USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 141
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 141
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 141
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 141
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182 | Part 183 | Part 184 | Part 185 | Part 186 | Part 187 | Part 188 | Part 189 | Part 190 | Part 191 | Part 192 | Part 193 | Part 194 | Part 195 | Part 196 | Part 197 | Part 198 | Part 199 | Part 200 | Part 201 | Part 202 | Part 203 | Part 204 | Part 205 | Part 206 | Part 207 | Part 208 | Part 209 | Part 210 | Part 211 | Part 212 | Part 213 | Part 214 | Part 215 | Part 216 | Part 217 | Part 218 | Part 219 | Part 220 | Part 221 | Part 222 | Part 223 | Part 224 | Part 225 | Part 226 | Part 227 | Part 228 | Part 229 | Part 230 | Part 231 | Part 232 | Part 233 | Part 234 | Part 235 | Part 236 | Part 237 | Part 238 | Part 239 | Part 240 | Part 241 | Part 242 | Part 243 | Part 244 | Part 245 | Part 246 | Part 247 | Part 248 | Part 249 | Part 250 | Part 251 | Part 252 | Part 253 | Part 254 | Part 255 | Part 256 | Part 257 | Part 258 | Part 259 | Part 260 | Part 261 | Part 262 | Part 263 | Part 264 | Part 265 | Part 266 | Part 267 | Part 268 | Part 269 | Part 270 | Part 271 | Part 272 | Part 273 | Part 274 | Part 275 | Part 276 | Part 277 | Part 278 | Part 279 | Part 280 | Part 281 | Part 282 | Part 283 | Part 284 | Part 285 | Part 286 | Part 287 | Part 288 | Part 289 | Part 290 | Part 291 | Part 292 | Part 293 | Part 294 | Part 295 | Part 296 | Part 297 | Part 298 | Part 299 | Part 300 | Part 301 | Part 302 | Part 303 | Part 304 | Part 305 | Part 306 | Part 307 | Part 308 | Part 309 | Part 310 | Part 311 | Part 312 | Part 313 | Part 314 | Part 315 | Part 316 | Part 317 | Part 318 | Part 319 | Part 320 | Part 321 | Part 322 | Part 323 | Part 324 | Part 325 | Part 326 | Part 327 | Part 328 | Part 329 | Part 330 | Part 331 | Part 332 | Part 333 | Part 334 | Part 335 | Part 336 | Part 337 | Part 338 | Part 339 | Part 340 | Part 341 | Part 342 | Part 343 | Part 344 | Part 345 | Part 346 | Part 347 | Part 348 | Part 349 | Part 350 | Part 351 | Part 352 | Part 353 | Part 354 | Part 355 | Part 356 | Part 357 | Part 358 | Part 359 | Part 360 | Part 361 | Part 362 | Part 363 | Part 364 | Part 365 | Part 366 | Part 367 | Part 368 | Part 369 | Part 370 | Part 371 | Part 372 | Part 373 | Part 374 | Part 375 | Part 376 | Part 377 | Part 378 | Part 379 | Part 380 | Part 381 | Part 382 | Part 383 | Part 384 | Part 385 | Part 386 | Part 387 | Part 388 | Part 389 | Part 390 | Part 391 | Part 392 | Part 393 | Part 394 | Part 395 | Part 396 | Part 397 | Part 398 | Part 399 | Part 400 | Part 401 | Part 402 | Part 403 | Part 404 | Part 405 | Part 406 | Part 407 | Part 408 | Part 409 | Part 410 | Part 411 | Part 412 | Part 413 | Part 414 | Part 415 | Part 416 | Part 417 | Part 418 | Part 419 | Part 420 | Part 421 | Part 422 | Part 423 | Part 424 | Part 425 | Part 426 | Part 427 | Part 428 | Part 429 | Part 430
VI. Joseph F. Foulke was born October 24, 1838, at his present homestead, and his education was obtained at an academy at Water Gap, with one year in a school at Gwynedd and two years at school in Quakertown. For some time he was in the employ of an uncle, a bridge contractor at Philadelphia, but later he returned home and be- came the mainstay of his father in managing the "Highland Dell House." Amid the congenial so- ciety gathered in that pleasant resort his manners early received the polish of refinement, while his active mind has been quick to seize upon informa- tion concerning the current topics of the time. The House is located on a range of mountains with Cherry Valley on the south, and on the north the valley in which nestles the city of Stroudsburg, over 700 feet below, making an ideal spot for a health resort. About 125 rooms are set apart for guests, and during the summer season they are all filled with appreciative visitors. Mr. Foulke is a Republican in politics, but has not taken an active share in partisan work. He married Caroline Mc- Culley, a native of Philadelphia, and his home is brightened by three children: Maria, Charles M. and Helen.
WILLIAM SAWYER. Pike county has many well-to-do and successful citizens who are the architects of their own fortunes, and are connected largely with the official life of their commuity. Among these is the subject of this personal history. who makes his home in Westfall township, and is
successfully engaged in both carpentering and farm- ing at Mill Rift.
Mr. Sawyer was born on a part of his present farm, July 8, 1856, and is a son of John N. Sawyer, whose sketch appears elsewhere. Though he made his home with his parents until he attained the age of twenty-five, he commenced earning his own live- lihood at the age of twelve by working for neigh- boring farmers, being thus employed until his mar- riage. He then erected his present comfortable residence, and has since given much attention to carpentering. He is a natural mechanic, having never served an apprenticeship at his trade; but at the age of twenty-two commenced working at the same with his father-in-law. He is an ardent sup- porter of the Democratic party, and his fellow citi- zens recognizing his worth and ability have called him to office. He acceptably served as township auditor for two years, and was elected justice of the peace for a term of five years, but resigned at the end of three. Religiously he is a member of the Evan- gelical Church.
At Mill Rift, in December, 1882, Mr. Sawyer was united in marriage with Miss Mary Winter- mute, and they have become the parents of three children ; Nellie E., John and Wilber W.
Isaac Wintermute, Mrs. Sawyer's father, is a well-known general merchant and postmaster at Mill Rift, where he is also engaged in the manufac- iure of kindling wood. He was born in Stillwater township, Sussex county, N. J., October 4, 1819, and is a son of Joseph R. and Elizabeth (Maines) Win- rermute, who were of German extraction and spent their entire lives in Sussex county. The father, a farmer by occupation, died in 1858, aged seventy- eight years, the mother in 1888, aged eighty-four years, and both were buried in Tranquility cemetery, Sussex county. Their children were: Jacob, a brick manufacturer of Muscatine, Iowa, who married Susan Quick; Isaac, the father of Mrs. Sawyer; Margaret, deceased wife of John P. Vought : Elias, deceased ; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Ralph Titus ; Levi, who married Jane Cowks, and is sexton of the cemetery at Tranquility, N. J. : Jane, wife of Philip Savercool, a farmer of Sussex county ; and Winfield, a carpenter of Port Jervis, N. Y., who married Ann Van Akin. Mrs. Sawyer's paternal great-grandpar- ents were Peter and Rachel (Rhodes) Wintermute, the former a native of Germany, the latter of Eng- land. He was a merchant and farmer at Stillwater, Sussex county, N. J., and was the father of the fol- lowing children: George. Peter, Mrs. Margart Dodder, Charles, William, Joseph R. and Mrs. Elsie Wilson.
Isaac Wintermute has been three times mar- ried. In 1845, in Westfall township, Pike Co., Penn., he wedded Miss Catherine, daughter of Ben- jamin C. Van Akin, and she died leaving one child, Elizabeth Ann, now deceased, who first married Ed- ward Lucky and ( second) Mark Van Etten. Mr. Wintermute's second wife was Kate J. Nearpass, a daughter of Walter Nearpass, of Sussex county, N.
598
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
J., and to them were born four children : Levi ( de- ceased). who married Cora Allen: Jennie, wife of Nathan Smith, an engineer of Middletown, N. Y .; Mary, wife of our subject ; and George, deceased. The mother of these children died in 1866, at the age of thirty-two years. For his third wife Mr. Wintermute married Mrs. Hannah ( Davis ) Sawyer.
CALVIN C. SHANNON. Among the pros- perous and intelligent farmers of Pike county, the record of whose lives fills an important place in this volume, it gives us pleasure to commemorate the name of this gentleman, who is now carrying on operations as a general farmer in Lackawaxen town- ship, and is meeting with a well deserved success.
Mr. Shannon was born in that township, Jan- uary 17, 1840, and there was reared to manhood in much the usual manner of country boys, acquiring his education in the common schools of the neighbor- hood, and assisting his father in the farm work, and also in his hotel and store. In this way he ac- quired an excellent knowledge of business methods which has been of much practical benefit to him in later years. For some years after his marriage he was employed as a carpenter on the Delaware & Hudson canal and the Erie railroad, but in 1879 he embarked in mercantile business in Lackawaxen, continuing the same for twenty-one years, and for fifteen years he also had charge of a restaurant at that place. Selling out in 1898, he bought the farm which his father had owned many years previous, and to its cultivation and further improvement he now devotes his energies. It consists of 350 acres, of which forty have been placed under the plow, and upon the place is an excellent orchard contain- ing apples, pears, peaches, etc. U'pright and honor- able in all his dealings he has gained the confidence and respect of those with whom he has come in con- tact either in business or social life, and his friends throughout the county are legion. In his political affiliations Mr. Shannon is a stanch Republican, and he has been honored with several local offices, being school director many years, township auditor, county auditor and justice of the peace for the past ten years. Socially he has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for eleven years, and religiously both he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.
On January 31, 1861, at Tustan. Sullivan Co., N. Y., Mr. Shannon was united in marriage with Miss Elmyra Bennett, and they have had the follow- ing children: Isabella, born October 5, 1862, died September 17, 1863 ; Albert Joel, born November 8, 1864. married Marian Lewis, and is now a mer- chandise broker of Jackson, Mich. ; Amy Blanche, born December 13, 1865, is the wife of Floyd L. Pelton, a mail carrier of Port Jervis, N. Y. ; Horace Lozelle, born May 26, 1868, married Adelaide Brown, and is bookkeeper for a railroad company at New Haven, Conn .: Myra, born August 5, 1869, is the wife of Alfred Brink, of Port Jervis, N. Y. ; Friend B., born April 14, 1871, married Jennie Conklin, and
they reside at Kirkwood, Broome Co., N. Y., where he is employed as a telegraph operator ; Fonda H., born August 10, 1873, died April 1, 1875; Stanley R., born September 29, 1875, was killed on the Erie railroad June 14, 1894 ; and Bertha Edith, born Au- gust 24, 1879, is the wife of Dr. J. A. Allis, of Mont- clair, New Jersey.
James L. Bennett, Mrs. Shannon's father, who is at present located at Barry, Pike Co., Ill., was born February 1, 1823, in Wayne county, Penn., where he grew to manhood and studied for the min- istry. In July, 1845, he married Ann Piper who was born March 10, 1826, and died July 16, 1875. Mrs. Shannon, who was born May 24, 1846, was their oldest child, the others being Sarah Ann, wife of M. Brown, a farmer of East Pharsalia, N. Y .; Richard James, who died at the age of eight years ; Erastus, who died in infancy; and Joseph F., who is married and lives in Illinois. The paternal grand- father was Luther Bennett, a native of Connecti- cut, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, and spent his last years in Honesdale, Penn., where his death occurred. The maternal grandfather, James Piper, was born, reared and married in England, and on his emigration to America located in Oregon town- ship. Wayne Co., Penn., where he engaged in lum- bering and farming. His grandson, James Mills, now resides on the old homestead.
VALENTINE E. ENGELHART is one of the prominent and representative business men now engaged in agricultural pursuits and in the quarry- ing of stone in Shohola township, Pike county, where the greater part of his life has been passed. He was born there November 18, 1859, and is a son of Jacob Engelhart, a native of Germany, who when a young man came to America and found employ- ment in the Pennsylvania coal mines, where he re- mained some years. He then came to Shohola township, Pike county, and here was united in mar- riage with Miss Elizabeth Bever, a sister of John W. Bever, whose sketch appears elsewhere. Mr. Engelhart purchased twenty-one acres of land in Shohola township, cleared the same and erected a. dwelling thereon, making it his home until called from this life. Besides engaging in farming, he was also employed by the Erie Railroad Company for thirty years. Valentine E. is the eldest of his five children; John married Annie Bridge, and is engaged in farming on the old homestead; Eliza- beth is the wife of Charles Fraley, a railroad en- gineer living in Shohola township; George is living on the old homestead with his mother and is en- gaged in farming ; and Mary, twin sister of George, is the wife of William Lesner, a resident of Nor- folk, Virginia.
In his native township Valentine E. Engelhart grew to manhood, and at the age of twenty-one learned the trade of stone cutting, which he followed for some ten years in New Jersey, Albany and Rochester, N. Y., and Scranton, Penn. In New York City he was married, in 1891, to Miss Rosa.
599
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Yager, who was born in Port Jervis, N. Y., in 1868, a daughter of John and Sophie ( Bower- sacks) Yager. Three children were born of this union : Alma, born in April, 1892; Hannah, who died in infancy; and Florence, who was born in 1896.
Returning to his native township, Mr. Engel- hart worked in the blue-stone quarries for a time. In 1893 he bought his present farm, consisting of 117 acres of land, sixty-five of which are tillable, and has since engaged in general farming, and also operates the stone quarries upon his place. In politics he is a Democrat, though somewhat inde- pendent in his views, and in religious faith both he and his wife are German Lutherans. Wherever known they are held in high regard, and have the friendship of a large circle of acquaintances.
STEPHEN CUDDEBACK (deceased) was for many years a leading citizen of Milford town- ship, Pike county, where he was actively identified with agricultural interests, and was also prominent in social and political life. Possessing a fine taste for literature, he took pleasure in drawing about him a cultured and refined circle of friends, and he was a member of a literary society at Port Jervis, N. Y., for years previous to his death. His sound judgment and public spirit made him influential in local affairs, and he was one of the chief workers in the Democratic organization of his township, serv- ing in various offices, including that of justice of the peace, which he held for two terms of five years each.
Mr. Cuddeback was of French descent in the paternal line, and traced his ancestry to one of two brothers who came from Candebec, France, in 1662, during the conflict between the Huguenots and the Catholics. His grandparents, Henry and Esther (Demore) Cuddeback, were residents of Orange county, N. Y., and his father, Simeon Cuddeback, was born and reared in that locality, and in early manhood engaged in farming there. In 1852 Simeon Cuddeback removed with his family to Pike county, and settled upon the farm which was after- ward our subject's homestead. He was much esteemed as a citizen, and at times held township offices. He died January 24, 1886, at the age of seventy-nine, and his wife, Belinda Bennett, a native of Montague, N. J., died January 10, 1892, aged seventy-eight, the remains of both being in- terred in Laurel Grove cemetery at Port Jervis, N. Y. This worthy couple had the following chil- dren : James, who married Eliza Decker, and set- tled in Port Jervis, N. Y. ; Henry, a farmer at Ovid, Mich., who married Miss Greenleaf; George and Benjamin, who died in infancy ; Stephen, our sub- ject ; Thomas, a coal dealer in Dayton, Ohio, who is not married; Eli, who died in 1879, unmarried ; Lydia, wife of William Martin, a farmer at Green- ville, N. Y. ; and Franklin.
Our subject was born March 18, 1836, in Orange county, N. Y., and in 1852 he accompanied
his parents to Pike county. In 1862 he entered the United States navy, where he served one year, and he then settled down to agricultural pursuits at the homestead. This is a beautiful estate, comprising 336 acres, 160 of which lie on the Delaware river, and it was originally a part of the tract owned by William Brodhead. Mr. Cuddeback was an excel- lent farmer, his estate showing scientific manage- ment, and he was active until about five years before his death, two strokes of paralysis making him a helpless invalid. He passed away March 16, 1897, and his remains were taken to Port Jervis for in- terment in Laurel Grove cemetery. On November 18, 1869, he was married at Suffolk, Va., to Miss Margaret Morris, whom he met while he was on a pleasure trip through the South. Eight children blessed the union: Miss Irene, who is at home; Lewis, who married Miss Maggie McDermont, and resides in New York City ; and David, William H., Stephen, Blondine, Marie J. and Solomon V., who are all at home.
Mrs. Cuddeback, whose womanly qualities have won the esteem of all who know her, was born July 30, 1848, in Richmond, Va., a daughter of Patrick and Ellen (Dowd) Morris. Her father, who was born in New York, was a stonemason Dy trade, and for many years was engaged in business in Rich- mond as contractor and builder, his death occur- ring there in 1858. His wife, who was a native of Virginia, died in 1861, aged forty-eight. They were devout members of the Catholic Church. Of their five children Mrs. Cuddeback was the eldest. William went west in 1872, and has never been heard from since. James, Ellen and Patrick died in infancy.
CALVIN . O. BILLINGS, a representative farmer and lumberman of Blooming Grove town- ship, Pike county, belongs to an old and honored New England family, which was founded in this country by five brothers of English birth who landed at Boston in 1635. Massachusetts and Con- necticut have been the home of his ancestors for many generations.
At an early day his great-grandfather, Thadeus Billings, Sr., traveled from Boston through the wilderness to the Connecticut river, locating near Windsor Locks, where he purchased land and engaged in farming. His son, Thadeus, moved.to Enfield, Conn., where he continued to reside until called from this life, at the extreme old age of ninety-six years. His wife had died some years previous. In the family were nine children, namely : Levi, who was killed in the Revolutionary war; Thadeus, who resided at Long Meadow, Mass .; Erastus and Eli, who resided in Wyoming Valley, Penn., whither they removed when young men; David, who spent most of his life near the Hudson river, above Troy, N. Y .; Freegrace, the father of our subject ; Lucy and Eunice, who joined the Shak- ers : and Lovva, who married John Parker and later lived on the old homestead.
600
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Freegrace Billings was born in 1777, on the old homestead in Connecticut, and spent his entire life there, dying December 5, 1822 ; he was thrown from a load of hay. He was married in Wilbraham, Mass., May 19, 1805, to Miss Sophronia Colley, who was born in 1787, daughter of John and Eleanor (Warner ) Colley, and died in Springfield, Mass., February 17, 1834. Our subject is the youngest of their children and the only one now living, the others being as follows: Lorenzo, born February 11, 1806, was a farmer of Somers, Conn., and died May 6, 1853: Eleanor, born August 11, 1807, mar- ried Henry Pomeroy, of Springfield, Mass .; So- phronia, born December 20, 1808, married Lorain Blodgett, of Long Meadow, Mass .; Eunice, born December 25, 1810, married Alvin Hunn, of Long Meadow, Mass. ; Roland, born September 6, 1812, (lied in Kansas at the age of seventy-eight years; Alzina, born in 1814, died at the age of five years, and Austin, born in 1816, died in boyhood.
Calvin O. Billings, our subject, was born Sep- tember 22, 1819, in Enfield, Conn., and as his father died when he was only three years old, he made his home with an uncle and aunt at Long Meadow, Mass., until he attained the age of four- teen, during which time he attended the common schools. Subsequently he pursued his studies for a time at Springfield, Mass., and in the Ellington Academy, at Ellington, Conn. At the age of four- teen he accepted a position as chore boy in a hotel at Springfield, and it was while working in that capacity for his board and clothes that he attended school. After learning the mason's trade at Hart- ford, Conn., he returned to Springfield, and from there went to Ohio, where he taught school during the winter months for four years. At the end of that period he returned to Hartford, Conn., but soon afterward went to New York City, where as a mason he successfully engaged in contracting and building for thirty years. Later he was interested in the manufacture of sash, door and blinds at Troy, N. Y., for three years, and in 1875 came to Blooming Grove township, Pike Co., Penn., locating on land which he had previously purchased. He now has between thirteen and fourteen hundred acres of wood land, seventy-five acres of which he has cleared and placed under a high state of cultivation, and is now quite successfully. engaged in general farming during the summer months and in lumber- ing throughout the winter season. His has been a long and useful carcer, and the prosperity that has crowned his efforts is certainly well deserved. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and for the last twenty years he has most acceptably served as justice of the peace of Blooming Grove township. He is thoroughly impartial in meting out justice, his opinions being unbiased by either fear or favor, and his fidelity to the trust reposed in him is above ques- tion. Religiously he is a member of the Episcopal Church.
In New York City, December 23, 1845. Mr. Bil- lings was united in marriage with Miss Mary Fran-
ces Taylor, a daughter of William and Mary Taylor, the former a native of Johnston, N. Y., the latter of the Isle of Wight, England. Mrs. Billings was also born in Johnstown, N. Y., January 25, 1823, and (lied February 23, 1895. By her marriage she became the mother of the following children: Cal- vin O., Jr., born February 28, 1847, died Sep- tember 2, 1849; Celia Adelaide, born July 30, 1849, is living in New York City; Emma Augusta, born September 12, 1851, died January 10, 1857; Mor- timer W., born September 21, 1853, married Alice Voss, and is a traveling salesman living in New York City; Ella Amelia, born April 8, 1856, is living in New York City; and Clarence, born August 3, 1858, attends to the work on the home farm.
THOMAS Y. BOYD, whose death, on March 7, 1889, is still fresh in the minds of his fellow citi- zens, was one of the best-known men in Wayne county, Penn., where for years he was an active fig- ure in the business and political life of the commu- nity, honored and esteemed as a deservedly success- ful self-made man, and a credit to the county where he passed all his busy, useful career.
Our subject was a son of James Boyd, who was born in 1795 in Philadelphia, and accompanied the Duffield family to Wayne county, Penn., in about 1808, as an apprentice boy. He married Nancy Canfield, and they settled on wild land in Damas- cus township, where he set about the work of clear- ing out a home and establishing himself on a good farm, a task which in those days of rude machinery was no inconsiderable one, for the pioneers experi- enced many drawbacks and hardships in the early times. His death occurred in 1842, and he was fol- lowed to the grave by his wife in 1848. Of their children, four survived them-Joseph, who was a resident of Warren county, Penn. ; Caroline, Mrs. William Eighmy, of Damascus township .; David, who lived in Warren county, Penn. ; and Thomas Y., whose name introduces these lines.
Thomas Y. Boyd was born January 9, 1823, in Damascus township, and received such education as the public schools of his boyhood afforded, but he began work at an early age, and the practical busi- ness experience which he acquired in his various transactions was by far the more important part of his training. After the father's death he embarked in the lumbering business in a small way, and he rafted down the Delaware river from Damasctis to Philadelphia, becoming an expert steersman on that stream, well known among lumbermen especially all along his route. He made rapid progress along the road to prosperity, and as his interests widened his opportunities increased. In 1867, in partner- ship with Joseph Wood, he purchased the sawmill of Truman G. Tymerson, at what is now known as Boyd's Mills, this partnership continuing until Mr. Wood's death, in 1877. after which Mr. Boyd con- ducted the business alone. A large steam sawmill was erected, and as time advanced he added other
Thor , Boyd
601
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
enterprises, a gristmill, blacksmith shop and store on his mill property, and continued to buy in land until he was the owner of about 1,900 acres in Wayne county, for the most part timberland. After his marriage, which will be presently spoken of, he settled on the home near where his family still re- sides, built a residence and made many other im- provements, clearing out a large farm. In 1867 they removed to the mill property, on which they have since lived.
In 1854 Mr. Boyd was appointed postmaster at Eldred, holding that office until his removal to Boyd's Mills, where he was again appointed, and it was mainly through his influence that the daily mail was established between Boyd's Mills and Da- mascus, in 1870. Mr. Boyd became in time one of the most prominent and influential men in his sec- tion, not only in business, but in public life, and he was honored, at a special election in March, 1874, by being chosen as member of the State Legislature, the district at that time including Wayne and Pike counties ; he was the first Republican to hold the office, the duties of which he discharged with his cus- tomary faithfulness and ability, so much so that in 1875 he was re-elected, this time representing Wayne county alone. He closed his legislative career in 1877, retiring with the esteem of all his constituents, whose approval and good will he had honestly earned during his public service, in which the judg- ment and excellent capabilities developed in a long and successful commercial experience manifested themselves constantly, and gave him an enviable prestige among his fellow legislators. Mr. Boyd commenced life in a humble way, and rose from the bottom round of the ladder to a position among the foremost men of his time and place amid obstacles which only the most determined and courageous would deem surmountable. Perseverance and un- tiring energy marked his whole life, and although his success was not an everyday occurrence, it was conceded on all sides that it was only the sure reward which comes to men of his character and firmness of purpose, no matter in what line they engage. He left a reputation unsullied by underhanded or dis- honest dealing, and his death, which occurred on March 7, 1889, from pneumonia, after an illness of only seven days, was regarded as a public loss in Wayne county, and especially in Damascus town- ship. His life was an exemplary one, in his busi- ness, public and social relations, and is an inspira- tion for any man who thinks that lack of education or capital are necessarily stumbling-blocks in the road to usefulness or prosperity.
On March 7, 1849, Mr. Boyd was united in mar- riage with Miss Elizabeth J. Mitchell, whose par- ents, Isaac and Ursula Mitchell, were born and reared in Connecticut, coming thence to Damascus in an early day, and doing their share in the early advancement of this section of Wayne county. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd became the parents of twelve chil- dren (of whom five survive), viz .: Mary, Emily, Linn, James and Asie all died of diphtheria within
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.