Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 138

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 138
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 138
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 138
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 138

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Moses Killam was a native of Connecticut, born in 1759, and when a young man went to Goshen, N. Y., later coming to Palmyra township. Pike Co., Penn., where he took a leading part in the settlement and advancement of this region, being prominent in both business and political circles; he served for many years as justice of the peace, in which office he was succeeded by his son Moses. He was a large land owner, and erected a grist and saw mill on Mill Brook. Moses Killam was a stanch Whig in politics. He died May 15. 1831, leaving two sons :

Benjamin T., the father of our subject ; and Moses, a farmer of Palmyra township, who died in 1861.

Benjamin T. Killam was born June 21, 1771, probably in Palmyra township, was reared in Pike county, and attended the district schools of his native township, and also a select school at Goshen, N. Y. Hle spent his entire life in Pike county, first engaging in farming upon land cleared by the Indians along the flats of the Paupack stream, but later in life turn- ing his attention to lumbering. He was a local min- ister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but he extended his hospitality to those of all denomina- tions, and was well-known throughout Wayne and l'ike counties as an earnest Christian worker. In Pike county he married Miss Elizabeth Witter, who was born September 3. 1773, and was the first white child born in this vicinity, either in Pike or Wayne county. Her parents, Elijah and Elizabeth Witter, were driven from their home by the Indians about the time of the Wyoming massacre. Elijah Witter was born September 26, 1735, and died when between seventy and eighty years of age; his wife was born September 26, 1749, and passed away near Geneva, N. Y., aged ninety years. Benjamin T. Killam died May 9, 1856, his wife on July 1, 1872. He was a Whig and, finally, a Republican in politics, and had often been urged to accept office, but in- variably declined such honors.

In the family of this worthy couple were the following children: Anna, born March 7, 1798, married Thomas Bortree, of Sterling township, Wayne county, and died at Grand Rapids, Mich., March 27, 1884: James, born May II, 1799, died in November, 1800: Lewis, born October 16, 1801, married Elizabeth Bortree, and died in Dexter town- ship, Washtenaw Co., Mich., April 7, 1851 ; Emeline, born December 24, 1803, married John K. Bingham, and died at Plainwell, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., April 4, 1898; Alfred, born March 23, 1806, married Frances Nordman, a native of Germany, and died in Calhoun county, Mich., September 21, 1853 : Eli- jah, born June 2, 1808, married Sarah Rockwell, and died in Dexter township, Washtenaw Co., Mich., April 18, 1851 ; Moses B., born July 19, 1810, died in Palmyra township, Pike Co., Penn., July 3, 1830; Lucy, born July 16, 1812, married Jacob Preston, and died in Dexter township, Washtenaw Co., Mich., February 26, 1846; Marcus N. B., the subject of this sketch, is next in the order of birth: Polly, born April 4, 1820. married James Van Camp, and died at Hollisterville, Salem township. Wayne Co., Penn., April 26, 1895.

Marcus N. B. Killam was born February 6, 1815. in Palmyra township, Pike county, where he has passed his entire life in rural pursuits. During his youth he attended the common schools, and he assisted his father in the work upon the farm and in the lumber woods until he reached the age of thirty years, when he took entire charge of both. They owned large tracts of valuable timber land, in Pike and Wayne counties, but. in 1869, our subject sold 3.400 acres to Farnham Collingwood & Co., besides

M. NB Killam

Nancy J. Killen.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

houses, 100 acres of cleared land, and other property. He owned and operated a saw mill for many years, actively engaging in lumbering from boyhood until old age. After selling the above mentioned tract he purchased his present farm of 500 acres, where he and his wife enjoy the quiet of a country home, surrounded by all the comforts and many of the lux- uries of life. He still oversees the operation of his farm, but leaves the arduous work of the place to other hands. Mr. Killam is remarkably active for one of his years, and keeps himself well informed on current topics, taking a lively interest in the events of the day.

On April 20, 1845, Mr. Killam was married, by Rev. Elbert E. Young, a Methodist Episcopal minis- ter, to Miss Olive W. Kimble, who was born in Pike county, February 14, 1821, and died July 19, 1847. By this union there was one daughter, Margaret, who was born February II, 1846, and died October 27, 1864. Mr. Killam was again married. June 19, 1848, his second union being with Miss Nancy J. Bennett, daughter of Jared and Esther (Killam) Bennett. Her paternal grandfather, Stephen Ben- nett, a native of Connecticut, served in the Revolu- tionary war under Gen. Washington. He was mar- ried in Connecticut to Miss Mary Gates, a daughter of Nathaniel Gates. The Gates family was one of the first to locate in Palmyra township, Pike county, Penn., but during the Indian troubles they were driven away and forced to return to Connecticut. To Mary Gates, grandmother of Mrs. Killam, is due the credit of discovering a band of Torv deserters, who were hidden near the Paupack settlement, pre- paring an assault on the unsuspecting settlers. She spread the alarm, and the band was captured. Jared Bennett, Mrs. Killam's father, was born in Palmyra township October 5, 1793, and was married in Octo- ber, 1814, to Esther Killam, who was also born in that township, March 28, 1796, a daughter of Silas and Sarah (Chapman) Killam. Silas Killam was a native of Connecticut, and when a young men had many encounters with the Pennsylvania Indians. His death occurred April 8, 1818. Jared Bennett died March 22, 1874, having survived his first wife many years, her death occurring April 24, 1843. Their children were as follows: Gibson G., born July 19, 1815, was a farmer of St. Joseph county, Mich., and died August 5, 1899; Nancy Jane, born March 2, 1818, is the wife of our subject ; Frederick B., born March 5. 1821, died April 20, 1825; Isaac K., born May 15, 1825, first married Maria Quick, and second Augusta Beam, and died in April, 1897 ; Harvey K., born January 15, 1829, married Jane Weldon, and is a retired lumberman, living at Cam- den, N. J. ; Volney, born April 9, 1837, married Eme- line Davis, and is a wholesale and retail lumber dealer of Camden, N. J. For his second wife Jared Bennett married Louisa Curtis, who was born in Salem township, Wayne Co., Penn., February 26, 1817, and by this union he had three children : Stephen, born September 10, 1845, is unmarried, and lives at Paupack; Esther Ann, born January 15,

1853, is the wife of W. Townsend, of Sussex county, N. J .; and Fanny, born January 31, 1861, lives in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Mr. and Mrs. Killam are the parents of four children, namely: (1) Benjamin F., a lawyer of Scranton, Penn., was born July 4, 1849, and mar- ried Frances Hollister, by whom he has three chil- dren-Emalene B., Yolande A., and Frances Marie. (2) Olive E., born November 19. 1850, died June 6, 1883 ; she married Samuel W. Edgar, an attorney of Scranton, Penn., and had two children-Mark K. and Annie Florence. (3) Alfred K., a farmer of Palmyra township, Pike county, was born July 27, 1853, and married Elizabeth Wallace, by whom he has two children-Marcus A., born November 7, 1885; and Ruth, born May 6, 1880. (4) Esther B., born June 30, 1855, is with her parents. On June 19, 1898, Mr. andMrs. Killam celebrated their Golden Wedding, a "surprise" having been arranged by their children and friends.

Since the organization of the Republican party Mr. Killam has been one of its stanch supporters, and he has been elected justice of the peace many times, but always refused to qualify, political honors having no attraction for him. He is, however, a public-spirited citizen, giving his support to all en- terprises which he believes will prove of public ben- efit. His estimable wife holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and both are held in high regard by all who know them.

F. WILSON HURD, M. D., proprietor of the Water Gap Sanitarium, which is situated in Smith- field township, Monroe county near the famous Delaware Water Gap, is probably one of the best- known physicians in northern Pennsylvania and the State of New York, where the success and popu- larity of the establishment under his management have given him a widespread and enviable noto- riety in both professional circles and among those of the general public who are interested in enter- prises of this character. Dr. Hurd was first led to investigate the water cure for invalids while in search of health on his own account, and he has now been engaged in this work for about forty years, in 1871 founding the institution of which he has since been the head, and in the conduct of which he has made his record as a skillful and successful physician.

Dr. Hurd was born March 23, 1830, in Trum- bull, Fairfield Co., Conn., son of Eliot and Fanny (Burton) Hurd, and he is a descendant of one of the old-settled families of the Nutmeg State, being a great-grandson of John Hurd and a grandson of Frederick Hurd, both of whom were in their day well-known residents of Fairfield county. On the maternal side he is a grandson of Capt. Nathaniel Burton, who was a West India trader, and a de- scendant of the Booth family, which came from England and settled in America in the early Colo- nial days. The Doctor is a cousin of Rev. Dr. Nathaniel T. Burton, of Hartford. Conn. In 1833,

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when he was a young child, the family moved to South Bend, St. Joseph Co., Ind., where the parents died not long afterward, within three weeks of cach other, and grandfather Frederick Hurd sent for the children and gave them a home upon his farm in Fairfield county, near Beers' Mills, near the Housa- tonic railroad. Here Wilson passed his early years, alternating the hard work of New England farm life in the summer with attendance at the public schools of the district in the winter, acquiring a practical elementary education. When sixteen years of age he went to Newark, N. J., where he learned the trade of hatter, but as his health showed signs of failing he returned to Connecticut and fol- lowed his trade there for a time, later entering a machine shop, where he learned to make surgical instruments. During this time he succeeded in earning enough for his own support, but on account of continued poor health he was making little head- way beyond this, and dissatisfied with such a state of affairs he at length determined to go to sea in the hope of improving physically. He shipped for four years in the capacity of engineer, and followed the water for nine years, during which time he served also as cook, foremast hand, second and first mate, principally engaged in coasting ; one of his voyages was to San Francisco around Cape Horn, and return by way of Callao and the Chincha Isl- ands.

In 1857, still in quest of better health, Dr. Hurd visited the old Glen Haven Water Cure, at the head of Skaneateles Lake. N. Y., and there was opened to him the avenue of usefulness which he has since followed with such gratifying results to himself and others. Becoming deeply interested in the system employed there he studied it thoroughly, and after considerable research along this line he re- solved to devote his life to the practice of its prin- ciples. In 1858 he formed a partnership with two other gentlemen, and with James C. Jackson as physician-in-chief, they opened what is known as the Dansville Water Cure, of Livingston county, N. Y., where for ten years Dr. Hurd had a daily average of one hundred patients under his care, in addition to which he was entrusted with all the mechanical workings of this large institution. In 1868 he sold out his interest there, and in 1871, having made choice of his present location, two miles east of Stroudsburg, in Monroe county, Penn., as combining all the best advantages for a Cure, he came here and opened the sanitarium where he has since earned such fame. In the meantime he was making continual progress along medical lines, hav- ing graduated in 1860 from the hydropathic school known as the Hygieo-Therapeutic College of New York City, a school working under a charter from the Legislature of New York State, and he also attended lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Bellevue Medical College, New York.

The site which Dr. Hurd selected, near the Delaware river and Blue mountains, is one of the

most charming spots in Pennsylvania, and for over fifty years people have been attracted to the place by the wild and weird grandeur of the scenery, the remarkable healthfulness of its clear, dry air, and the case of access from the great cities and sur- rounding country. Its popularity has increased steadily until it now ranks among the favorite places of resort for the world's tourists, and the number of visitors to the locality grows with each succeeding year. Thirty years ago, when asked "where is the most healthy locality in our country." that remarkable observer of facts, Thurlow Weed, the veteran editor of the Albany Evening Journal, replied, "Monroe county, Penn .; " and after close observation and study of climatic healthfulness dur- ing the twenty-eight years of his residence here while treating chronic invalids Dr. Hurd has be- come fully satisfied that he could not have made a wiser choice. The entire absence of malaria, great purity of air, the mildness of the winters and the general equability of temperature are a few of the advantages upon which its claims for superiority over any resort of the kind east of the Rocky mountains are based, and the delightful location of the sanitarium buildings-in a broad, shallow, irregular upland basin nestled among the spurs of hills adjacent to and northwest of the Blue moun- ains, with gentle slopes to the south affording a partial view of the Delaware river-completes the impression that for sublime beauty and healthful- ness this place has no superior in the United States.

The treatment at the Sanitarium, chiefly water, treatment in its various forms to meet the needs of different patients, is based upon the law of human organism which involves continual supply and waste to maintain a healthy state. All kinds of baths. in a variety of forms adapted to the treatment of spe- cial diseases, are prescribed, together with mas- sage-dry rubbings and oil rubbings, etc. The medical department is under the direct management of Dr. Hurd and his daughter, Dr. Fanny H. Brown, and the daily life of each patient is regulated by competent and skillful physicians to meet his or her special wants, nothing being left undone which may add to the comfort or convenience of the patrons. The table is supplied with an abundance of health- ful and hygienic food, and the Cure building, erected with the idea of providing warmth in win- ter as well as coolness in the summer, is equipped with every modern convenience, has abundant light, and is well ventilated and supplied with hot and cold water, etc. Though this institution was especially designed for invalids, it is a delightful place for anyone in search of rest and healthful recreation to pass a few weeks or months, and the praise which has been bestowed upon it from all quarters is well deserved. Dr. Hurd lives in the Cure with his patients, all of whom receive his per- sonal attention, and in his forty-one years of expe- rience, nine of which were passsed as examining and superintending physician of one of the largest water cures in the country, he has acquired a rare skill in

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diagnosing diseases safely and clearly and admin- istering the proper treament. He has based all his methods on the fundamental principles of nat- ural law, and adheres closely to these scientific rules, this constituting the difference between his system of treating disease and that of prescribing medicines, and he is fully entitled to the confidence of the public and the large patronage which has been accorded to him in this his life work. He lias made a record which could not fail to satisfy the most exacting inquirer as to his ability to determine the nature of a disease and determine upon the most beneficial course of treatment, and his patients come chiefly from the Eastern and Middle States, though a great number are from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Naturally he is particularly well advanced in the science of healing by the water treatment in its varied forms, and it is in this field that he has acquired the greater part of his wide practice and his special reputation.

In August, 1866, Dr. Hurd was united in mar- riage with Miss Hannah A. Johnson, daughter of the Hon. Emerson Johnson, of Sturbridge, Mass., and two daughters blessed this union: Fanny Bur- ton, born in 1867, and Anna Johnson, born in 1870, at Round Hill, Mass. The eldest daughter re- ceived her early education at home, having for a tutor Rev. Andrew W. Hardy, of Stroudsburg, who was an old friend of the Hurd family. He was a native of Scotland, and finished his education in the Edinburg University, and the Doctor, knowing him to be a man of high scholarly attainments, brought him to his home to instruct his daughters. Miss Fanny Hurd subsequently attended Oberlin (Ohio) College for a period of two years, and in 1888 she entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where she took the regular course in medicine, graduating in July, 1891. . During her attendance there she became actively interested in the religious work of the institution, especially the Mission Band, and when Robert Speer, the mis- sionary enroller for foreign work, called there for volunteers, Miss Hurd was one of those to offer her services for the foreign field, and was in due time ac- cepted by the Presbyterian Board. In October, 1891, she was married to Dr. Hugh M. Brown, of Kincardine, Canada, who was also a student at Ann Arbor and a member of the Mission Band, and they set sail for Korea within a short time, continuing in medical missionary work in that country for three years. They returned to America in 1894 on account of Dr. Brown's health, living in California until 1896, during which time he practiced medi- cine as he was able, and in January, 1897, they came East to New York State, staying in Dansville until his death, which occurred January 5. following. After her husband's death Mrs, Brown returned to her early home in Monroe county, and here she has since resided, acting as assistant physician to her father in his work in the sanitarium. She has two children-Donald H., born in 1892 at Cheefu, China, and Agnes L., born in February, 1894, at

Fusan, Korea. Anna J. Hurd received her educa- tion at home and in the college at Oberlin, Ohio, and she is a highly intelligent young lady, of a business turn of mind and possessed of unusual ex- ectitive ability. She is at present residing in Dans- ville, New York.

In religious connection Dr. Hurd is a devout member of the M. E. Church of Stroudsburg, in whose welfare he is deeply interested, and he has always been pronounced in the religious feature of his institution, starting the day with family wor- ship, and believing the daily life should be so true as to be a part of religion. He is regarded by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance as a thorough Christian gentleman, and it is generally acceded that his attractive personality has had much to do with his success in his chosen profession, his genial and kind disposition winning him many friends from all classes of humanity. Dr. Hurd is well informed on all matters of general interest relating to the social, industrial and political life of his country, and he has been public-spirited in aid- ing by his means and influence the advancement and progress of the locality of his adopted home, where he is held in high esteem. His political sym- pathies are with the Republican party, in whose success he takes a warm interest.

JOHN H. SMITH, a leading business man and influential citizen of Lackawaxen, Pike county, eminently deserves classification among the purely self-made men who have distinguished themselves for their ability to master the opposing forces of life, and to wrest from fate a large measure of suc- cess and an honorable name.

Andrew Smith, father of our subject, was born February 19, 1818, in the southern part of Germany, where the grandfather, Andrew Smith, Sr., spent his entire life. At the age of twenty-one years the former came to America, and first found employ- ment in New York City. When the Erie railroad was being constructed he kept a boarding house for the laborers at various points along the line, both at Otisville, N. Y., and near Narrowsburg, that State. He was married in Germany to Miss Anna Stager, who was born in April, 1816, a daughter of Michael and Anna Stager, and they became the parents of four children, namely : Margaret, now the wife of Michael Stager, who is engaged in the shoe business in Dayton, Ohio; John H., of this review ; Anna, deceased, who was married and lived in New York City ; and Charles, who is married and engaged in farming near Narrowsburg, N. Y. The father de- parted this life March 19, 1892, and the mother now makes her home with her younger son.

John H. Smith was born April 4, 1847, at Otis- ville, Orange Co., N. Y., first attended the common schools of that State, and later was a student in the New York City schools for four years. At the age of nineteen he started out in life for himself, and learning the carpenter's trade, he followed it for fourteen years along the Delaware river, in both

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New York and Pennsylvania. In 1876 he embarked in the mercantile business at Lackawaxen, and has successfully carried on operations along that line ever since. He is also engaged in quarrying blue stone quite extensively, the greater part of the product of his quarries being sold in Brooklyn and other eastern cities. He has about 400 acres of heavily wooded land, on which he is engaged in lumbering, the lumber at one time being rafted down the Delaware river to Philadlephia. During the busy season he employs some seventy men, while at other times about half that number find employment in his quarries and lumber woods. He is an enterprising and energetic business man. of known reliability, and has met with more than or- dinary success in his undertakings.

In New York City Mr. Smith was married, in August, 1870, to Miss Margaret Beisel, who was born in Lackawaxen township, Pike county, De- cember 28, 1855, a daughter of George Beisel. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born five children : Charles, who assists his father in business and re- sides at home : and John, Andrew, Albert and Mar- garet, all at home. Since casting his first vote Mr. Smith has been a stanch Democrat in politics, and he has most efficiently filled the offices of collector, township auditor and school director. In religious faith he is a Roman Catholic.

JOHN F. GREEN. The subject of this sketch is one of the young men of Monroe county whose ancestral history extends back for several genera- tions in this immediate locality. He has demon- strated the strong fibre and the inherent integrity of his inheritance, and also that, in the conditions which now surround the vocation of a Pennsyl- vania farmer, he can thrive and prosper to a notable degrec. He is one of the enterprising and progress- ive agriculturists of Monroe county, fully alive to the possibilities about him, and ever ready and faith- ful in the discharge of the duties of a public-spirited citizen.

Mr. Green was born in Chestnut Hill township, July 9, 1859, a son of John J. and Elizabeth ( Kresge) Green, both natives of Monroe county, John J. Green, who was by occupation a farmer and wheelwright, died at Effort, Penn., in April, 1884, aged fifty-three years. He was a son of John Green, a pioneer and prominent farmer of Monroe county, and a member of the Lutheran Church, in politics a Democrat. His widow is now living at Effort at the age of sixty-two years, a well-preserved and intelligent lady. Her parents, John and Sally Kresge, were early and lifelong residents of Monroe county. The children born to John J. and Elizabeth Green were as follows: Alice, wife of Oscar Rodenback, a tinsmith, of Brodheadsville; John F., subject of this sketch : Wilson, a lumber- man : Catherine, who married Jefferson Kresge, of East Stroudsburg, Penn .: Oscar, a bookkeeper, of Philadelphia, Penn. : and Nettie, wife of Peter Van Buskirk, of Saylorsburg.

John F. Green remained at the home of his parents until he reached the age of twenty-one. In his earlier youth he was engaged in farming, and when his services were not needed at home he might be found in the fields of his neighbors, for he was an industrious lad, and had early in life learned the value and importance of continual labor. To him work was not a burden to be shunned, but rather a problem to be overcome, and he took pleasure in fulfilling his tasks as they daily appeared before him. The spirit thus displayed perhaps explains his subsequent success. At the age of nineteen he entered the service of a spoke manufacturer at Ef- fort, and remained in that work for ten years. It is notable, however, that until he reached his ma- jority he gave his salary to his parents.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 138

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