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 34
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BENJAMIN FORD DORRANCE.
The mother of Mrs. Dorrance was Frances Cruger Strong. She was the daughter of General Daniel Cruger, a distinguished and prominent citizen of Steuben county, New York. The an- cestors of Mr. Cruger were Huguenots, who, at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, escaped from France. A portion of them reached England in safety, while others fled to Germany and found a home at Altonia, in the duchy of Holstein; and others fled to Denmark. That branch of the family from which Mr. Cruger descended settled in Holstein. His father emigrated to America in 1768 and settled in Sunbury, Pa., where, on Decem- ber 22, 1780, Daniel was born. Soon after the birth of his son the elder Cruger removed to Newtown (now Elmira), N. Y., and engaged in mercantile business. When a young man young Cruger went to Albany, N. Y., and learnt the art of printing. After his apprenticeship was out he settled at Owego, N. Y. and established the Owego Democrat, which was the first journal ever published in that part of the state. He edited and published this paper until 1804, when he parted with his interest in the concern. His father having previously settled at Bath, N. Y., young Cruger now made that village his home. For a time he pursued his occupation there, but the business proving injurious to his health he renounced it and entered the office of General S. S. Haight as a student at law, with whom he continued until admitted to the bar, when he became a partner of the general. His ability as a lawyer soon exhibited itself, and he became, within a few years after the commencement of his practice, one of the leading lawyers at the Steuben county bar. He continued to practice with increasing success until the year 1812, when the war with England broke out. General Cruger enlisted and ac- cepted a position on the staff of General McClure, with the rank of major, and occupicd a prominent position in the field during the war. He was a member of the legislature of the state of New York during the years 1813, 1814, and 1815, and during the last named year he was elected speaker of the assembly over Jacob R. Van Rensselaer, the federal candidate. In 1816 he was elected to congress from what was then the Twentieth congressional dis- trict, and .during his term he served with credit as a member of the judiciary committee, and made several speeches on the floor
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BENJAMIN FORD DORRANCE.
of the house which won for him the respect and consideration of his fellow members. He was also district attorney for the Seventh district of the state of New York, consisting of the counties of Steuben, Allegany, and Tioga. About the year 1828 General Cruger removed to Syracuse, and in 1833 he re- moved to Wheeling. W. Va. Early in June, 1843, while attend- ing a meeting of the directors of the Wheeling bank, he was stricken down with apoplexy, dying within a few moments after the attack.
Mr. Dorrance, as will be seen, had the advantage of an excel- lent preliminary training, an education finished at one of our best universities, and a tutor in the mysteries of the law who has gone to the very forefront of his profession, and when admitted was fully equipped, therefore, for a successful career at the bar. Coming from such an ancestry he necessarily inherited, also, many of the qualities which fit men for a conquering career in almost any vocation. For a time after hanging out his shingle he sought clients and labored zealously and with much success to advance their causes. His eyesight early began to fail him, however, and not being dependant upon the profession for a live- lihood-possessing, in fact, like his father, a natural inclining to agriculture, he has of late years devoted his time principally to that pursuit, with results gratifying to his pride as well as helpful to his exchequer. The Dorrances farm on advanced scientific principles, giving, among other things, much attention to blooded stock. The subject of this sketch is already the possessor of a comfortable competence, and some day, in the ordinary course, will be a very rich man. It is pleasant to know, therefore, that he is one of the not too numerous class who are disposed and know how to utilize such gifts unselfishly, and with an eye, not only to their own good, but to the good of the communities in which they respectively abide. He is of generous instincts and companionable, one who is like to gather around him an abiding circle of deserved and warm friends. He lives comfortably but not ostentatiously, is fond of books and keeps himself posted upon current events, as to which his opinion is valuable as being that of a liberal-minded, clear-headed man of the world.
371
LEWIS WESLEY DE WITT.
LEWIS WESLEY DE WITT.
Lewis Wesley De Witt was born in the township of Exeter, Luzerne county, Pa., December 3, 1845. He is a descendant of John De Witt, who was born in Greenwich township, Warren (formerly Sussex) county, N. J., October 29, 1785. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and was one of the early settlers of the present township of Franklin, having removed there in 1817. Valentine De Witt, son of John De Witt and father of L. W. De Witt, was born in the present township of Franklin October 8, 1819. He is still living and is one of the most prominent and substantial citizens of his native township. The mother of L. W. De Witt was Ruhamah Lewis, daughter of the late Levi Chapman and Hannah (Shay) Lewis, of Exeter township. She was born April 5, 1826, and died January 27, 1848. L. W. De Witt was educated in the public schools of his native township and at Wyoming seminary. In his young manhood he taught school in the townships of Franklin, Kingston, and Exeter. In 1867 and 1868 he was principal of the high school at Hyde Park, now a portion of the city of Scranton, Pa. He read law with the firm of Harding & Palmer, of this city, and was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, December 17, 1870. Mr. De Witt married October 15, 1872, Harriet Frances Stephens, daughter of the late William P. Stephens, of Hyde Park, Pa. Mr. De Witt has been at the bar about fourteen years, and in that time has secured a large and increasing clientage. He is a safe counsellor and a zealous advocate. No lawyer ever defended the rights of his clients with more vigor and earnest- ness than Mr. De Witt.
GEORGE KELSEY POWELL.
The history of Pennsylvania is as yet unwritten. When the typical American of to-day, momentarily wearied with the chase after wealth, an establishment, horses, a footman, and all those
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things which represent his conception of prosperity and practical happiness, stops to inquire, if ever he does, concerning the men who founded his country, who they were, whence they came, and what were the causes which have influenced the develop- ment of its civilization, his thoughts invariably turn toward Massachusetts. Plymouth Rock looms up before him vast and imposing, but the Delaware flows by unheeded. He is famil- iar with the story of the Mayflower and her burden of strange folk destined to a barren shore ; it is impressed vividly upon his imagination; but of the Welcome, which sailed over the same sea, bearing a purer people to a better land, he has never heard a whisper. Why the chroniclers who have so energetically and successfully tilled the one field should neglect the other, it is difficult to understand. Surely there is enough of romance to please the fancy and much food for rugged thought, in the career of that son of a fighting old English admiral, who forsook the path which seemingly led direct to fame and fortune, and, assum- ing the quaint ways and plain garb of a despised sect, preached its peaceful faith. Caleb Pusey, going out unarmed into the forest to meet a threatened attack of the savages, is a more heroic figure than blustering Miles Standish, girt with the sword he fought with in Flanders. Lloyd, Logan, and Pastorius, trained in the schools of Europe and versed in all the learning of their day, were men whose peers are rarely found among colonists. The Quaker, the Mennonite, and the Moravian, mindful of how their fathers were harried from place to place, with the prison behind and the stake threatening before, bringing across the ocean with then: their Bibles, and often nothing else, with hearts warm enough and a creed broad enough to embrace the religious way- farer and wanderer, as well as the negro and Indian, contrast favorably with the narrow and intolerant Puritan, whose hand fell heavily upon all of different race, habits, or belief from his own .- Historical and Biographical Sketches, by Samuel W. Penny- packer, Philadelphia, 1883.
The first Moravian brethren, who emigrated to this country about the middle of the last century, crossed the ocean at differ- ent intervals of time, and in larger or smaller companies. When- ever they had obtained full control of a transport ship, by charter
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GEORGE KELSEY POWELL.
or otherwise, our forefathers never failed to introduce among the passengers on board a complete social and religious organization, corresponding as nearly as might be with that established in their congregations at home; hence the term used in the reports of the day, die See Gemeinen, the " sea congregations." Regular times were set apart in these floating congregations for their various religious meetings ; chaplains, teachers, exhorters, and nurses were provided, and system was carried into the minutest details of life. Each member was assigned to a mess and hammock company, and his place and duty in every contingency were des- ignated. They all felt that they formed a united band of follow- . ers of the same Lord, to serve whom in a new field of labor they had forsaken their homes and their native land. The days spent on the ocean were not to be wasted in idleness or inactivity, but must be employed in preparing, instructing, and invigorating their minds, and promoting their growth in grace. Although sickness, storms, and other perils of the sea interfered with pre- scribed rules, yet they carried across the waves, not only their God in their hearts, but some of the most blessed practices and observances they had been accustomed to at home. Ship life proved to them a season of rich mental and spiritual activity and enjoyment, and combined as it was with order and discipline, it had a powerful tendency to increase their bodily comfort and well-being. The first " sea congregation " left London in March and arrived in Philadelphia in June, 1742. Count Zinzendorf himself had preceded them about six months, and during twenty previous months small companies, partly direct from Europe and partly by way of Georgia, had been their forerun- ners. Some preliminary arrangements for their reception had been made and their arrival was anxiously looked for by about twenty-five or thirty brethren and sisters, resident, for the time being, in Pennsylvania. The responsible task of fitting out and organizing the expedition had been entrusted to Brother Span- genberg, then residing in London, and the selection could not have fallen upon a more suitable individual, for to his other qual . fications he joined that of personal experience. Seven years before he had fitted out the first Moravian colony which went to Georgia, had himself accompanied it across the Atlantic, had
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GEORGE KELSEY POWELL.
spent four years in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and the West Indies, and had made several voyages between those colonies, some of which were attended with more than ordinary privations and dangers. He was now, after Zinzendorf's departure, at the head of affairs of the church in England, and had a serious responsi- bility resting on him. Yet he did not decline the additional weight, but applied himself to his new duty with his accustomed devotedness, alacrity, foresight, and attention to details. The majority of the " sea congregation " consisted of Germans, many of whom had been selected to replace the first colony at- Pilger- ruh in Holstein, but being refused admission by the government at Copenhagen, they now proceeded to America. They reached London in February, and were not only received and entertained by their local brethren, but in the organization of the " sea con- gregation," which sailed on the ship Catharine, there were in- cluded seven families who joined them there. These included Samuel Powell, with his wife Martha, and Joseph Powell with his wife Martha. After all the perils and hardships and delays of a sea voyage in those days these good brethren landed in this country, the Powells first preaching at New Haven, and holding impressive religious discussion with the students and professors of Yale, and journeying toward New York from New Greenwich on foot, re-uniting with their ship's company in New York har- bor, and sailing thence to Philadelphia, from where they jour- neyed to Bethlehem, the chief of the Moravian settlements.
Revs. Samuel Powell and Joseph Powell were brothers, and the latter was the great-great-grandfather of George Kelsey Powell, the subject of this sketch. Rev. Joseph Powell was born near White Church, Shropshire, England (on the border of Wales), in 1710. He became acquainted with the Moravian brethren through the instrumentality of Wesley and Whitefield, and in 174I offered to accompany a party of Moravians who were then organizing under Count Zinzendorf to emigrate to this country. He did not, however, emigrate until 1742, having sailed from Gravesend, England, March 19, and reached Philadelphia on June 7, 1742. Before leaving England he married Martha Pritchett, who accompanied him. In 1743, when the Moravian church in Philadelphia, Pa., had been established, he was one of
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GEORGE KELSEY POWELL.
the missionaries employed in that vicinity. In 1747 he was sta- tioned as a missionary at Shamokin (now Sunbury, Pa.). In 1756 he was ordained a regular minister of the Moravian church at Bethlehem, Pa., by the Right Rev. Matthew Hehl, bishop of the church. As an Evangelist he was active and prominent, and faithfully served the holy cause in which he had enlisted, tra- versing various regions of the country preaching the gospel to the Indians. He was at one time located at Neshaminy, Bucks county, Pa., at other times on Staten Island and Long Island. Again at Dansbury, near the Delaware Water Gap, at Carroll's Manor, Maryland, and at some stations in New England. Six years of his life he spent in Jamaica, in the West Indies, preach- ing to the negroes and slaves. On all these journeys he was accompanied by his wife and children, until the year 1772, when his wife was taken ill at Carroll's Manor. In consequence of her illness the family returned to Bethlehem, where she died May 6, 1774. Soon after this date he was transferred to Nine Partners (or Sichem), Dutchess county, N. Y., where the Moravians had a church and mission. He was accompanied by some of his children, intending this locality to be his permanent and future home. His ministry there was, however, of short duration, as he shortly after died. In 1859 the Moravian Historical society erected a monument above his grave, taking up the stone which his Indian parishoners had set over it, with the inscription of their affection. The following is the inscription on the monument : NORTH SIDE. Joseph Powell, a Minister of the Gospel in the Church of the United Brethren, Born 1710, near White Church, Shropshire, England, Died Sept. 23, 1774, at Sichem, in the Oblong, Dutchess Co., N. Y.
WEST SIDE. Erected by the Moravian Historical Society, October 6, 1859. EAST SIDE. How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him that bringeth
Good tidings, that publisheth peace,
That bringeth good tidings of good, That publisheth Salvation .- Isaiah LII., 7.
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GEORGE KELSEY POWELL.
Mr. Powell left several children, among them Joseph Powell, of Bedford county, Pa. He was born in Bethlehem township, Northampton county, about 1750. He was educated for the ministry and was located in Bedford county at the outbreak of the revolution. He served as chaplain to the Bedford county battalion of associators in 1776, and was a member of the con- vention of July 15 of that year, member of the general assembly in 1779 and 1780, and a member of the constitutional convention of 1789 and 1790. He died in November, 1804, in Southamp- ton township, Bedford county, Pa. Another son, Martin Powell, was a Methodist minister. He was the grandfather of Prof. J. W. Powell, of the United States army geological survey. Stephen Powell, another son, was the great-grandfather of George Kelsey Powell. He was a soldier in the revolution, and in 1798 emi- grated from Nine Partners to Sheshequin, Luzerne (now Brad- ford) county, Pa. Sheshequin was the site of an Indian town built after the Pontiac war, at which the Moravians established a mission, on the solicitation of some of the native inhabitants who had belonged to Brainerd's congregations on the Delaware. Mr. Powell located in what is now Ulster township, near Milan on the Susquehanna river, at Powell's Eddy. He married Polly Burge prior to his removal from the state of New York. Joseph C. Powell, son of Stephen Powell, was a farmer and a man of mark. Prominent in the organization of Bradford county, he became quite conspicuous in its politics. When a young man he removed to Troy, Pa., where he engaged in mercantile pur- suits. From 1818 to 1820 he was one of the commissioners of Bradford county. In 1821 he was elected sheriff, and served in that position for three years .. In 1836 he was appointed pro- thonotary, clerk of Oyer and Terminer and Quarter Sessions, by Governor Ritner, and held these positions for three years. In 1849 and 1850 he was one of the members of the legislature from Bradford county. He removed to Towanda after his elec- tion as sheriff, and resided there until the time of his death in 1854. Joseph Powell, president of the First National bank of Towanda, is one of his sons. From 1874 to 1876 he was a member of congress. In 1883 he was the candidate of the democracy of the state for the position of state treasurer, but was
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GEORGE KELSEY POWELL.
defeated by Silas M. Bailey. John Powell, son of Stephen Pow- ell and brother of Joseph C. Powell, was the grandfather of George K. Powell. He was born in Ulster township, Bradford county, Pa., and, when a young man, removed to Penn Yan, Yates county, N. Y. He was a farmer, and in addition to his work on the farm he carried on a blacksmith and carriage shop. He was an active and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. James Smith Powell, the father of George K. Powell, was a native of Penn Yan, N. Y. He entered the Genessee Wes- leyan seminary, at Lima, N. Y., but during the prevalence of cholera in 1832 the school was broken up. He was a blacksmith and merchant, and a prominent man in his neighborhood. For over thirty years he was a school director and village trustee. In 1868 he was elected coroner of Yates county for three years, but resigned the office before the expiration of his term. The mother of George K. Powell was Maria Easton, daughter of Charles Easton, of Middlesex, Yates county, N. Y. He was one of the early settlers of Yates county, a farmer and a large land owner. Salina Alcesta Easton, a missionary at Cawnpore, India, under the direction of the Women's Foreign Missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal church, is a sister of the late Mrs. J. S. Powell.
George Kelsey Powell was born at Penn Yan, N. Y., June 10, 1845. He was prepared for college at the Penn Yan academy and entered the Genessee college at Lima, N. Y., since which time the college has been removed to Syracuse, N. Y., and re-named the Syracuse university. . Mr. Powell graduated in the class of 1866. After leaving college he went to Beaver, Pa., and was professor of Latin and Greek in the Beaver college and Female institute during a portion of the years 1866 and 1867. In the spring of 1867 he entered the United States navy on board the man-of-war steamer Wateree as captain's clerk. The Wateree was the first iron vessel ever built for our government. Of fair sea-going size, her draught was so light-scarcely more than that of a fishing schooner-that the chances of her safely perform- ing the task allotted her were at least problematical. It was sent by the admiral to most of the small as well as the large ports, thence her officers saw more of the countries than most others. In
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GEORGE KELSEY POWELL.
the summer of 1867 she experienced a " norther " in the bay of Valparaiso, during which several vessels were destroyed and many lives lost. During her cruise in the south Pacific waters, through the kindness of General Hovey, minister to Peru, and General Kilpatrick, minister to Chili, the Wateree's officers enjoyed many advantages when in port for sight-seeing and social inter- course with the natives. While at Arica, a city in southern Peru, the great earthquake occurred which destroyed the Wateree. Arica lies nearly one thousand three hundred miles south of the equator, and about four hundred miles south of Lima, the capital of Peru. It had a population of six thousand, and was not only the seaport of Tacna, but in fact of a large part of Bolivia. The amount of foreign merchandise stored there, including quan- tities of alpaca wool, ores, and cinchona-bark coming down from the interior, was very large. All this was lost. The proprietor of the largest warehouse, connected with which was a distillery, returning to the place after the catastrophe, was unable to point out the site of his establishment, the destruction was so com- plete. The desert hills around Arica are stuffed with desiccated bodies of the ancient Aymaras, who seem to have had here an important fishing station. To these hills the terrified inhabitants of the town fled on the first warnings of danger, there to be met with the appalling spectacle of the grave literally giving up its dead. The convulsed and writhing earth threw to the surface hundreds of the grim, dried bodies of the Indians, who had lived here centuries before, still wrapped in the cerements that the dry and nitrous soil had preserved from decay. Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia for 1868 gives the following account of the earthquake in Peru, which Mr. Powell says is, in the main, correct :
"The first shock (in Peru) was felt at 5:30 P. M. It was pre- ceded by a rumbling sound. An eye witness at Arica says the hour was that when by custom most of the inhabitants had just closed their daily labors and were at their homes. The instant the startling indications of an earthquake were felt, there was a general rush for uncovered spaces, which were reached by many uninjured, but not by all. The streets became a scene of terror. All the houses in the city trembled like a person affected with the ague. Then they surged, and some of theni fell to pieces with
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crash after crash. At this juncture, when the undulations were active, the earth opened in several places in long and almost reg- ular lines. The fissures were from one to three inches in width. The sensation was distinct, as though something were rolling underneath. From every fissure there belched forth dry earth like dust, which was followed by a stifling gas. Owing to the demolition of buildings, and the general destruction of all kinds of property, and the dust thrown out, as well as that set in motion by the general tumult, a dense cloud was formed over the city and obscured the light. Beneath the cloud was the gas, which severely oppressed every living creature, and would have suffocated all if it had lingered longer stationary than it did, which was only about ninety seconds. The (severe) undulations were three in number. * Three quakes at short inter- vals succeeded, as though subterranean explosions were taking place. At this time people from all parts of the city fled to the hills amid falling stones and timbers, which descended from swaying walls and broadly rent buildings, just on the eve of crumbling into perfect ruin. Some were struck down dead by the falling materials, and others were maimed, while all were made to stagger from side to side like people in a state of intox- ication. Many persons carried children in their arms, and those who had not these carried articles of value. The avarice of some was stronger than fear, even amid this terrible confusion, and hence there were those who delayed their escape to collect valu- ables, many of whom suffered for their temerity either by the sacrifice of their lives or otherwise. As the rush for the hills continued, and stones and materials of all kinds were falling, and houses were crashing, numerous people were struck down and either killed or dangerously wounded. The number of persons estimated killed at Arica was five hundred, and not a house was left uninjured. All the public edifices were destroyed, including the custom house, which contained four million dollars worth of goods, all of which were lost. The entire damage at Arica was estimated at about twelve million dollars. The waters rose to such a height that a tidal wave forty feet high, rolled with resist- less fury upon the ships in the harbor and precipitated them on the main land, far beyond any point ever reached before by the sea. The United States storeship Fredonia, and the United States steamer Wateree were both at anchor in the harbor of Arica near each other. After the first shock had occurred on the land, Dr. Dubois, surgeon, and the paymaster of the Fredo- nia, took a boat and went on shore to inquire for the welfare of friends and offer the services of the ship. A few moments after .
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