Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 222

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 222
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 222
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 222
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 222

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Halsey Morgan until twenty-three years of age remained on the homestead ( the farm on which he now resides), where he was born August 29, 1823; the place is known as the "Morgan Hill farm." At that age he went to Jo Daviess county, Ill., and there purchased a farm of 300 acres, which he farmed for a number of years. He then sold the place and moved to Johnson county, Iowa, purchas- ing a farm there, and after one year's experience in that locality went to Missouri and bought a 200- acre farm in DeKalb county. The Civil war was un- der headway by this time, and resolving to become a participant in it Mr. Morgan sold his possessions and, on January 10, 1862, enlisted in Company H, Ist M. V. I., his term of service lasting until April 4, 1865, when he was honorably discharged at Warrensburg. Mo. He served first under Capt. Harvey and then under Capt. William Meredith. His company was especially assigned to the work of ridding that State of the bushwhackers and guer- rillas who were so troublesome to the Union forces in that section, and he was one of a band of twenty- five appointed by the Governor of Missouri to fol- low up and capture Quantrell, the notorious guer- rilla operating in that State. After his discharge from the United States service Mr. Morgan went

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to Chicago and there joined some men who went to Tennessee to engage in building a railroad front Nashville to Johnsonville, and after three months so employed he came to his present farm and has here since remained, engaged in farming. He has made a success of his vocation, and is comfortably situated, having an ample share of his world's goods to gratify his tastes and desires. He is an excellent farmer, a careful business man and a good manager.

A sister of Mr. Morgan resides with him and presides over the household. In his political views our subject is Republican. He is a member of Post No. 12, G. A. R., at Gravitv, and of the I. O. O. F.

O. R. WHITE, a leading citizen of Damascus township, Wayne county, and one of the valiant defenders of the Union during the Civil war, was born in Liberty township, Sullivan Co., N. Y., Au- gust II, 1832.

Mr. White's grandfather, Elaricum White, was a native of Connecticut and of Irish descent. He married Miss A. Crossman, and they became the parents of several children, among whom was Linas White, the father of our subject. He was born in Connecticut, but spent the greater part of his life in Sullivan county, N. Y., in 1844 removing to Parksville. He was a farmer by occupation. By his marriage with Sally Bowker he had a family of ten children, namely: Azubah, Rumah, Maria, James, Sarah, John, O. R., Anna, Jane, and Noah P. Of their four sons, three entered the service of their country during the dark days of the Re- bellion. John, born March 1I, 1829, enlisted in Company M, 4th P. V. C., and during his four- years' service had his shoulder blade dislocated ; Noah P. enlisted in the 14Ist P. V. I., and was wounded at Chancellorsville, being shot through the shoulder. The mother of these children died at the age of fifty years, the father at the age of sev- enty-eight. Both were very domestic in their tastes, and carefully reared their large family. They were devout members of the Methodist Church, and Mr. White was a Republican in pol- itics.

The first twelve years of his life O. R. White passed in his native county, and then accompanied his sister to Damascus township, Wayne Co., Penn., where he grew to manhood. The district schools afforded him his educational privileges, and- his business training during his youth was obtained on his brother-in-law's farm and in the lumber woods. In September, 1862, in response to President Lin- coln's call for 30,000 men, he enlisted in Company I, 84th P. V. I., and served for two years and eight months, being honorably discharged in June, 1865. He participated in the battles of Chancel -- lorsville and Gettysburg, and all the battles from Spottsylvania to the surrender of Gen. Lee at Ap- pomatox Court House (twelve engagements), and at Stoneman Switch, Va., was wounded, losing the large toe on the right foot.

On returning home Mr. White located in Da- mascus township and turned his attention to lum- bering. In 1867 he purchased his present farm, which at that time was covered with a heavy growth of timber, and his first house, which was 16 x 20 feet, was built of hemlock and beech logs. It is still standing, being used as a carpenter and tool shop. To-day the farm bears little resem- blance to the place on which he located over a third of a century ago, for waving fields of grain have replaced the forest, and instead of the log cabin there is a comfortable modern residence, erected on a good building site one mile east of Galilee. The place comprises II0 acres of valuable land.

On August 30, 1855, Mr. White married Miss Emily Marks, a native of Damascus township, and a daughter of Jake and Polly (Keesler) Marks, and four children blessed this union: (I) Stephen L. married Esther Gregg, by whom he had three children, Ernest and Kittie E. yet living. After the death of his first wife he wedded Mary Gregg, and to them has been born one child, Emily. (2) Mary died at the age of two years. (3) Ernest C., a resident of Damascus township, married Anna Gregg, and has one child, Cassie. (4) Re- becca is the wife of W. A. Marks, of Tanners Falls, Wayne county, and has four children, Mabel, Flor- ence, Harrison and Howard. Mr. White's great- est loss was the death of his wife, who passed away November 14, 1890. She was a good wife, a tender mother, a kind neighbor and a faithful member of the Methodist Church. Mr. White is also one of the leading members of the Methodist Church, and has served as Sabbath-school super- intendent for the long period of twenty-three years. His political support is always given to the Republican party. He is a man of broad and lib- eral views, and one who has always given a cordial support to those enterprises which tend to elevate the religious and educational standing of the com- munity.

LEVI OSTRANDER, who was one of the "brave boys in blue" during the war of the Rebel- lion, and is now one of the representative farmers of Damascus township, Wayne county, is a native of New York, born in Ulster county in 1841. His uncle, Levi Ostrander, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and the family has always been a loyal and patriotic one.

John Ostrander, our subject's father, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., and on reaching man- hood was married in that State to Miss Marinda Morehouse, of Ulster county, by whom he had four children, namely : John, Eliza, Harvey and Amanda. After the death of this wife he wedded Miss Susan B. Miller, of Greenfield, N. Y., a daughter of Peleg Miller, and to them were born eight children: Jesse, who died in the South while fighting for the preservation of the Union, and now fills a soldier's grave; Levi, the subject of this

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sketch ; Reuben, also one of the gallant soldiers of the Civil war, who for nine months was confined in the loathsome Andersonville prison, and later died at City Point, Va .; Maggie; Mary, deceased ; Frances, wife of S. Stebbens, of New York; Ste- phen; and Nelson, deceased. The father of these children followed wagonmaking as a life work; was a Democrat in political sentiment; and was a con- sistent member of the Episcopal Church, to which the mother also belonged. She died in Wayne county at the age of forty-five years, and he passed away when sixty-two years of age, respected by all who knew them.

In the State of his nativity Levi Ostrander was reared to manhood, his mother teaching him to read and write, and later he attended the public schools, where he received a fair English education. When President Lincoln issued his call for 300,000 volunteers to assist in putting down the Rebellion our subject enlisted, September 22, 1862, in Com- pany I, 84th P. V. I., under Capt. John Comfort and Col. Bowman, and on December 13 of that year participated in his first battle, that of Fred- ericksburg, under Gen. Burnside. Here he had his collar-bone broken and received a severe kick from a horse that cut the end of his nose and knocked out several teeth. The following July, at the bat- tle of Gettysburg, he was injured by a bursting shell, a piece of which passed through his hand and another through his thigh. When the battle was over he was removed from the field on a stretcher and for over a year lay in hospital. Fi- nally he was honorably discharged, at Baltimore, Md., in June, 1865, and returned home to resume his farming operations, in which he has been quite successful. He is now the owner of a fine farm of eighty-seven acres in Damascus township, Wayne county, improved with a good residence, large barns and substantial outbuildings.

In July, 1862, Mr. Ostrander was united in marriage with Miss Corinda Youngs, a daughter of George and Lena Youngs, and to them were born six children : Eunice (now the wife of James Lud- wig), Arthur H., John H., Nelson, Harry E. and Lozelle (who died at the age of twenty-two months). The mother of these children, who was a worthy member of the Christian Church, passed away in September, 1891, and her death was mourned by many warm friends as well as her im- mediate family. Mr. Ostrander was again married, in December, 1892, his second union being with Miss Bertha Miller, who was born in Germany and reared and educated in Scranton, Penn., having come with her parents to the United States in 1873. Her father, P. A. Miller, became a miner in Scran- ton ; her mother died in 1883. Their children were Lena, Bertha, John, William and Tena. By his second marriage Mr. Ostrander has three children : Bertha Amelia, now aged six years; Erma Fran- ces, aged three ; and Levi Ransom, aged one.

Politically our subject is identified with the Republican party ; and, fraternally, is a member of

Grand Army Post No. 198, of Honesdale. He was a brave soldier, and is therefore a good citizen, reliable, enterprising, and progressive, with always a kind word and a pleasant smile for those with whom he comes in contact.

HON. NELSON FAY UNDERWOOD. In studying the lives and character of prominent men, we are naturally led to inquire into the secret of their success and the motives that have prompted their action. Self-reliance, conscientiousness, en- ergy, honesty-these are the traits of character that insure the highest emoluments and greatest success, and to these may we attribute the success that has crowned the efforts of Mr. Underwood, who is one of the most distinguished citizens of Lake Como, and has for three terms represented Wayne county in the State Legislature.

Our subject was born in 1830, at Oxford, Wor- cester Co., Mass., and is a son of Daniel Under- wood, a native of Windham county, Conn. The grandfather, Samuel Underwood, was born in Con- necticut of English ancestry, and in that State married a Miss Richardson, who after his death wedded Simon Carpenter. The grandparents both died in Connecticut. Daniel Underwood was reared at Pomfret, Windham Co., Conn., near the Put- nam Wolf Den, and in early life learned the car- penter's trade. He married Harriet Fay, a native of Worcester county, Mass., and a daughter of Sam- uel and Phœbe (Marsh) Fay, the former born in Massachusetts of French ancestry. In 1830 Dan- iel Underwood, accompanied by his wife and two children, came by team and wagon to Wayne coun- ty, Penn., spending the first year at Mt. Pleasant. In 1832 they located in Preston township on what has since been known as the Underwood home- stead, but at that time only three-quarters of an acre had been cleared and a log cabin erected thereon. Wild animals, including wolves, were frequently seen, and most of the surrounding coun- try was still in its primitive condition. The father spent the last seven years of his life in Hancock, N. Y., dying at the age of sixty-six; the mother, who survived him some years, died in Equinunk, Wayne county, at the age of eighty-two years. For many years she was a faithful member of the Baptist Church. Throughout his active business life Dan- iel Underwood was quite extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was very successful in his operations. Until 1840 he was a Jacksonian Democrat, but that year voted for W. H. Harrison, and continued to support the Whig party until the organization of the Republican party in 1856, when he voted for Gen. Fremont, and four years later for Abraham Lincoln. He was a man of strong con- victions, and was a firm advocate of the principles in which he believed. Fraternally he affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Hancock, New York.

To Daniel and Harriet (Fay) Underwood were born six children: Lewis A. died at Lake Como in 1893. Nelson Fay is second in the family.

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Willard G. is engaged in the stone business in Han- cock. N. Y. Prescott is a farmer living near Seattle, Wash. Lavina is the wife of Hon. J. E. Wood- mansee, of Lake Como. Eliza is the wife of Le- ander Howard, of Hancock, N. Y. The daughters both engaged in teaching school prior to their mar - riage.

Reared on the old homestead, Mr. Underwood, of this review, began his education in the public schools of the neighborhood, later attending an academy for two terms, after which he engaged in teaching in the district schools for the same length of time. He then turned his attention to lumber- ing and farming, and in 1866 located upon his father's farm, which he successfully operated for twenty years. At the end of that period he re- moved to Lake Como, where for three and one-half years he engaged in mercantile business with his son, E. B.

Mr. Underwood was married, January 17, 1857, at Thompson, Susquehanna Co., Penn., to Miss Sarah A. Rice, who was born in Worcester county, Mass., but was reared and educated in Har- ford, Susquehanna Co., Penn. Her parents were Amos J. and Sallie (Green) Rice, natives of Mas- sachusetts, the former of whom died in Harford, Penn., at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years. In their family were the following children: Har- riette, who married F. Sanford, but both are now deceased ; Sarah, wife of our subject; Daniel, who died in youth ; Ellen, widow of S. Hardy, a resi- dent of Westfield, Mass .; Carrie C., wife of Wil- lard G. Underwood, of Hancock, N. Y .; and Har- vey S., who was a member of the 17th Pennsylva- nia Cavalry, with the rank of sergeant, during the Civil war, and died in action near Trevilians, Va. The G. A. R. post at Harford, Penn., is named in honor of this young hero,

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Under- wood are as follows : Nettie F. ; E. B. and H. R., who are graduates of the American School of Osteopathy at Kirksville, Mo., the former practic- ing at Elmira, N. Y., and the latter at Scranton, Penn .; Rosalia; Kate S., who for four years suc- cessfully engaged in teaching, and died at San Diego, Cal., at which time she was the wife of Jesse Frisbee ; and Dolly, who died in 1879, at the age of four years. All have been provided with ex- cellent educational advantages, Nettie having at- tended school in Prompton, Wayne county; Rose in Hancock, N. Y., and the others in Pleasant Mount, Wayne county. The family have a beau- tiful home at Lake Como, where they delight to entertain their many friends, and in the social cir- cles of that place they occupy an enviable position. Parents and children all hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. Underwood has the finest mineral col- lection in Wayne county, and has also many inter- esting Indian relics. Socially he was formerly a member of the Masonic Lodge of Hancock, N. Y., and he is still a member of Como Lodge, I. O. O. F.

Since the organization of the Republican party he has been one of its stanch supporters and an earnest advocate of its principles, taking a leading and im- portant part in political affairs. He has filled al- most all of the local offices, serving as justice of the peace many years, and in 1878 was elected to the State Legislature, taking his seat in January of the following year. At the end of his term, his name was again placed on the Republican ticket, but this time he was defeated by nine votes. How- ever, in 1894, and again in 1896, he was elected to that body, and is now one of the most influential and popular members of the House, serving on a number of important committees. From 1879 to 1895 he was a member of the State Board of Agri- culture. He has proved a most able and efficient representative of his district, and the measures he advocates have always met with warm and cordial support. [Mr. Underwood has contributed an in- teresting and instructive article on the Geology of. Wayne county to Mr. Haines for use in his con- templated "Centennial History of Wayne County."]

JOHN F. STEWART, a prominent citizen of Lanesboro, Susquehanna county, bears an hon- arable record as a business man and as a veteran of the Civil war. In September, 1864, he enlisted in Company H, 198th P. V. I., the "Union League Regiment", under Capt. B. F. Gardner, of Fac- toryville. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, First Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps. Mr. Stewart served on detached duty until the fall of 1864, and took part in all the engage- ments of the Fifth Corps, the first one being the battle of the South Side Railroad. After Lee's surrender he marched from Appomattox to Ar- lington Heights, where he was mustered out of service, after participating in the Grand Review at Washington.

Mr. Stewart's family is of Scotch origin, and our subject's grandfather, James Stewart, came from the Highlands of Scotland in Colonial times, being the first white settler in Delaware county, N. Y. This worthy pioneer was driven from his home three times by the Indians, but he was not dis- heartened by his trials and hardships, and his estate of 400 acres, purchased from the govern- ment, became a fine property. He and his wife, Margaret (Frazier), had a large family of children, and their four sons were all given portions of the homestead. (I) William married, and settled for a time at the homestead. He was a man of much ability, although self-educated, and finally entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he continued until his death. He had several children who became noted as writers in various journals and magazines. (2) John, our subject's father, was next in the order of birth. (3) Isabella, who was born in Delaware county, married a Mr. Gregory, of New York City, a wealthy importer of fancy goods. She left one son, Daniel Gregory, who was a prominent mer-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. /

chant of New York City. (4) Margaret married Swetan Grant, and settled on a farm in Delaware county, N. Y. They had no family. (5) James remained on the old homestead. He married, and had two sons-Hector, who married and settled in Bridgeport, Conn .; and Charles, who died at the old homestead, where his only son, Hector, still resides. (6) Rachel married John T. Moore, of Mooresville, Delaware Co., N. Y. They left no family. (7) Charles was well educated, and was principal of different schools in New York City and in the State of New Jersey, where he finally settled. He died leaving two children, Clark and Margaret ; Clark became a very wealthy and promi- nent business man of Brooklyn, where he still re- sides ; he was cashier for Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," while on her tour of this country, under the management of P. T. Barnum. Mar- garet married Mr. Kingsley, one of the great capi- talists of Brooklyn, later a paper manufacturer of New Jersey.

John Stewart, the father of our subject, was born in 1775 in Delaware county, N. Y., and his wife, Millicent (Landon), was born in the same locality in 1786. He acquired a good education through his own efforts, and for a number of years he taught successfully in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1837 he purchased a farm in Harford township, Susquehanna county, to which he devoted his attention in summer for sev- eral years while teaching in winter. He resided in New Milford for two years while teaching there, and later he made his home in Herrick, where his wife died in 1850. From that time he lived with his children until his death in 1868, and his remains now rest beside those of his wife in the Harford cemetery. While he did not crave public honors, he always took an interest in the questions of the time, being a strong Democrat in politics, and he and his worthy wife were active in religious work as members of the Presbyterian Church. They had seven children, all of whom were born in Delaware county, N. Y. (I) Charles was placed by his father in a wholesale store in New York City during boyhood, and remained there until he was twenty-one years old. He then started on a nine-years' tour of the United States, and from Washington, D. C., he traveled all over the country. Returning to his father's home in Susquehanna county, he married Miss Sarah Roberts, a niece of the well known S. Mylert, of New Milford, who was a Russian by birth. Charles Stewart settled in New Milford, then in Pittston, where he resided for some time, but later he moved to the vicinity of Topeka, Kans. He died in Chicago while under treatment for cancer, leaving a widow and four children, Florence, Willie, Thomas and Jerome, all residents of Kansas. (2) Polly L. married Her- bert Dimock, and resided at Dimock Corners, in Susquehanna county, for some years. In 1857 they removed to Avoca, Wis., and later they moved to Lake county, South Dakota, where they died leav-

ing three children, Frederick, Robertine and Blanche ; both of the daughters were well educated, and became successful teachers. (3) Harriet Helen was well educated under her father's in- structions, and was one of the successful teachers of Susquehanna county for a number of years. She married Edmund Sampson, a farmer of Starrucca ; they died at their farm, and their only daughter, Agnes, is now the wife of Stephen Skillett, of Star- rucca. They have six sons, Edmund, Charles, George, Ralph, John and Thomas Skillett. (4) Thomas J. died at Herrick in early manhood. He was much liked among his associates, and was an active member of the I. O. O. F. (5) Margaret E. is the widow of John Hayden, of New Milford, formerly one of the leading merchants and business men of that town. He died leaving no family, and his widow resides in Binghamton, N. Y. (6) Melicent L. taught school for a time, and later mar- ried George Davis, of Prompton, Wayne county, and moved to Kankakee, Ill., where they resided two years. He was employed as car inspector, and was killed while on duty. He left no family, and his widow now resides with her sister, Mrs. Hay- den, in Binghamton. (7) John F., our subject, comes next in the order of birth. (8) Ursula died in Harford when eight years old.

Our subject was born November 30, 1828, and was nine years old when the family removed from the old homestead in Delaware county, N. Y. He received a good education at the Harford Academy, where he was a schoolmate of Judge Henry Will- iams, of the Supreme Bench, also of E. B. Chase. He remained with his parents on the farm until his marriage, in 1856, to Miss Gulielma Williams, a descendant of Roger Williams, of Rhode Island, and a daughter of John and Esther Williams, prominent residents of Herrick township. After his marriage our subject bought a farm at Dimock Corners, where he resided for a number of years, and during the Civil war his wife and children re- mained there. In 1874 he sold his farm, and in 1876 bought real estate in Lanesboro, where he erected a fine house in 1876. His genial nature has made him many friends, and he is a leading mem- ber of the Order of Red Men and Tremain Post No. 81. G. A. R., at Lanesboro. Although never an office seeker, he is a stanch Republican, and his sons are also adherents of that party. He has always been active in Church and Sunday-school work in connection with the Presbyterian Church. His beloved wife, who was for many years a devout member of that society, died in Lanesboro March II, 1880. Of their five children, the eldest, Ralph E., born at Herrick in 1857, was educated in the select schools of Lanesboro, and as a young man went to Schuylkill county, Penn., where he became a clerk in his uncle's store. Some years later he entered the office of a coal firm in Lykens Valley, and while there he had his limb cut off in a rail- road accident, which caused his death in 1880. He was a promising young man and had many friends.

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(2) Ernest W., born at Herrick in 1860, married Miss Salina Gray, of Lanesboro, and for a time located in that borough. Later he and his brother- in-law, M. Bowers, a business man, with their fami- lies, went to Omaha, Neb., but after two years they all returned to the East. Ernest W. then hired as stage carpenter in an opera house in Chicago, but was there taken sick with pneumonia, and died in 1885. He left a widow and two children, Walter, a student in the high schools of Binghamton, and Bertha, who resides with her mother in Susque- hanna. (3) Blanche, born in 1862, married Dwight Newell, of Lanesboro, and moved to Ashe- ville, N. C., where he is a prominent railroad man, being manager of the Asheville railroad. Mrs. Newell died in 1885, while on a visit to her parents, and is buried in the family plot in Lanesboro. She left one daughter, Katie. (4) Rolla F., born in Herrick, was educated in Lanesboro, and as a young man went to Omaha, where he spent one year as a clerk in a drug store. He then became manager for a telephone company, putting up lines from Omaha to the Pacific coast, and about four- teen years ago went to Australia to superintend their work. (5) Charles H., born at Herrick in 1868, is now employed on the Susquehanna rail- road ; he married the widow of his brother Ernest W., and has three children, Frank, Ida May and Marguerite, who reside in Susquehanna.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 222

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