Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 12

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 988

USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 12
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 12

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Charles Dorrance married, August 28, 1845, Susan E. Ford, daughter of James and Maria (Lindsley) Ford, of Lawrenceville, Pennsyl-

vania, born November 27, 1828, died March 6, 1892. James Ford, of Lawrenceville, was a na- tive of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and came to Pennsylvania about 1800. He was twice a mem- ber of the Pennsylvania legislature, and repre- sented his district in congress from 1829 to 1833. His life was honorably interwoven with the civil and political history of the state ; he died in Law- renceville, August, 1859, aged seventy-six years. His wife, Maria Lindsley, was daughter of Judge Eleazer Lindsley, of the town of Lindsley, in Steuben county, New York, who was the son of Colonel Eleazer Lindsley, of Revolutionary fame, a resident of Morristown, New Jersey, who after the war became proprietor of a township of land in the Genesee country in New York state, to which the name Lindsley was given. The colonel settled on the tract, and was Steuben county's first representative in the state legislaure, and his death was the first in Lindsley.

Children of Charles and Susan Dorrance :

I. Benjamin, born August 14, 1846; mar- ried Ruth Woodhull Strong.

2. Maria L., born August 31, 1848, died July 27, 1849.

3. Annie Buckingham, born May 6, 1850, married Sheldon Reynolds, died October 4, 1905.

4. James Ford, born April 19, 1852, married Elizabeth W. Dick.

5. Charles, born August 2, 1854, resides in- Chicago, Illinois.

6. John, born September 27, 1856, now in Missouri.

7. Frank Petre, born January 8, 1859, died March 6, 1864.

Benjamin Dorrance, A. B., A. M., F. R. H. S., eldest son of Charles and Susan E. (Ford) Dorrance, was born Kingston, August 14, 1846. His early education was acquired in the Presby- terian Seminary at Troy, Pennsylvania, and in Wyoming Seminary at Kingston. He graduated Princeton College, A. B., 1868; A. M., 1871; read law with Andrew T. McClintock, LL. D., of Wilkes-Barre, and was admitted to the bar August 20, 1870. He practiced law in Wilkes- Barre about eighteen years, when impaired eye- sight compelled him to lay aside professional

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

work. He then turned to farming pursuits at Dorranceton, and incidentally to horticulture. For many years he has been president of the Wyoming Commemorative Association, succeed- ing the late Calvin Parsons. He is also a mem- ber of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society of England.

Benjamin Dorrance married, May 22, 1872, Ruth Woodhull Strong, daughter of Schuyler Strong, of Bath, Steuben county, New York, and his wife, Frances Cruger Strong, descended from Elder John Strong, of Windsor, Connecti- cut, 1630. The Strong family of England was originally located in the county of Shropshire. One of the family married an heiress of Griffith, of the county of Caernarvon, Wales, and went there to reside in 1545. Richard Strong was of this branch of the family, and was born in the county of Caernarvon, 1561 ; removed 1609 to Jamestown, Somersetshire, England, where he died, 1613, leaving a son John, then eight years old, and a daughter Eleanor. John was born Taunton, England, 1605, and removed to Lon- don, and afterward to Plymouth, England. Hav- ing strong Puritan sympathies, he sailed for America, March 20, 1630, in company with one hundred and forty persons (among them many men of prominence in the New England colo- nies) in the "Mary and John," and landed at Nantasket, Massachusetts, about twelve miles southeast from Boston, Sunday, May 30, 1630. Their original destination was Charles river, but owing to a misunderstanding between the com- pany and the captain of the vessel, the immigrants were put ashore on Nantasket beach, whence they settled and founded Dorchester, and named it in allusion to their home town in England. John Strong was of this company, and settled at Dorchester, as also did his sister Eleanor, who subsequently married Walter Deane, by whom she had four sons and one daughter. In 1635 John removed to Hingham, and took the free- man's oath, 1636, in Boston; was of Taunton, 1638; deputy to general court, 1641-43-44 ; re- moved to Windsor, Connecticut, and was ap- pointed with John Mason and others to superin-

tend and bring forward the settlement of that place." In 1659 he removed to Northampton, Massachusetts, and was one of its most prom- inent founders ; a leader in town affairs ; one of the founders and pillars of the church, its first ruling elder ; hence his title "Elder John Strong." He married (first) in England, but his wife died on the ship or soon after landing. She bore him two children, only one of whom survived long. He married (second) Abigail Ford, who bore him sixteen children, and died July 6, 1638. He died April 14, 1699, and had at the time of his death one. hundred and sixty living descen- dants. Thomas Ford, father of Abigail, came to America with the company in the "Mary and John." He was one of the founders of Dorches- ter, an carly settler in Windsor, Connecticut, a deputy to the general court, grand juror, and re- moved with Elder John to Northampton, where he died 1676. From Elder John Strong, of Northampton, to Ruth Woodhull Strong, wife of Benjamin Dorrance, the line of descent follows to Thomas (2) of Northampton, one of Captain John Mason's troopers; from him to Selah (3), of Setauket, Long Island, farmer, tradesman, justice of the peace, and village trustee of Brook- haven ; from him to Selah, Sr., (4), who mar- ried Hannah Woodhull, sister of Gen. Nathan- iel Woodhull, killed on Long Island during the Revolution : from him to Maj. Nathaniel Strong, (5), killed by British and Tories, November 6, 1778; from him to Selah, (6), who married Ruth Woodhull, daughter of Captain Ebenezer Wood- hull; and from Selah, and Ruth to Schuyler Strong (7), who married Frances Cruger, daugh- ter of General Daniel Cruger, of Steuben county, New York, and from Schuyler and Fran- ces to Ruth Woodhull Strong (8), wife of Ben- jamin Dorrance, of Dorranceton, Pennsylvania. (See Strong family history.) The Crugers were of Huguenot ancestry, who escaped the mas- sacre at St. Bartholomew and fled, some to Eng- land, some to Denmark and others to Germany and formed a temporary home in Altoona, in the Duchy of Holstein. The branch from which Mrs. Dorrance is descended settled in Holstein. The father of General Cruger came to America

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

in 1768, and settled in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, where Daniel (General Cruger) was born De- cember 22, 1780. Soon afterward the family removed to Newtown (Elmira), New York, where the father engaged in mercantile pursuits. Daniel went to Albany, apprenticed to learn the printing trade, and afterward settled in Owego, 1804 he sold out and went to Bath, Steuben county, to which place his parents had removed. He read law, was admitted to practice and be- came partner with General S. S. Haight. In 1812 he enlisted in the army, was commissioned major, and assigned to duty on General McClure's staff, and served throughout the war ; was member of assembly, 1813-15: speaker of the house, 1815; elected to congress, 1816; served as deputy at- torney general for the district ; removed to Syra- cuse about 1828; to Wheeling, West Virginia, 1833, and died there in June, 1843.

Children of Benjamin Ford and Ruth Wood- hull ( Strong) Dorrance :

I. Anne, born June 26, 1873, graduated Vassar, 1895 ; F. R. H. S.

2. Frances, born June 30, 1877 ; graduated Vassar 1900, with the highest honors, and was elected a member of the Society of the Phi Beta Карра.

3. Ruth, born August 9, 1879, died Febru- ary 13, 1895.

Colonel James Ford Dorrance, second son of Charles Dorrance and his wife. Susan E. Ford, born in Dorranceton, Pennsylvania, April 19, 1852. He was educated in the public schools, and in Germantown under Dr. Barker, and in Lehigh University. After leaving college he went to Meadville, Pennsylvania, read law with Judge Derrickson of that city, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Meadville about sixteen years. He returned to Dorranceton in 1890, and from that time has devoted his atten- tion to the care of the old home farm and the management of his father's estate. Was appointed on Governor Henry M. Hoyt's staff in 1878, and served four years.

Mr. Dorrance married, January 15. 1875, Elizabeth Wilson Dick, daughter of James Ross

Dick and his wife Harriet Sturges (Thorp) Dick.

James Ross Dick, born Meadville, April 22, ISOI, son of William Dick, and his wife Anna McGunnigle, who had eight sons and one daughter. William Dick was of Scotch-Irish birth and came to America when quite young. James R. Dick was a banker in Meadville from 1850 to about 1895, and was a man of means, in- fluence and social position. David Dick, brother of James R. Dick, born 1797, was the first white child born in Meadville. Another brother was General John Dick, at one time a conspicuous figure in state militia circles. Anna McGunnigle was a daughter of George McGunnigle and his wife Margaret, both of whom were of Scotch- Irish birth and ancestry, and were among the earliest Scotch-Irish immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania.

Harriet Sturges Thorp was daughter of Stur- ges Thorp and his wife Nancy Sturges, both de- scendants of old New England ancestors, living in Fairfield, Connecticut. Sturges Thorp was the son of Jabez Thorp, son of Peter Thorp, son of John Thorp; on the maternal side he was son. of Martha Osborn, daughter of Capt. John Osborn, son of Capt. John Osborn, son of Capt. Richard Osborn, who probably was Richard, who sailed from London for the Barbadoes in the "Hope- well," in 1634, and who in 1635 was of Hingham, Massachusetts, one of Peter Hobart's company, and who shared in the division of lands in Hing- ham. He was a brave soldier in the Pequot war, and for his services was awarded eighty acres of land in Fairfield. He was in New Haven in 1639, shared in the division of its lands in 1643, and took the freeman's oath before Governor Eaton in 1644. He removed to Fairfield between 1650 and 1653, and thence to Westchester in 1682. Nancy Sturges, wife of Sturges Thorp, was daughter of Judson Sturges, son of Solomon Sturges, son of Joseph Sturges, son of John Sturges, who probably was of the Stur- geses of Yarmouth, and who settled in Fairfield, 1660; freeman, also selectman, 1669, and the owner of "a large estate." Nancy Stur-

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

ges was a daughter of Abigail Squire, daughter of Daniel Squire, son of Lieutenant Samuel Squire, son of Captain Samuel Squire, son of Sergt. George Squire, who was of the Concord (Massachusetts) Squires, 1642, who removed to Fairfield about 1644 with Rev. John Jones, or soon afterwards, and where they shared in the division of lands and were among the prominent families of the town.

The children of Colonel James Ford and Elizabeth Wilson (Dick) Dorrance ; Susan Ford Dorrance, born February 26, 1876; Sturges Dick Dorrance, born July 15, 1881 ; Charles Dorrance, born March 12, 1883. H. E. H.

JOHNSON FAMILY. There is a tradition of very long standing that the original Connecti- cut Johnsons1 came from Cherry-Burton, a vil- lage about three miles from the cathedral town of Beverly, in Yorkshire, England, about six miles north of Rowley. Dr. William Samuel Johnson visited Yorkshire in 1767, and there met a Mrs. Bell who was the latest survivor of this Johnson family in England. Her father was a lawyer and died at the age of thirty-two. Her grandfather lived on his estate, which was very considerable. Her great-uncle was a doctor of physic, eminent in his profession, and by his mon- ument in Cherry-Burton church it appears that he died November 1, 1724, at the age of ninety- four, having survived his wife and seven of nine children, all of whom died without issue ; the two who survived never married, wherefore upon his death the estate descended to Mrs. Bell.

The Johnsons of Stratford have a record by Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson in which he tells of the coming of three brothers from Hull, England, about 1637 to 1640, and he gives the sons of Thomas as Thomas, Daniel, Jeremiah, and Will- iam. This statement by Dr. Johnson carries the tradition back to the occasion of his visit to Hull in 1723, and from the intimate companionship which history says existed between Dr. Johnson

as a boy and his grandfather William of Guil- ford, (who came from England) there is every reason to believe he heard it from his own lips; and the conclusion is therefore irresistible that the line under consideration is from Thomas.

The New Haven-Wallingford Johnsons emi- grated from England to America about 1638, the year in which there came from England twenty ships and at least three thousand persons. Among them were three brothers: John, Robert, and Thomas Jolinson, who came from Kingston-on- Hull and landed at Boston. They were Puritans, under the leadership of Ezekiel Rogers, a gradu- ate of Cambridge and a clergyman of Rowley, in Yorkshire. He and many of his followers settled on the coast of Massachusetts Bay, and called their new home Rowley, after their old home in England. The three Johnsons left Mr. Rogers at Boston and repaired to the colony of New Haven, where Thomas and Robert permanently settled. John, however, after a year or two re- turned to his former associates at Rowley. Davis's "History of Wallingford" incorrectly says he was killed by the Indians, but Blodgett's "Early Settlers of Rowley" mentions him as Captain John, and gives the names of his children and grandchildren. Blodgett also says that Elizabeth Johnson, sister of the three immigrant brothers, married, 1665, Jonathan Platts, of Rowley, and · he gives the names of her children. Robert Johnson died in New Haven in 1694. He was the ancestor of the Stratford Johnsons; the father of Deacon William of Guilford ( 1629- 1702) ; the grandfather of Deacon Samuel of Stratford ( 1670-1727) ; great-grandfather of William Samuel Johnson, LL. D., the able lawyer and statesman who as attorney for Connecticut figured so prominently in the settlement of the controversy with Pennsylvania over Wyoming. He represented Connecticut in the colonial con- gress of 1775, and signed the remonstrance to the King against the "stamp act."

Thomas Johnson (I), the third of the immi- grant brothers, is the one whose line is especially under consideration in these annals, for he is the American ancestor on the paternal side of the Johnsons of the Wyoming valley. He was

I. This record of the Johnson family is compiled largely from manuscripts in the possession of Frederick C. Johnson, M. D., of Wilkes-Barre.

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drowned with Thomas Ashley in New Haven harbor in 1640. His children were Thomas, Daniel, Jeremiah, and William (2).

William Johnson (2), of Wallingford, Con- necticut, immigrated to America presumably about 1660, and settled at New Haven ; Decem- ber, 1664, married Sarah, daughter of John and Jane (Woolen or Woolin) Hall. He was one of the founders or original proprietors of Walling- ford in 1670, and one of the signers of the com- pact. In the town records of New Haven he is sometimes mentioned as "Wingle" Johnson, and is recorded as "husbandman," and also as "planter." He died in 1716, and his will is re- corded in New Haven. William and Sarah had thirteen children, of whom Jacob (3) was sixth in order of birth.

Jacob Johnson (3), of Wallingford, born in New Haven, September 25, 1764, married, De- cember 14, 1693, Abigail, daughter of John Hitchcock and Abigail Merriman his wife, and died July 17, 1749. Abigail was a granddaugh- ter of Captain Nathaniel Merriman, one of the or- iginal proprietors of Wallingford. Jacob was ser- geant of the Wallingford train band, and is men- tioned in the records as "Sergeant" Jacob. He served as deputy in the general court 1732, 1733, and 1736. He was a man of influence and of substance, and the possessor at the time of his death of about four hundred acres of land, "and there were several slaves." Jacob's wife Abigail died January 9, 1726, and he afterward married Dorcas Linsley, of Branford, Connecticut, who bore him no children. Jacob and Abigail were the parents of ten children, all of whom grew to maturity, and had families. The youngest of them was Rev. Jacob Johnson (4), of Wilkes- Barre, on whose monument in the cemetery in that city is inscribed an epitaph in these words :

"Rev. Jacob Johnson, A. M., born at Walling- ford, Connecticut, April 7, 1713 ; died at Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, March 15, 1797; gradu- ated at Yale college, 1740; pastor of Congrega- tional Church, Groton, Connecticut, 1749-1772; first pastor of Wilkes-Barre Congregational (subsequently First Presbyterian) 1772-1797. He made missionary journeys to the Six Nations ; preaching in the Indian language. He was an early and outspoken advocate of Amercan liberty 5

and a commanding figure in the early history of Wyoming. He wrote the articles of capitula- tion following the destruction of the infant set- tlement by the British and Indians in 1778, and was a firm and self-sacrificing defender of the Connecticut title throughout the prolonged land contest."

In itself this brief epitaph reflects something of the life and services of Rev. Jacob Johnson in behalf of his fellow man, of his country, and his Maker, whom he served so long and faithfully. Yet, after all, the mere inscription on a tomb- stone is a meager tribute to the life and works of a truly good and patriotic man. There was that in the life of Rev. Jacob Johnson which has survived him and all the years which have passed into history since his death. His noble character is shown in his daily walk, his unswerving loy- alty to kindred and to country during the dark days of the Revolution, and the equally hazardous period of contention between the Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming valley and the claimants under Pennsylvania.

The early life of Rev. Jacob Johnson belongs to New England, yet in serving the Master whose disciple he was he carried his missionary work into the country of the Iroquois in the prov- ince of New York, and as an instrument for peace, justice, and upholding the faith of treaties with the untutored aborigines, he was not un- . known among the people of the Delawares who inhabited the northern regions of Pennsylvania. He first appears as a figure in Wyoming valley history in the year 1772, when he was invited by the town of Wilkes-Barre to minister to their spiritual wants, to "come and labor with the people as their pastor ;" but at least four years before that time, while he was acting as spiritual head of the church in Groton, his missionary la- bors had called him among the Indians of the Province of New York. He was present at the treaty of Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York) in 1768, not as commissioner to represent the inter- ests of Connecticut, for delegates from that col- ony were not invited to participate in the confer- ence : not as an emissary to protect the interests of the Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming val- ley, whose territory was sought to be acquired

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

by the Penn proprietors as one of the results of the council : not as the representative of the gov- ernment of New York, as that province was rep- resented by chosen commissioners and by a person of no less consequence than Sir William Johnson. the King's own agent and superinten- dent of Indian affairs in that royal province ; but rather as the especial representative of that zeal- ous missionary laborer, Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, who hoped to secure from the Six Nations a con- cession of lands for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a school for civilizing. educat- ing. enlightening, and christianizing the Indians. For that purpose, and for that alone, Rev. Jacob Johnson was present at the treaty conference in 1768. The council was attended by the gover- nors, the commissioners and agents of the col- onies indicated, and by about three thousand In- dians from the various nations of the Iroquois confederacy, including those of the chiefs of the various Delaware tribes who were permitted to be present without having a voice in its councils. The council was dominated by the Penns, John Penn. a son of William, being present. He sought to acquire title to the lands of northeast- ern Pennsylvania, which were claimed by Con- necticut and which had been purchased from the Indians some years before by Connecticut : and. as the latter colony had not been invited to the council which was to wrest from her a part of her ex-territorial possession-the Wyoming re- gion-this Connecticut missionary, Rev. Jacob Johnson. undertook entirely without authority, however. to defend the Connecticut titles by dis- suading the Indians from selling to the Penns the lands which Connecticut claimed. While the treaty was in progress Sir William Johnson gave a banquet, and the missionary, by reason of his sacred office. rather than by reason of his being a New England man, was among the invited guests. The feast was made the occasion of bursts of eloquence as to the greatness of Eng- land, and toasts were drunk to the health of King George III. Amid the noisy merrymaking of the convivial company the Connecticut mission- ary could hear the muttering of the gathering storm, and he could already feel that the next

breeze from the north was to bring to their ears the clash of resounding arms. So when the adulations to the King were all over and the preacher from Connecticut was called upon, he addressed the assembled revellers in these thrill- ing words :

"I drink to the health of King George III. of Great Britain, comprehending New England and all the British colonies in North America. and I mean to drink such a health so long as his royal majesty shall govern the British and American subjects according to the great charter of Eng- lish liberty, and so long as he hears the prayers of his American subjects. But in case his British Majesty (which God in great mercy prevent) should proceed contrary to Charter rights and privileges, and govern us with a rod of iron and the mouth of cannons, and utterly refuse to con- sider our humble prayers, then I should consider it my indispensable duty to join my countrymen in forming a new empire in America.

These were prophetic words, worthy of the noble character of the orator, and worthy of the cause for which he labored so earnestly and suc- cessfully; but, in view of his utterances on the occasion referred to, it is not surprising to learn that in after years, when the same missionary was pastor of the church at Westmoreland, he denounced the Pennamite outrages with such vehemence that he was ( 1784) dragged to court and compelled to give bonds for his peaceable behavior.

Such, then, was the quality and character of this Connecticut missionary who was the pioneer of the Johnson family in the Wyoming valley. His coming into the region was a reunion with families whose names and faces were in a de- gree familiar to him, and he found himself with friends and willing followers rather than strang- ers. Under the custom of the church he preached for a year as minister, and then (August 23, I773) was permanently settled as pastor; and this. as Kulp says, "was the first actual settle- ment of any minister of the gospel west of the Blue mountains in the territory comprising the state of Pennsylvania." He continued his work of the ministry more than half a century, and he died as he had lived, an earnest, untiring. God- loving and God-serving man. During the pe-

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

riod of the Revolution his zeal in behalf of the patriot cause was in every respect commendable, and by his splendid example and christian sym- pathy he softened the hardships to which his people were so frequently and so long subjected. His record during the war and also during the period of strife regarding the Connecticut titles are matters of history so general to text books on Pennsylvania history that the subject is fa- miliar to almost every child in the public schools, and needs no elaborate presentation in these pages.

While pastor at North Groton, Jacob John- son married Mary Giddings, of Preston, born November 28, 1730, died in Wilkes-Barre, Janu- ary 18, 1805, daughter of Captain Nathaniel Gid- dings and his wife Mary Williams, The children of this marriage, all born in Connecticut, were : Jehoiada Pitt (6), born 1767, died January 8, 1830; Jacob, born 1765, died May, 1807, mar- ried and had two daughters: Mary B. (married Phineas Nash Foster), and Lydia (married Smith) ; Lydia, born about 1756, married Col. Zebulon Butler ; Christiana Olive, married, March 25, 1801, William Russell and had no chil- dren. There were also two daughters of Rev. Jacob and Mary both of whom died in infancy.

Jehoiada Pitt Johnson (6), eldest son of Rev. Jacob and Mary, was born in Connecticut in 1767, "while the animated discussions preceding the revolution were going on, and the elder Pitt was thundering his anathemas in parliament" against the British ministry on account of the oppressions it had put upon the American colonies. His father named him Jehoiada Pitt (Jehoiada-"the knowledge of God,") and Pitt, in allusion to the patriot orator, showing at once the religious tendency of his mind and his zeal for the cause of American freedom. He was five years old when his father assumed charge of the parish in- Wilkes-Barre, but while yet a youth he mani- fested a lively interest in the controversy between Connecticut and Pennsylvania over Wyoming ; and in 1784, when he was only seventeen years old, he took the side of the Yankees in the Pen- namite war. Miner says he was one of about one hundred men who were arrested at Wilkes-

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 12

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 988

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 988