USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Families of the Wyoming Valley: biographical, genealogical and historical. Sketches of the bench and bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, vol. I > Part 28
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" Voluntown, March 30 day, A. D. 1768.
"Then received of Robert Jameson, of Voluntown, in Wind- ham county, as he is one of the company of the purchasers of the Susquehanna Lands so called, the sum of nine shillings lawful money, in full complyance of the voat of said company at their meeting held at Windham by adjournment on the sixth day of January last, for one whole right or share in s'd purchase. I say rec'd by me.
" ROBERT DIXON, " One of the com'tee for s'd company.".
Nathan F. Dixon, United States senator from Rhode Island from 1839 to 1842, was a descendant of the same family. In the fall of 1776, Robert Jameson and his wife, Agnes, with all their sons and daughters (except John, who had preceded them) bade farewell to their old home in Voluntown, and set out for Wyom- ing, on the Susquehanna. They brought with them a few articles of household furniture and an agricultural implement or two, which they conveyed in a large cart drawn by three yoke of oxen. The sons walked alongside driving the oxen and helping the cart over new and badly opened roads. The daughters,
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clothed in homespun, traveled afoot and drove thirty head of sheep. The journey was performed in about three tedious weeks. John, who had gone before to prepare a home, met them at Lackawaxen, and conducted them to .their homely dwelling in Hanover township. Mr. Jameson, before leaving Connecticut, obtained the following passport :
" Windhain, November 4, 1776.
" The bearer hereof, Mr. Robert Jameson, has been for many years an inhabitant in the town of Voluntown, in the county of Windham, and state of Connecticut, and is now on his journey, with his wife and family and family furniture, to remove to the town of Hanover, on the Susquehanna river, and is a friend to the United States of America, and has a right to remove himself and family as above. " SAM'L GRAY,
"Justice of the Peace and one of the committee of s'd Windham."
Robert Jameson lived nine or ten years after his removal to Hanover, where he died in the seventy-second year of his age of consumption, and was buried in the graveyard of the old Han- over Presbyterian church. His wife, Agnes, died in Salem township in the seventy-eighth year of her age of fever, and lies buried in the old Salem graveyard.
John Jameson, son of Robert Jameson, preceded his father to Wyoming, where he arrived in 1773. He located himself on a tract of land in Hanover township, on the public road leading. from Wilkes-Barre to Nanticoke, where he cleared several acres, and enclosed a comfortable log house containing two rooms and a half-story loft accessible by means of a ladder. The fire place was constructed without jams on the Dutch plan. The windows were of small size, with six panes or lights, and as a substitute for glass oiled paper was used. The structure compared favor- ably with the dwelling places of neighboring settlers, and indeed, as the logs were hewn, the edifice was considered superior to anything in the neighborhood. It was to this place he welcomed his father's family in 1776. The same year he married Abagail Alden, who came to Wyoming with her father in 1773. Early in the spring of 1776, before the family of his father arrived in Wyoming, he enlisted in a company under Captain Strong, and
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was elected lieutenant. The company was united with the Con- necticut troops, and marched to New Jersey to unite with the army under Washington. He was also present in Plunkett's battle in December, 1775, at or near the Nanticoke dam. On the morning of July 3, 1778, he, in company with his brothers, William and Robert Jameson, and a man named Coffrin, who worked for him, left home with their rifles and joined the devoted band who encountered the invading English tories and Indians in the celebrated battle or massacre of Wyoming. Robert
Jameson and James Coffrin were killed in the battle. William had the lock of his gun shot away, and was wounded. John Jameson escaped barely with his life. Hastening to his home, he found his aged father and mother, with his wife and sisters and younger brothers, anxiously awaiting news of the battle. " What news, John?" inquired the father. " We are defeated," was the reply; " Robert and Coffrin are dead, and William is wounded ; the Indians are sweeping over the valley spreading fire and death in every direction, and we must fly for our safety." The Jamesons, Aldens, Hurlbuts, and other families set out at once for old Hanover, in Lancaster county. The old men, women, and children were placed in boats, and sent down the Susquehanna river. John Jameson, with his brothers, Alexander and Joseph, and his mother, who carried her son Samuel in her arms, performed the journey on foot to Fort Augusta, now Sun- bury, Pa. They undertook to drive the cattle before them, but owing to their haste, and to the thick underwood and the almost unpassable roads or paths, they lost almost all of them. One yoke of oxen strayed into Northampton county, but were after- wards recovered. As soon as the families were safely landed in old Hanover, John Jameson returned to look after the farm and household goods. He occasionally visited Lancaster county, but the families did not come back to their homes in Wyoming until 1780. On July 8, 1782, Mr. Jameson, with his youngest brother, Benjamin, and a neighbor, Asa Chapman, started from his home in Hanover for Wilkes-Barre. Riding on horseback on the public road, and approaching the open ground of the old church at Hanover green, John Jameson observed Indians in the thickets on his right. He exclaimed " Indians," and immediately
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fell dead, pierced by three balls. His horse fled and left his rider on the ground, where he was afterwards found, scalped, toma- hawked, and murdered. Chapman and horse were both wounded, but escaped. Mr. Chapman died a few days after. Benjamin Jameson's horse wheeled at the first fire, and carried him home in safety. They were the last men killed in Wyoming by In- dians. Thus died John Jameson in the thirty-third year of his age. He possessed perseverance and great powers of endurance, and was in every respect a thorough-going pioneer. He was buried in the graveyard of the Hanover church near the spot where he was killed. We have already stated that the wife of John Jameson was Abagail Alden. She was descended from John Alden, the first of the American families of that name, and who was one of the pilgrims, who landed at Plymouth, Mass., in the year 1620. He was at that time about twenty-two years of age, consequently was born in 1598. He married Priscilla Mullins, or Molines, in 1623. The circumstances of his courtship and marriage are as follows: Captain Miles Standish had lost his wife, and very soon after her death he conceived a tender regard for Priscilla Mullins, or Molines, daughter of William Mullins, or Molines, who was also a passenger with John Alden in the Mayflower. He made known his desire to make Priscilla his wife to her father through John Alden, his messenger. The father made no objection, but saw his daughter must be consulted. Priscilla was called in. Alden was a man of noble form, of fair and somewhat florid complexion and engaging manners. He arose and gracefully stated to the maiden the wishes of Captain Standish. After a pause, she turned her frank and pleasant countenance on the messenger and said : " Prithee John, why do you not speak for yourself?" John blushed, and took the hint, bade farewell for the present, and communicated the result to the captain. He afterwards visited on his own account, and their nuptials were solemnized with due form. When Alden visited Cape Cod for the purpose of marrying Priscilla, as there were no horses in the colony, he went mounted on the back of a bull, which was covered with a piece of handsome broadcloth. After the ceremony was performed, John lifted Priscilla to his seat on the bull, and led her home on the ungainly animal by a rope
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fastened to a ring in his nose. Captain Jonathan Alden, son of Hon. John Alden, settled in Duxbury, Mass., on the ancient homestead. He married Abagail Hallet, daughter of Andrew Hallet, also of Duxbury, December 10, 1672. His wife died August :7, 1725. aged eighty-one years. Captain Jonathan Alden died February 17, 1697, and was buried under arins, and a funeral discourse was delivered by the Rev. Ichabod Wiswell, which was printed.
Andrew Alden, son of Captain Jonathan Alden and his wife, Abagail, married Lydia Stamford February 4, 1714.
Prince Alden, son of Andrew Alden and Lydia, his wife, married Mary Fitch, of New London, Conn. The first settle- ment in Newport township was made by Major Prince Alden in 1772 near the borough of Nanticoke. Their daughter Abagail married John Jameson. John Adams, president of the United States, and John Quincy Adams, also president, were lineally descended from Hon. John Alden in the fifth and sixth genera- tions respectively. After the death of John Jameson, Mrs. Jameson managed her affairs with prudence and economy, and afterwards took Shubal Bidlack as a second husband. He was a grandson of Christopher Bidlack, who settled in Windham, Conn., in 1722, where he died. His son, Captain James Bidlack, married Abagail Fuller, and came with his family to the Wyom- ing valley in 1777 from Windhamn. Captain James Bidlack, one of his sons, commanded one of the Wilkes-Barre companies at the battle and massacre of Wyoming, and there lost his life.
Benjamin Bidlack, a brother of James, was a famous soldier in the Revolutionary war, and afterwards a noted Methodist minis- ter of the old school. He was the father of Benjamin Alden Bidlack, who represented the county of Luzerne in the legislature of Pennsylvania in 1834 and 1835. He was elected a member of congress as a representative of Luzerne and Columbia counties in 1840, and re-elected in 1842. He was appointed by President Polk minister to the republic of New Granada, where he died. His widow, who subsequently married Thomas WV. Miner, M. D., is still living. Shubal Bidlack was the third son of Captain James Bidlack, sen. On one occasion during the Pennamite and Yankee war, Mrs. Bidlack left Wyoming for Easton, where her
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father, Major Prince Alden, with upwards of twenty other Con- necticut settlers, were confined in jail. She took a number of letters intended for the prisoners, which were carefully folded and concealed in her roll (the hair in those days being carefully done up in a roll) on the top of her head. As she passed along the Indian path at night, she was discovered and arrested near Bear Creek by Colonel Patterson, the Pennamite commander. The letters in her roll escaped the suspicious Pennamite, and she was permitted to pass without further molestation. She arrived safely in Easton, and communicated the state of affairs at home to her father and other prisoners. She was a member of the first Methodist class formed in Hanover, and the house of the Widow Jameson was a home for the early Methodist minis- ters. William Jameson, a brother of John, who was wounded at the battle of Wyoming, was murdered by the Indians in the lower part of the present city of Wilkes-Barre October 14, 1778, and was buried in the old Hanover graveyard. The mother of Andrew Hunlock was Maria Royal, daughter of the late George Royal, of Germantown, Pa. The Royal family is of English descent, and emigrated from New England to Philadelphia, where the grandparents of Mr. Hunlock resided for many years.
Mr. Hunlock was educated at Wyoming seminary. He read law with Lyman Hakes, and was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county November 10, 1868. He has never held any political office, but has been a trustee of the Memorial Presbyterian church of this city from its organization to the present time. , For a number of years he was president of the Anthracite Sav- ings Bank of Wilkes-Barre. He is unmarried.
Mr. Hunlock inherited a competence to which he has since, by prudent investments. added very largely. His possessions include a considerable landed estate, and the management of it consumes much of his time, both as owner and attorney. This interest has given him a familiarity with local land titles, and the general subject of real estate law, which makes him a recognized authority therein. While he husbands his wealth, and omits no fair opportunity for adding to it, Mr. Hunlock is a liberal dis- penser to the needy. He has given to every charitable institution in this vicinity, and the deserving never go away from him
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empty-handed. These beneficences are accomplished without any ostentation whatever. He doubtless recalls the stories of the hardships his ancestry were compelled to undergo in their battles for a livelihood, and is impelled thereby to a sympathizing view of the struggles of those in this generation who have had none of previous generations to give them a start in life.
Mr. Hunlock, although not a member of any church, is a presbyterian in religious belief.
In his general demeanor, he is one of the quietest and most unobtrusive of men, but beneath his placid exterior sleeps a lion which, when awakened to fight in a righteous cause, fights as lions should. Those who infer, from his general avoidance of controversy of any kind, that there is nothing of the antagonist in him, realize that their error has been a serious one when they do provoke him to the attitude of an adversary, either in the practice of the law or out of it.
Mr. Hunlock has numerous and varied business interests in ·Wilkes-Barre, is a cultured gentleman, and a friend it pays to keep.
DAVID MORGAN JONES.
David Morgan Jones was born in the city of New York September 2, 1843, and was prepared for college at the Scranton high school. He entered Lewisburg university, from which he graduated in 1867, and received his degree of A. M. in 1870. He was the poet of his class, and in 1870 was the poet of the Alumni society, and in 1880 delivered the address before the Literary societies of the university, his subject being William Lloyd Garrison. Mr. Jones read law with J. Merrill Linn at Lewisburg, and was admitted to the bar of Union county in August, 1868. He then removed to Luzerne county, where he was admitted a member of the bar February 27, 1869. He was professor of languages in the West Pittston seminary during a portion of the years 1868-69. During the year 1870 he was deputy treasurer of Luzerne county under G. M. Miller, treasurer,
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and in 1871 he was deputy clerk of the courts under George P Richards, clerk. In 1870 he was a candidate for nomination for that office in the republican convention, but was defeated by Mr. Richards by one vote only. Mr. Jones has been in the continu- ous practice of his profession in Wilkes-Barre since his admission to the bar with the exception of about six months, when he practiced in the borough of Pittston. He is a ready writer and a poet of no mean merit. In 1882 a volume of his poems, en - titled "Lethe and other Poems," was issued from the press of J. B. Lippincott, of Philadelphia. A poem recently written by him on Blaine, entitled " The Next President," has been inserted . in the columns of the Philadelphia Press, the New York Tribune, Chicago Herald, the Cincinatti Commercial Gasette, and other metropolitan papers.
The father of the subject of our sketch is Rev. Theophilus Jones, a Baptist minister residing in this city. He was a convert of Christmas Evans, a noted Welsh divine, and was a member of his congregation when ordained to the ministry. He was one of seventeen children, and is the son of Thomas Jones, who was a well-to-do and prosperous farmer and master weaver. Rev. Mr. Jones is a native of Caerfili, Wales, where he was born in 1810, and emigrated to America in March, 1843, settling in New York city, where he had his first charge. Mr. Jones has been in the ministry for upwards of fifty years, and has preached in English and Welsh in many of the principal churches of his countrymen since his residence in America. He is also a fluent speaker in the English language, and has flled appointments in various English churches. He studied for the ministry in the Abergava- ney Baptist college, in Wales. The mother of D. M. Jones is Mary Ann, daughter of David Morgan, who was a native of Liandilo, Caermarthanshire, Wales. Mr. Morgan was one of the gentry of Wales, and carried on an extensive tannery in con- nection with his landed estates. His oldest son and the brother of Mrs. Jones is Sir David Lloyd Morgan, who was knighted for eminent services in the English service, and was latterly inspector surgeon-general in charge of the Plymouth (England) hospital.
D. M. Jones married November 28, 1867, Sarah Jane, daughter of James L. Williams, of the city of Scranton, Pa. They have
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two children, Emily Gertrude Jones, and Theophilus Ralph Jones. Mr. Jones is a republican in politics, and has done effective work for his party in the press and as a speaker.
He is a lawyer of good parts, and has figured in not a few important causes, being a favorite adviser and advocate with those of the nationality of his parents, who are numerous in this and adjoining counties. He is of unassuming manners, and, though not an orator, is an earnest and effective pleader before a jury, as on the stump.
It is by reason of his numerous poetical efforts, however, that he is best known. Coming from a nation whose every genera- tion is rich in song writers and song renderers, many of whom . have reached the highest rungs of the ladder of distinction, Mr. Jones came naturally by his poetical inclinations, which he has assiduously cultivated, and which, as above related, have found expression in numerous productions that have been widely cir- culated and favorably criticised by the best judges.
ELLIOTT PARDEE KISNER.
Elliott Pardee Kisner was born at Hazleton, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1845, where he still resides. He has a law office in that place as well as in this city. His great grandfather, John Kisner, who died near Berwick October 4, 1804, was without doubt froni Germany. His grandfather, Jacob Kisner, was a native of Northampton county (born 1772). He removed at an early day to Salem township, in this county, where he married Margaret, daughter of Sebastian Seybert, sen. Under Mr. Seybert's will, proved in 1810, Mrs. Kisner was devised "one hundred and fifty acres of land in Shickshinny valley," in the township of Salem. William Kisner, the father of the subject of our sketch, is a native of Salem township, where he was born January 1I, 1809. He was one of the pioneers of the borough of Hazleton, and settled there over fifty years ago. He was one of the earliest employees of Ario Pardee, who was one of
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the pioneers in the coal business in that region, and had charge of his store, and as purchasing agent. At times it became necessary for Mr. Kisner to guarantee the purchases he made from the Salem and Huntington farmers for Mr. Pardee, as they considered him worth much more money than his employer Since that time Mr. Pardee has become one of our millionaires. Mr. Kisner has been one of the active business men of the borough of Hazleton as merchant and banker. He was a justice of the peace for fifteen years, his first election occurring in 1843, and as such married quite a number of the early settlers of that region. It was before the day of. settled ministers, and the Methodist itinerant made the circuit only once in about six
weeks. He is at present president of the Hazleton Savings Bank. As a citizen, Mr. Kisner has filled all, or nearly all, the borough offices, such as councilman, school director, etc. He has been a life-long member of the Presbyterian church ; and in politics is a democrat, and during the lifetime of the late Hen- drick B. Wright was an active worker with him. The mother of the subject of our sketch is Ann, daughter of Sebastian Seybert, jun., and is a native of Salem township. Sebastian Sibert, sen. (now spelled Seybert), settled about 1780 in Salem township, near the mouth of Seybert's creek, about a mile west of Beach Haven. Here he built a grist mill, saw mill, fulling mill, and a distillery. The grist mill was of logs, had but one run of stones, and could grind only from four to six bushels of grain a day. The saw mill was of the old "flutter wheel " style, and would . cut about one thousand feet of lumber in twenty-four hours. The fulling mill was of the most primitive kind; and the dis- tillery was the best that could be built at that day. Mr. Seybert was one of a family of several brothers, who removed to Salem shortly after the Revolutionary war. Both he and his son, Sebastian, were natives of Northampton county, Pa. He was one of the wealthy men of his day, and at the time of his death, in 1810, was the owner of seven hundred acres of the best land in Salem township. His son, Sebastian Seybert, jun., succeeded him in the milling business, and added a store and blacksmith shop to the other industries named. On March 17, 1824, he was commissioned by Governor Shulze a justice of the peace for the
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townships of Huntington, Salem, and Union. The appointment was during good behavior, or, in other words, for life. It is to be regretted that the law was ever changed, for in those days only worthy and intelligent men were chosen. In 1833 he was elected one of the county commissioners of Luzerne county for three years.
E. P. Kisner was prepared for college at Franklin, Delaware county, N. Y. He then entered Hamilton college, Clinton, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1867. Charles E. Rice, president judge of Luzerne county, was a classmate of Mr. Kisner. He entered the law school of Columbia college, N. Y., in the fall of the same year, and from thence to the law school of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1869 as LL. B. His legal preceptor in Luzerne county was Edmund L. Dana, and he was admitted to the bar of the same August 16, 1869. Mr. Kisner's continuous studies caused his eyesight to fail, and for two or three years after his admission he did very little busi- ness. In 1871 he was a candidate for member of the legislature of Pennsylvania, but was defeated. In 1872 he was again a candidate for the legislature, and was elected, leading his ticket. Ifis seat was contested, but Mr. Kisner sat in the legislature of 1873 during the session, with the exception of five days, when he was ousted, both he and his contestant receiving full pay for the session. In 188f and 1882 he was secretary of the State Central Democratic committee. He has held no other political office. For the past ten years he has been a director of the Hazle- ton Savings Bank, and is at present vice-president of the same.
The so-called Pennsylvania Dutch stock from which Mr. Kisner hails is one that has yielded many of Pennsylvania's most distinguished men. In the learned professions, in mechanics, and in political life, many of its scions have left enduring marks. For a number of years, Pennsylvania's governors were all from this source, and none whose lot it has been to preside over the destinies of this great commonwealth have shed greater lustre upon themselves or it. This origin is distinguishable in Mr. Kisner's general appearance, as also in his disposition and temperament. His legal education, as above noted, was very thorough, and, in connection with studious habits and close application since, has
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ISAAC PLATT HAND.
made him an excellent adviser. One of the most distinguished of his fellow practitioners, who has been associated with him in a number of important cases, says " he brings to his practice great energy and a clever comprehension of the essential facts in a suit, as also an admirable capacity for outlining methods of prosecution." He has an extensive, important, and lucrative practice, much of which is in the Orphans' Court, where large interests are nearly always involved, and there is, as a rule, the greatest necessity for careful preparation and continuous, indus- trious application to the interests of clients.
We have mentioned the fact of his having been secretary of the state committee of the democrats in the campaigns of 1881 and 1882. In this position he was a tireless and yet prudent worker, fertile of resource and fearless in execution. The chair- man of the committee, W. U. Hensel, Esq., of the Lancaster bar, bears lavish tribute to the excellence of Mr. Kisner's service in that capacity. Mr. Kisner has frequently been a delegate to local and state conventions, and member of local committees of his party, and always, when acting in such capacity, has taken a leading part, contributing by his wise counsel and indomitable perseverance largely to the attainment of the object sought.
He is well up in general literature, keeps thoroughly conver- sant with the news of the day, drives and likes good horses, has a comfortable competence, is a cheerful companion, and, in all respects, a good citizen.
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