Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 312

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 312
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 312
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 312
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 312

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Charles T. Thorpe, the subject of this sketch, was born in Sheffield, Berkshire Co., Mass., March 15, 1840. When he was six years old his father, having purchased a large farm at Otego, removed his family to that place. Charles was given good educational advantages, and at the age of seventeen years began his work as a teacher. He taught nine years at Otego, in the meantime studying law, with the intention of becoming a lawyer. He was then elected a justice of the peace, and also an associate judge in Otsego county, but at the expiration of the terms of these offices his devotion to school work was stronger than his inclination toward the law, so he again engaged in teaching. In 1871 he was awarded a State certificate by the State superintend- ent of New York. In 1874 he came to New Mil- ford, Susquehanna county, as principal of the New Milford graded school, and after spending one year there went to Susquehanna to take charge of the graded schools of that borough. Here he re- mained twenty years and then went to Forest City.

Prof. Thorpe regards the token of esteem paid him by the Susquehanna County Institute, at Mont- rose, in October, 1898, as the most precious tribute any teacher can receive. On that occasion an ova- tion was given him by a body of about three hun- dred teachers, a gold-headed cane presented him and eulogistic addresses made in commemoration

of his twenty-five years continuous work in the grad- ed schools of the county. He has attended prob- ably more local institutes and teachers' meetings than any other teacher in the county, ever evincing a desire to keep in touch with all of the educational interests of the county, and always showing an am- bition to keep pace with the educational progress of the age.

In 1861 Mr. Thorpe married Marilla Osborn, who died at Susquehanna, Penn., in 1888. His second wife is Jennie L. Bartram, daughter of the late C. T. Bartram, of Susquehanna. Prof. and Mrs. Thorpe are active members of the Episcopal Church, and he for several years past has been a lay-reader. The long duration of his educational career in Susquehanna county is evidence of his high character as a teacher; and as a citizen he is held in the highest estimation.

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W. J. MAXEY. The professional ranks are often recruited from the ranks of those who in early years acquired one of the manual trades .. instances of that kind merit is invariably present. A fitting example is afforded in the career of the subject of this sketch, once molder and justice of the peace, now editor and publisher and sheriff, and withal a most prominent and influential citizen of Susquehanna county.

Mr. Maxey was born July 22, 1863, in Carbon county, Penn., son of David and Ann (Daniels) Maxey, both natives of Wales. David Maxey was a miner by occupation and after his immigration to America lived in Carbondale, Lackawanna coun- ty, then Luzerne county. He was a member of the Congregational Church, and in politics was a Whig and Republican, his first vote being cast for W. H. Harrison and his last for Benjamin Harrison. He died April 8, 1892, aged seventy-four years, and his wife, who was born in 1827, died in 1886. Of their children but three survive: Mary J., wife of Thomas David, of Hazleton; Mrs. Anna E. Nicho- las, of Hazleton, and our subject.

W. J. Maxey attended the public schools of the vicinity of his boyhood home. He acquired the trade of molder and in his youth also worked in the mines in various capacities. When about twenty- three years of age he settled in Susquehanna county, to work in the mines, continuing in that work for seven years. In the spring of 1894 he was elected justice of the peace, and received his commission on May I, of that year. In October, 1896, Mr. Maxey purchased the Forest City News, an eight-page weekly paper, and became its editor and publisher. Although the paper is conducted as an independent in a political sense, the editor himself is a Repub- lican. On November 7, 1899, Mr. Maxey was elected sheriff of Susquehanna county, and was sworn into office January 1, 1900.

On May 16, 1892, Mr. Maxey was married to Miss Rebecca Brown, daughter of Thomas Brown, of Forest City. Four children have been born to them : David R., Florence B., W. J. D. and Paul H. Socially Mr. Maxey is a member of the True American Ivorites, and the Heptasophs, and the Forest City Lodge, F. & A. M.

AVERY MESSENGER. Some nine years the subject of this sketch has been connected with the chemical plant of C. F. Wright & Co., located in Ararat township, Susquehanna county, and for five years has been its foreman. He is a citizen of many sterling qualities, among which faithfulness and thoroughness are conspicuous.

Mr. Messenger was born in La Porte, Sulli- van Co., Penn., in 1855, the son of John N. and Susan ( Finck) Messenger. The father was born in 1818, the youngest child of Cyrus and Rhoda (Keys) Messenger, who about 1806 removed from Litchfield, Mass., to Bridgewater township, Sus- quehanna county. Cyrus Messenger was a tanner

and currier by trade and for many years followed his trade at Montrose. His wife died in 1821, and for his second wife he married Abigail Welsh. He died at the residence of his son, Ebenezer, aged eighty-five years. The children of Cyrus and Rhoda Messenger were as follows: Keziah, born in 1799, died in 1826; Everett, born in 1801 ; Ebenezer, born in 1803; Ruby, born in 1804; Chloe Key, born in 1807; Olive, born in 1809, married Col. Greeley, of Wayne county ; Cyrus P., born in 1810; Horace P., born in 1813; Rhoda Ann, born in 1814, mar- ried Griffin Cook; Lucy M., born in 1816, married Sylvanus Osborne and was the mother of Gen. E. S. Osborne, of Wilkes Barre; John N., father of our subject, born in 1818.

John N. Messenger was reared in Susquehanna county. He learned the shoemaker's trade and also became a farmer in Sullivan county. The later years of his life were spent with our subject in Ara- rat township, where he died June 8, 1894. To John N. and Susan Messenger were born eight children, namely: Edgar J., a farmer of Ararat township, Susquehanna county ; Rufus, a resident of Columbia county ; Dotha, who lives at La Porte, Sullivan county ; Charles N., of Benton, Penn. ; Dana J., who was accidentally killed at Du Bois, Clearfield county, while woods foreman for J. E. Du Bois; Avery, subject of this sketch; Rose, who married Andrew Kesler, of Columbia county ; Es- ther, who married Eleazar A. Mead, of Thompson.

Avery Messenger was reared in Sullivan and Susquehanna counties and received a good com- mon-school education. For a number of years he followed farming in Sullivan and Susquehanna counties ; in 1886 began working for manufacturing companies. For the past nine years he has been in the employ of C. F. Wright & Co., producers of charcoal, acetate of lime and wood alcohol, and for four years has been the company's foreman. This business was established in 1882 by Patterson Bros. It was later owned by the Lackawanna Chemical Company and since 1895 has been operated by the present firm. It employs ten men, of whom our sub- ject has been longest in its service.

In May, 1883, Mr. Messenger married, in Sul- livan county, Penn., Miss Nellie Mead, a native of Clark's Green, Penn., daughter of Sylvester and Jane (Elliott) Mead. To our subject and wife have been born three children-Flossie, Juniata and Dana. In politics Mr. Messenger is a Republican, and socially he is a member of Freedom Lodge No. 328, F. & A. M. He is one of the well-known men of Ararat township, highly esteemed for his many good qualities,

OLIVER C. SEVERANCE is a worthy repre- sentative of the business interests of Clifford town- ship, Susquehanna county, where he is engaged in general farming, and also operates a steam saw- mill at West Clifford. In business affairs he is en- ergetic, prompt and notably reliable, and carries

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forward to successful completion whatever he un- dertakes.

Mr. Severance was born in Clifford township, October 24, 1842, and traces his ancestry back to John Severance, the progenitor of the family in America. He was born in Ipswich, England, and died in this country, April 9, 1682. He was twice married, his first wife being Abigail Kimball, his second Susannah Ambrose, of Boston, Mass. The next in direct descent was John Severance, Jr., a natives of Salisbury, Mass. His son, Joseph Sever- ance, was born October 26, 1682, and married Anna Kellogg. Among their children was Jonathan Se- verance, who was born June 12, 1725, and married Thankful Stevens. He was a farmer of Green- field, Mass., and built the first gristmill in that town just before the outbreak of the Revolution. He served as a lieutenant in the French and Indian war, and furnished a substitute for the war of the Revolution, in which his son, Jonathan, Jr., took an active part. His son, Solomon Severance, was the great-grandfather of our subject. He was born in Greenfield, Mass., November 10, 1762, and died November 12, 1804. He was a farmer of consider- able prominence in town and military affairs, filling several positions of honor and trust, and passing through all grades of office from corporal to colonel. On November 21, 1785, he married Hannah Hoyt, a daughter of Jonathan Hoyt, of Deerfield, Mass.

Capt. Otis Severance, Sr., grandfather of our subject, was born in Greenfield, Mass., October 12, 1788, and came to Susquehanna county, Penn., lo- cating in Clifford township, where he spent the re- mainder of his life. On February 8, 1814, he mar- ried Abigail Stratton, who was born in 1792, and died May 13, 1842. For his second wife he mar- ried Mary E. Smith. He died December 31, 1874, and was buried at Clifford.

Otis C. Severance, a son by the first marriage and the father of our subject, was born November 15, 1815, and throughout life followed the occu- pation of farming. He was married to Miss Ema- line Stevens, and both died in Lenox township, the former April 1, 1888, and the latter April 13, 1889, their remains being interred in Clifford ceme- tery. They were the parents of eight children, namely : Eunice, deceased wife of Emory Harding : Oliver C., our subject ; Otis, a merchant of Lenox- ville; Eugene, a blacksmith of that place; Oscar, a retired farmer, living at Carbondale; Jane, who first married Luther Miller, and second E. Cot- rell, of Fremont, Mich .; and Emory, a farmer and supervisor of Lenox township.

On leaving home at the age of twenty-one, Oliver C. Severance purchased a farm in Lenox township, which he operated for eight years, and then engaged in the wagon business in Lenoxville for twelve years. At the end of that time he pur- chased a hotel at Royal and successfully conducted the same for twelve years. In June, 1894, he re- moved to his present farm in Clifford township, and

has since carried it on with marked success. He has also been interested in the sawmill business since June, 1898, and is accounted one of the most energetic, enterprising and progressive business men in the community. In his political views he is an ardent Republican. In Lenox township, Mr. Severance was married, February 18, 1863, to Miss Mary Harding, who was born in that township, February 18, 1843, and died February 22, 1864, being laid to rest in Clifford cemetery. He was again married in Lenox township, March 16, 1865, his second union being with Miss Sarah C. Bell. Five children were born to them, namely: Lyman C., a railroad man of Carbondale, Penn., who married Nettie Pell; Kirk E., at home; Arthur, a merchant and postmaster at Royal; Eleanora M., at home ; and Martin O., who died September 19, 1881.

Mrs. Sarah C. Severance was born in Benton, Lackawanna Co., Penn., February 19, 1846, a daugh- ter of Lyman and Eleanor Bell, the former a na- tie of Broome county, N. Y., and the latter of Con- necticut. Her father was a farmer and sawyer, but spent his last days in retirement from active labor. In 1849 he removed to Lenox township, Susquehanna county, and in 1874 to Nicholson, where he died March 17, 1899, aged eighty-one years, his wife March 6, 1881, aged sixty-five years. Both were laid to rest in Clifford cemetery. The mother was a member of the Universalist Church, and the father, though not a member of any re- ligious denomination, was well versed in the Bible and was an earnest Christian. Their children were Ann E., who died at the age of two and a half years; Louisa A., who died at the age of nineteen ; Sarah C., wife of our subject; Emma V., wife of Martin Crock, a traveling salesman of Nicholson ; and Lola M., wife of Albert Roper, of Scranton, Penn. Mrs. Severance's paternal grandparents were Lyman and Eleanor Bell, who died in Nicholson. The grandfather was a farmer, and also a sawyer in his early days. The maternal grandparents were William and Ann M. ( Baker) Miller, who died in Lenox township.

JOHN INCH, a prominent citizen of Way- mart, Wayne county, now retired from active busi- ness cares, is one of the men who make old age seem the better portion of life. He was born in Devonshire, England, March 7, 1808, a son of Zachariah and Elizabeth (Vodden) Inch. His paternal grandparents, John and Mary ( Callaway) Inch, spent their entire lives in England, living upon the farm which the father of our subject owned. They died within a day of each other, were buried in the same grave, and a large double tomb- stone now marks their last resting place. The maternal grandfather, Edmond Vodden, was throughout life a farmer in England.

Zachariah Inch (our subject's father) was also an agriculturist, and followed his chosen calling in the Parish of Bridgerule, Devonshire, England,

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where he died in 1812, at the early age of thirty years. He was a member of the Church of Eng- land, and was highly respected by all who knew him. He left three children : Mary A., who wedded Richard Piper (both died in England) ; John, the subject of this sketch; and Edmond, who died in England. The mother afterward became the wife of Thomas Bray and emigrated to Canada, where she died a number of years later, in about 1862, at a ripe old age. By her second union she also had three children: Samuel, who died in England ; Jane, who married, and removed to Canada; and Mrs. Bessie Bamberry, also a resident of Canada.

Upon the home farm John Inch remained until twelve years of age. His father having died, he was forced to begin the battle of life for himself, working on farms in England until he attained his majority. He then crossed the Atlantic, landing at Quebec, Canada, where he remained, however, only a short time. For a few months he worked on a farm in Orange county, N. Y., and then came to Wayne county, Penn., where he had acquain- tances living. He purchased a farm of fifty acres in Prompton, upon which he made his home for twenty-two years, and on selling that place bought another farm, in Dyberry township, which he oper- ated for four years. His next purchase consisted of a farm in Canaan township, where he success- fully engaged in agricultural pursuits for twenty years. Since 1884, however, he has lived in Way- mart, having laid aside the cares and responsibilities of business life.

In Honesdale, Wayne county, Mr. Inch was married, February 29, 1844, to Mrs. Chloe H. (Dibble) Tiffany, Rev. Rowland, a Presbyterian minister, performing the ceremony. She is a native of the county, born in Damascus township, April 1, 1821, and was first married to Ferdinand B. Tiffany, of Gibson, Penn., a farmer by occupa- tion, who died August 3, 1840, one month after their marriage. Her parents were Hiram and Naomi (Parsons) Dibble, the former a native of Danbury, Conn., the latter of Herkimer county, N. Y. About 1819 they came to Wayne county, Penn., and after living in Damascus township for a few years removed to Bethany. In 1828 they located on a farm near Honesdale, where he died in June, 1861, at the age of sixty-four years. The mother then made her home with her son Hiram, in Mt. Pleasant, Wayne county, where she died four years later, also aged sixty-four, and the re- mains of both were interred in Dyberry cemetery. Having been injured internally, Mr. Dibble was unable to perform any very arduous labor, and usually tended canal gates or did odd jobs about the court house in Honesdale. He was a Repub- lican in politics, and was a Presbyterian in religious belief, his wife also belonging to that Church. Their children were Chloe H., wife of our subject ; Marian P., who wedded Henry Lockwood (both are now deceased) ; Nancy P., who died in child- hood ; Jarius, deceased ; Betsy T., who died in child-

hood; Ann M., who married Joseph Bishop, and after his death wedded John Markey, a machinist of Tracyville, Penn .; and Abigail and Hiram, both deceased. Mrs. Inch's paternal grandparents, Peter and Rachel (Judd) Dibble, were natives of Connecticut, and died in New York State, where the former followed farming for some time. Lor- ing and Betsy ( Wood) Parsons, the maternal grandparents, were also natives of Connecticut, and in 1819 migrated to Wayne county, Penn., spending their last days in Damascus township. By occupation the grandfather was a clothier and dyer.

To Mr. and Mrs. Inch have been born the following children: Elizabeth A. married David W. Robertson; both are now deceased. Edmond, a section boss on the railroad at Carbondale, Penn., was in the Civil war; he has been married three times, (first) to Mary Torbin, (second) to Emma Bryden, and (third) to her sister, Mary Bryden. Hiram F. married Eliza Robinson, and is mana- ger of Fair View Park, at Farno, Wayne county. Sarah P. is the wife of J. Edward Grannis, who now owns the old Inch homestead in Canaan town- ship. Mary is the wife of Clark Hedzel, a train- man at Carbondale, Penn. J. Henry married Orilla Day; he is watchman on the railroad in Lackawanna county, Penn. J. Mark married Mrs. Sophia Buckingham, and is engaged in farming in South Canaan township, Wayne county. Lucy J. is the wife of Emery W. Rolls, an engineer on the O. & W. railroad, residing in Carbondale. Alice M., wife of Frank Thompson, a farmer and railroad man residing in Waymart, died April 7, 1889.

Mr. and Mrs. Inch are both earnest and sin- cere members of the Presbyterian Church, and give liberal support to all measures which they believe calculated to promote the moral or material welfare of their community. In political sentiment he is an ardent Republican. He began life in the New World in limited circumstances, and may be prop- erly numbered among the self-made men of Wayne county, who have attained a good position among their fellow-citizens by the exercise of their native resolution and industry.

ALFRED BOWELL is a leading representa- tive of the business interests of Herrick Center, Susquehanna Co., Penn., where for eighteen years he has been successfully engaged in the livery busi- ness, at the same time retaining an interest in agri- culture. He also takes quite an active and promi- nent part in public affairs and has acceptably filled a number of local offices.

A native of Susquehanna county, Mr. Bowell was born in Ararat, in 1851, and is a son of Thomas and Charlotte L. (Ayres) Bowell, who were born in England within seven miles of each other but never met before coming to America. The father served for fifteen years in the English army, and in the fall of 1849 emigrated to the New World

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and took up his residence in Ararat, where his future wife had located five years previous. After their marriage they continued to make their home at that place until called from this life, the father dying in 1869, aged forty-nine years, the mother in 1874, aged fifty-four, and their remains were in- terred in the Ararat cemetery. He followed farm- ing, was a supporter of the Republican party, and was elected to several township offices. Relig- iously he was a member of the Episcopal, or Es- tablished Church of England, while his wife held membership in the Presbyterian Church. They had three children: Alfred, our subject; Helen B., who died at the age of six years; and Carrie, who died at the age of four. Our subject's pater- nal grandfather, Seba Bowell, was born in Scot- land and died in England, being killed by a runaway horse.

Alfred Bowell lived with his parents until their deaths and continued to operate the home farm until 1879, when he removed to Herrick Center. Two years later he embarked in the livery business, which he has since successfully carried on in con- nection with farming.

On December 25, 1872, in Gibson township, Susquehanna county, Mr. Bowell married Miss Emaline O. Potter, and to them have been born the following children: Roderick, who died in in- fancy; Elizabeth, a school teacher, lives at home; Maggie, a successful school teacher; Alaric, a rail- road employe, residing at home; Lotta and Llew- ellyn, both of whom died young; Elmer and Ellen, twins, the latter of whom died at the age of two and a half years, while the former is at home. Mrs. Bowell was born in Gibson township, September IO, 1851, a daughter of George W. and Elizabeth (Howell) Potter, of that township, where the mother died August 1, 1899, at the age of seventy- two years. From his farm in Gibson township, Mr. Potter removed to Herrick Center, where he conducted a hotel for three years. The following year he operated his farm and then again took charge of the hotel in Herrick Center, which he carried on at this time for about a year. While in Susquehanna on business he was injured by a train and died twenty-two days later, in March, 1877, at the age of fifty-seven years. In his family were six children, namely: Freelove, who died young ; Emaline O., wife of our subject; Elmer, who re- sides on the old homestead in Gibson, and his twin sister, who died in infancy, unnamed; Emily, wife of E. H. Miller, a farmer of Herrick township, Susquehanna county ; and Etta, wife of George D. Hine, a farmer of Gibson township. Mrs. Bow- ell's paternal grandfather, Parley Potter, was a life- long resident of Gibson township.

In political sentiment Mr. Bowell is a stanch Prohibitionist and is now serving as chairman of the county committee. He has filled the offices of school director and poormaster for four years each and for thirteen years was constable, resigning that position in 1895 to accept the office of justice of

the peace, which he is now most creditably filling. He is a consistent member of the Baptist Church, and is a man highly respected and esteemed by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

JOHN R. BUDD is one of the prominent representative citizens of Forest City, Susquehanna county. He is a native of England, and spent his boyhood days in his native land. Transplanted to the soil of America by the emigration of his father's family, he completed his education in the atmos- phere of the Western Continent. The youth had within him the elements of progress and ambition, and he became one of the most useful and in- fluential citizens of the county in which he now resides.

Mr. Budd was born at Boyton, Cornwall, Eng- land, January 26, 1845, son of John and Elizabeth (Rogers) Budd, and grandson of Richard and Jen- nie (Prower) Budd and of Thomas and Susannah (Ballhatchet) Rogers. Richard Budd, the pater- nal grandfather, was a wagon maker by trade, and was first cousin to the celebrated Dr. Budd, of Plymouth, England. He lived to a good old age and died in Whitestone, Cornwall, in 1850. Thomas Rogers, the maternal grandfather, was a resident of Bridgerule, Cornwall, England, and lived there to the age of ninety years. John Budd, the father of our subject, was born at Whitstone, Cornwall, England, in 1810, and in his native land acquired and followed the trade of a wagon maker. He married Elizabeth Rogers, who died in 1857, and in 1858 he came with his children to America, set- tling at Beach Lake, Wayne Co., Penn. There he was elected justice of the peace and served as such fifteen years. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and died in 1887, at Beach Lake. The children of John and Elizabeth Budd were: Thomas, now living at Bridgerule, Cornwall, Eng- land; William, proprietor of a summer boarding house at Beach Lake, Penn .; Edward, who lives at Mt. Vernon, N. Y .; John R., subject of this sketch ; Elizabeth, wife of George Bond, of Hones- dale, Penn .; Susannah, a milliner at Peckville, Penn .; Mary, wife of Rev. C. T. Van Gooder, of Beach Lake, Penn .; and two children who died in infancy.

John R. Budd attended school in England, and came with his father to America in 1858. At Beach Lake he attended school for a few weeks, but soon afterward commenced to work at the blacksmith's trade, beginning which at the age of fifteen years he followed continuously for a period of thirty-five years, twenty-five in Wayne county, and ten in Susquehanna county. For eleven years he was postmaster at Girdland, Wayne county. In 1887 Mr. Budd settled in Forest City, and on March 15, 1900, he purchased an interest in the Forest City New's and the printing business connected with it. In Wayne county he had served as justice of the peace for ten years, and since his removal to Sus- quehanna county he has been honored with the

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 312

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