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 III > Part 99
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jacket, faced and trimmed with scarlet; white waistcoat and blue pantaloons, edged with scarlet; black stock and high crowned hat, with bear skin on same."
The plan further called for a fine of fifty cents for any member "appearing intoxicated upon parade," with ignominous expulsion for the second offense.
That in 1800, the Wyoming Blues were recognized as a unit of the state militia, is evidenced from the following notice, the original being among the "Butler Papers":
MILITIA ELECTION.
"Notice is given to the Volunteer Company called the Wyoming Blues, attached to the Second Battalion in the 35th Regiment, commanded by Lieut. Col. Ransom, that an election for a Captain, Lieutenant and Ensign will be held at the house of Lawrence Myers, Esq'r, in the township of Kingston, on Thursday, the 19th day of June, inst. 1800, between the hours of 10 in the forenoon and six in the afternoon, where those concerned are requested to attend, to elect by ballot, the said officers.
"WILLIAM ROSS, "Brigade Inspector of the Second Brigade, composed of the Militia of the Counties of Northumberland, Lycoming and Luzerne.
"Wilkes-Barre, June 10th, 1800."
Following the meeting the roster was signed by the following members:
Zeb. Butler, John J. Ward,
Isaac A. Chapman,
Jacob Kiethline,
George Chahoon,
Godfrey Perry,
Isaac Bowman,
Jesse Crissman,
W. M. Robison, Andrew Vogle,
Luman Gilbert,
Francis Rainow,
Samuel Brown,
Conrad Rummage,
Nehemiab Waters, Benjamin Perry,
Calvin Edwards,
George Espie.
James S. Lee,
John Hannis,
Edwin Tracy,
Daniel Downing,
James Wright, .
James Foster
Josiah Bennet.
John L. Burgel,
Lyra Landon,
Hugh H. Anderson
Elijay Adams, Joseph Shafer,
Jacob .
Nutton,
Charles Miner,
George Hendler,
Minutes of the meeting indicate that the following additional business was transacted and rules for the discipline of the company adopted :*
"Resolved that no member shall have leave to withdraw unless by consent of the com- pany unless urgency requires it sooner than the company can meet, and in such case he shall have leave of the officers. Passed.
"Resolved that the uniform of the company shall be as it has formerly been, except the coat, which shall be a short skirt coat or a coatee, and those who have an uniform at this time may wear their present coats. Passed.
"Resolved that we will be uniformed at or before the next general review. Passed. "The uniform shall be,
"1, A crowned brimmed black hat-black bear skin, with a white and red lap.
"2, Deep blue coatee, faced and trimmed with red.
"3, White or buff vest.
"4, Deep blue pantaloons circled with red.
"5, Either boots or black shoe and black gaiters. Passed."
Fragmentary records, in the Butler collection, disclose that Isaac Bowman was elected captain of the Blues in 1808, with Charles Miner lieutenant. Fol- lowing this election a collation was served on the Bowman lawn. In fact, judging from the records, the idea of "collations" seems to have been given as much regard as more military functions of the organization and invariably accompanied elections, when the new commanding officer acted as host to the entire command. In spite of these convivial meetings; or, possibly because of them, the Wyoming Blues became noted at home and abroad as one of the "crack" military bodies of the State, and their services on drill and parade were in much demand.
While the perusal of census figures, assessors' returns and voting lists of a community, may seem at any time a matter of dull routine, they serve, at a period of the opening of the nineteenth century, to throw considerable light upon the affairs of Wyoming. The first general census of the United States was taken in 1790. It was listed merely by counties and shows neither the population
*Where names are partially given or words omitted, the condition of the documents, which were in possession of George H. Butler , Esq., until his death and later came into possession of the Wyoming Historical and Geological So- ciety, does not admit of decipherment.
THE ROSS MILL AT SOLOMON'S FALLS, HANOVER TOWNSHIP. Built by General William Ross in 1826.
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of lesser municipalities, nor furnishes statistical data with reference to them. Seth Duncan, Jr., "assistant to the Marshal of Pennsylvania," was the sole census taker for the wilderness empire of Luzerne, and the final report of his efforts was not made until April 20, 1791. The headings of this census return specified that the County of Luzerne contained 1236 "free white males over 16;" 1331 "free white males under 16"; 2313 "free white females of all ages"; "all other persons" 13, and "slaves" 11; a total of 4,904, including slaves.
As the matter of slave owning in early Luzerne may be of more than pas- sing interest, it can be added that at the time of the first census, three of these slaves belonged to John Hollenback, two each to William Houck and James Westbrook, and one each to Stephen Hopkins, Adam Man, Guy Maxwell and Jonathan Newman.
Between the decennial government census reports, other sources of in- formation must be sought in order to gain further figures of interest.
In "Pennsylvania Archives", 2d series XVIII: 489, is recorded that the taxable inhabitants of Luzerne County numbered 1409, in the year 1793 and · had grown to 2,395, in 1800. Figures for Wilkes-Barré are given for the township, not for the village, and it must be held in mind that Wilkes-Barré Township then, and for many years thereafter, included a portion of Plains, Covington and Bear Creek Townships and extended from the Susquehanna to the Lehigh River. Eagle's "History of Pennsylvania", 329, is authority for the statement that the taxable inhabitants in the whole of Wilkes-Barré Township, in the year 1796, numbered only 122 and that assessors for that year returned 112 head of horses and 301 head of cattle, as the total number of domestic animals. The total valuation of property in the township, according to the same authority, was $71,390. The census figures for 1800, quoted by Eagle, accredited the county of Luzerne with a population of 12,839 .* This figure has been generally followed by later historians. However, in a volume entitled "A Geographical Description of Pennsylvania", by Joseph Scott, and printed by Robert Cochran at Philadelphia, in 1806, purporting to be an authorized report of the 1800 census, Luzerne is accredited with a population of 18,813 free inhabitants and 13 slaves. The population, according to the Scott account, was distributed in townships of or adjacent to the Wyoming Valley, as follows:
TOWNSHIP
FREE
SLAVES
Wilkes-Barre
832
3
Kingston
789
0
Nescopec
415
0
Exeter
787
0
Newport
401
0
Nicholson
668
2
Pittston
565
2
Plymouth
745
1
Hanover
612
2
Huntington
721
1
Measured by its voting strength, the whole of Luzerne County returned 978 votes for James Ross, Federalist, and 259 votes for Thomas McKeen, Demo- crat, the opposing candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania, at the general elec- tions of 1802.
The Scott volume accredits the county with thirty-three saw-mills, twenty- four grist-mills, two fulling-mills and one oil-mill. Wilkes-Barré, in 1800, is de- scribed as having "fifty houses, a court house and jail."
*In the W'ilkes-Barre Gazette of September 9, 1800, appeared the following: "Capt. Eleazer Blackman is deputed to take the enumeration of the inhabitants of the county of Luzerne, agreeable to the late act of Congress. He will commence the business this week."
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Other writers of the period mentioned concur in the statement of the small number of houses then in the county seat. Other districts of the county had grown much more rapidly than the village, no matter what census figures are taken into consideration. Farming and lumbering were the occupations then bringing in the tide of new residents. Aside from limited opportunities in commerce and still more limited calls for professional men, Wilkes-Barré offered but little, at that period, by way of attraction to additional settlers.
For those interested in where these houses were situated and who occupied them in the years 1802-1806, a sketch of Wilkes-Barré, written from memory by James A. Gordon and published in the Record of the Times, December 23, 1873, may prove entertaining:
"At the lower end of River Street stood the residence of Rosewell Welles. It was a double house, ceiled with pine boards, and I believe was never finished in the second story. Nearly in front of Judge Welles' stood the residence of Jabez Fish, on the bank of the river.
"Mrs. Fish kept a school for juveniles. I was one of her pupils for a short time. The il- lustrated New England Primer was our text-book. It embraced the Shorter Catechism and we were all required to commit it to memory.
"A short distance above Judge Welles' stood the old red house built, in 1794, by James A. Gordon a New York carpenter, and occupied from 1802 to 1811 or 12 by Andrew Vogel, hatter .. Turning up we come to the residence of Joseph Backenstow, a fashionable tailor from Sunbury. The next, the hotel of John P. Arndt, and a store-house adjoining. Mr. Arndt was an enterprising German from Easton, and was largely engaged in the salt and plaster trade. The next were the buildings of Lord Butler, the small one the first residence of George Griffin, Esq., after his marriage with Lydia Butler. On the corner of North Street was the residence and store of Lord Butler, and directly in front the Old Ferry landing.
"Passing North Street we come to the residence of Arnold Colt, Esq., and his father-in- law Abel Yarington. Arnold Colt was a Justice of the Peace, and somewhat of a humorist withal. The next house above Colt's was that of Geo. Chahoon. He was a house carpenter from Sunbury and for many years was the leading builder in Wilkes-Barre and the surrounding township. He removed to the mouth of Hunlock's Creek, where he died some 32 years ago. He was a man of much enterprise and energy of character. Crossing West Market Street on the corner where now stands the banking house of Walter Sterling, was the residence of Rozet and Doyle.
"Doyle was at Irishman. Rozet had a daughter, Janet, who had red hair. Janet and I went to school to Asher Miner in the old school-house on the East side of the Public Square. "Rozet and Doyle gave place to the Sinton's in 1803-04. The next building above was the printing office of the Luserne Federalist, published by Chas. Miner. Next was the residence of Peleg Tracy, and further on was the residence and pottery of Wm. Russell. His wares had not a very high reputation. On one occasion he sent his apprentice, Joseph Landon, with a canoe load to Pittstou. He reached Monockay Island in good order, but unfortunately was there over- taken by a sudden shower of rain, and his wares were dissolved.
"Unloading his vessel of the clay he returned home and reported. Russell gave him a severe chastisement because he did not fetch back the clay, so that it might be worked over again.
"At the corner of Union and Water Streets stood the old Johnson house, at this time the residence of Charles Miner; and just above, at the Western base of the redoubt, stood the slab and board cabin of Molly McGalpin. She was an Irish woman, and had two sons, Dan and George, who enlisted in the 16th Regiment under Cromwell Pearce, and served with credit during the war of 1812. Here ends the geography of River Street. There were as you see, but twenty residences, offices and stores from one end to the other, and that number constituted one half of the whole town .. There were but 3 of these houses painted-Gordon's, at the lower end, and Arndt's, partly painted red or brown, and Lord Butler's, white, with a front yard fence also painted white."
The narrative was continued in a subsequent edition of the same paper as follows:
"My previous number left us at the corner of Main and Union streets. From Union, on the east side of Main, was a house and cooper shop occupied by Oliver Helme; afterwards by the widow and family of William Wright. Next below was the residence and blacksmith shop of Benjamin Drake, and afterwards occupied by Isaac Bowman after he left Bowman's Hill.
"On the opposite side were 2 log houses owned by Solomou Johnson, and occupied by Mrs. Marble, the town baker, and Benj. Hillman, a stone mason. This Solomon Johnson was an ec- centric character. I think if he had lived now he would be called a Spiritualist. He was said to be a learned man. He had periodical trances and visions of coming events, which he gave to the world thro the Luserne Federalist. He also published some 'Commentaries' upon the Bible. Between his lot and the Public Square was a frame two story building on the site of Judge Bennett's present residence, owned by Stephen Tuttle.
"These were all the houses at that time on Main Street above the Public Square. * On the North West corner of the Square was a large red house occupied by Thomas Duane as a tavern and store. He removed to Pittston in 1805. Upon the opposite corner, in 1804, was the residence and office of Geo. Griffin.
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"On the North West corner on Market Street, [where Mac Williams' Store is now situated was a long, one-story frame house then occupied by John Ebbert as a dwelling and watchmaker shop. There were no other dwellings that I remember on the Square at that time [1805].
"Passing around the corner we come to the residence of Joseph Wright, Esq., [on West Market Street] a good frame building, two stories high, with a small office on the corner. Eb- enezer Bowman about this time purchased this house and removed from Bowman's Hill, where he had before resided. *
* The next dwelling house [on West Market Street] towards the * river was a house owned by Thomas Sambourne. It was built by J. A. Gordon, and at that time regarded as the best specimen of tasteful architecture in the town. It was never painted.
"Francis McShane afterwards became the owner. In 1802 a part of the building was oc- cupied by Asher and Charles Miner as a printing office. The building was afterwards occupied by John Hancock as a hotel; the printing office being used for Post Office and bar-room for several years after. Across Franklin Street, towards the river, was the residence of Parthenia Gordon, or as she was generally called 'the widow Gordon.'
liner, and sometimes sold cakes and beer. * *
She was tailoress, mantua-maker and mil-
* She was the second daughter of Cornelius Atherton, of Capouse, and the sister of Jabez Atherton who was slain in the Indian massacre, and the widow of James A. Gordon, the New York carpenter.
"In 1804 there were no buildings on the South side of W. Market Street from the River to the Public Square, and along the same to Main, and down Main to the old 'Wyoming' Hotel. "On East Market Street, on the South side, was the old stone jail, and the residence of Enoch Ogden, a shoemaker, and William A. George, the Court Crier and high Constable."
The population of Wilkes-Barré, with its "fifty houses", mentioned in the census return of 1800, could not have been more than three hundred at the threshold of the nineteenth century.
Col. William L. Stone, an editor and author of New York, visited Wilkes- Barré in 1839. What he said of its isolation then, applied equally to its early community life and accounts in some measure for its slow growth:
"Wyoming is mentioned in almost every book of American history written since the Rev- olution, as the scene of the massacre; but for the most part that is the only occurrence spoken of-the only fact that has been rescued from the rich mine of its historic lore. The reader of poetry has probably dreamed of Wyoming as an Elysian field, among the groves of which the fair Gertrude was wont to stray while listening to the music of the birds and gathering wild flowers; and the superficial reader of everything has regarded it as a place existing somewhere, in which the Indians once tomahawked a number of people.
"The 'Happy Valley,' to which the illustrious author of Rasselas introduces his reader in the opening of that charming fiction, was not much more secluded from the world than is the valley of Wyoming. Situated in the interior of the country, remote from the great thorough- fares of travel, either for business or in the idle chase of pleasure, and walled on every hand by mountains lofty and wild, and over which long and rugged roads must be traveled to reach it, Wyoming is rarely visited, except from stern necessity. And yet the imagination of Johnson has not pictured so lovely a spot in the vale of Amhara as Wyoming."
Perhaps it was understood then just as it was again recognized, in 1906, by those responsible for the Centennial celebration of the incorporation of Wilkes- Barré, as a borough, that the recreations, the intellectual development, the commercial advancement and the civic progress of the community depended upon the initiative, the resources and the effort of its own citizens, rather than upon any noteworthy advantages not possessed by other inland communities of Pennsylvania.
Certainly it is not the number of houses, nor the extent of population accredited any community, which have made it stand forth among its fellows. The spirit and ambitions of those who dwell within these homes must be considered.
Most of the residents of these same "fifty houses" had been accustomed to better things than Wilkes-Barré opened to them, in 1800. A place of worship had always been a first thought of the better established communities of Con- necticut and Pennsylvania from which they came. Public libraries had not been uncommon, especially in New England, nor had schools and academies been overlooked. A well appointed court house had been a civic center in county seats. It is small wonder, therefore, that the yearnings of those who had re- solved upon the Susquehanna settlement as their permanent place of abode,
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should have begun to be manifest in town meetings, or expressed in the scarty columns of two newspapers, which the community then boasted.
No semblance of the public utilities of the present day were then in the dreams of Wilkes-Barré's foremost citizens. Homemade tallow candles, or rude lamps burning whale oil, were sparingly used in homes. Even the "town pump," which was later to quench the thirst of residents who had occasion to pass through the Public Square, had not been set up. Streets, along which these houses straggled, were of river loam, the plastic muddiness of which, at certain seasons, was invariably to be a matter of comment. A few private schools, usually con- ducted in a room of some private establishment, were dependent upon subscrip- tion lists for an uncertain existence. Had it not been for the spirit of its residents, which refused to be held in check by the mountain barriers about them, Wilkes- Barré would indeed, have faced a hopeless, pitiable future.
Judge Hollenback and John P. Arndt, as has been noted, were among those upon whom the mantle of progress of an earlier day had descended.
Younger men, also, of the community, were catching inspirations from these pioneers who were following the courses of rivers and seeking passes through mountains, in the enlargement of commerce. Their talk was of a meeting house, suitable to the religious needs of the settlement.
Agitation as to a new court house was in the air. The challenge of a turn- pike to Easton was beginning to beckon those who had surplus funds for invest- ment. Nor was it uncommon to find, in mention of the times, that a central academy for the education of its youth, and a form of government which was to separate the settlement itself from the wilderness township about it, were among topics of discussion when the new century was ushered in.
First in point of agitation, as it was first in point of consideration, on the part of many of the community, was the beginning of the "Meeting House on the Square," or, as it was later almost universally known, "Old Ship Zion."*
In Connecticut, all persons by law were obliged to contribute to the support of the church as well as to the state itself. All rates respecting the sup- port of ministers or any eccelesiastical affairs, were to be made and collected in the same manner as rates for the respective towns.
In Pennsylvania, the line of cleavage between church and state was defi- nitely fixed, hence the proposed church structure at Wilkes-Barré must neces- sarily depend upon voluntary subscriptions or other private means of fund raising for its erection.
Under spur of the impulsive voice and restless activities of Rev. Jacob John- son, in 1791, as has been noted in a previous Chapter, public sentiment crystalized into the first step toward a new edifice. On April 1st, of that year, it was voted :
"That there be a committee of five appointed to point out the spot of ground on which a meeting house shall be built, and to draw up a subscription for the purpose of raising money to assist the above purpose; also they are to prepare a plan of the building which they are to lay before the proprietors at their next meeting, also to report generally ou the subject." "Voted that Zebulon Butler, Nathan Waller, Daniel Gore, Timothy Pickering and John P. Schott be a committee for the above purpose. Test, Arnold Colt, clerk."
At an adjourned meeting of the proprietors of the town of Wilkes-Barré, April 23, 1791, Zebulon Butler, Moderator, the committee appointed at the last meeting reported:
"That in point of situation and convenience it is their opinion that opposite the court house on the northwest side of Main Street is the most eligible place that a meeting house can be
*The earliest that the name "Old Ship Zion" was applied to the "Old Meeting House on the Square," at least in public prints, was in the Record of the Times, May 16, 1855, when the title was used in describing a circus which had appeared in Wilkes-Barre the day hefore,
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erected on. They further report a plan of building which they judge should be sixty feet in length and forty-five feet wide, with a steeple at one end and proportionahle high. Also that it stand at least three rods from the street." Voted; "That the above report he approved of." Voted; "That the same committee he continued for the purpose of raising money by subscription for the building of said meeting house and that they be empowered to call a meeting of the proprietors when they shall think necessary to make a report of the encouragement they receive at a future meeting."
The encouragement the committee met in their task seems to have been of a stimulating nature, for, at a meeting held on Tuesday, the 13th day of November, 1792, Matthias Hollenback, Moderator, "The committee appointed to report on the mode of building a meeting house now report in favor of a brick meeting house, which report is accepted; and the committee is directed to contract for sufficient number of brick to build said meeting house to be delivered at a suitable time next summer."
The committee found, however, that the brick were not to be had, and so reported to a meeting of August 3rd, of the next year; although the minutes of the same meeting record the leasing of the brick yard belonging to the town. Not being able to secure brick, the committee was directed to "proceed immed- iately to contract for building a stone meeting house, and that said committee be paid for their services." The subscribers to the fund were ordered to be noti- fied to pay "one-half the amount of their subscriptions to Lord Butler, the treasurer, by the first day of November next."
At a meeting January 10, 1795, the committee was directed“ to proceed and contract for a frame and siding-boards, shingles, nails, etc., for to build a frame meeting house early next spring." A little later it was deemed advisable to take an account of money on hand and subscribed, and, if found sufficient, to proceed with the work, otherwise "to defer it for another year."
Whether it was because of financial inability to proceed, or because of doctrinal differences between those of different denominations, or from what appears to the present writer to have been a much less likely reason for delay, namely, the uncertainties of land titles of the period, as suggested in a paper by Mr. Sheldon Reynolds, read before the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, published in Vol. IV, page 45, of the "Proceedings" of that body, that a hiatus of four years wa's to follow before action was secured, is not apparent from documents at hand.
In 1797, Rev. Jacob Johnson passed tohisreward. A moral issue wasatstake, however, and in the absence of any ordained minister in the settlement, various contributions and editorials, especially in the Luzerne Federalist, kept the agi- tation alive.
In March of 1799, a well attended town meeting appointed William Ross, David Richards and Eleazer Blackman, "a committee to pick up the loose threads of former efforts." These gentlemen appear to have ironed out many of the difficulties which confronted their predecessors in office and we find the following notice printed in the Wilkes-Barre Gasette, in November of that year:
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