Pennamites, Lazarus Denison spent all his life- for the greater part of it engaged in agricultural pursuits-in Kingston Township. In 1810 and 1811 he held, by appointment of Governor Snyder, the offices of Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds in and for Luzerne County. Prior to 1828 he held the rank of Colonel in the Pennsylvania Militia. Sunday, February 14, 1802, he was married at Kingston to Elizabeth (born in 1777), daughter of Benjamin Carpen- ter of Kingston, but formerly of Orange County, New York. Colonel Denison died at his home in Kings- ton January 24, 1841, and his wife died there in1 1870. Lazarus and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Denison were the parents of the following-named children: (1) Hiram, born in 1803; was at one time a Colonel in the Pennsylvania Militia ; died in Kingston August 27, 1868. (2) Mary, born in 1804; married November 6. 1832, to Chauncey A. Reynolds of Plymouth, Luzerne County (born December 31, 1803 ; died November 23, 1868); died in February, 1863. (3) Wayman Dwight, born April 21, 1806 ; died December 3, 1828. (4) Nathan, born in 1808; died in 1831. (5) Benjamin Carpenter, born in 1810; died in 1854. (6) Elizabeth Sill, born in 1812; married in 1848-as his second wife-to Judge William Hancock of
RESIDENCE OF THE LATE HON, CHARLES D. SHOEMAKER, FORTY FORT. (See note on page 469, Vol. I.) From a photograph taken in May, 1902,
OLD FORTY FORT CHURCH AND CEMETERY, The tall monument in the middle-distance marks the grave of Col. Nathan Denison. From a photograph taken in May, 1902.
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Kingston Township (born December 18, 1799; died January 7, 1859); died in 1855. (7) Sarah, born March 13, 1814; married to Gilbert Reilay of Troy, New York (born in 1812; died in 1879). (8) Chartes, born January 23, 1818 ; died June 27, 1867.
(iii) Mary Denison, second daughter of Col. Nathan and Elizabeth (Sill) Denison, was born in Kings- ton Township January 2, 1779, and was married November 25, 1802, to Thomas Patterson. He was born July 7, 1775, in the Parish of Leck, county of Donegal, Ireland, the son of Ezekiel and Elizabeth (Smitey) Patterson and the grandson of Archibald and Martha ( Colbert) Patterson. Having taken part under the leadership of Theobald Wolfe Tone, in the "Rising of '98," fomented and managed by the "Society of United Irishmen" (an organization which had been formed about 1780 to assist Henry Grattan-the great Irish patriot and orator-in the carrying of his reforms, and which was got up and officered almost ex- clusively by Protestants-many of them young men of rank and influence), Thomas Patterson was forced to flee in disguise from Ireland and seek safety in the United States. He was accompanied by his brother Robert.
About the year 1800 Thomas Patterson located in Wyoming Valley. Later he acquired a tract of land in the township of Huntington, near the present village of Harveyville, and there he settled with his family-engaging in agricultural operations in the Summer-time and teaching school during the Winter seasons. For a number of years-probably ten, at least-he taught in the old Plymouth Academy. Colonel Wright, in his "Historical Sketches of Plymouth," says of Mr. Patterson : "He possessed a very good education ; in all the English branches he was very proficient He had much energy of character, and was a man of strict integrity and honor. * * * I attended his school when he com- menced teaching in Plymouth. This was not far from 1817. He was then a man of near fifty, stout, broad-shouldered, and nearly six feet in height. He had a well-developed head, prominent features, a keen blue eye, heavy bushy eyebrows, and, when his countenance was lighted up, he exhibited evidence of great intellectual power." Thomas Patterson died at his home near Harveyville April 29, 1844, and his wife died there June 10, 1858. Thomas and Mary ( Denison ) Patterson were the parents of the follow- ing-named children-all of whom were, undoubtedly, born in Huntington Township. (i) Nathan Patter- son, born September 5, 1803 ; married February 10, 1828, to Susan Letchworth ; died May 18, 1882, at Sum- mit Hill, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, where, and at Mauch Chunk, he had been engaged in business for many years. (ii) Thomas Patterson, born February 15, 1806; married February 12, 1833, to Ann M., daughter of Joseph E. Haff (of Lehman Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania), and settled at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania; died in Huntington Township, Pennsylvania, August 18, 1874. (iii) Eliza- beth Denison Patterson, born March 17, 1803; married January 27, 1831, to Derrick Aten Bowman ; died November 28, 1843. (iv) Ezekiel Montgomery Patterson, born May 6, 1810; married November 20, 1855, to Henrietta Deeth ; lived for the greater part of his life in New Brunswick, New Jersey, of which city he was elected Mayor in May, 1860. He was a inan of wealth and influence. He died at New Brunswick February 8, 1891. (v) Mary Ann Patterson, born January 22, 1812; married January 17, 1841, to John D. Thompson, M. D. (who died at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, August 19, 1854). (vi) Robert Sill Patterson, born May 22, 1816; married September 27, 1857, to Minerva Trescott; died in Huntington Township March 28, 1871. (vii) Satty Patterson, born June 27, 1819; married September 22, 1847, to Richard Sharpe (born at Langham, Rutlandshire, England, April 10, 1813; died at Wilkes-Barre April 21, 1895), for many years a prominent and successful business man in Carbon County, and then in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Sally ( Patterson ) Sharpe died June 14, 1905, at Princeton, New Jersey, where she was temporarily residing-her home being in Wilkes-Barre. (viii) John Denison Patterson, born December 23, 1821 ; married (Ist) February 11, 1852, to Margaret Riley (who died June 30, 1853); married (2d) September 29, 1855, to Margaret Shotwell. John D. Patterson died June 6, 1903, at Easton, Pennsyl- vania, where for many years he had been prominently and successfully engaged in business.
(vi) George Denison, youngest son of Col. Nathan and Elizabeth (Sill) Denison, was born in Kingston Township February 22, 1790. He received his education in the primary schools near his home, and in the
Wilkes-Barré Academy, where he was a student in 1808 The Season and '09. In 1810 and 'll he was a clerk under his brother in the offices of Recorder of Deeds and Register of Wills of Luzerne County, and January 30, 1812, he was himself appointed by Governor Snyder to those offices for a term of three years. Having pursued, meanwhile, the re- quired course of legal studies, he was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County April 7, 1813. From 1811 to 1814 (Facsimile of signature written in June, 1823.) he was Clerk of the Town Council of the borough of Wilkes-Barré, and subsequently, for many years, a mem- ber of the Council-serving as President in 1823 and 1824. In 1815 and again in 1816 he was elected one of the two Representatives from Luzerne County to the State Legislature. In 1818 he was elected to represent in the XVIth Congress of the United States the district comprising Luzerne County. He entered upon his duties December 6, 1819, being the first resident of Luzerne County to sit in the National House of Representatives. In 1820 he was elected to serve a second term iu Congress. During his first term he took a very prominent part in the debates on the admission of Missouri to Statehood-urging, with much force and eloquence, that slavery should be prohibited in the new State. Upon his retirement from Congress in March, 1823, Mr. Denison returned to the practise of his profession at Wilkes-Barre, and in the following January was appointed Deputy Attorney General for Luzerne County. In 1827 he was again elected as one of the Representatives from Luzerne County to the State Legislature, and in that office he was continued, by successive re-elections, until his death. From May, 1829, until May, 1830, he was Burgess of the borough of Wilkes-Barre. November 9, 1814, he became a member of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M., and was Master of the Lodge in 1818 and 1819.
George Denison was married at Wilkes-Barre May 30, 1816, by the Rev. Samuel Phinney to Caroline (born in 1798), daughter of Ebenezer and Esther Ann ( Watson) Bowman of Wilkes-Barré. (See a sub- sequent chapter for a sketch of the Bowman family.) George Denison died at Wilkes-Barre August 20, 1831, and his wife died here July 1, 1833. ( For a more extended sketch of the life and services of George Denison see the present writer's "History of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M.," published at Wilkes-Barre in 1897.) George and Caroline (Bowman) Denison were the parents of three sons and one daughter, of whom the following-named grew to maturity : Mary W. Denison (who died at Wilkes-Barre August 19, 1842, aged eighteen years); George B. Denison (born about 1820 and died March 12, 1843, while in his third year as a theological student at the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary of Virginia, near Alex- andria) and Henry Mandeville Denison. The latter was born July 29, 1822, in Kingston Township, where his parents were then temporarily living. He was graduated A. B. at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn- sylvania, in 1840, and the next year entered the Virginia Theological Seminary mentioned above. Here he was graduated in July, 1844, and shortly afterwards was ordained deacon by Bishop Mead. In 1845 he was temporarily in charge of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Greenville, and then at Pendleton, South Carolina. Thence he removed to Prince George County, Virginia ; then to Bruton Parish, Will- iamsburg, Virginia, and afterwards to Brooklyn, New York, where he served as assistant minister to the Rev. Dr. Stone for about a year. In 1853 he resided again in Williamsburg, occupied with an agency of the Virginia Bible Society. In the latter part of 1853, or early in 1854, he became rector of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church at Louisville, Kentucky ; and during his incumbency there he was instru- mental in founding St. Andrew's Church in that city. About March, 1857, he accepted the rectorship of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church at Charleston, South Carolina, and removed thither.
As a bold, uncompromising preacher of the gospel, Henry M. Denison occupied a prominent position in the Protestant Episcopal Church. There was a dashing manliness about him which made men, and men of the world, listen to him. He was a man of superior intellectual ability, well-trained, accustomed
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for the County of Litchfield until the first day of June," 1774, and directed that they be commissioned accordingly. The following resolu- tion was then passed :
" Resolved by this Assembly, That Zebulon Butler, Justice of the Peace for the County of Litchfield, be, and is hereby, authorized and directed to issue a Warrant as soon as may be to notify the inhabitants of the TOWN OF WESTMORELAND in said County to meet at such Time and place as he may appoint within said Town, to choose Town Officers and to do any other Business proper to be done at such meeting."
The town of Westmoreland, as erected by the Connecticut As- sembly-in the manner just described-comprised the whole of the territory which had been purchased from the Indians by The Delaware Company (see page 293, Vol. I), but only a small part of that which had been purchased by The Susquehanna Company. This extensive and unique town* was by all odds the biggest town, territorially, pos- sessed by any Province or Colony on the Continent. Its bounds are clearly shown on the map facing this page-the eastern boundary being the Delaware River, the western boundary being indicated by the line ooooooo, running north and south fifteen miles west of Wilkes-Barré, and the northern and southern boundaries being the forty- second and forty-first parallels of latitude, respectively. Within these bounds were situated the settlements of Parkbury, or Lackaway, t
to read and accustomed to hard thinking. The man was not lost in the clergyman. Intrepid, self-re- liant, with no opinion which he desired to conceal, he "dared to do all that might become a man ;" and, as years were added to him, this native independence of character seemed to be modified and made more gentle by the lessons of experience.
Henry M. Denison was married in Charles City County, Virginia, July 16, 1850, to Alice, daughter of the Hon. John Tyler, tenth President of the United States, and his first wife, Letitia Christian. Mrs. Denison died at Louisville, Kentucky, June 8, 1854, and Mr. Denison-" not deserting, in a time of fearful pestilence, the flock entrusted to his charge "-died of yellow fever at Charleston September 28, 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Denison were the parents of one daughter, who, at the time of her father's death, was some four or five years of age.
(8) Charles Denison, youngest child of Col. Lazarus and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Denison, was born in Kingston Township January 23, 1818. He was graduated A. B. at Dickinson College, Carlisle. Pennsyl- vania, in 1839, and then entered upon the study of law at Wilkes-Barre, where he was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County August 13, 1840. In October, 1862, he was elected, as a Democrat, to represent in the XXXVIIIth Congress the district comprising the counties of Luzerne and Susquehanna. He was re-elected in 1864 and again in 1866. He became a member of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M., January 30, 1855, and a member of Shekinah Royal Arch Chapter, No. 182, April 19, 1856. He was married May 7, 1845, to Ellen Elizabeth Huling of Lewistown, Pennsylvania Mr. Denison died at his home on West Union Street, Wilkes-Barre, June 27, 1867, and his wife died in Wilkes-Barre June 20, 1882. They were the parents of one son and three daughters who grew to maturity. Upon the formal announcement in the Halls of Congress, July 10, 1867, of the death of Mr. Denison, eulogies on the deceased were delivered in the House by Representatives Randall, Miller, Getz and Van Trump, and in the Senate by Senators Charles R. Buckalew and Simon Cameron.
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