Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 22

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 22

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After leaving the Spectator Mr. Worden pub- lished the Athens Scribe, in Athens, Bradford County, afterwards the Wyoming Record, in Tunkhannock, Wyoming County, Pa. But that which gave him monumental reputation was in editing and publishing the Lewisburg Chronicle some twenty years, and the prominent, if not leading, part in the establishment of the school at that place, from which many young men are prepared for the ministry, graduating yearly to fill vacant places and to enter upon destitute fields, becoming workmen " that need- eth not to be ashamed."

In 1867 his worthy wife, whom he married in 1844, in Athens, died, leaving him a lonely, childless widower. In due time he went to home with his only sister, Mrs. Martha Gilles- pie, in New Milford.

In December, 1838, he united, on profession of faith, with the Baptist Church at Montrose, and those who knew him can testify to his godly life, and that the sentiments, as above avowed, were with him a law in all after-life. It was

1 Independent Republican.

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his meat and drink to do good, to show by ex- ample and practice an accord with his profes- sion, to be an example of using the good things of life as not abusing them, and of entire absti- nenee from evil and hurtful things.

In every respect Mr. Worden was a remark- able man. Seeming to know but little, yet he knew much. Seeming to have but few acquaint- ances, yet, so to speak, knew everybody. So far from being a man of " one idea," he was rather a living, walking encyclopædia. It was said of him in an assembly, when he was re- ferred to for authority, " what Mr. Worden don't know is hardly worth an inquiry."

He took a deep interest in the preparation of Miss E. C. Blackman's excellent " History of Susquehanna County," and in its final success, reproduced by research many interesting rem- iniseences, published histories of Baptist Churches existing and extinct, wrote much be- side for the public eye, historieal, biographical, religious and political.

The National Record was started as a Green- back paper, by Northrop, Williams & Bunnell, in November, 1881. It was a nine-column folio. When Bunnell and Winthrop retired from the management Dr. Potter took their place, and the naine was changed to Weekly Messenger. The office was burned January 17, 1883, and the paper was never re-established.

Stephen J. Northrop started the Sentinel in May, 1883, as a Prohibition paper. It was issued monthly as a four-column folio. It was issued weekly in January, 1884, and had a cir- culation of about five hundred copies. In May, 1884, it was enlarged to a four-column quarto.

The Chronicle was established at Montrose in August, 1884, as a Republican paper, by H. W. B. Hewen and others. In August, 1885, the man- agement was turned over to E. T. Sweet. Oc- tober 1, 1886, Mr. Northrop bought the Chron- icle and merged it in the Sentinel, increasing its size to a six-column quarto.

S. J. NORTHROP was born in Bridgewater May 22, 1832. He prepared for college at Harford Academy, and was graduated from the Classical Department of Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, in 1861. After he came home he engaged in the nursery business in Jackson

township for ten years. In 1881 he came to Montrose, and has been connected with the National Record and Sentinel while here.

THE "NEW MILFORD ADVERTISER."-This newspaper was started as a weekly local by Messrs. C. S. Vail and L. S. Brown on January 1, 1880. The idea of such a publication in this place was first entertained by Mr. Vail as early as 1875, when he was a young man only nine- teen years of age. He knew nothing of the trade at that time, having been inside of a print- ing-office only a few times in his life; but he foresaw an opening there for a good periodical, and resolved to sometime start such an enter- prise. But such an undertaking would require a large amount of money, and he had no capital. He laid his plans, however, and, beginning at the bottom round of the ladder, resolutely com- menced to work his way up.

Securing a job of shoveling in Smith's sand bank, he earned fifteen dollars, which he sent to Boston and purchased his first press and outfit. It was a small beginning, but he learned his first lessons in the art with it, and while he learned the rudimentary features he labored faitlifully for his next step. Adding to his capital from time to time, he was at length able to purchase a one hun- dred and thirty-five dollar press, and on April 1, 1879, he issued the first number of the New Milford Advertiser. It was a neat pamphlet, con- taining original reminiscences and local history, and a number of local advertisements. He was assisted in the work by O. N. Worden, a ready newspaper writer and printer of much experi- ence. One thousand copics were issued and distributed free.

It was intended at the time to issue the paper quarterly, but a better plan prevailed. He now had three hundred dollars, and L. S. Brown, who had learned the printer's trade in the Northern Pennsylvanian office a short time pre- vious, had the same amount. Vail and Brown now entered into partnership. Vail afterwards added two hundred dollars more, and with a capital of about eight hundred dollars the busi- ness commeneed. The first regular issue of the weekly Advertiser was issued in January, 1880. It was a six-column folio of fair size, wholly printed and published by themselves in a snug

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

little office which had been hurriedly constructed just back of the graded school building.

In April following, G. C. Howell, a young man of much promise, came in with them to learn the trade. Success attended their efforts, and in July, 1880, the paper was enlarged to seven columns. On January 1, 1882, Vail & Brown dissolved partnership, and C. S. Vail became sole proprietor. The paper was now enlarged to eight pages of six columns each. Mr. Vail continued the business for one year, and then sold the office to James S. Hayden and G. C. Howell. Mr. Vail went to Colorado, and Hay- den & Howell continned the business until August 11, 1885. At that time Mr. Vail, who had returned from the West, re-purchased Mr. Hayden's interest, and since then the business has been conducted by Vail & Howell.

On January 1, 1886, over two thousand dol- lars' worth of new material was added, including a new twelve hundred dollar Campbell press, and on February 15th following, the office was moved to more commodious quarters in the Advertiser block, corner of Main and Depot Streets. In May, 1886, a new steam-engine was purchased, and it became a steam printing es- tablishment.

Messrs. Vail & Howell are men of sterling qualities and untiring energy, and they are giv- ing the best efforts of their lives to produce a model home newspaper. On September 13, 1886, they issued an edition of seven thousand copies, containing twenty-four pages cach. The production of this number required an immense amount of labor and expense for a local publi- cation to undertake, including a large force of printers and laborers in the office, an agent for securing advertising matter, and a traveling reporter who traveled over one hundred and fifty miles to obtain local history, biography and original matter.

As a newspaper the New Milford Advertiser has been eminently successful. From a very minute commencement it has been built up by pluck and energy until it has become a first- class printing-office. Created and carried on with enterprise and ability, its merits liave been recognized by the reading public, and it has never lacked appreciation and support.

SUSQUEHANNA'S NEWSPAPERS. - Susque- nanna's first newspaper, the Northern Pennsyl- vanian, was founded by M. H. C. Vail in 1858. It was a seven-column folio, neutral as regarded politics, and was edited and published by Mr. Vail for about two and a half years. In the eight and one-half years next ensuing it was owned and edited in succession by L. P. Hinds, Esq., W. J. Hunter, P. H. Rafter, E. A. Benedict and N. B. Chase. The last-named gentleman, the only one of the number now living, removed the office, in the spring of 1868, to Great Bend. There the paper was pub- lished under the same name, although with several different proprietors, for a few years, when it was removed to New Milford, and in 1871 the publication was then finally discon- tinued.

In May, 1869, W. H. Gardner, of Homer, N. Y., started the Susquehanna Journal, a seven- column folio, and conducted the same until September, 1871, when B. F. Pride, of Union, N. Y., the present editor and proprietor, pur- chased the establishment. The Journal had, up to that date, received a very limited support, and it had come to be generally understood that a newspaper could not live in Susque- hanna, seven different gentlemen having tried the experiment, and each with very indifferent results, within the preceding twelve years. Mr. Pride, although a young man, took the paper under very discouraging circumstances, and by hard work and close application succeeded in building up a good paying business. The paper was, as it always has been during his management, independent in all things. It was from time to time enlarged and improved, until it has grown from a poorly-patronized seven- column paper to a ten-page, sixty-column paper, the largest in Susquehanna County, and one of the most extensively circulated. Mr. Pride, at the age of thirty-four years, enjoys the distinction of being the oldest newspaper publisher in the county, having continuously occupied the editorial chair of the Journal for nearly sixteen years. During this time (in June, 1874) the office was destroyed by fire, and was almost a total loss to the owner, but in two weeks thereafter it was again issued, and

Jamu Tabul aris

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has appeared regularly every Saturday morning up to the present time.

The Gazette .- In February, 1874, Messrs. C. E. Whitney and B. C. Kidder, with the mate- rial of the defunct Northern Pennsylvanian, which was removed from New Milford to this place, started the Susquehanna Gazette, an eight- column folio, neutral in politics. This paper passed in turn into the hands of C. E. Whitney, E. W. Rogers & Son. Dunlea & Brosnan, and was finally destroyed by fire with the Cook block, in which it was located, in February, 1883, and the publication discontinued.

The Transcript .- In May, 1883, F. A. Miller started the Susquehanna Transcript, a six- column quarto, Democratic in politics, and pub- lished the same until February, 1886, when he sold the paper to Jas. Clark, Jr., of Den- ver, Col., the present publisher. The publica- tion of the Daily Transcript, a twenty-four- column folio paper, was begun in August, 1886, and is issued at the present time from the same office.

Great Bend Plaindealer .- In 1867 L. Hib- bert Whittlesy who had been publishing the Northern Pennsylvanian at Susquehanna, re- moved the press and type to Great Bend and started the Northern Pennsylvanian here. S. B. Chase was a part owner at first. After Whit- lesy died John R. Gaylord succeeded him as publisher. A. E. Benedict next had the paper (now called The Plaindealer). In the fall of 1880 C. L. Noble and S. P. Moore bought the establishment and conducted a five-column folio paper, independent in politics, until 1884, when Mr. Moore bought Noble's interest, and May 1, 1886, he doubled the size of the paper by making it a five-column quarto, making the entire size twenty-six by forty inches. James T. Du Bois is part owner of the paper at present.

JAMES T. DU BOIS was born in Great Bend Village, Susquehanna County, on the 17th day of April, 1851. At the age of thirteen he entered the printing-office of the Northern Pennsylvanian, published in Great Bend Bor- ough by L. H. Whittlesey, and learned the trade. At the completion of the apprenticeship he studied at the Ithaca Academy, from which institution he graduated with honors in 1870.

In 1871 he went to Washington, D. C., for the purpose of studying law at the Columbia Uni- versity. During the second year of his course he was offered the position of assistant editor of the National Republican, a journal then known as the organ of the Grant administration. He filled this position for two years, and was pro- moted to the editorship of that paper, which place he held until the summer of 1877, when he resigned, and was sent by President Hayes as United States commercial agent to Aix-la- Chapelle, Germany. In 1881 he was promoted to be consul at the same place. President Arthur, in the fall of 1883, appointed him to the responsible and lucrative consulate at Cal- lao, Peru, but for personal reasons he did not care to accept this position, and was subse- quently transferred to the important consulate at Leipsic, Saxony, which post he occupied until January, 1886, when he voluntarily resigned. The following is the letter of the Assistant Sec- retary of State, accepting his resignation :

"DEPARTMENT OF STATE, - WASHINGTON, January 14, 1886. 5 " JAMES T. DU BOIS, EsQ., Consul of the United States at Leipsic.

"Sir :- I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 2d instant, tendering your resignation of the office of consul of the United States at Leipsic, and in reply to inform you that the same is accepted, to take effect on this date.

"I take this occasion to express the Department's appreciation of the zeal and fidelity you have dis- played in the performance of the duties connected with the offices you have held under it, and to assure you that your retirement from the consular service is recognized as the loss of a faithful and efficient officer.

"I am, sir, your obedient servant, "JAS. D. PORTER, " Assistant Secretary."

While abroad Mr. Du Bois studied thoroughly the German and French languages, and spent what leisure time he had in literary pursuits. While stationed at Aix-la-Chapelle he wrote two volumes entitled " An Hour with Charle- magne" and "In and About Aix-la-chapelle." The following is an extract from a letter written by Postmaster-General Vilas concerning the former :

"I sat down with the great Charles last evening and was so interested by your presentation that I ceased only with its close, Your sketch is delightful.

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

It lifts the splendid story out of the darkness and shows what a wonderful creation and creator a great man is. Had Bacon's philosophy then been known, modern civilization would have dated with Charle- magne.

" May I also be allowed to commend the rich and flowing style in which you bear your readers bliss- fully ? I shall hope to enjoy other products of so deft a pen."

Mr. Du Bois is at present connected with the editorial staff of the National Republican, pub- lished at Washington, D. C., and he has charge of the Consular Edition of that journal. He spends his winters in Washington and his sum- mers at Hallstead, in this county, where he is interested in the publication of the Plaindealer and also in farming. He is the proprietor of " Spring Farm," a tract of land beautifully sit- uated on the banks of the picturesque Susque- hanna River, which has been in the possession of the family for about one century. On this farm is situated the mountain " Manotonome," from the summit of which may be obtained some of the most interesting and commanding views to be found in the State. Mr. Du Bois has constructed several miles of foot and road- ways about this mountain, and it has become a favorite resort for the people.

In December, 1883, while consul at Leipsic, Mr. Du Bois married Emma, the only child of Henry Pastor, Esq., of Aix-la-chapelle. They have two sons.

CHAPTER XI.

AUTHORS.

"1 ON the authority of the late Hon. Charles Miner, a 'New Yankee Song,' dated Auburn Village, July 23, 1803, was the earliest product of the Susquehanna County muse, and his 'old and worthy friend, Charles Mowry, was the writer.' He lived not far from Elk Lake, and possibly from the name he gave to his location the township of Auburn received its name. The song had reference to the Intrusion Law, and began thus :

" A cruel law is made, boys,

Which much our peace and wealth destroys- A cruel law is made, boys,

To frighten and distress us ;

But if we firm together join, Supported by a power Divine,

· Our Yankee cause shall not decline, Nor shall it long oppress us.

" In the seven remaining stanzas reference is made to Colonels John Franklin and John Jenkins as those foremost in 'the cause.' It will be remembered that, though these sturdy champions of Yankee rights resided in the vicinity of Athens, this section as well as that were alike in the disputed territory claimed at the same time by Connecticut and Pennsylvania. " Dr. Israel Skinner, of Oakland (then Har- mony), published at an early day a history of the American Revolution in verse, a part of which is quoted by Mr. Miner in his ' History of Wyoming.'

" Dr. R. H. Rose published a volume of fifty- six poems, or, as he termed them, 'Sketches in Verse,' about 1820. It was a handsomely- bound octavo, designed for private circulation only, and but one or two copies can now be found in the county. In this volume his many quotations from the Latin, French and Italian show his familiarity with various languages and authors. Many of the sketches were love-dit- ties, and professed imitations of a race of bards no longer greatly admired. There were also prose versions from the Arabic poets, turned into rhyme. An exception to the foregoing is found in his 'Instructions to Manufacturers,' in which is seen the gleam of the wit and raillery of which he is said to have been fond. He could, at least, follow his own 'Instructions' :

"What ! you would write a, sonnet !- sit you down, And take your pen, no matter for the theme, So it be dull and sad-a waking dream ; And, careless of the peevish muse's frown, Run stanza into stanza. Break your lines And form them that the first and fourth may chime And to the third the second be the rhyme.

" Oft introduce a colon : but when shines

A gleam of passion, never then neglect A note of admiration, and an Oh ! For thus you will display a deal of wo, And to your sonnet give a fine effect. Then lug two limping lines in at the close,

1 Miss Blackman.

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AUTHORS.

And swear 'tis thus the great PETRARCHA'S metre flows.

" A work designed apparently for circulation in England, and which did circulate there and influence immigration to this county, was writ- ten here, and bore the following on its title- page :

"' Letters from the British Settlement in Pennsyl- vania: to which are added the Constitution of the United States and of Pennsylvania, and extracts from the laws respecting aliens and naturalized citizens. By C. B. Johnson, M. D.'

" This was entered according to Act of Con- gress, by H. Hall, Philadelphia, 1819. Another edition was published the same year by John Miller, Piccadilly, London (England).

" More than one English immigrant bemoaned the day he read 'Johnson's Letters,' and heapcd upon the author accusations born of disappoint- ment. 'Too rose-colored ' his descriptions may have been; but so, also, were the notions of town-bred people respecting their own capacity to endure the inevitable ills attendant upon pioneer life.

"Samuel Barnard was among those who left the Old World in 1819, with hopes founded upon statements contained in the 'Letters.' While . in this county he devoted himself to the prepa- ration of a

"' POLYGLOT GRAMMAR of the Hebrew, Chaldee Syriac, Greek, Latin, English, French, Italian, Span- ish and German languages, reduced to one common rule of syntax, and an uniform mode of declension and conjugation as far as practicable.'

" This was published, in 1825, in Philadel- phiia, New York, Baltimore and Boston. Presi- dent John Q. Adams was a subscriber for the work. Mr. Barnard presented an elegant copy, prepared expressly for the occasion, to General Lafayette. Several colleges subscribed for copies, as also the Department of State at Washington.

" He removed to New York, and afterwards to Kentucky, where he died in 1850. One of his daughters, Mrs. George Fuller, is still a resident of Montrose.

" We are indebted to the same alluring ' Let- ters' for the arrival from England, in 1819, of Mrs. Juliana Frances Turner. During the next three years she wrote the 'Harp of the

Beechwoods,' a volume of sixty-five poems. This was published at Montrose, by Adam Waldie, in 1822.

"Some of her ballads, in old English style, are quite pleasing. Other pieces possess real merit ; but fairies and goblins seem most fre- quently to have entertained her fancy and en- gaged her pen. A sample of the smoothness of her style may be seen in the following extract :

"THE COT OF CONTENT.

"On the banks of the Schuylkill still evening was glinting,

And the tide's silvery surge a soft murmuring kept, While the bright hues of autumn the slope woods were tinting,

And the brown sunny mountains in mellowness slept.

There I marked a sweet villa, the day star declining, Where the jessamine lingered, with late roses blent; Where the scarlet-leaved creepers neat trellised were twining,

And they called the sweet bower-the Cot of Con- tent.

" Mrs. Turner was born in London, married in 1802, and died in England early in 1837.

" Reference has been made to Adam Waldie as her publisher ; on another page his connec- tion with the newspaper press is given. His position as editor of a literary rather than a political journal, and his influence in calling out the talent that lay dormant here, entitle him to grateful mention.

"In 1823 a painting was made by - Thompson, of Susquehanna County, from a scene in 'The Pioneers.'

"In 1829 a new hymn-book, by Sebastian and Barzillai Streeter.

" In 1832 materials for a history of this sec- tion, by C. L. Ward, destroyed by fire.

"A number of pamphlets have been issued from the county press, some of which are re- membered : The ‘ Atonement, in Seven Links,' by Jireh Bryan ; a ' Historical Discourse,' by Rev. Adam Miller, 1844, published by A. Tur- rell ; a discourse on 'Baptisni,' by Rev. A. L. Post.

"In 1837 The Spectator office printed a book of seventy-six pages, entitled ' Intellectual Chronology,' for schools and learners, by 'Teclinica Memoria ' [R. Pike]. It endeavored

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to simplify the acquisition of dates, by the use of letters for figures, weaving them with words, and often into poetry."

MISS ANNE L. FRASER was born at Mont- rose Oct. 3, 1810. She obtained her education at Montrose Academy and at Miss Emma H. Willard's Female Academy at Troy, N. Y. She taught school a number of years, and has done some painting of considerable merit and written some good poetry. Her sister Caroline was a music teacher. The two sisters lived to- gether on the liomestead with their mother until she died, in 1870; then the sisters lived together until Carrie died, in 1882; meanwhile her brothers Philip and Franklin had both died at the homestead, leaving her alone, the last of Dr. Chas. Fraser's family at Montrose. Miss Fraser is a lady of culture and character. Here- with we subinit a few selections from her poetry :

O wild the wintry blast hath blown Among these rugged hills of ours,

And spring on softest wing hath flown And kissed the fragrance-breathing flowers; And summer's sunshine oft hath chased The shadows o'er the waving plain,

And autumn's pencil sadly traced

Her gorgeous hues of death again.

And this has passed since at my feet Thy blue waves, Susquehanna, rolled,

Where green-robed mountains rise to meet And crown themselves with clouds of gold ; But thou, the friend of other days, Who nature's charms have viewed with me,

When to her haunts my footstep strays Remembrance kindly dwells on thee.

And dost thou trace the lovely shore, Where we have watched the smooth waves glide, Or wake the music of the oar, Forgetting one who by thy side Hath wandered through each woodland dell And crossed the sparkling wave with thee?

Hath friendship's wand no silent spell To stir the fount of memory ?

MRS. LYDIA C. SEARLE .- Miss Lydia C. Dimock, daughter of Elder D. Dimock, was born at Montrose July 6, 1811, and married to Leonard Searle Oct. 23, 1832. She was edu- cated in Hamilton Baptist Academy, N. Y., and early gave indications of a taste for literary

pursuits. She kept a diary from the age of seventeen until the time of her death. Her reading in every department was extensive, and while reading, she comprehended and formed her judgment. While every one might not have acquiesced in that judgment, to her it was sin- cere, honest conviction. She was an indefati- gable collector of articles from newspapers and other sources, which were carefully preserved in scrap-books. She also kept files of newspa- pers for many years. Her mind was quick in perception and ready in application, and during her long life it became widely stored with his- toric, scientific, religious and political facts. She was bright and intellectual at home in poetry and literature. She wrote both in prose and poetry. Her work " Washington our Exam- ple" was published during the war. Being a great admirer of Gen. McClellan, the work was dedicated to him, a fact which he apprecia- tively acknowledged in a courteous letter to the authoress. At the time of her death, A. K. McClure, of the Philadelphia Times, wrote of her : "She has been for more than half a cen- tury one of the leading literary as well as social characters of Northern Pennsylvania. With all the tenderness of woman and a most devoted wife and mother, she had a strong love for liter- ature and singular fitness for literary labor. Her scrap-books, both of politics and of the choice productions of the most gifted poets and authors, are among the most complete to be found in any library, and her original articles were marked by unusual force and excellence. No woman of the northern portion of the State will be more widely or more gratefully remem- bered than Mrs. Searle, of Montrose, and her life and character will long be pointed to as among the noblest of examples." She was a Christian lady, with a deep charity for all. She died in August, 1880, and was buried at Montrose.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 22

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