Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 88

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 88
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 88
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 88
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 88

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Politically Mr. Birtch is independent, though he usually follows the Democratic lead, and he has most acceptably served his fellow citizens as school director three years, as a member of the election board several times, and as postmaster of West Brooklyn, Dimock township, several years, since which time the office has been abolished. Fraternal- ly he is a member of the Farmers Alliance at East Bridgewater, also of the Grange, and religiously both he and his wife are active and prominent mem- bers of the United Evangelical Church, in which he has served as trustee, leader of the class, superin- tendent of the Sabbath-school, and as a delegate to the annual conference.

STEPHEN S. CARPENTER. Throughout Great Bend township, Susquehanna county, the sub- ject of this sketch is often alluded to as "honest Steve Carpenter." The origin of the title must doubtless be found in the many acts which have stamped the career of this estimable citizen in the community in which he lives. One act of integrity does not make an honest man. It is the sterling clearness of character, constantly revealing itself, that gives rise to a popular phrase of that kind. Mr. Carpenter is a veteran railroad engineer, competent, careful, and experienced, one who has not only become efficient in his own business, but whose ripened judgment and skill have gone beyond the bounds of railroading, and made him a most valu- able citizen and business man. He was born in Middletown. Orange Co., N. Y., in 1837, son of N. V. and Julia A. (Sayer) Carpenter, and grandson of William Carpenter, who for manv vears was a justice of the peace in Van Burenville, town of Wallkill, Orange Co., New York.

N. V. Carpenter, the father of our subject, was born in Orange county, N. Y., in 1815. He was

-- --

371

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

reared in his native county, and there married Julia A. Sayer, who was born in Orange county in 1818. In April, 1848, he moved with his family to Great Bend, Susquehanna county, where he kept hotel in the old "Mansion House" until 1865, in that year removing to Meadville, where he died in 1880. His venerable widow survives at the age of eighty-one years, living with her daughter in Meadville. In politics the father of our subject was a Democrat, and in religious faith an Old-school Baptist. His wife was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. They reared two children, Stephen S., our subject, and Ruth A. The latter was born in Orange county in 1847, and married W. S. Murray, a D. L. & W. railroad engineer of Luzerne county, who later moved to Meadville, where for many years he was engine dispatcher and where he is still engaged in railroad work. They have two sons, Fred and Frank.

Stephen S. Carpenter, our subject, was ten years of age when he moved with his parents to Great Bend. He there received a good common- school education. In 1859 he married Miss Georgi- ana Buck, daughter of Silas and Polly Buck, of Great Bend, and after his marriage moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., where for a year he worked in the railroad shops. In 1862 he began railroading, as a fireman, and two years later became engineer on the D. L. & W. road. In 1865 he moved to Mead- ville, where he had a run on the railroad to Kent, Ohio, until 1870. In that year he moved to Port Jervis, Orange Co., N. Y., and followed railroad- ing to Jersey City until 1878, when he purchased the Gifford farm, in Great Bend township, and for two years followed farming. The old railroad work, however, possessed a fascination for our subject, and in 1880 he accepted a position as engineer on the D. L. & W. road, which he has held to the pres- ent time. In 1893 Mrs. Carpenter died, leaving no children. They had, however, an' adopted daughter, Stella Read, of Port Jervis, whom they educated in the high school of Great Bend. She married G. H. Johnson, a coal dealer of Great Bend, and has two children, Harvey S. and Gladys. In 1897 our subject married, for his second wife, Miss Ida Grimes, a daughter of Frank Grimes, of Susque- hanna, and to this union has come one daughter, Julia, born in August, 1898. Mr. Carpenter has quite recently purchased the Alden homestead, in Great Bend, where he has erected a new barn and made other improvements. It is located on the Susquehanna river, two miles below Hallstead, and is one of the beautiful residences of the county, commanding one of the most picturesque views in the township. Into this home Mr. Carpenter moved with his family in April, 1899, still retaining the ownership of the town home. In politics Mr. Carpenter has always been identified with the old Democratic party, has served as treasurer of the school board, and as a member of the town council of Great Bend. He is a leading member of the Broth- erhood of Locomotive Engineers, being chairman of

the local committee, and is also a prominent mem- ber of the 1. O. O. F. at Great Bend. Himself and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. While engaged to some extent in farming, Mr. Carpenter has always regarded railroading as his work. He possesses the confidence and esteem of his employers, and is known along the road as one of the most trusted and capable engineers in the service. As a citizen he is upright and honorable, and in his personality presents one of the finest types of American manhood.

JOHN P. HARDING. Scientists tell us that energetic and well-directed toil is conducive to health and long life, and in the career of this highly- esteemed citizen of New Milford township, Susque- hanna county, we find an illustration of the theory. Reared as a farmer boy, he has always been interest- ed in agricultural pursuits, and spent many years in hard work before he attained his present com- petence, yet at the advanced age of eighty-two he enjoys a degree of health and vigor which many younger men might well envy.

The ancestors of the Harding family settled in Nova Scotia at an early date, our subject's grand- parents removing from that province to Orange county, N. Y., and locating upon a farm. Lemuel Harding, our subject's father, was born in 1788, and came from Orange county to this section in 1834, settling on a farm in New Milford township, Susquehanna county ; later he removed to Nicholson. He was a man of influence in the community, hold- ing various township offices. He died in 1860, and his wife, Polly ( Wheat), who was born in Orange county, N. Y., in 1795, died in 1874, their remains being buried at Nicholson. Mrs. Polly Harding was descended from New England stock, and her father. Amos Wheat, a farmer, removed with his wife from Connecticut to Orange county, N. Y., in early manhood. To Lemuel and Polly Harding the following children were born : Anna (deceased), who married Lemuel Mitchell; John P., our sub- ject : William, who died in New Milford township ; Amos, who died in Broome county, N. Y. ; Jerusha (deceased), who married Lyman B. Cole ; George, a retired commission merchant at Nicholson ; Arminda ( deceased), who married John Sherman; Lemuel, a coal merchant at Binghamton, N. Y. ; Luther, who died in Franklin township, Susquehanna county; Elizabeth, wife of William F. Halstead, of Scran- ton, Penn., general manager of the D. L. & W. Rail- road Co. ; Silas W., a conductor on the D. L. & W. railroad, residing in Binghamton, N. Y. ; and Em- ily I., widow of William Hartly, of Nicholson.

John P. Harding was born April 4, 1817, in Orange county, N. Y., and remained with his par- ents until he reached the age of twenty-one. After coming to Susquehanna county he was employed among farmers for some years, but at the age of twenty-nine he purchased a farm in New Milford township, which he conducted until 1883. He then made his home in Nicholson, retiring partially from

372

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

business, and ten years later returned to his old homestead. Desiring to be quite free from care, he built a small but comfortable home on a tract of eight acres in the vicinity, and there he is passing the afternoon of life in well-earned leisure. In poli- tics he affiliates with the Democratic party, and he has frequently been elected to local offices. On April II, 1849, he was married at New Milford to Miss Sarah Bell, who was born October 11, 1830, in Orange county, N. Y., daughter of William Bell. She died August 20, 1851, and the only child of the union, Harry H., born March 30, 1850, died January 8, 1851. On March 9, 1853, Mr. Harding was married, at Bridgewater, to Miss Helen E. Kennard, a native of that township, born June 23, 1827, who died August 26, 1881, her remains be- ing interred in Clinton county, Mich. Of the three .children born to this marriage two are now living : (1) Perry Kennard is mentioned more fully below. (2) Sarah Ada, born February 18, 1856, married George K. Marvin, president of a bank at St. Johns, Mich., and a leading resident of that city. (3) Rod- ney J., born May 1, 1858, died in Colorado Decem- ber 20, 1879.

PERRY KENNARD HARDING, a well- known dairyman and agriculturist of New Mil- ford township, Susquehanna county, has a fine farm of 100 acres, and his progressive methods show that he is thoroughly abreast with the best scien- tific thought of the day as applied to his calling. He was born December 18, 1853, in New Milford township, son of John P. Harding, a prominent citizen of that locality, whose biography appears above. His work on the old homestead in borhood made him familiar with the details of farm manage- ment, but as he wished to see something of the world he left home at the age of nineteen, and spent some years in various occupations. For one year he was in Pittston, Penn., in the employ of the Pittston & Elmira Coal Co., after which he went West and spent one year in farming in Floyd coun- ty, Iowa. On returning to Susquehanna county he was employed three years in a sawmill, and was engaged in farming for one year. The next two years he spent in Michigan in the lumber business, but his travels and experience elsewhere had by that time taught him that there was no place like the old home, and he has since devoted his attention to the cultivation of his farm. He and his family are prominent socially, and he belongs to the Masonic Fraternity, in which he has attained the third degree. Like his father, he is a stanch Democrat, and he takes an influential part in local affairs, hav- ing served three years as township treasurer. On September 6, 1883, he was married, in New Mil- ford, to Miss May Ely, and five children have blessed the union : Maud, born April 1, 1885; Rodney J., March 25, 1887; Josie, March 8, 1889; Grace, May 4, 1893 ; Frederick, July 20, 1898.

Mrs. May (Ely) Harding was born May 15, 1865, in Lemon township, Wyoming Co., Penn.,

and comes of a good New England family, her pa- ternal grandparents, Erastus and Hannah ( Pow- ers) Ely, being natives of Connecticut. This wor- thy couple settied upon a farm in Wyoming county soon after their marriage. Gabriel J. Eiy, Mrs. Harding's father, was born in Wyoming county in 1831, came to Susquehanna county in 1807, locating in New Milford township, and at present resides in Franklin township. He married Miss Sarah Aldrich, daughter of Gaylor and Caroline Aldrich, of Springville township, Susquehanna county, and they have had six children, viz. : Ida, wife of George T. Corwin, of New Milford township; Gilbert, a farmer in the same township; May, wife of our sub- ject ; Christie, who died at the age of twelve years ; Charles, a resident of Tingley, Susquehanna coun- ty ; and Musette, wife of Edward Shaw, of Buffalo, New York.

MRS. RUPHANA R. WARREN, widow of the late Clinton F. Warren, is a native of Herrick township, Susquehanna county, and a daughter of Sylvanus H. and Eleanor (Ogden) Campbell, both natives of Susquehanna county, the former born in Herrick township.

Sylvanus and Mary (Rouse) Campbell, grand- parents of our subject, were natives of Scotland, and after their arrival here spent the remainder of their lives as farming people in Herrick township, Susquehanna county. Mrs. Warren's father was an agriculturist and lumberman. From Herrick town- ship he removed to Ararat, where he died in 1874, at the age of sixty-nine years, his wife in 1869, at the age of fifty-seven, and their remains were in- terred in Ararat cemetery. Religiously they were active members of the Baptist Church. The chil- dren born to them were as follows: George and Asa, both deceased ; Ruphana R., our subject ; Anna D., wife of Henry R. Butler, of Clifford township; Squire, a farmer of Virginia; Harvey, deceased ; Violetta, who first married Charles Mathewson, and later William H. Peter, and resides in Seattle, Wash .; Ella, deceased ; and Mark, a stationary en- gineer of Shelton. Mrs. Warren's maternal grand- parents, Daniel and Sarah ( Bloomer) Ogden, were natives of Dutchess county, N. Y., and early set- tlers of Ararat township, Susquehanna Co., Penn., where the former followed farming until his death.

Miss Ruphana R. Campbell was married, first, at Binghamton, N. Y., January 8, 1868, to Asahel H. Peck, and to them were born four children: Al- pha M., who died at the age of eleven months ; Maurice, who was killed while jumping from a moving train in Susquehanna county ; and Bertha I. and Raymond I., both at home. Mr. Peck was a native of Clifford township, Susquehanna county, and a son of Asher and Polly (Ellis) Peck, who were born in New London county, Conn., and came to Susquehanna county in early life. The father cleared the farm on which Mrs. Warren now resides, and there he died in May, 1877, aged eighty-two years, his wife in 1870, aged seventy. Their re-

373

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mains were interred in Burdick cemetery. They had three children, Searle, Asahel and Bela, all deceased. Throughout life Asahel H. Peck fol- lowed agricultural pursuits, and he became a man of prominence in his community, was called upon to serve as pathmaster in his township, and was highly honored and esteemed by all who knew him. He died in September, 1886, at the age of fifty-nine years, five months and two days, and was laid to rest in Burdick cemetery.

Our subject was again married, September 3, 1890, her second union being with Clinton F. War- ren, a native of Wayne county, Penn., and a molder by trade. For five years he was a soldier in the regular army, having enlisted August 12, 1883, in Company A, 17th Regiment, under Capt. William M. Van Horn. After his marriage he located on the farm where his widow now resides, but when the war broke out between Spain and the United States he could not remain quietly at home when he be- lieved his country needed his services, and accord- ingly enlisted in Company G, 17th Regiment United States Infantry. Although he took part in the bat- tle of El Caney, Santiago and other engagements, he was never wounded, but was on active duty ·until taken ill with malarial fever, which completely broke down his health, and he died while returning home, March 15, 1899, at the age of forty-four years. His remains were interred at Pittsburg, Penn. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was held in high regard by all who knew him. Mrs. Warren is also a member of that Church, and she has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who esteem her highly for her sterling worth and many excellencies of character. She is a capable business woman, and manages her farm in an able manner.

JOHN H. VARCOE is known as one of the most thoroughly systematic agriculturists in Da- mascus township, Wayne county, where he owns and cultivates a neat farm of sixty acres. He comes of sturdy English ancestry, and is himself a native of the "tight little island," born in Novem- ber, 1840, in the County of Cornwall, son of John and Susanna ( Harris) Varcoe.

John Varcoe and his wife were reared and married in the country of their birth, and in about 1846, with their family, then consisting of five chil- dren, came to America, the same year settling in Wayne county, Penn. Mr. Varcoe rented a farm in Bethany for two years, after which he removed to Damascus, where he invested in 100 acres of land, buying the tract from Irwin & Vail. This property lies along the Girdland road, and when he purchased it was in its primitive condition, but with the aid of his sons he cleared every acre, put it under a profitable state of cultivation, and made numerous improvements, erecting a good house, barns and outbuildings. As increasing prosperity rewarded his efforts he added to his original pur- chase, buying the Christopher Rutledge farm of

cighty-five acres adjoining. He made his home here for the remainder of his life, dying in 1890 at a ripe old age. Mrs. Varcoe passed away in 1875. They were earnest members of the M. E. Church, in whose doctrines they also reared their family, which consisted of ten children, five born in Eng- land and five in Wayne county, Penn., viz .: (1) Annie, born in 1838, married Thomas Marshall, of this county, and they resided near Beach Pond, where she died some years ago, leaving seven chil- dren, William, Robert, Gussie, Clara, Mary, John, Alice. (2) John H. is second in the order of birth. (3) William, born in 1842, married Miss Harriet Faatz, and lives in Damascus; he has no family. (4) Christiana, born in 1844, died, un- married, in 1895. (5) Mary, born in 1846, is the wife of William Watts, and they reside on his farm in Dyberry, Wayne county ; they have no children. (6) Samuel, born in 1850, married Miss Alice Smith, of Damascus, and they live on his farm in that township; they have four children. (7) Rich- ard, born in 1852, married Harriet Detchens, of Manchester, and died in 1895, leaving his wife and three children, Julia, William and Bertha; they lived near the old homestead. (8) Angelina, born in 1854, received her education in the public schools of Damascus and the Honesdale high school, and for a number of years has been engaged as teacher in the schools of Wayne county, meeting with more than ordinary success in her profession. (9) Ed- win married Miss Lily Brown, and has two chil- dren, Leland Roy and an infant, unnamed; they live in Kansas, where he owns a farm. (10) Eliza is the wife of George Martin, a farmer of South Canaan, Wayne county, and has one son, John. The entire family were educated in the public schools of Damascus township.

John H. Varcoe was but five years of age when his parents settled in Wayne county, and he was reared on the homestead in Damascus town- ship, being initiated into the mysteries of agricul- ture under his father's tuition at an early age. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-two years of age, when, in 1863. he purchased 102 acres of new land from Elisha Sherrard, located in Da- mascus township one-half mile west of the New- burg turnpike. Here he has since resided, devot- ing himself to the cultivation and improvement of his place, of which he now has sixty acres cleared and under the plow. He has set out a fine orchard, erected a comfortable dwelling, barns and outbuild- ings, and has stocked the place with the best in the way of domestic animals-Durham cattle, Shropshire sheep, Chester-White swine, and a fine team of Morgan horses. Everything in the con- dition and appearance of his farm bespeaks constant and watchful care on the part of the owner, who neglects no detail of his work, and has spared no pains to make his property one of the best con- ducted and best paying in the neighborhood. All the improvements have been made by his own labor, and he has shown a spirit of energy and prog-

374

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ress which entitles him to a place among the most up-to-date farmers of the section.

Mr. Varcoe has always given his political sup- port to the Republican party, in whose interests he is an active worker in Damascus township.

FRANK A. MILLER. Among the sturdy and stalwart citizens of Monroe county, whose place of birth was in the far-away German Father- land, and who, with the industry and thrift so natural to the people of their native land, are rapidly progressing toward the financial condition so much coveted by all, is the subject of this personal history, now a prosperous farmer of Middle Smith- field township.

Mr. Miller is a native of Baden, Germany, born in 1850, the only child of Frank and Christina (Twetch) Miller. The father was born in the same place in 1815, and when a young man entered the German army; being chief of police in the service at the time of his death, in 1857. The mother sub- sequently married Abraham Woolbert, and re- mained a resident of Germany, where she died in 1859. By her second marriage she had a daugh- ter, now the wife of Christian Moltrien, of Baden, Germany.

In his native land Frank A. Miller was reared, receiving the benefits of a high-school education. At the age of fourteen he entered upon an appren- ticeship to the miller's trade, which he followed until twenty, in 1870 joining the German army. He took part in the Franco-Prussian war, being in the battles of Fort Strassburg; Weissenburg, Sedan, Belfort, Mobile, Charlotta and Paris. He was wounded in the right leg at the battle of Belfort. At the close of the war Mr. Miller came to the United States, landing at New York City, whence he proceeded to Philadelphia, and later he went to Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and then Baden, Ill., where he engaged in farming during the summer of 1872. The following fall he proceeded to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, working there at the cooper's trade until April, 1873, when he returned to New York. Locating in Morris county, N. J., he engaged in dairying there until 1878, and then came to Mon- roe county, renting a farm of a Mr. Stillwell, of New York, for one year. The same year he was married to Miss Mary M. Miller, a daughter of Henry and Sarah Miller, honored pioneers of Smith- field township. Her father was born in January, 1814, her mother June 14, 1814. In their family were nine children, namely: Henry; John; Theo- dore, who died when young; Obed; Edward ; Philip; Levi; Nora, born in 1840, who married George F. Ansee, of Wales, and now resides with her sister, Mrs. Miller ; and Mary M., who was born in September, 1842, and is now the wife of our subject. As our subject and his wife have no chil- dren of their own, they are rearing her nephew, Philip Miller.

After his marriage Mr. Miller purchased a farm in Price township, Monroe county, a year

later selling that place and moving to a mountain home in Barrett township, where he worked in a tannery for G. L. Adams two years. Afterward, for five years, he lived at Mt. Pocono, and worked for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rail- road Co. In 1886 he removed to Stroudsburg, where he was employed in Mr. Adams' tannery for two years, and in 1888 purchased his father-in- law's farm in Middle Smithfield township, consist- ing of fifty acres, on which he has made many im- provements. He has also bought 200 acres adjoin- ing, and, in connection with the cultivation and de- velopment of his own farm, he has filled the posi- tion of gardener for Dr. F. Hurd, at the Water Gap Sanitarium, since 1893. He is meeting with well-deserved success in his undertakings, and his course in life has ever been such as to commend him to the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come in contact. He is one of the leading members of the State vigilance committee, and as a stalwart Republican takes an active interest in political affairs, is a man of energy and good busi- ness ability, and in every respect is a first-class cit- izen. Religiously he and his wife are both faith- ful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Coolbaugh.

JOSEPH H. SMITH, a representative promi- nent citizen of Jackson township, Monroe county, has for many years been actively identified with the lumbering interests of this region, and to-day does an extensive business along that line. Self-reli- ance, conscientiousness, energy, honesty-these are the traits of character that insure the highest emolu- ments and greatest success, and to these may be attributed the success that has crowned the efforts of Mr. Smith.

In tracing back our subject's ancestry we find that his grandfather, Melchior Smith, was a native of Germany, and when a boy came with his par- ents to the New World, locating in Jackson town- ship, Monroe Co., Penn., when it still formed a part of Northampton county. Here they took up land, and soon cleared and improved a farm. Wheat was taken to Easton by ox-teams to be marketed, the night being spent on the way. Most of the country was wild, packs of wolves were heard and frequently seen, and when camping out large fires were kept constantly burning to protect the teams. The early settlers made their living by hunting and shingle-making more than by farming. Amidst these surroundings Melchior Smith grew to man- hood, and he spent his entire life in Jackson town- ship, engaged in agricultural pursuits. He mar- ried Miss Sarah Anthony, a native of Monroe coun- tv, who died at the age of eighty-six years, and he departed this life in 1866, at the extreme old age of ninety-seven. Their children were Jacob, fa- ther of our subject; George, a farmer of Paradise township, Monroe county ; John and Abram, both farmers of Pocono township, Monroe county : Jo- seph, a resident of Detroit, Mich .; Peter, who lives

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 88

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