Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 125

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 125
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 125
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 125
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 125

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Our subject's maternal grandparents, Warren and Polly Curtis, were farming people of East Bridgewater township, where they made their home throughout life. The former died in 1859, aged six- ty-three years, the latter in 1865, aged seventy- five years. Their children were Ira C., who died in Oakland borough; Phenelia, who married Sher- man Munger, and died in Salisbury Center, N. Y .; Betsy, deceased wife of J. F. McKune; Sarah J., mother of our subject ; and Mary, deceased wife of Charles Palmer, of Kirkwood, New York.

Reared upon the home farm, Edwin J. Mat- thews obtained his primary education in the dis- trict schools, and at the age of sixteen entered Wind- sor Academy, where he pursued his studies for two.

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years. He then served a three-years' apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade in Binghamton, N. Y., and at the end of that period opened a blacksmith shop in Susquehanna, conducting same in partnership with A. V. Price until August, 1877, when he went upon the road as traveling salesman for De Long Bros., marble dealers of Susquehanna, remaining with them two years and six months. l'e was then with A. W. Ayers, of Elmira, N. Y., for a short time, and in July, 1880, located in Montro e, Penn., where he carried on the marble business on his own account until coming, in July, 1885, to Susquehanna, where he has since successfully engaged in the same line of trade.

On June 15, 1879, Mr. Matthews was mar- ried, in the North Jackson church, to Miss Ella A. Whitney, who was born in Thompson township, April 9, 1854, a daughter of Russell V. and Melissa (Wheaton) Whitney, now residents or Thompson borough. Our subject and his wife have four chil- dren : Ruth E., Ina L., Fred E. and Frank W.

Mr. Matthews has always been deeply interest- ed in public affairs, and the good of the communi- ties where he has resided. He is genial, courteous, enterprising and progressive, has displayed com- mendable public spirit and the highest integrity of character, and reflects credit on the community which has honored him with its highest office. While a resident of Montrose, he was a member of the town council three years, and since coming to Susquehanna has served as poormaster three years, judge of election two years, and member of the town council for the past four years. He is a Republican in politics. Fraternally Mr. Matthews is a promi- nent member of Starrucca Lodge No. 423, I. O. O. F., in which he is a past grand, is also a member of the Encampment and Rebekah branches of that Order : of Canawacta Tribe No. 246, I. O. R. M., of which he is past sachem and past president of the Past Sachems Association of Susquehanna county ; and of the Degree of Pocohontas. He is a promi- nent and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has held official relation to the Church for fifteen years, being president of the board of trus- tees at the present time. He served as Sunday-school superintendent for six years, and is prominent in the County and State Sunday-school Association work, in which he takes an enthusiastic and ener- getic part, having been vice-president three years and president of the county association two years. His services are much sought after.

DAVID W. BAILEY is a most progressive and energetic agriculturist of Liberty township, Susque- hanna county, his management of his farm being marked by the scientific knowledge and skill which characterize the modern farmer. He was born in that township in 1845, a son of B. Watson and Louisa (Dawley) Bailey, the former born in Bucks county, Penn., in 1811, the latter in Rhode Island, in 1816.

Our subject's paternal great-grandfather, Thom- 24

as Bailey, was also a native of Bucks county, where he continued to make his home until his children were grown, and then moved to Maryland, locating near Baltimore, where his death occurred. He had one son, David, and one daughter, Edith, who married Richard Margery, twin brother of our subject's grandmother, and located in Bucks county.

David Bailey, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Bucks county, in 1783, and there wed- ded Mary Margery, who was born in the same coun- ty in 1788. In 1815 they came thence to Lawsville, now Liberty township, Susquehanna county, at which time that region was all wild and unim- proved, and he was forced to do his milling at Binghamton, N. Y., sixteen miles from his home, driving through the woods with a yoke of oxen and cart. He took up land near the village of Lawsville, where John Butler now resides, and erected thereon a little log house in which he and his family lived until 1829, when it was replaced by a good frame residence. There he died in 1844, and his wife, who for a few years previous to her death lived with her sons, passed away in 1868. To this worthy couple were born seventeen children, nine of whom reached maturity, viz .: (1) Edith, born in 1807 in Bucks county, first married Jacob Allard, whose home was near Lawsville, and who died leav- ing four children. For her second husband she wedded Solomon Williams, of New Milford town- ship, Susquehanna county, by whom she had a large family. (2) Elizabeth, born in Bucks coun- ty in 1810, married Nathaniel Banker, of Liberty township, where she died leaving one son, who died shortly afterward. (3) Benjamin Watson is men- tioned below. (4) Richard, born in Bucks county, in 1813, married Annie Webster, of Liberty town- ship, and after his father's death lived on the old homestead, where he died in 1872, leaving a wife and two children, Mary and Jane. Mary wedded Ebenezer Webb, who died leaving two children (still living), and for her second husband wedded Charles Mitchell, who left three children, all resi- dents of Susquehanna county. Jane is the wife of John Butler, who lives on the old Bailey farm in Liberty township. (5) David, born in Liberty township, in 1815, married Freelove Kenyon, of Rhode Island, and located in Liberty township, where he died in 1880. Of his four children Newell died in 1892; Phineas is a resident of Lawsville ; Leonard, of Liberty township; and Margaret is the wife of Henry Craik, of Liberty township. (6) Joseph, born in 1820, married Mercy Dawley, who died leaving two daughters-Elizabeth, wife of John Eastmas, of Franklin township, Susquehanna coun- ty, and Eliza, a bookkeeper of Grand Forks, N. Dak. For his second wife he married Jane Bell, of Susque- hanna county, by whom he had one daughter, now the widow of Mr. Caswell, of Liberty township. Mr. Bailey died in 1886, his second wife in 1896. (7) Deborah, born in 1822, married Rev. John Green, now of Bradford county, Penn., where she died in 1897, leaving two daughters-Martha, wife

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Robert Jacob, of Thompson, Susquehanna county ; and Josephine, wife of Frank Robertson, of Bradford county. (8) Edward L., born in 1823, attended the high school of Hallstead, and later Hamilton Univer- sity and the Rochester Theological Seminary, after which he was ordained a minister of the New-School Baptist Church. He wedded Mary Turrell, of Lib- erty township, and located in Carbondale, Penn., where he preached for thirteen years. Later he was chaplain of the State Senate at Harrisburg for three years, and then returned to Carbondale, where he died shortly afterward. He was a brilliant and highly educated man, greatly beloved by his own congregation, and had the respect and esteem of the people of all denominations. As a husband and father he was kind and affectionate, and, as a neigh- bor, social, cheerful and sympathetic, while the poor and needy always found in him a friend. He left a wife, who died in November, 1898, and four chil- dren -- Dr. D. L., of Carbondale; Edward L. and Willis L., both of Franklin Forks ; and Lillian, wife of Edson Rhinevault, of Franklin township. (9) William M., the youngest, is mentioned farther on.

Benjamin Watson Bailey, the father of our subject, was married, on reaching manhood, to Miss Louisa Dawley, a daughter of Stephen and Eliza- beth Dawley, natives of Rhode Island and early set- tlers of Liberty township, Susquehanna Co., Penn. After his marriage Mr. Bailey located in that town- ship, where he cleared and improved a farm. Dur- ing his boyhood and youth he had become thor- oughly familiar with the arduous labors which fall to the lot of the pioneer in a thickly wooded coun- try, and for several years he followed lumbering in connection with farming, and successfully oper- ated a sawmill. Upon his property he erected a large brick house, and made many other useful and valuable improvements, so that he had one of the best places of the locality. There he died in 1879, honored and respected by all who knew him. His first wife, the mother of our subject, died in 1858, and he subsequently married Miss Sarah Stanford, who died in 1862, leaving no children. In 1863 he wedded Mrs. Flora A. Bell, the widow of Joseph Bell, of Liberty township, and to them was born one son, Frederick L., who married Dora Chandler, of Owego, N. Y., and has one daughter, Ella M .; they reside on the old homestead in Liberty town- ship with his mother. By the first marriage there were five children, of whom, Stephen, the eldest, married Amanda Webster, of Liberty township, and settled on a farm near his father's home, where he died at the age of twenty-three years, leaving a wife but no children. Albert P., the second son, married Sarah Craik, of Silver Lake township, and is still engaged in agricultural pursuits upon the old homestead. Dimock L. and Delia both died in early life. David W., the youngest, is the subject proper of these lines.

David W. Bailey, the youngest in the family, was educated in the district schools of Liberty town- ship, and assisted in the work of the home farm

until he was married, in 1872, to Miss Delphine Law, a daughter of Hiram T. and Mary E. Law, representatives of old and prominent pioneer fam- ilies of Liberty township. Her grandfather, Garry Law, came from Connecticut to Susquehanna county as early as 1827, and located on the farm in Liberty township where our subject now resides, and where he continued to make his home throughout life. Some years after locating here he returned to his native State on a visit, accompanied by his wife and four children. They made the entire journey, of over 300 miles, in a cart drawn by oxen, and re- turned in the same manner, the trip requiring sev- eral months. His children were Phoebe, wife of Lee Smith, of Franklin township, Susquehanna county ; Sarah, who is the wife of Alvin Dickinson, of Litchfield, Conn., and is the only one of the fam- ily now living ; Edward, who died on the old home- stead in Liberty township when a young man; and Hiram T., father of Mrs. Bailey. The last-named remained upon the old homestead throughout life, and was one of the most prominent and influential citizens of his community, taking an active part in local politics and most efficiently filling a number of township offices of honor and trust. His children were Delphine, wife of our subject; Julia, wife of G. W. Meeker, of Liberty township; Grace, wife of G. W. Lindsley, of the same township; and Nettie and Charlotte, who died in early girlhood.

After his marriage Mr. Bailey located in How- ardville, where he owned and operated a farm for two years, and then purchased a place near Laws- ville, where he resided for twenty-three years, dur- ing which time he erected a comfortable residence and two barns. His son Burt L. now occupies that farm. In 1895 our subject purchased the old Law homestead, where he is living at the present time.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have been born seven children : (I) Burt L., born July 13, 1873, re- mained under the parental roof until reaching man- hood, and acquired his education in the home schools. In May, 1898, he married Miss Myra Southworth, a daughter of Frederick and Henri- etta Southworth, the former a merchant and promi- nent citizen of Lawsville. (2) Frank H., born in 1874, began his education in the district schools, and later attended the State College, in Centre coun- ty, Penn., where he learned butter making, taking a full course in the creamery business. In November, 1897, he married Miss Jessie Southworth, a sister of his brother's wife, and moved to Jefferson county, Ohio, where he engaged in the creamery business for some time. On his return to Susquehanna coun- ty he took charge of the Quaker Lake Creamery, with which he was connected when he contracted typhoid fever, in April, 1898, and died. He was a very ambitious young man, possessed of many good qualities, and, besides his sorrowing wife and his father's family, he left many friends to mourn his decease. (3) Gertie, born in March, 1879, died at the age of one year. (4) Rose M., born in October, 1881, is a student in the Lawsville schools.

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(5) Earl D., born in June, 1884, (6) Florence, born in May, 1888, and (7) Bruce T., born Decem- ber 2, 1895, are all in school.

Mr. Bailey comes of good old Whig stock, and was reared in the faith of the Baptist Church. He uses his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party, and takes a commendable interest in public affairs. He has most efficiently served as poormaster of Liberty township two terms, and was treasurer one term. He and his wife stand high in the community where they make their home. Those who know them best are numbered among their warmest friends, and no citizens of Liberty township are more honored or highly respected.

WILLIAM M. BAILEY, a representative farmer of Liberty township, was born there June 19, 1830, was educated in the district schools of the township, and when a young man acquired a knowledge of the shoemaker's trade, which he followed during the winter months, while he operated the home farm for his mother during the summer season. In 1853 he was united in marriage with Miss Laura M. Tur- rell, a daughter of David O. and Annie ( Webster) Turrell, natives of Connecticut and Rhode Island, respectively, who were married in Liberty township, Susquehanna Co., Penn., and began their domestic life in Lawsville Centre, but later removed to Frank- lin township, where the mother died. The father then lived with our subject and his wife until he, too, was called to his final rest. For two years after his marriage Mr. Bailey remained on his mother's place, in 1856 purchasing a partially im- proved farm in Liberty township, two miles west of Brookdale, where he has erected a fine residence, good barns and outbuildings, and made many other improvements which add to its value and attractive appearance.

Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have a family of three children, two sons and one daughter: (I) C. L., born in Liberty township, in 1857, received a good common-school education, and married Mertie I. Travis, of Liberty township, a daughter of James M. and Etta Travis. They now reside in Bingham- ton. N. Y., where he works at the carpenter's trade. (2) Dr. M. L., born in 1865, acquired his literary education in the home schools, and later attended a medical college in New York, where he was grad- uated. He is now one of the leading physicians of Carbondale, and is also medical examiner in a hospital there. In 1898 he married Miss Catherine Diamond, of Philadelphia. (3) Hattie R., born in 1867, received a district-school education, and is now the wife of Richard Thompson, of Binghamton, N. Y., by whom she has one daughter, Florence E.

Politically Mr. Bailey has always affiliated with the Democratic party, and he has most credit- ably filled the offices of auditor, justice of the peace and assessor for a number of terms. For over twenty years he and his wife have been members of the Old-School Baptist Church. and have taken an active part in Church work. They are highly re-

spected and esteemed in the community where they have so long made their home, and their strict in- tegrity and kindly disposition have won for them a host of warm personal friends.

SAMUEL P. LOOMIS (deceased) was one of the leading business men of Great Bend town- ship, Susquehanna county, for many years. He was widely known and honored, and in his death the community, whose interests he had much advanced by his enterprise, has lost a valuable citizen. His integrity of character and never-failing courtesy made him beloved by all who had the honor of his acquaintance.

Mr. Loomis was born in Broome county, N. Y., October 6, 1840, a son of C. F. and Betsy (Lyons) Loomis. The Loomis family is of old New Eng- land stock, having been founded in this country by three brothers, natives of England, who crossed the Atlantic about the middle of the seventeenth cen- tury and located at Agawam, Mass. One of these, Thomas Loomis, later removed to Hartford county, Conn., where he died in 1789, leaving two sons and one daughter. To this branch of the family our subject belonged.

C. F. Loomis, father of our subject, was a na- tive of Connecticut, and was a farmer and lumber- man by occupation. In 1855 he came to Susque- hanna county, Penn., and established a sawmill on Wiley creek, then known as Steam Hollow, where he did quite an extensive business, and gained quite an enviable reputation as an honorable, energetic and moral man. He married Betsy Lyons, who was born in 1815, and was a sister of David Lyons, of Lanesboro, Penn. Five children were born to them, namely : Harriet T. married J. D. Fisk, of Linden, Ill. ; Rebecca B. is the wife of Samuel Crouch, who was connected with the Erie railroad for over twenty years, and is now living retired in Chattanooga, Tenn .; Samuel P., our subject, was the eldest son ; Julius F., born in 1842, is an extensive business man of Chattanooga, Tenn .; and John S., born in 1846, is a prominent railroad official in Kentucky.

Samuel P. Loomis spent his early life upon a farm in Broome county. N. Y., and was not only given the benefits of a district-school education, but was also a student for some time in the Windsor Academy, Windsor, N. Y. During the time his father operated a sawmill in Great Bend township, Susquehanna Co., Penn., he assisted in the work, and early acquired habits of industry and self-reli- ance. For a number of years he was in the train service of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western and the Erie railroads, and during the Civil war he held a position under the government as an engineer, run- ning between Nashville and Chattanooga until hos- tilities ceased. He was then employed as an engi- neer on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton rail- road, with headquarters at Cincinnati, Ohio, and continued with that company until appointed mas- ter mechanic and train dispatcher for the Cincin- nati, Richmond & Chicago railroad, which position

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he held for some years. He then returned home and took a leading place in township affairs, serv- ing as school director ( six years), assessor, con- stable and tax collector ( for several terms). Be- sides operating his farm, which adjoins the village of Hallstead, he extensively engaged in business, as a dealer in ice and farm implements during the summer, and in lumbering in the winter season. As a Republican he took an active part in local politics, and he was a prominent member of the Order of American Mechanics (in which he held a number of official positions) and of the Masonic Frater- nity. He died August 23, 1891, honored and re- spected by all who knew him.

In 1881 Mr. Loomis was united in marriage with Miss Hattie E. Holdridge, and they became the parents of two children: Harvey C., born in 1883, and Frederick Lyons, born in 1886, both at- tending school in Hallstead. Mrs. Loomis was born in 1857, and is a daughter of Harvey and Fan- nie S. (Hull) Holdridge, the former born in Scho- harie county, N. Y., in 1828, the latter in Windham county, Vt., in 1833. In their family were two daughters, the other being Jessie F., now the wife of Charles Proctor, a machinist of Susquehanna. Mrs. Loomis received a good classical education in the public schools of Susquehanna, and was one of the successful teachers of Oakland township for several terms. After her husband's death she took charge of his business interests, which she has suc- cessfully carried on, with the exception of the lum- ber trade and farm implement business. In 1893 she became treasurer of the Hallstead Co-Operative Store, which is located opposite her beautiful home. She is a lady of culture and refinement, and has been an active member of the Presbyterian Church of Hallstead for thirteen years.

ARTHUR J. TAYLOR, M. D., is one of the young and successful practitioners of the village of Hop Bottom, Susquehanna county, where he has practiced for seven years, during which time his careful and skillful professional work has brought him a large and lucrative practice. Dr. Taylor is a native of Lenox township, born October 13, 1864, son of James and Lucy A. (Westcott) Taylor. James Taylor, a prosperous farmer of Lenox town- ship, is a native of Leicestershire, England, born October 25, 1834, son of Edward and Elizabeth (Rose) Taylor, who came to America and died here.

Edward Taylor, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in 1806. In his native land he became a butcher. There he married Elizabeth Rose, who was born February II, 1812, daughter of William Rose, and he soon after came to America with his wife and child James and his brother Samuel, land- ing in New York in January, 1835. In a short time he went to Oxford Furnace, N. J. He worked in the iron mines, and lived in Ohio for a short time before his death, November II, 1844. The children of Edward and Elizabeth (Rose) Taylor were: Ann, who died in England; James, the fa-

ther of our subject; Martha Ann, widow of Joseph Millard, of Scranton, Penn .; John, of Factoryville ; Hannah, who married Charles Cooper, of Scran- ton, Penn .; and Sarah, who died young. Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor married for her second husband Spencer Scott, who in 1847 came to Susquehanna county, and to that union were born three sons: Joseph L., deceased; Benjamin F., deceased; and John Henry, of Kansas. She died in 1892, aged eighty years.

James Taylor was a babe of several months when brought by his parents to America. He was a boy of ten years and the eldest child in the family when his father died, and from that time he was. thrown largely upon his own resources. As a boy and young man he worked in the Scranton roll- ing mills. On January 1, 1864, he was married in Lenox township to Miss Lucy A. Westcott, who was born January 17, 1845, daughter of Richmond and Abigail ( Albrough ) Westcott. Mrs. Taylor is one of three children, her two brothers being. M. Elwin Westcott, of Scranton, Penn., and Lowell Westcott, of Nicholson, Penn. To James and. Lucy A. Taylor were born children as follows: Arthur J., the subject of this sketch; Eldon R. and Aldon R., twins, the latter of whom died June 16, 1898; Myrtie, wife of J. H. Hortman, of Lenox township ; Ollie, wife of Truman Watrous, of Bing- hamton, N. Y .; and Ionia, at home. In 1864 James. Taylor purchased in Lenox township one hundred acres of partly improved land, which he brought under a fine state of cultivation. For many years he lived in a small house, 16 x 20 feet, building his present commodious residence in 1883. He is en- gaged in general farming, and to some extent in dairying, keeping about twelve cows, a stock of sheep, etc., and is enterprising and successful in his. agricultural work. In politics he is a Republican, and he has held various local offices, serving six years as school director and four years as poor- master.

Arthur J. Taylor was reared on his father's farm in Lenox township. His education was com- menced in the district schools, and he later attended the graded schools of Hop Bottom, also Keystone Academy, at Factoryville, for one and one-half years. Matriculating at the University of Michi- gan, Ann Arbor, he attended lectures there for two: years, and spent the next year at Jefferson Med- ical College, Philadelphia, Penn., graduating from that institution April 2, 1890. For the practice of his profession Dr. Taylor located the same year at Dalton, Lackawanna county, where he remained six months. Then he practiced one year at Fleet -- ville, Lackawanna county, and in 1892 located at Hop Bottom, where he has since met with flattering professional success. He is a member of the Sus- quehanna County Medical Society. The Doctor was married, in Factoryville, Wyoming county, Jan- uary 29, 1891, to Miss Eva Freeman, and they had one child, Ruth, born June 26, 1893, who died in infancy. After the death of his first wife, which,

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"occurred April 21, 1894, our subject married, at Hop Bottom, on September 10, 1895, Miss Cora Wright, daughter of I. W. and Ella ( Bell) Wright, of LaGrange, Ill., and by this marriage there is one child, Pauline, born July 1, 1897. In politics Dr. Taylor is a Republican. He is serving his sec- ond term as coroner of Susquehanna county. So- cially he is member of the I. O. O. F. at Brooklyn and of the Masonic Fraternity at Hop Bottom.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 125

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