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 41
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963
ARTHUR DENORVAN DEAN.
Yankee to talk over a matter, especially one which he has studied and believes to be right, and you touch the most susceptible chord that vibrates in his heart. That they could out-talk the Penna- mites and convince them that the Susquehanna title was good, not one of the forty doubted. Three of the chief men were deputed to argue the matter-Isaac Tripp and Benjamin Follett, two of the executive committee, accompanied by Vine Elderkin. No sooner were they within the blockhouse than Sheriff Jenkins clapped a writ on their shoulders,-"Gentlemen, in the name of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you are my prisoners." The Yankees were decidedly outwitted. By common consent the prisoners were transported to Easton jail, guarded by Captain Ogden, but accompanied in no hostile manner by the thirty- seven remnants of the forty. Tripp was liberated from jail by his friends at once, and returning again to the valley was a con- tinual actor in the seven years' conflict, before it found a peaceful solution. Upon the old records the name of Isaac Tryp, or Esquire Tryp, as he was familiarly termed, often occurs. At a meeting of the Susquehanna Company, held at Hartford, June 2, 1773, for the purpose of electing officers for the Westmoreland colony, Gideon Baldwin, Timothy Keys and Isaac Tripp were chosen directors or proprietors of Providence. The first purchase of land by Isaac Tripp, jr., son of Isaac Tripp, in Providence, was in 1774. It comprised over 1000 acres of land in the heart of the now city of Scranton. He had already located himself within the old Indian clearing, as early as the summer of 1771. Provi- dence at that time was designated as the "sixth town of ye Ca- pouse Meadows." These once beautiful flats, now rooted into mines and robbed of their natural beauty by tall coal works, with their accompanying culm or waste coal spread over many a fair acre, perpetuate the names of their first white occupants and bring them down through generations into the hands of Ira Tripp. The present Scranton court house is on the original farm of Isaac Tripp, jr. Isaac Tripp, jr., the son of Isaac Tripp, sr., was born at East Greenwich, R. I., July 27, 1748. He came into the valley in 1774, choosing the spot where his father lo- cated. He and a grandson, Isaac Tripp, were taken prisoners in 1778, with two young men by the names of Keys and Hocksey.
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964
ARTHUR DENORVAN DEAN.
The old gentleman the Indians painted and dismissed, but hur- ried the others into the forest (now Abington), above Liggitt's gap, on the warriors' path to Oquago. Resting one night, they rose the next morning, travelled about two miles, when they stopped at a little stream of water. The two young Indians then took Keys and Hocksey some distance from the path and were ab- sent about half an hour, the old Indians looking anxiously the way they had gone. Presently the death whoop was heard and the In- dians returned brandishing bloody tomahawks and exhibiting the scalps of their victims. Tripp's hat was taken from his head and his scalp examined twice, the savages speaking earnestly, when at length they told him to fear nothing, he should not be hurt, and carried him off a prisoner. This Isaac Tripp was in early life a resident of Capouse Meadows, now a portion of the city of Scranton. He was in the eighteenth year of his age when taken a prisoner, as above related, and with others marched to Canada. On the way he experienced the most excruciating sufferings from the gnawing of hunger, and cruel treatment of the savages, who bound his hands behind him and compelled him to run the gauntlet. At Niagara he met his cousin, Frances Slocum, who was also a captive from the Wyoming Valley. They planned their escape, but their intentions being discovered by their captors, they were separated and young Tripp was sold to the English and compelled to enter their service, in which he reluctantly continued until the close of the revolutionary war. He then returned to his early home. He removed to Scott, and finally settled in the Elkwoods, Susquehanna county, Pa., where he died April 15, 1820. Isaac Tripp, sr., and his son-in-law, Jonathan Slocum, were shot by the Indians in Wilkes-Barre December 16, 1778. (See page 341). This was done under such singular circumstances that we will relate the facts: At the time of the revolutionary war the British often offered large rewards for the scalps of Americans. This was done for the purpose of inciting the savages to more murderous activity, and to annoy and exterminate the frontier settlements as fast and frightfully as possible. As Tripp was a man of some little prominence among his associates, the Indians were often asked by the British "why he was not killed." They replied, "Tripp was a good man." He
965
CHARLES R. PITCHER.
was a Quaker, and his intercourse with the Indians had been so uni- versally kind and conciliatory that, when he fell into their hands as a prisoner upon the flats of Capouse, they were not disposed to harm him, but let him go after painting his face with war paint, as it was their custom to do with those they did not wish to harm. A short time after this Tripp was sent to Hartford, Conn., to represent the wants and the grievances of the Wyom- ing colony, and he very naturally removed this paint from his face. After his return a double reward was offered for his scalp, and having forfeited their protection by displacing the war paint, was shot and scalped the first time he was discovered.
Catharine Dean (nee Tripp), was a daughter of Isaac Tripp, jr. Isaac Dean, son of James Dean, was born in Abington June 9, 18II. He is still living. His wife was Polly Searle Heermans (born July 21, 1820, died July 8, 1868), daughter of Henry Heer- mans and his wife, Fandina Nicholson. A. D. Dean, son of Isaac Dean, was born January 29, 1849, in Abington. He was educated at the University at Lewisburg, 1865-'6-'7 ; East Greenwich, R. I., Academy, 1868-'69; entered Brown University, Providence, R. I., in 1869, graduated A. B. in 1872. He read law with Agib Ricketts, in this city, and now has an office in Scranton, where he resides. He married, May 11, 1882, Nettie E. Sisson, daughter of A. C. Sisson. Mr. and Mrs. Dean have three children-Carroll Sisson Dean, Russell Dean, and James Davis Dean.
CHARLES R. PITCHER.
Charles R. Pitcher, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., February 23, 1875, is a native of Waterloo, Orange county, N. Y., where he was born April 21, 1850. Mr. Pitcher was educated in the public schools in Clifford township, Susque- hanna county, Pa., and the academy at New Milford, in the same county. He read law with F. W. Gunster and Charles H. Welles, in Scranton, where he now practices. In his young manhood he was a teacher in the public schools in that part of Luzerne county
966
CHARLES R. PITCHER.
which is now embraced in Lackawanna county. The father of the subject of our sketch was Elder Benjamin Pitcher, who was extensively known throughout Susquehanna county and the northwestern part of Luzerne (now Lackawanna) county, as well as in many places in New York and New Jersey. Elder Pitcher was born in Catton, near Norwich, England, January 9, 1801, and belonged to the denomination of "old school Baptists." He commenced the ministry at the early age of twenty years, and his first efforts were in the pulpit once occupied by John Bun- yan. He afterwards became the pastor of the Baptist church in Norwich, which pulpit he occupied until he resigned to sail for America, in 1831. He was then called to preach in the city of New York, and remained there until 1839, when he came to this state. In 1843 he again removed to Orange county, N. Y., where his son, C. R. Pitcher, was born, and supplied several churches there until 1857, when he removed to Susquehanna county, in this state, where he remained until a comparatively short time previous to his death.
As was the custom in earlier years, and during his residence in Susquehanna county, he supplied several churches through- out northeastern Pennsylvania, including the old school Baptist church of Abington, which pulpit he occupied during a period of over forty years, and his pastoral relations with this church were only dissolved by the hand of God, as he occupied his place until within three months of his death, December 23, 1882.
He was the father of eleven children, viz: Benjamin B., Sam- uel Z., also John and James, now deceased, Hephzibah, now Mrs. James C. Stephens, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Herrick, Phoebe, now Mrs. Roe, Sarah, now Mrs. N. H. Peck, Ruth, now Mrs. H. H. Peck, Mary A. and Charles R., who all grew to be men and women, and are now residing in various states of the union, ex- cept the two above noted. He had thirty-eight grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren, and his name has been perpetu- ated through four living generations. His library contains some valuable and rare volumes. Among others it contains an origi- nal copy of the bible, translated by Theodore Beza, and printed in 1599, being two hundred and eighty-nine years old; also a
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967
HENRY ALONZO KNAPP.
complete concordance of the bible, by Alexander Cruden, M. A., printed in 1738, being one hundred and fifty-one years old. During his life he traveled thousands of miles, throughout the middle and southern states, in the latter of which his denomina- tion is very numerous. He died at a ripe old age, being nearly eighty-two years old, at the residence of his son-in-law, H. H. Peck, in Hyde Park, and was buried near his home in Susque- hanna county. He was a great thinker, and it was commonly remarked of him that he was a "living concordance." He was also considered a very able writer and contributed largely to many religious papers and periodicals. He was a man of pure and unspotted reputation and self-sacrificing character. The mother of C. R. Pitcher is Mary Ann Pitcher (nee Mary Ann Meek ), a native of London, England. Mr. Pitcher mar- ried, November 18, 1875, Charlotte Meredith, a daughter of William Meredith, who was a native of Clifford township, Sus- quehanna county, Pa., whose father, Richard Meredith, was a native of the parish of Buboum, county of Kent, England, where he was born in 1773. He sailed for this country (leaving Liver- pool) in June, 1808, and arrived in New York the September fol- lowing. After landing in that city he was employed as a me- chanic, by Robert Fulton, and assisted in the construction of some of his boats, and made one trip with him up the Hudson. He was the first person who applied for naturalization in Susque- hanna county. His application to the court was made January, 1814, but it does not appear that he received his papers until February, 1822. Mr. and Mrs. Pitcher have four children-Pau- line M. Pitcher, Claude M. Pitcher, Charles Pitcher and Mildred Pitcher.
HENRY ALONZO KNAPP.
Henry Alonzo Knapp, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., February 23, 1875, is a native of the town of Barker, Broome county, N. Y., where he was born July 24, 1851. He is the son of Peter Knapp, a native of Broome county, N. Y.,
968
HENRY ALONZO KNAPP.
and grandson of Henry Knapp, a native of Dutchess county, N. Y. His mother is Cornelia E. Nash, a native of Broome county, N. Y. H. A. Knapp was educated at the academy in Binghamton, N. Y., and read law with John Handley, in Scranton, where he now practices. He was additional law judge of Lackawanna county from July 1, 1887, to January 2, 1888, having received the appoint- ment from Governor Beaver. In 1887 he was the republican candi- date for additional law judge, but was defeated by John F. Con- nolly (democrat), the vote standing Knapp, 8303 ; Connolly, 9162. Mr. Knapp married, March 27, 1883, Lillie Logan, a daughter of Rev. Samuel Crothers Logan, D. D., of the First Presbyterian church, in Scranton. Dr. Logan was born December 21, 1823, at Hanover, Indiana, was graduated from Hanover college (of which his father, George Logan, was a founder) in the class of 1846, from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1850, and was licensed by the First Presbytery of New York the same year. He was a mis- sionary in Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan in 1850, took charge of the mission field centering around Constantine, Michigan, in December, 1850, and organized the church of Constantine with nine members, with a salary of $84 for the first year. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Lake in 1851. In 1854, by his efforts, the church at Constantine was completed, and he was installed pastor of the congregation, with from eight to twelve preaching places, at which churches were afterwards or- ganized. In May, 1857, he was pastor of the Fifth church of Cincinnati, which in two years paid off its debt of $11,000. In 1859 and 1860 he was called to Valparaiso, Ind., where he establishec. the Collegiate Institute, and cared for both church and school. Dr. Logan wrote the first paper in favor of the education of the freed- men that passed the assembly in 1864, and secured its passage at Newark. By this action the eastern and western committees on freedmen were appointed at Philadelphia and Indianapolis. He was secretary of the western committee, and sent the first mis- sionaries to Alabama, Kansas and Tennessee, in 1864. In 1865 he wrote the article consolidating the two committees into "The Assembly Committee on Freedmen," at Pittsburgh. He held the office of secretary for four years, and organized about forty churches and eighty schools, established Wallingford Academy, at
969
JOHN O'FLAHERTY.
Charleston, S. C., Biddle University, at Charlotte, N. C., and Scotia Seminary, at Concord, and with the help of the government raised and expended $71,000 in 1868. After supplying the First Pres- byterian church at Scranton for some months, Dr. Logan became its pastor in July, 1869, and continues in this relation at the pres- ent time. The wife of Dr. Logan is Lucy Loring, a native of Boston, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp have but one child-Alice Alden Knapp.
WILBUR F. LATHROP.
Wilbur F. Lathrop was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., March 18, 1875. He is the grandson of Spencer Lathrop, who was born in Connecticut in 1789, whose wife was Clara Tupper, who was born in New York in 1790. The father of W. F. Lathrop was Oliver Lathrop, who was born January 5, 1816, in Springville, Susquehanna county, Pa. The wife of Oliver La- throp was Amelia L. Ladd, a native of New Albany, Bradford county, Pa., where she was born October 10, 1819. She was the daughter of Charles W. Ladd, a native of Tolland county, Conn. He removed to Albany township, Bradford county, Pa., early in the century, and was the first postmaster of Albany, receiving his appointment in 1820. His wife was Philinda Alden, a native of Massachusetts, where she was born in 1795. W. F. Lathrop was born April 13, 1849, at Hillsdale, Michigan. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Susquehanna county, Pa., and at the state normal school at Mansfield, Pa. He read law with Lit- tles & Blakeslee, at Montrose, Pa., and was admitted to the bar of Susquehanna county November 11, 1872. Mr. Lathrop is an unmarried man and now resides at Carbondale, Pa.
JOHN O'FLAHERTY.
John O'Flaherty was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., September 6, 1875. He practiced for a time in this city and
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970
EDWARD C. DIMMICK.
removed from here to Texas. He subsequently returned north and located at Elmira, N. Y. He read law with E. L. Merri- man, in this city.
EUGENE C. MAPLEDORAM.
Eugene C. Mapledoram, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., September 11, 1875, is a native of Monticello, Sullivan county, N. Y. He studied law with James L. Stewart, in his native place, and with Matthews & Foley, New York city, where he was admitted to the bar September 17, 1874. He practiced law for a few years in Hazleton, in this county, but now practices in Kansas City, Mo. He is the son of George Maple- doram, and grandson of William Mapledoram. His maternal grandfather is William Adams. Mr. Mapledoram is an unmar- ried man.
EDWARD C. DIMMICK.
Edward C. Dimmick, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., September 17, 1875, is a descendant of Elder Thomas Dimmock (son of Edward Dimmock, of Barnstable, England), who was the first settler in this country and the common ancestor of all of the name in New England. In 1635 he was a resident of Dorchester, Mass., where he was a selectman that year, was a freeman May 25, 1636, removed to Hingham, Mass., in 1638, to Scituate, Mass., the next year, and in 1640 to Barnstable, Mass. Mr. Dimmock was the first representative from Barnstable, in 1640, and several times thereafter, and was ordained a ruling elder in the church August 7, 1650. Mr. Otis says : "The his- tory of Mr. Dimmock is identified with the early history of Barn- stable, and cannot be separated. He was the leading man and was in some way connected with all the acts of the first set- tlers. He was one of the assistant justices of the county court,
97
EDWARD C. DIMMICK.
one of the council of war, and lieutenant, the highest rank then known in the local militia. It is evident that Mr. Dimmock was held by the colony, the town and the church to be a man of integrity and ability." Mr. Otis further writes that "few of the first settlers lived a purer life than Elder Thomas Dimmock. He came over, not to amass wealth or acquire honor, but that he might worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and that he and his posterity might here enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty. The duties to his God, to his country, and to his neighbors he never forgot, or never knowingly violated." There is no record of the marriage of Elder Thomas Dimmock, but Mr. Otis thinks he married Ann Hammond, daughter of William Hammond, of Watertown, before he settled at Barnstable. He died in 1658.
Deacon Shubael Dimmuck was called ensign in the Barnstable records. Mr. Otis says of him that he "sustained the character and reputation of his father. In 1669 he was a resident of Yar- mouth, but did not remain long. In Barnstable he was much employed in town business. He was one of the selectmen in 1685-86, a deputy to the colony courts in the same years, and again in 1689 he was ensign of the militia company. About 1693 he removed to Mansfield, Conn., which was then a part of Wind- ham. The first mention made of him in the Windham records is December 22, 1697, when he was chosen first on the committee to aid the selectmen in setting the town boundaries. He was admitted an inhabitant of Windham the last named date and chosen one of the selectmen the same day. He was a member of the first Windham church, and afterwards a member of the first church of Mansfield, organized October 18, 1710, of which he was deacon. His name stands first in the list of inhabitants to whom the patent of the town was granted, October 20, 1703, and first after Rev. Mr. Williams in the list of the nine organized male members of the Mansfield church. He married Joanna Bursley, daughter of John Bursley, in 1663.
John Dimuck, son of Deacon Shubael Dimmuck, lived in Barnstable till 1709, when he removed to Falmouth. He married Elizabeth Lumbert in 1689. Timothy Dimock, son of John Dimuck, settled in Mansfield. He married Ann Bradford, daugh-
972
EDWARD C. DIMMICK.
ter of Joseph Bradford, a descendant of Governor Bradford of the Mayflower, August 15, 1723. Deacon Oliver Dimock, son of Timothy Dimock, lived in the parish of Mansfield. He was a deacon in the North Mansfield church and a very good man. He married Sarah Gurley, a daughter of Samuel Gurley, in April, 1764. Dan Dimmick, son of Deacon Oliver Dimock, was born March 1, 1775. Being not as successful in his first exertions for himself as he wished and probably expected, he left his native state and went first to reside in the state of New York, near the line of Pennsylvania. He came to Pennsylvania in the year 1800, and began the study of law at Milford, Pa., and after his admission to the bar practiced his profession at that place until his death, in February, 1825. During the whole course of his professional life he maintained a high stand among the lawyers of his day. Men like Mallery and Woodward, and others of their calibre, admitted his power and ability. Judge Mallery said of him that "he never knew a man so well calculated to impress a jury," and Judge Woodward always spoke in the highest terms of his suc- cess as an advocate. He was a leading politician, and repre- sented his district many years in the legislature of the state. He was devotedly attached to the principles of the democratic party -a faith in which all his children and his children's children have remained steadfast. He married Jane, daughter of J. J. Aerts, better known as Dr. Francis Smith, of Stroudsburg, Pa., of whom we find the following account in an original manuscript now in the possession of the Hollingshead family : "Having been frequently asked of what profession I was, and having as often declined answering to satisfy these persons, in a future day let them peruse the following lines-they contain, in short, the whole: I was born in Brussels, capital city of the Austrian Nether- land; my true name is Josephos Jacobus Aerts, son of Z. B. Aerts, Lord of Opdorp and Immerscele. I altered my name in the year 1771, when I proceeded to join the American army. I could not expect to travel through Europe (as I had to go through France) by that name without being exposed to being arrested by the despotism of either the Emperatrice, or that of the daughter, the Queen of France. I took the name of Smith, and my pass- ports both in England and France under it; also my commission
973
EDWARD C. DIMMICK.
from congress, &c. * Having been employed from my youth to a military life, but at the same time to the study of all nations and their histories, possessing the German, Low Dutch, French, English, Italian, Latin, and part of the Greek languages, the means of acquiring information were by their aid facilitated I took from the age of eighteen an extreme aversion to despotic and mechanical governments, which in part was the occasion of my being made a state prisoner and confied in irons in a dungeon for six months, when I made a lucky escape from the prison at Tomfels. I went into Holland, where I took service in order to be protected by the military. Colonel Maus, who commanded the regiment of the Prince of Milburg, was my friend, and pro- tected me until his death, when I traveled through the greater
part of Europe, until I was suffered to return to Brussels.
*
* *
Ever since 1777 I have lived in America. My parents died in the meanwhile, and, as a rebel, disinherited me. My brother, James Henricus Aerts, Lord of Boom and Opdorp, invaded my patrimony, which I think ought to amount to one hundred thou- sand florins, if not more. The French republic, I hope, will keep the Netherlands, and do justice to my children without distinc- tion, on an equal basis. My reasons for acting as I have done are best known to myself."
Milton Dimmick, son of Dan Dimmick, was born in Milford June 26, 1816, and died at that place April 3, 1851. After re- ceiving an excellent education, he read law and was admitted to the bar of his native county at the age of twenty-one years, and continued in full and active practice to the year of his death. He married, in 1842, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Edward Allen, a Presbyterian clergyman.
Edward C. Dimmick, son of Milton Dimmick, was born at Milford February 2, 1844. He was educated at Honesdale, and subsequently under the tutorship of his grandfather, Rev. Edward Allen. In 1862 he entered the law office of his uncle, M. M. Dimmick, at Mauch Chunk, and was admitted to the bar of Car- bon county in 1865. In 1868 he was elected district attorney of Car- bon county, and reelected in 1871. In 1873 he was the demo- cratic candidate for the legislature in the district composed of the counties of Carbon and Monroe, but was defeated. In 1874 he
974
EDWARD C. DIMMICK.
removed to Scranton, Pa., where he now resides. In 1883 he was elected city controller of Scranton, and was reelected in 1885, serving until 1887. He married, December 1, 1868, Irene Sophie, daughter of Alexis I. and Joanna du Pont de Nemours. She died April 1, 1877. He married, March 8, 1880, Joanna M., a sister of his first wife. Mr. Dimmick has three children living -Lavinia Elizabeth Dimmick, Dorothy Dimmick, and Milton Dimmick.
Alexis I. du Pont de Nemours was the son of Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont, and member of the firm of E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co. He married Joanna, daughter of Francis Gurney Smith. He was a man of distinguished virtues, and built and presented to the congregation the large and beautiful church of St. John's, in Wilmington, Delaware. He died August 22, 1857. Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont, father of Alexis I. Du Pont de Nemours, and founder of the immense "powder works" on the Brandywine, was born in Paris, France, June 24, 1771. Simple in his habits, gen- erous and ardent in his impulses, he united great energy of pur- pose and untiring industry with a warm and benovolent heart. In his early youth he was the pupil of the eminent chemist, La- voisier, an intimate friend of his father, Du Pont de Nemours. Lavoisier, at that time, was superintendent of the royal manufac- tories and depots of powder and saltpetre (Regie royale des pou- dres et salpetres), and at the mills at Essonne Irenee Du Pont acquired a thorough knowledge of the manufacture of gunpow- der. The events of the French revolution having put an end to his career under Lavoisier and involved him and his family in political trouble, they emigrated to the United States at the close of the eighteenth century, arriving in Newport, R. I., on the first of January, 1800. Some months later an accidental circum- stance called Irenee Du Pont's attention to the bad quality of the gunpowder made in the land of his adoption, and gave him the first idea of establishing a set of works for its manufacture, a project deemed by many as little short of madness, so great was the repu- tation of the powder imported from England. Having decided upon the enterprise he went back to France in 1801, revisited Essonne to acquaint himself with the various improvements in powder man- ufacture which had been made since he left the place, returning
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