USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania > Part 133
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NAME .- Under Connecticut claim and survey, the township, as now constituted, was mostly in Dandolo, the south part being in Bidwell, and it was often called by these names by the first New England set- tlers. Under Pennsylvania jurisdiction, it was, in 1790, in Luzerne County, and chiefly in Tioga town- ship. In 1806 it was part of Bridgewater. In 1814 it was Waterford, in Susquehanna County. In 1823 it was Hopbottom, same as post-office, and in 1826, Brook- lyn. Till 1846 it included Lathrop.
PRESENT INHABITANTS .- By actual count the people number (spring of 1887) as follows: village, 166; Alford, 43; rest of township, 769; total, 978. In the following enumeration the heads of present families are given :
Aldrich, Amasa.
Fish, Asa.
Aldrich, Norris.
Force, Mordecai.
Austin, Willie.
Fish, William C.
Adams, James W.
Fairchild, H. C.
Alworth, William.
Free, Andrew.
Packard, Nelson E.
Tiffany, Mather C.
Aten, Henry. Aten, Herhert.
Gere, Arthur.
Page, Joseph H.
Tiffany, Judson D.
Bailey, I. Avery.
Gere, Robert L.
Page, Walter R.
Titsworth, Catharine.
Bolles, John.
Grannis, Edward.
Perigo, Chas. F.
Tiffany, Hosea.
Brink, S. T.
Gere, Jerh. C.
Penny, Edwin W.
Byram, William T.
Gere, Albert R.
Benjamin, Luther M.
Gavitt, Stephen S. Gavitt, W. M.
Perry, David C.
Underwood, Marquis.
Benjamin, Nelson C.
Gere, George L.
Quick, Horace D.
Van Auken, James A.
Bennet, Freeman.
Goodrich, Edwin B.
Quick, Joseph B.
Bailey, Charles R.
Goodrich, Charles T.
Quick, Alva A.
Bailey, Esek P.
Grannis, Lyman.
Quick, Harriet.
Bailey, Obadiah.
Hollister, O. Duane.
Quick, Lydia A.
Warner, Ansel L.
Bailey, Caroline.
Hohn, Frederick,
Quick, Mark S.
Worthing, Lydia.
Brewster, Charles M.
Hearn, Lewis.
Reynolds, Kezia.
Williams, Charles A.
Babcock, Isaac.
Hewett, Fanny.
Reynolds, James W.
Blake, Albert.
Hewett, C. A.
Reynolds, Theo. F.
Banker, Minerva.
Hinkley, Orren W.
Reynolds, Hothir.
Brink, O. D.
Hine, N. F.
Rogers, Christr. C.
Westbrook, Daniel C.
Bailey, H. L.
Herkimer, Lyman.
Richards, Elizabeth.
Williams, Elisha G. Williams, Abram V.
Breed, Fitch. Caswell, Mary L.
Hine, E. S. P.
Watrous, B. O.
Cameron, William.
Jewett, Nathan R.
Roper, John J. Roper, Harry.
Watrous, Chester F.
Jewett, Frederick B.
Remaly, Wilson P.
Whipple, Ferdinand. Wright, Eugene E. Weston, E. A.
Ring, David J.
Williams, Henry M.
Kent, Frank H.
Reynolds, Georgiania.
Wright, Irving W. Whiting, H. H. West, Thos.
King, Frank A.
Rogers, Andrew.
Yeomans, Daniel M.
Kent, Chas.
Rozelle, J. Andrew.
Yeomans, Ann.
Rogers, Frank L.
Yeomans, Joseplı O.
Sterling, Ansel.
Youngs, Lewis.
Alford (Montrose Depot) as follows :
Brown, Daniel A.
Hendriex, Alexander.
Lines, Lewis N. Lathrop, Edward J. Lewis, Harrison.
Lathrop, Charles J.
Sterling, Will. L.
Lorimer, John. Labar, Julius.
Sherman, Lyman.
Smitlı, Andrew J.
Miles, Reuben O.
Sterling, Frank M.
Mckinney, Noble.
Sterling, Javan.
Miller, Jacob C.
Sterling, George W.
Miller, Frederick. Miller, F. P.
Sterling, James H.
Miller, Samnel.
Sterling, Amos G.
Mead, Wn.
Sterling, Harriet.
Mead, Ainos.
Stephens, Edward T.
McCoy, Henry.
Mack, Albert E.
Muzzey, Anna L.
Mack, Neh. R.
Simons, Calvin A.
Monroe, Sarah.
Snyder, Eugene D.
Mack, Lathm. H.
Sterling, A. Harmon,
Mack, Edwin P.
Mack, A. L.
Mack, Mary.
McKeeby, Lodowick.
Mead, Saml.
Tiffany, Joseph W.
Newton, James M.
Tewksbury, Henry.
Oakley, Joseph.
Tewksbury, Lester.
Otto, Sarah.
Tewksbury, Franklin.
Oakley, Irving W.
Townsend, Lewis A.
Perkins, Chrisr. S.
Townsend, Thomas S.
Perigo, Manning.
Tewksbury, Ephm. S.
Perigo, Henry.
Tewksbury, A. E.
Peckham, James S.
Tiffany, Conger.
Penny, Thomas E.
Tiffany, Owen L.
Packer, Dudley B.
Tiffany, Nelson L.
Packer, Elbt. A.
Tiffany, Charles H.
Packer, Cornelia.
Tiffany, Stephen E.
Packer, Anna.
Tiffany, Hannah.
Perry, Wm. L.
Tiffany, Thomas J.
Fish, Frank C.
Page, Joseph P.
Tiffany, Preston H.
Penny, Charles M.
Palmer, Milton.
Tiffany, Harmon B.
Van Auken, Isaac. Van Auken, Susan. Watrous, Dann S.
Woodward, Baker L. Williams, Delbert. Whitman, James M.
Hill, Josephus.
Rogers, Gurdon B.
Carpenter, Clayton. Catterson, G. O. Conrad, Dennis. Caswell, Will. R. Carpenter, Wesley. Crandall, Roena.
Johnson, Huhert.
Richards, Charles F.
Ring, George J.
Reynolds, Eliza A.
Kinney, David I.
Rozelle, Edward E.
Davison, Martin V. Darrow, Orphinea. Daley, William T. Dennis, Napoleon. Ellsworth, Betsey. Ely, George M. Ely, John R.
Lindsey, Benj.
Lindsey, Riley. Lemon, Martin L.
Lee, John C. Lee, E. G.
Brown, Daniel. Frink, Lewie H.
Mead, Mordecal. Richardson, Joseph D.
Ely, J. R., Jr. Ely, Charles H. Ely, Emery. Ely, Olive.
Jackson, Mary. Jackson, John.
Kent, Rodney W.
Tewkshury, Harvey A. Tiffany, Lyman B.
Blaisure, J. D.
Sickler, Charles A. Smith, Gilbert N. Simons, Julius. Stanton, Joseph H.
Stephens, Conner L. Sterling, Ralph. Schwendeman, Zopher.
Sterling, Byron G.
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Sweet, Perry. Tingley, Chas. Tingley, T. J. Tiffany, Win. H.
Very, Olney H. Very, Jerome B. Watson, Edward D. West, Theresa.
Brooklyn Village is snugly nestled among the hills in a little expanse of the Hopbottom Valley. The northern part of it is on the warrantee land lot of " Dr. Barnabas Binney," and the southern on "John Dun- lap's," the line between them passing through it. The first clearing within its limits was made by Mr. Page, in 1787. His cabin stood on the knoll now owned by R. T. Ashley, just back of his house. This claim was successively owned by Jacob Tewksbury, Joshua Miles, Sr., Noah Tiffany and Arunah Tiffany, and then began to be divided and subdivided into smaller lots.
Isaac Tewksbury lived from 1804 to 1807 in a log house near the centre of the town, and Joshua Miles, Sr., built a large frame house (not finished until after his death), where A. Ely's store now is, in 1810. This building was afterwards known by the name of the " Abbey," and many people lived in it, and post- office, store, hotel and shops were kept in it for twenty years or more. Another house on the south side of the creek (where the old road used to run), near the first saw-mill, also had many occupants, among whom were Thomas Garland (postmaster in 1821), Hilliard Sterling, Amos Crandall, Jacob Worthing, Walter Adams and others. The oldest dwelling now standing in the village is doubtless that of Malvina Tiffany, built by Edward L. Paine in 1823. The old school-house, built about 1814, and frequented by scholars from a radius of two miles or more around, stood on the brink of the knoll, where T. M. Oakley's house now stands. The present heads of families are as follows :
Adanıs, Julia A.
Kent, A. W.
Ainey, A. J.
Kent, Willis L.
Ashley, Rollin T.
King, Francis A.
Boughton, C. H.
Kent, Betsey.
Bookstaver, James L.
Kent, Justice M.
Burch, C. C.
Kent, George J. Kent, Elmina.
Burch, Morgan R.
Loomis, Mary.
Bagley, Sally. Best, Jacob.
Mckinney, Mary.
Bullard, James O.
Mckinney, Elisha R.
Case, Benjamin T.
Mckeever, Mary.
Cravei, Lydia.
McVicar, Marshall.
Craver, Charles M.
Moore, Eliza P.
Caldwell, Moses.
Northrop, Jennie.
Chamberlin, Abram.
Oakley, Thomas M.
Doran, John F.
Palmer, P. Emily.
Dolaway, Albert C.
Porter, L. F.
Doran, P. C.
Sterling, Amanda.
Dolaway, O. Morris.
Stanton, Jonas H.
Eldridge, Samuel B. Eldridge, William H.
Tiffany, Charles H.
Ely, Ammi. Ely, Olive.
Tewksbury, Lyman K.
Ely, Luther.
Titsworth, Alfred. Tiffany, Frederick H. Tewksbury, Isaac S.
Eldridge, Edwin S. Foot, O. W.
Grennell, Moses B.
Weston, Leland.
Gere, Robert W.
Waldie, Tyler C.
Giles, Geo. I.
Waldie, Emily.
Kent, Harriet.
Waldie, Alexander S.
CHAPTER XLIV.
LATHROP TOWNSHIP.
LATHROP was taken from Brooklyn in April, 1846, and its history, consequently, up to that period, is intimately connected with that township. It was named in honor of Benjamin Lathrop, at that time an associate judge of the county. Prior to this it bore the names applied to this section,-Tioga, Nich- olson and Bridgewater, while a part of Luzerne County ; Waterford, in 1814; Hopbottom, in 1823, and Brook- lyn from 1825 until 1846. When erected, the east line of Lathrop was Martin's Creek; but, in 1853, the bound was placed on the top of the ridge, along that stream and east of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. On the north is Brooklyn ; on the east, Lenox; south, Wyoming County, and west, the township of Springville. The area is small, and is very much broken by the high ridges along the streams which drain southward. The principal one of these is Horton's Creek, flowing from Brook- lyn through the centre of the township, and taking in its course the waters of many small brooks, among them being the outlets of the Lord and Tarbell Ponds. Both were named for early settlers on their shores. They are small, placid sheets of water, with pleasant surroundings, and are well stocked with fish. Both are west of the centre and on the southern slope of the highlands, along the Brooklyn line. Field's Pond is a smaller sheet of water in the south- western part of the township, and is partly in Spring- ville. Martin's Creek runs parallel with the east line of the. township, and about half a mile from it, through a narrow valley hemmed in by almost pre- cipitous hills. Along the western base of the east hill is built the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, which has been such an important factor in developing this part of the county. The tillable lands in this section are limited to the upper part of the valley, and consist of a few farms only. Here is the borough of Hopbottom, of which a separate ac- count is given. The high ridges east of the centre of the township were formerly heavily timbered with pines and hemlocks, whose conversion into lumber formed a most important industry many years. An equally important interest in this section will be the development of the fine deposit of building stone, cropping out in many parts of these ridges, which will give employment to a large number of men. The stone is of a very superior quality, and is already in great demand.
The soil of Lathrop is quite fertile, and is especially adapted to produce grass. Much hay is shipped, and the dairy interest has become the most important industry since the clearing up of the country.
The pioneers of Lathrop were few in numbers, and, in most cases, were connected with the families settling in Brooklyn at an earlier day. The natural
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677
LATHROP.
features of the country and the uncertain condition of the land titles did not invite general settlement, and for many years the finer locations only were improved. It is believed that the first white man living within the bounds of the township was a her- mit named Joseph Sprague, who was here as early as the spring of 1799. He lived on the flats, on Mar- tin's Creek, where was long the farm of Dr. S. Wright, and now the place of M. L. Tiffany. Of him and his own experiences in this section in 1799, the Hon. Charles Miner said :
"Four or five miles below Captain Chapman (then living on C. M. Chapman's present place, in Brooklyn) lived in solitude Joseph Sprague, twelve or fourteen miles of wilderness intervening between him and Marcy's mill, in the settlement on the Tuukhannock.
" Having made sugar with Sprague on shares, I took a horse-load down the Tunkhannock, peddled it out, a pouud of sugar for a pound of pork, seven and a half pounds for a bushel of wheat, five pounds for a bushel of coru. Saw the Susquehanna, got a grist ground, returned, and with Mr. Chase-a young man who came from Connecticut with Mr. Miner-made knapsacks of coarse shirts, filled them with provis- ions, and each taking an axe on his shoulder, we took the bridle-path by Mr. Parke's, and thence fifteen miles, more or less, arrived at Rindaw or Hyde's, at the forks of the Wyalusing. I do not think that a line drawn due south from Binghamton to the Tunkhannock-near forty miles-would have cut a laid-out road or come in sight of a house or cabin of an earlier date than the preceding summer."
It is said that Joseph Sprague was the son of a sur- veyor for one of the Philadelphia land-owners, to whom this tract of three hundred acres of land had been given, on condition that he himself, or one of the family, would occupy it. But the truth regarding the hermit never became known. After living here some time he went to Wilkes-Barre, where he took sick and died, after having willed his land to a Mr. Blanchard, with whom he had his home. Subse- quently those claiming to be heirs of Sprague took possession of the property; but it was finally sold to John Chapman, and later to Dr. Samuel Wright. It is one of the finest tracts of land in the township.
The next clearing in what is now Lathrop was made in the fall of 1799 by Captain Charles Gere, who came from Vermont to join the Hopbottom set- tlement in Brooklyn. This settlement properly ex- tended to near the central part of what is now La- throp, and also included the eastern part of Dimock, as well as the whole of what is now Brooklyn. He began his improvements on what became the Lord place, on the west side of the Abington turnpike, but did not bring in his family until 1801. The following year he sold out to Josiah Lord, and in 1803 removed to Brooklyn, locating one mile west of Mack's Cor- ners.
The same year that Captain Gere brought his fam- ily, 1801, John S. Tarbell located near the pond which bears his name to this day, having a farm which af- terwards became known as " Mitchell's Meadow." He removed in 1816, and for a number of years Henry Mitchell occupied the place, which has since had other owners.
Josiah Lord took possession of the improvements of Captain Gere in 1803. He was a native of Lyme,
Connecticut, and had come in 1801 to look for land. When he moved into this country, late in 1801 or early in 1802, he brought with him his sons-Josiah, Elisha, John and Enoch. The latter located at the mouth of Tarbell Pond, where he built a saw-mill in 1820, and subsequently moved to Illinois. Josiah Lord, the elder, remained on his first location until his death, in 1845, at the age of seventy-eight years. This was afterwards the home of his third son, John, who died in 1856, when the place passed into the hands of John Lord, Jr., a grandson of the original settler. Elisha Lord was lower down the turnpike, on the H. N. Tif- fany place, the latter being his son-in-law. He was one of the first to recognize the validity of the Drinker title, and paid for his lands against the earn- est protests of his neighbors, who became indignant when he insisted that he was in the right. Subse- quent events gave ample proof that bis views were correct. He was one of the few settlers who was not embarrassed by a clouded title to his lands. For some years he entertained the traveling public at his farm-house, and H. N. Tiffany has merchandised in the same building the past few years. Josiah Lord, Jr., lived on part of the homestead, farther up the turnpike. The descendants of the Lord family be- came very numerous, but many have removed and others have deceased. The pond west of the farm where Josiah Lord settled was named for that family.
When the Lords first came to Lathrop wild animals were very numerous and bold, and their capture af- forded much diversion. The following interesting account of the adventures of some of the younger members of the family was written by John Lord, Sr., in 1856:
"My father, Josiah Lord, located with his family in what is now called Lathrop township, in 1801. There was but one family then in Lathrop, and ouly six in what is now called Brooklyn. There is but one man in my acquaintance now living, who was here and had a fanı- ily when I came here, and he is Captain Amos Bailey. About the Ist of April, 1813, my father was absent from home, leaving me and my brother Elisha to attend to the cattle, which had gone up a small creeks into the woods. A little before sunset they came into the clearing on the run, and turned round and looked back, with heads up, as if they were much frightened. As one of the cows did not come, we went in search of her, huuted until dark, but in vain. In the morning we re- newed our search, and found her between two logs. She was thrown upon her back, her horns stuck in the ground; the jugular veins were gnawed in two, and her flanks ripped open. Nothing of her calf was to be found, but one of the hoofs and a part of the skull. My father pro- cured a large double-springed, spike-joined bear-trap, set it by the cow and covered it with dirt. It had been undisturbed for a week, when father took up the trap and brought it to the house. The next day my brother and I found that the cow had been torn to pieces by the wolves. My brother then said a German hunter had told him father did not set the trap right. He added a proposal to me to help him set it according to the hunter's directions, and, said he, 'we will have one of the wolves before father comes home.' We collected all the fragments of the old cow in a pile against a log, aud then went home for the trap. We knew mother would not let us set it, if she suspected our plan, so my brother left nie outside the house while he went in, agreeing to whistle ' Yankee Doodle' when mother's attention should be so engaged she would not be likely to see me bear off the trap. I waited some time for the signal, but on hearing it I shouldered the trap and ran for the woods. When I got there I was very much exhausted, as the trap was very heavy. My brother soon canie with an axe, and we set the trap with two large hand- spikes and deposited it in the water in front of the bait. The trap was
678
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
two inches under water, and the pan we covered with moss. The bait we covered with logs in such a way that the wolves could not get access to it without going into the trap.
" About two o'clock the next morning we were waked up by a sudden yell of the wolves, and they yelled without intermission until daylight. We got up an hour before daylight to run some balls. My brother then told mother we had set the trap and had got a wolf in it, and were going to kill it. She was much frightened, and used every means, except force, to prevent us from going into the woods until father's return ; but the prospect of revenge upon the wolves for killing the cow-decidedly the best old muley of our three-carried our minds above every other con- sideration, and we started off so early that my brother said he could not see the sights of his rifle, and we sat down on a log to wait until it should be lighter. I was ten years old the February preceding, and my brother was not quite twelve. My brother had killed several deer, and was a good shot with a rifle. I had never shot one.
.
"The wolves continued howling, the fine yell of the pups increasing the roar, which seemed to shake the earth like thunder. I was seized with a sudden im- pulse of fear. I remembered reading that some chil- dren who had disobeyed their parents went into the woods to play, and God gave them up to bears which devoured them. I had disobeyed my kind mother for the first time, and my conscience smote me. We had left her in sobs and tears, and were in a dark wilder- ness with a gang of wolves. Suddenly they were still, and I expected they were surrounding us. Every sin that ever I committed rushed into my mind, and I felt a true sense of my meanness. Just then my brother rose and said, ' Come, it is light enough now to com- mence the battle.' With much difficulty I succeeded in rising, but my legs utterly refused to carry me to- ward the scene of danger. Concealing my cowardice as much as possible, I said the wolf had got out of the trap, and we had better go back and relieve mother of her fright. But he said, ' No, we have got on fast, I want you to go very still, for I want to get a shot at one that is not in the trap, first, and if I do, you may shoot the one in the trap .' This was a grand idea. I thought no more about the bear story, or about mother, or any of my rascally capers, and my fear all left me. Moving on, we were soon in plain view of where we set the trap. We lay in ambush some time, but as no wolves were to be seen, we went to the bait, and the trap was gone? There were tufts of hair and plenty of blood, and the ground was torn up. The track of the wolf was plain and we followed it up the creek about ten rods, when, as we turned around a short curve in the creek, a gang of wolves started and ran up the bank, too swift for my brother to shoot with success. The wolf with the trap started at the same time and ran up the creek, and we followed after, about thirty rods, when we could not find the track further ; but as a log there reached from one bank to
another, my brother told me to go on the whole length of the log, and find where the wolf got over. Near the farther bank a beech tree with the leaves on had fallen the summer before, and made a thick brush heap on and below the log. In getting through this brush I slipped from the log. My bare feet,-shoes were not fashionable for boys in those days-felt the soft fur of the wolf and the flinch under them at the same instant. I heard the trap rattle; one bound brought me out of the brush, and I exclaimed, ' Here is the wolf hid under the brush !' My brother was looking at me with a grin, and replied, ' I thought you had found something by the way you jumped.' He told me to stand back, and, as he fired, the wolf gave a growl and commenced a violent struggle. He then told me to go above the log and keep the wolf from getting through under the log, until he could load his rifle. She had got her head through, but could get no farther. The ball had passed through the wolf's mouth, and some of the teeth were hanging out. My brother came over the log, and told me to get behind a tree, for in his hurry he had put his powder-horn to the muzzle of his rifle and poured in the powder by guess, and he did not know what it might do, for he would let it all go together. I told him to smash away. He let fly, and I saw the wolf's ear lop down. It was the most deafening report of a rifle I ever heard. I went towards the wolf's head, and found the ball had gone through it; some of the brain was protruding from the ball-hole. We then went below the log, and drew out the wolf-the largest one I ever saw. At this juncture we heard mother scream. She seemed to be coming in the woods towards us. We answered her; but she made so much noise herself- screaming every breath, as on she came, like a raving maniac-she could not hear and did not see us, though we ran to meet her, until we were close to her. She then sat down on a log, and, oh, what a picture of fright! In running through a laurel thicket she had scratched her face so that it bled in several places, and she was as pale as a corpse. Her combs had been pulled out and lost, and her long hair was streaming in every direction ; she tried to arrange it; but her hands trembled so she could not do it, and it was some time before she could speak."
The boys dragged the wolf home, and the frightened mother carried the rifle. Subsequently, Josiah Lord and one of his sons captured a young bear, which they took home alive and kept until it regained its freedom by gnawing off the rope with which it was tied.
Above the Elisha Lord place an improvement was made at an early day, which was purchased in the fall of 1803 by Barnard Worthing, a native of Ver- mont, whose son built a house on this tract of land the following year. In the spring of 1805 the Worth- ing family occupied this place, but removed at an early day. The farm became known later as the Abel Green place, and after having many occupants
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679
LATHROP.
a part of it is now owned by George C. Bronson. The Worthings remained identified with the interests of Brooklyn for a longer period than their removal from Lathrop.
Amos Bronson came from Litchfield, Conn., in 1814, and settled on the present Wallace farm, in the southern part of Dimock. He was fourteen days making the journey, and brought along some fine stock, among the rest being twenty head of merino sheep. He was the father of daughters who mar- ried,-Harriet, Thomas Muzzy, of Dimock; Anna, Joseph Meeker ; and Adaline, Zachariah Brewster, of Bridgewater. Of his two sons, John removed to In- diana, and Lake is still living at Bronson's Corners, in Lathrop, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. He is the father of Philander S. and George C. Bron- son, both of whom served in the Union army. The former claims credit as a pioneer in the advocacy of a "greenback" currency of our country.
In 1811 Noah Pratt settled on the present Lorenzo Sweet place, on Horton's Creek. He had a family of nineteen children, and the descendants became very numerous, but most of them removed from the town- ship.
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