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 39
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(3) Harris Jenkins, second son of Col. John and Bethiah (Harris) Jenkins, was born in Exeter Township. During his long life he was a farmer, school-teacher, clerk and merchaut. In 1820 and "21, and other years about that period, he was an innkeeper in Kingston Township. From December, 1845, to December, 1848, he was Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds for Luzerne County, and for a num- ber of years at that period was a Justice of the Peace. Prior to 1821 he was a Colonel in the Pennsyl- vania Militia. August 2, 1819, Colonel Jenkins became a member of Lodge No. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkes- Barré. He was Senior Warden of the Lodge in 1822 and Master in 1825. He was married January 5, 1808, to Mary Booth (born February 14, 1790), and they became the parents of eight children. Colonel Jenkins died at Pittston, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1850.
Lot Brees, who, as previously noted, becaine the husband of (7) Falla Jenkins, was born January 8, 1788, the son of Capt. Samuel Brees mentioned below. He was by occupation a farmer, and was also at one time a Justice of the Peace, and for a while a Captain in the Pennsylvania Militia. He died at the borough of Wyoming May 1, 1868, and his wife died there November 23, 1877. They were the parents of eleven children, as follows : Steuben, Freeman (married to Margaret Ann Sharps), Sarah Maria (mar- ried to William Sharps), Elizabeth (married to Peter Sharps), Lydia (born April 19, 1820; married Octo- ber 4, 1840, to Albert, son of William and Christiana ( Winter) Polen), Catharine Bethiah (married to John Sharps), Esther (married, as his first wife, to Jacob Sharps Hice), Ruth Ann (married to James H. Melick), James, John, and Murray (married to Mary Courtright). Margaret An11, Willian, Peter and John Sharps, mentioned above, were sister and brothers.
(8) James Jenkins, youngest child of Col. John and Bethiah (Harris) Jenkins, spent his whole life in and near the present borough of Wyoming, in Kingston Township, where he was a successful farmer, merchant, innkeeper, etc. He was married July 2, 1815, to Elizabeth (born March 27, 1793), daughter of Capt. Samuel Brees (originally of Basking Ridge, Somerset County, New Jersey), and his wife Hannah (born March 15, 1760 ; died at Wyoming April 9, 1817). Captain Brees (born April 17, 1758 ; died at Wyo- ming July 21, 1837) was a son of John and Dorothy ( Riggs) Brees, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and in 1815 and other years was an innkeeper at New Troy, now the borough of Wyoming. James Je11-
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stances Before ye General Assembly In may Next and also to Prefer a Petition or me- morial to the Genrl Assembly for the Purposes mentioned in the above vote and sequre the same as agents in behalf of this Town and fully to act thereon before sd assembly.
"voted-that this town Does Now appoint the selectman to set out ye several Districts to Each surveyor of Highways, and that ye several Highways allready Laid out or shall be Laid out in ye several Destricts In this town shall be Legal Rodes for ye sur- veyors to work on.
"voted -- that each Pound allready Built in ye several Destricts shall be known to be Lawfull pounds for ye town, and if any Destrict be yet Destitute of any Pound that such Destrict may agree at their own cost to build pounds for themselves & at such places as they shall think best, & that said Pounds so built shall be Lawfull Pounds.
"voted-that Capt. obadiah Gore & obadiah Gore Junr are appointed raters and Branders of Horses* for ye year Ensuing.
"voted-that for ye Present ye tree that Now stands Notherly from Capt Butlers House shall be ye town sign post. t
" voted-that ye Hogs are allowed to go at Large on ye Commons."
kins died at Wyoming August 8, 1873, his wife having died there October 22, 1871. They were the parents of nine children, of whom the third was Steuben Jenkins (mentioned on page 28, Vol. I), who was born at the old Jenkins homestead, on the site of Fort Wintermute, September 28, 1819. He was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County August 3, 1847. In 1856 and again in 1857 he was elected one of the Repre- sentatives from Luzerne County to the State Legislature, and from 1863 to 1870 he was Clerk and Solicitor to the Board of Commissioners of Luzerne County. He was well known for many years as an earnest and careful investigator and student of all that related to the early history of Wyoming Valley, and upon many occasions he delivered addresses aud published monographs on subjects connected with that his- tory. (For a fuller account of his life see Kulp's " Families of the Wyoming Valley," I:55, and Johnson's "Historical Record," IV: 9, 14.) Steuben Jenkins was married February 24, 1816, to Catharine M. (born July 27, 1822), daughter of John and Jerusha (Johnstone) Brees, and a descendant of John Brees of Somerset County, New Jersey, previously mentioned Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins became the parents of one son and three daughters. Steuben Jenkins died at Wyoming May 29, 1890, and his wife died there July 18, 1905.
* Inasmuch as horses, cattle, sheep and swine were allowed to run at large, or to graze on the com- mon lands belonging to a town or settlement, at the period of which we write, the owners of such ani- mals were required by law to have their horses branded and their other stock either branded or ear- marked, in such a way that they could be easily identified. The statute law of Connecticut governing branding was as follows : " Each town in this Colony shall have a Town Brand to brand their horses with-every of which brands shall be set respectively on every horse and horse-kind on their near or left shoulder. And the inhabitants of each town shall choose a suitable number of persons (not exceed- ing six) to be branders of horses in such town; and each brander shall be under oath, and shall make a record of all horses by him branded, with the age and color, natural and artificial marks; and also all sales and exchanges made of any horse-which shall be presented to him-he shall enter, * * with the names of buyer and seller and place of residence. * *
Any person having a horse above two years old shall cause one of the branders of the town in which he lives to brand such horse with the town brand, and enter the inarks, etc .; on penalty of forfeiting the sum of forty shillings for every such horse that he shall neglect. * * If he shall sell, give or exchange any such horse he shall have them entered and recorded on penalty of thirty shillings." The fee for branding and recording each horse was six pence; and for recording a sale, three pence. The following were the brands in use in some of the Con- necticut towns in 1774 and 1775 : Hartford. "A " ; Lyme, "Q"; New London, "L"; Windham, "& " ; Litchfield, "9" ; Danbury, "II " ; New Haven, "H " ; Norwich, "N".
It was further provided by law (in 1772): "Whoever shall steal any horse in this Colony and be con- victed, shall pay to the owner of the horse three times the value thereof, and a fine to the Colony of £10 ; and be further punished by being publicly whipped on the naked body, not exceeding fifteen stripes; and be confined in the Work House, or House of Correction, not exceeding three months- there to be kept at hard labor, and be further whipped on the first Monday of each month, not exceeding ten stripes each time." The statute law of Connecticut relating to ear-marks was as follows : " All owners of any cattle, sheep or swine shall ear-mark or brand the same that are above one-half year old; and they shall cause their several marks to be registered in the town book. And all cattle, sheep and swine that shall be found unmarked and not branded, as aforesaid, the owners shall forfeit two shillings per head."
The following are descriptions of some of the ear-marks found registered in the West- moreland records. Jonathan Prichard's, en- tered May 31, 1775, " a slit in the end of the right ear"; Nicholas Manvil's, entered June 9, 1775, " a halfpenny on the upper side of the left ear, and a slit in the end of the right ear"; William Comstock's, entered October 21, 1774, "a smooth crop of ye right ear, and a half- penny ye under side of each ear "; Job Tripp, 2d, entered April 2, 1776-" his ear-mark a smooth crop of ye left ear, and a halfpenny ye fore side of each ear"; Asaph Whittle- sey's, entered April 28, 1774, "a smooth crop of ye left ear, and a halfpenny ye under side of ye same ear"; William Reynolds', entered April 28, 1774, "a swallow's tail in the left ear, and a half-crop on ye right ear "; Samuel Ransom's, entered April 28, 1774, "a half- penny the under side of the right ear and the upper side of the same, and the upper side of the left ear"; John Franklin's, en- tered May 16, 1774, "a swallow's tail on ye left ear"; Philip Goss', entered November 26, 1774, "a half crop ye under side of ye right ear."
(From an Old Print.)
t " This matter of the legal sign-post," says Miner (" History of Wyoming," page 157), "is of weightier import than, without explanation, might be imagined. Newspapers in those days were little known save in the larger cities. It had therefore been enacted that a sign-post be established in each town,
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From about the middle of March until the latter part of May or early in June, 1774, Maj. John Durkee was at Wilkes-Barré, and on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, for the first time after his release from his long and tedious imprisonment at Philadelphia (see page 741), and was engaged with Capt. Zebulon Butler, Capt. Stephen Fuller, Obadiah Gore, Jr., Nathan Denison and Seth Marvin (composing the Committee of Settlers) in disposing of "rights" in the Susquehanna Purchase, and in approving the surveying and laying out of tracts of land to various proprietors in The Susquehanna Company. April 23d the Committee approved the laying out of a township on Fishing Creek surveyed to Cornelius Hull, Daniel Andrus, Ebenezer Banks and others.
As the time (May 12, 1774) approached for the convening at Hart- ford of the General Assembly of Connecticut in its regular semi-annual session*, Capt. Zebulon Butler, and probably also Timothy Smith and John Jenkins-who, with Christopher Avery, had been "appointed Agents for the town of Westmoreland" (see page 805) to appear before the General Assembly-repaired to Hartford. Christopher Avery did not go, but under the date of May 18th wrote from Westmoreland to Captain Butler that he had "been advised by the leaders of the people here not to attend this Court -- they being of the mind now that this town will not be allowed the privilege of their Deputies sitting in the Court." This surmise was correct, for Westmoreland was not rep- resented by any of its agents in the May session of the Assembly, al- though Zebulon Butler, at least, was on the ground. The party of malcontents who had held their convention at Middletown met with very little countenance from the people in general; by inany they were made a subject of banter and ridicule. They presented their memorial to the Assembly, but it was received with only slight consideration. At the same time The Susquehanna Company camne forward with a pe- tition praying the Assembly to quit-claim to thiem the right and title of the Colony to the western lands. Among various resolutions passed by the Assembly was one providing "that a petition be presented to His
on which notices of public meetings, public sales, stray animals taken up, etc., should be nailed or placed, to render them legal. It is proper to add, that as an accompaniment of the sign-post, which was also the legal whipping-post, a pair of stocks was provided for a punishment of the guilty, and a warning to deter froni crime. These (now abjured) monuments of civilization and law were derived from England, and were brought over-nay, almost venerated, by our Puritan fathers. The ancient pillory and wooden horse first disappeared ; the whipping-post and stocks soon followed "
The sign-post, in Connecticut, took the place of the town-crier, who, with his bell or speaking-trumpet. flourished in some of the other American Colonies as well as in England at that period. In 1774 the Con- necticut statute law relative to sign-posts (they were sometimes referred to as "Public Posts ") and stocks read as follows : "Near the center of every town there shall be a sign-post set up at the town's charge, and maintained in sufficient repair-on a penalty of ten shillings per month for neglect; at which sign- posts proclamations, notices of strays, sales of houses and lands, and advertisements of such like occa- sions, shall be set up. * * * Every town shall make and maintain a good pair of stocks, with a lock and key, sufficient to hold and secure such offenders as shall be sentenced to he set therein."
'The tree selected by the inhabitants of Westmoreland for their town sign-post, as noted in the fore- going minutes, was a large white elm, which stood on the River Common nearly opposite the termina- tion of Northampton Street.
From the Westmoreland records we learn that in the Spring of 1774 it was voted " That ye Indian apple-tree, so-called, at Capouse, shall he ye town sign-post for ye town of New Providence." Hollister. writing in 1857 relative to this tree, stated (in his " History of Lackawanna Valley," page 191) : "This apple-tree, venerable in its broad branches, as if arrayed in the foliage of its youth, planted more than 150 years ago, yet blooms and bears its fruit by the roadside, between Providence anid Scranton, a few hundred feet above the ancient village of Capouse." About the same time that the aforementioned sign-posts were designated a venerable elin, which stood near the east corner of the present Main and Elm Streets in the borough of Plymouth, was designated as the sign-post for the " Plymouth District." This old tree stood until some twenty-five years ago, when it was cut down.
* The law of Connecticut relative to its Legislature was, at that period, as follows: "There shall be yearly two General Courts, or Assemblies, held-one at Hartford, on the second Thursday in May, and the other at New Haven on the second Thursday in October-unless it be upon occasions of epidemical sickness, diseases, or the like. And the first shall be called a Court of Election, wherein shall be chosen from time to time, yearly, one Governor, one Deputy Governor and twelve Assistants, with a Treasurer and Secretary for the Colony. And the said General Courts shall consist of the Governor, or Deputy Governor, and six Assistants, at least, with those of the Deputies, or Representatives, from the several towns in the Colony that shall be present. * * The freemen of every town shall have liberty to send one or two Deputies to every session." (See, also, page 248, Vol. I, concerning the Assembly.)
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Majesty, praying that commissioners may be appointed to settle the bounds between the contending Colonies." The Assembly also ap- pointed Zebulon Butler, Nathan Denison and Silas Park to be Justices of the Peace in and for the county of Litchfield for the ensuing year.
In The Connecticut Courant of May 31, 1774, a few days after the adjournment of the Assembly, the following item appeared :
"PROGRESS OF THE STATE RACE .- On the 12th of May the two famous horses ' Charter ' and ' Westmoreland ' appeared in Hartford near the sign of the Golden Ball, in order to run the State race. There was nothing wanting to qualify 'Westmoreland ' for this race. The jockies and grooms that attended him had been vastly assiduous, and no pains spared to give him the advantage in the start, for which purpose he was pro- vided with a light, airy, subtle rider. 'Charter' appeared in good spirits, but not well fixed. A misunderstanding had happened among those who had been appointed to at- tend him; he was badly shod, and it is said was not so much as trimmed and curried until the very morning. * *
* Lest 'Charter ' should be entirely run out of breath, his friends gave over the race and paid their losings, upon the promise from the friends of ' Westmoreland ' ( who by this time had become very numerous) that the race should be completed at Newmarket, in Old England."
In the same issue of the Courant the following burlesque adver- tisement was printed :
" This is to notify all persons indebted to me for the service of my horse 'Charter '- either for races, journeyings or for colts-to make speedy payments, as it is expected he will soon be sent for to Old England to complete the race with ' Westmoreland,' and through infirmity of body and ill usage it is thought he will never return.
[Signed] "CHARLES STEADY."
May 24, 1774, at or near the close of the session of the Assembly, The Susquehanna Company met at Hartford agreeably to adjournment. Col. Elizur Talcott was Moderator and Samuel Gray was Clerk of the meeting, and a considerable amount of business was disposed of, part of which was as follows :
" V'oted, That Benjamin Stevens, Josiah Cowles, Benjamin Yale, Jonathan Root, Aaron Cleveland, William Judd, Gad Stanley and Joseph Sluman be a committee to hear and consider sundry complaints and matters of grievance now preferred to this meeting. [This committee reported, relative to] ' the grievances of Thomas McClure, * * that his settling right at Kingston, No. 36, &c., was voted to James Forsythe in June, 1773, that Thomas McClure be restored to the above settling right in Kingston, and quieted in possession thereof ; and that James Forsythe be quieted in the suffering right in the township six miles square at Muncy Creek-as we find his name enrolled among the sufferers in that township, which enrollment was made in lieu of the above right after it was voted to the abovenamed McClure.' The foregoing report is accepted by this meeting and ordered to be recorded, and the parties to be concluded thereby.
"'It appears that - Slocum accepted a right in Providence in lieu of a right in Pittstown, in behalf of Mr. Updike, and ought to be content therewith. It appears to us that Mr. Elijah Shoemaker has had meet recompense in one of the suffering towns, for the rights he lost at Kingston, or 'Forty.' We are of opinion that the right Robert Frazier has had and disposed of in Wilkesbarry, is a sufficient compensation of all that he has done for the Company. John Stevens and son have been duly provided for by the Committee of Settlers at Westmoreland-the father having had a right in Wilkesbarry and the son in Providence. As to the complaint of Mr. Ebenezer Newton-we appre- hend that, by the votes of The Susquehanna Company, by his own neglect he has justly forfeited all further favor from the Company. [As to] the petition of James Bidlack, now lying before this meeting, wherein he prays to be restored to the right that was originally Jeremiah Ross', or to his original right in Plymouth, your committee are of the opinion that the said Ross be quieted in the possession of his said rights agreeably to the votes of this Company on the 2d day of June last ; and as to the said Bidlack being restored to his original right in Plymouth that he made over to Uriah Marvin, we are of opinion that it is out of our province to consider, as said Marvin was not notified of said petition.' The foregoing report of the committee was accepted by the Company and ordered to be recorded, and the parties to be concluded thereby.
"On the memorial of William Whiting, Esq., and proprietors of the town of War- wick on the East Branch of the Susquehanna River, showing to this meeting that they liad pitched upon a tract of land on the southierly side of said river, at a place called Nescopeck Falls *- said survey about two and a-half miles wide from said river to the
* See page 776, relative to surveys made in the locality of Nescopeck Creek in 1773 by Pennsylvania land-claimants.
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mountains, and ten miles long, surveyed to Zachariah Lothrop November 8, 1773, and containing the quantity of twenty-five iniles square-and praying that the said survey of said town may be accepted and approved of by this Company as thoughi the same had been laid out five miles square according to the votes of said Company. This meeting, having duly examined and enquired into the quality of the land lying southerly of the said survey two and a-half miles from the river-which appearing front the evidence to be mountainous and unfit for cultivation-do thereupon accept and approve of the survey made by the said Lothrop of said town of Warwick, as though the same had been laid out five miles square.
" I'oted, That all those pitches of land at Susquehanna without [i. e., outside] the limits of any town, that has already been made, shall not be good nor valid nor of any influence without the grant and approbation of this Company.
" Whereas, Ebenezer Watson, Printer at Hartford, in his paper of the 5th of April, 1774*, published false and Scandalous accounts of and concerning The Susquehanna Company, without any just foundation therefor; and, being called upon to disclose his author, refuseth to do it. Voted, That the Standing Committee of this Company be, and they are hereby, authorized and fully empowered, to pursue such measures against said Watson as they shall judge necessary for the credit of the Company.
" Voted, That Zebulon Butler, Esq., and Mr. John Jenkins be, and they are hereby, appointed a committee, at the expense of this Company, to look out the best place for a road from the East Branch in the most convenient place to the town on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, and to cut a horse road in such convenient place as soon as may be; and the expense to be paid out of the monies in the hands of Captain Butler and the other [members of the] Committee of Settlers at Westmoreland."
The Company then adjourned, not to meet again-so far as its records disclose-until November 13, 1782.
At a town-meeting, "legally warned," held at Wilkes-Barré, "in Westmoreland, June ye 27th, 1774, it was Voted by this town of West- moreland that they will now form themselves into companies in ye military way for ye defence of this country, agreeable to ye laws of ye Colony"-one company to be organized in each district of Westmore- land. A committee was then appointed to draw up articles for the in- habitants of each district to sign, agreeing to come "under regulations in ye military discipline." Further, it was agreed that meetings should be held early in the next month in the Wilkes-Barré, Hanover, Pitts- ton, Exeter, Kingston and Plymouth districts for the choice of military officers; and Capt. Zebulon Butler, Maj. Ezekiel Peirce and John Jenkins, Esq., were appointed a committee "to repair to the several dis- tricts and lead each company to a choice of officers, etc."
Westmoreland was rapidly advancing to a place in line with the older towns of Connecticut. The condition of affairs in the new town, in respect of population, the administering of justice by lawfully-con- stituted courts, and the executing of local and general laws by a host of town officers, was fairly satisfactory. But, in order to make the community in some measure self-sustaining, it was deemed desirable that more land should be cleared up and cultivated, and that a greater variety of industries should be carried on by the people. To accomplish those ends it was evident that a large increase in the number of working inhabitants would have to be brought about. Whereupon plans were set on foot to attract immigrants to Westmoreland from various sections of the country.
In May, 1774, by authority of The Susquehanna Company's officials, the township of Wooster was laid out along the Susquehanna, in what is now Bradford County, and settlements were begun in it by Lemuel Fitch, Simon Spalding, Anthony Rummerfield, and others. About the same time another township-originally called Washington, but later named Springfield-lying within the present limits of Brad-
* See page 802, ante.
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ford County, was granted to James Wells, Robert Carr, Jeremiah Ross, and others. In August, 1774, Capt. Harris Colt, agent and surveyor for Maj. Daniel Ely, Samuel Ely, Esq., Ebenezer Tiffany, Elisha Ely, Capt. Joseph Arnold, and others, residents of New London County, Connecticut, and shareholders in The Susquehanna Company, surveyed and laid out a township containing twenty-five square miles of land. It was located westerly of the month of Shickshinny Creek and "near Fishing Creek," and comprehended a large part of the present town- ship of Huntington. This township was named "Haveril," and the survey was approved at Westmoreland August 17, 1774, by the com- mittee to order and direct the laying out of towns, "as not interfering on any formner survey." About that time considerable property in the original "settling" towns (see page 515, Vol. I) changed hands, many of the early settlers disposing of all, or parts of, their rights in those town- ships and moving into the newer townships. Many of the conveyances then executed were dated at "Wilkes Barre, alias Westmoreland, county of Litchfield and Colony of Connecticut."
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