Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 114

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 2390

USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 114
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 114
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 114
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 114

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Mr. Chase is a native of the quiet little village of Gibson, Susquehanna county, and his boyhood was spent amid the picturesque scenes of that re- gion. In both maternal and paternal lines he comes- of good New England stock, and by inheritance and training he enjoyed the influences that tend to de- velop the higher life within. His father, Amasa Chase, and his grandfather, Rev. Daniel Chase, came from Hardwick, Vt., in 1816, and settled first in Jackson, Susquehanna county. There are some living to-day who recollect hearing the grandfather preach in different places, in Wayne and Susque- hanna counties, Penn., and in Broome county, N. Y. Rev. Daniel Chase was of the sixth generation in direct line from Aquila Chase, who was born in England in 1618 and settled at Hampton, N. H., in 1639. His mother, Sarah Guile, was the daugh- ter of Samuel Guile, of Harford, Susquehanna county, who was of the sixth generation in line from John Guile (or Guild), of Dedham, Mass., who was born in England in 1616 and came to America in 1636.

Under the instruction of a Christian mother our

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subject imbibed at an early age strong and definite ideas on the subject of temperance, and when only nine years old he pledged himself against the use of intoxicants and vowed to spare no effort to destroy the rum power. His education was so far advanced by his fourteenth year that he was employed as a teacher in the common schools near his home, and from that time to this he has been a consistent advo- cate of the public-school system, which he regards as a basis of national prosperity. With the funds obtained by teaching he managed later to take a course in Hamilton College, where he was gradu- ated with honors in 1851, and soon afterward he began the study of law at Montrose, Susquehanna county. While engaged in his preparatory reading he established the Montrose Democrat in partner- ship with a cousin, E. B. Chase, thus making an effective beginning in political life. In 1854 he stood upon the Free-Soil Democratic platform with Galusha A. Grow, who was then just beginning that remarkable political career which elevated him to the then third highest position in the Republic, and brought him in close communication with Lincoln, Wade, Sumner and many others of that gallant array of patriotic giants then moving heaven and earth to save the Union from dismemberment, and our free institutions from the reproach of main- taining human bondage. Grow and Chase, both sons of Susquehanna county, and such sons as that county, noted for the high intellectual order and sturdy character of its citizens, always loves to honor, entered in 1855 the first Republican conven- tion ever called together in this country, and there pledged their young lives to the work of staying the progress of slavery in the free States. Return- ing home from that memorable gathering, in which they both took active part, Mr. Chase was requested by the members of his party to stand as candidate for the Legislature, and, consenting, was trium- phantly elected.

In 1857 the great problem to be solved in Penn- sylvania was the unification, so far as practical, of the Native American Party and the Free-Soil Dem- ocrats. Both factions agreed to call a convention to meet at the same place and time, with the under- standing that they would unite provided a presid- ing officer could be chosen who had the confidence of the majority of the two parties. The conven- tion assembled at the due time, and Simeon B. Chase was elected as presiding officer, and David Wilmot was nominated for Governor. Thus the subject of this sketch became chief officer of the first united Republican convention ever held in this Commonwealth. Thoroughly familiar with parlia- mentary law, self-possessed, firm, an eloquent speaker, of commanding and agreeable address, Mr. Chase presided over that turbulent body, preserving order and decorum, with an ease and dignity which at once ranked him among the ablest parliamentary leaders of the Republic. Here commenced a career filled with many brilliant political possibilities. But unhappily, in those days as in the present, astute

political diplomacy, and not a faithful adherence to honest convictions, marked the pathway to suc- cess. In the public life of to-day many virtues seem to lose themselves in personal interests as rivers are lost in the sea, and still, no matter how unscrupulous a politician may be, he rarely op- poses virtue, but covertly persecutes it by pretend- ing it to be false, or insinuating that it may be capable of bad results. Such a nature was abso- lutely foreign to Simeon B. Chase. When he laid down the gavel used in the first Republican con- vention ever assembled in our Commonwealth he held not only subsequent gubernatorial honors se- curely in his grasp, but also brilliant probabilities in national politics. But he had his own convic- tions about certain moral questions which were agitating the people, and he was as firm in his views as was Hannibal faithful to the vow of hos- tility to the Romans taken at the altar of his gods. He claimed that to license the liquor traffic was a flagrant wrong against the peace and prosperity of our homes and the welfare of our country. He boldly, and with sublime courage, proclaimed to his colleagues and to the people of Pennsylvania that he did not believe that the field marshals of Satan had any right which the servants of God and the true patriots of the Republic were bound to re- spect. His would-be friends and political support- ers became anxious. They felt that this defiant atti- tude toward the strongly organized forces of the license system would imperil his chances of be- coming governor, and they urged him to modify his views on the question of no license. Knowing that truth was bound to be uppermost one time or an- other, he replied that sincere convictions are the first principles of duty, the basis of honor, of virtue and of religion. By abandoning them one may more easily gratify a worldly ambition, but in so doing a man becomes false to himself and to his Creator. In his own words, "I am, have always been, and ever will be, an open, earnest and active opponent to the encroachments of the rum influence upon the firesides and happiness of my country, and if that means political destruction I await it calmly, with the consciousness of having discharged one of the most sacred duties I owe to my fellow men."

About the time that Mr. Chase took this de- cided stand against the license laws, another ques- tion arose in Susquehanna county which tested still farther his fidelity to his convictions. The new law providing a Superintendent of Public Schools was very unpopular, and at least four-fifths of the vot- ing masses opposed and earnestly petitioned for its repeal. Mr. Chase had been school teacher long enough to see the virtues and necessity of such a law, and notwithstanding its widespread unpopulari- ty he felt compelled to disregard the petition of his constituents. This course created many enemies, and a determined effort was made to defeat his re- election. He undertook a personal canvass of every school district in the county, explained eloquently the necessity of the law, and was triumphantly

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elected. This settled forever the question in favor of the new law, and to-day it is more popular with the people than it was then odious. In the Legis- lature Mr. Chase became a leader of distinction. He was made chairman of the Ways and Means, Judiciary and other important committees. He be- came a popular candidate for Speaker, and, while defeated by a narrow majority, he presided over the deliberations of the House most of that session, owing to the serious illness of the Speaker-elect. In 1858 he was selected chairman of the Republi- can convention, and then retired from the political arena for a time and devoted his time to organizing the temperance elements in the State and Nation, so as to better equip them for their determined ef- fort to dethrone the rum king. He became the guiding spirit of the Sons of Temperance and the order of Good Templars, and held so many places of honor and trust that a mere enumeration of them might tire the patience of the reader. It is sufficient to say that he has been presiding officer of either State or National lodges almost continuously for over a quarter of a century, and has attended every session of the International Supreme Lodge, over which he presided with great credit to himself for five consecutive years. He was for seven years the Grand Chief Templar of Pennsylvania, and dis- charged the duties of that responsible trust with dignity and ability. These connections, and his eminent qualities as a leader and worker, secured for him a reputation and an acquaintance as wide as the Nation. On both sides of the Atlantic his clarion voice has rung out notes of warning against that traffic which is the direst curse of man. In 1872 he was called to preside over the first National Prohibition Convention ever held in this country. It met at Columbus, Ohio, and but for the fact that he was the permanent chairman he would have been honored with the nomination for the Presi- dency. During the same year the Prohibitionists of Pennsylvania selected him as the gubernatorial standard-bearer, and afterward he was twice their candidate for the Supreme Judgeship of the State. In 1878 he received the nomination for Congress in the old Grow district, and two years ago, at Easton, Northampton county, where lie now practices law, he again was honored with a Congressional nomina- tion on the Prohibition ticket. In all of these cam- paigns he showed remarkable activity, canvassing the State and the Congressional districts with great ability, awakening everywhere profound interest in the cause of temperance, and making a host of friends. As a writer Mr. Chase has exercised great influence among the temperance masses. His pub- lished reports and addresses are valuable contribu- tions to the current literature of the day. The fol- lowing are some of his well known and most popu- lar works : "Good of the Order," "Digest and Treat- ise on Parliamentary Law," which has reached the fifteenth edition, "History of Good Templars," for Mill's Manual, "Manual of Good Templars." These and many other works from his pen have largely

shaped the policy and purpose of the Good Tem- plars on both sides of the Atlantic, and his name as a temperance leader is quite as familiar to-day in the United Kingdomn of Great Britain and Ire- land, Australasia and South Africa, as it is in the United States.

From boyhood Mr. Chase has been an earnest and useful Church member. He belongs to the Presbyterian denomination, and in the affairs of that religious organization he has taken a very prominent part. He was thrice appointed com- missioner to the General Assembly of the United States, and in Sunday-school work he has been a powerful factor for good. Aside from his being an elder in the Church he has been for thirty-five years at the head of the Sunday-school at Hallstead, Sus- quehanna county, where he is loved and respected by the entire community. In the work of the Sun- day-school, as well as in the battle for temperance, he has constantly received the valuable assistance of his talented wife, Fanny D. B. Chase, who has for many years been one of the leading spirits in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and for six years presided over the deliberations of that or- ganization in this State. The influence of her writ- ings and works extends bevond the confines of our Commonwealth. Three sons of this worthy couple are yet living : N. Du Bois, an attorney at law in Easton, Penn .; Emmet C. and George A., officers of a leading insurance company in Balti- more, Maryland.

ALMON SWEET, a highly-esteemed resident of Gibson, Susquehanna county, has been promi- nently identified with the agricultural interests of that locality for many years, but is now living in retirement and enjoying the rewards of a life of well-directed effort. He was born in Gibson town- ship, May 18, 1817, and in the paternal line is of good Massachusetts stock. Oney Sweet, our sub- ject's father, was born and reared at Attleboro, Mass., and married to Abigail Chandler, of Gibson township, Susquehanna county. It was in 1805 that he came to Susquehanna county and settled in Gib- son township, where he made a clearing in the wil- derness and built a log house in which they lived in true pioneer style for a number of years. He died April 18, 1848, aged sixty-five vears, and his wife died May 5, 1858, aged sixty-nine years, and their remains were interred in Gibson cemetery. In re- ligious faith he and his wife were Universalists, and were among the leaders in the movement to secure a Church in their locality. They had the fol- lowing children : Raymond, who died at the age of eighty-four; Sally, who is now aged ninety-two, married Evander Spalding, of Binghamton, N. Y .; Laura, deceased, married Lyman Blackington ; Ema- line, deceased, married Manly Blackington, a broth- er of Lyman Blackington ; Eliza, deceased, married Arson Root, of Schoharie county, N. Y .; Almon is mentioned more fully below ; Elvira. youngest of the family, but now deceased, married Stephen Barnard.

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Almon Sweet was reared to farm work, and as a young man took charge of the old homestead, a fine estate of 135 acres. He continued general farming until October, 1897, when he retired and settled in Gibson village. In politics he is a Demo- crat, and his family is connected with the M. E. Church, his wife being an active member. On March 18, 1841, he was married, in Gibson town- ship, to Miss Caroline Foster, and they have had four children : Oney, born December 13, 1841, mar- ried Helen Coon, and settled in Hampton, Iowa, as a merchant; William, born April 12, 1847, married Jennie Lindsley, and located upon a farm in Brule county, S. D .; Sarah, born July 10, 1849, in Gib- son township, married Samuel Strockbine; Julia, born February 21, 1861, married William Lamb, and resides on the old homestead.

Mrs. Caroline Foster Sweet, who is greatly respected for her intelligence and personal worth, was born June 24, 1821, at Lansingburg, Rensselaer county, N. Y., the daughter of John, and the grand- daughter of Joseph and Abigail Foster, of Attle- boro, Mass. John Foster was born at Attleboro, but made his home in mature years in Troy, N. Y., where he engaged in the meat business. He died there in 1827, aged forty-three, and his wife, Susan Gillespie, who was a devout member of the Presby- terian Church, died in 1829, aged forty-three years. She was a native of Orange county, N. Y., and a daughter of James Gillespie. Of the seven children of John and Susan Foster, the eldest, Edward, died at Owego, N. Y., unmarried; Julia married George Dewitt, and died at Nyack, N. Y., in 1899, aged eighty-four years ; Joseph married Mary Strockbine, of New York City, and they lived there, he being employed in the general postoffice until the time of his death; James, a twin of Joseph, was a tanner and currier of Troy, N. Y., and married Frances Morey, and now resides at Charleston, S. C .; Will- iam was the fifth in order of birth; Caroline is the wife of our subject; John is a hotel-keeper in Cali- fornia.

THOMAS AVERY is one of the most pro- gressive and enterprising agriculturists of Ararat township, Susquehanna Co., Penn., and the success that he has achieved in life is due to his own thrift and industry. His tastes have always inclined him to agricultural pursuits, and his well-improved farm gives evidence of his careful supervision and excel- lent management.

In the township where he still continues to re- side, Mr. Avery was born in 1838, and he is a repre- sentative of one of its old and honored families, being a grandson of John and Eleanor (Griffith) Avery, who located here in 1825. From the wild, unbroken forest the grandfather developed the farm on which Chauncey Avery now lives. He died in Ararat township, June 1, 1844, and his wife depart- ed this life in 1840. Their children were David; Samuel, father of our subject; Sally; Polly; Eva- line ; Gardner ; John ; Daniel ; Lydia Ann ; and Eliza.

Samuel Avery, our subject's father, was born in Otsego county, N. Y., in 1801, and there he grew to manhood and married Miss Dorcas Hop- kins, a native of Rhode Island. In 1821 they first came to Ararat township, Susquehanna Co., Penn., but in 1823 returned to the Empire State, and did not locate permanently here until five years later. Throughout life the father followed farming, and on the old homestead in Ararat township he died in October, 1872; his wife passed away in May, 1875. To them were born ten children, namely: Chaun- cey; Eleanor, who married first a Mr. Williams, and then a Mr. Hopkins, and died in 1894; Abner, a resident of Ararat township; Susannah, who died in 1847, at the age of nineteen years; David, Mrs. Angeline Doyle, and Samuel, who all died in Ararat township; George, a veteran of the Civil war and resident of Ararat township; Thomas, our subject; and Mrs. Eliza Stone, of Thompson.

During his boyhood Thomas Avery attended the district schools of Ararat township and became thoroughly familiar with every department of farm work. He has always made his home in that town- ship, and since 1884 has resided on his present farm, which is a well-improved and valuable tract of sixty-three acres. He was among the boys in blue of the Civil war, enlisting in Bradford county, Penn., in 1863, in Company H, 49th P. V. I., for three years or during the war. He was mustered into the United States service at Harrisburg, and as a member of the Army of the Potomac took part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and all the other engagements in which his command participated. He was wounded in the left shoulder at City Point, Va., and after remain- ing in the field hospital at that place for a time he was sent to Washington, D. C. He was honorably discharged September 12, 1864, and returned to his home in Ararat township.

In 1860 Mr. Avery was married to Miss Mary E. Beaumont, a native of Susquehanna county. Her parents, John and Jane (Dunklesly ) Beaumont, were born in England, and in early life emigrated to the United States and located in Ararat township, where the father's death occurred. The wife and mother is living at the advanced age of eighty years, and continues to make her home in that township. In their family were seven children: Thomas, now a resident of Bradford county, Penn .; Martha Jane, wife of George Avery, of Ararat township; Mary E., wife of our subject; John, of Ararat township; Matthew, of Hornellsville, N. Y .; Henrietta, wife of Frank Potter, of Saxton, Penn .; Dora Alice, wife of A. J. Avery, of Ararat township. The children born to our subject and his wife are as fol- lows: Thomas Jefferson, a soldier of the Spanish- American war; Amy J., wife of S. E. Dunn, of Ararat township; Nora J., born in 1866, died in 1877, at the Harford Soldiers' Orphans School, in Susquehanna county ; Robert John, a resident of Ararat township; Frank J., of Brooklyn, N. Y .; Charles J., on the home farm ; Henry J., of Ararat

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township ; Minnie J., wife of E. J. Payne, of Ararat township; Josephine J., wife of Noah Smith, of the same township. In his political affiliations Mr. Avery is a Republican, and he has always taken an active and commendable interest in public affairs.

CHARLES P. EDWARDS, deceased, was for many years a leading citizen of Gibson, Susque- hanna county, being actively engaged in business and taking an influential part in local affairs. His death, which occurred January 21, 1893, was so sin- cerely mourned in the community that the following brief memoir will be of general interest.

Mr. Edwards was born September 9, 1820, at Hopkinton City, R. I., the son of Putnam and Dorothy ( Burdick) Edwards, both natives of Rhode Island. In 1833 Putnam Edwards came to Susque- hanna county with his family to make his perman- ent home, locating in Clifford township and en- gaging in farming. He was a devout Christian, a member of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church, and was much esteemed as a citizen. His wife was a daughter of Kendall Burdick, of Rhode Island, and her family became prominently identified with Clif- ford township, at an early day. Seven children were born to Putnam and Dorothy Edwards, as follows: Lydia, Mrs. Thompson, who died in Honesdale; Samuel, who died in Buffalo, N. Y. ; Charles P., our subject; Eunice, who married Henry Coil, of Gib- son township, and died at Dundaff; Harriet, de- ceased, who married Steven Wright, of Herrick township, Susquehanna county ; Sarah, who died in Herrick township, unmarried, and Mary, who mar- ried Mr. Lord and went to Ohio.

As a lad of thirteen Charles P. Edwards ac- companied the family to Susquehanna county, and, his parents being in limited circumstances, for a short time he worked among farmers near their home. At an early age he served an apprenticeship at Dun- daff as a wagon maker, and then he settled at Gib- son, where he first rented the "Dutcher shop," and afterward built a suitable building for himself. After operating this shop for several years in part- nership with Anson Hall he sold his interest and engaged in the manufacture of bedsteads and horse rakes, continuing five years, but he then resumed the wagon business, which he carried on until his death. In politics he was a Republican, and at one time he served as justice of the peace, the duties of the office being discharged with characteristic faithfulness. In early manhood he united with the Presbyterian Church, and he and his estimable wife always manifested sympathy with religious work.

On December 23, 1843, he was married, in Clif- ford township, Susquehanna county, to Miss Helen P. Stevens, and four children blessed their home. (I) Julia, deceased, married Delois Bryant, a fore- man in a carriage shop at St. Paul, Minn. (2) Caroline married Butler Williams, of Mansfield, Ohio, who operated a dry-goods store at Susque- hanna for three years, and for about twenty-five

years past has been a successful traveling salesman. Their only son, Charles Sanford, also a traveling salesman, married Miss Grace Hedges, and has two children-Jeanette and Francis. (3) Henry, a blacksmith at Scranton, married Miss Ella Ten- nant. (4) Nettie married Dennison Taft, a wagon manufacturer at New Milford. Mrs. Edwards, to whose efficient aid our subject owed much of his success in life, was born December 23, 1821, in Clifford township, Susquehanna county, daughter of Joel Stevens, a prominent resident of that local- ity, who is mentioned elsewhere. The Stevens family is of old Vermont stock, and Joel Stevens was born and reared in the Green Mountain State, but came to Susquehanna county at an early day. He was married three times, the last time in Clif- ford township, to Julia Spencer, a member of a well known pioneer family. His death occurred in Clifford township, and his wife's last years were spent in the home of our subject. Of their six children, Helen P., Mrs. Edwards, is the eldest ; Ed- ward is a farmer at Portland, Oregon; William is a farmer in Clifford township, Susquehanna county ; Ann, deceased, married George Mumford, of Mt. Pleasant; Franklin was killed in a mine at Pike's Peak; and Florence is the wife of George Taylor, of Benton, Pennsylvania.

ELIHU H. LYMAN, who is now living retired on his fine farm in Auburn township, Susquehanna county, has been a resident of same for nearly half a century, and during that time has gained a posi- tion second to none as an industrious, honorable and esteemed citizen, and a man who would be a credit to any community. He was born January 9, 1821, in Springville township, son of Joseph A. Lyman, who was a well-known figure in this sec- tion for many years.

Joseph A. Lyman was born May 18, 1788, in Claremont, Vt., son of Gideon, Sr., and Dolly (Spencer) Lyman, the former of whom was a sol- dier in the Revolutionary war. At the age of fif- teen years Joseph came to Susquehanna county, Penn., settling in Springville township, where he became in time one of the most prominent and use- ful citizens of the locality, both as a prosperous farm- er and capable public official. He was extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits at what is now known as Lymanville, clearing 150 acres of land, carried on carpentering in connection with the work of the farm, and built the turnpike between Mont- rose and Tunkhannock. He held nearly every office in the gift of his fellow townsmen in Springville, serving as supervisor, school director, member of the election board, etc., to the satisfaction of all, and no citizen was held in greater esteem or more favorably known throughout the vicinity. His po- litical support was given to the Republican party. Joseph A. Lyman married Miss Annie Hall, who was born August 20, 1789, daughter of Elihu and Mary Hall, and their children were : Mary Ann, who died young; Mary, now deceased, who was the

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 114

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 2390

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 2390