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 40
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951
SAMUEL BRITTON PRICE.
SAMUEL BRITTON PRICE.
Samuel Britton Price, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 23, 1873, is a resident of Scranton, Pa. He was born at Branchville, Frankford township, Sussex county, New Jersey, April 29, 1847. The Price family is one of the most prominent in the early settlement of Frankford, and trace their origin in the township to the advent of three brothers-John, Samuel and Robert-who were of English extraction, and first settled in Connecticut. They were extensive shippers, owned vessels, and were well supplied with worldly goods. The broth- ers sailed in their own merchantmen, and continued their shipping interest in New England until the loss of valuable cargoes by shipwreck compelled its abandonment, when they came to New Jersey and followed the Wallkill valley to the Papacating creek in quest of farming lands. John returned to Connecticut, and eventually to seafaring. Robert and Samuel remained, and both died in the township. Robert when a lad was made a prisoner by the Indians, as was also his mother. They were conveyed to a place of security, and Mrs. Price, having previously acquired a limited knowledge of the language of the savages, compre- hended from their conversation and ominous gestures that she was speedily to be made the victim of their brutality. She con- veyed this intelligence to her son, and warned him not to cry lest he also be murdered. The heroic woman was soon after toma- hawked, and the boy found favor in the eyes of a kind hearted squaw, who, having lost her child but a few days before, adopted him as her own. He led the nomadic life of his captors until his twenty-first year, when he was rescued by his friends. Civiliza- tion for a time presented no charms to him, and he frequently expressed a desire to return to the scenes of his early life. This desire was at length overcome, and some years later he removed to the township of Frankford. Samuel Price had two sons at the time of his death-Zachariah and Francis. The latter had no children ; the former, who was a landed proprietor, had five sons, of which the fourth, Robert Price, was the great-great-grandfather
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SAMUEL BRITTON PRICE.
of the subject of our sketch. Francis Price, a brother of Robert Price, was appointed a lay judge of Sussex county November 20, 1789, and again November 26, 1794. Samuel Price, great-grand- father of S. B. Price, son of Robert Price, was appointed a lay judge November 3, 1813. Samuel Price, grandfather of S. B. Price, son of Samuel Price, was a member of the governor's council, prior to the formation of the senate of New Jersey, in 1833, 1834 and 1836. He was appointed a lay judge Novem- ber 6, 1830, and again January 12, 1844. Zachariah H. Price, a cousin of Samuel Price, was a member of the senate of New Jer- sey in 1855, 1856 and 1857. Rodman M. Price, ex-governor of New Jersey, is of the same family. William Price (father of S. B. Price), son of Samuel Price, was a member of the house of representatives of New Jersey in 1860 and 1861. Guy Price, a brother of William Price, was a county judge in 1852 and a mem- ber of the house of representatives in 1849 and. 1850. The wife of William Price was Phebe Armstrong. She was a descendant of Hugh Armstrong, who emigrated with his family from Lon- donderry, Ireland, about 1740, and settled at Short Hills, Mid- dlesex county, N. J., where he died October 23, 1781. Thomas Armstrong, one of his sons, married Martha Britton, who died in 1817, at the age of fifty-eight years. He served through the whole of the revolutionary war, was quartermaster, and ranked as major. In April, 1782, he and his wife settled on the Papakating, in Wantage township, Sussex county, where they resided for eight years, and bought lands at Sugar Loaf, Orange county, N.Y., upon which he settled, but sold it three years afterwards. In 1793 he purchased about three hundred acres of land, mostly woodland, on the Papakating, in Frankford township. Thomas Armstrong added to his original purchase, and owned at his death, January 3, 1833, seven hundred acres of land in Frankford, which were divided among his sons ; also one thousand acres, mostly in New- ton township, which were divided among his daughters. He also owned twenty-seven slaves, whom he retained in his possession until the laws of the state liberated them. He first became ac- quainted with Newton township by bringing Indian corn and exchanging it for wheat. He followed this business as late as 1784, at which time Indian corn was not cultivated there. He
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SAMUEL BRITTON PRICE.
was a member of the assembly of New Jersey in 1797, and on February 19, 1813, he was appointed a lay judge. James Britton Armstrong, son of Thomas Armstrong, was the father of Phebe Price, wife of William Price. The wife of James B. Armstrong was Mary Foster, a daughter of Julius Foster, who was originally from Long Island, but settled in Montague township, Sussex `county, N. J., at an early period.
S. B. Price was educated in the common schools of Branchville, and was prepared for college at Blairstown, N. J. He entered the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1866, but was compelled to leave on account of ill health. He then entered the junior class in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and graduated in the classical course in the class of 1870. He then entered the law school of the same university and graduated from there in 1872. He was admitted to practice in all the courts of Michigan, at De- troit, October 9, 1872. Under the rules of our county he studied under Colonel Royce for six months before being admitted to our courts. Mr. Price married, February 9, 1881, Julia Hosie, a daughter of John Hosie, who was born June 2, 1812, in Stirling- shire, Scotland. His parents were James and Jane (Bowie) Ho- sie. Mr. Hosie's education was limited to an attendance at the common schools of his neighborhood. As early as the age of ten years he conceived the idea of marking out for himself a career which should be independent of all help from his family. To this end, and for the purpose of earning something for him- self, having been made a present of a pony by an elder sister who was landlady of a large hotel, he made good use of it in deliver- ing packages which were given him for that purpose by guests of the hotel. He was thus employed after school hours for two or three years. At the end of that time he found himself the pos- sessor of about £60, a fact known only to himself. He had already decided that when he got sufficient means he would go to America. At the age of fourteen he went, unknown to any member of his family, to Greenock, a shipping port of Scot- land, where he purchased his passage, taking a receipt therefor. He first told his mother what he had done, which took the good woman utterly by surprise. "Boy, what could you do in America ?" " I will do something," was the boy's reply. "Where
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SAMUEL BRITTON PRICE.
did you get the money ?" was the next question. He satisfied her that he came honestly by it. The father, upon his return at evening, repeated about the same questions, with the same answers. He told the boy, if he would give up going for the present, he would give him three years of schooling, and if at the end of the time he still desired to go, he would give him money to go with ; but no persuasion could turn him from his purpose. Accordingly the clothes for the journey were got in readiness, to which were added by the thoughtful mother a bible, which had been in the family over a hundred years, and some good Presby- terian books. Everything being in readiness, in the month of March, 1829, at the hour of midnight, in order to avoid notice, he left the old hearthstone for the seaport. He was overtaken at Glasgow the next day by his father, an elder brother and sister, who made another attempt to persuade him to return, but with- out success. It was finally decided that if John was going his brother Andrew should go too, and thus, by the persistence of a boy of fourteen years, America gained two good citizens instead of one. The day after landing in New York, in company with his brother, he went over to Newark and applied for a job of work at a stonecutter's. There was something in the appearance and bearing of the lad that pleased the proprietor, and he set him to work at stonecutting. His brother found work at Newark at his trade as a carpenter and joiner. Mr. Hosie remained with his first employer seven months, receiving very nearly the same wages as the men. He next went to Philadelphia, where for six years following he was in the employ of an elder brother, James Hosie. His first work under him was on the masonry of the Columbia railroad bridge over the Schuylkill river. In 1833 he went to Canton, Mass., where he was employed for nearly three years in superintending the construction of the viaduct at that place. He superintended the masonry work for Dodd, Clark & Co., contractors, for the construction of a portion of the Hartford and New Haven railroad; also for Dodd, Baldwin & Co. on the Morris & Essex railroad. He next engaged with his brother in building the railroad bridge across the Raritan river at New Brunswick, N. J. He then went to Bridgeport, Conn., where he constructed the masonry on the Housatonic railroad. For the
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SAMUEL BRITTON PRICE.
next six years he was engaged in the construction of the New York city water works, under Bishop & Campbell, contractors. He superintended the heavy masonry on those works between Tarrytown and Dobb's Ferry, also across Glendenning Valley. At the solicitation of the chief and resident engineers he went to Seal Harbor, Maine, and cut the stone for the Harlem bridge. In 1843 he engaged under James Archbald in the management of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's railroad from Car- bondale to Honesdale, and during the two years he was thus employed he repaired the masonry on the company's canal. In 1845 he accepted the position of assistant superintendent, under Mr. Archbald, of the Delaware and Hudson coal mines at Carbon- dale. On November 12, 1845, he married Julia A., daughter of Philander and Louisa Beattys, of Waymart, Wayne county, Pa., and in the following spring commenced housekeeping at Arch- bald, Pa.
Mr. Beattys was the fourth son of Daniel S. and Hannah Beat- tys, and was born in Danbury, Conn., October 31, 1798. Before attaining his majority, accompanied by an elder brother, he sought and obtained contracts for building portions of the Belmont and Easton, and the Milford and Owego turnpikes, at or near Way- mart, then in process of construction. While carrying out these contracts he met Louisa, a daughter of Colonel Asa Stanton. The acquaintance ripened into love, and before Miss Stanton reached her fourteenth birthday she was married to Mr. Beattys. Asa Stanton was a native of Preston, Conn. His wife was Zibah Kimble. In 1789 he moved to Paupack, and in 1790 to Canaan, now in Wayne county. He built a large log house and kept travelers and drovers. Salt was brought from Newburg, N. Y., on pack horses. They went to mill frequently at Slocum Hol- low, now Scranton. He owned six hundred and twenty acres of land, and was deputy sheriff and afterwards treasurer of the county. Mr. Beattys, after completing his contracts, accompa- nied by his young wife, returned to his native state, residing at Danbury several years. The western fever, coupled with his wife's persuasions, brought him again to Wayne county, where he settled upon what was a part of his father-in-law's farm, where he resided until his death, March 19, 1888. His daughter Julia,
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SAMUEL BRITTON PRICE.
wife of John Hosie, died November 4, 1879. At the time of his death Mr. Beattys was the oldest member of the Waymart Meth- odist Episcopal Church.
On January 12, 1846, occurred a most thrilling and memorable event in the life of Mr. Hosie, which put to the full test the in- domitable will and magnificent pluck of the man so strongly shadowed forth in the boy, and which at the time was heralded to the farthest limits of civilization. About eight o'clock of the morning of that day he went into mine No. 2 level at Carbon- dale. He had been in the mine less than an hour when about forty acres of the overhanging rocks and earth caved in. He was alone and very near the centre of this fall. Fifteen miners in other parts of the mine were instantly killed by the concussion of the air. Mr. Hosie was saved from instant death by the refuse coal which is ordinarily left on the bottom of the mine. As it was, he was pressed between the fallen rocks and the bottom of the mine with barely space left for his prostrate body. In utter darkness, with nothing but his bare hands to work with, for twenty-four hours, every one of which seemed an age, he dug for his life, throwing behind him the falling debris and refuse coal upon which the falling mass rested. His fingers were worn to the bone and bore the marks during his life of the terrible struggle. At length he reached a place where he could stand up, only to find, however, that he was still inside the fall. He attempted to reach the air shaft, but did not succeed. It finally occurred to him that by following the break in the overhanging rocks made next to the line of solid coal he might work his way to the main entrance. Following up this thought, he finally, after hav- ing been literally buried in this living tomb for forty-eight hours, effected his escape. He had been given up for dead, as it was known he was in the very centre of the fall, having been seen there by a mule driver as he was passing along just previous to the fall. He met a party of miners before reaching the entrance who had entered the mine for the purpose of digging for his body. Instead they found a pretty lively corpse, in the person of Mr. Hosie himself, approaching them. The news of his escape sent a thrill of joy throughout the country. It would not be in the power of pen to describe the feelings of the young wife, who had
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SAMUEL BRITTON PRICE.
given her husband up for lost, when the glad tidings were borne to her that he was yet alive. He continued in the employ of the Delaware and Hudson Company until 1850. He then became general superintendent. for the Pennsylvania Coal Company, taking charge of their mines at Pittston and Dunmore. This posi- tion he resigned in the fall of 1854, having taken a contract for mason work and grading on the Michigan Southern railroad, at Toledo, Ohio. The next year was the cholera year, and the deaths for three weeks among the men employed in the work averaged twelve a day. Of four hundred and forty-eight men on the pay roll Mr. Hosie was the only one who was not taken sick during the time. Returning to the valley, he took charge of the works of the North Pennsylvania and the North Branch Coal Companies, making headquarters at Pittston. He also had an interest in the Pittston Coal Company. In the fall of 1856 he went to Portland, Maine, to build a portion of the Portland and Saco railroad. In 1858 he went to Virginia, where, in company with General McAlister, of Allentown, Pa., he built a part of the Covington and Ohio railroad. They remained there until the opening of the late civil war. The contract was with the state, and the latter still owes them $30,000, and in all probability always will. Re- turning to Pittston, he remained out of active employment on account of impaired health for about a year. In 1862 he took an interest with Alexander Gray & Co. in the Hollenback colliery at Wilkes-Barre. In 1864 he sold his interest and purchased the Silver Brook coal works, near Hazleton, where he remained six years. He then sold out and took charge of the Bear Pine col- liery, near Mahanoy, Schuylkill county, Pa. In 1872 he resigned his position and leased the Fair Lawn coal property at Scranton, which mine he opened that year. In 1877 he became a partner in the Pierce Coal Company, at Winton, Pa., and he was its gen- eral manager. As will be seen from this narrative, Mr. Hosie led a most active and laborious life. He always threw his whole energies into whatever enterprise he engaged in. As a manager of men his equal was hardly found in the entire coal region. He always commanded the respect of all men, high or low, rich or poor. One had to travel a long way before finding a man who would speak ill of John Hosie. Mr. and Mrs. Hosie had five
958
FRANK VAUGHAN BARNES.
children. Mr. Hosie died May 7, 1881.
Mr. and Mrs. Price have two children-Cole B. Price and John Hosie Price.
FRANK VAUGHAN BARNES.
Frank Vaughan Barnes, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., January 21, 1874, is a descendant of Churchill Barnes, a native of Vermont. His wife was Sarah Vaughan, a native of Plattsburg, N. Y. Churchill Barnes, when quite a young man, removed to what is now Troy, Bradford county, Pa. The place was named to please Mr. Barnes, who had visited Troy, N. Y., and was so impressed with it that he was anxious to have the town called by that name, and it was accordingly done. D. V. Barnes, son of Churchill Barnes, was born in Troy, Pa., October 7, 1819. The wife of D. V. Barnes was Julia Franklin Clapp, daughter of Nathaniel Clapp, who was born near Saratoga, N. Y., and his wife, Cynthia Satterlee Stephens, who was born at Athens, Pa. She was the daughter of Ira and Sybil Ransom Steph- ens. Ira Stephens was a son of Jedediah and Mary Stephens, of Canaan, Conn. In 1775 he enlisted in the Continental line and rose to be captain of his company. He served for seven years and his discharge was signed by General Washington. His com- pany was under Sullivan, and it may have been that this cam- paign made him acquainted with the beauty and fertility of the Wyoming Valley. He married and settled there in 1784. After three of his children were born he removed to Athens, Pa., where the remainder of his children were born. He owned a great deal of land in and about Palmyra, N. Y., and a large tract in Angelica, N. Y. He is said to have been a great singer, which made him much sought after in camp during the war, and at the annual reunions of the war veterans after the cessation of hostil- ities. He was killed at Angelica, N. Y., September 20, 1803, in a personal difficulty concerning the Pennsylvania and Connecti- cut titles. He left a large family and considerable property. His wife was Sybil, daughter of Captain Samuel Ransom. (See page
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JOHN F. CONNOLLY.
385). F. V. Barnes was born in Athens, Pa., June 14, 1848. He graduated from Yale College and read law with Hon. W. G. Ward, at Scranton. He married, September 1, 1869, Annie Price, a daughter of William Price, of Scranton. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have a family of three children. Mr. Barnes has resided for a number of years at Bismarck, Dakota Territory. He is at pres- ent practicing his profession at Bismarck.
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PETER A. MAHON.
Peter A. Mahon was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 22, 1874. He practiced for a while in Scranton, and now resides at Shamokin, Pa. He is a brother of James Mahon, of the Luzerne county bar. (See page 250). Peter A. Mahon is the district attorney of Northumberland county.
PHILIP J. O'HANLON.
Philip J. O'Hanlon was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., June 4, 1874. In 1876 he was a candidate for district at- torney on the democratic ticket, but was defeated by Charles E. Fice, republican, the vote standing Rice, 17.541 ; O'Hanlon, 15,097. Tilden, for president, had a majority at the same elec- tion of 3475. His wife is Julia, daughter of the late Michael J. Philbin, of this city. Mr. O'Hanlon is said to be living in Brooklyn, N. Y.
JOHN F. CONNOLLY.
John F. Connolly, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county June 4, 1874, is a native of Scranton, Pa, where he was
960
CHARLES LOREN LAMB.
born April 27, 1853. He is the son of Owen Connolly, who is a native of the county of Sligo, Ireland. Mr. Connolly was educated in the Scranton High School and the Columbia College Law School, New York, from which he graduated in 1873, with the degree of LL. B. He was admitted to the bar of New York city May 18, 1874. He was elected the district attorney of Lackawanna county, and served in that capacity from 1883 to 1886. In 1887 he was elected one of the law judges of Lacka- wanna county for a term of ten years, and he is now serving in that position. He married September 12, 1877, Mary C. Carroll, a daughter of John Carroll, a native of Honesdale, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Connolly have a family of five children-Catharine, Mary Letitia, John Eugene, Helen and William Edmund Connolly.
CHARLES LOREN LAMB.
Charles Loren Lamb, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., September 21, 1874, is a descendant of James Lamb, whose father emigrated from Scotland. James Lamb married, in Rutland, Vermont, where he resided, Sally Oakes. In 1809 he removed to Troy, Bradford county, Pa. He subsequently re- moved to Le Roy, in the same county, where he died in 1855, aged sixty-eight years. Charles H. Lamb, son of James Lamb, was born in Troy and married, May 7, 1846, Eliza Greeno, a daughter of Moses Greeno, of Rutland, Vermont. His wife was Anna Reynolds, whose ancestors came from Rhode Island. C. H. Lamb was a farmer and merchant, and a leading and active member of the Baptist church. He resided in Le Roy, where he died June 28, 1866. C. L. Lamb, son of Charles H. Lamb, was born in Le Roy May 18, 1850. He was educated at the State Normal School, at Mansfield, Pa., and the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, at Towanda, Pa. He read law with Ulysses Mercur, at Towanda, and was admitted to the Bradford county bar in 1872. He commenced the practice of the law at Port Townsend, Washington Territory, and remained there about a
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ARTHUR DENORVAN DEAN.
year and a half. He then came to Wilkes-Barre, where he prac- ticed his profession until 1884, when he removed to Minneapolis, Minn., where he is now practicing. Mr. Lamb is an unmarried man.
MILTON STILES.
Milton Stiles, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., September 22, 1874, is a native of Hobbie, Luzerne county, Pa., where he was born February 3, 1849. He is a grandson of Jeremiah Stiles, and son of Isaiah Stiles, a native of this county, whose wife was Mary Etta Klinetob, daughter of Conrad Kline- tob. Her mother's name was Hannah Kulp. Mr. Stiles was educated at the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pa., and read law with M. E. Jackson, in Berwick, Pa. He had an office in Nanticoke, in this county, and in 1875 and 1876 he was burgess of the borough of Nanticoke. He removed to the west a few years since, and now resides at Conway Springs, Kansas. He has also practiced at Newton, Kansas. He married, in 1878, Emma R. Kenzie, a daughter of George Kenzie, and granddaughter of Samuel Kenzie, whose wife was Esther Shortz. The wife of George Kenzie was Mary L. Swab, daughter of John Swab. Mr. and Mrs. Stiles have a family of two children-Belle K. Stiles and Royal E. Stiles.
ARTHUR DENORVAN DEAN.
Arthur Denorvan Dean, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., January 4, 1875, is a descendant of Ezra Dean, who lived about ten miles from East Greenwich, R.'I., at Noose Neck Hill, in the town of West Greenwich, R. I. He sold his farm there and moved to Pawtuxet, R. I., where he followed the blacksmith trade. He died in Pawtuxet. Jonathan Dean, son of Ezra Dean, was a native of West Greenwich, R. I., where he was born July 9, 1741. He was one of the original "forty " proprie-
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ARTHUR DENORVAN DEAN.
tors of Kingston, Pa. They arrived at the point which is now Wilkes-Barre January 31, 1769, where they found a trader named Ogden, and crossed over to Kingston the following day. His wife was Mary Davis, who was the daughter of Jeffrey Davis and his wife Abigail Davis (nee Scranton). Jeffrey Davis was the son of Joshua Davis. Jonathan Dean, about the year 1800, removed to Abington, Luzerne (now Lackawanna) county, Pa., with his two sons, James Dean and Jeffrey Dean, and two daughters, Sybil, who marrried Robert Stone, and Abagail, who married George Gardner. Ezra Dean, an older son, settled in Abington in 1797. Jonathan Dean was one of the Rhode Island surveyors who surveyed Abington under the Connecti- cut claim. He died in Abington August 2, 1822. His wife died in 1816, aged seventy-four years. James Dean, son of Jonathan Dean, was born May 7, 1780, and was married De- cember 28, 1803, by Elder John Miller, to Catharine Tripp, who was born at Rhinebeck, N. Y., April 22, 1784. Among the names of the original proprietors of the Susquehanna Com- pany appears that of Isaac Tripp. Emigrating to Wyoming in 1769, with the first pioneer company, and finding the block- house, at Mill Creek, in possession of the Pennamites, under Captain Ogden, Tripp and his companions made preparations to recapture a prize of such vital importance to their colonial exis- tence. Tripp himself had seen some service in the French and Indian wars, while a few of his companions had been schooled in the raw exercises of the militia of Connecticut. All, however, were familiar with the use of the musket, for their flint guns, powder horns and shot bags had often accompanied them in former days in pursuit of game. But with their conception of military discipline, or border life and warfare, they were here completely outwitted by the superior tact of the party in the blockhouse under Captain Ogden. Ogden having only ten men able to bear arms-one-fourth only of his invading foe-determined to have recourse to negotiation. A very polite and conciliatory note was addressed to the commander of the forty, an interview respectfully solicited and a friendly conference asked on the sub- ject of the respective titles. 'Ogden proved himself an accom- plished angler. The bait was too tempting. Propose to a
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