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 42
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975
EDWARD C. DIMMICK.
to this country in August, well supplied with plans and models and bringing with him some of the machinery for his future mills. In the following year (1802) these were established on the banks of the Brandywine creek, four miles from Wilmington. After many disappointments and losses his energy and courage sur- mounted every obstacle, and at the time of his death by cholera, October 31, 1834, while temporarily in Philadelphia, his powder mills were the most extensive in the United States. Since then the immense business has been ably managed by his sons and grandsons, who retain the old firm name. The works are now the largest of their kind in the world. In addition to the build- ings devoted to the manufacture and storage of gunpowder, they embrace a saltpetre refinery and laboratory attached, charcoal - houses, machine shops, carpenter and blacksmith shops, planing and saw mills. The firm owns over two thousand acres of land, that stretch forth three miles along both sides of the Brandywine, and on which are located three woolen mills, a cotton mill, flour mill, etc., giving employment to upwards of five hundred opera- tives. There are good roads, substantial bridges, mostly of stone, and in fact no money has been spared to make the estate a model one in every respect. The high reputation permanently main- tained by Du Pont's powder is due to the care bestowed upon its manufacture, and to the constant personal supervision main- tained over all the processes and character of materials. The quantity of saltpetre and nitrate of soda annually consumed here is enormous, amounting to over eight million pounds, imported mostly from India and South America. The firm take especial pains to have a thoroughly pure and reliable quality of saltpetre used in their powder, and consequently have devised the most rigid tests. All descriptions of powder for military and naval purposes are made at the works, such as hexagonal, prismatic, cannon, musket, rifle, mortar and pistol. In this connection it may be noted that the firm supplied all the powder used in recent experiments with heavy cannon, including those made with the Haskell multicharge gun. It also manufactures diamond grain, eagle, chokebore, and the various grades of canister and rifle pow- der, as well as shipping, blasting, mining and fuse powders. The firm own a large depot at San Francisco for the requirements of
976
NATHANIEL MARION ORR.
the Pacific states, and have agencies through South and Central America, and elsewhere. During the Crimean war the allied forces, to enable them to prosecute the siege of Sebastopol, were obliged to procure large supplies of gunpowder from the United States, one-half of which was furnished by the Du Pont mills, and the American powder compared very favorably with the best that could be made in Europe. Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont de Nemours was the youngest son of Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, a French statesman and economist, and Nicole Char- lotte Marie Louise Le Dee de Rencourt, his wife. (See page 891.)
NATHANIEL MARION ORR.'
Nathaniel Marion Orr was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., September 23, 1875. His great-grandfather, Joseph Orr, emigrated from the north of Ireland in the latter part of the last century, and settled in the state of New Jersey. He subse- quently removed to this city, and in 1809 he purchased of Gen- eral Ross over two hundred and fifty acres of land in the then Wilkes-Barre township, and which comprised the General Stur- devant and Alexander McLean farms, in the fifteenth ward of this city. His second wife was Elizabeth, a daughter of Abraham Johnson, of Kingston township. John Johnson, who was treas- urer of Luzerne county in 1846 and 1847, was a nephew of Abraham Johnson. The Johnsons were from Johnsonburg, now in Warren county, N. J. This village was once the county seat of Sussex county, and the first court was held there in 1753. Joseph Orr subsequently removed to Exeter township and bought a farm upon which the town of West Pittston now stands. He afterwards removed to Dallas, where he died. He was a soldier in the revolutionary war. Joseph Orr, son of Joseph Orr by his second wife, resided in Dallas and Kingston township nearly all his lifetime. He married Mary Tuttle, daughter of John Tuttle, who was a son of Henry Tuttle, of Baskingridge, New Jersey. (See page 461). The mother of Mrs. Orr was Mary, daugh- ter of Thomas Bennett, of Forty Fort. (See page 631). Albert
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977
NATHANIEL MARION ORR.
Skeer Orr, son of Joseph Orr, was born in Wyoming, and now resides in this city. He was postmaster of this city under Pres- ident Arthur. During the late civil war he was sutler of the Fifty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was also connected with the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers and Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers. He was also a wholesale dealer to supply other sutlers, and was purveyor at General Hancock's headquarters. His wife is Priscilla, daugh- ter of John Worden, of Dallas. According to tradition, Sam- uel Worden, Peter Worden and Joseph Worden, brothers from England, settled near New York, about 1760. At the dawn of the revolutionary war Peter Worden and Joseph Worden went to Nova Scotia. Samuel Worden, a blacksmith, espoused the whig cause, left his home near New York, enlisted and served in the forces which, under Sullivan, chastised the In- dians after the Wyoming battle and massacre. Retiring down the river, he died at Sunbury, Pa. He had a son, Nathaniel Worden, a mason, who married Lena, a daughter of Conrad Line, who was of German descent. Mr. Line was born in New Jersey in 1731, and came to Hanover (Nanticoke) before the rev- olutionary war, and died there in 1815. Nathaniel Worden was a taxable in Hanover in 1796. John Worden, son of Nathaniel Worden, was the father of Mrs. Orr. John H. Worden and Charles W. Worden, brothers of Mrs. Orr, gave their lives on the federal side during the late civil war, and are buried in the same grave in Dallas. N. M. Orr, son of A. S. Orr, was born December 12, 1851, at Dallas. He was educated at Wyoming Seminary and Lafayette college, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1874, and read law in this city under Henry M. Hoyt. He practiced in this city a short time, when he removed to Allen- town, Pa. In 1876 he was the republican candidate for state senator of Lehigh county, Pa., but was defeated by Evan Hol- ben (democrat). He subsequently removed to this county, and in 1878 he removed to McKean county, Pa. He is now prac- ticing his profession at Kane, in the latter named county. Mr. Orr is an unmarried man. George M. Orr, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county June 6, 1887, is a brother of N. M. Orr.
1
978
THOMAS FENIMORE WELLS.
HERBERT H. COSTON.
Herbert H. Coston, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., October 4, 1875, is a native of Honesdale, Pa., where he was born June 9, 1849. He is the son of S. B. Coston, of Scran- ton, Pa., and grandson of Benton P. Coston. His mother is Elizabeth Hull, the daughter of William Hull. The Hull family are from Connecticut. H. H. Coston was educated at the Wyo- ming Seminary and Wesleyan University, and read law with Alfred Hand and Isaac J. Post, at Scranton. He is the official stenographer of the courts of Lackawanna and Sullivan coun- ties. Mr. Coston married, August 15, 1885, Addie Belle Pinney. She is the daughter of S. B. Pinney, from Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Coston have one child-Carl Herbert Coston.
THOMAS FENIMORE WELLS.
Thomas Fenimore Wells, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., October 4, 1875, is a descendant of John W. Wells, a native of the state of New York, whose parents were born in Philadelphia. The Wells family were originally from England, and John W. Wells, above named, was one of the earliest settlers in Susquehanna county, Pa. Corydon H. Wells was the son of John W. Wells. The wife of C. H. Wells was Mary G. Bass, a daughter of Thomas H. Bass, and granddaughter of Joseph Bass, who emigrated from Windham county, Conn., to Lebanon town- ship, Wayne county, Pa., where he settled in 1814. His wife was a sister of David Gager, from the same place in Connecticut, and who settled in the township at the same time. Thomas F. Wells, son of C. H. Wells, was born in Dundaff, Pa, September 17, 1853. He was educated in the public schools of Scranton and at Lafayette college, Easton, Pa. He studied law with Hand & Post, in Scranton, where he now resides. He is at present pres-
979
LEMUEL AMERMAN.
ident of the board of the Scranton city assessors. This is the only office that he ever held. He married, May 31, 1876, E. Louise Jenkins. Her father is William Jenkins, from central New York, where his ancestors were early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Wells have a family of two children-Anna Wells and Harold J. Wells.
LEMUEL AMERMAN.
Lemuel Amerman was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., December 24, 1875. His great-great-great-grand- - father, who resided near Amsterdam, Holland, came over with the Dutch colonists and settled in New York. His great-grand- father, Albert Amerman, came from New Jersey, and settled in Northumberland county, Pa., in 1800, where he bought a tract of land and remained his lifetime, dying in 1821. He served in the war of the revolution. He was a farmer previous to the war, and when the war broke out he gave up his horses, cattle and stock of all kind, a sacrifice upon the altar of his country's lib- erty. He lost his knee cap at the battle of Monmouth. Henry Amerman, son of Albert Amerman, was a native of New Jer- sey, and was a small boy when his father removed to Northumber- land county. His wife was Susanna Cook, a native of Mont- gomery county, Pa. Jesse C. Amerman, son of Henry Am- erman, is a resident of Cooper township, Montour county, Pa., where he is engaged in merchandizing and farming. In 1873 and 1874 he represented Montour county in the legislature of the state. Mr. Amerman married, December 2, 1845, Caroline Strohm, a daughter of Abraham Strohm. Mrs. Amerman died April 19, 1869. Lemuel Amerman, son of Jesse C. Amerman, was born near Danville, Pa., October 29, 1846. He was born and brought up on a farm and for a time worked on the re- pairs of the canal. He was educated in the public schools, in the Danville academy, and at Bucknell university, Lewisburg, Pa., graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1870. He taught in the public schools three years. For three years
980
LEONIDAS CAMPBELL KINSEY.
he was professor of languages and literature in the State Nor- mal School at Mansfield, Pa. Mr. Amerman read law with Lewis C. Cassidy, in Philadelphia, and soon after his admission to the bar of Philadelphia county removed to Scranton, where he has since resided. From 1878 to 1881 he was county solici- tor of Lackawanna county, and from 1881 to 1883 he repre- sented the city of Scranton in the legislature of the state. In 1886 he was appointed by Governor Pattison reporter of the Su- preme Court, and volumes III to 115, both inclusive, of the Penn- sylvania state reports, bear his name. In 1887 he was elected controller of the city of Scranton, which office he held for two years. Mr. Amerman married, September 24, 1879, in Philadel- phia, Susan Wallaze, daughter of Laurens Wallaze. The Wal- laze family were from Virginia. Mrs. Amerman died four months after marriage. Mr. Amerman married a second time, June 6, 1883, Mary C. Van Nort, a daughter of Charles F. Van Nort, of Scranton, formerly of Abington. His second wife died Febru- ary 14, 1886. Mr. Amerman is a democrat in politics and a Baptist in his religious views. For seven years he was superin- tendent of the Penn Avenue Baptist Sunday school in Scranton. He has two children.
LEONIDAS CAMPBELL KINSEY.
Leonidas Campbell Kinsey was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 10, 1876. His father was John Kinsey and his grandfather was Joshua Kinsey. The latter came from Bucks county, Pa., at an early day, and settled near Berwick, in Luzerne county. The maternal ancestor of L. C. Kinsey was Mary P. Campbell, daughter of James Campbell, who was Scotch-Irish, and belonged to that indomitable race of early American settlers which played so prominent a part in the early history of the state. L. C. Kinsey was born at Beach Haven, Luzerne county, Pa., June 30, 1844, and when about a year old removed with his father's family to Montgomery Station, Lycoming county, Pa. He remained there until he was eighteen years of age. He attended
98 1
EDWARD I. McCOY.
the common schools of his neighborhood in the winter time and assisted in his father's store in the summer time. In 1862 he learned telegraphy, and was in August of that year appointed operator at Troy, Pa., on the Northern Central Railway. He afterwards served that company in like capacity at Elmira, N. Y., and Ralston, Pa. In the spring of 1865 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company on eastern division of Phila- delphia & Erie Railway at Williamsport, Pa., where he was pro- moted during the summer to telegraphic train dispatcher, and soon after to superintendent of telegraphy of the eastern division of the Philadelphia and Erie Railway; in the meantime engaging in the lumber business, which after a year or two absorbed his entire time. Disposing of this he engaged with the Oil Creek and Alle -- gheny River Railroad Company and removed to Corry, Pa., in 1869, where he was employed in various capacities; among others, clerk to the general superintendent of that road until 1873, when he entered the civil service of the United States at Washington, in the treasury department, remaining there a little over a year, when he came to Wilkes-Barre and studied law under Hon. D. L. Rhone, his brother-in-law. He practiced law in this city until ยท early in the year 1880, when he became absorbed in the introduc- tion of Bell's Electric Telephone, and was for the next three years busily engaged in founding the present system of telephone exchanges in Luzerne county. In July, 1882, the Luzerne county telephone interests were consolidated with the Scranton company by sale, and he removed to Montgomery Station, the scene of his childhood, where he still resides, employed in farm- ing, merchandizing and in looking after the telephone interests which he still retains. Mr. Kinsey was the first man to intro- duce the telephone in Wilkes-Barre on a commercial basis. The exchange was opened for business in this city February 1, 1880. Mr. Kinsey is an unmarried man.
EDWARD I. McCOY.
Edward I. McCoy, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 10, 1876, is a grandson of Rev. Robert McCoy,
982
GEORGE F. BENTLEY.
of the Methodist Episcopal church, whose son, Joseph McCoy, a native of Bucks county, Pa., was the father of E. I. McCoy. The wife of Joseph McCoy, and the mother of the subject of our sketch, was Eliza Swope, a native of Hollidaysburg, Pa., the daughter of John Swope. E. I. McCoy was born January 10, 1847, at Huntingdon, Pa., and was educated at Franklin and Marshal College, Lancaster, Pa., graduating in 1874. He read law with Brown and Bailey in his native town. In August, 1877, he removed from this city to Tipton, Cedar county, Iowa, where he has since resided. He is now the prosecuting attorney of Cedar county. Mr. McCoy married, October 23, 1879, Mary E. Moreland, a native of Somerset county, Pa., and the daughter of David Moreland, who removed to Tipton in 1853. His first wife dying, Mr. McCoy married a second time, October 30, 1888, Maria M. Cheeny, of Topeka, Kansas. She is the daughter of Rev. Robert Cheeny, of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. McCoy was born in Mechanicsburg, Champaign county, Ohio. In 1868 her father removed to Kansas, where she has resided since. Mr. McCoy has one child-Susan McCoy.
GEORGE F. BENTLEY.
George F. Bentley, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county Pa., April 17, 1876, is a native of Montrose, Pa., where he was born April 4, 1850. His grandfather, Stephen Bentley, was a native of Newport, R. I. His father, George V. Bentley, was a native of Cairo, Greene county, N. Y., where he was born April 13, 1813, and removed with his parents to Susquehanna county, Pa., when but an infant. The mother of George F. Bentley, and the wife of George V. Bentley, was Catharine Cochran Sayre, a daughter of Benjamin Sayre, a native of Southampton, L. I., who removed to Montrose in 1816, from Cairo, N. Y., where he married Priscilla, a native of Say Brook, Conn., daughter of Deacon Benjamin Chapman. She was a descendant of Robert Chapman. Mrs. Sayre was the oldest child of Benjamin Chap- man and his wife, widow Lydia Cochran. Her sister Catharine
983
HENRY HARDING.
was the wife of Ezra Hand. (See page 875). The same year Mr. Sayre started a store in Montrose, and in 1819 he erected a dwelling house, where for several years he kept the "Washington Hotel." In 1832 he converted his hotel into a temperance hotel, where "a variety of wholesome and refreshing drinks will be kept as a substitute for ardent spirits." Afterwards it was his private residence until it was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1851. He was a member of the first board of trustees of the Congregational church of Montrose, and when in 1823 it was resolved to adopt the Presbyterian form of government, he was elected one of the ruling elders. He was a descendant of Thomas Sayre, a native of Bedfordshire, England, who emigrated to Southampton in 1640. There he purchased a farm which has been in the Sayre family ever since. George F. Bentley was educated at Yale College, and graduated therefrom in the class of 1873. He read law with W. H. Jessup, at Montrose. He has practiced in Scranton, Philadelphia, and now has an office in New York. He is an unmarried man.
HENRY HARDING.
Henry Harding, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., June 12, 1876, is a descendant of Captain Stephen Harding, whose son, Elisha Harding, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. (See pages 618 and 668.) Elisha Harding, jr., son of Elisha Harding, was born in Eaton, Luzerne (now Wyo- ming) county, Pa., in 1790. He married (first) Amy Jenkins, and his second wife was Nancy Jackson, daughter of Nathan Jackson, M. D., who came from Vermont in 1797, and settled on the mountain between Tunkhannock and Osterhouts. His wife was Unity Willard. He died at the old homestead in Tunkhannock township April 30, 1853. Hon. John Jackson, of Tunkhannock township, Wyoming county, is his youngest son. From 1848 to 1851 he was sheriff of Wyoming county, and in 1876 he was a member of the Pennsylvania house of respresentatives. Elisha Harding, jr., was a justice of the peace for thirty years,
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984
SAMUEL MATTHIAS RHONE.
and he may be said to have practically filled all of the offices and managed all of the public business of the town. He acted as general conveyancer and legal. adviser for his townsmen. Henry Harding, son of Elisha Harding, jr., was born in Eaton November 4, 1848. He enlisted in the United States navy at the age of sixteen years, and served in the North Atlantic squadron. In June, 1865, he became one of the crew of the " Colorado," under Admiral Gouldsborough, served two years in Europe and the Meditteranean and secured his discharge in 1868. Mr. Hard- ing was educated in the public schools of his native township and at Tunkhannock, and read law with John A. Sittser, now presi- dent judge of Wyoming county, Pa., and was admitted to the Wyoming county bar in 1874. He has practiced in this city and in Tunkhannock, where he now resides. He has been a justice of the peace, burgess of Tunkhannock, councilman, overseer of the poor, and for six years a school director, the last four years as president of the board, which office he now holds. He was for some years the law partner of Judge Sittser, Mr. Harding married, November 6, 1872, Mary Ace, a daughter of Joseph Ace, and granddaughter of Peter Ace, who removed to Wyoming county from Pike county, Pa., in 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Harding have one child-Stanley Harding.
SAMUEL MATTHIAS RHONE.
Samuel Matthias Rhone was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., November 20, 1876. He is a son of the late George Rhone, and a brother of Hon. D. L. Rhone, of this city. (Sec page 170). S. M. Rhone was born in Huntington township, in this county, September 25, 1851. He was educated in the com- mon schools of his native township, at the New Columbus (Pa.) Academy, and Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pa., and read law with E. S. Osborne in this city. He now resides at Montgomery Sta- tion, Lycoming county, Pa., and is at present a township auditor.
985
JAMES HUMPHREY TORREY.
He married, May 2, 1877, Amanda Waltman, a granddaughter of William Waltman, who resided near Bethlehem, Pa., and daughter of Henry Waltman. Mr. and Mrs. Rhone have a family of two children-Cecilia Edna and Mary Alena Rhone.
JAMES HUMPHREY TORREY.
James Humphrey Torrey, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., November 20, 1876, was born June 16, 1851, at Delhi, Delaware county, New York. His father, Rev. David Torrey, D. D., was the youngest of the eleven children of Major Jason Torrey, who removed with his family from Williamstown, Mass., in 1794 and settled in the wilderness of northeastern Penn- sylvania, becoming one of the founders of Bethany and Hones- dale, and one of the prominent promoters and organizers of Wayne county. Major Torrey was lineally descended in the tenth generation from William Torrey, who emigrated from Combe, St. Nicholas, England, about 1640 and settled in Weymouth, Mass. Being by profession a surveyor and land agent, and rep- resenting the Philadelphia owners of large tracts in Wayne, Sus- quehanna, Wyoming and Luzerne counties, he was intimately as- sociated with the settlement, growth and development of this section of the state. The struggles and hardships of the early settlers are graphically described in a memoir of Major Torrey, written by his son, Dr. David Torrey, and published in 1885 by J. S. Horton, Scranton. He erected in 1801 the second house in Bethany, then the county seat of Wayne county, Pa. He re- moved to Honesdale, Pa., in 1826, and built the first house that was erected in that place. Among the children of Jason Torrey who remained in this part of the state and who, with their de- scendants, have exerted no little influence in molding its life and contributing to its progress, are Hon. John Torrey, of Honesdale, who married a sister of the late H. M. Fuller, of Wilkes-Barre; Rev. Stephen Torrey, of Honesdale, for many years surveyor and real estate agent of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company; Mrs. Colonel Richard L. Seeley, of Honesdale, mother of the
986
JAMES HUMPHREY TORREY.
present president judge of that district, Hon. H. M. Seeley ; and Mrs. Elija Weston, mother of E. W. Weston, Esq., of Scranton.
Rev. D. Torrey, D. D., the father of the subject of this sketch, is a graduate of Amherst College and Union Theological Seminary. and has been settled successively as pastor of Presbyterian churches in the following places : Delhi, N. Y., Ithaca, N. Y., Ann Arbor, Mich., and Cazenovia, N. Y., where he now re- sides, having retired from the active labors of the ministry. He was married in 1848 to Mary E. Humphrey, of Amherst, Mass., a daughter of Rev. Heman Humphrey, D. D., LL. D., presi- dent of Amherst College. Dr. Humphrey was lineally descended in the sixth generation from Michael Humphrey, who before 1643 emigrated from England to Windsor, Conn. Mrs. Torrey's mother was Sophia Porter, who was a sister of Dr. Noah Porter, of Farmington, Conn., who was the father of the distinguished metaphysician, Dr. Noah Porter, president of Yale University. Mrs. Torrey died at Ann Arbor, Mich., April 8, 1867, having borne to Dr. Torrey two children, both of whom still survive, name- ly, Sarah M., who was married in 1873 to W. D. Wells, a mer- chant of Cazenovia, N. Y., and James H. Torrey, the subject of this sketch. James H. Torrey was educated in the high schools of Ann Arbor and of Northampton, Mass., and entered the class of 1873 in Amherst College. He left college during his junior year and did not. graduate with his class; but he has since received from the college the honorary degree of A. M. After leaving college Mr. Torrey began the study of the law, January 10, 1872, in the office of Willard & Royce, in Scranton, Pa. After six months study in this office he entered the employ of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, at first as a member of an engineer corps and later as weighmaster at the mines, the latter position being preferred as furnishing the more leisure and better facilities for his law studies, which were prosecuted with such de- votion as the demands of business permitted. Mr. Torrey mar- ried, December 10, 1872, Ella C. Jay, daughter of Douglas H. Jay, of Scranton. Mr. Jay is a great-grandson of -- Jay, who was a brother of John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, and a grandson of Joseph Jay, of New Bruns- wick, N. J., who distinguished himself among the many disinter-
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