Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 140

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

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Nearly a mile above the mills, on the Tunkhannock, an extensive tannery, costing sixty thousand dollars, was built, in 1850, by Schultz, Eaton & Co. In 1857 it was destroyed by fire, but rebuilt the same year. It had a capacity to turn out forty thousand sides of sole leather per year, and besides bringing a large number of people into the township, offered a good market for the hemlock bark in this section, and produced a free circulation of money. The tannery employed steam-power and the plant embraced a number of tenements and a store, which was kept by the tannery-owners.

" Asa Eaton, one of the original firm, united seem- ingly diverse tastes, the one inducing him in 1856 to erect a church, and the other in 1858 to provide a race-course for his own and others' enjoyment. Fast horses were his recreation, and before the 'course' was laid out he had cleared the highway for the dis- tance of a mile (between the tannery and the hotel), of every stone or unevenness that could retard a horse's speed or lessen the comforts of a rider. In the fall of 1861 he conceived the idea of assembling the fast horses and fine riders of the county to try the !

race-course on his beautiful flat by the margin of the Tunkhannock. The occasion was also dignified by the inauguration of the Glenwood Fair, which was under the management of an agricultural society of which F. P. Grow was president and Asa Eaton treasurer. The fair was held in October three years in succession, when it was superseded by the one at Nicholson, five miles below." 1

Mr. Eaton lived at the tannery until his removal to Orange County, N. Y. His love for fast horses never led him to sacrifice his honor, and it is said that, finding the privileges of the race-course abused in his new home, he sold his horses and vowed that he should not have anything to do with a business which was tainted with the least suspicion of unfair dealing. In the course of years the tannery passed into the hands of Black, Burhans & Clearwater, and Burhans retiring, the firm was composed of the two other members several years. Later, W. H. Osterhout became the owner, and A. A. Clearwater was the resident agent and manager. In the summer of 1882 work was suspended and the machinery removed to Clearfield County. Some of the buildings were re- moved and others fell into decay. Very few of the employees remained in the locality. The abandoned store building still stands, as also does the Union Church, both having been repaired by new owners.

The Good Templars had several active organiza- tions in the township, and there was also a division of the Sons of Temperance, all of which have sus- pended their meetings.

CENTREVILLE is a hamlet of half a dozen houses, where the Owego turnpike crosses Bell Brook, in the northern central part of the township. On this stream was the Truesdell mill, as early as 1825, and later the mill of Henry S. Millard. L. W. Read be- came the owner, and, later, Alonzo Payne tore down the old grist-mill and erected a saw-mill on that site. Horace Whiting is the present owner and operates it. A shingle-mill, in this locality, was sold to H. Marcy. Just below the turnpike, on a site higher up the stream, Vincent Truesdell had a shop in which were turned chair-stuff and spinning-wheels. The property was sold to Orville Tiffany, who built a saw-mill on the west side of the stream, but which was later changed to a small feed-mill, and is still operated as such. Above the bridge, Orville Tiffany built a public-house, which had a good patronage in the days of stage travel. But, an earlier house of entertainment was at the foot of the hill, which is now known as the D. C. Oakley place. This was kept by Henry Millard, and was a well-known stop- ping-place, from the fact that the stage horses were there changed. The Tiffany tavern was afterwards kept by William O. Gardner, who also operated the mills. William Spencer was a later owner of the property and keeper of the inn, which, about this

1 Miss Blackman.

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time, obtained an unenviable name. The contention which followed his residence here is still remem- bered. Some time after, William Burton opened a small store in the corner building, still standing, though unoccupied. In 1883 John W. Talman began trading in the Tiffany building, which had long been a residence, and still continues; and on the opposite side of the stream, Forest Whiting opened another store, in a new building, in the fall of 1886.

Near this place is the fine Baptist Church, and on the road below, at the farm-house of Archibald Hill, the first postmaster, the West Lenox post-office was established May 24, 1866. He was succeeded Jan- uary 27, 1881, by E. P. Bailey. On the 1st of Octo- ber, 1881, Alonzo A. Payne became the postmaster, and since April 6, 1882, Mary Coleman has held the office at her residence, nearly midway between Cen- treville and Loomis Lake.

At the latter place the Loomis family had a saw- mill, which has gone down, and in this neighborhood a number of buildings were put up, giving it the ap- pearance of a hamlet. There are a good school- house, Free-Will Baptist Church and a dozen resi- dences in the immediate locality. A store was kept here for a brief period in a building put up for this purpose by Niles Carpenter. It is now a residence. Mechanic shops have also been maintained ; but the nearness of the hamlet to Hopbottom has prevented it from becoming a business point.

EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS .- Miss Blackman states that the first school in the vicinity of Glen- wood, and probably in all Lenox, was taught about 1804 by Miss Molly Post, in a barn belonging to John Marcy, whose farm was partly in Susquehanna County, though his residence was just below the line, in Luzerne (now Wyoming) County. The barn was soon needed to store the hay of that season, and then a large tree was selected as a shelter for the scholars and teacher till the close of the term.

It was in one of her schools that a boy showed his intelligent comprehension of the word "bed." On being told to spell it, he began : " B-ah, e-ah, d-ah," and, being unable to pronounce it, his teacher, think- ing to aid him, asked what he slept on, when he replied, " Now I know ! sheepskin." She is also au- thority for the statement that the first winter school in Lenox was taught by a man who was unable to prove a sum in addition. Upon his being dismissed for his incompetency, another was employed to complete the term, who had to secure the help of one of his pupils to write out his bill for teaching, being un- skilled to do such work himself. Later teachers were more competent to instruct the young, and the schools of Lenox, and the buildings in which they are kept, compare favorably with those of other town- ships.

The first religious meetings were held in private houses, barns, and, for many years, in the school- houses.

The First Baptist Church in Lenox is the oldest organized religious body in the township, and was constituted a separate organization December 15, 1830, with the following members : Levi Mack, Betsey Mack, Henry S. Millard, Sarah Wilmarth, Russell Tingley, Joanna Tourgee, Elizabeth Robinson, John Robinson, Nathaniel Tower, Lucy Tower, Rial Tower, Betsey Tower and Lydia Harding. The fol- lowing summer several more persons joined by letter, but it does not appear that any were admitted by bap- tism until 1837, when seven persons were received in that manner, among them Freeman Tingley, the only surviving deacon, serving since 1840. The first deacons of the church were John Robinson and Zerah Scott, who were chosen in June, 1831, and were also selected as delegates to the Abington Association, of which body the church became a member and has since retained that connection. On the 14th of September, 1831, the Rev. Levi Mack was ordained to the min- istry and served as pastor of the church until Sep- tember 20, 1833. Previous to this the Rev. Charles Miller, of Clifford, had preached, and Levi Mack had also been the minister as a licentiate before his ordi- nation. February 15, 1838, Rev. Rial Tower became one of the deacons of the church, having served as clerk and treasurer up to this time. In October of the same year he was licensed to preach, and ministered to the congregation, frequently exchanging pulpits with Elder Miller, of Clifford. On the 22d of August, 1844, he was ordained, and continued as pastor until June, 1862. At that time Elder Benjamin Miller was called for-half his time-and, with the assistance of Elder Rial Tower, served the church until April, 1864, when Elder Rial Tower again became the pastor and so continued for several years.

In April, 1866, the church called Elder James Van Patten to the pastorate, but from 1867 to 1868 the pul- pit was supplied. In June of the latter year the Rev. J. C. Sherman began a two years' ministry, and from 1870 to 1871 the Rev. Newell Callendar was the pas- tor. In April, 1872, the Rev. D. Pease here entered upon a ministry which continued until January, 1878. For a period the pulpit was supplied by the associa- tion, Elder David Halstead and others preaching un- til the fall of 1882. In December of that year the Rev. O. W. Cook began a series of meetings which awakened much interest, and which led to his being ordained, March 13, 1883, as the pastor of the church. He continued until November, 1884, but since March, 1885, the pastor has been the Rev. William A. Miller, preaching every two weeks. In addition to the three ministers named above, ordained in this church and serving as its pastor, two other members were ordained to the ministry,-W. N. Tower, October 24, 1861, and H. J. Millard, December 8, 1870. Each of these had been licensed to preach about four years before his ordination, and both rendered efficient service to the church before assuming charge of other work. In all, nearly one hundred and eighty persons have been

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counected with the church since its organization, forty-five being members in March, 1887. The clerks have been Rial Tower, Hugh Mead, W. C. Tower, A. H. Adams, C. M. Tower, Ira Millard, W. N. Tower, D. C. Oakley and Lucy Z. T. Oakley.

The first meetings were held in the old school- house, near the Henry T. Millard place, and later in the school-house farther down the road. In April, 1863, the building of a church was agitated, but it was not until December, 10, 1863, that work on the build- ing was commenced, the first blows being struck by Elders B. Miller and Newell Callender. Progress was slowly made, as the society was weak and the prose- cution of the war claimed the attention of the mem- bers, so that the church was not dedicated until 1866. It was a frame building, with belfry, of attractive ap- pearance, and was well furnished at the time it was destroyed by an incendiary fire, August 29, 1875. Within two weeks it was decided to rebuild the church, but again a long period elapsed before the building was ready for occupancy. It was not formally dedicated until October 4, 1882, when it was conse- crated, free from debt, and stands to-day a memorial to the faithful members who completed it with so much effort that its accomplishment was often deemed impossible. The edifice has an eligible location on the edge of a belt of woods overshadowing the vale, and is an inviting place of worship, as well as an or- nament to the neighborhood in which it stands. It is supplied with a bell, and is neatly furnished. The property is valued at twenty-five hundred dollars, and is controlled by the church as a body, incorporated April 16, 1866, with Trustees Freemau Tingley, Rial Tower, Henry S. Coutant, Asa H. Decker, Warner C. Tower, D. C. Oakley, Charles M. Tower, Elias M. Moore, and Amos H. Adams. Nearly opposite is the cemetery, located on the land of Henry Millard, and opeued to the public long before the building of the church. It has been well kept, and contains some fine memorials to the many dead there interred. Here repose two of the ministers of the church- Elders Rial and William M. Tower,-aud many of the pioneers of this part of the township.

The West Lenox Free- Will Baptist Church is a frame meeting-house, with a capacity for several hundred persons, stauding on the west shore of Loomis Lake. The building was commenced soon after the breaking out of the late war, but was not completed for several years. It has recently been reseated and improved internally. Since Aug. 18, 1873, it has been con- trolled by an iucorporated body, whose trustees at that time were O. W. Loomis, O. G. Carpenter, Alson Tiffany, J. L. Whiting, William Gorman and W. P. Gardner, Some of these serve on the present board, and have been active members of the church. Prior to the building of the meeting-housc the meetings were held in the school-house at Loomis Lake, and among the members were Elder Dariel Pease and family, William D. Miller and family, William

Gorman and family, Warren M. Tingley and fam- ily, J. L. Whiting, Isaac Knapp, Otis Bailey and their wives, Mrs. Lydia Gardner and Alson Tif- fany. In 1867 the church received an addition of fourteen members, and among these joining about this time were O. W. Loomis, Henry Coleman, L. D. Wilmarth, Josiah Whiting, Howard Sinsibaugh and their wives, and Mrs. S. A. Miller.

Elder Pease ministered to the church a number of years, and among others who preached in the church were Elders John Green, Asa Lord, C. M. Prescott, W. A. Sargent, Othniel Phelps, A. H. Fish, Raleigh Carpenter and S. B. York. The church is at present without a regular pastor and the membership is small, not exceeding twenty. William D. Miller and Wil- liam Gorman were early deacons. Those offices are at present filled by John L. Whiting and Henry Coleman, and L. D. Wilmarth is the church clerk.

The Lenoxville Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1866. It is a frame building, thirty-five by fifty feet, and has a spire, but no bell. The church is plainly furnished, but recent repairs have made it in- viting. The society controlling it became an incor- porated body Jan. 18, 1868, with the following trus- tees : S. F. Wright, E. V. Decker, M. J. Decker, E. J. Brundage, Abraham Churchill and P. Van Etten. But twenty years before the building of the church a class of Methodists was organized at this place, which had Hiram White as its leader, and which embraced, among other members, Francis Hull, John Carmich- ael, L. N. Beagle, J. T. Rood, Abraham Churchill and Joseph Allen. The meetings were held in the old school-house, near the mill, and later in the new school-house, on the west side of the creek. The preachers came from the Dundaff and Herrick Cir- cuits ; but since 1886 the church has been a part of the Clifford Circuit, to an account of which the reader is referred to a list of ministers who have preached in later years. The present membership of the church is small, numbering but fourteen, with Abraham Churchill as their leader. He is also on the board of trustees, having as associate members Alvah Johnson, M. S. Roberts, William White, A. Harris and N. C. Halstead.

The Glenwood Methodist Episcopal Church became an incorporated body in August, 1882, on the petition of C. W. Conrad, J. T. Bennett, L. M. Hardy, A. A. Clearwater, B. E. Miles, D. N. Hardy, W. C. Clear- water, D. O. Farnam and J. W. Height. About this time the Union Church, at Glenwood Tannery, which had been erected in 1856 by Asa Eatou, was secured by the society, and repaired so as to become a comfortable place of worship. In this building was organized, in 1875, a class of Methodists, which had among its first members G. N. Hardy, D. G. Black, James Clearwater, D. N. Hardy, Alonzo Miles, Ben- jamin Miles, James Conrad, Mary P. Conrad and, in most cases, the wives of the foregoing. The Rev. J. L. Race was the first regular minister of the church,

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

whose membership was now much augmented by a revival held under his direction, so that at one time there were nearly forty members. The closing of the tannery and other local causes has reduced the mem- bership to eighteen persons, who belong to the Nich- olson and South Gibson Circuit, the Rev. C. M. Sur- dam being the pastor. Other ministers since the or- ganization of the class have been the Revs. S. J. Austin, J. H. Weston and F. A. King. The church property is valued at six hundred dollars, and is in charge of Trustees C. W. Conrad, P. P. Squiers, John Buck, D. W. Wright, J. T. Bennett, Cyrus Hoppe and D. N. Hardy. Within a year the services of the Methodists have been alternately held in the above church and in the Glenwood chapel, a house for re- ligious meetings in the hamlet of Glenwood. A part of this building was originally a school-house, which was used as early as 1835, but, upon being abandoned, was taken by Fred. P. Grow, and enlarged by the ad- dition of twenty feet and otherwise improved, to make a chapel for the use of a Sunday-school, which was organized by Mrs. Fred. P. Grow in 1860, and has since been conducted by her. She began the school with five scholars, who met in her room, while she was a boarder at the Glenwood Hotel. But the school rapidly increased in numbers and interest un- til larger accommodations were demanded and more teachers required. At one time there were more than one hundred attendants, but at present the number does not exceed fifty, who are instructed with unabated interest. The school was established in the face of considerable opposition and prejudice, but has since been recognized as a desirable moral force, and commands the support of the community.1 A former teacher in this school, Miss Carrie Hartley, was for two years a missionary in Madura, India. In the past few years the chapel has been improved by the addition of a spire, in which has been placed a fine bell, the gift of Thomas Dixon, of Scranton. William E. Dodge, of New York, presented valuable maps, and other friends have contributed to make the chapel more attractive. In addition to the meetings of the Methodists, Presbyterian services are occasionally held in the chapel, but no congregation has been or- ganized.

In other parts of the township Sabbath-schools were organized at an early day, one being conducted successfully by Obadiah Mills and family at his pri- vate house, while others were held in school-houses, and after the building of churches were transferred to these places.

In addition to the cemetery at the Baptist Church, near Centreville, there is a place of interinent east of Loomis Lake, on the old Carpenter farm, which is

kept up by the Titus, Loomis and Carpenter families, and is in good condition. In the northwestern part of the township a burial-place was started many years ago, in which were interred many members of the Tourgee and Gardner families. This ground was not appropriately selected, and is not receiving the care the resting-places of the dead deserve at the hands of the community in which they are located.

CHAPTER XLVII.

HARFORD TOWNSHIP.

NICHOLSON township was incorporated in August, 1795. It was then thirteen miles by twenty. The east line was on the boundary between Wayne and Susquehanna ; the north line was in part the north line of Harford. The section east of Harford was incorporated into a township called Clifford in 1886 (the northern portion of which became Gibson in 1813), and the section west of Martin's Creek having also been incorporated, "the inhabitants of Nine Partners, at a special meeting, chose a committee to petition the Court for a township, situate and lying between Martin's Creek and Clifford, extending six miles from north to south. This petition was pre- sented and the grant made nisi in November, 1807, and confirmed in January, 1808. Hosea Tiffany sug- gested Hartford as the name; Laban Capron said strike out the 't,' which was immediately agreed to by all." Harford township is in the southeast central part of the county. It is bounded on the north by New Milford, on the east by Gibson, on the south by Lenox, and on the west by Brooklyn. Martin's Creek, which forms the western boundary, drains the western part of the township, receiving the waters of East Mar- tin's Creek, which is the ontlet of the upper, middle and lower lakes in the northwestern part of the town- ship. The outlets of Tyler and Tingley Lakes unite in the village and form a little creek that flows into Partners' Creek, which flows south into the Tunk- hannock. Butler Creek is the outlet of Butler Lake, in the centre of Jackson township. It flows south- west through Burrowes' Hollow in Gibson ; thence southward through the eastern part of Harford, unit- ing with Partners' Creek, near the south line of the township. The surface of Harford is broken into hills and valleys, and the land is well strewn with stones, but the soil is fertile, and the mountain air and spring water are pure. The township was originally timbered with beech, maple, hemlock and pine.

1 NINE PARTNERS .- In the fall and winter of 1789

1 A man who had been greatly opposed to having his children attend the school, became convinced at last of the benefit they had derived from it. Aroused to a sense of gratitude, before leaving the place he resorted to Mrs. G. to express it, which he did by saying, "It's the d-dest best Sunday-school I ever see !"-Blackman.

1 Caleb Richardson, son of one of the original Nine Partners, wrote a history of the settlement, which he left to his grandson, Rev. Adam Miller, and Miss Blackman has followed this history substantially.

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several young men, afterwards its first settlers, were deliberating together in Attleborough, Mass., on the subject of cmigrating from the place of their nativity. Most of them were ummarried and unsettled, but several were married and proprietors of small farms. The difficulty of obtaining near home and from their own resources an adequate supply of land, urged them to seek ampler room in some new region and on cheaper soil. A company of nine concluded to enter upon the adventure in the spring. They were Hosea Tiffany, Caleb Richardson, Ezekiel Titus, Robert Follet, John Carpenter, Moses Thacher, Dan- iel Carpenter, Samuel Thacher and Josiah Carpenter. Messrs. Tiffany, Titus and Follet were married. Mr. Tiffany only was over thirty years of age; the others were mostly under twenty-five. They left Attlebor- ough by two different routes on the 27th and 29th of April, 1790, to meet at West Stockbridge; tlience they proceeded via Kinderhook to Albany, N. Y. Information was sought of the surveyor-general. He suggested Canajoharie, Herkimer and German Flats as inviting fields, or, if not suited there, Cherry Valley, or some towns soon to be surveyed west of the Unadilla. Reports of the sickliness of the other- wise most attractive portion of the Mohawk Valley induced them to turn aside from the river at Cana- joharie and proceed to Cherry Valley. Here they were strongly inclined to settle. But, visiting Wil- liam Cooper at the outlet of Otsego Lake, they were invited to pass down the Susquehanna in a boat with him in a few days, free of expense, to vicw lands of which he had the agency, lying about one hundred miles south. To this southerly movement consent was given the more readily in hope of finding the climate warmer, as a settler at Cherry Valley had stated that during five years of his residence there, not a month had passed without frost. Passing down the river, they arrived at the Great Bend May 16th. Here they found a few families, with whom they remained the next day, which was the Sabbath, and attended worship. On Monday, with Mr. Cooper, surveyor and others, they proceeded into the wilder- ness in a southern direction. On Tuesday, the 19th, they reached the Beaver Meadow, and having found a good spring, they erected a bark cabin and en- camped. This was the first dwelling erccted and occupied by a white man. (The first log house was afterwards built under the hill, between the house of Captain Asahel Sweet and the village.) The emi- grants found snow, on their way from Massachusetts, one and a half feet deep, and on their arrival in Penn- sylvania the trees were in full leaf, and the ground covered nearly everywhere with leeks or wild onions. The Ninc Partners' settlement is in a valley having the appearance of being sheltered, and probably before the forests were cleared it was moreslichtered than now. It is certain that the pioneers here supposed they were locating in a much warmer country than the Mohawk Valley. They, doubtless, lived long enough

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to be undeceived. After some days had been spent in viewing the vicinity, a tract four miles long and one mile wide was purchased for £1198. By a sub- sequent arrangement with Mr. Drinker, the landholder, their joint obligation for the wholesale purchase was canceled, and each individual became responsi- ble for his own possessions. The corner of the tract was near the spring mentioned ; thence a line ran northwest one mile, and thence four miles northeast, The centre of a parallelogram with these sides would fall a short distance southwest of the Congregational Church in Harford village. The writings were drawn and signed on a hemlock stump, May 22, 1790.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 140

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