Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 91

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 91
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 91
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 91
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 91

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).

Albert P. Hinds was reared on the old home-

stead, early becoming familiar with all the duties which fall to the lot of the agriculturist, and acquir- ing his literary education in the common schools of the locality. Thus was laid an excellent founda- tion for future success in life, and he has prospered in his undertakings. He is now the owner of a fine farm of 140 acres of well-improved and highly cultivated land, divided into meadows, pastures and fields of rich productiveness. The residence is commodious and comfortable, the barns and out- buildings are good, and everything about the place denotes the thrift and enterprise, as well as the in- dustry, of the owner. He is also a successful stock raiser, keeping a good grade of cattle and horses.

In 1891 Mr. Hinds was united in marriage with Mrs. Lella Sweet, who had six children, namely : Charles, Mary, William, Lila, John (a graduate of a Massachusetts college), and Lizzie C. In re- ligious faith Mrs. Hinds is also a Baptist. Our subject bears high rank in the community as a relia- ble and substantial citizen, possesses a genial and jovial disposition, and he and his wife have an ex- tensive circle of friends and acquaintances.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BENNETT, the present postmaster at Clifford, Susquehanna coun- ty, is a member of the well-known firm of Bennett & Rivenburg, prominent and successful merchants of that place. He is a recognized leader in business affairs, and is a valued citizen of the community.

Mr. Bennett was born on Orwell Hill, Brad- ford Co., Penn., November 8, 1845, a son of Peter and Mary (Dimock) Bennett. The father was born in Gibson township, Susquehanna county, November 16, 1817, a son of John and Margaret (Lott) Bennett, natives of Orange county, N. Y., and pioneers of Susquehanna county, where they located in 1810. Throughout his active business life Peter Bennett followed the blacksmith's trade, principally in his native county, though for five years he was a resident of Bradford county, and he is now living retired in Clifford. He is represented elsewhere. At Orwell, Penn., in 1839, he married Miss Mary Dimock, a native of Schoharie county, N. Y., and a daughter of Cicero and Mary Dimock. She died in June, 1872, at the age of sixty-two years, and was buried in Clifford township. To that union three children were born: Elizabeth, who died young; Sarah Emaline, wife of G. H. Stevens, of Peckville, Penn. ; and Benjamin F., our subject. For his second wife the father married Ann Stewart.

At the age of six months our subject was brought by his parents to Susquehanna county, and he remained upon the home farm until 1884. He was married, in Clifford township. in September, 1866, to Miss Julia Ann Doud, and to them were born two children: Mamie E., deceased wife of Dr. E. R. Gardner, of Montrose, Penn. ; and Glenn, at home. On leaving the farm, in 1884, Mr. Ben- nett purchased a store in Clifford, of Julius Young, but after conducting it for two years he sold to

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

S. E. Finn & Son, and during the following ten years engaged in farming and speculating. After the death of his daughter he removed to Montrose, but a year later returned to Clifford, as his son was in poor health. On April 1, 1898, he became inter- ested in his present business with P. A. Rivenburg, purchasing the stock of L. H. Decker. He is a wide-awake, energetic business man, and through his own well-directed efforts has gained a com- fortable competence. His political support is al- ways given to the men and measures of the Repub- lican party, and he has filled the office of school director for three years. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is highly re- spected by all who know him.

THOMAS N. DOUD, the father of Mrs. Bennett, was born in Dundaff, Susquehanna county, Janu- ary 26, 1817, a son of John and Betsy ( Baker ) Doud, the former a native of Orange county, N. Y., the latter of Vermont. In 1797, at the age of twelve years, John Doud came to Susquehanna county with his parents, Isaac and ( Os- borne) Doud, who were the first settlers of Lenox township. About 1819 they migrated to Ohio, where they spent their last days, the grandfather owning and operating a gristmill in that State. In connection with farming, John Doud also oper- ated a saw and grist mill, but during his declining years he lived retired with his son Thomas N. in Clifford township. He was born March 28, 1785, and died March 1, 1873. In Dundaff he married Betsy Baker, who was born in 1797, and died at the age of sixty-two years, the remains of both being interred in the old Clifford cemetery. She was a faithful member of the Baptist Church, and he was a supporter of the Democratic party. Their children were Franklin, deceased; Anna, deceased wife of Ethan Warren; Susan, deceased wife of Edwin Worth; Harrison, deceased; Thomas N., our subject ; Elizabeth, a widow, who (first) mar- ried Skidmore Tompkins, and ( second) Rev. Gray, a Baptist minister ; Jeremiah, John and George, all deceased.

On leaving the parental roof, at the age of twenty-two years, Thomas N. Doud purchased a small farm in Clifford township, which he cleared and cultivated until selling it in 1867. Subse- quently he bought and sold a number of farms, and throughout his active business life engaged in agri- cultural pursuits, but since 1884 has lived retired in the village of Clifford, enjoying a well-earned rest. He was ever a hard-working man, and com- manded the respect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact, either in business or social life. Politically he is an ardent Republican.

In Clifford township, November 7, 1839, Mr. Doud was married, by Rev. Charles Miller, to Miss Esther J. Hunter, and to them were born three chil- dren, namely : Mortimer H., deceased ; Julia Ann, wife of Benjamin F. Bennett, of Clifford; and Har- riet, deceased. Mrs. Doud is a most estimable lady. and, like her husband, has many friends. She was

born in Orange county, N. Y., October 18, 1816, a daughter of Robert L. and Esther ( Clark ) Hun- ter, the former also a native of Orange county, N. Y., the latter of Vermont. In 1837 they came to Susquehanna county and located in Clifford town- ship, where her father followed blacksmithing throughout the remainder of his life. He was born December 8, 1775, and died September 18, 1864, while his wife was born June 28, 1780, and died January 20, 1848, the remains of both being in- terred in Clifford cemetery. Their children were as follows: Mary, born August 25, 1799, who married Abner Wells ; James C., born July 19, 1801 ; Elizabeth, born September 10, 1803, who married John Wells; John T., born April 10, 1806; Thomas M., born June 10, 1808; Sally A., born November 28, 1810, who married Coleman Tompkins; Har- riet, born March 5, 1813, who married Bradner Small; Robert L., born May 17, 1814; Esther J., born October 18, 1816, wife of Thomas N. Doud; Louisa, born May 9, 1820, who married Alonzo Rivenburg; and Julia M., born October 26, 1822, the widow of Daniel Tiffany. The only survivors are Mrs. Doud and Mrs. Tiffany.

ROBERT K. VAN ETTEN (deceased). The "Conashaugh Spring House," in Delaware town- ship, Pike county, twelve miles from Port Jervis, is one of the most popular of the many summer hotels in this region, and its proprietors have won an enviable reputation by their judicious manage- ment. The place has many natural advantages, and the house, which stands one hundred yards from Conashaugh creek, and two hundred yards from the Delaware river, commands a most charm- ing view in every direction. The farm comprises 113 acres, and the choice fruits, vegetables and other products supply the table with seasonable viands. Year by year the fame of the place has grown, and a pleasant and refined circle of guests meet there each summer to enjoy the pleasures of outdoor life, combined with those of a well-ordered and home-like hotel.

Mr. Van Etten was born May 6, 1816, in Dela- ware township, about half a mile from his late home. He belonged to a distinguished Colonial family, his ancestors having come from Etten, in the province of North Brabant, Holland, prior to 1660, and settled at Kingston, Ulster Co., N. Y. The name is variously spelled in the early records as Van Etten, Van Netten, Van Atta and Van Nat- ten. Among the first entries in the Reformed Dutch Church of Kingston is that of the marriage of Jacob Jansen Youngman von Etten, in Brabant, to Anne Adriance, from Amsterdam, in 1665. Jacob made his home in the town of Hurley, Ulster county, where he died in 1690, leaving a widow and nine children, five sons and four daughters, the sons being: John, born in 1665; Peter; Arien, 1670; Manuel, 1681 ; and Jacobus or James, 1685. In 1718 the estate was divided among the children by conveyance from the widow, and the sons, with

R. JE. Van Etten

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John Piantetten

Jannes Krawatten

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ir families, began to seek new homes on the dson, and, later, in the valley of the Delaware.

(II) John Van Etten, the eldest son and the next in line of descent in which we are now inter- ested, resided in the towns of Hurley and Roch- ester, Ulster county. He was married, about 1692, to Tane Roosa, daughter of Arien Roosa, and had a 1 ge family, chiefly daughters.

(III) Jacob Van Etten, son of John (II), was bo. in 1696, and is the progenitor of the branch of the family now in the Delaware Valley. On April 22, 1719, he married Anna Westbrook, a na- tive of Kingston, and for some years they resided at Nightsfield, or "Nytsfield," in the town of Roch- ester, Ulster county. In 1730 he removed with his family and several of his married sisters to the Delaware Valley, locating at Namanoch, on the New Jersey side. In 1745 he bought a tract of land in what is now Delaware township, Pike coun- ty, opposite Namanoch Island, and this estate is still in the possession of his descendants. He was a prominent worker in the old Minisink Church, organized in 1737, and he and some of his sons served as officials in that society. His children were: John, born in 1720; Helena or Magdalena, born in 1721, who married Rev. John Caspar Fry- enmoet, first regular pastor of the Minisink, Wall- pack and Mahakkemack Churches ; Cornelius, born in 1723; Anthony, 1726; Jane, 1728; Johannes, 1730; Sarah, 1736; and Richard, 1739.

(IV) Johannes Van Etten was born at Nama- noch, N. J., and was married, in 1750, at Napanoch, Ulster Co., N. Y., to Maria Gonzoles, the record being preserved in the Dutch Reformed Church. He settled in Pennsylvania, and during the Indian troubles won renown as a fighter, being captain of a volunteer company which did effective service about 1756. He also served in the Revolutionary war. By his first wife, Maria Gonzoles, of Ulster county, N. Y., he had eleven children, among whom were Magdalena, born in 1751; Manuel, 1754; Rymerick, 1756; Johannes, Jr., 1759; Elizabeth, 1762; James (or Anthony), 1763 : Catherine, 1771 ; and Simeon, 1776. Two of these sons were wounded in a fight with Indians, and a son-in-law. named Ennis, was killed. By his second wife, Rachel Williams ( widow of Daniel Decker ), he had four children : Daniel, born in 1780 : Cornelius, our subject's father ; Solomon, born February 12, 1789 : and Dorothy, who married John Lattimore.

(V) : Cornelius Van Etten, father of our sub- ject, was born in Delaware township, Pike Co., Penn., December 8, 1782, and passed his life there, dying in 1869. His wife, Anna Smith, was a native of Sussex county, N. J. Their remains are buried at Milford. They had the following children : Rachel, deceased, who married Philip McCarty ; Solomon, deceased, who married a Miss Meatler : Amos, who married Lydia Traw: Robert K., our subject : Catherine : Margaret, who married Benja- min Cole : Mary ; and Amanda, who married Henry M .. Courtright.

Our subject was reared at the old homestead, gaining a thorough knowledge of farm work, and his education was obtained in the district schools of the locality. In 1837 he and his brother Solo- mon built a small one and a half story house of seven rooms on the site of the present hotel, and made their home there, and it was not until 1873 that Mr. Van Etten began to entertain summer tourists. At that time he built a new house, which would accommodate about twenty-five guests. In 1884 the firm of R. K. Van Etten & Sons was or- ganized, the sons being John and James, and in that years the first addition was built. The demand increasing each year, they gradually enlarged the place, which now has 100 rooms, accommodating 175 guests, and their establishment is one of the leading hotels on the river. Mr. Van Etten was prominent in local politics, being a stanch Demo- crat. He died at his home August 20, 1899, aged eighty-three years, three months and fourteen days, and is buried in Delaware cemetery, Dingman's, Pennsylvania.

On September 6, 1843, Mr. Van Etten was married, at Stroudsburg, by Charles Minche, Esq., to Miss Eliza Palmer, and eight children have blessed the union : Emma died at the age of twelve years and four months. Lydia A. married Frank Singmaster, a farmer at Washington, Iowa. Cor- nelitis married Helen Gordon, and resides at Stroudsburg, where he conducts a meat business ; they have three sons, Harry, James and Frank. Mary married James Brown, a merchant of Strouds- burg, and they have one son, Robert. Miss Hannah is at home. John P. and James P. resided with our subject, being connected with him in business. Maggie, deceased, was the wife of Frank Kerr, of Newark, N. J .; she left a daughter, Carrie. Mrs. Van Etten was born July 28, 1821, in Ulster county, N. Y., and died March 21, 1899. Her grandpar- ents, Overdier and Catherine ( Hallock) Palmer, were residents of New York City. John Palmer, her father, was also a native of Ulster county, moved to Stroudsburg in 1836, and engaged in business as a drover, butcher and farmer. His last days were spent in retirement in Stroudsburg, where he died in 1873, aged eighty-two years. His wife, Mary A. Baker, who died in Stroudsburg in 1869, at the age of seventy-two, was born in Lon- don, England, daughter of William and Mary A. ( Fitchner) Baker, both natives of that country. Mrs. Van Etten was the eldest of a large family of children, the others being: Mary A., deceased, who married Augustus Carmer ; James, a retired resi- dent of Stroudsburg, who married Harriet Shafer ; William, who married Libbie Phipps, and resides in Stroudsburg : Catherine, widow of James Mitch- ell, of Bryan, Ohio; Sydenham W., deceased, who married Frances Green, and made his home in Stroudsburg, where he conducted a meat market ; Phobe, a successful physician at Stroudsburg, who married George Hagenbaugh: Anna, wife of Jacob Miller, a retired resident of Stroudsburg : John, a

2 5

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

real-estate agent at Stroudsburg, who married Susan Williams; Jennie, wife of Samuel Brown, a com- mission merchant at Williamsport, Penn .; and Tur- ner, who married Virginia Dolby (he conducts a boarding house near Stroudsburg, and is also a traveling agent for a business firm ).

JOHN P. VAN ETTEN was born at the present home December 15, 1858, and received his educa- tion in the public schools. He was married, No- vember 5, 1889, to Miss Susan Dusenberry, who died February 11, 1899. They had no children. His political sympathies are with the Democratic party.

JAMES P. VAN ETTEN was born January II, 1862, and was educated principally in the common schools, finishing with one year at Prof. Clark's Institute, in Stroudsburg. In 1881 he engaged in the grocery business, in which he continued some two years in Stroudsburg, with the firm of J. P. Brown. Tiring of this, he returned home, where he has since remained. He is a Democrat in poli- tics, and has been honored with election to office, but resigned. He has been postmaster at Cona- shaugh since July, 1888, when he had the office es- tablished. Fraternally he was formerly a member of the Red Men's lodge at Stroudsburg. James P. Van Etten' was married, November 29, 1899, to Louise Weightman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weightman, of Brooklyn, New York. .

In 1895 the Van Etten brothers, John and James, branched out and engaged in the telephone business, building the first line in Pike county, the one from Port Jervis to Bushkill, which they still own. In 1896 they established central offices, run branch lines, and gave a county service, connecting every town in the county. They also have a one- half interest in the Sussex line and a one-fourth interest in the Port Jervis line, and own altogether some 300 miles of telephone. They established the Sussex (N. J.) telephone line in 1897, in company with Dr. Miller, and in the fall of the same year, in company with the Port Jervis business men, they organized the Port Jervis line, having been the moving spirits in this enterprise in Pike county.

W. B. LATHROP, a well-known and highly respected citizen of Springville township, Susque- hanna county, was for many years actively identi- fied with the agricultural interests of this section, but recently has represented a Cincinnati firm on the road, as traveling salesman, and on June 16, 1899, entered upon his duties as traveling sales- man for the Steel Range Co., of St. Louis, Mo. He possesses many of the characteristics essential to the successful business man, including tireless energy, keen perception, sound judgment, and the happy faculty of easily making friends of those with whom he comes in contact.

The Lathrop family was originally from New York, and in Unadilla, that State, our subject's grandfather made his home for many years prior to his death. His father, Elisha Lathrop, was born

and reared there, and when a young man came to Susquehanna county, Penn. He began farming in Brooklyn township, but later removed to Lathrop township, where he carried on operations as a gen- eral farmer until his death, about twenty years ago. Politically he was a Republican, and was at one time a member of the Baptist Church, in which he served as deacon. He was married, in Brooklyn township, to Miss Jemima Mack, a daughter of Elisha and (Rice) Mack. She died in 1863, at the age of fifty-five years. Eight children were born of this union, namely: Edward, who went to California and other portions of the West, where he worked for the Northern Pacific railroad, but his whereabouts are now unknown; Augustus, who was in the United States navy, and died at Norfolk, Va., in 1855; Mary, wife of B. C. Will- iams, who was born in Binghamton, N. Y., and became a carpenter at Rockford, Ill., being now retired from business; Le Roy, a resident of Cass county, Ill., and the oldest engineer on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, running between Beardstown and St. Louis; Samantha, deceased wife of S. E. Sutton, of Springville township, Sus- quehanna county ; Eveline, wife of Anders West- brook, of Rockford, Ill., also a retired carpenter ; W. B., our subject ; and Erwin, a railroad employe residing in Kansas.

W. B. Lathrop was born in Lathrop township, February 14, 1842, and worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years old. He received a common- school education and an excellent knowledge of farm work during his youth, and on leaving home, at the age of twenty-one, he worked for his father- in-law in Clinton township, Wyoming Co., Penn. Later he was employed for one year in the storage house of U. M. Stowars & Co., at Scranton, Penn. During the Civil war he entered the construction corps in September, 1864, being engaged in car- penter and bridge work until February, 1865, when he was detailed to travel with a geographical en- gineer, A. M. Rockwell, of Tennessee, who was sent by the War Department to take sketches and make maps of fortifications and railroads. Their first work was to take the dimensions of Gen. Grant's headquarters at City Point, a large white house, the only one of any note at that place. Mr. Rockwell and Mr. Lathrop went to Petersburg the day after the evacuation, the first place visited being the postoffice, and it being a day of "free delivery,' each man helped himself, Mr. Lathrop still having some of the mail matter in his possession. Our subject next visited the capitol at Richmond, Va. (and has documents obtained there also), and the house of "Uncle" Jeff. Davis, but Mr. Davis had fled, and the house was draped with mourning. Returning to the construction corps, he remained with same to the close of the war. He was hon- orably discharged June 8, 1865. On his return to Wyoming county, he was employed for two years with D. B. Oakes & Co., wholesale grocers, of Scranton, and then came to Springville township,

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Susquehanna county, purchasing 100 acres of par- tially improved land, upon which he engaged in farming until 1890. He then rented his tarm and went upon the road as a traveling salesman for the Bucket, Pump & Water Purifier Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio, with which he is still connected, though he returned to his farm in 1898 and resumed general farming and stock raising.

In Wyoming county Mr. Lathrop was married to Miss Elizabeth Carr, a daughter of Caleb and Hannah (Gardner) Carr. She was born in 1844, and departed this life in June, 1886. In his polit- ical affiliations Mr. Lathrop is a stalwart Repub- lican. Religiously he is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church of Lathrop township, and socially belongs to Masonic Lodge No. 445, of Harford; Maple Lodge No. 992, 1. O. O. F., of Springville ; the Grand Army Post, of Auburn Four Corners; and the Grange, of Hop Bottom. He is a man of much prominence in the community in which he lives, being quite popular with all classes, and his friends are many.

ALMERON D. FISH, a worthy and honored citizen of Franklin Forks, is a native of Susque- hanna county, born in South Gibson township, May 13, 1846, and is a son of Rev. Alva H. and Sarah ( Vance) Fish, of Great Bend, same county, where the former was born April 9, 1816, the latter April 26, 1814. For half a century the father was a min- ister in the Baptist Church, and he was an untiring laborer in the Master's vineyard. He died in Lib- erty township, January 19, 1891, and the mother passed away at the same place December 2, 1889, the remains of both being interred in the Lawsville cemetery. To them were born four children, name- ly : John W., who was killed in the lumber woods, in 1858, by a falling tree ; Almeron D., our subject ; Martha, a resident of Binghamton, N. Y. ; and Alva P., an attorney at that place. Our subject's pater- nal grandparents, Rufus and Anna ( Adams) Fish, were natives of Vermont, and on coming to Sus- quehanna county, Penn., at an early day, took up their residence in Great Bend township. Their children were Rufus, Asa, Alva H., Erastus, So- phrona ( wife of Salem Howard), and Sybil ( wife of Otis Howard, a brother of her sister's husband). The maternal grandparents, James and Charity (Comfort) Vance, were natives of New York, and also pioneers of Susquehanna county, spending their last days in Franklin township.

Upon the home farm Almeron D. Fish spent his boyhood and youth, aiding in its labors and at- tending the public schools of the neighborhood. In Franklin township he was married, October 3, 1874, to Miss Marilla E. Watson, and to them have been born two sons, Duane and Richard M., both at home. Mrs. Fish was born in that township, and is a daughter of Andrew and Susan A. (Web- ster) Watson, the former a native of Dutchess county, N. Y., the latter of Rhode Island. The father was born January 9, 1809, and when a child

came to Susquehanna county with his parents, James and Betsy Watson, natives of Ireland, who on their emigration to the United States located in Dutchess county, N. Y., where the grandfather conducted a grocery store for some time, but on coming to Susquehanna county he devoted his ener- gies to farming in Franklin township. Their chil- dren were Betsy, wife of David Banker ; David and John, twins; Jeremiah; Andrew, father of Mrs. Fish; Mary, wife of Nathan P. Wheaton; Esther, the second wife of David Banker ; James ; and Will- iam. Mrs. Fish's mother was born April 22, 1814, and was only three years old when brought to Sus- quehanna county by her parents, Rev. John and Prudence ( Merritt) Webster, natives of Rhode Island, in whose family were three children, the others being Henry and John C. All of the family are now deceased. Andrew Watson was a leading farmer of Franklin township, was called upon to serve in a number of local offices, and both he and his wife were active and prominent members of the Baptist Church. He died February 9, 1889, and she passed away in January, 1894, both being laid to rest in the Lawsville cemetery. In their family were six children: Eliza, wife of C. D. Bryant, a farmer of Anderson county, Kans .; Lucina, who died at the age of eighteen years ; Susan E., wife of E. S. Foote, of Lanesboro, Penn. ; Martha E., wife of John A. Store, of Harmony township, Susque- hanna county ; Marilla E., wife of our subject ; and Richard, who died at the age of five years.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 91

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