USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Families of the Wyoming Valley: biographical, genealogical and historical. Sketches of the bench and bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, vol. II > Part 10
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GEORGE HENRY RUGGLES PLUMB.
George Henry Ruggles Plumb was born in Honesdale, Pa., June 12, 1854. He is the son of Henry Blackman Plumb, and a descendant of Wait Plumb, who emigrated to America from England about 1630, and settled in Connecticut. Waitstill Plumb,
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GEORGE HENRY RUGGLES PLUMB.
son of Wait Plumb, was born in Connecticut and died there. He had, among other children, Waitstill John Plumb, who was born in Connecticut, resided in Middletown, married and died there. Jacob Plumb, son of Waitstill John Plumb, was born in Middletown, Conn., about 1746, married Prudence Powers, re- moved to Chester, Mass., in 1788, thence to Springfield, Otsego Co., N. Y., about 1806, thence to Mount Pleasant, Pa., about 1812, thence to Wyoming, about 1814. He died in Kingston in 1822, and lies buried in Forty Fort cemetery. During the revo- lutionary war he commanded a privateer. Jacob Plumb, son of Jacob Plumb, was born in Middletown, Conn., in 1776. He manufactured wooden chairs, a ship load of which, before he came of age, he took to Bermuda and sold. With the proceeds he pur- chased a farm at Springfield, N. Y. He married his cousin, Rhoda Plumb. It is believed that he built the first carding machine ever made in the United States, at Chester, Mass., in 1801. He removed with his family to Springfield in 1806, thence to Mount Pleasant, Pa., about 1812, and built carding machines there, thence to Pittston, in 1813 or 1814, and, it is believed, built the first carding machine in the Wyoming Valley, built the first carding machine in Hanover, at Behee's mill, in 1826-7. He died in Prompton, Pa., in 1853. Charles Plumb, son of Jacob Plumb, was born in Chester, Mass., in 1802. He removed with his father's family to Springfield, N. Y., to Mount Pleasant, to Pittston, and to Hanover in 1826, where, with his father, he built carding machines in Behee's mill. He also built and operated a grist mill at Behee's place. He married Julia Anna Blackman, daughter of Elisha Blackman, a survivor of the Wyoming mas- sacre. The wife of Mr. Blackman was Anna Hurlbut, daughter of Deacon John Hurlbut, of Hanover. Charles Plumb died at Har- ford, Susquehanna Co., Pa., in 1831. Henry Blackman Plumb, son of Charles Plumb, was born in Hanover, November 13, 1829. He removed to Honesdale, Pa., in 1848, returned to Hanover in 1855, read law with Volney L. Maxwell, in Wilkes-Barre, and was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county November 21, 1859. He married, September 28, 1851, Emma Ruggles, daughter of Ashbel Ruggles, a native of Hanover township, where he was born in 1797. The Ruggles family is supposed to be from Connecticut.
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GEORGE HENRY RUGGLES PLUMB.
The wife of Ashbel Ruggles was Angelina Bennett, daughter of Josiah Bennett, who was a son of Ishmael Bennett, a native of Rhode Island, where he was born in 1730.
George Henry Ruggles Plumb is the only child of Henry Blackman Plumb. He prepared for college at Prompton Normal school, and Wyoming Seminary, and entered La Fayette college in 1873, graduating in the class of 1877, with the degree of PH. B. In 1880 he took the degree of M. S. In his freshman year he stood at the head of his class in analytical chemistry, and in his sophomore year he stood in the same manner in analytical botany. At graduation he delivered the presentation speech to his class. During the years 1877, 1878, and 1879 he taught in the public schools of Sugar Notch borough. He read law with E. P. & J. V. Darling, and was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county January 18, 1881. He is a republican in politics, and represented the third legislative district in the republican county committee in the years 1881, 1882, and 1883. He was a candi- date before the republican county convention for the office of district attorney in 1882 but was defeated. The same year he represented the third legislative district in the state convention of his party at Harrisburg. In 1884 he was a candidate in the republican convention of his district for the legislature but failed to receive a nomination. He is preparing a " History, Biography, and Genealogy of the Plumb family in America from the earliest time to the present." Mr. Plumb is an unmarried man.
The active, brainy stock from which Mr. Plumb springs gives exhibition of its influence in the ardor with which he approaches, and the systematic energy with which he carries into execution, his allotted and self-sought tasks. As a student of history, parti- cularly of local history, he is especially earnest, persevering, and careful. He has given not a little of value in this line to publi- cation in the local journals, and his history, already mentioned, although relating to but one family primarily, is expected to be very important in its incidental relationship to the history of the county and valley. As a school teacher, in his work in behalf of his party, and as an attorney he has sought with utmost patience and industry to do well all that he has had to do. He cannot be called a brilliant man, but he is well read, quick witted, ambitious,
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GEORGE HOLLENBACK BUTLER.
and determined-qualifications and traits that almost invariably pay better than brilliancy in the long run-not only their pos- sessor but those in whose service they are invoked.
GEORGE HOLLENBACK BUTLER.
George Hollenback Butler was born in Kingston township September 2, 1857. He is the son of the late James Montgom- ery Butler, also a native of Kingston, and the grandson of Pierce Butler, eldest son of General Lord Butler, whose genealogy we have already given in our sketch of Edmund Griffin Butler. The wife of General Butler was Mary, a daughter of Abel Pierce. He was a descendant of Thomas Pierce, who came to this country from England in 1633-4 with his wife, Elizabeth Pierce, and settled in Charlestown, Mass. He was born in 1583 and died October 7, 1666. He was chosen a freeman May 6, 1635, and on September 27, 1642, he was one of the twenty-one commis- sioners appointed by the Great and General Court "to see that Saltpetre heaps were made by all the farmers of the colony." In his will he makes a bequest of twenty shillings to Harvard College. Thomas Pierce, son of Thomas Pierce, was born in 1608, and married, May 6, 1635, Elizabeth Cole. They resided in Charles- town village, now Woburn. He was often styled Sergeant Thomas. Sergeant Thomas Pierce was admitted into the church at Charlestown February 21, 1634; was in Woburn as early as 1643; was taxed there, 1645; was selectman of Woburn, 1660, and repeatedly afterwards of the committee for dividing the com- mon lands in Woburn; he was one of "the right proprietors" chosen March 28, 1667; and also one of the General Courts committee appointed for the same purpose in 1668. He died November 6, 1683. Thomas Pierce, son of Thomas Pierce, Jr., was born June 21, 1645, and died December 8, 1717. Timothy Pierce, son of Thomas Pierce, was born January 25, 1673. He resided in Plainfield, Conn., and died May 25, 1748. Major Ezekiel Pierce, son of Timothy Pierce, was born January 8, 1712,
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GEORGE HOLLENBACK BUTLER.
and married, February 11, 1736, Lois Stevens. He was town- clerk of Plainfield from 1749 to 1754, and of Wyoming or West- moreland, Penn'a, at the first town meeting of that town. Major Ezekiel Pierce, as town clerk of Westmoreland, makes the follow- ing entries: April 25, 1772, Major Ezekiel Pierce appointed one of a committee to admit settlers in 6-mile townships. October 2, 1772, Major Ezekiel Pierce appointed one of a committee to pro- vide a habitation for Rev. Jacob Johnson for the winter. Abel Pierce chosen constable for Kingston township for 1772. March 30, 1773, Major Ezekiel Pierce one of a committee to receive bonds given for settling rights. June 21, 1773, Major Ezekiel Pierce appointed one of a committee to assist in regulating the settlement of the towns and to redress grievances. Abel Pierce, father of the wife of General Lord Butler, son of Major Ezekiel Pierce, was born December 15, 1736. His only son, Chester Pierce, was the first man killed in the "Pennamite and Yankee War, 1784." His eldest daughter, Sylvania, married (as his sec- ond wife) Captain Daniel Hoyt, great-grandfather of Edward Everett Hoyt, of the Luzerne bar, and was the grandfather of ex- Governor Henry Martyn Hoyt. Abel Pierce died May 23, 1814. Franklin Pierce, President of the United States, was seventh in descent from Thomas Pierce, the ancestor of George Hollenback Butler. Abel Pierce was one of the justices of the peace ap- pointed by the Governor of Connecticut for the county of West- moreland, i. e. Wyoming. After fuller and further investigation we still adhere to the opinion that Colonel Zebulon Butler, father of General Lord Butler, who commanded the patriot forces at the battle and massacre of Wyoming, and Colonel John Butler, who commanded the Tory and Indian forces in the same battle, were second cousins. In this connection we might state that during the summer of 1885 Thomas H. Atherton, of the Luzerne bar, while at Niagara, on the Lake, Ontario, visited St. Mark's church at that place and observed a memorial tablet, of which the following is a copy :
"FEAR GOD. HONOUR THE KING.
"In memory of Colonel John Butler, His Majesty's commis- sioner for Indian affairs. Born in New London, Province of Connecticut, 1728. His life was spent honourably in the service of the Crown. In the war with France for the conquest of Can-
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ada he was distinguished at the battle of Lake George 8th Sep- tember, 1755, and at the siege of Fort Niagara and its capitula- tion, 25th July, 1759.
"In the war of 1776 he took up arms in defence of the Unity of the Empire, and raised and commanded the Loyal American Regiment of Butler's Rangers. A sincere Christian as well as a brave soldier. He was one of the founders and the first patron of this parish. He died at Niagara May, 1796, and is interred in the family burial ground near this town."
We have also the following in relation to Colonel John Butler in a letter from W. Kirby, of Niagara :
"Sir William Buell Richards, ex-Chief Justice, Ottawa, mar- ried Miss Muirhead, a grand-daughter of Colonel Butler. He possesses a painting of the Colonel and some memorials besides. There are very few papers to be found, by reason that Colonel Butler's house and its contents were destroyed by General Mc- Clure when Niagara was burnt by his orders on the retreat of the American army from that place in December, 1813.
"Some descendants of Colonel Butler still remain in Niagara township -- farmers-but they have no family documents in their possession. In Judge Jones' Colonial History of New York will be found references to Colonel Butler.
"Colonel Butler commanded some companies of the Rangers at the battle of Wyoming, but the Indians acted independently under the command of Kayingwaurto, the great Seneca chief. Brandt was not present at that engagement.
" The popular stories of "The Massacre of Wyoming" are with- out any basis of fact. Wild rumors and exaggerations of the moment of panic which got into history, and have stuck there with the help of Campbell's poem, for which he apologized after- wards to John Brandt, and with the help of a good deal of preju- dice which will not have the story told otherwise.
"Colonel Butler was a man of correct life and pious disposition, taking much interest in the Church of England, of which he might be called the lay founder in Upper Canada. The first missionary of that church in Niagara was the late Rev. Dr. Rob- ert Addison, and in the burial register of St. Mark's, recording the interment of Colonel Butler in the handwriting of Dr. Addi- son, is added the words " My Patron." Colonel Butler lived at Niagara during the American revolutionary war as superintend- ent of Indian affairs and until his death in 1796. His son, John- son Butler, commanded the First Lincoln regiment of militia during part of the war of 1812, but died before its conclusion. His nearest descendants are the children of Sir William B. Rich- ards, before mentioned."
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GEORGE HOLLENBACK BUTLER.
The wife of Pierce Butler, grandfather of George Hollenback Butler, was Temperance Colt, a daughter of Arnold Colt. The mother of George Hollenback Butler, and the wife of James Montgomery Butler, was Martha Lazarus, a daughter of the late John Lazarus, of Hanover township. He was born in North- ampton county in the year 1796 and removed to Hanover with his father's family in 1818. His wife was Polly Drake. He died in Wilkes-Barre in 1879. George Lazarus, father of John Lazarus, was of German descent, and was born in Northampton county in 1761. His wife was Mary Hartzell. He lived on the river road at Buttonwood bridge, where he died in 1844. He was evidently a man of wealth, for when he purchased his farm in 1818 of Matthias Hollenback the consideration was $16,000, a considera- ble sum of money in that day. George Hollenback Butler was educated at the select schools of WV. S. Parsons and W. R. King- man in this city, and at the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pa. He read law with E. P. & J. V. Darling in this city and was ad- mitted to the Luzerne county bar June 6, 1881. He is an un- married man and a republican in politics.
Of one who has been but a few years in practice it is impossible to say much except in the way of prediction, which must be based upon observance, less of what he has done in the way of big things than of what he has tried to do in the minor walks of the profession. Often the "youngsters of the bar," as they are occasionally called, work harder and achieve comparatively greater victories in the trivial cases with which they are com- pelled to make a beginning than their seniors do in important litigations, involving big fees, and that carry their names, accom- panied by ardent praises, from lip to lip, through the whole com- munity. Age and established reputation are of themselves aids to the securement of favorable verdicts which beginners must necessarily fight without. For a young man Mr. Butler has done well, earning the commendation of his preceptors and of his fellow professionals, generally, by much study, unflagging energy, and patient perseverance, He has a bright future before him.
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WILLIAM HENRY HINES.
WILLIAM HENRY HINES.
William Henry Hines was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 15, 1854. He is a son of Timothy Hines, a native of the parish of Tuam, in the county of Galway, Ireland, who emigrated to this country in 1845, with his wife Mary Clark, a daughter of James Clark, of the same place. He first settled in Brooklyn, N. Y., and finally removed to Hanover township, in this county, where he now resides. W. H. Hines was educated in the public schools of Brooklyn and at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pa. He read law with John Lynch and Garrick M. Harding, and was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, June 6, 1881. In 1878 Mr. Hines was the labor reform candidate for the state legislature, in the third legislative district, and was elected, the vote standing, Hines 2048, J. J. Shonk, republican, 1498, and John Dunn, demo- crat 678. In 1880 Mr. Hines was again a candidate for the leg- islature, in the same district, but was defeated by James George, republican, the vote standing, George 2085, J. V. Perse, democrat, 1848, and Hines, labor reform, 1383. In 1882 Mr. Hines was again a candidate for the same position, but this time as a democrat, and was elected, the vote standing, Hines 2686, James George, republican, 1293, and R. A. Santee, M. D., independent- democrat, 470. In 1884 Mr. Hines was the democratic nominee for state senator in the twenty-first senatorial district, but was defeated by Morgan B. Williams, republican, the vote standing, Williams 12,327, Hines 10,977, and Cool, prohibitionist, 413. Mr. Hines, when living in Hanover, served as township clerk and assessor, by election. He married November 27, 1884, Ida M. Wortman, daughter of Jacob Rowe Wortman, of Ithaca, N. Y. They have one child, Henry Gordon Hines. William Wortman, the grandfather of Jacob Wortman, was a resident of the Wyo- ming Valley at the time of the battle and massacre. His wife was Polly, daughter of Samuel Gordon, who was a surveyor, and probably removed from Connecticut to Wyoming. "After the massacre they fled east with their nine children, Mrs. Wortman
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WILLIAM HENRY HINES.
carrying the two youngest in her arms, till she could carry them no longer. She then put one down by a brush-pile and went on with the other till she found a place of safety, then put that one down and went back for the other. She traveled in this manner two days and nights before reaching a place of safety." In 1801 they removed to Ulysses, Tompkins county, N. Y., where Mrs. Wortman died, at the age of ninety-eight. Mr. Wortman was of German descent, and his wife Scotch, her ancestors having come from the highlands of Scotland.
Jacob R. Wortman, son of John Wortman, was born at Enfield, N. Y., February 2, 1823. He married December 12, 1846, Nancy Ann Starr, a daughter of Philo Starr, a descendant of Doctor Com- fort Starr, the founder of the Starr family in New England. Doctor Starr was a native of Ashford, county of Kent, England. It was on the coast of Kent the Romans first landed, and the county was the scene of many important battles and events in the early history of England. How long the Starr family lived there or where they came from is unknown. The earliest date found on the records in connection with the name is the baptism of Margaret Starr January 5, 1584. Ashford, once called the " Manor of Esshetesford," is a small town forty-five miles south- east of London. The most conspicuous object to the traveler as he passes through, on his way to or from the continent, is the gray, old parish church of "St. Mary," a large building with three aisles, transept, three chancels, and a beautiful tower of stone. Its age is unknown; it had stood for centuries when early in the seventeenth Doctor Starr worshipped within its walls and brought his children to its altar for baptism. In this old town Doctor Comfort Starr lived in the practice of his profession as chirurgeon or surgeon, as it is now called, and was evidently a man of wealth, for he owned an estate there which he retained until his death, and when he came to this country brought three servants, which a man of small property could hardly have affor- ded in those days. That he was a man of position and some importance is certain, for in 1631 he was warden of St. Mary's church, and at a vestry meeting held in 1632 it was voted " That Comfort Starr should lend to Jno. Langford the sum of £12, on the security of his house, it being copyhold, etc."; and in 1634,
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only a short time before he left Ashford, was one of a committee to make repairs on the church of St. Mary. He embarked for this country March 21, 1635. After his arrival in New England Doctor Starr made his residence at New Towne (Cambridge) and engaged in the practice of his profession, and his name frequently appears on the records there. He subsequently removed to Duxbury and finally to Boston, where he died January 2, 1660.
Doctor Thomas Starr, son of Doctor Comfort Starr, was born in England, but when he came to this country is uncertain, but. probably with his father. On May 17, 1637, he was appointed " chirurgeon " to the forces sent against the Pequots. He lived in Duxbury, Scituate, Yarmouth, and in Charlestown, Mass., where, in 1654, he was clerk of the writs. He died October 26, 1658. Captain Josiah Starr, youngest son of Doctor Thomas Starr, was born September 1, 1657, in Charlestown, Mass. The first record of him after his birth is at the age of twenty-one, on Long Island, where he petitions for a grant of one hundred acres, of land in Hempstead. But for some reason it appears that he was not contented to remain in Hempstead, for in 1693, in com- pany with several of his neighbors, they cross Long Island sound, travel back some twenty-five miles into the country, and locate at Danbury, Conn., soon after the first settlement of that town.
Josiah Starr was one of the seven patentees named in the grant made in 1702, giving town privileges to Danbury, and was elected the first town clerk, the second justice of the peace, afterwards surveyor, in 1710 commissioned lieutenant, and in 1713 captain of the first company or " train band," for three years was justice of Fairfield county, in 1702 elected Deputy to the " General Court," a position of great honor and distinction, to which he was annually chosen as long as he lived. He died January 4, 1716. Captain John Starr, son of Captain Josiah Starr, was born in 1684, prob- ably on Long Island, and was young when his parents settled in Danbury. He was a man of wealth and prominence in Dan- bury, for in 1731, '33, '34, and '35 he was sent as Deputy to the General Court. He was chosen, May 10, 1723, lieutenant, and May 14, 1733, captain of the North company or train band. He died July 27, 1739. Lieutenant Jonathan Starr, son of Captain John Starr, was born in Danbury. Little can be known of him.
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WILLIAM HENRY HINES.
The fires lighted by British soldiers burned his history in the ashes of the town and church records. In May, 1747, he was elected lieutenant. He was a large land holder. He died in 1751. Micajah Starr, son of Lieutenant Jonathan Starr, was born April 2, 1746, in Danbury, Conn. He removed to Reading, Conn., and was teamster in the Revolutionary army. About 1793-4 he emigrated to Tompkins county, N. Y., spent about a year in Ithaca, thence to Milton, and bought a tract of land on the east side of Cayuga lake, now in the town of Lansing. He left the Congregational church and became a Baptist, probably before he left Reading ; was licensed to preach, and faithfully ministered to the Baptist church at Lansing, and carried on his farın at the same time, until his death March 2, 1820, leaving quite a large property.
Philo Starr, the father-in-law of Jacob R. Wortman, was a son of Micajah Starr, was brought up and settled in Lansing. He was a farmer and a deacon in the Baptist church. He died April 21, 1844. Moses Waller Wadhams, of the Luzerne county bar, is a descendant of Doctor Comfort Starr, through his grandfather, Samuel Wadhams, who married Clorinda Starr Catlin, the grand- daughter of Captain Samuel Starr, of Middletown, Conn.
Mr. Hines first came prominently before the public in 1877 when that peculiar political convulsion which carried the labor reform party into power in this country swept over the land. By it the old parties were both submerged. The officials who came, it was feared, would be a dishonor to the community ; the admi- nistration of public affairs would be cast into confusion. By this election W. H. Stanton assumed the judicial ermine only to resign it a few years later to escape threatened impeachment. But that election, too, contrary to all expectation, produced such admi- nistrations as P. J. Kinney's in the Sheriff's office and Thomas R. Peters' in the Recorder's. The former distinguished for courtesy, dispatch, and honest performance of duties; the latter so well qualified for the position to which he had been advanced that the records made by him and under him present the most beautiful penmanship in our deed and mortgage books to be found since the county's institution, while in precision and reliability they are equal to any ; and as a proof of his popularity, when his term ex-
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pired he was continued in the office as chief deputy for four years. At that election Mr. Hines is said to have been one of the orga- nizers of the new party. The following year he became its can- didate for the legislature. It was a period of great suffering among the wage-workers of the anthracite region. Mr. Hines had been one of them. He saw at close quarters their trials and sympathized with them. He had been supplied with a good common school preparation, had read assiduously the views of the many who, at the time and before, championed the so-called labor cause, had become imbued with granger-paper money- panacea doctrines then current-was gifted with language, voice, and courage that enabled him to enroll himself as one of the active leaders of the party on the stump. It was therefore natural and just that he, a type of the men who supported him, should be chosen to represent their demands, their interests, and their aspi- rations on the floor of the legislature. It was also natural that the chief legislative problems which received his attention were proposed laws for the particular body of voters to whom he, by association, by employment, by parentage, by many other ties, belonged. Legislation of this kind has become very common, and while some may still doubt its wisdom, there are few who will deny its expediency, within reasonable limits. Such legis- lation is the complement of charters which grant exclusive fran- chises to combined capital, charters which have frequently placed corporate rights within a protecting sanctuary not attainable by private persons, charters which had become the bane of this state, when the constitution of 1874 made a measured attempt to extract the mischievous sting whereby future injury of similar character might be accomplished by future legislatures. To such charters many of the sufferings of Mr. Hines's constituents were by him attributed, and consequently he deemed counter-legislation against them not only feasible but duty.
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