USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 44
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 44
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
teachers, the institution attained a popularity and influence second to none of its class in the land.
In half a dozen years after the erection of the first edifice, such was the patronage obtained that an additional building was demanded. In the spirit of an unselfish liberality, the late Will- nam Swetland volunteered to erect the projected additional building at his own expense. The sec- ond building was named by the trustees Swetland Hall. in memory of the respected donor. At the same time Hon. Ziba Bennett contributed one thousand dollars as a foundation for a library. This was thereafter called, in honor of the donor, the Bennett Library.
In the early spring of 1853, additional facil- ities were decmed essential, and the building of a wing or wings to the main building was con- templated, with a view to affording accommoda- tions to a larger number of students. On March 15. 1853, the seminary buildings were burned. While the brick and stone and ashes were yet warm, the trustees, with undaunted heroism, in their meeting on the day of the fire, resolved that a committee of three be appointed to draw plans and specifications for the rebuilding of the seminary. This showed the stuff these men were made of. Again did the tried friend of the cause, William Swetland, come to the rescue, and he nobly undertook at his own expense the work of rebuilding and enlarging Swetland Hall. Through the liberality of Payne Pettebone, George Swetland, A. Y. Smith and Isaac C. Shoemaker a third building was erected about the same time, to which the name Union Hall was given. Thus, through fire and disaster, larger and better buildings were erected, and the three blocks-Administration Hall in the center, with Swetland Hall on the left and Union Hall on the right-stood a noble monument to the energy and liberality of the men of Wyoming Valley.
A few years afterward the ladies' boarding hall was destroyed by fire. Then a fierce tornado swept over the place and unroofed a building. Then a flood did more or less damage to the seminary property. Yet with heroic spirit the board of trustees measured up to every exigency, so that repeated difficulties have been overcome, financial embarrassments removed, and the en- tire machinery kept moving without intermission and without a jar.
The Civil war seemed for a brief period to interfere with the wonted success of the institu- tion. Yet even with this temporary drawback, the trustees projected other plans for the stic- cess of the school. A commercial department
was added in 1863. Professor V .. S. Smythe, afterward principal of Cazenovia Seminary, was secured to take charge of the commercial college, and under his efficient supervision it proved a decided success. Professor L. L. Sprague was the head of this department for many years, and under his management it be- came an institution equal to the best schools of the kind at that time in the country. In 1882 Professor Willis L. Dean, A. M., became prin- cipal. I'e skillfully developed this department in all its branches into the highest form of com- mercial training.
At the close of the war it was found that the enlargement of the seminary was absolutely re- quired. The three buildings had already been united by the addition of wings, yet this did not meet the demand for room. In the year 1866 it was determined to erect a memorial building to be named Centenary Hall, to commemorate the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America in 1766. This was completed in 1867, at a cost of about twenty-five thousand dollars. These buildings are all under one roof, three and four stories high, with three hundred and fifty feet frontage. The edifice as a whole is an ornament to the valley. There are ample ac- commodations for one hundred and seventy-five boarding students and three hundred and twen- ty-five day scholars.
At the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held in Brooklyn, New York, in May, 1872, Rev. Dr. Nelson, after serving as prin- cipal for a period of twenty-eight years, during which time he developed his skill as an educator and financier, was elected, senior book agent at New York, and resigned his position as princi- pal. He was succeeded bv Rev. David Copeland, A. M., president of the Female College of Hills- boro, Ohio, a gentleman whose literary tastes and attainments and acknowledged abilities and extended experience as an educator rendered him pre-eminently fitted for the important and re- sponsible position of principal of an institution of this grade. Dr. Copeland remained at the head of the seminary until 1882, when Dr. L. L. Sprague became the principal. He was eminently a Christian gentleman and ripe scholar. He en- larged the curriculum of the school and pre- pared the institution to do the advanced work that it has been able to do in later years. Never was the seminary more successful than now. The course of study is most thorough and comprehen- sive, and will compare favorably with that of the highest institutions of its class. This time-hon- ored and deservedly popular institution receives
L. L. proque.
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
its full share of patronage, and under its pres- ent efficient management is destined to exert a still more potent influence in the education of the youth of our land.
The system of instruction adopted is thor- ough. and designed to prepare students for the active duties of life or for a course of profes- sional or collegiate training. There are six de- partments of study provided, for each of which a diploma is awarded. namely : College prepara- tion, literature and science, commerce, music, art and oratory. As an evidence of the high grade of scholarship of young men prepared here for college, today they stand among the first at the best colleges in the country. Many prominent people distinguished in church, state, and the home have been educated in this seminary.
In 1887, through the liberality of friends of the Seminary, Nelson Memorial Hall was erected in memory of Dr. Nelson, the first principal, at a cost of S30,000. In 1894 Abram Nesbitt, a resi- dent of Kingston, who had shown already his friendship for the school in many ways, with large beneficence erected Nesbitt Science Hall. at a cost of $35.000. During this year. also, the Wyoming Field was purchased. through the gifts of many friends of the seminary, and fitted up for athletic purposes at a cost of $22.000. In 1897. Mrs. Caroline M. Pettebone (daughter of William Swetland, mentioned before in this article) who had been for many years a most lib- eral supporter of the school, erected the Caroline M. Pettebone Gymnasium at a cost of $33.000.
The fine material equipment of the seminary, with its high reputation as an educational force, places it. in rank. among the first half a dozen preparatory schools of the country, and makes it an crnament to Wyoming Valley and a factor of inestimable value in developing and maintaining its social and intellectual life. The graduates of the seminary, from all departments, number about three thousand. The present ( 1906) at- tendance averages five hundred students each term, and the number of students from the be- ginning have been about eighteen thousand.
REV. LEVI L. SPRAGUE. D. D., was born in Beekman, Dutchess county, New York, De- cember 23. 1844, the son of Nelson L. and Laura (Spencer) Sprague. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Rhode Island. Jonathan Sprague came to Providence that colony. in 1675. having inherited sixty acres of land from his father (William) who resided in Hingham, Massachusetts. He is recorded as having been a deputy from 1695 to 1714 inclusive, and was
speaker of the house of deputies in 1703. He was a strong Baptist, and occasionally preached. This church preference was characteristic of his de- scendants and reached to Nelson, though the lat- ter became a Congregationalist a few years be- fore his death.
John Spencer, of English ancestry, the great- great-grandfather of Laura Spencer, came from Massachusetts in 1652, and with forty-six others settled on a land grant of five thousand acres in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Her great- grandmother. Theodosia Whaley, married Cap- tain Robert Spencer, son of John Spencer, and was a daughter of Theophilus Whaley. Of him Austin's "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island" says: "He came to Virginia from Eng- land before he reached his majority, and served in a military capacity, but soon returned to Eng- land and was an officer in the Parliamentary army. In 1649 his regiment took part in the cx- ecution of King Charles I. In 1660 he came again from England, and married Elizabeth Mills while in Virginia. In 1680 he came to Kings Town, Rhode Island." He had a collegiate edu- cation, and taught Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
The more immediate ancestors of Levi L. Sprague in the middle of the eighteenth century came from Rhode Island and settled in Putnam and Dutchess counties, New York. the Spragues in the former county and the Spencers in the lat- ter. They were people usually of strong moral fiber and of good circumstances in life. His paternal grandfather was a carpenter and joiner, and his father a carpenter and wheelwright. His maternal grandfather was a well-to-do farmer and a strong Methodist. the leading member of the church in that rural community.
Nelson Sprague, the father of Levi, moved his family into Pennsylvania in 1847 and located in Archbald, Lackawanna county. He then moved to Gibson, and afterward to New Milford, Susquehanna county. In these villages he car- ried on the business of carriage making. In 1858, because of impaired health, he moved to a farm near LeRaysville, Bradford county. The education of Levi during these years was com- mitted largely to teachers of private schools. He was fortunate in having among these teach- ers men eminently qualified for their work. Their skill as teachers and fine character as men im- pressed his youthful mind and' stirred him with aspirations for intellectual training. It was a fortunate event in his life, also, when, at the age of fourteen. his father moved his family to a farm. Here Levi had ample opportunity for re- flection, and all the advantages that come from
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
a close contact with nature. He here attended a private school in LeRaysville conducted by Chester P. Hodge, a superior teacher, a former student of Wyoming Seminary and a graduate of Union College. These two factors, together with a strong physical constitution built up by farm work, framed largely the mental, moral and physical foundation for his future career as a teacher. When seventeen years of age he began teaching, and for two years he taught the winter terms in the public schools of the community in which he lived, and attended the LeRaysville Academy a term during each interval excepting one term of four months when he attended East- man's Business College of Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was twenty years of age he be- came principal of the LeRaysville Academy, Pro- fessor Hodge having taken up the practice of law in the west, and continued this work of instruc- tion until the spring of 1866, when he entered Wyoming Seminary as a student. He remained here in college-preparatory work for two years. During his student life at the seminary he first came under the influence of Dr. Reuben Nelson. the president of the seminary at that time. The energy. the moral power, the qualities of leader- ship, the keen interest in young people and the fine understanding of their needs and aspirations, of this great schoolmaster, had a potent and sal- utary influence upon his own life.
After finishing his course as a student in the seminary he was elected principal of the College of Business connected with the seminary, ex- pecting ultimately to become a lawyer. Contem- poraneously with entering upon the duties of this position he registered as a law student with the late Hon. W. W: Ketcham, but after eighteen months of law study, and notwithstanding a pas- sionate fondness for the subject. he became con- vinced that his duty lay in the Christian ministry. He accordingly dropped the study of law and be- gan a course of theological studies preparatory to entering the ministry of the Methodist Epis- copal church. These were carried on success- fully in connection with the onerous duties of teaching. He joined the Wyoming Annual Con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1874, and has been appointed to the seminary annually by the bishops presiding at the sessions of that body. He continued as principal of the College of Business until 1882, when he was elected president of the seminary, the position he now ( 1905) holds. He followed Rev. David Copeland, Ph. D .. D. D., a scholarly and able teacher, who held that position for ten years.
During his presidency Nelson Memorial Hall, Nesbitt Science Hall and the Caroline MI. Pette- bone Gymnasium have been erected. The roll of students has more than doubled.
Allegheny College in 1879 conferred upon Dr. Sprague the degree of Master of Arts and the Wesleyan University in 1886 the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He is a trustee of the Wy- oming Seminary 1882-1905, of Syracuse Univer- sity 1884-1905. and of the Wyoming Annual Con- ference, and is a member of the Wyoming His- . torical and Geological Society. His published works as author are "Practical Bookkeeping." "The Practical Speller," and with Prof. E. I. Wolfe, of the English department of Wyoming Seminary, "The Practical Grammar."
On December 22, 1869. Dr. Sprague married Miss Jennie E. Russell. of Otego, New York, a young women belonging to a prominent family in central New York, and a niece of Mrs. Nelson, wife of the former president of the Seminary. Dr. and Mrs. Sprague have two children: Dr. E. Russell Sprague, a physician of Syracuse. New York : and Laura J. Sprague, of Kingston.
Dr. Emory Russell Sprague, son of the Rev. Levi L. and Jennie E. (Russell) Sprague, was born April 1. 1878. in Kingston, Pennsylvania, in the house now occupied by his father. He had the educational advantages afforded by Wyom- ing Seminary, under the presidency of Dr. Sprague, and was graduated from that institu- tion in 1897 at the age of nineteen. He then en- tered Syracuse University, and after complet- ing a three years course of study matriculated in the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, from which he received his diploma as Doctor of Medicine in May, 1904. Immediately after his graduation Dr. Sprague- located in Syracuse, New York, and entered upon a practice in which he has made constant ad- vancement, devoting his entire time to his pro- fessional duties, and giving special attention to surgery. He is attending physician in the Syra- cuse Homoeopathic Hospital, and lecturer in its Nurses' Training School. He is a member of two college fraternities : Psi Upsilon, of Syracuse- University, and Phi Alpha Gamma, of the Hom- oeopathic Medical College of Philadelphia. He married, in Syracuse, New York, June 7. 1904, Helen Breese Graves, a native of that city, daugh- ter of Maurice A. and Christina (Reed) Graves ; her father is an extensive dealer in real estate in Syracuse. Dr. and Mrs. Sprague are the parents of one child, Elizabeth Louise, born November- II. 1905. H. E. H.
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
PROFESSOR WILLIS L. DEAN, princi- pal of the College of Business of the Wyoming Seminary, traces his ancestry to Walter Deane, of South Chard, Somersetshire, England, who died in 1591. His son, William Deane, who died in 1634, and whose will at London, England, pro- bated in October, 1634, and dated July 22, 1634, is copied entire and preserved in volume 51, of New England Historical and Genealogical Reg- ister, page 432, was the father of nine children, namely : William, Isaac, Thomas, Susan, Elea- nor. Elizabeth, John, Walter and Marjorie. The younger sons John and Walter came to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1637, resided a year at Dor- chester, and then settled at Taunton, Massachu- setts. From these two brothers have descended many of the Deans now found in all parts of the United States, a large number of whom have occupied prominent positions in the commercial, educational, political and social circles of the communities in which they resided.
Walter Deane, aforementioned, was born in Chard, England, between the years 1615 and 1620. He took the freeman's oath in Massachu- setts, December 4. 1638, was deputy to the Plymouth court in 1640, selectman for the town of Taunton from 1679 to 1686, inclusive, and was a prominent factor in town affairs. He married Eleanor Strong, daughter of Richard Strong, of Taunton, England, and sister of Elder John Strong of Windsor, Connecticut. (See Strong family.) Their children were : Joseph. Ezra. Ben- jamin and James.
James Deane, youngest son of Walter Deane, learned the trade of blacksmith and iron-worker at Taunton, Massachusetts, after which he set- tled for a time at Scituate, Massachusetts. A deed from the town of
Stonington, to James Deane, dated February 16, 1680, is re- corded in the office of the town clerk. He began work there in 1676, and was a prominent man in the affairs of the town until 1698, when he sold out to his son, James Deane, and removed to Plainfield with other pioneers who settled in what was called the Quinnebaug country. Here he was elected town clerk in 1699, a position he filled with great acceptability for many years. He was a large land owner at Plainfield and the neighboring town of Voluntown, and was an active and influential citizen of the former up to his decease, May 29, 1725. His widow died April 26, 1726.
Jonathan Dean, son of James Deane, was bap- tized April 2, 1693. He probably moved with his father from Stonington to Plainfield in 1698. He became a prominent citizen there, and owned
a large amount of real estate in Plainfield and. the neighboring town of Voluntown. The es- teem in which he was held is evidenced by the fact that he served as a member of the state leg- islature in 1750-51-53, rendering valuable ser- vice as such. He married, at New London, Con- necticut, January 17, 1716, Sarah Douglass. Mr. Dean was an original stockholder in the Con- necticut Susquehanna Company.
Captain Ezra Dean, son of Jonathan and Sarah (Douglass) Dean, was born at Plain- field, Connecticut, November 18, 1718. He was prominently identified with the settlement of Wy- oming Valley, to which he came in 1769, when. fifty-one years of age. He early purchased the right of Barnet Dixon, an early proprietor, and his name appears on the list of shareholders re- corded in volume 18, Pennsylvania Archives, series 2, page 5. In the probate records of Crans- ton he is called Captain Ezra Dean. He was married four times. His fourth wife, whose" maiden name was Phoebe Waterman, whom he married April 20, 1774, survived him. We are. informed that one of his wives was from North Kingston, Rhode Island, and it was in her honor that he gave the name of Kingston to the town in the Wyoming valley after the settlement made. . at Forty Fort. He was the father of fourteen children, five of whom survived him. After a long and useful life Mr. Dean died December 14, 1806.
Jonathan Dean, son of Ezra Dean, was born July 9, 1741. He must have been a man of fair ability as he served in the capacity of town clerk of West Greenwich from 1776 to 1780, and a justice of the peace in the same town during the. years 1778-79-90, and possibly he held the same. office during the intervening years. He joined the Baptist church in Exeter, Rhode Island, the town adjoining West Greenwich, in October, 1777, and served as clerk of the same from about 1790 to 1796. He moved to Abington, Penn- sylvania, in November, 1800, and was the first clerk of the first church in that town from 1802 to 1808, when he was succeeded by his son, Jef- frey Dean, who held the office for twenty years. He married Mary Davis, who bore him the fol- lowing children : Ezra, born February 15, 1776, died July 29, 1862. Sibyl, April 14, 1777. died February 10, 1842. Abigail, June 28, 1778, died January 21 1842. James, May 7, 1780, mentioned hereafter. Jeffrey, September 16, 1781, died Jan- uary 29. 1871. Jonathan Dean, the father of these children, died August 2, 1822.
James Dean, son of Jonathan and Mary- (Davis) Dean, was born at West Greenwich,
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Rhode Island, May 7, 1780. On December 28, 1803, he married Catherine Tripp, of Providence, Pennsylvania, daughter of Isaac Tripp, the early proprietor of Providence, Pennsylvania, who set- tled there between 1784 and 1787, and grand- daughter of Esquire Isaac Tripp, one of the earliest pioneers in Wyoming valley (see Tripp family), who was killed by Indians, with his son-in-law, Jonathan Slocum, on the present site of the city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1778. This Jonathan Slocum was the father of Frances Slocum, the lost daugh- ter of Wyoming, who was carried away captive by the Indians when a child of five years, reared among them, married an Indian chief, reared a family, and when in old age was discovered by her brothers near Logansport, Indiana, but re- fused to return to civilized life and kindred. Catherine (Tripp) Dean, wife of James Dean, was first cousin of this Indian captive. In 1802 James Dean, with his father and a few others, united with the earliest Baptist church of the neighborhood, the second in the Abington Asso- ciation, under the ministry of the pioneer preacher, Elder John Miller. The children of James and Catherine (Tripp) Dean were: Eliza, born July 10, 1805. Ann Maria. December 5, 1807. Isaac, June 9, 1811, was living in 1901. Nelson N., July II, 1814, mentioned hereinafter. Laura W .. September 25, 1817. Amasa, March 27, 1819. Myron. November 7, 1822, Mary Anne, November 6, 1824.
Nelson N. Dean, son of James and Catherine (Tripp) Dean, was born July 11, 1814. His edu- cation was obtained at the public school near his home and Franklin Academy, Harford, Penn- sylvania. He was a farmer by occupation. An intelligent citizen, interested in the welfare of his county, he was elected one of the board of three county commissioners for Luzerne county in 1876, the last to serve in that capacity from that portion of Luzerne county that was cut off and became Lackawanna county. Mr. Dean mar- ried, April 25, 1850, Clarissa Dayton Searle, born November 14. 1824, on the Constant Searle farm in Pittston township. Luzerne county, Pennsyl- vania. Her great-grandfather, Constant Searle, a native of Stonington, Connecticut, was killed in the Wyoming massacre, July 3, 1778. Her grandfather, Roger Searle, then a youth of eigh- teen, was in the battle but escaped. His sister's husband, Captain Dethic Hewitt, was killed in the battle. Her mother was Mary (Stark) Searle, daughter of Henry Stark, of Plains, Lu- zerne county, and a descendant of General Stark, of the Continental army. (See Stark Family).
Two of the Stark family were also killed in the massacre at Wyoming, and thus on both sides of the family Mrs. Dean came of brave, patriotic stock. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dean began housekeeping in their own home near Ab- ington Centre, now Waverly, Pennsylvania, where they spent all their married life. Their children were: James Elmer, born September 13, 1851. Willis Leonard, born February 5, 1857, mentioned hereinafter. Nelson N. Dean, died June 1, 1879, soon after completing his term of office as county commissioner. Shortly after his death his son, Willis L. Dean, erected a pleasant home for his mother in the centre of the village of Waverly and she still resides there (1905) with her granddaughter, Anna May Dean, daughter of J. Elmer Dean. The old home in the outskirts of the town was purchased by her nephew, A. D. Dean, who has enlarged and improved it, and his family now ( 1905) enjoy the fruit and shade of the trees which the uncle's forethought and wis- dom lavishly provided.
Willis L. Dean, youngest son of Nelson N. and Clarissa Dayton (Searle) Dean, was born February 5. 1857. He attended Madison Aca- demy, Waverly : Wyoming Seminary, Kingston ; and graduated from the commercial department of the latter institution in 1873. Taught in Lo- well's Commercial College, at Binghamton, New York, from 1873 to 1875. He became teacher of penmanship and bookkeeping at Wyoming Semi- nary in 1875 and was made principal of the col- lege of business of that institution in 1882, which position he has filled with great acceptability to
the trustees as well as to the patrons of the school. Mr. Dean has not limited his studies to the lines of his own department, but has acquired a broad and liberal culture from reading and contact with men of learning. In recognition of his position and attainments Dickinson College, in 1890, con- ferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. Professor Dean is also a man of excel- lent business capacity and from small begin- nings, by prudent management, has acquired a handsome competency. Professor Dean mar- ried, June 20, 1878, Mary Goodwin, born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1857, daugh- ter of Philip M. and Eliza (Grosvenor) Good- win. Philip M. Goodwin was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania, a son of Abram Goodwin, who was an old resident of Kingston, where his death oc- curred in 1880 at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Philip M. Goodwin was for many years a druggist in Kingston, Pennsylvania, where he died February 21, 1874. aged fifty-six years. His wife was born in Scott township. Lacka-
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