Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 59

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 59
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 59
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 59
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 59

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Mr. Barnard was born in New Milford town- ship June 30, 1843, and. belongs to an old pioneer family of Susquehanna county, as his paternal grandparents came from New York State and settled upon a farm in Harford township. Stephen T. Barnard, our subject's father, was born at Sang- erfield, N. Y., and was a child when his parents came to this section. As a young man he engaged in farming in Harford township, but later he re- moved to our subject's present homestead, which he afterward traded off for property in Jackson town- ship, belonging to our subject. He was an excellent citizen, a Democrat in politics and a Universalist in religious faith. He died in 1885 aged sixty-five years, and was buried in the Universalist cemetery in Gibson township, Susquehanna county. His wid- ow, Mrs. Alvira Sweet Barnard, was born March 13, 1819, in Gibson township, Susquehanna coun- ty, a daughter of Onia and Abigail (Chandler) Sweet, early settlers in that locality, and she died August 16, 1899. Of the children of Stephen T. and Alvira S. Barnard, the first, Girdon, died in childhood. (2) George is a cabinet maker in Sus- quehanna county, Penn. (3) Henry E., our subject, comes next in order of birth. (4) Edgar S. died in childhood. (5) Charles M. left home at the age of twenty-two, and purchased a farm in Great Bend township, Susquehanna county, where he now re- sides ; like his father he is a strong Democrat, and is much esteemed as a citizen. He was married at Susquehanna to Miss Jennie A. Lewis, and has had four children, Bertha M. (wife of William Benson, of Glen Hazel, Penn.), Zelbert, Lena D., and Ray. (6) Herbert died at the age of sixteen. (7) Adelia and (8) Louisa died in childhood.

Our subject was reared to farm work at the old homestead, remaining until he reached his majority. After working among neighboring farmers for one season he rented a place at Lakeside for a year. The following year he spent in working for other farmers, and he then purchased a fine farm in Jack- son township which he traded eight years later for the old homestead. He is interested in the various questions of the day, and although he still affiliates with the Democratic party he is a strong advocate

of temperance reform through the ballot, his vote having been cast more than once with the Prohibi- tionists. For three years he has served as school director in New Milford township. On June 18, 1864, he was married in Gibson township, Susque- hanna county, to Miss Ann E. Benson, who was born in Jackson township June 30, 1843, a daughter of James and Ann (Durgee) Benson, natives of New York State. She died October 12, 1877, and was buried in Lakeview cemetery, Jackson town- ship. On July 28, 1878, Mr. Barnard was married at Lakeview to Miss Hattie E. Stoddard, a native of New Milford township, born April 3, 1858. Her parents, Horace and Mary ( Harris) Stoddard, are residents of that township, and an account of them is given elsewhere. By his first marriage Mr. Bar- nard had two children : ( 1) Mary E. married James Burdick, a farmer in Jackson township, and has

two children, Gleason and Newel. (2) Nettie married Edward Hendrick, a school teacher in Hallstead. To the second marriage have been born seven children, the two eldest dying in early in- fancy ; Stephen, Sanford, Blanche, Earl, and Florence, are still living. Since the above was written Mr. Barnard sold his farm in January, 1900, and March I moved into the village of New Milford.

DAVID A. SHADDUCK is numbered among the representative business men of Rush township, Susquehanna county, where he is successfully carry- ing on operations as a general farmer, dairyman and carpenter. His well-ordered farm is pleasantly located on Wyalusing creek, and is under excellent cultivation, being one of the most desirable places of the community. His entire life has been passed in that locality, as he was born on an adjoining farm April 6, 1861, and lived there until removing to his present place.

Albert F. Shadduck, our subject's father, was born in the town of Middleburg, Schoharie Co .. N. Y., April 12, 1820, a son of Thomas and Joanna (Burke) Shadduck. The former was born on the Mohawk river, at Fonda, N. Y., and was a son of Thomas Shadduck, a soldier of the Revolutionary war and a farmer of Amsterdam, N. Y. Joanna Burke was born in Hanover, N. H., and was a daughter of Thomas and Leanora (Thurston) Burke, natives of Ireland and Massachusetts, re- spectively, and the former a member of the navy in the Revolution. Thomas and Joanna (Burke) Shadduck were married in Albany, N. Y., and in 1848 removed to Rush township, Susquehanna Co., Penn., where they made their home until their death, their remains being interred in a private burying ground upon their farm. She was a con- sistent member of the Baptist Church. In their family were six sons, namely: Benjamin. a farmer of Adams county, Wis. ; John, deceased ; Albert F., father of our subject ; Mathias, a retired farmer of Schoharie county, N. Y .; George, who died in Rush township, Susquehanna county ; and Joseph,

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a farmer of the same township. On leaving the parental roof at the age of twenty years, Albert F. Shadduck commenced working by the month as a farm hand, and was thus employed for three years. He came to Pennsylvania in 1840, and in 1843 lo- cated in Rush township, Susquehanna county, where he first worked for others in a sawmill. After locating upon his present farm he operated a sawmill on his own account, one that was run by water power. Enterprising, energetic, and indus- trious, he has met with a well-deserved success in life, and has also gained the confidence and high regard of all with whom he has come in contact. Politically he was first a Whig, later a Republican, and as one of the popular and influential citizens of his community, he has been honored with several local offices, serving as school director six years, supervisor, collector and member of the election board. At Le Raysville, Bradford Co., Penn., in July, 1845, Mr. Shadduck married Miss Susannah D. Codding, who was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., March 14, 1823, a daughter of Rev. David and Susannah (Wood) Codding, the former a native of Taunton, Mass., the latter of Dutchess county, N. Y. Her father was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was also a stone mason. He died in Bradford county, Penn., August 19, 1874, aged eigthy-nine years, his wife in the same county, February 7, 1865, aged seventy-two, and both were laid to rest in a private cemetery at Le Raysville. Their children were Mary A., deceased wife J. K. Bosworth; Amy P., deceased wife of Clinton Kinney; David S., a physician, now de- ceased ; John A., a notary public of Towanda, Penn., and ex-sheriff of Bradford county; Martin H., a farmer of Le Raysville ; and Susannah D., mother of our subject. To Albert F. Shadduck and wife were born four children, namely: Mary E. is now the wife of Miles G. Shoemaker, a farmer of Rush township; Jennie A. died at the age of fifteen years ; John A., residing with his father, married Patia Smith, who died in 1887, and David A., our sub- ject, completes the family.

David A. Shadduck spent his boyhood and youth in much the usual manner of farmer boys, and continued to assist his father in the operation of the home farm until 1881, when he removed to the place where he now lives. At the age of twenty-five he took up the carpenter's trade, and the first work he did along that line was to erect a two-story barn upon his own farm. He has since followed that occupation in connection with agri- cultural pursuits, and has met with marked success in his undertakings. His political support is always given the men and measures of the Republican party and he has most acceptably served his fellow citizens in the capacity of constable, judge and in- spector of elections, and county committeeman for two terms, being elected to the last named position in 1898.

On July 3, 1880, in Stevensville, Bradford county, Mr. Shadduck was united in marriage with

Miss Emma L. Gates, and to them have been born three children: Lee A., Bruce D. and May R. Mrs. Shadduck was born in Maine, Broome Co., N. Y., February 25, 1861, a daughter of Lee C. and Ruth L. (Loomis) Gates, natives of Schoharie and Broome counties, N. Y., respectively, who in 1867 removed to Binghamton, that State. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, and a member of the Evangelical Church, died in July, 1895, aged sixty-five years, and was buried at Union, N. Y. His children were Ernest and Irvin, who are still living on the old homestead; Emma, wife of our subject; Everett, at home; Minnie, wife of Lee Beaty, a farmer of Union, N. Y .; and Lida, wife of Rush Wescott, a farmer of Broome county, N. Y. Mrs. Shadduck's paternal grandparents, Na- than and Ruth ( Porter) Gates, were farming people and lifelong residents of Schoharie county, N. Y. The maternal grandparents, Thomas and Lavina (Holenbeck) Loomis, were also agriculturists, and made their home in Maine, Broome county.

AMASA WILCOX, a prominent and well-to- do farmer of Auburn township, Susquehanna coun- ty, deserves to be classed among the pioneers of this region for he has lived here all his active life, and has taken actual part in the transformation of the wilderness which once covered this fertile section into a beautiful farming country.

Amasa Wilcox was born October 2, 1823, in Greenfield, Luzerne county, which is now included in Lackawanna county, son of Isaac and Freelove (Madison) Wilcox, who were natives of New York State. They came to Susquehanna county in 1836, locating first at Luzerne, in Greenfield township, and in 1844 removing to Auburn, where Isaac Wil- cox and his son Ephraim took up 137 acres of wild land. He made a clearing for a log house and com- menced to improve and cultivate his land, spending the remainder of his life here. For many years he also boated on the Delaware & Hudson canal. Isaac Wilcox, by his first wife, whom he married in New York State, had three children, all of whom are now deceased, namely: Lucinda (Mrs. Christ Van Dusen) ; Emily ( Mrs. Loren Newton) ; and Katie, who was first married to John Palmatier and later to James Travis. By his second wife, Freelove ( Madison), Isaac Wilcox had children as follows : Ephraim (deceased), who married, and reared a family ; Calista, widow of Oliver Phillips, of Lyon county, Kans. ; Calvin (deceased), who married and had a family ; Polly ( Mrs. Giles Rogers), deceased ; Amasa, our subject ; Martha J., wife of Nelson See- ly, a farmer of Neosho Rapids, Kans. ; Martin ( de- ceased), who left a family (he was thrown from a wagon and killed) ; and Matilda (Mrs. Wesley Turner), deceased. The father of this family passed away in 1857, at the age of seventy-two, the mother on February 21, 1866, when she was seven- ty-three years old, and they were buried in Jersey Hill cemetery ; she was a member of the Christian Church.

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Amasa Wilcox remained with his parents up to the age of eighteen years, receiving such educa- tion as the public schools in vogue during his boy- hood days afforded, and a thorough training to the duties of a pioneer farmer. For four years he worked for different farmers, remaining three years, however, with one man, who paid him $14 per month for his services. In 1847 he purchased his present place of sixty-seven acres, the portion of the paternal farm which his brother Ephraim took up and cleared, and here he has been successfully engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. He has made a vast improve- ment on the place, which had but one building when it came into his possession-an old log cabin. The substantial barns and outbuildings which now en- hance the value and appearance of the property were erected in 1863, and Amasa Wilcox has made numerous other changes on his land, which is a fine farm and may justly be a source of pride to its in- dustrious and careful owner. In addition to gen- eral agriculture Amasa Wilcox operated a threshing machine through Pennsylvania for thirteen years, giving up this business in 1861, and he has become prosperous and comfortably situated as a result of steady and well-applied diligence in his earlier years. He is a prominent citizen of the community in which he makes his home, and is highly esteemed as a rep- resentative self-made man and a friend and neigh- bor, well worthy of the respect which is everywhere accorded him. Politically he has affiliated with the Democratic party.

Amasa Wilcox was married, April 10, 1847, in Auburn township, to Miss Diana Millard, a weaver by trade, and they have had eight children, viz .: Amia, who died in infancy ;' Helen, wife of John Stevens, a farmer of Auburn township; Randolph, a farmer of Rush township, who married Ella Kun- kle : George, who died at the age of two years ; Abel G., who died at the age of three years ; Christopher, who died at the age of ten years ; Harmon W., now managing his father's farm, who married Etta Kun- kle ; and May E., wife of Arthur Hay, a farmer of Auburn township.

Mrs. Diana ( Millard) Wilcox was born No- vember 12, 1827, in Unadilla, N. Y., a daughter of Ebenezer and Susanna (Lyon) Millard, and a grand- daughter of Robert and Ruth Millard, farming peo- ple, who passed their lives in New York State. Her maternal grandparents, David and Lucy ( Whipple) Lyon, were also from New York State, settling in Susquehanna county, Penn., in an early day. Her parents resided in New York until 1832, when they settled in Auburn township, Susquehanna county, taking up a tract of sixty acres which Mr. Millard cleared and cultivated during the remainder of his life. He died there September 10, 1847, at the age of fifty years, and was buried in Jersey Hill cemetery ; his wife passed away January 18, 1869, when seventy-three years old, her death occurring at Laceyville, Penn., where she was buried. She was a member of the Baptist Church. This worthy couple had children as follows: Samantha ( Mrs.

Johnson Mills), deceased; Diantha, widow of Will- iam Baker, living in Tunkhannock, Penn .; Susan L. (Mrs. John Hunt), deceased ; Heman, a farmer of Mauston, Wis .; Diana ( Mrs. Wilcox ) ; David, a farmer of Auburn township; Philena, widow of Sylver Lewis, of Mehoopany, Penn. ; and Harman, a farmer of Mauston, Wis., who served for three years in the Civil war.

REV. GEORGE WASHINGTON SWIN- GLE. The praises of an agricultural life have been sung by poets from the remotest times, and the sentiment which prompts mankind to seek a close harmony with nature seems to be universal; how- ever, the customs and acquired aptitudes of our mod- ern civilization may tend to obscure it. The fer- tile fields of this section, in their romantic setting of wooded mountain and sparkling river, might well tempt anv one to hope that there could be realized the picture which fancy paints of the joys of a country life. Certain it is that we find in our rural communities a high order of citizenship, as many of the histories in this volume will bear wit- ness. The subject of this sketch, a well known resident of South Canaan township, Wayne county, is a representative of one of our oldest and most highly esteemed families, tracing his descent from Hans Ulrich Swingle, a native of Switzerland, who located in Wayne county in 1783. The descend- ants of this pioneer are now numerous, and a more complete account of the family appears elsewhere.

.Mr. Swingle was born September 4, 1837, in South Canaan township, Wayne county, a son of George and Lucy Swingle, and grandson of Henry and Elizabeth (Enslin) Swingle, all residents of the same township. The late George Swingle, our subject's father, was born March I, 1808, and died in June, 1893, his remains being interred in the burial ground of the Protestant Methodist Church in South Canaan township. His wife, born in 1814, resided with her daughter, Mrs. Sallie J. Cobb, in the same township, until her death in April, 1898. She was a granddaughter of Hans Ulrich Swingle, the line of descent being traced through Conrad Swin- gle, a son of the pioneer. To George and Lucy Swin- gle the following children were born: Elmira, de- ceased ; George W., our subject ; Sallie J., wife of Usal Cobb, a farmer in South Canaan township; Lida, who married George E. Swingle, a farmer in the same vicinity ; Henry, who died of a fever while serving as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war ; Phineas, a farmer in South Canaan town- ship; Eleanor, wife of Miron Merathew, owner of a gristmill at Dunmore, Pennsylvania.

During his youth our subject attended the schools of his native township while assisting in the work of the homestead, through which he acquired a thorough knowledge of farm management. In 1858 he removed with his parents to Fairfax coun- ty, Va., where his father had purchased a large farm, in which our subject was to have had an in- terest. At the outbreak of the Civil war our sub-

GEORGE W. SWINGLE

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ject was called out for service by the Southern army, but finding an opportunity he escaped to the North, was drafted and paid $300 for a substitute. His father remained South during the war, and was imprisoned because of his Northern sympathies, losing all his property. Up to this time he had been very successful. On settling at the old home in the North, our subject engaged in carpentering, an oc cupation for which he had a natural inclination anc aptitude. Later he rented a farm for four years, and on leaving that place he purchased his present homestead, and has ever since been engaged in gen eral farming, with the exception of five years spent in the ministry, during which time he rented the property to a tenant. On his farm are two cedar trees brought from the battlefield of Bull Run. He went South and made an effort to regain his prop- erty, but all in vain. His family has been active in religious work since the days of his great-grand- parents, and probably before, and at an early age our subject felt a desire to become a minister, and was ordained a local preacher. He had charge of Churches in Wayne county and various points out- side, including the Abington, Penn., and Liberty, N. Y., Churches, but in 1894 he retired from active service, although he still does acceptable work as a local preacher. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, and while he has at times held minor offices, such as that of roadmaster, he has uniformly kept aloof from political strife. Socially he and his family are prominent, and every movement in the interest of progress receives his sympathy and hearty en- dorsement.

In 1857 Mr. Swingle was married, in South Canaan township, for his first wife, to Miss Hannah J. Shaffer, daughter of Moses Shaffer, a well known citizen. She died in 1885, at the age of fifty-four years, and her remains rest in the cemetery of the Protestant Methodist Church in South Canaan township. On November 9, 1887, Mr. Swingle formed a second matrimonial union, this time with Mrs. Julia Osgood, nee Swingle, whose family is mentioned more fully below. He has had four children, all by his first marriage. (I) Eliza mar- ried J. Nelson Swingle, of Dunmore, Penn., and has three children, Mabel, Leroy and Grace. (2) Isa- bell resides at Dunmore. (3) Arabell, twin of Isa- bell, died at the age of seventeen. (4) Adelia mar- ried J. M. Cobb, a carpenter at Dunmore, Penn., and has one child, Julia.

Mrs. Julia A. Swingle was born January 14, 1840, in South Canaan township, daughter of David Swingle and granddaughter of Conrad Swingle, who was also the grandfather of our subject in the maternal line. David Swingle was a native of South Canaan township, and his death occurred at Burlington, Penn., in November, 1885, at the age of sixty-nine; his wife, Eliza (Croop), who sur- vives him, now resides at Burlington, at the ad- vanced age of seventy-seven. She was born in Lackawanna county, Penn., the daughter of John and Elizabeth Croop, natives of Huntingdon coun-

ty, Penn., who spent their last years in Luzerne county, this State. Mrs. Julia A. Swingle is the eldest in a family of eight children, of whom Ste- phen is a farmer in Bradford county, Penn .; Jean- nett married Eli Booth. and resides at the old home- stead; Augusta, deceased, was the wife of Bruce Whitehead, a farmer at Burlington; Lucinda is the wife of A. M. Estell, of Waymart; Alton resides near Burlington, and operates a farm and sawmill; and Hezekiah D. is deceased. Mrs. Swingle was married (first) to the late Frank Osgood, who was born September 24, 1837, son of Daniel Osgood, of Salem, and died April 3, 1884. For many years he was successfully engaged in mercantile business at South Canaan Corners, where he was greatly re- spected for his excellent qualities of character. One child was born to this union, Elma, now the wife of Weldon Compton, an attorney at Tecumseh, Ne- braska.

SWINGLE FAMILY. Out of the several generations running through the period of over one hundred and ten years, during which the Swingle family have resided in Wayne county, men and women have come upon the stage of action who have left their impress upon the times and communi- ties in which they have lived. God-fearing, self-sac- rificing, law-abiding men and women, who have played their part in reclaiming the wilderness from the Indian possessors and bringing out of it the fine farms with the high civilization of to-day.

Prior to the Revolutionary war, Hans Ulrich Swingle emigrated from Switzerland and settled in Orange county, N. Y., and in 1783 located in what afterward became South Canaan township, Wayne Co., Penn. Here he bought 400 acres of land in the midst of an unbroken wilderness, where he at once built a log house and began the work of a pioneer. He gave a lot to the Protestant Church for a cemetery, and he and many others of the fam- ily are buried therein. His wife, who was Mary . Shaffer, bore him the following children :

(I) Christina married Silas Woodward.

(2) Elizabeth (mentioned elsewhere as Mo- rilla and Mirilla) married Henry Curtis, who was one of the first settlers of South Canaan township, locating on Mill creek about 1784. He was a German by birth, served several years in the army of his native country, and on coming to America enlisted in the Continental army, three years before the close of the Revolutionary war. Their chil- dren were: Jeremiah, or "Hans," as he was best known, and Mary, who became the wife of John S. Reed.

(3) Jeremiah was twice married, having by his first wife one son, Henry, and by his second wife, Patience (Bunting), Abraham and Israel.

(4) John was married three times, first to Catherine Moore, by whom he had: Elizabeth, who married Jonathan Nickerson ; John ; Eve, who married Justus Cobb; and Conrad. John Swingle married for his second wife Catherine Shorter, who

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bore him: Andrew ; Polly, married to Joseph Lon- don; Catherine, married to Peter Manes; Christi- ana, married to John Turner; Susan, married to Samuel McLean ; Sarah, married to Stephen Sharp- stine ; and Joseph. To the third union, with Bar- bara Burleigh, were born: Ephraim, Benson, Mar- garet (married to Alfred Foote), Caleb, Joshua, An- son, Westley, and Jane (married to Jonas Seeley).

(5) Frederick, born in 1781, died May 10, 1861, was a hotel-keeper. He married Susannah Enslin, born in 1780, died August 13, 1856, and their children were: Charles, Elijah B., Jacob, Moses, Levi, Benjamin, Leonard, Annie, Polly (wife of Richard Beers), and one that died acci- dentally when young.

(6) Jacob married Eve Shaffer, and they died July 23, 1870, and June 23, 1861, respectively. Their children were: Nancy (married Lyman Kennedy), Julia (married Joseph Bryant), Har- mon, Emeline (married John Bates), Richard, Abby (married Herman Arnold), Austin, Adaline (mar- ried Joseph Swingle), and Cynthia.

(7) Henry Swingle was born in Orange coun- ty, N. Y., came with his father to Canan town- ship, where he grew to manhood, and on November 12, 1806, married Miss Elizabeth Enslin. He pur- chased fifty-three acres of unimproved land, on which he built a house, in which he resided nearly half a century. His own education was received in German, but his children were sent to English schools of that day. He died September 13, 1851, and his wife January 14, 1850. Their children were: George, Clarissa, Simon, and Sally Ann.

(8) Mary married Moses Shaffer, and died July 20, 1839.

(9) Conrad Swingle was born in 1769, in the State of New York, and came to what is now South Canaan township, Wayne Co., Penn., with his par- ents in 1783. He married Miss Lucy Bunton, who was born in 1774, and their children were: John, born December 14, 1794, died March 9, 1879, mar- ried (first) Sarah Cobb, and ( second) Polly Quick ; Mary, born September 13, 1796, married John Cobb, and died December 13, 1874; Daniel, born June 12, 1798, married Eunice Buckingham, and died De- cember 21, 1878; Joseph is mentioned below ; Sam- uel, born March 13, 1802, married Catherine Cobb ; Moses is mentioned below: Sarah, born June 10, 1806, married George Enslin, and died in April, 1897: Isaac is mentioned below ; Michael, born April 26, 1811, married Margaret Croop; Jonathan, born February 1, 1813, married Phoebe Coss ; David (now deceased), born February 1. 1813, married Eliza Croop: Lucy, born July 26, 1815, married George Swingle; and Elizabeth, born De- cember 20, 1817, married Simon Swingle (now de- ceased), and resides at Simon, in South Canaan township. Of these thirteen children, all lived to see the youngest fifty-six years of age. The father died April 24, 1849, and the mother in 1850, es- teemed citizens and highly respected by all who knew them.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 59

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