Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 57

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 57
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 57
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 57
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 57

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In 1846 Mr. Pratt married Mary, daughter of William and Hannah ( Morehouse) Fink, of North Blenheim, N. Y. She died in 1856, and in 1859 he married Miss Harriet Fink, who died in 1885. He had three children, all by the first marriage: Sarah Isabelle and Hattie Louise, both deceased ; and Col. Charles C. Pratt.

COL. CHARLES C. PRATT, one of the leading business men of Susquehanna county, is a resident of New Milford, and well sustains the prestige of the family by his loyalty to the best interests of the people. Possessing means, he has been able to give play to his generosity, and it is said of him that he has never turned away from an opportunity to do a charitable act. In political life he is active and in- fluential, and at present he is serving as justice of the peace and as a member of the Governor's staff, while his friends are hoping for higher honors for him in the near future. His fine education and un- failing geniality make him popular wherever he is known, and socially he and his family hold an enviable rank. On August 15, 1875, he was married to Miss Lillie B. Goff, of Binghamton, N. Y., and they have four children: Harriet L., Ezra Goff, Grace Isabell and Helen L.

ELIAS HINKLEY. The subject of this sketch is among the oldest and best known citizens of Lenox township, Susquehanna county. For forty years he has been a resident of the township, and, a native of northeastern Pennsylvania, he has resided there throughout his life except the two years he was in his country's service as a soldier during the Civil war. Mr. Hinkley is a farmer of wide experience and recognized ability, and ranks high as a business man in the community in which he lives.

Our subject was born in Abington township, Lackawanna county, February 14, 1836, a son of John and Clarena (Brownell) Hinkley. The paternal

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grandfather of our subject was a native of Dela- ware county, N. Y., where he lived through most of his life. For a time he resided in Lenox township, Susquehanna county, where he died at a good old age. John Hinkley, the father of our subject, was born in Delaware county, N. Y., about 1803, was reared on the farm, and removed to Abington town- ship, Lackawanna county, Penn. He married Clarena Brownell, daughter of John Brownell, and for some years after his marriage he lived in Abing- ton township, engaged in farming. Then farming a few years in Lenox township, Susquehanna county, he moved to Wyoming county, where he died in February, 1877, aged seventy-three years. His wife passed away in Wyoming county in 1855, aged about forty-two years. Their children were as follows: Hannah married Eli Lee, of Dundaff, Susquehanna county, and is deceased ; Betsey is the wife of Norman Welsh, of Lemon township, Wyom- ing Co., Penn .; William, of Lathrop township, Susquehanna county ; Elias, subject of this sketch ; LeRoy, of Wyoming county, Penn .; Pauline, wife of Benjamin Meade, of Lackawanna county, Penn .; Theron, of Lenox township; Benjamin, deceased ; Emory, of Lackawanna county, Penn. ; George Hal- lock, who occupies the old homestead in Wyoming county; Ellen, wife of Henry Steele, of Lathrop township, Susquehanna county ; and an infant de- ceased.

At the age of two years, in 1838, our subject was brought by his parents from Lackawanna to Susquehanna county. He received his education in the common schools, and was reared in Susque- hanna and Wyoming county. He began life for himself at farming and lumbering, and in 1858 he married Mary Jane Stevens. To them were born the following children: Margaret, born August 6, 1859, is now the wife of William Gamar, of Benton township, Luzerne county; Curtain Devere, born May 31, 1862, died November 16, 1864; Adela C., born August 16, 1865, is now the wife of M. Rought, of Wyoming county ; Georgiana, born April 17, 1867, married William Smith, of Lenox town- ship; John LeRoy, born January 21, 1869, married May McDonald, and is a farmer of Lenox town- ship; Lester C., born January 13, 1872, married Mattie Sherman, and is a farmer of Lenox town- ship; Bertha, born Februarv 19, 1874, married Nelson Tice, of Wyoming county, Penn. ; Clarena, born March 6, 1876, wife of Charles Strickland, of Lathrop township; Ernest, born February 17, 1876, married Nellie Lewis, and lives in Wyoming coun- ty : Merritt Lynfred, born January 19, 1881, mar- ried Bessie Lord, and lives at home.

Our subject enlisted in September, 1862, in Company A, 107th Regiment P. V. I., and served in the army about twenty months, when he was discharged on account of disability. Mr. Hinkley saw active service while in the army, and among the engagements in which he participated were Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Returning to Susquehanna county after his honorable dis-

charge, he has resided in Susquehanna county ever since. In 1891 he purchased III acres of land, nearly all improved, upon which he now resides, and upon this property he has remodeled the house and made other valuable improvements. Mr. Hink- ley also owns seventy-four acres in Lathrop town- ship, and he engages in general and dairy farming. Socially he is a member of the Grange and of the G. A. R. Post at Glenwood. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and has served as poor master three years and as supervisor two years, which of- fice he then resigned. Mr. Hinkley is regarded as one of the most substantial and influential men of the township, and is highly esteemed by all who know him.

COL. ALFRED E. LEWIS. The salubrious air of the Mountains and the charms of the scenery in Pike county have attracted many wealthy and cultured people who, weary of the turmoil of the city life, have made their homes here-"far from the madding crowd." The subject of this sketch, a prominent resident of Milford, has been a most desirable acquisition as a citizen, and the following history will be of general interest.

Col. Lewis is descended in the paternal line from an old Welsh family, the first ancestor, of whom we have record, being Ellis Lewis, who came from Wales in 1708 and settled in Haverford, Chester Co., Penn. He was twice married, (first) to Elizabeth N. Newlin, daughter of Nathaniel Newlin, and (second) to Mary Baldwin, a widow.

Major Eli Lewis, our subject's grandfather, was born in Chester county, and during the Revo- lutionary war was an officer in the Continential army. He married Pamela Webster, and they re- moved to York county, where he laid out the vill- 'age of Lewisberry and died at the age of forty- seven, leaving four children: Eli, our subject's fa- ther ; Webster ; Ellis, a prominent citizen in his dav, serving as attorney-general of this State, president judge of Lancaster county and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 1854 to 1857; and Eliza, who married Robert Hamersly, a merchant of York, Penn., and a member of a well-known family.

Eli Lewis (2), the father of our subject, was a man of wealth and influence. He was born in 1789, at Lewisberry, York county, and in early man- hood was engaged in the newspaper busines in York Borough, Penn., publishing the York Republican. Thence he removed to Baltimore, Md., where he conducted an Old-line Whig paper, The Baltimore Patriot, from 1824 to 1845, in partnership with Col. Isaac Monroe. During Tyler's administration he was postmaster at Baltimore. On leaving Balti- more he returned in 1845 to York, Penn. ,and for fifteen years served as president of the. York Coun- ty Bank. He resigned this position at the outbreak of the Civil war, and organized the First National Bank of York, of which he was president until his death, while he was also interested in being presi-

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dlent of the York & Cumberland Railroad Co., and, later, being a director in the Northern Central Rail- road Co., on the consolidation of the various lines from Baltimore to Williamsport, Penn. He died May 4, 1867, aged seventy-eight ; his wife, Rebecca (Forney), died February 23, 1881, at the age of eighty-five, and the remains of both were interred in a cemetery at York. They had three children, all of whom are living: (1) Miss Mary resides in Philadelphia ; (2) Alfred E., our subject, is men- tioned more fully below; (3) Rebecca Forney mar- ried the late Horace Bonham, of York, Penn., a prominent politician and accomplished artist. For many years he was editor of the York Republican, and he served as collector of Internal Revenue un- der President Lincoln. Three children survive him: Bessie, Amy and Eleanor.

Our subject was born September 16, 1832, at Hanover, York Co., Penn., while his parents were visiting there, having been driven from their Baltimore home by their fear of the cholera which was then epidemic in that city. The first thirteen years of his life were mainly spent in Baltimore, however, and his education was begun there, but after the return of the family to work he prepared for college in the old York Academy. In 1850 he entered Princeton College, from which he was graduated in 1853, and he then began reading law with Judge Daniel Durkee, of York. After two years of study he was in 1855 admitted to practice in York county, where he was successfully engaged in professional work for about five years. The out- break of the Civil war aroused his patriotism, and, abandoning his business, he organized a company for service. On going to Harrisburg they were as- signed to duty at Camp Curtin as Company B, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, with our sub- ject as captain, and subsequently, when the regi- ment was completed, he was elected senior major, serving in the Peninsular campaign on the staff of Maj .- General McCall, as chief of ordnance. He was in the seven days' fight before Richmond, and afterward marched with the troops to Harrison's Landing, where he was relieved from duty on ac- count of illness. He returned to York and later went to Philadelphia for treatment, but on finding that chronic laryngitis nad set in he resigned in August, 1862. In November of the same year, Gov. Curtin, having heard that he had been compelled to retire from active service in the field, wrote to our subject, requesting him to go to Harrisburg and take charge of a new camp to be established at Gettysburg, Penn., for drafted men from Adams and Franklin counties, Penn. The regiment there organized and equipped was conducted by Col. Lewis in March, 1863, by rail, to Baltimore, Md., he reporting to Maj-Gen. Wool, department com- mander. Col. Lewis, resigning the command, was succeeded by Col. Buehler. On returning to the paths of peace Col. Lewis, who is a stanch Demo- crat, conducted a newspaper in Philadelphia for a

short time in the interest of that organization, called the Evening Journal, until October, 1863.

Soon after selling that paper the Evening Tele- graph was established in the same building, by Chas. H. Warburton, and this he continued until 1896. Col. Lewis, in 1866, also assumed control of the Luserne Union, at Wilkes Barre, Penn., which he conducted until his father's death in 1867, the care of the estate having required much of his time ever since. In 1870 he came to Milford on a visit, and was so pleased with the place that he returned the following spring, and in the spring of 1873 he built himself a home there, which he occupied about twenty-four years. In 1882 he pur- chased his present homestead, "Rosegate farm," a fine estate of 160 acres, formerly owned by Hon. E. B. Eldred, who was at one time a member of the State Legislature. Here the Colonel has built an elegant residence, which is a center of hospitality for a refined social circle. The family is identified with the Church of the Good Shepherd ( Episco- pal), in which the Colonel, though not a member, holds the office of warden. He has always main- tained his interest in military affairs, and for years has been connected with Philadelphia Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

On April 12, 1864, Col. Lewis was married at Philadelphia to Miss Mary Wolff, the ceremony being performed by Bishop Stevens. Of the chil- dren born to this union, (I) Miss Lucretia M., is at home. (2) Alfred Eli, Jr., a mining engineer and a graduate of Lehigh University, married Miss Grace Harsell, and has had three children, Wil- helmina, Lawrence and Alfred Eli (3). (3) Miss Mary W. and (4) Ellis are at home. (5) Gerald and (6) Frank reside in Canada, where they are en- gaged in business as mining prospectors. (7) Edith is at home. Mrs. Lewis was born in Phila- delphia, the only child of Jacob R. and Amanda (Readell) Wolff. Her father was a wealthy com- mission merchant of New Orleans, but spent his last years in retirement in Philadelphia, dying there in 1878, at the age of eighty-four; his wife passed away in 1874, aged seventy years.

PHILIP B. CLARK, a well-known farmer, is serving as justice of the peace in Porter township, Pike county, a position which he has filled for twen- ty-five years with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He is regarded as one of the leading and most highly respected citizens of his community, and it is, therefore, consistent that he be represented in a work whose province is the por- trayal of the lives of the prominent members of this sction of the State.

A native of Pike county, Mr. Clark was born in Lehman township, October 24, 1837, a son of John and Susanna (Howe) Clark, of Middle Smith- field township, Monroe Co., Penn. The father was a millwright and cabinet maker by trade, and for many years was engaged in the undertaking busi-

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ness. He died in his native county, in 1895, at the age of seventy-nine years, and was laid to rest in Coolbaugh township, Monroe county. The mother's death occurred at Dingman's Ferry, Pike county, and she was buried in the Delaware cemetery. The children born to them were: William, Nelson, Phil- ip B., Thomas, Samuel, John ( who wedded Mary Pickett ), and Giles. All are now deceased with the exception of our subject. For his second wife the father married Miss Margaret Wells, who is now living in Middle Smithfield township, Monroe coun- ty, and by this union he had the following children : Martha and Mary, who both died when young; Frank P .; Sarah, wife of Christ Krantz; Aaron; Susana, wife of Thomas Batchelor; Arminda, wife of Horace Cortright; George; Hester; and Emma, who died at the age of twenty-five years.

Our subject's paternal grandparents were Thomas and Martha (Quick) Clark, the former a native of New Jersey, the latter of Pike county, Penn. Their children were Rev. William, a clergy- man of Bucks county, Penn., who was twice mar- ried (first) to Susannah Daly, and (second) to Maria Cortright; John, the father of our subject ; Mary, wife of William Smith; Margaret, who died unmarried; Sarah, wife of Johnson Wells; and Catherine, who died young. The maternal grand- parents of our subject were Capt. John and Polly (Van Why) Howe, the former a native of England, the latter of Monroe county, Penn., and a daugh- ter of Henry Van Why. Capt. Howe served with distinction in the war of 1812. He reared a family of ten children : Isaac S., Peter, Jacob, James, Kate, Betsie, Mary, Margaret, Matilda, and Susanna, mother of our subject.

During his youth Philip B. Clark worked with his father at cabinet making and carpentering, and at the age of twenty-two accepted a position as mill- wright with Philip Michaels, remaining with him three years. The following two years he spent in the oil regions of Venango county, Penn., and then was employed by the railroad company at Scranton for one year. From there he went to Honesdale, and in 1874 returned to Pike county, locating at Porter's Lake, Porter township, remaining there two years, then coming to where he has since made his home. He owns about 800 acres of land in ths region, and is engaged in farming with good suc- cess. He takes quite an active and prominent part in public affairs, is a supporter of the Democracy, and has been honored by his fellow citizens with a number of local offices, having served as justice of the peace twenty-five years, school director for the same length of time and township clerk for thirteen years. Besides these offices he is at present also · serving as poormaster and assessor.

At Belvidere, N. J., in September, 1867, Mr. Clark married Miss Catherine Holderman, and to them were born the following children: Engene, who died in 1889, at the age of twenty years ; Amy, wife of J. C. Bossler, of Bloomingdale, N. J .; Sam- uel, a carpenter by trade, who resides in Dover, N.

J .; Allie B., wife of Oliver D. Heater, of Cherry Valley, Penn .; Mary and Lydia, residents of Park- side, Penn .; Joseph H .; Adam; and Walter G., who died in June, 1897, from the effects of the bite of a rattlesnake. The wife and mother, who was born in Middle Smithfield township, Monroe coun- ty, in August, 1841, died October 14, 1889, and was laid to rest in a private burying ground on our sub- ject's farm. Her parents, Joseph and Julia ( Yat- ter) Holderman, spent their entire lives in Monroe county, her father being killed by falling from a load of hay and breaking his neck. Her grandfa- ther was taken prisoner by Washington during the Revolutionary war.

TARBELL. Since early in the nineteenth century the name of Tarbell has been one of promi- nence in Chenango county, N. Y., where settled the ancestors of John S. Tarbell, the veteran hotel- keeper of Montrose, Susquehanna county, whose life covers a period of eighty years, nearly sixty of which have been passed in a hotel, and forty-five as a citizen of Montrose.

Isaac Tarbell, the grandfather of John S. Tar- bell, when a child was brought by his parents from France to this country. The family settled in Bos- ton, Mass., before the war of the Revolution. Isaac Tarbell remained in Boston until after his marriage, then removed to Windsor county, Vt., and there en- gaged in the hotel business. He finally, in about 1820, removed to Jefferson county, N. Y., and there passed the rest of his life. He reared a large family of children, all now deceased, as follows: Isaac located in Chenango county, N. Y., and was engaged in farming; Eli is mentioned farther on; John S. became one of the first settlers of Sus- quehanna county, Penn., near the lake that has since borne his name, and later removed to Nor- folk, Va. (he had a son who was a colonel of a Virginia regiment in the Confederate service dur- ing the Civil war, and was killed at the battle of Gettysburg) ; Willard, a carpenter and joiner, re- mained in Jefferson county, N. Y .; Jonathan locat- ed in the State of Illinois, and was engaged in farm- ing; and Johanna and Sarah became residents of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania.

Eli Tarbell, son of Isaac Tarbell, was born on September 25, 1790, in Windsor county, Vt. He married, in 1815, Sibyl Parker, born March 7, 1798, a daughter of Leonard Parker, who was an inn-keeper in Windsor county. The son-in-law also became occupied as hotel-keeper in that county, but in 1820 removed to Chenango county, N. Y., locat- ing in Smithville. The journey, which occupied ten days, was made by means of an ox-team and wagon-in which were stored the household goods, etc., including a number of fruit trees-driven by the father, while the mother came with a horse and buggy, her infant son, John S., in her arms. They for a time occupied a log cabin in the village of Smithville Flats. The father later built a hotel and resumed his former occupation. Subsequently

John & Barbell

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his business increased, and it became necessary for more commodious quarters and a still larger hotel building was erected. Here Eli Tarbell reared his children, and here he died, in September, 1845. He was a man of great business capacity, energy and ability, and was also engaged in other lines of business. He was one of the leading business men and citizens of Chenango county. As a Whig and warm supporter of Gen. Harrison he took an active part in the "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too" campaign! of 1840. His widow survived him, she living to be nearly eighty-three years of age. Their children were: Sewell, born in 1816, died in 1866; Laura died in childhood ; John S. is referred to farther on ; Mary, born in 1821, married J. B. Lewis, and re- sides at the old homestead in Chenango county, N. Y. ; Charles P., born in 1824, resides at Smithville, N. Y .; George L., born in 1827, died in 1871 ; Francis, born in 1829, now deceased, was a resident of Olympia, Wash. ; and James H. is a resident of the State of Washington.

JOHN S. TARBELL, of Montrose, son of Eli Tar- bell, was born June 22, 1819, in Windsor county, Vt. As narrated in the foregoing, he was brought in 1820 to Chenango county, N. Y. His boyhood he passed in Smithville, where he assisted in doing the chores and in the work about the hotel and at intervals attended the neighboring schools. As a boy he was bright and smart, and early gave evi- dence of business ability, becoming so useful that his father depended largely upon him in the manag- ing of the hotel and of his business in general. When a mere boy young Tarbell's trading pro- clivities were evidenced in the swapping of a pair of steers, unbeknown to his father, for a colt. In this operation he drove a good bargain, and al- though remonstrated with by the father the latter soon found that the boy was able to care for himself in his deals, as he generally made none that he did not profit in. He assisted his father in the hotel, marrying in the meantime, until the latter's death in 1845. Feeling that his mother should be relieved of further care in looking after the hotel, he assumed the responsibility of disposing of that property, and so traded it for a farm. For some ten or more years following his marriage Mr. Tarbell was en- gaged in merchandising at Smithville Flats, in Chenango county, N. Y., at which point he was postmaster during that period. In January, 1856, he removed to Montrose, Penn., and there bought from Gen. D. D. Warner the old "Franklin House," a hotel property since 1814, erected in that year by Daniel Curtis. In this building for nearly a third of a century following Mr. Tarbell kept one of the best hotels in Northern Pennsylvania. Born, reared and with little exception always having lived in a hotel, Mr. Tarbell early learned how to cater to the whims of the traveling public, and became a most popular, genial and successful landlord. Much of his sixty years of active business life were passed under a hotel roof. On his assuming control of the old "Franklin House" the name was changed to 16

that of his own, which it continues to bear. The "Tarbell House" is centrally located across from the court house and public green ; is three stories in height, with a frontage of 102 feet and a depth of seventy-eight feet, with an "L" adjoining. It has spacious walls, with numerous airy rooms, capable of accommodating upward of one hundred and twenty guests. Heated throughout with steam, lighted by electricity, and supplied with fresh run- ning water, the hotel is one of the most modern in Northern Pennsylvania. When our subject pur- chased the building it was but two stories high, with a capacity of accommodating only about forty guests. In 1870, under Mr. Tarbell's own supervis- ion, the biulding was practically built anew, another story and basement being added, and the hotel kept in operation during the period of reconstruction.

Outside of carrying on the hotel Mr. Tarbell has been active in various business lines. He has owned at one time some four improved farms, one of which is the old homestead in Chenango county, N. Y., of which he is still the owner, and two of these he manages himself. Years ago he owned a tract of timber and operated several sawmills. He also dealt largely in horses, and was known in his earlier life as quite a successful and expert horse- man. He has taken many premiums at County and State Fairs on these animals. In 1860 he owned and trained the noted horse "Morgan Tiger," the first horse in this country to be driven without a bridle, simply controlled by movement of the whip, which made its subsequent owner, the late Mr. Rockwell, to whom Mr. Tarbell sold him, a handsome fortune by his exhibitions throughout the United States.

For a period Mr. Tarbell was interested in a line of stages in Montrose. During his active busi- ness life in Montrose he was identified with every movement which had for its object the growth and development of the village, always coming to the front with his means and influence. He was one of the builders of the Narrow Gauge railroad from Montrose to Tunkhannock, in which he has been a stockholder and director for upward of twenty- five years. In 1886 he built and still owns the block on the northwest corner of Public avenue and Church street. Since retiring from the hotel Mr. Tarbell nas resided in one of the neat and cosy homes of the village, located on Maple street.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 57

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