Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 107

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318

USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania > Part 107

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REV. L. W. CHURCH was born in Afton, Chemung County, N. Y., in 1843, and was graduated at Auburn Seminary in 1873. He preached in Herkimer and Oneida Counties seven years, and at New Leba- non, Columbia County, four years. He has been pas-

tor of Hallstead Presbyterian Church since Decem- ber 1, 1883.

GREAT BEND BAPTIST CHURCH.1-The Great Bend Baptist Church is situated in the borough of Hallstead, the church as yet retaining the old name. The church building stands quite near the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, and within a mile of the " Old Erie." The first Baptist preaching in Great Beud of which we find record was by Peter P. Roots, a mis- sionary from Massachusetts, who preached at "Ran- dolph Settlement," N. Y., and then at the Bend, Lord's day, 24th March, 1807. Another missionary, Benja- min Baldwin, from Danbury (Conn.) Association, la- bored Lord's Day, 20th December, 1807, at the Bend and Randolph. Davis Dimock, of Montrose, preached here occasionally and baptized some converts. On his first visit into Pennsylvania, under date of Sunday, September 4, 1825, Jesse B. Worden wrote : "Preached at Great Bend to a full and attentive assembly, twice in the day-time and once in the evening. There is some prospect of a church being gathered here." On the 25th of October, 1825, a council recognized twelve baptized believers as the Great Bend Baptist Church. These twelve constituent members were the following : Daniel Lyon and his wife, Anna B. (Smith) Lyon; Daniel Trowbridge, Charles Hatch, Stephen Keech, William Keech, Esther Newman, Betsey Newman, Tamerson Keech, Joanna Keech, Abigail (Hayt) Di- mon and Anice Dimon. They were immediately joined by John Holmes and Elizabeth, his wife, Han- nah Hatch, Roxana Dimon, and Hannah Duncan by letter; and not long after by Sarah Johnson, Eunice Smith, Mrs. Sewell Corbett and Jonathan D. Newman by baptism. The new body, with the above twenty- one members, united with the Bridgewater Association in the year 1826. The new organization held its meetings at the house of Charles Dimon -- the pres- ent Fred. Carl house; Deacon Lyon's, where Mr. Munson, the cartman, now lives; Roosa's, on Dutch Hill; and Stoddard s, on Locust Hill. The meeting- house was built on land given by Deacon Lyon, and was dedicated August 22, 1832, at a meeting of the Bridgewater Association. The church, thus auspi- ciously started, had fair success for several years, reaching the highest mark, in point of numbers, in 1848, when it reported a membership of eighty. From this point of highest success the church steadily and swiftly declined. No report was made to the Association for eleven years between 1848 and 1859. Forty-two members were reported in 1859, but the last record in the old church-book was November 4, 1859. In 1860 the church was "dropped" from the Asso- ciational list. The building was sold, and for twelve years used for school purposes.

This sad failure had its causes, of which we may with certainty meution the following : First, a debt upon the church building; secondly, the fact that the

1 From facts furnished by Rev. M. J. Watkins.

HALLSTEAD.

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members belonged to two distinct and rival commu- nities ; and thirdly, the failure to support a regular ministry. That the first cause was operative is con- fessed by Elder Worden in these words, which close his account of the dedication of the meeting-house: "Unfortunately a debt was allowed to remain upon it year after year." Besides, there was a new church or- ganized across the river, which may be assigned as a second cause; and Elder Worden's words given below reveal the third cause: "The church has rarely en- joyed the full labors of a pastor, most of her preachers having more than one field to till, or compelled to en- gage in some secular calling to gain a livelihood."

Pastors and Supplies .- The first resident minister was Elder Frederick, who served the church from 1827 to 1830. Elder Frederick was a native of Mont- gomery County, N. Y. ; a graduate of the seminary at Hamilton, N. Y., class of 1828, and was ordained at Great Bend March 1, 1827. During the first year of his ministry here he baptized thirty converts.

He also began "Baptist efforts" in Binghamton, and, as the result of a revival, a church of thirty-two members was recognized in May, 1829. He became their first pastor and helped to erect their first house in 1831. Henry Curtis was pastor during 1831-32, and Thomas Thayer during 1833. Jason Corwin, a member of the first class, graduated from Hamilton Seminary, became the fourth pastor in 1834. During his too brief stay he baptized twenty-five converts. He opened a school for males, and among his pupils were at least four who became Baptist ministers, Davis D. and Harvey H. Gray being of the number. Under his ministry the church reported a flourishing Sunday-school. He, too, labored at Binghamton, was blessed with a revival and became the second pastor of that church. During the year 1835 Davis D. Gray and Isaac B. Lake served as supplies; Geo. W. Sco- field in 1836 ; Geo. G. Longstreet during 1839-40; Almon Virgil in 1846; D. T. Lockwood, 1849; J. B. Kimber, 1853-54; G. A. Hogeboom, 1855-57. From 1829 to 1858 John Holmes (as supposed, of the Oba- diah Holmes family) was relied upon to fill all vacan- cies in the pulpit. In 1844 Elder John Holmes, assisted by Elder A. L. Post, baptized twenty-four. In 1853 Elder Kimber, assisted by Elder Nathan Callender, baptized seventy-five.

Deacons, Daniel Lyon, John Holmes, Robert M. Holmes, Harvey Hall and David Roosa. Clerks, Charles Hatch, Thos. Williams, R. M. Holmes, J. Bishop Holmes, Geo. W. Gray and David Stoddard.

A dozen years of spiritual torpor for Baptists fol- lowed the final dissolution of the first organization. These years covered the era of the greatest temporal prosperity of the region. Early in 1872 Edward Ashton came from New York State to Great Bend for business purposes. He soon, however, gathered the scattered Baptists and resumed worship. He proved to the school directors that their title to the meeting- house was imperfect and had it restored to its owners.

On August 4, 1872, the following eleven Baptists organized the Great Bend Baptist Church: A. W. Millard, Rob't Moscript, Henry H. Millard, David Stoddard, Edward Ashton, Fidelia A. Guernsey, Lovina Roosa, Phebe Moscript, Deborah Ann Millard, Lizzie Ashton, Louisa Shaw. At a meeting held September 20th Rev. E. Ashton was called to be pastor of the new organization; A. W. Millard and Rob't Moscript, deacons; and H. H. Millard, clerk. On Sep- tember 28th a council convened and recognized the above eleven members as the Great Bend Baptist Church. With the aid of the General Association of Pennsylvania the work advanced until the sudden death of the pastor, June 30, 1873. Elder Thomas Simpkins supplied preaching while pastor of the Liberty Church in 1874, and became resident pastor and labored about one year. A number were received into the church by baptism, and the building was thoroughly repaired at an outlay of seven hundred dollars. In May, 1875, Elder E. Burroughs began his pastorate of Liberty and Great Bend Churches and labored for one year. During his term of service a great revival occurred, in which the pastor was assisted by Rev. J. S. Johnson, an evangelist, and forty-four were received into the church by baptism, ten by experience, and quite a number joined the Presbyterian Church. J. W. Taylor, for some years a minister of the Christian denomination, was ordained as a Baptist minister and pastor of Great Bend Church June, 1877, and resigned the following spring-the hand of fellowship being withdrawn from him for cause. The pulpit was supplied by Elders Tilden, Tower, Brown and Morris until in September, 1880, when Elder W. C. Tilden, now of Forest Lake Church, was called to be pastor, and faithfully served the church until 1882, and was followed by Elder D. C. Haynes, of Binghamton, N. Y., as a supply. The inte- rior of the church was repaired and Rev. L. C. Davies, of North Wales, Pa., preached nearly one year to both the Great Bend and Susquehanna Churches, for which the Ladies' Aid Society provided one hundred and sixty-four dollars of the needed funds.

Elder M. J. Watkins, the present pastor, began October 1, 1883, and has already the largest pastorate in the sixty-two years of the church's history. The money raised for all purposes for the year ending October 1, 1886, is $654.10. The membership re- ported is sixty-nine. The church has purchased a lot, and a "parsonage" will soon be finished at a short distance from the meeting-house. Present deacons, A. W. Millard, Rob't Moscript, J. R. Millard, August Marx; clerk, A. S. Cahoon ; trustees, A. W. Millard, E. D. Burton, A. S. Cahoon, W. B. Simpson, Sam'l Loomis; treasurer, E. R. Mason. The church has for many years sustained an active and flourishing Sunday-school.

Zion Baptist Church of Great Bend .- A church of twenty-one members, organized on the north side of the Susquehanna River, was recognized April, 1859,

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

as the Zion Baptist Church of Great Bend. Dr. Elijah Pratt acted as moderator of the organization and E. S. Funnell, clerk. They organized permanently by electing as deacons Elijah Pratt, M. D., David Roosa and Chauncey Davis; and as clerk, Wm. A. Green. Their last church record bears date Novem- ber 6, 1859, two days later than that of the old church across the river. A number of the members of Zion Baptist Church are at present members of the reor- ganized Great Bend Baptist Church.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP.

ORIGINALLY this township was embraced in Har- mony; but in 1853 it was made a separate township by an act of the Court of Susquehanna County. New York State lies on the north, Harmony and Susque- hanna River on the east, Jackson on the south, and New Milford and Great Bend on the west. From north to south it is about six and one-half miles in ex- tent, and from east to west about an average of three and one-half miles. Its surface is exceedingly broken and hilly, the Ouaquagua Mountains occupying so large a part as to leave but very little level land north of the Susquehanna River, which bisects the township about midway between its northern and southern lines ; and that portion which lies south of the river, although some of it has been brought into arable con- dition, is, in the main, not well adapted to agriculture. Only by dint of commendable perseverance and toil has any of the land been improved, except, possibly, a little that lies along the river and near the beds of the few small streams that are found in some parts of the township, and along Drinker Crcek.

Like Harmony and Great Bend, when the early set- tlers came here they found a very heavy growth of pine, hemlock, oak and other forest-trees, that have been converted into lumber and carried away to the great markets, via the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, thereby contributing much to the revenue of this part of the county.

Soon after this part of the State was surveyed by the agents of the commonwealth, in 1785, a number of families came from the East, and, under Connecti- cut's claim to the land, made purchases and formed settlements in what is now Oakland. Among these were Jonathan Bennett, William Smith, William Greek, Isaac Hale and Nathaniel Lewis. But when the land dispute between Connecticut and Pennsylva- nia was settled in Pennsylvania's favor, it was found that nearly all of the land in Oakland had been pur- chased by Henry Drinker, Timothy Pickering, Tench Coxe and William Hodgdon ; hence some of these families moved away and others made terms with John Hilborn, who was agent for Messrs. Drinker,

Pickering, Coxe and Hodgdon, and continued their possessions. Hale and Lewis repurchased their claims and afterwards became quite prominent citizens ; but of their descendants none are living here now, as nearly all have removed farther west. Mr. Hale lived where George Doolittle now resides, and Mr. Lewis owned a place on the other side of the river. Lewis was a local preacher, ordained deacon in 1807. (See history of the Methodist Church of Harmony.)

Joseph McKune, Sr., came from Orange County, N. Y., to this place in 1810, and died here in 1851. He settled near where the McKune Cemetery is now. He had six sons. Among them was Joseph, Jr., who, when he became of age, settled on what is now the "poor farm;" but about 1830 he bought the small farm of thirteen and one-half acres of land that Joe Smith owned. Benjamin F. McKune, the present owner of the land, has the deed that Smith executed to Joseph McKune. Mr. McKune afterwards bought quite a large tract of land that bordered on this small farm, and lived here until his death, about twenty- five years later. He had eleven children, only one of whom is now living, namely, Benjamin F. Mc- Kune, his youngest son, who owns the old home- stead, around which so much of historic interest cen- tres.

JOE SMITH, THE FOUNDER OF MORMONISM, built the original part of the house now occupied by ex- Sheriff McKune, and here he projected schemes which, although seemingly so absurd to rational per- sons, have nevertheless brought him many followers and given him world-wide notoriety. There are sev- eral persons now residing in this vicinity who lived here at the time Smith was here. He is described as having been a tall and strong man, light complex- ioned, quite fond of ardent liquors, not infrequently drunk, by no means intelligent in feature nor prepos- sessing in appearance, and in education quite limited. His wife was quite tall, of comely form and feature, well educated, a fine singer and very social.

Mrs. Eliza Winters Squires, now living in Oakland borough, was often at Smith's house and much in Mrs. Smith's company. The young women were on very intimate terms, and very many times did Mrs. Smith tell her young friend about the finding of the "golden plates" or the "golden Bible." Mrs. Smith said that it was found in the woods, near Palmyra, N. Y. That according to revelations that Smith re- ceived, they proceeded. They went on horseback into the woods. At a certain place her horse stopped, and Smith then told her to go no farther. But he continued until after getting out of her sight, when his horse put its nose against a tree; and here he alighted, and at the roots of this tree, a little beneath the surface, he found the "golden Bible." Putting it underneath his waist-coat, he returned to the place where he had left his wife, and, concealing it under the hearthstone in the house at Palmyra until they removed to Oakland, he brought it here in a barrel

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of beans and hid it in a pit he made in the woods on the side-hill above the house. It was written in an unknown language; hence its translation became necessary in the manner in which it was done. Mrs. Smith was mainly in sympathy with her husband, aud firmly believed all he told her respecting the things that were revealed to him. So full an account concerning "Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet," is given in Miss Blackman's "History of Susquehanna County," that we quote from it as follows: "It is a fact of which we are not particularly proud, that Susquehanna County harbored such a madman as Joe Smith at the period when he was engaged in the compilation, or rather the translation, of the Book of Mormon. But to the fact itself there are living wit- nesses, with some of whom the writer has conversed. There appears to be some uncertainty as to the time of his arrival in Harmony (now Oakland) ; but it is certain he was here in 1825 and later; and in 1829 his operations here were finished, and he had left the county. In 1830 the Book of Mormon was published, the requisite funds being furnished, it is said, by Martin Harris, a coadjutor of Smith during its translation, and who had sold his farm for the pur- pose, and reduced his family to straits in consequence, His wife and daughters were greatly exasperated at his course, but he appeared to have been a sincere be- liever, firmly convinced of the truth of Mormonism." Mr. J. B. Bush narrates the following: "Joe Smith was here lumbering soon after my marriage, which was in 1818, some years before he took to 'peeping,' and before diggings were commenced under his di- rections. These were ideas he gained later. The stone which he afterwards used was then in the pos- session of Jack Belcher, of Gibson, who obtained it while at Salina, N. Y., engaged in drawing salt. Belcher bought it because it was said to be a 'seeing stone.' I have often seen it. It was a green stone, with brown irregular spots on it. It was a little longer than a goose's egg, and about the same thick- ness. When he brought it home and covered it with his hat, Belcher's little boy was one of the first to look into the hat, and as he did so he said he saw a candle. The second time he looked in he exclaimed, 'I've found my hatchet !' (it had been lost two years) -and immediately ran for it to the spot shown him through the stone, and it was there. The boy was soon beset by neighbors far and near to reveal to them hidden things, and he succeeded marvelously. Even the wanderings of a lost child were traced by him -- the distracted parents coming to him three times for directions, and in each case finding signs that the child had been in the places he designated ; but at last it was found starved to death. Joe Smith conceived the idea of making a fortune through a similar process of seeing, bought the stone of Belcher and then began his operations in directing where hid- den treasures could be found. His first diggings were near Captain Buck's saw-mill, at Red Rock ;

but because his followers broke the rule of silence, the euchantment removed the deposits.

"The first reference in the county papers to Joe's influence appears to have been in November, 1831, and December, 1832, when two or three wretched zealots of Mormonism created much excitement, and made some proselytes in a remote district on the borders of this county and Luzerne. The new con- verts then proposed removing to the ' promised land,' near Painesville, O. In December, 1833, Isaac Hale, of Harmony, addressed a letter to D. P. Hurlbert, in the State of Ohio, in reply to his application for a history of facts relating to the character of Joseph Smith, Jr., author of the ' Book of Mormon,' called by some the 'Golden Bible.' The Mormons pro- nounced the letter a forgery, and said that Isaac Hale was blind and could not write his name. This was followed by a request from another gentleman of Ohio, that Mr. Hale would assist in laying open Mormonism to the world, by drawing up a full narra- tive of the transactions wherein Smith, Jr., was con- cerned, and attesting the same before a magistrate. The result is here given :

"Statement of Isaac Hale. Affirmed to and subscribed before Charles Dimon, J. P., March 20, 1834. The good character of Isaac Hale was attested to the following day by Judges William Thomson and D. Dim- ock.

"I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., in November, 1825. He was at that time in the employ of a set of men who were called money-diggers, and his occupation was that of seeing, or pre- tending to see, by means of a stone placed in his hat, and his hat closed over his face. In this way he pretended to discover minerals and hidden treasure. His appearance at this time was that of a careless young man, not very well educated, and very saucy and insolent to his father. Smith and his father boarded at my house while they were employed in digging for a mine that they supposed had been opened and worked hy the Spaniards many years since. Young Smith gave the money-diggers great encouragement at first ; hut, when they had arrived in digging to near the place where he had stated an immense treasure would be found, he said the enchantment was so powerful that he could not see. They then became discouraged, and soon after dispersed. This took place about the 17th of November, 1825. After these occurrences young Smith made several visits at my house, and at length asked my consent to his marrying my daughter, Emma. This I refused, and gave him my reasons for doing so; some of which were, that he was a stranger, and followed a business that I could not ap- prove ; he then left the place. Not long after this he returned, and, while I was absent from home, carried off my daughter into the State of New York, where they were married ( Fehrnary, 1826), without my appro- bation or consent. After they had arrived at Palmyra, N. Y., Emma wrote to me inquiring whether she could have her property, consist- ing of clothing, furniture, cows, etc. I replied that her property was safe and at her disposal. In a short time they returned, and subse- quently came to the conclusion that they would move out and reside upon a place near my residence. Smith stated to me that he had given up what he called glass-looking, and that he expected and was willing to work hard for a living. He made arrangements with my son, Alva Hale, to go to Palmyra and move his (Smith's) furniture, etc., to this place. He then returned to Palmyra, and soon after Alva, agreeably to the arrangement, went up and returned with Smith and his family. Soon after I was informed that they had brought a wonderful book of plates down with them. I was shown a box in which it was said they were contained, which had, to all appearances, heen used as a glass hox of the common-sized window glass. I was allowed to feel the weight of the box, and they gave me to understand that the hook of plates was then in the box, into which, however, I was not allowed to look. I inquired of Joseph Smith, Jr., who was to be the first who would be allowed to see the book of plates. He said it was a young child. After this I became dissatisfied, and informed him that if there

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was anything in my house of that description, which I could not be allowed to see, he must take it away, if he did not, I was determined to see it. After that the plates were said to be hid in the woods. About this time Martin Harris made his appearance upon the stage, and Smith began to interpret the characters and hieroglyphics, which he said was engraved upon the plates, while Harris wrote down the inter- pretation. . . . I told them, then, that I considered the whole of it a delusion, and advised them to abandon it. The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers with the stone in his hat, and the hat over his face, while the book of plates was at the same time hid in the woods. After this Martin Harris went away, and Oliver Cowdry came and wrote for Smith, while he interpreted as above described. This is the same Oliver Cowdry whose name may be found in the ' Book of Mormon,' "

Froin the testimony of several persons now living in Oakland it appears that on several occasions Smith was led to acknowledge that he was a deceiver, and that his pretended revelations had no foundation. Mrs. Squires says that Mrs. Harris destroyed about one hundred pages of her husband's manuscript, and that Smith dare not attempt another translation of it for fear that it would not conform with the first trans- lation.

Before Smith left this place, and for some time after he went away, many efforts were made to find the golden Bible, and digging for the hidden treas- ures also continued. The excavations in this local- ity were principally on lands now owned by Jacob I. Skinner. The place is about one and a half miles west of Oakland borough, on the side-hill above the McCune Cemetery. The excavations are still plainly discernible. Smith probably did not take his de- parture until about 1831, as he had a boy living with him that attended Miss Hupman's school during the summer of 1830. Joseph Fowler McCune, now resid- ing in Windsor, Broome County, N. Y., boarded in this neighborhood and attended school at Hickory Grove while Smith was engaged in translating the Bible, and was quite often in Smith's house. Mr. McCune states that Reuben Hale acted as scribe a part of the time. He says Smith's hat was a very large one, and what is commonly called a "stove-pipe." The hat was on the table by the window and the stone in the bottom or rather in the top of the hat. Smith would bend over the hat with his face buried in it so that no light could enter it, and thus dictate to the scribe what he should write. It is said by those now living here, who were in this locality dur- ing Smith's operations, that at first Smith made no pretensions touching religion, nor was anything said about the golden Bible ; but that he was able to point out the places where treasures could be found was his first pretension. To some he represented that the gold and silver was in the form of coin in an iron chest, to others that it was in bars, and to others that it was in the richest kind of ore.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 107

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848- Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck Number of Pages: 1318

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318