USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Volume II > Part 35
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JACOB DERR, son of Johan Heinrich Derr, born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1751, enlisted January, 1776, as a member of Captain Thomas Church's Com- pany, of the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, recruited under resolution of Con- gress of December 9, 1775. When Colonel Anthony Wayne, colonel command- ing, was directed on February 22, 1776, to march his regiment to New York as fast as equipped, but three companies were ready, those of Captain Thomas Robinson, Captain John Lacy and Captain Thomas Church, (all three captains being Bucks county). They proceeded to New York where they arrived March 28, 1776, and on April 7, under the command of Major Haugsegger, were placed in Lord Stirling's brigade, and stationed at Caldwell's on Long Island, and on April 26, they were assigned to General Greene's brigade. On the ar- rival of Colonel Wayne, April 26, 1776, he received orders to embark with his regiment for Albany, New York, to take part in the expedition against Canada. They reached Albany, May 10, and embarked for Canada on the 18th. The three companies above mentioned took part in the battle of Three Rivers, June 8, 1776, and their splendid record in this, their first real battle, can be gathered from the orderly book of the regiment, under date of June 11, 1776, in the "Camp at Sorel" in which is recorded Colonel Wayne's comment on the behaviour of his men in the following language:
"Their spirited conduct in bravely attacking and sustaining the fire from both great and small arms of an enemy more than ten times their number, merits his highest appro-
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bation. He takes this opportunity of returning thanks to the Captains Robinson, Church and Moore (the latter temporarily commanding Lacy's company), Lieutenants Smith, Christie and Ryan, Ensigns Vernon, and Barclay, for the part they acted that day, being that of gentlemen and soldiers."
On July 7, 1776, the three companies were at Crown Point, and proceeded from there to Ticonderoga, where they were joined by five other companies of the regiment, and remained until January 24, 1777, when their term of enlistment having expired January 5, they were sent home, and those who did not reenlist on their arrival in Philadelphia were marched to Chester and there disbanded, February 25, 1777.
Jacob Derr, however, re-enlisted with most of his company under their old captain, Thomas Church, and were incorporated in the Fifth Regiment, Conti- nental Line, Colonel Francis Johnston commanding, succeeded later by Colonel Richard Butler, and served throughout the war. Private Derr was severely wounded at the battle of Brandywine. He died in Springfield township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, at the age of seventy-eight years and is buried in Trinity Church graveyard.
MICHAEL DERR, son of Jacob Derr, the Revolutionary soldier, purchased a small farm in Springfield township, Bucks county, in 1805, and lived thereon un- til his death in 1862. He was a soldier in the war of 1812-14, serving as a private in the company of Captain Samuel Flack, of Bucks county, which was in camp Marcus Hook, October 18, 1814, "in the service of the United States, under orders of the General commanding the Fourth Military District", under com- mand of Lieutenant Andrew Apple in the regiment of Bucks County Militia un- der command of Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Gilkyson. By his wife Catharine Michael Derr had ten children.
JOHN DERR, eldest son of Michael and Catharine Derr, was born in Spring- field township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1802, located on the Delaware river in Durham township, Bucks county, where he carried on an ex- tensive business, in connection with the prosecution of his trade as a millwright and bridge builder, until 1849, when he removed with his family to a farm near Shamokin, Pennsylvania. Four years later he removed to Kline's Grove, Penn- sylvania, where he owned and operated a merchant mill in connection with a farm until his death, April 26, 1864. John Derr married Hannah Mellick Fine, born January 17, 1813, died April 2, 1864, daughter of John Fine, of Finesville, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and his wife, Anne Catharine (Mellick) Fine, granddaughter of Philip Fine or Fein, and great-granddaughter of Johan Wil- helm Fein, who came from Germany, arriving in Philadelphia in the ship "Neptune", and was qualified as a subject of the British crown by taking the test oath prescribed by the Act of Pennsylvania Assembly, September 23, 1751.
Philip Fein, born in 1744, settled on the Musconetcong creek, in Alexandria township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, the site of Finesville, four miles east of Riegelsville, named for him, where he built and operated flour and saw mills, and became a man of means and consequence in his section. He died in 1810.
John Fine, son of Philip Fein, born at Finesville, June 6, 1767, succeeded to and operated the mills established by his father, and like him took an active part in public affairs. He was warden of St. James Lutheran Church near Phillips- burg from 1813 to 1817. He died May 12, 1826. He married Anne Catharine
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Mellick, born in Greenwich township, Sussex county, New Jersey, baptized April 4, 1770, died at Finesville, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, May 8, 1831, daugh- ter of Captain Andrew Mellick and granddaughter of Johannes Möelich. The ancestry of the Mellick family, originally spelled Moelich, has been traced back to Peter Möelich, who in 1530 was living in Winningen, Germany, where his son, Theiss Moelich, was born in that year. A great-grandson of Theiss Moelich migrated from Winningen to Bensdorf-on-the-Rhine where Johan Wilhelm and Anna Catharine Möelich, the grandparents of Captain Andrew Mellick, were living in 1688.
Johannes Moelich, son of Johan Wilhelm and Anna Catharine Moelich, born at Bensdorf, Germany, February 26, 1702, was baptized at the parish church there by the Rev. Johannes Reusch. He married, at Bensdorf, November 1, 1723, Maria Catharine, daughter of Gottfried Kirburger, a Burgomaster of Bensdorf. Four children : Gottfried, Erenreid, Andreas and Maria Catharine, were born to them at Bensdorf. Early in the year 1735 the family left Bensdorf and em- barked at Rotterdam for Pennsylvania, in the ship "Mercury", which arrived in Philadelphia, May 29, 1735. After residing for several years in Pennsyl- vania, he located in Sussex county, New Jersey, and in 1747 purchased a plan- tation of four hundred acres in Greenwich township, now Warren county, front- ing on the Delaware river at the mouth of Pohatcong creek. In 1750 he pur- chased and removed to a plantation of four hundred acres in Readington town- ship, near Whitehouse, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, on which he erected one of the first tanneries in northern New Jersey, which he operated for a few years and then sold and removed to a plantation of three hundred and sixty-seven acres of land in Bedminster township, Somerset county, New Jer- sey, where he erected another bark mill and tannery, and a building for a home, a substantial stone house, still standing, spent the remainder of his days there. He was one of the first trustees of the Lutheran Church at New Germantown, in 1749, and continued active in its affairs the remainder of his life.
Johannes and Maria Catharine (Kirburger) Möelich had ten children, several of whom died young; the sons who survived were Aaron (Ehrenreid), Andrew, Philip and Peter. The two younger inherited the homestead tract in Bedmin- ster, and the tannery erected by their father, which continued in operation for over a century.
Captain Andrew Mellick, (as he anglicized the name) fourth child and sec- ond surviving son of Johannes and Maria Catharine (Kirburger) Möelich, was born at Bensdorf, on the Rhine, December 12, 1729. He accompanied his par- ents to Pennsylvania in 1735, and to New Jersey later. On arriving at his ma- jority, in 1750, his father left him in charge of the tannery and plantation in Greenwich, Sussex, now Warren county, and removed to Readington. An- drew subsequently inherited the plantation in Greenwich, on which he erected a substantial stone house in which he lived until 1810. He became one of the substantial citizens of that section and was prominent in the affairs of Sus- sex county. On the same day that the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in session at Philadelphia, July 4, 1776, he was commissioned captain of a company in the First Sussex Regiment, commanded by Colonel, later General, William Maxwell, and served with it and other Sus- sex county organizations during the Revolutionary war. He married, about
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1769, Catharine -, and had at least five children. His eldest child, Anne Catharine, baptized April 4, 1770, became the wife of John Fine, above men- tioned. Captain Mellick died June 29, 1820.
John and Hannah Mellick (Fine) Derr had five children who grew to ma- turity, Thompson, Catharine, married John P. Richter, Henry Haupt, John F., of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and Andrew Fine, the subject of this- sketch.
THOMPSON DERR, eldest child of John and Hannah Mellick (Fine) Derr, was born at Monroe, in Durham township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, January 16, 1834, and was therefore fifteen years of age when the family removed to Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, settling on a farm in what is known as Irish Valley, near Paxinos, and not far from the Shamokin creek. Four years later, with his parents, he removed to Klines Grove, Upper Augusta township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, where with his father he engaged in merchant milling and farming. Thompson Derr was a man of very unusual mental and physical ability, strong and sturdy of body, and with a clear and perfectly working mind, who was bound to be a successful man in any line of work he chose to undertake. His early educational advantages had been limited, but as far as they went he had been perfect in his work. Such early education as he had was at the common schools and at Dr. Vanderver's Academy at Eas- ton, Pennsylvania. In 1856 he began active business life for himself in a store and mill operated by a Mr. Taggart at Dry Valley, Union county, Pennsylvania. About a year later he established a local fire insurance agency at Sunbury, be- ing one of the first in the state outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Meeting with success in that line of work, he removed to Wilkes-Barre in 1857 or early in 1858, where he established himself in business, and remained until 1862, when he was joined by his brother, Henry H. Derr, forming a partnership under the style of Thompson Derr & Brother, under which name fire insurance is still conducted at that place. He soon became a marked man in the community, widely known for his reliable character, and his conscientious and energetic work in whatever line he undertook. He had untiring industry and soon built up a business second to none in the state, or even in the country, in the line of his work, and the city of Wilkes-Barre never had a more successful self-made man than he. He died February 8, 1885, after an illness of about two years.
HENRY HAUPT DERR, second son of John and Hannah Mellick (Fine) Derr, born in Nockamixon township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1839, died in Wilkes-Barre, October 12, 1888. In addition to his interest in an active par- ticipation in the large business of the firm of Thompson Derr & Brother, Henry Haupt Derr became identified with a number of the most important industrial enterprises of Wilkes-Barre. He was a director and large stockholder in the Vulcan Iron Works, one of the leading manufacturing concerns of the city; president and the largest stockholder of the Suburban Electric Railway Com- pany ; president of the Wilkes-Barre Lace Manufacturing Company, the first concern of its kind in America; director and treasurer of the Wilkes-Barre Hospital and a trustee of the Wyoming Seminary. He took a deep interest in all that pertained to the benefit, enlightenment, and elevation of the character of his fellow citizens, and the development and improvement of his adopted city ; was one of the earliest members of the Board of Trade and served as one of its trustees to his death. He was a director of the Young Men's Chris-
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tian Association, and active in church work and extension; was long a member of city council, and filled many other official positions. He married, in 1866, Mary Delilah Fell, and had seven children, two of whom Chester B., and Henry Haupt Derr, Jr., are connected with the firm of Thompson Derr & Brother. Another son, Ralph Derr, is a mechanical engineer in South America.
ANDREW FINE DERR, youngest son of John and Hannah Mellick (Fine) Derr, born in Upper Augusta township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, May 29, 1853, prepared for college at Missionary Institute, Selins Grove, Pennsyl- vania, and in 1871 entered Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in the class of 1875, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, re- ceiving the higher degree of Master of Arts from the same institution in 1878. He read law in the office of George W. Biddle, Esq., in Philadelphia, and was admitted to the bar of that city and county, in 1878. In December of the same year he located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and began his professional ca- reer. He practiced law there until 1882, when his elder brother, Thompson Derr, was so stricken with ill-health, as to be unable to properly manage the large business of the firm of Thompson Derr & Brother, and induced his young- er brother to enter the firm and relieve the senior member of the heavy bur- den of the work. From this time Andrew F. Derr virtually abandoned the active practice of his profession, becoming the business manager and a few years later the head of the firm of Thompson Derr & Bro., one of the largest insur- ance agencies in the state, with which he has since been actively associated.
Mr. Derr is also president of the Miner's Savings Bank of Wilkes-Barre, and vice-president of the Anthracite Savings Bank. He is a trustee of the Oster- hout Free Library, and of the Wilkes-Barre City Hospital; a member, trustee and elder of the Memorial Presbyterian Church; a member of the Presbyterian Historical Society of Philadelphia, of the Archaeological Institute of America, director of Sheldon Axle Company, director and chairman of finance committee of Hanover Fire Insurance Company of New York, director and chairman of ex- ecutive committee of Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia, member of the American Economic Association, life member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, member of the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania So- ciety, Sons of the Revolution, and the Sons of the American Revolution of New Jersey, the Society of the War of 1812, member and trustee of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, and the Prince Society of Boston. He is also a member of the following clubs: the Lawyers', the University, the Royal Victoria Society of Great Britain, and the American Geographical Society.
Andrew Fine Derr married, June 23, 1896, Harriet Lowrie, born June 15, 1871, daughter of Rev. Samuel Thompson Lowrie, D. D., and his wife, Eliza- beth (Dickson) Lowrie, and granddaughter of Judge Walter Hoge Lowrie, twelve years a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1851-63, the last three years chief justice. Judge Lowrie was a son of Matthew B. Lowrie, and was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1807. He graduated from the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1826. read law and was ad- mitted to practice. On August 4, 1846, he was appointed judge of the District Court of Allegheny county, and served until elected to the Supreme Bench. Af- ter his retirement from the chief justiceship he practiced law in Pittsburgh for several years and was later chosen president judge of the Meadville district.
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He died in Meadville, Pennsylvania, November 14, 1876. He was the author of a number of papers read before the American Philosophical Society, includ- ing, "Origin of Tides", and "Cosmical Motion", and was a contributor to vari- ous periodicals on a variety of subjects.
Dr. Samuel Thompson Lowrie, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 8, 1835, graduated from the Miami (Ohio) University in 1852, studied theolo- gy in the Presbyterian Seminary, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, until 1856, and in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1857; was pastor of the Presbyterian church at Alexandria, Pennsylvania, 1863, of the Presbyterian church of Philadelphia, 1865-69; of the Abington Presbyterian Church, Montgomery County, Pennsyl- vania, 1869-74; at Ewing, New Jersey, 1879-85; professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis in the Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny City, 1874-78, and from 1887 chaplain of the Presbyterian Hospital, Philadelphia. His wife, Elizabeth (Dickson) Lowrie, was a daughter of Rev. Hugh Sheridan Dickson, born in Scotland in 1813, who came to America with his parents, Alex- ander and Sarah (McKee) Dickson, in 1827, the family settling in Rensselaer county, New York, where the father died in 1871. Alexander Dickson was a great-grandson of Rev. David Dickson, one of the regents of the University of Glasgow, moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church, 1639, and who was elected professor of divinity at the University of Glasgow in 1650, but declined. Rev. David Dickson was a son of John Dickson, an eminent law- yer, and of the Dicksons of Hartree, Lanarkshire, of ancient lineage.
Rev. Hugh Sheridan Dickson married, September 2, 1845, Sarah Margaret Stoever, born in Philadelphia, 1824, daughter of Frederick Stoever, (1784-1867) and his wife, Sarah (Reigert) Stoever, of Philadelphia ; granddaughter of Fred- erick Stoever, born 1759, and his wife, Margaret (Dinshert) Stoever, great- granddaughter of Rev. John Caspar Stoever, born in Frankenburg, Saxony, De- cember 21, 1702, died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1770, one of the best known of the early German Lutheran ministers of Pennsylvania. Coming to this state as chaplain to a party of emigrants in 1728, after having served five years as pastor of a church at Anweiler, Bavaria, he was for some years a missionary preacher in Lancaster and adjoining counties, and in 1740 became the first regular pastor of the Lutheran church at Lancaster. He married Maria Catharine Markling and had eleven children of whom Frederick, the grand- father of Mrs. Dickson, was the youngest.
Andrew Fine and Harriet (Lowrie) Derr have four children: Elizabeth Lowrie, born March 21, 1898; Katharine, born September 12, 1899; Thomp- son, born November 30, 1901 ; Andrew Fine, Jr., born July 10, 1903.
JOHN BENTON FASSETT
The Fassett family in the Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania, spring from Josiah Fassett, a native of Connecticut. The wife of Josiah Fassett, Abigail Stevens, was a daughter of Lieutenant Asa Stevens who lost his life in the "Wyoming Massacre". The family have always been prominent in the business and pub- lic life of the valley and large landowners. Josiah Fassett, probably the fath- er of Benjamin Fassett, the Revolutionary soldier, and grandfather of Josiah Fassett, of Scottsville, Pennsylvania, is mentioned in the papers of John Lane, of Connecticut, as one of the men who marched under his command to the re- lief of Dunstable, January 4, 1706. The records do not show the connection be- tween them and further than Benjamin the line cannot be definitely traced.
JOSIAH FASSETT was a son of Benjamin Fassett, of Brooklyn, Connecticut. He was the father of at least three other sons, Reuben, Elijah and Daniel. Ben- jamin Fassett enlisted May 29, 1777, in Captain Bacon's company for a term of eight months. He died December 31, 1777. Josiah Fassett, son of Benjamin Fassett, was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, August 10, 1761. He received a good education and followed the profession of a teacher until the Revolution was well in progress, when he enlisted as a drummer boy. In 1788 he married and with his wife Abigail removed to Pennsylvania, which she had left a child of seven. They settled at Scottsville (then known as Hemlock Bottom) on the Susquehanna river, during the year 1795, coming by way of Wilkes-Barre and up the river by boat. Josiah had been there the year previous to locate the land, coming by way of Owego, New York, and down the river, selecting the land at the lower end of the flats or bottom land on the "Hemlock Bottom". He bought about three hundred acres of land to which he added from time to time until at the time of his death, August 20, 1823, he was the owner of about nine hun- dred acres. This land he divided into four farms, abutting the river, which he left to his sons, and back of the farms four tracts of fine timber land for his four daughters. Josiah Fassett became very prosperous in his new home, and the leading business man of his section. He kept the first tavern and place of entertainment for travelers in that section and owned and operated the first ferry across the river at Scottsville. He built the first passable wagon road from Scottsville to Sugar Run which became a part of the mail and stage coach route between Towanda to points west. Early in the year 1800 he was elected a justice of the peace, holding the office until his death. He was probably the first justice elected in this part of the state. He was a Free Mason and a mem- ber of the first Masonic Lodge in the community. He was a Presbyterian of the sort to delight John Calvin, whose devoted follower he was. He was a leader in the public affairs of the town, and besides his extensive farming and land in- terests he did a large business in farm and forest products, loaning money, etc.
Josiah Fassett married, in Connecticut, Abigail Stevens, born in Pennsylvania, April 2, 1771, daughter of Lieutenant Asa Stevens. Lieutenant Stevens was one of the garrison left to guard Wyoming, and was killed by the Indians during the
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massacre of the inhabitants of that town, July 3, 1778. His name is inscribed on the monument erected to the memory of those who fell on that memorable day. Abigail was but a child of seven at the time of her father's death, and was tak- en back to Connecticut by her mother, walking most of the way. Her mother with the older children later returned to Pennsylvania to claim the land her husband had possessed, but Abigail was left behind with a Captain Smith with whom she lived until her marriage. Josiah and Abigail (Stevens) Fassett were the parents of four sons and four daughters. The sons were Jasper, John, see forward, Josiah Jr., and James. The daughters were: Sally (Mrs. John Sturte- vant), Fanny (Mrs. Robinson), Hannah (Mrs. Edwards) and Lucy (Mrs. Thomas Wright). The sons all settled on the farms given them by their father and the daughters all married and settled in the neighborhood.
MAJOR JOHN FASSETT, son of Josiah and Abigail (Stevens) Fassett, was born in Windham county, Connecticut, September 16, 1794, and died at Scotts- ville, Pennsylvania, May 2, 1886. John Fassett was the leading business man of the community during his long and active life. His military title of major was given him by commission from the authorities for service in the state mili- tia. For twenty years he was justice of the peace. He was very prosperous, and it was said that at different times he had owned two-thirds of the land in Windham township. At the time of his death he was by far the wealthiest man in the county. He established or had established by the government the first postoffice at Scottsville, and was the first postmaster, changing the name from Hemlock Bottom to Scottsville, after his friend, Judge Scott, of Wilkes-Barre. With his sons he opened in 1853 a store in Scottsville, built the first steam saw mill in that region in 1856. From that date Fassett & Sons became large dealers in lumber and in merchandise. Later they established the first general store in Jenningsville, Pennsylvania. They erected a cider mill, the first and only one for many years thereafter. They bought and sold cattle and horses, supplying the farmers with teams, tools and supplies, taking their products in exchange. He was like his father a Free Mason, a charter member of Frank- lin Lodge, now at Laceyville, and a strict Presbyterian. Besides his office of justice of the peace and postmaster, Major Fassett held at different times near- ly all the town offices. Good roads was one of his hobbies, and he was supervi- sor of highways for many years. He married Sally Haverly, and they were the parents of eight sons and daughters: Charles, married Mary Prentiss; George S., married Mary Vose; John Jr .; Alvah, see forward; Caroline, married Dr. John Denison; Lucia M .; Ann, married Joseph T. Jennings.
ALVAH FASSETT, son of Major John and Sally (Haverly) Fassett, was born at Scottsville, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1835. He attended the district schools and one term at Hartford, Pennsylvania. He remained and worked at home until attaining his majority, when he was admitted to the firm of Fassett & Sons, engaging at once in the lumber, merchandising and farm business of that firm. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted and was appointed sergeant of the Fifty-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, October 2, 1861. He was engaged at the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, where he received a wound that resulted in his discharge for disability, August 2, 1862. After recovering par- tially from his wounds (that finally shortened his useful life) Mr. Fassett re- turned to active business life. He was accounted a thorough business man,
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