Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 39

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 39
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 39
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 39
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 39

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Bethuel Jones, the fifth son of Abner and Lura

(Hunt) Jones, was born March 15, 1774, in He- bron, Conn. In 1816 his name appears on the tax list of Oxford, a parish in what is now the town of Manchester, which was set off from East Hart- ford in 1823. He was taxed for "one pole, one cow, one acre of plough-land, and three smokes." He was a blacksmith by trade, and lived several years at Colchester, and there buried his first wife and one child. In September, 1822, he removed to Wayne county, Penn., and settled in Jonestown, so named for his brother Asa, the first settler who went from Connecticut in 1803. He bought the place subsequently occupied by his son, E. R. Jones, in Lake township, from Jonathan Watrous. Beth- tel Jones was considered one of the most enter- prising men of his time. He died at Jonestown, November 1, 1856. He married, March 6, 1800, Hannah Church, born in January, 1772, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Rogers) Church, of Col- chester, where Hannah died February 6, 1803, aged thirty-one years. His second marriage oc- curred August 24, 1803, and it was to Lydia Rog- ers, a daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Gates) Rogers, of Montville, New London Co., Conn. Lydia died November 9, 1818. On April 21, 1819, Bethuel Jones married, for his third wife, Betsy Isham, a daughter of Timothy and Rebecca Isham, of Bolton, Conn. The last wife died December I, 1844, when aged seventy-three years. By his first wife Bethuel Jones had one child, Hannah Church, born May 19, 1801, married Lawrence AnTisdel, and died October 24, 1893, aged ninety-two years. To the second marriage were born: Abner Gates, born March 31, 1804, died March 23, 1806; Ebe- nezer Rogers is referred to farther on; Abner Gates, born October 21, 1807, died unmarried about 1870; Bethuel, born August 31, 1811, was killed by a deer January 14, 1832 ; Elizabeth R. S., born July 19, 1813, married (first) Enos Goodrich, and ( sec- ond) Richard Mathews, and died in 1845; Lydia, born March 17, 1816, died December 23, 1823; Daniel Rogers, born March 23, 1818, died Septem- ber 16, 1818.

Ebenezer Rogers Jones, the father of our sub- ject, was born September 24, 1805, at Salem, Conn. He was one of the pioneers of Salem township, Wayne county, having moved there with his broth- er-in-law, Lawrence Tisdell, from Salem, Conn., in 1822. They started on the 23d of March, with an ox-team and cart containing their household goods, and were fourteen days making the journey to Salem, Penn., a distance which could now be traveled in a single day. He inherited the enter- prise of his father, and became a very successful man. He operated largely in lumber in the earlier history of that industry, and enjoyed the confidence of all who knew him. He farmed extensively throughout his lifetime, and was one of the charter members of the Wayne County Agricultural So- ciety. In 1849 he built two miles of the Gravity railroad. He was elected to the office of county commissioner, serving two terms of three years

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each; held some of the minor local offices, and in all of his official acts he conducted himself so as to win the respect and esteem of all concerned. On June 27, 1830, he married Miss Almira Curtis, born March 29, 1812, in Salem township, Wayne county, and their children were as follows: Em- ory, born December 18, 1831, in Wayne county, Penn., a farmer and ex-railroad man of Lake town- ship, married Arabella McKane; Elbert P. is our subject; Curtis G., born January 24, 1845, died February 4, 1866, in Henderson, Ky .; was grad- uated at the Kingston Academy. The parents of these children died, the father September 16, 1897, and the mother December 18, 1888. She was a consistent member of the M. E. Church.

Elbert P. Jones, the subject proper of this sketch, is a native of this Commonwealth, born June 24, 1842, in a log house in Madison township, Lackawanna county. The log house referred to was built by his father, whose family lived in that county for a period only. In this connection it may be stated that Josiah Curtis, his maternal grandfather, too, was an early settler of this lo- cality. He settled in Salem in 1801, and was one of the first members of the Salem Methodist Church, which was organized in a log barn in 1807, being the pioneer Church of that denomination in Wayne county.

Elbert P. Jones was educated in the common schools of Salem (now Lake), and at Wyoming Seminary; he assisted his father in conducting his large farm for many years, during which time fine meadows were improved and handsome walls were built. Some years ago Elbert P. Jones became sole proprietor of the place, and about four years ago he sold a portion of it to Simpson, Cleland & Co., and it has since been known as the Wayne Stock Farm. He retained a portion of the home- stead, which he is improving, for his occupation has always been that of a farmer. He is a faithful director of the Wayne County Agricultural Society, and attends and helps to promote the Wayne county farmers' institutes. Besides attending to farm work he has been a trusted man in local affairs. He was appointed collector of taxes for Salem township in the years 1866-67, and was elected county auditor in 1874 when the Republicans other- wise made a clean sweep of the county. After Lake township was set off he was appointed col- lector of taxes in 1882, and has held that position by appointment or until his election as assessor, which office he has held for six years. He was also mercantile appraiser in 1882 and 1888, and postmaster of Ariel from 1865 to 1873. He has attended every caucus of his party since he was a voter, and is always at the polls on election day to discharge his duty as a citizen. He is a prominent Free Mason, having for twenty years past been deputy grand master of the Fraternity in the dis- trict comprising Pike and Wayne counties. In 1896 he was appointed superintendent of the Lake Ariel Improvement Co., employing about thirty 11

men, improving the large farms. He is a stanch Democrat, and in 1893 was that party's candidate for representative to the Legislature of the State from Wayne county. Referring to this the Wayne Independent observed :

"He was nominated at the solicitation of his friends, and will receive the support of his party together with a large Republican vote where he is best known. Mr. Jones has proven his honesty and efficiency in the offices with which he has been en - trusted, which is the best evidence that he will show the same characteristics should he be elected to represent the people's interests at Harrisburg. One of his prominent characteristics is faithfulness in the discharge of whatever duties he assumes, and should the people of the county elect him to repre - sent them they will find him faithful in the discharge of his official duties, and favorable to equalization of taxation, which bears so unequally upon farming interests ; he is also favorable to Gov. Pattison for United States Senator in place of M. S. Quay."

On June II, 1866, Mr. Jones was married to Julia P. Race, a native of this State, born May 15, 1844, at Pittston, Luzerne county. She is a daugh- ter of Henry and Julia ( Hathaway) Race, natives of Wayne county, Penn., born, the father on June 24, 1809, and the mother on May 13, 1815; both are now deceased, dying, the father on March 17, 1872, and the mother in July, 1846. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Race were: Augustine, born February I, 1843, died when eighteen years of age ; and Julia P.

Julia Philura Race was born May 15, 1844, in Pittston, Luzerne Co., Penn. Her mother was a daughter of Augustine Bailey Hathaway, one of the first settlers of Wayne county, and a man who will be remembered by many who are still living in Equinunk and vicinity. When Julia P. had reached the age of two years her mother's health became so impaired that Mr. Race broke up house- keeping, and took his wife and children back to her father's house near Equinunk. There she died of consumption in the following July, leaving Mr. Race alone for the second time with two small motherless children. The grandparents cared lov- ingly for their daughter's little ones, and the sor- rows of childhood were soon forgotten. Time passed on with its usual cares and trials until the boy Augustine Hathaway was fifteen years of age, and the girl Julia P. was fourteen years old, when Mr. Race, wishing to give his daughter the educa- tion she so much desired, planned to send her to the Hancock High school. Thomas A. Hamilton, principal. Here she stayed for three years working for her board, and while she found this quite hard she bravely continued her studies, her father help- ing her as well as he could by clothing her and paying for her books and tuition. Throughout the entire course she gained the well-deserved praise . of her teachers, who still retain among their treas- ures the poems and essays written by their promis- ing pupil. It was through many difficulties that this enterprising and very ambitious girl gained an

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education that many others in better circumstances well might envy. Shortly after she left school her brother Augustine died, aged eighteen years. This was a heavy sorrow, but like her other trials, she she bore it with the Great Father's help. During the winter of 1861, six months after her seventeenth birthday, Miss Race began her first term of school teaching. This was at Basket Creek, near Long Eddy, N. Y. The following April she came with her brother, the late Prof. Miles H. Race, to Hollis- terville, Wayne Co., Penn., where her father and other relatives resided. She continued teaching for over four years, when Elbert P. Jones persuaded her to leave teaching and share his home. Though an invalid for more than eighteen years, and con- fined to her room, no pleasanter home can be found than that of Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Jones. She is a poetess of considerable ability, and a volume of her poems is now before the public. Her poems "My Home on the Delaware," and "What is Life," are choice ones that have called forth much praise.

WHAT IS LIFE.

They tell me life is but a dream Where joys and sorrows blend, With death at last awaiting us Where e'er our footsteps tend; But life to me seems like a stage Where all must act a part, And smiles are often but a mask To hide a broken heart.

How oft when bitter trouble comes, And tear drops fall like rain, We force them back from aching eyes That none may know our pain. We greet our friends with cheerful words; They deem us sorrow free, And gazing on us, they exclaim, " How happy you must be."

The mother, bending o'er her child, Gives it a loving smile, While watching by its dying bed With crushing grief erst-while. When called to part from friends we love To meet no more for years, With aching hearts and quivering lips, We smile to hide our tears.

Thus life goes on from day to day With all its shifting scenes; Though shadows fall around our path, Sunlight oft intervenes; For while we mask our own sad hearts And check the tears that flow, We may with cheerful words and smiles Lift up another's woe.

Then even I, while passing here A life that seems in vain, May find my years of suffering Will prove eternal gain. And though I'm but an actor here, Perhaps I may ere long "Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong.'

If life is but a fleeting dream, We know, when it is past, The long and dreamless sleep of death Is but to wake at last. Then may this suffering, throbbing heart Which beats within my breast Forget to murmur and repine, And trust in God for rest.

Lake, Aug. 3, 1888. J. P. JONES.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HAMLIN, the present efficient and popular postmaster of Hamlin- ton, Wayne county, and one of the town's leading business men, is a representative of one of the prominent pioneer families of the county, where, for quite a century, grandfather, father and son, respectively, have figured conspicuously in social and business life.

Born March 25, 1851, on the site of the town bearing the family name, Mr. Hamlin is the son of Judge Butler and Salinda R. (Rathbone) Hamlin. Harris Hamlin, his grandfather, was born April 27, 1767, in the State of Connecticut, of English origin. On August 22, 1787, he was married to Rue Easton, born February 28, 1770, in the same State. They left their native State in 1801, and, with several children, came to the then wilderness of eastern Pennsylvania, settling one and one- quarter miles west of Salem Corners, in Salem township, Wayne county. Here they built a log house, in which they lived some eight years, when they erected a frame house, the first one built in the township. The father was a farmer and brick manufacturer, and he and his wife were consistent Christians, members of the Methodist Church. Dr. Peck says of him: "He was a man of generous impulses and solid worth, an earnest Christian, and a thorough Methodist." Harris Hamlin died Au- gust 4, 1854; his wife, Rue, passed away Decem- ber 5, 1833, and he was again married, there being no issue to the second marriage. To the first union were born children as follows: Rue, born May 16, 1788, died May 19, 1794; Sarah, born April 13, 1790, married John Bonham, and died in Wayne county when ninety-four years of age; Catharine, born May 5, 1792, now deceased, mar- ried Horace Lee, and resided in Canaan; Oliver, born July 14, 1794, married Nancy Baldwin, and died December 26, 1855; Rue (2), born October 18, 1796, married Daniel Baldwin, moved to Min- nesota and died March 4, 1875, a talented and pious woman; Amanda, born May 30, 1799, married John Andrews, and died June 25, 1819; Harris, born July 24, 1801, married Maria Long, and is de- ceased ; Ephraim W., born February 15, 1803, mar- ried Damaris Day, and died when aged eighty-one years, one month and eighteen days; Almira, born February 13, 1805, died May 14, 1811; Butler is alluded to farther on; and Philma, born January 17, 18II, married Volney Cortright.

Judge Butler Hamlin (deceased), the young- est son of Harris Hamlin, was born April 17, 1808, in Salem township, Wayne county. On October 21, 1838, he married Salinda Rathbone, and the

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union was blessed by the following children: Le- nora F. married George A. Clearwater, a large dealer in coal and lumber, of Scranton, Penn., thoughi now retired from active work; Florence B. (now deceased) married Alice Curtis, and after her death wedded Jerusha Waite, who resides at Olyphant, Penn .; Della P. resides at Hamlinton ; Benjamin Franklin, our subect, is referred to far- ther on; Charles E. married Cora B. Moss, and is a retired shoe merchant; Lillie died young, and Abel R. died in infancy. The mother of these chil- dren, who was a native of Salem, New London Co., Conn., died in December, 1887, aged seventy- three years. [See sketch of Judge Butler Hamlin, elsewhere.]

Benjamin Franklin Hamlin was reared at his birthplace, and thus far has passed his life there. He attended the neighborhood schools, studied sev- eral terms at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Penn., and when old enough began clerking in his father's store and assisting him in his business affairs. He was thereby thoroughly trained from youth in busi- ness lines by association with a methodical and syste- matic business man, entirely practical, and possessed of a high senseof honor and integrity, characteristics which he imbibed from his father, and which have developed in him the correctness and efficiency which mark his career. As time passed the father took into partnership with him George A. Clear- water, his son-in-law, and later on our subject, purchasing his father's interest, became a partner with Mr. Clearwater, and they conducted an ex- tensive general store together for some six years, when (1886) Mr. Hamlin became the sole owner of the business. He has ever since given his time and attention to its enlargement, and is now one of the most prosperous and successful merchants of Wayne county. In his political views he is a Republican, and has taken that party interest characteristic not only of his father but of other members of the family. For three years he served as auditor of his township; one year as town clerk; for fourteen years past has been township treasurer; and he has also been treasurer of the school board for four- teen years. Since January, 1884, he has been post- master at Hamlinton. He is an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, aiding all worthy measures and movements looking to the good of the com- munity.

On April 7, 1880, at Bethany, Penn., Mr. Hamlin was married to Emma J. Kennedy, and their home has been made happy by the birth of three children, namely: Bruce G., born February 23, 1881 ; Alice E., born October 2, 1886; and But- ler, born August 13, 1896. The mother of these was born August 12, 1859, in Mt. Pleasant town- ship, Wayne county, a daughter of David and Amanda (Lyon) liennedy, natives of Wayne and Susquehanna counties, respectively. The father was a wool merchant, with headquarters at Hones- dale, Penn., and a man of prominence. He died in July, 1896, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and

the mother passed away in 1867, when aged thirty years; she was buried in Herrick cemetery, Sus- quehanna county, while his remains repose at Honesdale. Their children were: Hattie, born in May, 1857, married William H. Emmons, a re- tired merchant of Fredonia, N. Y. Emma J. is the wife of our subject; and David, born in July, 1861, died in November, 1885. David and Sarah Kennedy, grandparents of Mrs. Emma J. Hamlin, were from Scotland, and settled in an early day in Mt. Pleasant township. They had the first wood- stove and the first sleigh in that locality. Mrs. Hamlin's maternal grandparents were Henry Lyon and wife, who was formerly a Kent.

CAPTAIN HOLLOWAY L. STEPHENS was born in Orange county, N. Y., May 3, 1824, his father in the same place in 1801. The Stephens family ,came from the New England States and were of English descent. His mother, Mary (Ball), born 1803, in New Jersey, was a Scotch lady, and his grandmother was of Scotch-Irish descent.

Our subject received a good English education and graduated at Ridgeberry Academy in 1841. He then for four years successfully followed the teach- er's profession, in the meantime learning survey- ing. In 1848 he came to Wayne county, Penn., with his father, settling at Hawley, where his father was engaged in the butchering business. Here he assisted his father and followed surveying. In a few years he was elected county surveyor of Wayne county, and before his term expired was elected representative for 1857 and 1859. Here his mental capacity and fitness for a legislator were fully put to the test, and his speech made on Equal Taxation, in the Session of 1859, will live in history as one of the ablest productions ever made on that subject at Harrisburg, which graphically displayed the history of corporate usurpations upon the rights of the people, and foretold intuitively what would take place in the future if we did not have a law sentinel upon the Statute books to guard the rights of the people.

On December 31, 1860, Mr. Stephens was mar- ried to Miss Ellen S. Seamen, of Wayne county, daughter of Charles B. and Roxanna Seamen, prominent citizens of said county. Shortly after the war of the Rebellion broke out, he believed it a needless one and that it should have been settled by the Peace Congress, "had they acted," he says, "the same as the delegates that formed the Consti- tution of the United States acted. When they could not agree and all seemed to be lost, Benjamin . Franklin proposed prayer; they acquiesced, God heard them, and our present Constitution was the result. Had the Peace Congress done the same, the war would have been averted." He was draft- ed in the army in 1862, but his friends procured a substitute. He refused, however, saying: "My country, right or wrong! I believe in obeying the powers that be." He was elected captain of Com-

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pany D, 179th P. V. I., by the drafted men ; served his time out honorably, and at its close, Lee having invaded Pennsylvania, through his unaided influ- ence, the 179th Regiment re-enlisted and served until Lee was driven out of Pennsylvania. Thus Mr. Stephens went into the service as a drafted man and came out a volunteer. On returning home he settled in Honesdale, where he was engaged the most of his time in surveying and in the real estate business for eleven years. From there he moved to Starrucca, where he was engaged in lumbering, farming and surveying ; thence went to Winwood, his present residence; where he is engaged in sur- veying.

Capt. and Mrs. Stephens have four children : Charles, born in 1861, lives at Lorain, Ohio; Bruce, born in 1864, lives in Colorado; Johnson A., born in 1866, lives at Starrucca ; and William M. lives with his father at Winwood; he possesses much natural talent as an artist, and has executed some very fine drawings. Our subject's father died in 1877, his mother in 1842. Their children were: Henry B. (now deceased), born in 1822, was a prominent physician at Hawley; Hollowav L., the subject of this memoir, comes next; John H., born in 1826, lives in New York City ; Mary E. (now deceased), born in 1836, was the wife of John W. Seamen, of Honesdale; Esther F., born in 1838, is single, and lives at Honesdale ; Charlotte H. (now deceased), born in 1840, was the wife of William Muir, super- intendent of the D. & H. C. Co.'s works at Hones- dale ; Hannah J., Amy M., Eliphalet and Elephalet (2) all died in childhood or infancy. The children were all born in Orange county, N. Y.

The Democratic party always finds in Capt. Stephens a stanch supporter, a natural-born leader of men, and a true and trusted director of public opinions. He has done much to advance its in- terests wherever he has lived. His motto has ever been : "Equal rights, equal privileges, equal pro- tection and equal taxation." As a citizen he ever stands ready to discharge every duty devolving upon him, and the part he has taken in the develop- ment of the county has impressed his name indeli- bly on its record. Religiously he is a worthy and prominent member of the Baptist Church.

JAMES C. COOLEY, a well known citizen of Mt. Pleasant township, Wayne county, was born in Manchester township, in the same county, May 28, 1820, and is a representative of one of its hon- ored pioneer families. His father, Sheldon Cooley, who was a native of New England, married Betsey . Morgague, a daughter of Samttel Morgague, who was one of the first settlers of Manchester town- ship, but afterward returned to England, his na- tive land. Mr. and Mrs. Cooley became the par- ents of four children, our subject being the eldest. Samuel, the second son, was a soldier of the Civil war. Maria (now deceased) wedded Oliver Pot- ter, a resident of Susquehanna county, Penn. Anna married Morris Griffice, who also served in the

Union army during the Rebellion as a member of Company C, 6th P. V. I., and was starved to death in Andersonville prison ; he left a widow and three children, Jerome, Linda and Minor.

To the early schools of Wayne county James C. Cooley is indebted for his educational privileges .. When a young man he engaged in lumbering to some extent, but throughout the greater part of his life he has followed agricultural pursuits, and is now the owner of a valuable farm of 200 acres of highly cultivated and well improved land in Mt. Pleasant township. He was married November 3, 1847, to Miss Civilla Lakin, a daughter of John and Parthena ( Thomas) Lakin, natives of Ver- mont, who came to Wayne county at a very early day. Their children were: Sarah, now deceased ; Civilla,wife of our subject; Maria Jaycox, living ; Susan Sherman, deceased; Mindle, deceased wife of William Apley ; Augustus, deceased ; and Anna Twaddle. The parents have both departed this life, the mother when aged seventy years, the father when past the age of eighty. To Mr. and Mrs. Cooley were born two sons, Marvin and Paul P., well known lumbermen and prominent citizens of Wayne county, and they have lost three children : James Warren, Edgar R. and Anna C. Mrs. James C. Cooley died September 15, 1899, aged seventy- four years, and was buried beside her children at Stockport, Wayne county. She was a devout mem- ber of the Methodist Church, and a most estimable lady. Politically Mr. Cooley is an ardent Repub- lican, with which party his son also affiliates, and socially they are members of the Odd Fellows Lodge at Mt. Pleasant. The family is one of prom- inence, and is the center of a large circle of friends and acquaintances, including the best people of the community.

WILLIAM R. SHAFFER, the genial and popular postmaster at Varden, Wayne county, is one of the leading business men of that locality, being the senior member of the well known mer- cantile firm of W. R. & M. S. Shaffer.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 39

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