Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 360

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 360
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 360
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 360
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 360

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).

"On June 19, 1820, Mrs. Vernie Lee, with a two-horse team and wagon loaded with household goods, and my mother and brother Samuel, in a one-horse wagon, and my brother Justus and I on foot, set forth on our journey for the land of Ca- naan, in the State of Pennsylvania, starting at 10 o'clock in the forenoon. When within about three miles of my brother's home one of the forward wheels of the two-horse wagon broke down, this occurring in the darkness of Saturday night, June 24. The wagon was gotten out of the road, and there left until morning; Mrs. Lee then took my brother Samuel's place with my mother, and Justus and I were put on one horse, and Samuel rode the other, and we all arrived safely at his house at one o'clock on the morning of the 25th. When I arose later that morning everything was surprising. I well remember the wonderful appearance, to my mind, as I stood and gazed at the sun and at the big tall trees of the forest, and the improvements among such wonderful timber; then to behold the Bunton Knob and the great Moosic Mountain-

astonishing site for a new home compared with the one we left. The neighborhood, say, for a half- mile north and a half-mile south, comprised some ten families, including ourselves and my brothers, and all from Connecticut; one was a blacksmith, one a house carpenter, my brother Samuel had a tannery and made shoes, and my brother Frederick, the next younger than Samuel, worked for him at shoemaking; my brother Sherman, next younger than Frederick (who lived to manhood), worked in the tannery. I had no desire for either of those occupations, so in our new home I did the chores and errands, for, as Samuel made shoes for the inhabitants, there were many errands to be done, and as there was no store nearer than Bethany, the county seat, I found plenty to do. I used to go there on horseback, carrying a pair of saddle-bags that would hold from three pecks to near a bushel, and have them filled with all that could be buckled in the straps and carried on the horse.

"The month of July brought another new scene with three new wonders; one was to get up on the Moosic Mountain to gather huckleberries, which grew in great abundance-literally covering the ground, so that it was nearly blue with the bunches of berries-then to behold the country for miles with the improvements of the different set- tlers scattered about through such a wilderness of such monstrous timber, dotted here and there with ponds and small lakes. Oh ! what a wonderful por- tion of God's creation lay open to my view with the extensive mountain on which I stood; then to turn and look to the north and see the two great Elk Hills north of Dundaff, in Susquehanna county-their lofty heads towering toward the sky higher than the mountain on which I stood; then looking west and southwest, and view Luzerne county, seeing Scott and Abington and Pittston, the Susquehanna river, Wilkesbarre and Kingston, with the chain of mountains west of the Susque- hanna, which runs west of Kingston, and into which the Lackawanna river empties at Pittston below Camel's Ledge, which looks as though the moun- tain was cut in two at a point were the Susque- hanna comes into the Wyoming Valley, where the great massacre of the white people by the Indians occurred.

"The first winter I lived in Pennsylvania, which was seventy-seven years ago this winter, was a very severe and cold one, with good sleighing until the 18th of April. I went to school some that win- ter, in a log school house about a half-mile from where we lived, and when the time came to prepare to make sugar, the snow being then hard enough to bear me, I was set to drawing sap-troughs on a hand-sled to the sugar trees, and there setting them up, preparatory to tapping them. The time came in February to commence tapping the trees, the snow being knee-deep to a man ; but we went ahead, and made during the season a good lot of sugar. When the spring came on my father began looking about for a place for a house, and settled

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his mind on Mr. Otho Wagoner's place, father and Samuel agreeing to take the improvements. Father, mother, Justus and I moved into the house, May 24, 1821, got settled and went to farming. We first ploughed for a garden, then for flax and po- tatoes, then for oats and corn. Father had bought a yoke of oxen, together with the yoke that they had been worked in, and we sowed the flax and planted the potatoes and got the ground tilled. and sowed the oats, and planted the corn on June 12, and, although it seemed late, it was about as early as the season. We had a good garden; the oats and corn ripened, and were very good. This farm was two miles from my brother's, where we had lived eleven months and three days, bordering on the east side of what was called 'the Dutch settle- ment,' and our nearest neighbor was a Dutchman by the name of John Swingle. They had a family of ten children; his land joined father's, and the road was on the line between his and father's, and each was cleared to the road for a good many rods. Father bought cows, and mother made cheese and butter, and the grass crop came on good for hay, and we raised some buckwheat, and so we kept going, and as I grew older and stronger I was taught to do farm work."

The father of our subject carried on farming operations, doing much hard work that was inci- dent to pioneer life, in which he was assisted by his good wife, who was in every way a helpmeet, until life's close. Before leaving Connecticut, as stated, he was a man of some property, owning a little home and eight and one-half acres of land, which he disposed of for $1,500 before his departure for the new country. He also owned what was called Pine Orchard, which he held until some time after his removal to Pennsylvania, receiving for it $700 in silver. He died March 25, 1836, aged seventy- six years and twenty-two days, his death being the result of an accident received December 13, 1835, in which he bruised his right side and hip. He lost the use of his limb and was bedfast from that time until his death, requiring much attention, which his devoted son, our subject, most cheerfully gave him. His good wife had preceded him to the world beyond, dying May 16, 1833, aged sixty-five years, seven months and eleven days, after being bedfast only eight days. The fact of their being privileged to live in a home of their own, the house they had built, was a source of great satisfaction to the fam- ily. They were plain, industrious, good people, who had the respect and esteem of the community in which they lived.

Elder Rogers was reared amid the rural and primitive scenes of pioneer life, in the picturesque region of Wayne county, an idea of which the reader of the preceding narrative has already formed. The trials and hardships of the pioneer settlers were great, yet resolutely they went to work with "a heart for any fate," reclaimed the forests and made them almost one vast garden, converting them into fields and orchards rich in

products, amid which are homes of elegance and beauty-to this work Elder Rogers contributed a full share, and is deserving of just credit. Before leaving Connecticut he had attended school quite a little, going first when but three years of age and in dresses, not so much to learn, as his father afterward told him, but more to be out of the way at home. Among his early teachers he recalls a Miss Harris or Harrison, Chandler Parcus, Martha Towner, a Mr. Lindsey, and James Rogers. After coming to Pennsylvania there was so much to be done that he had little time for going to school, and then only for a short time during the winters. As he grew older he paid considerable attention to bees, and at fifteen he had a bee-house built and the first swarm of bees therein on the 9th day of May, before he was sixteen; and from that time to the present he has never been without bees. In 1898 he wrote: "It will be seventy-three years the 9th day of next May since I paid $4.50 for a hive of bees bought of Edward Curtis in Salem."

As a boy our subject recalls many of the first internal improvements of the section, and of notable events in the country at large. He remembers the completion of the north and south turnpike, and the one from Milford to Owego, and the opening of the first anthracite coal mines. He remembers the discussions in the Legislature in the matter of granting charters for the building of canals and railroads, and the building of the first of each in the country. When only a mere lad he saw the Fulton steamboat, on East river. The years passed by and young Rogers reached manhood, still re- siding and working with his parents, who were growing old and were dependent upon him, the father having become involved. His marriage was the next thing in order, and on it he remarks: "I married me a wife (Zulima C. Seely) the 13th day of May, 1832, and moved her to my home on the 14th, and we all lived together as one family, and ate at one table as long as father and mother were able to come to the table." For some years prior to his marriage, and for years thereafter, our subject had many difficulties to contend with; but trusting in God, and following his teachings, he was enabled to surmount them all, and rear his fam- ily. His father losing his property, his sickness and death, with that of the mother, and the long and trying sickness of his wife following soon there- after, involved much expense and time in caring for them. In 1840 he moved from the Curtis place, and began anew on another farm in the woods, not an acre of which was cleared, beginning $150 in debt. He built a log house, which was their home for some years. He and his wife labored on, reared their four children, one son and three daughters, and led useful Christian lives which have been creditable to them and to society. The wife and mother was called to her reward February 28, 1886, aged seventy-five years, ten months and seven days.

The children born to Elder Rogers and wife

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were : (1) Russell Rogers was born March 25, 1833, and died May 10 following. (2) Edwin Rog- ers, born February 15, 1837, was married March 3, 1859, to Olive Cobb, who died the following November, and in 1861 he married Malissa Shaffer ; he afterward wedded Mary McConnell. He became a cripple and died June 14, 1873. His children were Ord, who is now a resident of Kansas City ; and Sarah, now Mrs. Orrin Correl, of Dunmore, Penn. (3) Martha Rogers, born December 14, 1837, on March 24, 1853, married Rufus Swingle. Their children were Alvin and Alson (twins), born March 6, 1854, of whom Alson lived only until the 27th of the same month; John N., born June 23, 1856; and Mary Lucinda, born March 9, 1867. (4) Mary Rogers, born May 8, 1840, married, May 7, 1859, William Eveans, and they had children- George F., born February 15, 1860; Willie Eugene, born November 27, 1863; John Wesley, born No- vember 10, 1867, died December 1I, 1867; Floyd Garner, born October 10, 1869, died April 7, 1877 ; Delphene, born March 31, 1872; Rosa Malvina, born March 4, 1874, died April 4, 1877; Friend, born March 24, 1876; Clara Valentine, born Feb- ruary 14, 1879, died July 1, 1885 ; Christian Eveans, born February 16, 1881 ; and Martha Jerusha, born December 5, 1883. (5) Abigail J. Rogers, born August 18, 1842, married October 25, 1863, William Cope, and their children were: Judd E., born August 7, 1866; Anna, born December 1, 1864, is now deceased ; Adelia, born March 12, 1871 ; Sam- uel R., born May 25, 1874, is deceased ; William Early, born May 27, 1876, is deceased; Clara, born May 2, 1878, is deceased ; George F., born January 24, 1881 ; Dessa A., born November 8, 1882, is de- ceased ; Bessie, born October 16, 1885 ; and Simon, born January 24, 1900. (6) Eli Rogers, born July 9, 1844, died February 3, 1845. On March 14, 1834, Elder Rogers made public profession of his faith in a covenant-keeping God, and he has since been an earnest student of the Bible, especially of the New Testament, and a tireless worker in the Master's kingdom, having preached for over sixty-three years. Though now past ninety years of age, he is in full possession of all his faculties, and reads and writes without the aid of glasses.

A. K. PEARSALL, proprietor of "Evergreen Cliff Cottage," in Middle Smithfield township, Monroe county, has resided here for a quarter of a century, and has taken his place as one of the substantial citizens of his adopted home, where he is well and favorably known. Mr. Pearsall is a native of New York City, born in November, 1830, and he is descended from an honorable Quaker and Dutch ancestry, of which he may well be proud.

Mr. Pearsall's grandfather, Silas Pearsall, was born on Long Island, of Quaker descent, his family being one of the first eleven families to come to this country, having arrived in the sixteenth century, not long after the Puritans, and located on Long Island. Silas Pearsall married Margaret Kitchener,

and subsequently removed to New York City, where he was engaged in a mercantile house for the rest of his life. There he and his worthy wife passed away, leaving a family of five children, four sons and one daughter, who married and settled in New York City, the sons becoming prosperous business men. Many of the descendants still reside in New York City.

Abijah Pearsall, son of Silas and Margaret (Kitchener) Pearsall, was born on Long Island in 1788, passed his earlier years in his native place and removed with the family to New York City, where he afterward made his home. He received a public school education, and when a young man learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for some years. He was a volunteer in the War of 1812 and received an honorable discharge at the end of his enlistment. In 1809 he was united in marriage with Miss Getty Corson, who was born in New York City in 1790, daughter of Cornelius and Margaret (Brown) Corson, and was a de- scendant of one of the old Dutch families who came to the New World in the sixteenth century, and was the second family to settle on Staten Island. Cornelius Corson was born in 1769, and his wife was born in 1772. Although quite young at the time, they both recall many thrilling scenes enacted in New York during the trying days of the Revolu- tion. He often saw Washington and his generals, and never wearied recounting to his children and young friends the strange and wonderful sights he had witnessed in those early days. Left an orphan in childhood, he lived with friends until reaching manhood. Both he and his wife, Margaret, were for years members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and their remains rest in the grounds of old Trinity Church, on Broadway, opposite Wall street, New York. A man of strict integrity, Cor- nelius Corson was greatly beloved and highly re- spected.

John Brown, father of Margaret (Brown) Cor- son, was the owner or master of the old market ferry between New York and Brooklyn, and often had Gen. Washington and his immortal officers for passengers, and on that terrible night when it became necessary for the Continental army to re- treat from Long Island there was none whose duty was more bravely done than was that of the old ferryman. He and his good wife, whose maiden name was Stagg, were faithful adherents of St. Paul's Church, and in the old churchyard, in the heart of a busy city, they sleep their last sleep.

The Stagg family, of which Mrs. Brown was a member, came from Holland at an early day, and settling in New York became prominent in the affairs of the Dutch colony there, and some mem- bers of the family became quite wealthy. One of the number, residing in New York, was most loyal to the American cause in the struggle for liberty. When Washington was obliged to leave the city, many of the families went too, and when, after the British had entered, and the great fire swept over

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one-half of the fair, young city, John Stagg and some of his friends stood upon the Jersey heights, and watched the flames consume their property. One of them asked Mr. Stagg if he did not feel badly to see his fine property destroyed, but the answer came with a laugh: "I do not value it the head of a brass pin, if only the Americans gain the day." From 1801-1803 John Stagg, of the same family, served as sheriff-a very important and trustworthy office in those days.

Abijah Pearsall and his wife, Getty ( Corson), mentioned above, always resided in New York City, where his death occurred in 1840, hers in January, 1861. Their family consisted of six sons and one daughter, Margaret, who became the wife of William Fick, of New York City, and had a family of five children-Emeline, Mellie, Lucinda, Ella and William W. (who died in early manhood). (1) Cyrus, born in 1813, married Miss Ellen Parker, of New York, by whom he had two children, James and Cyrus, who are at present engaged in business in New York City; he was employed for many years as supervisor of the Wards Island Asylum. (2) John, born in 1815, married Miss Annie Smith, of New York City, where he resided until his death, in 1854; they had three children-Orlando, John and Abijah. (3) Cornelius, born in 1819, married Hannah Garrison, of New York, and they now reside in Detroit, Mich., with their large family. (4) Jacob, born in 1823, was engaged in business in New York City until his death ; he married Miss Fannie A. Penning, of New York, and they had two children-Charity, who married a Mr. McCart- ney, a business man of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Jacob, married and residing in Brooklyn. (5) Solomon, born in 1828, married Miss Jane Miller, also of New York City, and has two children-Wallace and Emma ; the family reside in Leadville, Colo., where he is a leading business man.

A. K. Pearsall, the sixth son in the family, received the benefits of the public schools of his native city during his boyhood, and after reaching manhood he served several years as a policeman there, first as one of the Old Palace police, from which he was transferred to the city force, on which he remained four years. He made his home in New York until 1873, when he removed his family to Monroe county, Penn., having purchased the John Colwell farm in Middle Smithfield town- ship, which they have since occupied. Mr. Pear- sall has devoted all his time and attention to the cultivation and care of this place, which he has been improving constantly, and it now presents a fine appearance and brings him a good income, to which he has added by opening his house in the summer season to some of the numerous visitors who throng to this part of Monroe county for health and recreation. He has erected a new barn, had a large addition built on the residence, which is now fitted with all modern conveniences, and made many other changes which enhance the beauty and value of his property. He is an accom-

modating and pleasant host, providing every pos- sible comfort for his guests and he and his amiable wife have the faculty of making those who sojourn under their roof feel its homelike influence, and look forward to a return visit with pleasure.

In 1854 Mr. Pearsall wedded Miss Annie M. Miner, of Westchester county, N. Y., who was born in 1831, and was reared and educated in the schools of her native county. Her parents, Ezra and Jemima ( Travis) Miner, were born in Westches- ter county, N. Y., and Long Island, respectively, and they reared a family of nine children, namely : John, W. D., Rosedelt, James F., Phoebe M. (Mrs. Samuel Douglas, of Long Island), Fannie (Mrs. Edward England), Rebecca G., and Harriet L. (both of whom died in early womanhood) and Annie M. (Mrs. Pearsall). To our subject and his wife have been born seven children, all in New York City, viz .: (1) Richard W. married Miss Lizzie Van Why, of Monroe county, and made his home in Stroudsburg, where he died in 1887; his widow and only daughter, Flossie, now live in Gouldsboro, Penn. (2) Irene received her educa- tion in New York City, and came with her parents to Monroe county, here marrying Henry Vaughn, of Long Island, by whom she has two children -- Lillian and Jessie; they reside in Stroudsburg, where Mr. Vaughn is superintendent in the Cool- baugh coal yard. (3) Marion, (4) Minnie and (5) Laura died in infancy. (6) Clinton, born in 1865, received a good common school education and was reared to manhood on the home in Monroe county ; in 1885 he married Miss Minnie Ozenbaugh, daugh- ter of John and Mary J. Ozenbaugh, of Monroe county, and the young couple have since lived with his parents; they have three children-La Vin B., Floy Estelle and Leon G. Both he and his wife are members of the M. E. Church, in which they are active workers, taking also a zealous interest in the welfare of the Sabbath school, of which he has served as superintendent. (7) Jessie M., born in 1873, was in her infancy when the family settled on the present home, and she received a thorough education in the schools of Monroe county; she lives with her parents, and she takes an active part in church and Sabbath school work as a devoted member of the M. E. society. Politically Mr. Pear- sall and his son Clinton are identified with the Re- publican party.

WILLIAM YATES (deceased) was one of the leading and influential citizens of Sterling township, Wayne county, where his family still reside. He was born in Manchester, England, June 6, 1831, a son of Benjamin T. and Mary A. (Jarvis) Yates, also natives of Manchester, where they continued to make their home until 1837.

In that year they emigrated to America and located in Philadelphia, but a year later came to Sterling township, Wayne county, where the father followed his trade of shoemaking until called from this life in 1877, at the age of sixty-six years. His

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wife died in 1850, and both were buried in Howe- town cemetery, Sterling township. William was the oldest of their children, the others being as follows: Joseph, who died at the age of two and a half years; Benjamin, who married Phoebe M. Stevens, and is engaged in farming and carpenter- ing in Sterling township; Josephine, wife of John H. Lee, a farmer and carpenter of the same town- ship; Mary, deceased wife of John Stevens, of Sterling township. The father was three times mar- ried, his second wife being a Mrs. Loney, and his third wife Mrs. Mary J. Finley, but he had no children by these unions. Our subject's paternal grandparents were William and Elizabeth Yates, who removed from Manchester, England, to Phila- delphia, Penn., at an early day, but subsequently located in Lancaster county, Penn., where they made their home throughout the remainder of their lives. The grandfather was a manufacturer of cotton goods, became quite wealthy and prominent, and spent his last years in retirement. He had a family of four children: William, who wedded Mary Graham ; Benjamin ; Elizabeth, wife of John Reigley ; and James.

Mr. Yates, whose name introduces this sketch, had crossed the Atlantic three times before he was six years old, and with his parents came to make his home in Sterling township. During his boy- hood he aided his father in shoemaking, and at the age of sixteen years he began working on the rail- road for the Delaware & Hudson Co., working three summers and doing shoemaking in the win- ter. For awhile he teamed to Easton, hauling lum- ber, and worked for the neighbors, in the meantime assisting his father at shoemaking until he had at- tained the age of twenty-three years. He then purchased a house and lot of his father, and lived there for three years. At the end of that time he sold it and purchased a tract of fourteen acres, on which he lived until the commencement of the Civil war, when he sold out and moved to Lake Ariel, Wayne county, and for four years worked again for the railroad company. After his mar- riage he continued to reside at that place until 1866, when he removed to the present farm of his widow. He was not strong and his health was very poor for a year or two before his death, which occurred February 27, 1898. He was a man of medium weight, and from an attack of smallpox when a child, he lost the use of his right eye. He was industrious and enterprising, and was able to leave to his family a good farm of sixty acres. His political support was always given the Republican party, and for three years he most efficiently served as school director. Fraternally, he affiliated with the Odd Fellows Lodge of Nobletown, and the Grange; and religiously was for forty years a con- sistent and faithful member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, his life being in harmony with his professions. He was a devoted husband and father and true friend, willing to sacrifice his personal comfort for those about him.

At Jonestown, Wayne county, May 18, 1854, Mr. Yates was united in marriage with Miss Eliza A. Stevens, and to them was born a daughter, Minnie A., who is with her mother. They also raised Charles T., a son of John Stevens, a brother of Mrs. Yates, and he is now known as Charles T. Yates. His mother died when he was only four weeks old and one week later Mrs. Yates took him and gave him a mother's loving care. Mrs. Yates is a native of Salem township, Wayne county, and a daughter of Henry and Sarah (Dobell) Stevens. Her father was born in Sterling township, Wayne county, and was a son of Henry and Martha Stev- ens, who were natives of Germany and Long Island, respectively, and were married in the latter place, whence they removed to the Wyoming Valley, but spent their last days in Wayne county, Penn. The remains of both were buried on the old homestead in Sterling township. They were farming people and early settlers of this region. Their children were Valentine, who married Sarah Frazier ; George, who married Rachel Weeks; Jane, who married Charles Cliff; Nicholson, who first mar- ried Nancy Catterson, and after her death married her cousin, Isabella Catterson; Mary, who died when young; Ann, who married John Catterson; Henry, who was the father of Mrs. Yates; and Martha, who married William Catterson, a brother of John.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 360

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