USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Families of the Wyoming Valley: biographical, genealogical and historical. Sketches of the bench and bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, vol. III > Part 2
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1046
MATTHIAS HOLLENBACK.
position he held during the remainder of Washington's adminis- tration, and for more than three years under President Adams, who removed him from office May 12, ISoo. He now retired to his wild lands in Harmony township, Luzerne (now Susque- hanna) county, with the intention of bringing a portion of them into cultivation, but his friends in Massachusetts joined in the purchase of a large proportion of his lands in order to enable and induce him to return to his native state. In ISor he re- moved to Massachusetts and subsequently purchased a farm in Wenham, near Salem. In ISO2 he was appointed chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Essex. In 1803 he was elected a senator in congress for the residue of the term of Dwight Foster, who had resigned, and in 1805 he was re- elected for the term of six years. After the commencement of hostilities against Great Brittain in 1812, he was appointed a member of the Massachusetts board of war. From 1813 to 1817 he was a member of the United States house of representatives. In politics he was a federalist, and ardently opposed to some of the leading measures of the administrations of Jefferson and Madison. In religion he was a Unitarian. He married, April 8, 1776, Rebecca White, who was born in Bristol, England, July 18, 1754. For the main facts connected with the life of Colonel Pickering we are indebted to Appleton's American Cyclopedia. Colonel Pickering died in Salem January 29, 1829.
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MATTHIAS HOLLENBACK.
Matthias Hollenback was appointed a justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa., May II, 1787. He was also appointed, August 17, 1791, one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas under the constitution of 1790. For a sketch of his life see article headed Harrison Wright.
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IO47
OBADIAH GORE.
WILLIAM HOOKER SMITH.
William Hooker Smith was appointed a justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa, May II, 1787. (See . page 219).
BENJAMIN CARPENTER. .
Benjamin Carpenter was appointed a justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa., May 11, 1787. He rep- resented Luzerne county in the legislature of the state in 1794. One of his daughters became the first wife of Jacob Bedford, and another was the wife of Lazarus Denison. He came to Wyom- ing from Orange county, N. Y., and subsequently removed to Sunbury, Delaware county, Ohio, where he became an asso- ciate judge.
JAMES NESBITT.
James Nesbitt was appointed a justice of the Court of Com- mon Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa., May II, 1787. For a sketch of his life see page 507. 1
OBADIAH GORE.
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Obadiah Gore was appointed a justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa., May II, 1787. He was also ap- pointed, August 17, 1791, one of the judges of the Court of Com- mon Pleas under the constitution of 1790. For a sketch of his life see page 435.
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NATHAN KINGSLEY.
NATHAN KINGSLEY.
Nathan Kingsley, who was appointed one of the justices of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa., May 11, 1787, was the oldest son of Salmon Kingsley .. He was born in Scot- land, Windham county, Conn., January 23, 1743. He came to Wyoming about 1772 or 1773, and was one of the original pro- prietors of Springfield, Luzerne (now Bradford) county, Pa. On August 8, 1776, he was appointed one of the committee of in- spection of the county of Westmoreland. About the latter part of the year 1777 he was captured by the Indians and remained a prisoner nearly a year. While in captivity he secured the friend- ship and confidence of the Indians by his skill in doctoring their horses. He was in consequence allowed considerable liberty, and permitted to go into the woods to gather herbs and roots for his medicines. Seizing a favorable opportunity he made his escape and reached Wyoming in safety. During his captivity his family found a home with Jonathan Slocum, of Wilkes-Barre. Here his son, Nathan, was killed and another son carried into capti- vity by the Indians. Mr. Miner gives the account as follows : "A respectable neighbor, Nathan Kingsley, had been made pris- oner, and taken into the Indian country, leaving his wife and two sons to the charity of the neighbors. Taking them home, Mr. Slocum bade them welcome until Mr. Kingsley should be liber- ated or some other mode of subsistence present. On November 2, 1778, the two boys being engaged in grinding a knife, a rifle shot and cry of distress brought Mrs. Slocum to the door, where she beheld an Indian scalping Nathan, the eldest lad, with the knife he had been sharpening. Waving her back with his hand he entered the house and took up Ebenezer Slocum, a little boy. The mother stepped up to the savage, and reaching for the child, said : 'He can do you no good ; see, he is lame.'" As a matter of fact, Ebenezer Slocum may have been lame at that time, but never afterwards. He settled in what is now Scranton, and from him and his brother, Benjamin Slocum, the place took its name
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NATHAN KINGSLEY.
of Slocum Hollow. "With a grim smile the Indian gave up the boy and took Francis, her daughter, aged about five years, gently in his arms, and seizing the younger Kingsley by the hand, hur- ried away to the mountains, two savages who were with him taking a black girl, seventeen years old. This was within one hundred rods of Wilkes-Barre fort. An alarm was instantly given, but the Indians eluded pursuit and no trace of their re- treat could be found." (See page 340). At the close of the war Mr. Kingsley returned to his old home in Wyalusing. His wife and one son, Wareham, had survived the perils of the war, and now he enjoyed a few years of quiet and comfort. He resigned his justiceship in a letter dated January 14, 1790, addressed to the president of the supreme executive council, as follows :
"Nathan Kingsley, of the county of Luzerne, commissioned one of the judges of the Court of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas, for the county aforesaid, finding it impracticable many times by reason of high water to attend courts and living sixty miles from the county town, joined to the smallness of the fees allowed him in this behalf, is obliged, from necessity, to inform council that he cannot, in future, serve in his aforementioned capacity. Were his abode nearer than what it is at present to the county town, he would not think of resigning his office, but would con- tinue in it with pleasure and satisfaction. The fall and spring sessions happen at a time when the waters are high, and of con- sequence, make his travelling not only expensive but very diffi- cult and dangerous. The time of attending, coming to and re- turning from courts takes up so considerable a part of the sea- sons of summer and fall that he is obliged to neglect his agri- cultural pursuits to the singular injury of this interest. From these considerations he desires council to accept his resignation and take such other order in directing the choice of another judge in his district as to them shall seem meet."
NATHAN KINGSLEY.
His resignation was accepted February 1, 1790. Mr. Kings- ley is described as a large, tall man, of more than ordinary in- telligence, deeply interested in the prosperity of the community and the development of the country. . He died in the state of Ohio in 1822. Prof. James L. Kingsley, of Yale College, was his nephew.
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EBENEZER BOWMAN.
ROSEWELL WELLES.
Rosewell Welles, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., May 27, 1787, was the son of Captain Jonathan Welles, of Glastonbury, Conn., who was of the fifth generation from Governor Thomas Welles, of Connecticut. The wife of Captain Jonathan Welles was Catharine, daughter of Captain Roswell Saltonstall, of Bradford, Conn., the eldest son of Gov- ernor Saltonstall, of Connecticut. Rosewell Welles was born at Glastonbury, August 20, 1761. . It is said that he graduated from Yale College in 1784. He emigrated to Wilkes-Barre in 1786. On April 26, 1793, he was appointed one of the judges of Luzerne county. About 1800 he commanded a regiment of Pennsylvania militia. From 1807 to 1810 he was one of the trustees of the Wilkes-Barre Academy. On December 14, 1820, he was ap- pointed by Governor Findlay a justice of the peace for the borough and township of Wilkes-Barre, and part of the town- ship of Covington. His wife was Hannah, eldest daughter of Colonel Zebulon Butler. Mr. Welles died in Wilkes-Barre March 19, 1830. For further facts concerning the history and ancestry of Rosewell Welles see pages 119 and 660.
EBENEZER BOWMAN.
Ebenezer Bowman is the first name on the list of lawyers ad- mitted at the first session of the courts of Luzerne county, Pa., May 27, 1787. He was a descendant of Nathaniel Bowman, who is on the earliest list of proprietors (February, 1636-7) "then in- habiting" Watertown, Massachusetts. He moved from there to Cambridge Farms, Lexington, where he died January 26, 1681. Francis Bowman, son of Ebenezer Bowman, was admitted a free- man in 1652, and on September 26, 1661, married Martha Sher- man, a daughter of Captain John Sherman, who was born in Dedham, county of Essex, England, in 1613, came to America
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PUTNAM CATLIN.
in 1634, admitted freeman May 17, 1637, a land surveyor, se- lectman very many times from 1637 to 1680, town clerk 1648, and afterwards representative 1651, 1653, 1663. He was chosen ensign 1654, and was steward of Harvard College 1662. Captain Joseph Bowman, son of Francis Bowman, was a justice of the peace of Lexington. He died April 8, 1762, aged eighty-eight years. Captain Thaddeus Bowman, son of Captain Joseph Bow- man, was born September 2, 1712, at Lexington. He married, February 8, 1753, his second wife, Sybil Woolson, then of Lex- ington, widow of Isaac Woolson, of Weston. Her maiden name was Rooper, and it is probable that she was a daughter of Ephraim and Sybil Rooper, or Roper, of Sudbury. He died in New Braintree May 26, 1806. Ebenezer Bowman, tenth child of Captain Thaddeus Bowman, was born July 3, 1757. He gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1782. He was in the battles of Lex- ington and Bunker Hill. He studied law with Samuel Sitgreaves, at Easton, Pa., and settled in Wilkes-Barre about 1789. He mar- ried, in New York, November 10, 1796, Esther Ann Watson, who was born in Ireland. He died March 1, 1829, and his widow died July 21, 1848. Ebenezer Bowman was one of the trustees of the Wilkes-Barre Academy from 1807 until his death, and for five years was president of the board. He represented Luzerne county in the legislature of the state in 1793.
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PUTNAM CATLIN.
Putnam Catlin, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., May 27, 1787, was a descendant of Thomas Catlin, a native of Wales, who was a resident of Hartford, Conn., as early as 1644. He had a son John Catlin, who had a son Samuel Catlin, who had a son John Catlin. Eli Catlin, son of John Catlin, was the father of Putnam Catlin. Eli Catlin enlisted in the revolu- tionary war as lieutenant in the Second Connecticut Regiment in January, 1777, coming out as captain. Captain Catlin came to Pennsylvania from Connecticut probably in 1789. He died at
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ABRAHAM BRADLEY.
Hopbottom, Susquehanna county, Pa., March 13, 1820. His wife, Elizabeth Catlin (nce Way), mother of Putnam Catlin, died April 4, 1796, and is buried at Litchfield, Conn. Putnam Catlin was born at Litchfield April 5, 1764. At the time his father, Eli Catlin, entered the service of the colonies, Putnam Catlin en- listed with him in the same company and regiment. He served until June 9, 1783. He was fife major of his regiment, and re- ceived a "badge of merit." He read law with Uriah Tracy, at Litchfield, in the years from 1783 to 1786, and was admitted to the bar the latter year. He removed to Pennsylvania in the spring of 1787, settling in Wilkes-Barre, and in 1789 he married Polly Sutton, daughter of James and Sarah Sutton. (See page 213.) In consequence of failing health, a result of arduous ser- vices at the bar, Mr. Catlin removed with his family from Wilkes- Barre, in 1797, to a farm in Ona-qua-gua valley, now Windsor, Broome county, N. Y., about fifty miles from this city. Here he lived until 1808, when he sold his farm and bought one at Hop- bottom. In 1813 the Hopbottom post office was established, with Putnam Catlin as postmaster. Here he remained until 1818, when he removed to Montrose, Pa. After residing until 1821 at Montrose,' he removed to a farm at Great Bend, Pa., where he died in 1842. Mrs. Catlin died at Delta, Oneida county, N. Y., July 15, 1844.
ABRAHAM BRADLEY.
Abraham Bradley, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., September 2, 1788, was a descendent of Stephen Bradley, who emigrated from England about 1660, and settled in Guilford, Conn., where he died, June 20, 1702, aged about sixty years. Abraham Bradley, son of Stephen Bradley, was born in Guilford May 13, 1675, and died April 20, 1721. His wife was Jane Leaming. Abraham Bradley, son of Abraham Bradley, was born July 26, 1702, graduated at Yale College, and died in . 1771. His wife was Reliance Stone. Abraham Bradley, son of
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1053
ABRAHAM BRADLEY.
Abraham Bradley, was born in Guilford December 11, 1731. In 1763 he married Hannah Baldwin, of Litchfield, Conn., where he settled and resided for upwards of thirty years. In 1796 he re- moved to Hanover township, in this county, and in his latter years went to reside with his son, Phineas Bradley, near Washington, D. C. He was successively master of a vessel, surveyor of lands, selectman, town treasurer, representative to the legislature, jus- tice of the peace, captain in the militia and in the revolutionary war, judge, town clerk, &c. While a resident of this place Mr. Bradley wrote a work entitled, "A Philosophical Retrospect on the General Outline of Creation and Providence, wherein is considered the Origin of Matter and Works of Creation, and also the Immutable and Systematic Dispositions of Divine Providence, in consequence whereof the World was at some ancient epoch Destroyed by an Ex- undation of the Sea, subsequent to which the Creation of all Ter- restrial Animals took place. Comprising also, a general view of the Origin of Nations, and of the general characteristics of the several Varieties of Mankind." It was a book of one hundred and ninety- four pages and was printed and published by Asher and Charles Miner, and gave great alarm to many ladies, among others, to Mr. Bradley's good wife. The work was thought to be infidel in its character, advancing doctrines not in conformity with the teachings of Holy Writ. These orthodox ladies and others were active in its destruction, committing the book to the flames when- ever a copy fell into their hands. This circumstance accounts for the present scarcity of the work. Mrs. Bradley died in Wilkes- Barre September 18, 1804, aged sixty-seven years, and her hus- band died in Oneida county, N. Y., about 1825. Abraham
Bradley, son of Abraham Bradley, was born in Litchfield Feb- ruary 21, 1767. He was educated in his native town and read law with Judge Tapping Reeve, of Litchfield. He practiced here from 1788 to 1791. In a letter written by Timothy Pick- ering to Governor Mifflin, dated August 16, 1791, he thus speaks of Mr. Bradley : "Permit me now, sir, to mention a gentleman there, who can well execute, and who well deserves all these offi- ces (register, recorder, clerk of all the courts, and prothonotary), I mean Abraham Bradley, Esq., whose prudence, steadiness and sobriety are exemplary-whose integrity is unblemished-whose
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NOAH MURRAY.
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industry has no rival-and whose judgment and law knowledge have there, no superior. I think I shall speak more accurately if I were to say, no equal. In pleadings, and the necessary forms, he is decidedly superior to all. But he came later into practice than the other three attorneys-was younger-somewhat diffi- dent, and has not formed a habit of speaking. He has, therefore, had few causes to manage, and his fees have been trifling. He studied law and wrote in the office of Tapping Reeve, Esq., an eminent lawyer at Litchfield, in Connecticut. He writes a fair, strong, legible hand, perfectly adapted to records: During fre- quent absences in the last two years he has done the business in the court and in my office with great propriety. 'Tis a business in which he takes pleasure. His law knowledge renders him peculiarly fit to hold all the offices before mentioned, and will give great facility in the execution. And his law knowledge will not be stationary-it will advance. For he has an inquisitive mind, and a taste for literature in general. This, sir, is not the language of hyperbole ; I speak the words of truth and soberness from an intimate personal acquaintance with Mr. Bradley." Mr. Bradley did not get "the offices," but the governor on the next day, August 17, 1791, appointed him one of the judges of Lu- zerne county. He soon after left Wilkes-Barre and removed to Washington, D. C., and from 1791 to 1799 he was confidential clerk to Colonel Pickering, in the post office and other depart- ments, and from 1799 to 1829 he was assistant postmaster-gen- eral of the United States. He was secretary of the Franklin In- surance Company, of Washington for two years before his death, which occurred at Washington, May 7, 1838. His wife was Hannah Smith, of Pittston, daughter of Thomas Smith. (See page 869.)
NOAH MURRAY.
Noah Murray, who was appointed one of the justices of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa., November 28, 1788, was a native of Litchfield county, Conn. He served in the revolutionary war, after which he settled in the Wyoming valley. He removed to Athens, Luzerne (now Bradford) county, about
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JOSEPH KINNEY.
1791. He was a clergyman, first of the Baptist church and after- wards of the Universalist ; for some years he was pastor of the Universalist church in Philadelphia. He was one of the proprie- tors of the old academy at Athens, and chairman of the board of trustees. He died May 11, 1811, leaving two sons and several daughters. On a marble monument standing in a cemetery at Springfield, Bradford county, Pa., is this inscription : "Sacred to the memory of Rev. Noah Murray, the first preacher of Univer- salism in Bradford county, who died May 11, 1811, in the seventy- fifth year of his age. Erected as a token of grateful remembrance by the North Branch Association of Universalists, September, 1867."
JOSEPH KINNEY.
"Joseph Kinney," says Timothy Pickering, in a letter to Gov- ernor Mifflin, dated August 16, 1791, "was pretty early appointed a judge of the Common Pleas, but fully expecting to remove to the state of New York, he sent to the court a letter of resigna- tion, but I do not know that his resignation was ever declared to the executive council. I believe it was not. He lived near Tioga, where Esquire Hollenback was sometimes present, and to which neighborhood Esquire Murray moved up from Shawnee. Mr. Kinney was disappointed in respect to the lands in York stateto which he meant to go, and has remained in Luzerne." His com- mission is not on record in the recorder's office, and the first time that he sat as judge was June 2, 1789. Joseph Kinney was born in Plainfield, Conn., about the year, 1755. He was a revolutionary soldier, and his first engagement was at Dorchester Heights, about March 2, 1776, which resulted disastrously to the British troops. He was wounded in the leg on Long Island, captured and was a prisoner three months in the old Jersey prison ship, and suffered all its horrors. He limped home on foot, and was at the battle of Saratoga, October 17, 1777, where Burgoyne sur- rendered, when he returned to Plainfield and remained until about 1778, when he settled at Wyoming. There he married Sarah, the eldest daughter of Captain (afterwards General) Simon Spal- ding, and with that gentleman and others removed to Sheshe-
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CHRISTOPHER HURLBUT.
quin, Luzerne (now Bradford) county, in 1783, which thereafter became his permanent home. Mr. Miner has the following in his History of Wyoming: "On Sunday, June 18, 1781, Joseph Kin- ney and Sarah Spalding were called off, that is, the bans were published, and on Thursday, the 22d, were married. It was an occasion of unusual festivity and joy. The bride was the eldest daughter of Captain Simon Spalding, the gallant commander of the Connecticut Independent Company." He was a school teacher in Wyoming, but changed his occupation to that of a farmer in his new home, a calling in which he prided himself, executing his work in an exceedingly tidy and in some respects peculiar manner. He was not only a great reader, but was also a close and logical reasoner, and analyzed thoroughly everything offered before he stored it away in his memory as knowledge. He was particularly apt in theological themes, and had many a gusty bout with the preachers of the day, and when sent to oppose and confound Mr. Murray in his first seed sowing of the doctrines of universal salvation, at Athens, "went wool gathering and came home shorn," after a three days' protracted effort. Mr. Kinney's house was the home of all the itinerants of the gospel in his day. He was emphatically domestic in his tastes, and hence disliked and refused political positions generally. On September 1, 1791, he was appointed a justice of the peace for the district of Tioga, which comprised at that time what is now the larger part of Brad- ford county. He was also one of the first commissioners of Bradford county, but resolutely declined all further preferment. He died in 1841. Mr. and Mrs. Kinney had a family of thirteen children. Their son Simon was the first white child born in the present town of Sheshequin. His descendants are distinguished in the various walks of life.
CHRISTOPHER HURLBUT.
Christopher Hurlbut was appointed a justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa., August 5, 1789. For a sketch of the Hurlbut family see page 628.
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COURTS.
. LAWRENCE MYERS.
Lawrence Myers was appointed a justice of the Court of Com- mon Pleas of Luzerne county, Pa., July 7, 1790. For a sketch of the Myers family see page 629.
NATHAN DENISON.
Nathan Denison was appointed a judge of Luzerne county, Pa., August 17, 1791. For a sketch of his life see article headed George Denison. His son, George Denison, and grandsons, Charles Denison and Lazarus Denison Shoemaker, members of the Luzerne bar, represented Luzerne county in the congress of the United States.
By the constitution of 1790 the judicial power of the common- wealth was vested in a Supreme Court, in Courts of Oyer and Terminer and general jail delivery, in a Court of Common Pleas, Orphans' Court, Register's court, and a Court of Quarter Sessions of the peace for each county, in justices of the peace, and in such other courts as the legislature should from time to time establish. Section 2 of Article V provided that the judges of the Supreme Court and Courts of Common Pleas hold office during good behavior. Section 3 provided that the jurisdic- tion of the Supreme Court extend over the state, and the judges thereof were by virtue of their office justices of Oyer and Ter- miner, &c., in the several counties. Section 4 provided that the Courts of Common Pleas were to be established as follows : The governor shall appoint in each county not fewer than three nor more than four judges, until it shall be otherwise directed by law, who shall reside in such county. The state shall be divided into circuits, none of which should contain more than six nor fewer than three counties. A president of each circuit was to be
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JACOB RUSH.
appointed. The president and judges, any two of whom shall be a quorum, were to compose the respective Courts of Com- mon Pleas. Section 5 provided that two of the judges, the president being one, could hold a Court of Oyer and Terminer. Section 7 provided that two of the judges constituted a quorum to hold a Court of Quarter Sessions and Orphans' Court. At the first session of the legislature following the adoption of the constitution an act was passed ( April 13, 1791,) to carry into effect its provisions respecting the courts, &c., and by section second of the act the state was divided into five districts or cir- cuits. Luzerne, together with Berks, Northampton and North- umberland counties, constituted the third district or circuit. Sec- tion third of the act directed the governor to commission "a per- son of knowledge and integrity and skilled in the law" in each district as "president and judge," and "a number of other proper persons, not fewer than three nor more than four," as judges in each county. Their jurisdiction, &c., was to commence after the next 31st August.
JACOB RUSH.
Jacob Rush, who was appointed, August 17, 1791, president of the Court of Common Pleas of the circuit consisting of the coun- ties of Berks, Luzerne, Northampton and Northumberland, was a native of Byberry township, Philadelphia county, Pa., where he was born in 1746. His ancestor, John Rush, who was captain of horse in Cromwell's army, emigrated to this county in 1683 and left a large number of descendants. His father died in 1751. Jacob Rush graduated from Princeton ( N. J.) College in 1765, and was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia county February 7, 1769. After his admission he practiced his profession in Philadelphia, and also in the counties of Bucks, Chester and York. In Jan- uary, 1775, he was a member of the provincial convention as- sembled in Philadelphia to consider the proper measures of self defense against the oppressions of our mother England. In 1779 and 17So he was a member of our state legislature. He was ap-
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