Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 308

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 308
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 308
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 308
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 308

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Co., N. Y., to Franklin Forks, Susquehanna Co., Penn., where he purchased a tract of 143 acres of land and built a tannery, operating same until it was destroyed by fire, seven years later. In 1857 he and his wife removed to Wood county, Ohio, and in Woodbury township he bought land, on which he engaged in farming until called from this hte, in 1808, at the age of seventy-six years and one month, his remains being interred on his farm, which has since been converted into a public cemetery. He was a man of prominence, and had the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. His wife, who was born November 24, 1798, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Beebe, in Franklin Forks, October 30, 1896, and was laid to rest in Franklin Forks cemetery. The children of the family were Lydia, deceased, who ( first) married Stillman Fuller, and (second ) Bealey Cogswell, both Baptist ministers ; Clara, deceased wife of Asa Fuller ; Edwin D., de- ceased ; Eli B., our subject; Dolly B., wife of Ed- ward L. Beebe, of Franklin Forks; Mary A., who (first) married Edgar Smith, and ( second) Will- iam White, and died in Wisconsin ; Israel, deceased ; Jane, who married William Stevens, and died in Minnesota ; Emily, who married Daniel Bordman, and died in Binghamton, N. Y .; and Joseph Al- fred, who died during his service in the Civil war.

Eli B. Smith continued at home with his par- ents until twenty-two years of age, and in the mean- time worked in his father's tannery, until it was de- stroyed by fire, after which he was employed in a sawmill for four years. Subsequently he worked as a farm hand until his marriage, and then fol- lowed the carpenter's trade in connection with farm- ing for thirty years. He has since opened a store at Franklin Forks for his sons, but does not him- self actively engage in mercantile pursuits. As'one of the leading citizens of his community he has been called upon to serve in several township offices, has been collector, a member of the election board, and was deputy United States marshal during the war of the Rebellion. In his political affiliations he is a Republican.

In Franklin township, Susquehanna county, March 5, 1851, Mr. Smith wedded Miss Sarah Beebe, and to them were born two children: (I) Gilbert H., a merchant of Franklin Forks, was married October 24, 1877, to Rose Vance, and they have four children, Ori! W., Alma E., Ward and Grace. (2) Perry, who was killed by lightning May 31, 1893, married Edith Beebe, and they had seven children, Myron, Everitt, Clark, Harry, Macia, Glenn and Walter.

Mrs. Smith was born in Forest Lake township, Susquehanna county, March 4, 1831, a daughter of Harry and Oril ( Waller) Beebe, natives of Wilkes Barre, Penn., who on coming to Susquehanna coun- ty, in 1828, first located in Brooklyn township, where they spent two years. The following three years they passed in Forest Lake township, and at the end of that time removed to Franklin township, where the father died in 1875, at the age of seventy-

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nine years. The mother died at the home of her son, Edward L. Beebe, in Franklin Forks, in 1886, at the advanced age of ninety-three years, and was laid to rest by the side of her husband in Franklin Forks cemetery. To them were born six children, namely: Lyman, who died during his service in the Civil war; Phineas W., a retired mechanic of Binghamton, N. Y .; Henry, who died in 1885; Edward L., a resident of Franklin Forks ; Margaret, deceased, who (first) married H. Pearson, and ( second) S. L. Stillwell; and Sarah, wife of our subject. Her paternal grandparents, Timothy and Sarah (Loverage) Beebe, were born in Wilkes Barre, Penn., of Welsh extraction, and died in Windsor, N. Y. In his younger days the grandfa- ther followed shoemaking, but he later devoted his attention to farming.

AARON E. STOCKHOLM, who occupies no unimportant position among the leading citizens of Liberty township, Susquehanna county, was born in Stormville, Dutchess Co., N. Y., in December, 1837, and belongs to a family of Swedish origin.

Our subject's grandfather, William Stockholm, was a resident of Dutchess county, N. Y., where his two sons, Aaron and William, grew to manhood. The former went West, while the latter, the father of our subject, finally came to Susquehanna coun- ty. On reaching man's estate William Stockholm married Miss Charlotte Brown, a daughter of Sam- uel and Nancy Brown, who belonged to one of the old families of Dutchess county. After their mar- riage the young couple lived on a farm in that county for some years, and in 1852 came to Sus- quehanna county, Penn., locating near Lawsville, where Mr. Stockholm operated a farm on shares for some time. He then rented the Mitchell farm, at Stumpville, and in 1857 purchased a farm at Salt Springs, Franklin township, a large portion of which he cleared and improved. At that place he made his home until his death, in October, 1878. His wife departed this life in April, 1883. Our subject is one of a family of ten children born to this worthy couple, the others being as follows: (I) Jane, born in Dutchess county, N. Y., married Charles Shaffer, of Binghamton, N. Y., and had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married Eugene King, now deceased, of Hallstead, Penn, For her second husband Jane married Charles Morey, of Philadelphia, where she now resides. (2) Rachel M., born in Dutchess county, N. Y., died at the age of twenty-two years. (3) Sarah E., born in the same county, is the wife of Jacob W. Palmer, of Franklin Forks, Susquehanna Co., Penn., and they have six sons, William, Walter, Charles, Bert, Frederick and Ernest. Mr. Palmer was a soldier in the Civil war, and is crippled by a wound received at Mine Run, in 1863. (4) John J., born in St. Andrew, Orange Co., N. Y., served for three years during the Civil war, is a member of the 14Ist P. V. I., and was wounded at the battle of Get- tysburg. He wedded Mary Briggs, of Susque-

hanna county, and is engaged in mercantile trade in Great Bend township. Their children are Har- ris, Oliver, Francis and John. (5) George P., born in Orange county, N. Y., entered the service of his country during the Rebellion as a member of the 15Ist P. V. I., and in 1864 re-enlisted in the Ist New York Rifles. He participated in several bat- tles. He married Gaitie Kronk, of Rush township, and now resides on his father's old homestead at Franklin Forks. He has four children-Lottie, wife of Dr. Merrill, a leading physician of Hallstead; Edward, who is married, and lives in Franklin township; Archie, who enlisted during the war with Spain in the 13th P. V. I., and died of fever at Camp Alger, Va., in August, 1898; and Richard, at home. (6) Catherine, born in Franklin township, Susque- hanna Co., Penn., married a Mr. Cosier, by whom she had two children, Nathan (deceased) and Embny. She is now the wife of Augustus Hauser, a confectioner of Binghamton, N. Y. (7) Henrietta, born in Franklin township, is the wife of Nathan Jones, a farmer of Middletown township, Susque- hanna county, and their children are: May, wife of J. N. Felker, of Montrose; Theron ; Maud, wife of a Mr. Whipple, a soldier of the Spanish war; Lot- tie; Albert and Alice, twins; and Ruth. (8) Al- bert, born in Franklin township, married Catherine Goble, of Great Bend, and to them were born three children-Edna and Florence, residents of Bing- hamton, N. Y .; and Charles, who is a student in Girard College, Philadelphia. Albert owned a block of buildings in Hallstead, Penn., where he made his home until his death, in September, 1887. His wife survived him only six months. (9) Ida M., born in Franklin township, is the wife of Hiram Stone, of Bridgewater township, Susquehanna county, and they have two children, Jessie and Lillie.

Aaron E. Stockholm, our subject, attended school in Walden, Orange Co., N. Y., and later in Sus- quehanna county, Penn., and he assisted his father in the work of the home farm until after the Civil war broke out. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, 44th N. Y. V. I., under Capt. W. N. Danks, now of Chicago. This regiment was known as the Peoples Ellsworth Regiment of New York, and was sworn into the United States service at Albany in October, 1861, for three years, being as- signed to the Army of the Potomac under Gen. George B. McClellan. Their first engagement was at Yorktown, in May, 1862, when they drove the enemy back to Williamsburg; then followed the battle of Hanover Court House, where their losses were very heavy, and where Mr. Stockholm received a slight scalp wound, while a minie ball passed through his canteen. Returning to Gaines Mill, the regiment remained there until June 26, 1862, which was the beginning of the seven-days' fight. On the 27th they occupied the extreme left of Porter's Division and lost 225, and in swimming the Chicka- hominy river lost 25 prisoners. The following day, with the Irish Brigade, they defended White Oak Swamps, keeping the Rebels back. On June 30,

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the regiment was on the left of the army at Mal- vern Hill, where they supported the old Bragg bat- tery, which the enemy tried to capture at 2 P. M. but the 44th N. Y. V. I., then consisting of 189 men, went to their defense, and saved the battery, though they lost seven color bearers. Here the Confederates were driven back toward Richmond, but the 44th New York only numbered eighty- nine men at the close of the battle. Returning to Harrison's Landing, they were re-organized with two new companies, and in their next engage- ment, at Ruffin's Farm, captured four pieces of ar- tillery. They then marched to meet Pope's army at Aqua Creek, and on to Fredericksburg, and in August participated in the second battle of Bull Run, where they charged in an open field and the regiment was reduced from 300 to 38, officers and men. They marched to Arlington Heights to re- cruit, and then joined the army at Frederick City, Md., continuing on the march to South Mountain and to Antietam, where Burnside's troops were massed to take the stone bridge. In a skirmish at Blue Mills they supported the 118th P. V. I. In the battle of Fredericksburg, in December, 1862, they lost heavily. They next marched to the Rapi- dan, which they crossed at Raccoon ford, and held the Rebels in check until the battle of Chancellors- ville. They were with Burnside on his famous march through the mud. When Lee marched to- ward Gettysburg, they went to meet him on the Bal- timore Pike, by way of Little York, and after march- ing thirty-five miles in one day entered the engage- ment on the second day of the battle, without rest. Here their small recruited regiment lost one-fourth of its number, but the brigade captured 1,600 pris- oners. They then marched back to Rappahannock Station and on to Culpeper, where they were flanked by the Rebels, and returned to Fairfax Court House. Finding the Rebels entrenched at Rappahannock Station, an engagement was brought on, and one division of Union troops captured their battery and 2,800 prisoners, which ended the cam- paign of 1863.

While in camp on the Rappahannock, in Decem- ber, 1863, Mr. Stockholm re-enlisted for three years, and was granted a furlough, which he spent at home. During this time he was married, January 1 I, 1864, to Miss Annie E. Coley, a daughter of James and Mary (Green) Coley, of Orange county, N. Y. On Janu- ary 27 he rejoined his regiment at Alexandria, Va., as provost guard and train guard from Alexandria to Brandy Station, and soon afterward took part in a skirmish near Manassas with Mosby's guer- rillas, capturing eighty of their number. In May the regiment marched to the Rapidan, and in the engagement at Mine Run captured 400 prisoners and two pieces of artillery. Near Spottsylvania they met the enemy at Laurel Hill, and charged their works; twenty-five members of the 44th N. Y. V. I. were captured, our subject among them, and they were furnished with but little food during the following eight days. At Beaver Dam Station,

however, they were recaptured by Sheridan's cavalry, and then marched to meet the Army of the James, taking part on the way in a skirmish with a Rebel cavalry regiment near Richmond. Arriving at City Point, they took boat to Alexandria, re-armed, and on reaching Big Anna river took part in the battle known as North Anna. They were in the hard- fought battle of Bethesda Church, where Stewart's battery made a charge, and crossing the James river attacked Petersburg, meeting with heavy loss. In June our subject, with his command, formed an in- dependent battalion of 200 sharpshooters, known as the 5th Corps Sharpshooters, and in the engage- ment at Yellow Tavern defeated the entire Rebel brigade by picking off officers. Mr. Stockholm re- mained a sharpshooter until the close of the war, and as such took part in the battle of Hatcher's Run. In December, 1864, he started with his regi- ment for North Carolina, and later returned to Petersburg, where he was granted a furlough and re- turned home. While returning to his regiment he was taken ill at Philadelphia, and sent to hospital, from which he was honorably discharged June 16, 1865.

Joining his young wife, Mr. Stockholm located on a farm in Franklin township, Susquehanna county, where he owned and operated fifty acres of land until 1872. He then bought a lot of fifty acres in Liberty township, and later exchanged the two lots for a 100-acre farm in Liberty township, where he lived until 1891. He then removed to his present farm of 100 acres in the same township, which he lived until 1891. He then removed to his present under a high state of cultivation, and improved with good substantial buildings which stand as monu- ments to his thrift and enterprise.

Mr. and Mrs. Stockholm have had a family of eleven children, namely: (1) Clara, born in De- cember, 1867, was married, in 1891, to Edwin Lamson, of Wayne county, N. Y., and they have three children, Blanch, Bell and Ralph. (2) Will- iam J .. born October 13, 1869, was educated in the district schools, and in 1892 went to North Da- kota, and from there to Oakland, Oregon, where he purchased real estate. Later he went to Califor- nia, and while working for a Mr. Edison, in that State, took a train load of cattle to San Francisco. There he enlisted, in September, 1898, in Company M, 23rd U. S. Infantry, re-enlisted in June, 1899, for two years, in Company C, 37th Vol. Infantry, in which he holds the rank of corporal, and is now with the army in Manila. He is a young man of many noble qualities, and is very highly spoken of by his many friends. (3) Harry, born in August, 1871, was married, October 9, 1889, to Elizabeth Toby, and resides in North Jackson, Susquehanna county. They have three children, Seth, Cecil and Eunice. (4) Vene, born in November, 1872, married Matie Ingraham, of Liberty township, and they reside on his farm in New Milford township. Their children are Paul and Roland. (5) Ira, born October 13, 1874, enlisted in the 13th P. V. I. during the war

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with Spain, was at Camp Mckenzie, Augusta, Ga., and is now at home. (6) George, born in May, 1876, died in December, 1884. (7) Lisle, born in December, 1878, is at home. (8) Annie B., born August 14, 1881, is a scholarly young lady ; she graduated from the Oakland school at the early age of sixteen years. (9) Frank, born in September, 1883, (10) Myrtle, born in November, 1885, and (II) Sydney, born April 27, 1888, are all attending school.

Mr. Stockholm is independent in politics. He has most capably filled a number of local offices in his township, and has also been adjuster for the Farmers Alliance Insurance Company, and lecturer for the Alliance for a number of years. Religiously he and his family are all identified with the Meth- odist Episcopal Church of Franklin Forks, and take an active part in Church work. He has served as trustee of the Church and superintendent of the Sabbath-school. Socially he is a member of South- worth Post No. 222, G. A. R., of Franklin Forks, in which he has served as commander and chap- lain, having held the latter office, to which he was unanimously elected, for fourteen years.

ELBERT L. BLAKESLEE, M. D., late a resi- dent of Montrose, was for upwards of twenty years one of the foremost lawyers of the Susquehanna County Bar.

Dr. Blakeslee was born May 15, 1843, at Dim- ock, Penn., a son of Hiram and Amanda ( Whip- ple) Blakeslee, and grandson of Benjamin Blakes- lee, one of the pioneer settlers of Dimock, who came from the State of Connecticut in 1801. As a boy our subject attended the district school of his neigh- borhood and the Harford and Montrose Academies. The firing on Fort Sumter called out his patriotism, and dropping his studies, he enlisted, becoming a private in Company H, 4th Pennsylvania Reserves. His military service while not long was an honorable one. He was discharged December 31, 1862, with the rank of corporal. In 1865 our subject was graduated from the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, receiving the degree of M. D. After three years of practice at .Brooklyn, Penn., he found the profession not suited to his tastes, and re- turned to Ann Arbor, entering the Law Depart- ment of the University. After engaging in the study of the law there for one term he came to Montrose, and furthered his studies under R. R. Little and Hon. L. F. Fitch, was admitted to the Bar in 1869, and from that time until his death, in 1893, was actively engaged in the practice at Mont- rose, and was retained in many of the important cases tried at the Susquehanna Bar. He prosecuted and convicted O'Mara in 1874. He defended Mc- Cormick, who was convicted of murder in the sec- ond degree in 1880, and the same year defended Warren, who was also convicted in the second degree. He also defended Tiffany, who was indicted in 1886 for murder. Dr. Blakeslee made quite a reputation for himself as a criminal lawyer.

He was a man of culture and poetic inspiration, of generous nature and sympathy, and threw his whole soul into the cause in which he was enlisted. He was eloquent and impressive in argument, and act- ive and ever alert in examining witnesses. He was a very versatile man-in fact a veritable genius, and was a great lover of nature. He delivered the centennial poem on the fair grounds at Montrose, in 1876.

Dr. Blakeslee married Mary E. Little (daughter of the late R. B. Little), of Montrose, who with one son, Elbert L., survives him.

JESSUP. The ancestors of the Jessups, of Montrose, Susquehanna county, have for upward of two and one-half centuries dwelt in New England and the Eastern States. From almost the dawn of the nineteenth century Montrose has been the home of some of the posterity of Maj. Zebulon Jessup, who resided at Southampton, L. I., and whose son, the late Hon. William Jessup, LL. D., a man of edu- cation and culture, rose to distinction in the legal profession, on the Bench, and in public life in Pennsylvania, having early in the century taken up his home in Montrose. Here he reared a family who have sustained in their various walks of life the high reputation of the father, among them being Hon. William H. Jessup, a distinguished lawyer of Scranton, Penn., with residence in the old home village of Montrose ; the late Huntting C. Jessup, a lawyer of ability at Montrose; and Revs. Henry H. Jessup, D. D., and Samuel Jessup, .D. D., men of prominence in the foreign missionary service of the Presbyterian Church, the field of their operations being Syria.

I. John Jessup, the first American ancestor of this branch of the Jessup family, before 1641 was a landed proprietor in Wethersfield, Conn., where his name appears on record as John Gossope. About 164I he was one of a party of twenty who, with their minister, Richard Denton, organized the new town of Stamford, in southwestern Connecticut. In 1644 Mr. Denton, with some of his friends, removed to Hampstead, on Long Island, and not far from that time John Jessup had made Southampton his permanent home. Denton was from Yorkshire, whither he ultimately returned, and his friends, Jessup among them, may well be supposed to have been Yorkshiremen. The late Hon. William Jessup, LL. D., of Montrose, was a descendant in the sixth generation from this John Jessup, the line of his descent being through John (2), Henry, Thomas, and Zebulon.

II. John Jessup (2), son of John Jessup, mar- ried, in 1669, Elizabeth - -. In his will (1710) he mentions his wife Elizabeth.

III. Henry Jessup, son of John Jessup (2), born in 1681, married Bethia - , and died in 1736.

IV. Deacon Thomas Jessup, son of Henry Jessup, born in 1721, married (first) Mehitabel -, and ( second), in 1770, Sybil - His nine children were all by the first marriage.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

V. Maj. Zebulon Jessup, son of Thomas Jessup, born September 15, 1755, married, De- cember 6, 1780, Zerviah Huntting, who was born January 5, 1757. He died June 8, 1822, and she died May 25, 1835. Their children were: Samuel H., born in 1781, died in 1822 ; Abigail, born in 1785, married Josiah Foster; Mary, born in 1787, mar- ried Austin Howell, and died in 1819; Harriet, born in 1790, married Capt. George Post, and died in 1830; Fanny, born in 1792, married Sylvanus S. Mulford : Nancy, born in 1793, died in 1796; Will- iam was born June 21, 1797 ; and Sylvester was born in 1800.

HON. WILLIAM JESSUP, LL. D., son of Major Zebulon Jessup, was born June 21, 1797, in South- ampton, L. I., the home of his ancestors for genera- tions. He was graduated from Yale College in 1815, and in 1818 removed to Montrose, Penn., where he entered the law office of Almon H. Read. The fol- lowing winter he taught the first term of school in the first academy in the village. He was admitted to the Bar in February, 1820. In January, 1824, he. was appointed Register and Recorder of Susque- hanna county, by Gov. Schultze, and was re-appoint- ed by the succeeding Gov. Wolf, holding the office nine years, and declining a re-appointment in 1833. From 1838 to 1851 he was Presiding Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District of Pennsylvania, which then comprised the counties of Luzerne, Pike and Monroe. His first constitutional term on the Bench expired in 1848, and he was re-appointed by Gov. Johnston to the District then composed of Susque- hanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties, continuing in the discharge of the duties of the office until the expiration of his term, in 1851. During his service on the Bench Judge Jessup gained a wide celebrity in northeastern Pennsylvania, which extended throughout the State. This popularity led to his nomination, by the Whig party, as one of the five Judges of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth, an office then first made elective. He shared the fate of his compeers, the Whigs, who were in the minority, being defeated. On retiring from the Bench Judge Jessup, then in the prime of life and with the prestige of his wide experience on the Bench, returned to the practice of the law, in which he continued until disabled by paralysis in 1863. At the time of his retirement from the Bench his repu- tation as a lawyer was second to none in the section of the State in which he practiced. He was counsel for the Erie and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railways, and was president of the Lacka- wanna Railroad Co., from 1853 to 1857.

"Judge Jessup's judicial course was character- ized by great ability, clearness, impartialitv and stern adherence to integrity and uprightness. He was remarkable for clearness and readiness upon any subject within the range of his profession, and for a prompt and proper dispatch of business."

"No official entrusted with the power of a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of this State ever held the balances with deeper settled conviction

to administer the law with purity and impartial- ity."

"Upon the Bench his unrelaxed features gave no clew to the workings of the mind within. He had a way of tearing slips of paper from his notes and chewing them rapidly when his mind was in labor, but this only showed agitation ; it gave no clew ; and counsel on both sides did not know the drift of the matter until it came, in well-measured and strong utterances, to the jury. Then there was no mistak- ing the legal current, nor was there the least flinch- ing from putting down what would prevent a higher court from having ample means to know what had been done below."

As a lawyer "Judge Jessup was quick and persevering, a strong advocate with both the Court and with the jury, winning success with the former by clearness and correctness of his legal knowledge, and with the latter by the force of his character, and the fairness and strength of his argument. One of his most brillant forensic triumphs may be reck- oned his defense of the Rev. Albert Barnes, of Phila- delphia, upon the charge of heresy, before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church."

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 308

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