Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 410

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 410
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 410
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 410
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 410

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MOSES COLE. In this enlightened age when men of energy, industry and merit are rapidly push- ing their way to the front, those who, by their own individual efforts have won favor and fortune may properly claim recognition. Among this class is Mr. Cole, who is to-day one of the leading and prosperous agriculturists of Clinton township, Wayne county.

Mr. Cole was born October 8, 1837, in Corn- wall, England, in which country his grandfather, Moses Cole, Sr., spent his entire life. The father, William Cole, was born in the same county, in 1797, and there married Miss Frances Uglow. In 1851, with his wife and children, he came to America, and after landing proceeded to Clinton township, Wayne Co., Penn., where he spent the remainder of his life, dying March 20, 1879. His children were Fannie, who was born October 3, 1834, and died at the age of five years; Moses, the subject of this sketch ; and William, who was born October 5, 1840, and is now residing in Carbondale, Pennsylvania.

To a limited extent Moses Cole attended the schools of his native land, and also pursued his studies for a time in the schools of this country, but is almost wholly self-educated. Upon the old home- stead he grew to manhood, acquiring an excellent knowledge of agricultural pursuits, which have claimed the greater part of his attention throughout his active business career. For some time he en- gaged in lumbering for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co., and also as a cattle dealer shipped stock from Buffalo to the Atlantic markets. He has al- ways been one of the foremost farmers of Wayne county, and now successfully operates the old home- stead of 200 acres of rich and arable land in Clin- ton township.

On April 15, 1858, Mr. Cole was united in marriage with Miss Sarah A. Ogden, who was born in Pittston, Penn., March 16, 1839, but when only

a year old was brought to Clinton township, Wayne county, by her parents, Jesse and Elizabeth (Eng- ler) Ogden. The children of the Ogden family were: William; Charles and Mary Ann (both de- ceased) ; Elizabeth, wife of John Dolph, of Tryon, Neb .; John, who was killed in the Civil war; Ira; Sarah A., wife of our subject; James, who also en- tered the Union army and never returned; Jenette, wife of Edward Carr, of Wyoming county, Penn .; and Augusta, wife of Silas E. Buckland, of Clinton township, Wayne county.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cole are as follows: Francis E., born January 19, 1859, died January 1, 1862; Nettie, born April 7, 1861, died March 8, 1886; James, born July 5, 1863, is now living in Waymart, Wayne county; Carrie, born February 12, 1865, is the wife of William Perry, of Prompton, Wayne county ; William, born March I, 1868, is a resident of Clinton township; Frances I., born August 12, 1870, is the wife of David Mill, of Clinton township; Edward, born September 23, 1872, is living in Lackawanna county, Penn .; Thomas, born January 7, 1875, is employed in Clin- ton township ; Ira S., born April 11, 1877, makes his home in Carbondale, Penn .; and Charles, born Feb- ruary 18, 1880, is employed in Clinton township.

Although an Englishman by birth, Mr. Cole is a patriotic and loyal citizen of his adopted coun- try, and believes our form of government to be the best. In his political views he is independent, though his ideas coincide largely with the founda- tion principles of the Democratic party. He has been offered public position, but always declined such honors, serving only in the office of school director in Clinton township, as he preferred to give his undivided attention to his business interests. Socially he is a member of the Masonic Fraternity.

WILLIAM H. CHAMBERLAIN (deceased) served faithfully as a Union soldier during the Civil war, and was later an honored and valued citizen of Preston township, Wayne county. He was born there April 25, 1847, a son of Colby C. Chamberlain, who was a native of Dutchess coun- ty, N. Y., and for some time before coming to Wayne county lived in Otsego county, N. Y. In his family were six children, namely: Henrietta, deceased ; Osmer, who was killed in the war of the Rebellion ; William H .; Edgar B., now a resident of Potter county, Penn .; Jane, wife of Jonathan Kel- log ; and Josephine, Mrs. Davis, of New York. The father died at the age of seventy-three years.

The public schools of his native county afforded our subject his educational privileges. In 1861, though only in his fifteenth year, he offered his serv- ices to the government to aid in putting down the Rebellion, enlisting in Company A, 56th P. V. I., and serving throughout the struggle. He partici- pated in many hotly-contested engagements, includ- ing the battles of Rappahannock, Sulphur Springs, Gainesville, Groveton, second battle of Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, first and second bat-

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tles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Get- tysburg. At the last named engagement he was wounded, and while he was lying on the battlefield a Confederate soldier, seeing him, fired, intending to kill him. Chamberlain, seeing the Rebel soldier halt, instinctively raised his hand to his head and thereby saved his life, as the ball lodged in the back of his hand. During the remainder of his life the hand was withered and useless. From Gettysburg he was taken to the hospital at West Philadelphia, where his boyish appearance enlisted the sympathy of a Sister of Charity, and he always attributed his unlooked-for recovery to the kindly nursing of that gentle Sister, and held in veneration the Order to which she belonged. On his recovery he was sent to Washington, D. C., and on the expiration of his three-years' term re-enlisted, in the Veteran Reserve Corps, doing provost duty until the close of the war. He had charge of the provost guard in Wash- ington the night President Lincoln was assassin- ated. His surviving comrades speak in the highest terms of his bravery and courage in battle, and of the many kindly acts he performed for others while in the service.

After the war Mr. Chamberlain located per- manently in Preston township. On September 29, 1865, he married Miss Josephine Hine, daughter of Royal Hine, one of the first settlers of Preston township, and a representative of one of the most prominent and honored families of Susquehanna county. Mrs. Chamberlain and her daughter still make their home at Hine's Corners, Wayne county, and they have the respect and esteem of the entire community. Mr. Chamberlain was mourned as a man of noble character, one who acted well his part in life, winning the confidence and high regard of all with whom he came in contact.

NICHOLAS SCOBLE, who is now success- fully engaged in keeping summer boarders at what is known as the "Hillsdale House," in Pocono town- ship, Monroe county, and also follows farming on a small scale, was born in County Cornwall, Eng- land, October 31, 1849, and there was reared to manhood.

William Scoble, his father, was born April 23, 1823, is the same county, where his father, James Scoble, spent his entire life. The former remained a resident of Cornwall, engaged in the occupation of mining until 1874, when he emigrated to the Uni- ted States and located in southwestern Missouri, but after six months spent there he returned East, and made his home in Dover, N. J., until called from this life, in November, 1883. In his native land he had married Betsy Lowry, a daughter of John Lowry. She was born August 24, 1821, and died in England, in 1877. Their children were William, who was killed in September, 1882, in an explosion of gas in the Wyoming Valley, Penn .; Nicholas, our subject ; James, who died at the age of thirteen years; Elizabeth, who is unmarried, and still re- sides in England; Ann, wife of William Wells, who

conducts a restaurant in County Cornwall, Eng- land; and Jane, who died in 1875.

In early life Nicholas Scoble followed mining in Cornwall, and in 1874 accompanied his father on his emigration to the New World. He purchased land in Missouri, but not meeting with success there he also returned to New Jersey. In 1875 he went to Wilkes Barre, Penn., where he worked in the coal mines until March, 1894. Purchasing a part of his father-in-law's farm in Pocono township, Monroe county, he located there on the 20th of that month, and has since engaged in farming to a limited ex- tent, having fifty acres of land, twenty-four under cultivation and the remainder covered with timber. He gives the greater part of his attention to his boarding-house, which can accommodate twenty people, and which during the summer months is well filled by city people who seek rest and quiet amid the beautiful scenery of this region. Mr. and Mrs. Sco- ble do all in their power for the comfort of their guests, and their place has become widely and fa- vorably known. They hold membership in the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and politically he is a stanch Republican. He was elected assessor of Parsons, Penn., but moved from that place before taking the office.

On March 20, 1884, at Parsons, near Wilkes Barre, Mr. Scoble was united in marriage with Miss Rachel Ellen Knipe, who was engaged in the mil- linery business in that place from 1882 until her store was destroyed by fire, in February, 1892. She belongs to an old Pennsylvania family, her paternal grandfather being Jacob L. Knipe, who was born in North Wales, Montgomery Co., Penn., in 1793, and died at that place June 15, 1865. At the age of twenty-three years he married Catherine Swink, a native of Long Swamp, the same county, who was born in 1793 and died in 1870. He was a blacksmith by trade, but followed farming for twenty years and then engaged in the hotel business up to the time of his death. In his family were four children, all now deceased with the exception of George, Mrs. Scoble's father, who is third in order of birth. Mary, the eldest, first wedded Samuel Wompoles, and after his death a Mr. Bogart. Simon, when young, lived in Montgomery county, Penn., from there removed to Ohio, and on his re- turn to this State located at Columbia. Jacob lived in Montgomery county until 1870, when he went to Canada, where his death occurred.

George Knipe was born October 22, 1818, in Montgomery county, Penn., where he remained until seventeen years of age, and then went to Bucks county, where he was employed in a carriage man- ufactory for three years. The following six years he was engaged in carriage making in Waymart, Wayne county, and from there came to Pocono township, Monroe county, where he purchased sev- enty-three acres of wild land. In connection with farming he continued to work at his trade for many years in Pocono township, where he still resides, an honored and highly-esteemed citizen of the com-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

munity. He is a stalwart Democrat in politics, has served on the election board, and is a consistent member of the Evangelical Church. On January 7, 1840, in his native county, Mr. Knipe wedded Miss Mary Holderman, a daughter of Jacob and Mary ( Buzzard) Holderman. She was born Octo- ber 1, 1814, and died May 28, 1895. To them were born the following children: Jacob H., born Octo- ber 28, 1840, was killed at the battle of Winchester, September 19, 1864; Emeline, born February 2, 1843, married George V. Kirst, of Philadelphia; Mary C., born October 23, 1844, married Abner Boyce, a resident of Montgomery county ; Sarah, born November 12, 1847, is the widow of Eli Cad- wallader ; Anna E., born May 24, 1850; Susanna, born March 6, 1853, died February 19, 1855; Rachel E., born February 22, 1855, is the wife of our sub- ject ; and Josephine, born November 6, 1858, is the wife of A. R. Ehlers, an old settler of Pocono town- ship, Monroe county.

CHARLES T. BELCHER. A better military record than that of the Belcher boys would be dif- ficult to find in Susquehanna county. The subject of this sketch was one of the five brothers who grew to maturity. Of the five, three enlisted in Company K, of the 16th Penn. Reserves, and two served through the entire war, one of them winning a com- mission. Our subject, while assisting in repelling a fierce assault of the enemy at Antietam was blinded by a shot in the head, and was left for dead upon the battlefield. One brother was too young to en- list. The eldest, prior to the fall of Fort Sumter, had gone to the then distant mountains of Colorado.

This heroic military stock is pioneer as well. John Belcher, the representative of an old New England family, was born in Massachusetts. He moved thence to New York State and in 1794 came to Gibson township, Susquehanna county, and be- came one of the foremost settlers of the county. Later he removed to Lymanville, Springville town- ship. By his first wife he reared a family of four sons and five daughters, and by a second marriage, to a Miss Lazure, he had two children, William, now a resident of Factoryville, and Helena. The chil- dren by the first marriage were as follows: John, the eldest child, was one of the first settlers of New Milford, where he died ; Hiram, who settled in Gibson; Michael, who settled in Lenox township; Ira, father of our subject; Katie married Merrett Hine, who lived near Poyntelle, Wayne county ; Betsy, born in Gibson township, in 1795, said to have been the first white child born in that town- ship, married Ezekiel Barnes, of Gibson, and lived to the age of eighty years; Polly married Amos Barnes, brother of Ezekiel above, son of Ezekiel, who came to Gibson township about 1800, and grandson of Nehemiah Barnes, a Revolutionary sol- dier; Hannah married Ebenezer Messenger, of Thompson township; and a daughter who married John Washburn, of Jackson township.

Ira Belcher, the father of our subject, was 111

reared on his father's farm in Gibson township, and received a limited education. He married Abigail Sweet, and settled on a tract of wild land in Gibson township, where he cleared up a good farm. In 1850 he removed to North Jackson and later went to live with our subject in South Jackson, where he died in 1869. His widow died in 1874, in Colorado, where she had gone to live with her children. Of the ten children of Ira and Abigail Belcher five died in childhood. The survivors were as follows : (I) Gilbert, born in 1835, moved to Wiscon- sin in 1859, where he married Miss Mary Baker, of that State. The same year he assisted in organiz- ing a company which drove overland from Wis- consin to Pikes Peak, and when he arrived his pos- sessions were his ox-team and twenty-five cents. Settling at Gold City he commenced Western life as a rancher. He prospered and later became in- terested in railroading. He was elected one of the managers of the Colorado Central railroad and rap- idly became an influential citizen. He died in 1892, leaving a widow, and two children-Fred and Cora. (2) George W., born in 1839, married Miss Ellen Barnes, of Gibson township. On the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted, in April, 1861, in Company K, 6th Penn. Reserves, and with it was first engaged at Dranesville, December 20, 1861. He participated in the Seven-Days' fighting, and was at the second battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862; South Mountain, September 14, 1862; Antietam, 1862; at Fredericksburg, December, 1862; at Gettysburg, July I and 3, 1863; at Bristow Sta- tion, October, 1863; Rappahannock, November, 1863; Mine Run, November, 1863; Wilderness, May, 1864; Caps Cavern, May, 1864; Spottsyl- vania, 1864; North Ann, 1864; and Bethesda Church, 1864. He re-enlisted, in 1863, as a veteran, was transferred May 31, 1864, to Company E, IgIst P. V. I. He was taken prisoner at Weldon Railroad August 19, 1864, was taken to Libby Prison and from there to Salisbury. He was liberated by Sherman's army after nine months' captivity ; while a prisoner he was commissioned first lieutenant November 1, 1864, and was honorably dis- charged May 27, 1865. Returning to his old home he remained there two years, then removed to Col- orado, where he engaged in stock raising until his death, in 1892, leaving a widow. (3) Charles T., our subject. (4) Oscar L., born in May, 1843, enlisted in Company K, 6th Penn. Reserves, com- pleted three years' service, participating in its many fierce engagements, and when mustered out with the company, in June, 1864, re-enlisted in the Naval service. He was assigned to the "Dictator," in which he served until the close of the war. Return- ing home he married Miss Johanna Shepardson, of Gibson, and moved to Colorado, where he engaged in ranching until his death, in 1886, leaving a widow and one daughter, Bertha, who is now mar- ried and resides in Colorado. (5) John Belcher, born in June, 1850, was reared in Susquehanna county. Moving to Colorado, he was appointed

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

deputy sheriff of Jefferson county, that State, and later was elected sheriff. He became an active and influential politician and is now a member of the Rocky Mountain detective force and resides in Den- ver. He married Miss Ida Strope, of Pittston, Penn., and has four sons.

Charles T. Belcher, our subject, was born Jan- tary 18, 1841, in Gibson township. He grew up on the farm, attending the district schools, and at the age of twenty, in 1861, he enlisted in Company K, 6th Penn. Reserves, under Capt. John Shull. The 6th was called from Harrisburg to the front and the first engagement was at Dranesville, in De- cember, 1861. Our subject was at the Seven Days' fight, in the Peninsula campaign, the second battle of Bull Run, August 28 and 31, 1862; at South Mountain, September 14, 1862, and three days later at Antietam. There, while supporting the Buck- tail Fifth Reserves and driving back the enemy, our subject was severely wounded. He was shot in the head, losing his left eye, and was left on the field for dead. He was discharged from the service No- vember II, 1862, for physical disability. His rec- ord was that of a brave soldier, and the partial loss of his sight was sustained while gallantly defend- ing the Nation's flag.

Our subject returned to his native home, and there, in 1870, he was married to Miss Flora Grif- fith, who was born in Jackson township in 1848, daughter of Leander and Fidelia Griffith, old set- tlers of the county. In her early womanhood Mrs. Belcher had been a teacher in the public schools of Susquehanna county. In 1873, on account of fail- ing health, Mr. Belcher removed to Colorado and en- gaged in stock raising. He returned to Pennsyl- vania in 1877 and purchased his present farm in Jackson township, where he has erected new build- ings and made other notable improvements. He now owns one of the choice and well-cultivated farms of the township.

To our subject and his wife have been born five children, as follows: Clarence, the eldest, who died at the age of four years; Frank, born in May, 1873; George, born in 1876; Bernice, born in 1881 ; and Lulu, born July 21, 1884.

Politically our subject has always been iden- tified with the Republican party. He is a sup- porter of Prohibition principles. For two terms he has held the office of constable, and he has also been school director of Jackson. Himself and family are active members of the Baptist Church. He is regarded as one of Jackson's most worthy and pros- perous citizens, and enjoys the high esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.

FRANK WERNET. The subject of this sketch is the proprietor of the "Effort Hotel," a commodious and modern hostelry of Effort, Mon- roe county, and he is one of the most prominent and. popular citizens of the community. While he is thoroughly a self-made man, reaping in esteem and prosperity the rewards of his own well-directed

energies, yet he inherits from his ancestors a tem- perament and disposition that has set him aright in his life's career.

Francis Wernet, his father, now a prominent citizen of Carbon county, Penn., was one of the Ger- man youths, in the stormy days of 1848, who were imbued with the spirit of liberty which was stifled under the conditions which then existed in the Fatherland. Like many of his young countrymen young Wernet resolved to seek a home in the Uni- ted States, and the same year occurred his migration to this country. He was born in 1828, and upon his arrival in America, at the age of twenty-four years, he settled near White Haven, Penn. A few years later he removed to Carbon county, that State, where he became identified with large farming and lumbering interests and where he soon became one of the prominent residents of the county. He now owns a well-improved farm of 160 acres. In Lu- zerne county, Penn., he met and married Miss Catherine Baltz. To Francis and Catherine Wernet were born the following children: Catherine, wife of Xavier Moses, of East Mauch Chunk; Frank, the subject of this sketch ; Charles O., who married Malinda Koch, a sister of our subject's wife. The mother died in 1885, aged sixty years, and is buried at Albrights cemetery, in Carbon county. Francis Wernet is a member of the Lutheran Church, and in politics is a Democrat of the old Jacksonian type.

Frank Wernet, our subject, was born in Car- bon county, July 25, 1860. He remained at the home of his father until he reached the age of twenty- three years, assisting in the arduous work demand- ed by the calling of his father, and gained a rich experience and training in the school of industry, patience and energy. In August, 1881, he was uni- ted in marriage, at Mauch Chunk, Penn., to Miss' Susanna Koch, a native of Carbon county, and the daughter of Enos and Christiana (Chrisman) Koch, who were born in Northampton and Carbon counties, respectively. Enos Koch was the son of William and Barbara Koch, of Reading, Penn., and became an extensive farmer and lumberman in Car- bon county. He died July 5, 1896, at the age of sev- enty-seven years. His wife passed away in 1894, at the age of seventy-eight years. Both are buried at Forest cemetery, Carbon county. The family of Enos and Christiana Koch were as follows: Aman- da, who married William Snyder, and is now de- ceased; Lucy, wife of Daniel Keener; Joseph, of Kresgeville; Frank, of North Carolina; Etta, now Mrs. Paul Danner ; Emma, who married Joseph S. Houch, and is now deceased; Elizabeth, wife of G. W. Snyder; Enos, living on the old homestead ; Samuel, deceased; Jefferson, deceased; Susanna, wife of our subject; Malinda, wife of Charles Wer- net, brother of our subject; and Ellen, wife of Josiah Muffley.

Our subject, in 1883, then a young man of twenty-three years, began contracting with the fa- ther in the lumber woods. He continued this toil- some but invigorating life for a period of eight

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

years, and won signal success in the avocation. In 1891 he purchased from Charles Martin the two- and-a-half-story frame hotel building at Effort, which he now occupies, and where he conducts a well-known and popular hotel. Fully alive to the comfort of his guests, Mr. Wernet has had the building equipped with modern conveniences. Its rooms are all steam-heated, and otherwise made at- tractive and inviting. In politics Mr. Wernet is a Democrat. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and is identified with the Effort Lodge of I. O. O. F. He is one of the progressive and enterprising cit- izens of Monroe county, and in addition to his qual- ities of worth and merit, he possesses that happy faculty of making and keeping friends, so essential to the complete success of a prominent business man.

JEREMIAH F. GRAY. The subject of this sketch, one of the highly-respected and successful farmers of Lathrop township, Susquehanna county, has for the past twenty-seven years been a resident of that township. He was born September 26, 1829, in Owego, N. Y., the son of Otwer Gray, and the grandson of Jonas Gray, who with his family be- came early settlers of Dimock township, Susque- hanna county. The father, Otwer Gray, was born in Connecticut, and when young came with his parents to Susquehanna county, where he married Alivia Rosencrans, a native of Springville township, and the daughter of Jeremiah Rosencrans, an early settler of that township. Soon after his marriage he removed to Owego, N. Y., and later located at Wysox, Bradford Co., Penn., and then at Stand- ing Stone, same county. He was a farmer and car- penter by occupation, and in politics a Democrat. His family consisted of the following children : Jeremiah, our subject; Lucy, widow of Harlow Gates, of Susquehanna county; Jonas Spicer, a farmer and carpenter, of Bradford county; Will- iam H., a farmer of Wyoming county; Mary, who married Rufus Raught, of Nicholson, Penn .; Silas, who at the age of fifteen accidentally shot and killed himself ; and three children died young. The father lived to the age of sixty-five years, and the mother to seventy-four years.

Jeremiah, our subject, was reared in Bradford township. He received a common-school educa- tion, remaining at home until of age. He was mar- ried, in Bradford county, to Mary A. Squires, daughter of Horton Squires, by whom he had two children-James E., of Kingston, Penn., and Lydia M., wife of A. Furguson, of Broome county, N. Y. After the death of his first wife Mr. Gray married Mrs. Sarah (Fike) Phillips, daughter of Jacob Fike, of Bucks county, Penn., and widow of David N. Phillips, who died December 13, 1862, in the army, a member of Company F, 14Ist Regiment, P. V. I. David N. Phillips was born in Luzerne county, Penn., in 1832, the son of Hosea and Lou- ise (Carter) Phillips, and was one of fourteen chil- dren, of whom the following yet survive: John

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 410

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