Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 2, Part 86

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1098

USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 2 > Part 86
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 2 > Part 86
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 2 > Part 86
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 2 > Part 86

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On September 13, 1883, at Eaton, Penn., Mr. Miller was married by Rev. R. W. Hufford, a Lu- theran minister, to Miss Emma Doll, who was born in Jackson township, December 20, 1862. They have become the parents of four children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Edith, July 27, 1884; Grace, June 29, 1886; Leroy. Octo- ber 24, 1888; and Frederick, September 18, 1897. All are living with the exception of Edith, who died January 14, 1889.

Mrs. Miller's paternal grandfather, Jacob Doll, was born in Monroe county when it formed a part of Northampton county, and there grew to manhood and married Catherine Ruthstine, also a native of Monroe county, and a daughter of Fred- erick Ruthstine. For many years Mr. Doll fol- lowed his trade of shoemaking in Monroe county, and lived to a ripe old age, while his wife survived him for some years. They were the parents of thirteen children, namely: Jacob married Elizabeth llay, and spent the greater part of his life in Jack- son township; John married Susan Felker, and also lived in Jackson township: Frederick was the father of Mrs. Miller : Samuel married Sophia Boier, and lived near the present home of the Doll family ; George married Susan Singer, and lived for some time in Jackson township, but is now a resident of Mehoopany, Penn .: Joseph, who is living near Mchcopany. wedded ( first) Mary Smoke, and ( second ) Hannah Seip: Charles married Hannah Transue, and they make their home in Strouds- burg. Penn. : Louisa ( deceased) married George Smith. of Jackson township: Katie, deceased. mar- ried James Evans, of Pocono township. Monroe county : Sarah ( deceased) married Joseph Slutter, of Hamilton township. Monroe county : Betsy ( de- ceased) married William Bower, of Hamilton

township; Hannah (deceased), married Charles Slutter, of Hamilton township; and Christine (de- ceased ) married Robert Daily, of Pocono township.

Frederick Doll, Mrs. Miller's father, was born in Jackson township. September 8, 1819, and there passed his entire life as a hard-working, honest and industrious man, highly respected by the en- tire community. When a young man he learned the cooper's trade, which he followed for many years, and at the same time cleared a tract of land. and in later years paid particular attention to farming. For many years before his death he was identified with the Republican party. When young he and his wife cast their lot with the Reformed Church, but the congregation was small, and they later be- came connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In Hamilton township, Monroe county, he was married, May 3. 1840, to Miss Mary Miller, a native of Chestnut Hill township, the ceremony being perfornied by Joseph B. Gross. D. D. - He died January 14, 1808. Mrs. Doll, who was born February 6. 1823, died of dropsy January 20. 1899, aged seventy-six years. She was a most excellent wife, and a wise and Christian mother. Before

her death she suffered with remarkable fortitude all that could be borne. "Truly her children can rise and call her blessed. May they all follow her teaching." Her grandfather, Jacob Miller, was born, reared and married in Pocono township, but spent much of his life in Jackson township. Her father. Jacob Miller, Jr .. was a native of Jackson township, where he married Miss Pauline Kresge. a representative of one of the pioneer families of Chestnut Hill township. where some of its members still reside. For many years Mr. Miller followed farming in Chestnut Hill township, where his death occurred : his wife died in Jackson township while on a visit. Mrs. Frederick Doll was the eldest of their children, the others being as follows: Samuel, a resident of Chestnut Hill township; Betsy, wife of Joseph Frantz, of Jackson township; Sally Ann, who married John Felker. of Jackson township, and died in 1800: Jacob (deceased) married (first) Betsy Houser, and ( second ) Sarah Shoop. and lived in Jackson township: Joshua (deceased) lived in Chestnut Hill township: Jonas, a soldier of the Rebellion. was killed in the seven days fight in the Wilderness : Thomas is a farmer of Jackson town- ship: Hannah is the wife of William Smith, of Newfield. N. Y .; and Barbara lives with her sister in Newficht.

The children born to Frederick and Mary (Miller ) Doll were as follows: Uriah. born Septem- ber 23, 1841, was a farmer of Tompkins county, N. Y., where he died: Elizabeth, born December 27. 1845. is the wife of Jacob Kresge, of Jackson township: Mary Ann. born May 11. 1848. married Lonis Belsher, and died at Tobyhanna. Penn .. in 1883: Catherine, born April 17. 1852. is the wife of Moses Ace, of Scranton. Penn. ; Sarah Ann, born December 2. 1854. is the wife of Jacob Storm. of Jackson township; Jacob, born January 29. 1857,

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and Jonah, born November 26, 1859, are both liv- ing in Jackson township; Enima, born December 20, 1862, is the wife of Harrison Miller, whose name introduces this review; and James Wilmer, born July 5, 1865, married Martha Anglemoyer, and is engaged in farming on the old homestead in Jackson township.

CHARLES CURTIS SHAFFER. In the re- spect that is accorded to men who have made their way to success through an unfavorable environment, we find an unconscious recognition of the intrinsic worth of a character which can not only stand so rough a test, but can gain new strength through the discipline. The following history sets forth briefly the steps by which our subject, now a leading busi- ness man of Varden, Wayne county, succeeded in winning his present enviable place in life in spite of the fact that he was left an orphan in infancy, without any inheritance except his ability and energy.

Mr. Shaffer belongs to one of the pionecr fam- ilies of Wayne county, being a descendant of John Shaffer, a German by birth, who after residing for some years in Orange county, New York State, lo- cated, in 1783, in this section, in what is now South Canaan township, Wayne county, securing a large tract of forest land on Middle creek. This place he cleared for a homestead, living there in true pioneer style, and about the year 1800 he built a gristmill at what is still known as Shaffer's Hollow. The mill, though primitive, was the first in this section to liave a bolt for bolting the meal and flour. The children of this worthy pioneer were: John, born in New York State, and who married a Miss Forbes ; Moses, the first white child born in South Canaan township, Wayne county, who married Mary Swin- gle ; Samuel, married to Rachel Wagner ; Catherine, wife of James McLean, a Revolutionary soldier ; Susan (Mrs. Joshua Borleigh) : Effie ( Mrs. Jacob Swingle) ; Betsey ( Mrs. Edward Boyle ) ; and Polly, who married Samuel Chumard.

Moses Shaffer, the grandfather of our subject, was, in his day, one of the leading citizens of South Canaan township, and like all the members of this family he was always ready to furnish the best in- terests of the community. He married Mary Swingle, who belonged to another pioneer family of the same locality, and they had the following chil- dren: (1) Jacob, who married Susan Enslin ( both are deceased) ; (2) Susan, who married ( first ) Ja- cob Swingle, and ( second) Moses Springer, all now deceased ; (3) Sarah, who married John Cobb ( both are deccased) ; (4) Samuel, who married ( first ) Re- becca Jaggers, deceased. and ( second ) Mary .A. Curtis ; (5) Charles, the father of our subject : (6) Fannie, ceccased wife of Aaron Curtis, a retired resident of South Canaan township ; (7) Permilla, who married Adam Wagner, of Waymart; (8) John, who mar- ried Mary A. Hoosier ( both are now deceased) : (9) Catherine, who married James Glenn ( both are now deceased ) ; ( 10) Mary, now the widow of Abra-

ham Jaggers, of South Canaan township; ( 11) Syl- vester, who married Hannah Swingle, and resides in Lake township, Wayne county; and (12) Hannah J., wife of Rev. George Washington Swingle, of South Canaan township.

Charles Shaffer, the father of our subject, was born in South Canaan township, and in early man- hood engaged in business there as a miller and farmer. He died March 6, 1841, at the age of twenty-eight, his death cutting short a promising career. His wife, whose maiden name was Alice Bennett, died April 9, 1841, aged twenty-two, and the remains of both were interred in the cemetery in South Canaan township. She was a daughter of Francis and Esther (Daniels) Bennett, and lier father, who was born in Connecticut, settled in Paupack, Wayne county, in the early days. Her paternal grandparents, Lemuel and Anna (Chap- man) Daniels, were also natives of Connecticut, and her grandfather, who was born in 1786, of English ancestry, was brought to Wayne county by his par- ents in pioneer times. Our subject was the youngest of three children, the others being: Dorinda, born May 17, 1836, died July 19, 1852; and Elijah, born December 12, 1839, resides at Dunmore, Penn., and is employed as a car inspector.

Charles C. Shaffer was born April 9, 1841, in South Canaan township. At his mother's death she gave him and the other children to different rela- tives: Dorinda to her parents; Elijah to her de- ceased husband's parents; and our subject to his Aunt Fannie, wife of Aaron Curtis, of Cherry Ridge township, Wayne county, who gave him the kind- ness and care of a mother. His time during boy- hood was mainly devoted to work upon the farm, his educational opportunities being restricted to a somewhat irregular attendance at the local schools. His active and eager mind was not satisfied with these privileges, and he determined to try to earn money for a course in a higher school by working in the woods at peeling bark when he could find time from his tasks on the farm. By this means he se- cured, in 1860, funds for one term in the Honesdale Normal School, then conducted by Prof. Briggs. As he was residing near the present site of Clemo. and had to walk five miles to Honesdale, there were still many difficulties to overcome, and at times, owing to bad weather, he was unable to attend at all. He made good use of his time, however, at the end of the term obtaining a teacher's certificate, and he took charge of a school in South Canaan township. After three terms as a teacher, lie, in February, 1864. entered the Quartermaster's department of the En- gineer Brigade, under Brig .- Gen. Rufus Ingalls, and served until discharged in March, 1865. In June, 1865, he rented a building at Varden from Butler Swan, putting in a planing-mill plant, and began the manufacture of lumber, his capital at the time amounting to about $500. During the following winter. finding that Mr. Swan desired to sell, he borrowed $1,350, and purchased the plant. Ile has ever since carried on business there with a con-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

stantly growing trade, and has made extensive im- provements in the property. Mr. Shaffer is pleasing in manner and interesting in conversation, and he is not only prominent in business circles, but he is mueli esteemed socially. He is a member of the Method- ist Church at South Canaan ; in politics he is a Re- publican, but he does not aim at official honors.

On October 17, 1865, he was married at Haw- ley, Wayne county, by Rev. C. V. Arnold, a Method- ist minister, to Miss Henrietta C. Lamberton, and the following children have blessed the union: Alice M., born July 17, 1867, died February 27, 1871; Caroline, born February 27, 1869, is a trained nurse ; Frances G., born September 29, 1872, is a teacher ; and Elizabeth E., born August 14, 1883, is at home. Mrs. Shaffer was born March 25, 1846, at Hudson, N. Y., a daughter of Reuben and Maria ( Van Housen) Lamberton.

ALEXANDER S. GOULD (deceased) was one of the foremost citizens of Monroe county. His father was a man of large business affairs, and Alexander inherited and conducted a portion of these vested interests. He married a young lady who represented one of the oldest and best known families of the county, and about whose ancestral residence, which she now occupies, there clusters a rich and extended historical seene. Perhaps no edifice in the county was better known than the old mansion of Judge Merwine, the father-in-law of our subject. It is shadowed beneath the memories of a century, and is now a land mark of more than pass- ing interest.

Alexander S. Gould was born at Hiekory Run, Carbon Co., Penn., July 29, 1839, a son of Ste- plien and Temperance (Sax) Gould. Stephen Gould was born on the plain above the city of Wilkes Barre; his wife was born at Tuckers, Lu- zerne county. Stephen, who was a son of Isaac and Sarah ( Worden) Gould, became the owner of a large lumber tract of land at Buena Vista and llickory Run, and one of the most extensive lum- berman and wealthy residents of that region. Dur- ing the latter years of his life he gradually shifted to the shoulders of his two sons the responsibili- ties of the business, and with wisdom lived a re- tired life at Allentown. The family of Stephen an.1 Temperance Gould consisted of the following children : Eliza, who married Hiram, Mellick, and is now deceased; Julia. wife of Samuel Christ, a lumberman of Loek Haven, Penn .: B. Franklin, a retired lumberman and broker of Philadelphia. Penn .: Anna, wife of D. H. Neiman, retired, of Easton. Penn. : Alexander S .. subject of this sketch ; Ellen, who first married Andrew Bryan, and for her second husband wedded Jolin Lemoine : Sadie, who married Francis Troxwell, and is now deceased : Emma, living in affluence at Williams- port, Penn. ; and Alice, who married Hiram Mel- lick, and is now deceased.

The youth of Alexander S. Goukl was spent among the thriving business interests of his father

at Hickory Run, and the responsibility of operat- ing the extensive sawmills soon became his and his brother Franklin's. Mr. Gould was married in November, 1865, at Easton, Penn., to Miss Emma V. Merwine, who was born in that stately old man- sion which she now occupies, and who is a daughter of Hon. John and Lydia (Shick) Merwine. Her great-grandfather was one of the first settlers of Monroe county, coming with his two brothers, and purchasing a large traet of land in what is now Monroe county, but was then incorporated within the limits of Northampton county. He built the first house on the property, and remained there through life. His son, Peter Merwine, was born in the present home of his granddaughter, Mrs. Gould, and married Susannah Denton, a native of Schoharie county, N. Y. Both died on Pocono Mt., Monroe county.

In the ancestral home, John Merwine, son of Peter Merwine, was born in 1806. Here he grew to manhood and here he became one of the most prominent men in this part of Pennsylvania. He became an associate judge of Monroe county, and .was widely known as a brilliant and able judge, and as one of the best educated men in the county. His education was largely self acquired, and was of a practical character. For a full half century Judge Merwine conducted a hotel at the old home- stead, and travelers distinguished and obseure, who a half century ago journeyed westward through the country, learned of the famous hostelry and en- joyed its hospitality. . Judge Merwine was also postmaster for many years. In politics he was a Democrat. He remained in the historic mansion until his death in 1882, when he was eighty-two years old. He had married Miss Lydia Shick, who survived him nine years, dying in 1893 at the age of eighty-seven years. The children of John and Lydia Merwine were as follows : Lucinda, who married Stephen Danner, and is now deceased ; Franklin, a resident of Florida ; Sylvester, of Phila- delphia ; Sophia, who died unmarried: Anna D .. who married Dr. George Seip, and is now deceased : Oliver, who lives a retired life in Chestnut Hill township; and Emma V .. widow of our subject.

To Alexander S. and Emma V. Gould have been born the following children: Cyrus H., at home : Walter M., who married Carrie Kresge, and resides on the old homestead : Claude C .. in Phila- delphia : and Minnie M., Gladius and Helen B .. deceased.

L'util 1876 Mr. Gould continued to conduct his extensive lumbering interests at Iliekory Run. Carbon county. He then removed to the home where his widow and three sons now reside, and liere lic was engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1887, or two years prior to his death. His last two vears he spent in ease and retirement from active life. Mr. Gould was a man of great force of char- acter. For ten years he had been the justice of the peace in Carbon county ; was a prominent member of the Reformed Church, in politics was a Republic-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

an, and fraternally a member of the F. & A. M. and of the Temple of Honor. He died August 24, 1889.

Scores of city residents, who during the sum- mer months seek rest and recuperation in the quiet and beauty of rural life, have been attract- ed to the historic old homestead of Mrs. Gould. The mansion contains twenty-two rooms, and here for seven years past, or since Mrs. Gould has opened its portals to the sojourners of summer, gaiety and wealth have held sway, and sportsmen have fished for the trout that abound in Acquash- ickla creek meandering through the farm. It is a hallowed sylvan retreat rich in its memories of the past, and also rich in its opportunities for present and prospective enjoyment.

WILLIS W. HOPKINS, who is now success- fully engaged in both milling and farming in Clinton township, Wayne county, has led a life of honest toil. Throughout his career of continued and far- reaching usefulness his duties have been performed with the greatest care, and business interests have been so managed as to win him the confidence of the public and the prosperity which should always at- tend honorable effort.

George Hopkins, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was a native of Connecticut, where he mar- ried Catherine Bunting, afterward moving to Wayne county, Penn., and locating on a farm near Promp- ton, in Clinton township. There Simon Hopkins, our subject's father, was born, March 1, 1830, and on reaching manhood he married, in September, 1851, Miss Adeline Faatz, Rev. Kellow officiating. She was a daughter of Christian and Matilda (Brink) Faatz, the former a native of Germany, the latter of Wayne- county, and was born in Dyberry township, Wayne county, July 6, 1836, one of a family of nine children, the others being Jacob, now a resident of Wood county, Ohio; Lucinda, who is married and living in the West; Betsy, widow of Sumner Isham; Charles, a resident of Bethany, Penn .; Mary (deceased) ; George, a farmer living near Honesdale, in Wayne county; Andrew, of South Canaan, the same county ; and Edward, of Honesdale. To Simon and Adeline ( Faatz) Hop- kins were born three children : Willis W. ; David F .; and Ida. who died at the age of two years.

Willis W. Hopkins was born in Clinton town- ship. January 26, 1854, and grew to manhood upon the home farm. Having little time to attend school. his education has been acquired mainly by night study, for he was but fifteen years of age when his father died, and the responsibility of carrying on the farm was thrown upon his young shoulders. After operating it for six years he purchased a por- tion of the old homestead, and started out in life for himself. In 1885 he bought a gristmill at Alden- ville, Wayne county, which he has since successfully conducted, doing both custom and merchant busi- ness. From time to time, as his financial resources would permit, he has added other tracts of land to

his original farm until he now has 200 acres of well- improved and valuable land, on which he erected a comfortable and commodious residence in 1881. Upon the farm are found the finest grades of stock, including twenty head of Ayrshire cattle and a large herd of Chester White hogs, besides liorses and sheep, and he gives considerable attention to the rais- ing of poultry. He also has some fine flagstone quar- ries on the farm, and has large interests in gold mines in Colorado.

In Waymart, Wayne county, April 6, 1875, Mr. Hopkins married Miss Martha J. Andrew, a daugh- ter of George and Sarah (Williams) Andrew, Rev. George C. Hart performing the ceremony. They have one daughter, Ella M., born January 2, 1876. Mr. Hopkins does all in his power to insure the suc- cess of the Republican party, which he always sup- ports by his ballot, but he has never cared for polit- ical honors, though he has served in the office of as- sessor. Fraternally he is a member of Clinton Grange. He takes a deep interest in everything per- taining to the public welfare of his community, and withholds his support from no enterprise calculated to prove of public benefit.

VERDINE E. O'DELL is an industrious, en- terprising farmer, successfully engaged in his chos- en profession upon the old homestead in Mt. Pleas- ant township, Wayne county, where the greater part of his life has been passed.

Mr. O'Dell was born in Sullivan county, N. Y., in March, 1839, and his parents, Fields and Mary ( Hanyan) O'Dell, were natives of the same county, the former born in 1814, the latter in 1822. There they were married and continued to reside until March, 1844, when they located in Mt. Pleasant township, Wayne Co., Penn., upon a tract of 100 acres of land on the Belmont turnpike. three miles northwest of White's Valley. The fa- ther purchased this property, cleared a large por- tion of the land, erected a barn, and made many other improvements upon the place. Later he sold it and bought another farm, on the Lackawaxen turnpike, which he also improved with good and substantial buildings, making his home there throughout the remainder of his life. His wife died in 1874, and he passed away in 1886. at the age of seventy two years. In their family of six children ( I) Verdine E. is the eldest. (2) Benjamin F .. born in Sullivan county. N. Y .. in 1840, was educated in the public schools of Wayne county, Penn .. and reared to manhood upon the old homestead, where he still resides. He has never married. (3) Abi- gail H., born in Sullivan county, N. Y., in 1843, is the widow of Cornelius Bates, of Wayne county. and still resides on the home left her in Mt. Pleas- ant. (4) Mary M., born in Mt. Pleasant township. in 1845, married Benjamin Tingley, of Susque- hanna county, where she died. Their only child. Benny. died at the age of four years. (5) William. born in Wayne county, in 1850, is unmarried. and resides in Mt. Pleasant. (6) George, born in Wayne

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

815

county, in 1865, married Della Davis, of New York State, and they reside on his father's old homestead in Clinton township.

The common schools of Wayne county afford- ed our subject his educational privileges, and his business training was obtained upon the home farm. In the fall of 1862 he joined the Union army as a member of Company M, 17th Pennsylvania Cav- alry, under Gen. Pleasanton, his regiment being assigned to the Army of the Potomac. At Harris- burg they were mustered in, and were then ordered to Falmouth, Va., where they did picket duty until the spring of 1863. Then followed the battle of Chancellorsville, which lasted five days, and the losses on both sides were very heavy. Company M opened the battle at that place by firing the first shot, and when the engagement was over they returned to their old camp across the Rappahannock. Their next battle was a cavalry engagement with Stewart at Aldee and Upperville, where the Union side came off victorious. This was followed by a hard day's fight at Beverly Ford, and then came the battle of Gettysburg, where the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry suffered a heavy loss. Mr. O'Dell's horse was shot from under him at the battle of Beverly Ford. He was taken prisoner the first day of the battle at Gettysburg, and when released, at the end of three days, was sent to the hospital at West Philadelphia. From there he was ordered to Camp Stoneman, where he was discharged on ac- count of disability, and he returned to his home in Wayne county.

In 1865 Mr. O'Dell married Miss Helen Hau- ser, of Wayne county, who was born in 1841, and is a daughter of Abram and Harriet Hauser, hon- ored early settlers of the county. They began their .domestic life upon the old O'Dell homestead, which our subject rented for a few years, but in 1886 he bought the old Hauser homestead, which he has since greatly improved, and is still successfully operat- ing. Four children came to brighten the house- hold: (1) Charley G., born in Wayne county, in June, 1868, received a common-school education, and now resides in Mt. Pleasant. He married Bertha Stark, of Wayne county, and has four chil- dren. Susie, Helen, Elsworth and Howard. (2) Frank B., born in Wayne county, in December, 18;0, is unmarried, and resides in Forest City, Penn. (3) George W., born in November, 1872, is still at home. (4) IIattie M., born in October, 1877, began her education in the home school, but later attended Mt. Pleasant Academy, and the high school of Forest City. She is also with her parents.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 2, Part 86

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1098

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1098