Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 165

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 165

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On the road leading from the Harmony road, near Bushnell's, to Jackson, the first settler on that road was Shubael Williams, who came in 1812 and cleared up the farm now owned by Sylvester King and Eli H. Bloxham. He and his wife were constituent mem- bers of tlie Congregational Church and good substan- tial citizens. He was a regular attendant at church, and, after residing fifty-five years on the same place, died at the age of eighty-four, in 1867. His widow died in 1871, being the last of the constituent meni- bers of the Congregational Church, They raised a large family of children, viz.,-Gilbert, resided on part of the homestead for a number of years and then re- moved to New Milford, where he died (he was a good, substantial man) ; Samuel, resided here many years and was justice of the peace, removed to Susquehanna, where he died; Lovina, wife of David Avery, who was a liberal man in society ; Lucretia, wife of N. J. West ; Sherman, lived and died here; Ralph, died in the army ; Oliver, moved to Minnesota. Obadiah L. Carpenter settled on this road about 1832. He cleared up a good farm, now occupied by J. N. Sartell and S. C. Avcry.

One of the earliest cross-roads open to travel was the road intersecting the Harmony road near the Presbyterian Church. Nathaniel West was the first settler on that road, on the farm now occupied by his son, N. J. West. The next farm was settled about 1812, by Whipple Tarbox, a brother-in-law of Nathan- iel West. The farm is now owned by Abner B. Avery and Mrs. J. L. Doyle. The next place ad-

S.C. Avery

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joining this, on the west, was settled by Merritt Hine, and is now owned by E. W. Warner. Augus- tus West settled opposite Warner's, where Mrs. B. H. Dix now lives. Following the road from A. B. Avery's, the first farm is owned by Chauncey Avery, having been previously occupied by his grandfather, John Avery. The next and last place in town was settled by Mr. Griggs, afterwards owned by Knight Stone, who came from Abington in 1867, and leaves a family of eleven children. His wife was Fidelia P. Clark, and their children are Mary E., wife of Wm. O. Doyle ; Alvira, wife of Lemuel Potter, of Glenwood ; Noel, resides in New York ; Charles E .; Fernando C .; Albert W. and Nicholas, are enterprising farmers in the township ; Cenora and Alzada, daugh- ters, and Rancelo and Urban E., sons, are unmarried.

SAMUEL CLARK AVERY .- His paternal grand- father, John Avery (1774-1844), resided at Laurens, Otsego County, N. Y. He settled in Ararat about 1826, where his grandson, Chauncey, now resides, in the western part of the township, on a farm partly cleared, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a man of correct habits, genial and social, and in early life a class-leader in the Methodist Church. He was a great reader of the Bible, and a man of integrity in all the relations of life. His wife was Eleanor Griffith, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1772-1840), who bore him the fol- lowing children : (1) David (1796-1872), born in Lau- rens, came to Ararat in 1814, cleared up the farm now owned by his son, Eli L Avery. His first wife, Lucinda Carpenter (1791-1840), he married after coming here, by whom he had one daughter, Han- nah, who married, first, George Brush. For upwards of fifty years he was connected with the Congrega- tional Church of Ararat. His second wife was Lo- vina, a daughter of Shubael Williams, of Ararat, who bore him children,-Olive, Susanna, Ada, Ruby, Lo- demia, Eli L. and Albert. (2) Polly, died at six. (3) Samuel (1799-1870), married Dorcas Hopkins (1801- 75), a native of Rhode Island, was a farmer and re- sided and died on the farm in Ararat, where his son, A. B. Avery, now resides. Their children are Chaun - cey, born in 1823, a farmer on the old homestead of his grandfather; Eleanor, 1825, first the wife of Oli- ver Williams, and second the wife of Charles Hop- kins, both of Minnesota ; Abner B., a farmer, on the homestead of his father ; Susanna, died at nineteen ; David, resides in Ararat; Angeline (1833-69), mar- ried Theodore Doyle, of Ararat, and died here; Samuel Clark, born August 25, 1834; George, a farmer in Ararat : Thomas, resides in Burnwood ; Eliza, wife of Norman M. Stone, of Thomson. (4) Sally, became the wife of a Mr. Briggs, of Connecti- cut. (5) Gardner, married Julia Doyle,-children, Rodney, Truman, Viola. (6) Evelina, married John Green, of Otsego County, and, after his death, Wil- liam Alexander, of the same county. (7) Mary, the wife of Ira Tripp, died in Buffalo. (8) John, resided

in Ararat and died in Illinois. (9) Daniel, of Ararat. (10) Lydia Ann, 1817, the widow of Justin L. Doyle (1803-76), a farmer in Ararat. (11) And Ann Eliza, wife of Henry Earnthousen, of Toledo, Ohio.

Samuel Clark Avery was born on the homestead in Ararat, and had the usual opportunities of the school in the neighborhood in boyhood. He learned farm- ing, and knew what hard work was during his minor- ity, and was impressed with the great lesson that industry and economy, guided by a sound judgment, lead to financial success. At the age of twenty he began working by the month, and continued in ser- vice farming and lumbering for five years. In 1857 he bought a part of the Shubael Williams farm, where he began keeping house in 1859, after his marriage to Sarah Jane Taylor, who was born in Gibson December 11, 1838. He was drafted in No- vember, 1862, and served in Company E, One Hun- dred and Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania Infantry, doing mostly picket duty at Suffolk, Deep Creek and Newport News, Va., and near Harper's Ferry, until he was mustered out, in August, 1863. He was again drafted in 1864, but the quota was filled by bounty- money raised by the township, and he did not go. In 1864 he bought his present farm, a part of the O. L. Carpenter place, then under a poor state of cultiva- tion. He erected on this property his present com- modious barn in 1876, and his elegant and fine farm residence in 1877, both of which will vie with any farm buildings in the county. Mr. Avery is an industrious, intelligent and thorough-going farmer, and all the appointments of his place bespeak the handiwork of a thorough agriculturist. He has given his attention mostly to dairying and horse raising.

The political affiliation of the family has been generally with the Whig and Republican parties, but Mr. Avery is a member of the Democratic party, and has served his township as assessor, auditor. constable and collector for four terms. Both himself and wife have been interested in church work, and liberal con- tributors to church and charitable purposes, and for over ten years he served as chorister. His wife was organist and Sunday-school teacher and is a member of the Free-Will Baptist Church. Three of his broth- ers, George, David and Thomas, served in the late war. One cousin, Eli L. Avery, and three of his brothers-in-law, John F., Charles and Freeman Tay- lor, also served in the late Rebellion.

Sarah Jane Taylor was the daughter of William (1811-86) and Mary (Kelly) Taylor, farmers who resided on East Mountain, in Gibson, where they reared their children,-John F., a contractor, resides near Scranton; Sarah Jane (Mrs. S. C. Avery) ; Charles, a farmer in Herrick; Josiah, succeeded to the homestead of his father, in Gibson, served in the construction corps of the late war; Freeman F., a railroad contractor and ranchman of Colorado City ; Leslie D., a mechanic at Peoria, Kan .; Leroy Eu-

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

gene, overseer of the coal-breaker at Wenton, Lacka- wanna County ; Lafayette, of Raridan, Ohio, a lum- berman ; William K. and Volney E., mechanics of Ottawa, Kan. This William Taylor was the son of Amos and Dolly (Starks) Taylor, who resided about one mile below Smiley on the west si le of the Tunk. hannock, and settled there soon after 1800. Amos was the son of David and Mercy Taylor, who settled at Smiley about 1804 and built a hotel, which was then one of three frame houses in Gibson. They removed to Great Bend township in 1814, and settled at Taylortown, named for them. For a further account of the Taylors see Taylor sketch in Lanes- boro' history.

' On the road leading from the John Tyler place to Gibson the first settler, Truman Clinton, located in 1810. David Avery subsequently added to this im- provement and made the farm now owned by his son, E. L. Avery. John Doyle came about 1816 and settled on the next place below. His wife was a sister of John Snow. His sons were Thomas L., Justin L. and John, and his daughters were Mary, Fanny, Julia and Abby. John the elder and John the younger moved to Illinois. This Doyle farm became the home of Chester Scarborough for many years, and is now occupied by his grandson, Danford Hines. Thomas Burman settled on the cross-road towards Barnes' Corners, where his son Danford now resides. On the opposite side of the way, next beyond, is where Wareham B. Walker commenced in 1814. He had been in the War of 1812 and came here and cleared up the farm where Thomas and Abram Bosket now reside. Walker's son, Danford S., resides in Gibson. Chauncy Barnes made most of the im- provements on the next farm, which is just on the edge of Gibson and now occupied by his son, Rufus Barnes, Esq. Following up the road from Barnes' to Walker School-house, No. 5, the first place was settled by Thomas Snow, about 1830, now owned by George Knight. Gardner Avery settled where George Burman lives. Thomas L. Doyle settled where Joseph Dunn lives. D. S. Walker began where George Carey lives. William H. Barnes resides where Aaron Elliott began about 1830. On the Fiddle Lake and Smiley Hollow road, where H. Cochran resides, Lyman Washburn began and cleared up the place. This road terminates at C. F. Stone's, on the new part of the road opened by the Wilkes-Barre Turnpike Company. C. F. Stone owns the place settled by Parley Walker after the road was opened. The next place south was settled by Don. A. Walker and the next by Alonzo Walker; both are now owned by George W. Entrot. The next and last farin south in the township was settled by Tompkins Walker and now belongs to the estate of James H. Smith, of Sus- quehanna, and occupied by Stephen Washburn. The next place was settled by Seba Boyle, in 1847. His son, George, resides on part of the farm. Joseph Washburn, second, commenced at the outlet of Fiddle

Lake, on the place now owned by D. C. Roberts. William Archer was born in England and came to Ararat in 1842 and settled at the end of the road and cleared up a farm, now owned by Theodore F. Archer. The other children are Henry, William, Thomas, Andrew, George and Matilda. Wilson Stone and Enos Dow settled on the cross-road leading from the Tyler farm to the Summit, now owned by William Thorn. On the road leading from the Pres- byterian Church to Dunn's Pond was the original line between Herrick and Thomson. John Snow made the first settlement about 1816, where he died in 1851. He came as a hired man for Joshua Clark, in 1810. He was something of a politician and was useful to Charles Chandler and others, and for his services received a number of mail routes and was the first mail-carrier on the Tunkhannock route. It was through his instrumentality that some of the early settlers were induced to come here. He was generous and had a good many good traits. He had sons-Almon and Loren. His daughter Eliza was the wife of William Carpenter. Laura was the wife of Dr. Loomis, of Harford, Silas S. and Edwin L. Baldwin commenced on the next farm, about 1818, where they remained during their lives. S. A. Bald- win began where Harley Hobb occupies. Eneas Hine succeeded S. Baldwin on that place. Mike Rector and Phebc Wood commenced on the farm now owned by A. Hobbs, about 1824. After serving a term in jail he returned, and Rector and Phebe were lost to history. Homer Payne made improvements where J. B. Bloxham resides. Between Baldwin's and Rector's Peter Carlin commenced where Latham lives, Rolla Carpenter where William Carpenter resides, and Almon Snow built a log-house where L. L. Snow, the youngest of John Snow's children, resides. The farm now occupied by W. J. Hobbs was the home of William Dunn. Simeon Tyler and Ly- man Tyler were early settlers in the Simonds neigh- borhood. A son of T. J. Lewis resides on one of these farms. Abel P. Borden came from Delaware County to Ararat and bought the Ballard improve- ment, and made most of the improvements on that place. Francis Marion Borden married a daughter of Peter Dunn and has charge of the farm. Manly, Albert and William are carpenters. William Hatha- way commenced where Charles Van Meter lives. Robert Kay came about the time Borden did. John Cotrell came about 1845 and settled near Cotrell's Cut. He had two sons, Francis and Arnold, that settled here. Frank Slocum settled near them after- wards. Philip, one of his sons, resides in the township.

Upon the road leading from the Wrighter school- house to Burnwood, Sabin B. Tucker moved from Herrrick on to this road about 1844, and cleared up the place where he and his sons Edwin and Asa reside. William Belcher and James Tew commenced on the farm now owned by Rollo Carpenter. V. O. Lake began where he resides. On the road from Sabin

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Tucker's to John Beaumont's place, the first farm was settled by Andrew Glover ; now owned by L. Carpen- ter. The next place was settled by J. N. Sartell ; now occupied by G. W. Gelatt. The farm known as the Rev. N. P. Sartell Farm is now owned by Silas N. Sar- tell. Elias Jenkins lived on this place prior to Sartell. P. T. Baldwin began, lived and died in a log house now owned by J. W. Beaumont. The next place was known as the Henry S. Drinker lot; now occupied by V. O. Stearns, Mrs. L. A. Doyle, including the depot, was taken up by Ebenzer Bushnell, son of Hezekiah, who built a frame house on the land. Jacob Moore bought the property, and built a log house near the house of V. O. Stearns. Daniel Avery, Edmond L. Worth, and William Bosket built houses and made improvements in the vicinity. The Ararat Depot, V. O. Stearn's store, Barton's Hotel and other buildings are upon this H. S. Drinker tract. On the road to Thomson from School-house No. 3, John Beaumont settled on the place now occupied by his widow. The last place before reaching the township line, now occupied by George Avery, was first settled by Enos Dow. William Sumner came from Oxford- shire, England, into the edge of Thomson in 1846, and bought an improvement of Benjamin Boothroyd, and cleared up the place where hisson John lives. Mr. Sum- ner lived to be eighty-six. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and John, his son and succes- sor, is an elder in the same.

Travelers on the Harmony road discovered that its route along the brow of the hill to the headwaters of the Tunkhannock Creek was nearly level, and that a much shorter and better graded road to the Susque. hanna River could here be obtained than that used by the Great Bend and Cochecton turnpike, which crossed the Tunkhannock ravine and several lesser chasms, and by a circuitous and mountainous way through Gibson, Harford and New Milford reached the Susquehanna at Great Bend. Enterprising men at both ends of the route became enthusiastic in its advocacy, but Deacon Tyler, agent for the Drinkers, through whose land the road must pass, strenuously opposed the road, and, being the leading man along the route, defeated the project. One of his New Eng- land neighbors, after exhausting arguments pro bono publico, appealed to his private interest by saying : " It would double the value of your property." He tartly replied " what do I care for that ? I don't want to sell it." He lived and died in his chosen seclusion from a great thoroughfore. In 1836-37, when Asa Dimock was in the legislature, a charter was granted to Gould Phinny, of Dundaff, Mr. Berry, who lived south of Dundaff, and Warren Dimock, of Herrick, to build a turnpike road twenty feet between ditches, to intersect the Newburg turnpike at Warren Dimock's tavern thence through Ararat thesettlement to intersect the Belmont and Onaquaga turnpike at or near Jonas Blandin's hotel in Thomson. This was to be a divis- ion of the Wilkesbarre turnpike, and upon this eight

miles the corporation obtained a grant of one thousand two hundred dollars from the State. The proposed object of this corporation was to establish a direct stage and mail communication between Wilkesbarre, on the Susquehanna and Deposit, on the Delaware, passing through Hyde Park, Providence, Dundaff, Herrick, Ararat, Thomson and Starrucca. Warren Dimock was surveyor, and put nearly all of it under contract for building. Warren Dimock's tavern was half a mile east of the Harmony road, and practically the centre of Herrick township. Here was their post- office and place of holding elections. From here the new turnpike passed through three miles of dense unbroken forests before coming upon the line of the Harmony road near where Ararat School-house, No. 5, stands; thence in the clearing of Ezra Walker; thence following the Harmony road about two miles ; thence to Thomson by the road now traveled. War- ren Dimock contracted to build the first mile, David Avery the second and Ezra Walker the third. Through the settlement, Jabez Tyler built one-half mile, David Hine and Nathaniel West another half- mile, Hezekiah Bushnell one-half mile, while some others toward Thomson did a little work on their contracts. They were to take stock for pay, excepting those who built through the woods, and they were paid in stock and money. Avery and Walker built their road in good shape, but Dimock only about two. thirds completed his, and being one of the commission- ers he could not crowd the others. The project failed as a turnpike, but was beneficial to the township in start- ing a road which has since become a public highway. Since the forests have been cleared away people have almost forgotton how dark and dreary Dimock woods used to be. About 1843-44 a horse-mail was estab- lished along this route. Nathaniel West was appointed postmaster of the " Western " post-office, but he was one-half mile off of the road, and after a few calls the mail-carrier refused to go to the office, and the mail- route was abandoned. Ararat post-office was estab- lished June 14, 1852, with Albert Bushnell as first postmaster. He had the office at his house, on the corner near the church. His successors have been Gur- ry O. Baldwin, 1856; William W. Stearns, 1857 ; Rolla Carpenter, 1865 ; James E. Payne, who had the post- office at his store, and was succeeded by his wife, Mary C. Payne, in 1872. Josiah Barton was appointed in 1886, and moved the office to N. A. Walker's store at the railroad station. Burnwood post-office was established June 23, 1884, with Stanley E. Dunn postmaster. Charles Ross, his assistant, has the office at his store.

Deacon John Tyler came from Attleboro', Mass., and first settled in Harford. Henry Drinker wanted, a settlement made on his lands and gave Mr. Tyler one thousand acres of land, and in connection with his son Joab, the agency for the sale of more land if he would make a settlement in the wilderness. Mr. Tyler came from Harford to Captain Potter's tavern, where

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Stephen Potter now lives, and from there by bridle-path, to Ararat in 1810, where he erected a frame house a few rods north of the present house on what is now the Graham farmn. His son Jabez came with him, and settled about one-half mile south of his father, and after his father died he succeeded to the home- stead. He sold the south farm to Amasa Herrick and made further improvements on the homestead, including the dwelling-house now owned by John Graham. His position in the township was that of a leading man. He was passive and conservative, and held his position without being aggressive. He was inarried in 1811 to Harriet Wadsworth, who died in 1820, leaving two children-Royal, who lives below Susquehanna, and Harriet, who was the wife of Al- bert Bushnell. Mr. Tyler's second wife, Mary R. Kingsbury, was the mother of three sons-Williston K., now dead ; Ebenezer D., who resides in Binghamn-' ton ; aud Julius, the youngest, who resides in the township. Mrs. Tyler was born in Vermont December 29, 1794, and is ninety-two years of age. She says : " I was sixteen when father moved to Harford, and was the first pastor of the Harford church. In 1812, when I was seventeen, they set me to teaching. I taught a number of terms in Harford, also two terms in Franklin. I knew the Smiths in that township, and their children came to school to me. Polly Car- penter, Nancy Sweet and Sarah Fisher were school- teachers at that time. Miss Fisher was older, and I think the first teacher in Harford. My brother and sister taught also. We were not examined, but were hired by a school committee, consisting of two per- sons from each district. They had four and five months school in summer and three months in winter. Men teachers were generally employed in winter. They paid us one dollar per week, and we boarded around. My father moved into a log-house, and it seemed pretty hard. I have lived in this same place fifty-seven years. It was a wilderness when we came here. We had a great deal of venison. One day Dunn's sons killed seven deer, and Mr. Dunn came here with some of the venison. I have had a busy life, but was never as strong as some women, and could not work out doors as some did. Mother Mercy Tyler could work out doors, and she was the only doctor in this part of the country. She was called from Stockport, on the Delaware, to the Wyalusing, and rode on horse-back by bridle-path to see her pa- tients. She was a great reader, and was eighty-thrce years old when she died. Her strong frame gave way after she was eighty, and she was completely broken down after that. I saw forty fallows burning one clear day. Stores were scarce, and they kept tea, coffee, rice and some other groceries, also a few dry- goods, but we did not have much money to buy with. In the time of the war of 1812 with England I was teaching, and paid one dollar per yard for calico, and it was like strainer cloth. We would not call it worth anything now, and when calico became worth cightcen

pence and twenty-five cents per yard we thought it was pretty cheap. The lumbermen took pine lumber to Philadelphia, and we sold them hay, butter, cheese and pork, and got some money that way. We manufactured .our own cloth largely and spun our candlewick and made candles. Times have changed greatly in sixty-three years, and it seems as though people might live easier now, but I think they work just as hard. They do more unnecessary work. I remember when Gen. Washington died ; I was five years old that month ; also when Bonaparte was ris- ing. Party spirit ran high during the war of 1812, the States that bordered on the line traded with Can - ada, and did not like the embargo laid by the general government. I remember well when the first steam- boat was started. After we came here we took the Gleaner, a newspaper published at Wilkes-Barre, and it was not much larger than a sheet of foolscap ; then we took the Montrose papers. When I think of the advantages people have now I wonder we were not all fools. We went four miles away to Kennedy Hill for mail. Then one was as good as another ; we nearly all lived in log houses alike. Harford fur- nished most of the early teachers, and they were nearly all singers. They most always had singing- schools in connection with their day-schools. My husband brought the first stove here in 1830, and it caused quite a sensation among the neighbors. It had an oven over the fire-place and two places for kettles, one each side of the oven. There was iron enough about it, and when we had a hot fire it would burn things up in the oven."

Mrs. Tyler united with the Congregational Church at Harford in 1820, and with the Ararat Church in 1826 by letter. She is well preserved, cheerful and contented, and feels that she is nearing the brink of that dark river that all mortals must cross, but, wheth- er living or dying, she says she knows it will be well with her.

1Hezekiah Bushnell was born in Lebanon, Conn. in 1782, and married Lucy Tiffany in 1804. He spent his youth with his grandfather, Ebenezer, who gave him a good common school education. After his marriage, he rented his grandfather's farm and remained on it until the latter died. In 1810 he emi- grated to the wilds of Pennsylvania and settled upon the farm now (1887) occupied by his youngest son, J. C. Bushnell. He was a man of positive convic- tions, and inclined to hold others to the same strict accountability as he imposed upon himself. He firmly held to the rule that repentance and restitution were prerequisites of forgiveness, and squared his own errors by that rule. He assumed his full share of the responsibilities incumbent upon a citizen,

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 165

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