Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 362

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 362
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 362
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 362
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 362

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).

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the engagements along the Weldon railroad; and assisted in the capture of Johnston's army. After three years of faithful and arduous service on south- ern battle fields, Mr. Lathrop was honorably dis- charged August 12, 1865, and mustered out at Philadelphia. He had contracted typhoid fever in the southern swamps, and for two years after his return to Susquehanna county was in ill health. Later he was employed for three years in a saw- mill in Auburn, Susquehanna county, and has been interested in milling to a great extent throughout his active business life. After his return from the army he bought property which' he continued to own for several years and then sold.

In Forest Lake township, Susquehanna coun- ty, Mr. Lathrop was united in marriage with Miss Emma Clark, who was born May 24, 1847, and is a daughter of Benjamin and Betsy (Taylor) Clark. Her father was born in Northumberland county, Penn., was married in Wyoming county, and died in Forest Lake township, Susquehanna county. His children were: Isador, now the wife of Calvin Lincoln, of Forest Lake township; Theodore and Wilbur, both deceased; Emma, wife of our subject ; Jason, who is living on the old homestead in Forest Lake township; and Benjamin, Jr., now located near Augusta, Ga., who was sergeant in Company G, 13th P. V. I., during the Cuban war. Mr. and Mrs. Lathrop have a family of four children : Eliza- beth M., a dressmaker of Montrose; Bessie, also of Montrose; Minnie, in school; and Harry, at home.

For some time after his marriage Mr. Lathrop rented property in Auburn township and engaged in the saw and grist mill business, but in 1884 he purchased thirteen acres of land in Dimock town- ship, on which is a grist and saw mill. Here he is engaged in general custom work and has built up a large and constantly increasing trade. He is a business man of known reliability, and has the con- fidence and respect of all who know him. Politi- cally he is an ardent supporter of the Republican party, and socially is a member of Rogers Post, No. 143, G. A. R., of Brooklyn, Susquehanna county.

MRS. SARAH A. WILSON has spent the greater part of her life in Jackson township, and is a representative of one of the prominent pioneer families of Monroe county, being a daughter of Silas and Rachel (Heller) Reinhart. The first to come to America was her great-grandfather Rhine- hard (as the name was originally spelled), who was born in Germany, and on reaching this country located in Philadelphia, where he at one time owned all of what is now West Philadelphia.

John Henry Reinhart, the grandfather, was also a native of Germany, and was a child when brought by his parents to the New World. He was married in 1795, near Shimerville, Lehigh Co., Penn., to Miss Catherine Ward, and died in that county. His widow removed to Monroe county,

and lived for some time in Pocono township, where her death occurred. The children born to them were as follows : Charles, a farmer and tanner, died in Pocono township; Thomas, a weaver by trade, remained in Lehigh county; Abraham, a farmer, is living near Allentown, Penn., at the advanced age of eighty-nine years; Elizabeth married Jacob Fetherman and died in New York; George lived in Monroe county for some years, but died in Scran- ton, Penn., in 1897; Silas was the father of our subject; Ephraim, a shoemaker and farmer, re -- mained in Lehigh county; Eve is the widow of Isaac Widdes, and a resident of Tannersville, Pocono township; David died at Herrickville, Bradford Co., Penn .; and Catherine married Lin- ford Lawrence, and died near Janesville, Wiscon- sin.

Silas Reinhart was born near Shimerville, Le- high county, October 29, 1815, and was seventeen years of age when he first came to Monroe county, where he was employed at farm work for a time, but later returned to his native county and did not locate permanently here until he was twenty. At first he worked in a tannery, but on February 15, 1846, he purchased property in Jackson township, consisting of eighty-one acres of wild land, only a few acres of which had been cleared, and to agri- cultural pursuits then devoted his attention. In 1844 before purchasing this farm he traveled all over the western part, and found no place to suit him as well as this one. He remained on his original purchase until his death, which occurred September 24, 1894. In connection with general farming he was engaged in distilling wintergreen and other extracts. In his political affiliations he was a Democrat, and for a time served as overseer of the poor in Jackson township. He held mem- bership in the Reformed Church, while his wife was a Lutheran in religious faith. They were widely and favorably known, and had a host of warm friends.

At the age of twenty-three years, Silas Rein- hart was married in Pocono township, Monroe county, to Miss Rachel Heller, who was born April 18, 1819, and died in Jackson township, April 15, 1896. The oldest child born of this union was a son, who was born October 19, 1840, and died in infancy ; William, born September 18, 1841, is liv- ing in Scranton, Penn .; Samuel, born September 9, 1843, is now serving as county commissioner of Monroe county, and resides in Stroudsburg ; Sarah A., born July 18, 1845, is the subject of this review ; James M., born October 18, 1846, lived in Jackson township, Monroe county, and died in 1892 ; Lewis, born September 8, 1848, died at the age of four years ; Almyra, born October 17, 1850, is now the widow of William H. W. Shook; Martha Jane, born December 8, 1852, is the wife of V. O. Mer- vine, of Tunkhannock township, Monroe county ; Emma A., born February 5, 1855, married Samuel T. Smith, and died September 9, 1899; Delilah, born August 23, 1857, (first) married Charles Frai-

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ley, and (second) J. Frank Rinker, of Jackson town- ship; and Arthur, born January 23, 1860, is living at Hampton Junction, New Jersey.

John H. Heller, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Shamokin, Penn., and was a cooper and farmer by occupation. He came to Monroe county when Mrs. Reinhart was about four years old, and died here three years later from the effects of wounds received in battle during the war of 1812. He was twice married, his first wife Christiana, became the mother of the following children : William was born in 1789; Henry, born in 1791, died in Ohio; John, born in 1793, died in the war of 1812; Christiana and Barbara, twins, were born in 1795 ; John J. was born in 1797 ; Jacob was born in 1800; Elizabeth was born in 1802; Paul, born in 1803, died at the age of seventy-nine years ; and Saloma, born in 1805, died at the age of eighty-two. For his second wife John H. Heller married Elizabeth Houser, and to them were born six children, namely: Sarah, born in 1808, mar- ried Samuel Hay and died at the age of eighty-one years; Daniel, born in 1810, lived in Hamilton township, Monroe county, where he died at the age of forty years ; Samuel, born in 1812, died in Ham- ilton township at the age of sixty-three; Fannie, born in 1814, married Leonard Engler, and died in Gouldsboro, Penn., at the age of seventy-nine years; Michael, born in 1816, lived in Tunkhan- nock township, Monroe county, for thirty years, and died at the age of eighty; and Rachel, born April 18, 1819, became the mother of our subject, and lacked but two days of her seventy-seventh birthday when she died.

Mrs. Wilson was reared in Jackson township, attended the common schools near her childhood home, and for one year after her marriage con- tinued her studies. She taught one term of school in Pocono township near her birthplace, and for eleven years was successfully engaged in business in Stroudsburg, Penn., as a dressmaker, hair dresser and milliner. She is a lady of much force of char- acter and good executive ability, and carries for- ward to successful completion whatever she under- takes. On September 24, 1865, she was united in marriage with William H. Wilson, a native of Northampton county, Penn., and a son of John and Catherine (Stucker) Wilson. The maternal grandparents, Peter and Christiana Stucker, were natives of Northampton county, Penn. Peter Stucker, who was a farmer by occupation, died in his native county at the age of sixty-seven years, and his wife died at Belfast, Northampton county, at the age of seventy-nine. John Wilson, father of William H. was born July 9, 1809, in Upper Mt. Bethel township, Northampton county, where he grew to manhood and married. By trade he was a blacksmith, and on coming to Monroe county, April 1, 1860, located in Jackson township, where he purchased 109 acres and followed farming and blacksmithing until his death, which occurred Feb- ruary 16, 1874. His wife passed away November

2, 1894, at the age of seventy-eight years. In theit family were four children: Maria, born April II, 1839, is the wife of William Reinhart, a brother of our subject; William H. was born January 5, 1841 ; Matilda, born in December, 1844, died at the age of twenty-seven years; and Edwin P., born July 9, 1860, is a farmer of Tunkhannock township, Monroe county. William H. Wilson owns a good farm in Jackson township, where he is now engaged in farming, and also carries on stock raising to a limited extent. In political sentiment he is a Re- publican. Mrs. Wilson is a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and she and her hus- band have the respect and esteem of all who know them.

POST. Throughout the nineteenth century- for full one hundred years-and from the very dawn of civilization at Montrose, in Susquehanna county, the name of Post has been eminently iden- tified with everything that has tended to give shape and character to the high excellence of citizenship the village has maintained. The Post family are lineal descendants of Richard Post, who settled in Southampton, L. I., prior to the year 1650, and was one of the original proprietors of that town.

Along in the latter part of the eighteenth cen- tury there resided in Suffolk county, L. I., Isaac (son of Isaac) and Agnes (Rugg) Post, and their two sons, Isaac and David. The father of these died when the elder son was less than four years of age, and in the year 1793-94 his young widow was married to Capt. Bartlet Hinds, a patriot of the war of the Revolution, and in 1800 the family removed from Long Island and settled on the present site of Montrose. The circumstances leading to the migration were that one Judge Haven, of Shelter Island, made it an object for Capt. Hinds to remove to Pennsylvania and take charge of the settlement on the Judge's lands, which aggregated some twelve thousand acres included in the Susquehanna Pur- chase under Connecticut title. This was in 1799, and in February, 1800, Capt. Hinds, with others, left Long Island in two sleighs for the Susquehanna purchase, which they reached after a long and try- ing journey. Capt. Hinds chose for his future home a site on the headwaters of the Wyalusing creek. Here, together with Robert Day, Samuel Coggs- well and Isaac Post, he began felling the forest trees and making a clearing. From this beginning sprang the village of Montrose. They erected a log cabin in 1800, which stood (in 1899) just back of the former residence of William M. Post, and was the first house built within the borough limits of Montrose.

Captain Hinds was a native of Massachusetts, born at Middleboro, April 4, 1755, and was baptized in the Baptist Church of his father. He was twice married, having by the first marriage one son, Conrad Hinds, who lived in Bridgewater nearly sixty years, and led an exemplary Christian life as a member of the Baptist Church, in which he

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was a deacon. By his second marriage, to Agnes Post, he had one son, who died when young. Capt. Hinds entered the army of the Revolutionary war as a private, became a lieutenant, and was brevetted captain. At the taking of Burgoyne he was shot through the left lung, and was one of the leaders of the forlorn hope at the taking of Stony Point. He belonged to the Society of the Cincinnati. It is said that he was the first Baptist in Susquehanna county, and he became the first justice of the peace in the county. After a useful life he died October II, 1822, and his wife Agnes, who was born June I, 1764, in South Hampton, L. I., passed away May 8, 1834.

ISAAC and DAVID POST, along with their stepfather, Capt. Hinds, were the founders of Mont- rose. Here in the unbroken wilderness, the two brothers became the owners of land enough, cov- ered with a dense forest, to make two good farms. This was cleared principally by the labor of their own hands. Although farmers, practically, after the county of Susquehanna was organized, and the county seat established upon their lands, they entered into other business enterprises, in which for a long time they were jointly interested, and

were identified with every movement calculated to promote the interests of the county or to build up the now beautiful village of Montrose. They were widely known as among the most prominent and public-spirited men in Northern Pennsylvania. Each was placed in many positions of trust and honor, and each discharged every duty of life, whether of private, of domestic, or of public char -. acter with such scrupulous fidelity, yet with so much firmness and liberality, as to win the highest measure of confidence and respect and esteem from all who knew them. They were open-handed, gen- erous, charitable men, ever ready to lend a helping hand to any needy settlers who followed them into the wilds of Northern Pennsylvania. To strangers and new comers, as well as to friends, their com- fortable homes were opened with unstinted hospi- tality. These two grand old pioneers have passed away, but they are still remembered with affection- ate regard by the older inhabitants of the village, and no names are more honorably mentioned in the published history of Susquehanna county, than are those of Isaac and David Post.

Isaac Post was born August 12, 1784, in Suf- folk county, L. I., and in 1800 accompanied his stepfather, Capt. Hinds, to the Susquehanna pur- chase, where in 1806 he built a frame house on the site of the Montrose postoffice (1887), which be- came the first tavern, store and postoffice in the village. He was the first postmaster of the village, and held the office twenty years, then, in 1828, was succeeded by his son, William L. Post. The father sold goods from the corner of his inn, later he erected a dwelling house and store on the site of the W. H. Boyd corner, and in 1814 he erected a store building on the opposite corner from the post- office, where he did business until 1828, when

there, too, he was succeeded by his son, William L. Post. From 1825 to 1835 Mason S. Wilson was in partnership with the Posts. Isaac Post was treasurer of the first subscribers to the Milford and Owego turnpike, and let the contract for building that road. He was the first treasurer of Susque- hanna county ; was major of the militia and brigade inspector. He was active in politics, and as a Dem- ocrat was a member of the Legislature in 1828-29. He served as associate judge 1837-43. He was greatly interested in educational and religious mat- ters, and was instrumental in building the academy in 1818, and the Baptist church in 1829, being iden- tified with the Society. Mr. Post married Susanna Hinds and their children were: William L., Rev. Albert L., Isaac L., Jane, Elizabeth (Mrs. Dr. G. Z. Dimock), and George L. The father of these died March 23, 1855 ; the mother is also deceased.

David Post, the younger brother of Isaac Post, and the stepson of Capt. Bartlet Hinds, was born July 26, 1786, in Southampton, L. I., and in 1800 accompanied Capt. Hinds' party to Susquehanna Purchase. In about 1814 he built the house which constitutes a large part of the former residence, in the village of Montrose, of his son William M. Post, which was one of the most commodious and com- fortable houses in the village, and for many years was the home of the court judges during court sessions. Mr. Post became one of the prominent and influential men of the village. In 1815 he was appointed a justice of the peace, an office he held .. for twenty-five years. At that period the office of a justice of the peace was one of great importance, dignity and honor. During his long official career he settled many difficulties, always advising and preferring peaceable adjustment to litigation. He was of a very kind, genial and social disposition, and made many friends and was popular. In 1810 he was baptized into the Bridgewater Baptist Church by Elder Dimock, and ever afterwards took an active part in the affairs of the church; he was a supporter of free missions. His sympathies were with the slaves, and he strongly supported the anti- slavery movement. He was a Republican of the times. In January, 1809, he was married to Minerva, daughter of Samuel Scott, and to them were born eleven children, of whom the following six reached the age of manhood and womanhood : Norman I., first a lawyer, then a merchant of Mont- rose; Fannie, who married Dr. Thomas Jackson, of Binghamton, N. Y .; Mary, who married Sidney T. Robinson, of Binghamton, N. Y .; Phila A., who married Ralph B. Little, of Montrose ; David, who removed to California ; and William M., a promi- nent attorney and citizen of Montrose. The father of these died February 24, 1860, and the mother passed away in 18 -.

WILLIAM M. POST, son of David and Minerva (Scott) Post, was born February 10, 1825, at Montrose, Penn. He was reared in the village, attended its schools, including the academy, and assisted at intervals in the work upon his father's

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farm. When twenty years of age having received a fair academical education, he commenced the study of law, which for a time on his reaching his majority, was interrupted by business interests. Several years later he resumed his studies in the office of his brother-in-law, the late Ralph B. Little, at that time one of the ablest lawyers in this part of the State. Hon. J. B. McCollum, now one of the supreme judges of Pennsylvania, was his fellow student in the same office. Mr. Post was admitted to the Bar in 1856, and became associated in the practice of law with his preceptor, Ralph B. Little, under the firm name of Little & Post. Along in the middle sixties Mr. Post removed to Susque- hanna Depot, where he had large real estate inter- ests, and there opened a law office and continued in practice in connection with caring for his real estate investments. These consisted principally of lands lying across the river from Susquehanna, upon which a larger portion of Oakland has since been built. In 1880 he returned to Montrose, and took up his residence at the old homestead-the place of his birth-where he has since resided and in part followed his profession. Connected with the home property is a small farm, which in recent years has claimed considerable of his time, he greatly preferring rural and out-door life to the confinement of a law office.

Mr. Post, owning considerable real estate, has made many sales of building lots, and no doubt to a greater number of persons than any one in Sus- quehanna county during the same period of time. He has assisted a large number of men to build homes on lots sold to them by him, and many poor men owe it to his liberality and leniency that they now have homes of their own. It is a significant fact, that during the long period in which he has been engaged in extensive business pursuits in Sus- quehanna county, especially in real estate opera- tions, the public records of the county will show he has never been a party, plaintiff or defendant to a contested law suit ; that he has never sold out a poor man's personal property at sheriff's sales ; that he has never by legal process ejected a single party from the possession of land either sold or leased by him. Although a large number of men have been his debtors he has often suffered loss by his indulgence, rather than oppress a poor man. The warmest friends he has to-day are men that belong to the laboring class, with whom he had business transactions. To his credit, Mr. Post has ever been the poor man's friend. Those in distress have always found in him a sympathizing friend, and to the young, struggling for advancement, he has always extended words of encouragement and in many cases given actual assistance. In his politi- cal views Mr. Post was first a Whig, as were his forefathers, casting his first presidential vote for Henry Clay, of whom he was an ardent admirer, but on Clay's defeat he became a Democrat, and has since affiliated with that party, although he has in no sense been a politician, never taking an active

part in mere partisan politics. His personal and social relations have ever been as cordial and friendly with those with whom he differed, as with those with whom he was affiliated by party rela- tions. The only political office he has ever held was that of United States Assessor for the Twelfth District, composed of Susquehanna and Luzerne counties. This was during the administration of President Johnson, and at that time an office of importance and responsibility, and one that had been filled by such men, as the elder and the younger Judge Jessup, of Montrose. A vacancy in the office was to be filled, and the President at the suggestion of Judge Woodward, then the Con- gressman from this district, had nominated a num- ber of good men for the position, all of whom had been rejected by a Republican Senate upon politi- cal grounds. Mr. Post was then nominated, and, upon the recommendation of leading Republicans of Susquehanna county, Gen. Cameron, then in the United States Senate, favored Mr. Post's nomina- tion and it was confirmed without dissent. The office was one which attached great labor, requiring the aid of ten or more assistants. At the time only a little less than a half million dollars were annually assessed in the district. Mr. Post assumed the duties of the office and discharged them most ef- ficiently, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned and with credit to himself. He has served as presi- dent of the borough council, and at that time two- thirds of that body were Republicans. In 1886 Mr. · Post was the nominee of the Democratic party for the district composed of Susquehanna and Wayne counties, for State Senator. The district was largely Republican, and Mr. Post was defeated, although such was his popularity that he ran six hundred votes ahead of his ticket.

As an evidence of Mr. Post's ability, high standing and the esteem in which he is held at home and vicinity we give extracts from the press of the district: "The nomination of William M. Post for Senator is one that will be commended by all fair-minded men regardless of politics. Mr. Post was born, reared, and has always lived in Sus- quehanna county, and no citizen of the county is more widely known or more universally esteemed. As a lawyer he stands second to none in point of ability, as a citizen he is upright and progressive, as a neighbor he is kind and generous, and as a Democrat he has always been true as steel. From every part of the county come assurances that Mr. Post, if nominated by the conference, which he surely will be, will receive support from large num- bers of men who will lay aside partisanship in order to pay tribute to the solid worth of William M. Post. We venture to predict that his election will be ac- complished by a large majority. To the Democrats of Wayne county we would say that they can sup- port Mr. Post with the firm reliance that he is worthy of their fullest confidence."-Montrose Democrat.

"Mr. Post's nomination is responsive to the

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will of the masses, unsought by him, and obtained by no fraud, false pretense or snap judgment. Truly in the case of Mr. Post the office seeks the man and it could seek no man more worthy of its honors."

"William M. Post is one of the best known citi- zens and acknowledged leaders of the Susquehanna Bar. He is about sixty years of age, possesses genial manners, and has the happy faculty of mak- ing friends wherever he goes. He has practiced law in the county a long time, and had an office in Susquehanna county upwards of fifteen years, re- moving to Montrose about four or five years ago. His friends say that he has never sought public office, although often urged to do so, and that it was only after considerable urging that he accepted the nomination of the county convention for State Senator, which has now resulted in his choice as the Democratic candidate of the district. Mr. Post is a large property owner in Oakland and other places in the county. Half the expense of rebuild- ing the bridge across the river between Susque- hanna and Oakland, that had been carried away by a freshet, was once paid by Mr. Post. If elected he would undoubtedly ably represent Susquehanna county with much credit in the State Senate." --- Susquehanna Transcript.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 362

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