Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 45

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 45
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 45

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS ..

wanna county, Pennsylvania, where her family were among the early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin had four children, three of whom are living at the present time. Two children were born to Professor and Mrs. Dean: Searle G., November 13, 1880, died October 10, 1881; Marjorie, September 19, 1884, a graduate of Wyoming Seminary, class of 1903. She mar- ried, October 12, 1905, George Willard Carey, of Forty Fort, the ceremony being performed at the residence of her parents by the Rev. Dr. L. L. Sprague, president of Wyoming Seminary. The family reside on Wyoming avenue, Kingston, Pennsylvania.

H. E. H.

JENKINS FAMILY. John S. Jenkins, of Pittston, is a descendant in the seventh genera- tion of John Jenkins, of Sandwich, Massachu- setts, and his wife Susanna, who probably was the daughter of Job Cooke. The Jenkinses of Sandwich and their. descendants were Friends, but of that quality of the sect who were not "scrupulous of bearing arms" for among them were fighters in the colonial wars, and in the Rev- olution, also in the more recent war of 1861-65.

John Jenkins (1), of Sandwich, Massachu- setts, the first of the family in America, is men- tioned by Freeman in his history of Cape Cod as a contributor "toward building a place for pub- lic meetings" in 1655 ; his name is found on a list of land owners in Sandwich, in 1658, and also on a list of "distraints" made from Friends about this period, "to satisfy fines imposed for attend- ing Quaker meetings," etc .; and for thus exer- cising his "liberty of conscience" in that New England colony at the time indicated, John of Sandwich was subjected to a penalty . of £19 IOS od. Whether John of Sandwich was orig- inally a Friend or a convert to that faith is doubt- ful, but there is no question regarding the fact that he was disciplined because he held to relig- ious views at variance with the teachings of the dominant church. At a town meeting. 23d of 2d mo., 1675, it was "voted to record the names of all those that can make it appear that they have just right to the privilege of the Town;' and the name of John Jenkins is'recorded as one entitled to those "privileges." In 1676, March 10, Zachariah Jenkins, son of John, was fined £8 for being a delinquent soldier. This Zachariah evidently was reluctant "on principle" to take up arms in defense of the colony during King Philip's war. In 1678, July 12, John Jenkins was one of the three Friends who "in the name and behalf of the rest of their fellow townsmen that are of their religion, do declare their dissent

against the town's disposing of any privileges that belong to them as townsmen." In 1680,. June 1, John Jenkins was elected surveyor of highways. From this time his name is no longer found in Sandwich. John Jenkins and Susanna his wife had four children.

Their eldest son Zachariah (2), of Green- wich, Rhode Island, born 7th mio. 1651, died. about January 1, 1723; married December II, 1686, Abiah Allen, born December 10, 1666, died Ioth of 2d mo. 1712; daughter of Francis Allen. and his wife Mary Barlow, of Sandwich. They had twelve children.

John Jenkins (3), eldest son, fifth child of Zachariah and Abiah, was born April 5, 1697, in. Sandwich, and removed with his father's family to Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1703; married 1722, died March, 1742. His wife's name was Lydia. John and Lydia had nine children, of whom John, born February 6, 1728, the second son, fourth child, was the pioneer of the family in the Wyoming region of Pennsylvania.

John Jenkins, son of Zachariah and Abialı,. was a man of consequence in the early history of Kingstown and East Greenwich, Rhode Is- land. He was admitted freeman in Kingstown, 1722, and in East Greenwich, 1726; was justice - of the peace in 1729; auditor, 1731 ; first deputy to the general court, 1734; moderator of town meeting, 1734; deputy to general court, 1735 ;. second deputy to sit in general assembly, 1737; moderator of quarterly town meeting, council- man, second deputy to general court, and auditor, 1738; commissioner to run dividing line with North Kingstown, 1740; deputy to general court, 1741 ; commissioner of boundaries, with others appointed by the general court, "with special instructions to examine whether the boundary stones between Connecticut had been tampered or removed."

John Jenkins (4), second son of Jolin (3), who was of Zachariah (2), of John (I), was born at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, February 6, 1827-8, 3rd day of the week, 9 a. m .; married August 1, 1751, at Gardner's Lake, New Lon- don, Connecticut, Lydia Gardner, daughter of Stephen Gardner, of that place, formerly of Rhode Island, born March 20, 1727, died Octo- ber 22, 1804. They had children :

Jolın (Colonel John), born November 27, 1751 (O. S.) ; died March 19, 1827. Stephen, born February 22, 1753: died September 20, 1808. Benjamin, born July 18, 1754 ; died March, 1787. Amy, born January 12, 1757; died March 24, 1834. Thomas, born January 19, 1761 ; died ' April 22, 1812. William, born October 30, 1764 ;:

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died November 1, 1846. Wilkes, born July 18, 1767; died April 1, 1838.

John Jenkins (4), son of John (3) and Lydia (Allen) Jenkins, came to Wyoming from Col- chester, Connecticut, in 1762, with the first com- pany of settlers under the grant of Charles II, as the first general agent of the settlement, an appointment conferred on him by the Connecticut Susquehanna Company. He made the discovery of coal at Wyoming in 1762, and reported the same to the company, who, at their meeting in Windham, April 17, 1763, voted to "reserve for the use of the company all beds and mines of ore and coal that may be within the towns ordered for settlement." He was a surveyor and convey- ancer by profession, and made the company's first surveys ; drafted most or nearly all of its early public documents ; was its first magistrate or jus- tice of the peace, and its first presiding or chief judge of court ; and was five times sent as its rep- resentative to the colonial assembly of Con- necticut.

Pioneer John Jenkins was chosen moderator "at a meeting of ye proprietors and settlers of ve town of Westmoreland," August 1, 1775; at which it was "Resolved by this town, that they are willing to make any accommodations with ve Pennsylvania party that shall conduce to ye best interest of ye whole, not infringing on the property of any person, and come in common cause of liberty in ye defense of America, and that we will amicably give them ye offer of join- ing in ye proposals as soon as maye be ;" and this same John Jenkins was moderator of the ad- joined meeting of the settlers held August 8, 1775, when it was

"Voted, as this town has but of late been in- corporated and invested with the privilege of the law, both civil and military, and now in capacity of acting in conjunction with our neigh- boring towns within this and the other colonies, in opposing ye late measure adopted by Parlia- ment to enslave America ; also, this town having taken into consideration the late plan adopted by Parliament of enforcing their several oppressive and unconstitutional acts, of depriving us of our property, and of binding us in all cases without exception, whether we consent or not, is con- sidered by us highly injurious to American or English freedom; therefore do consent to and acquiese in the late proceedings and advice of the Continental Congress, and do rejoice that those measures are adopted, and so universally received throughout the continent ; and in conformity to the eleventh article of the association, we do now appoint a committee to attentively observe the

conduct of this town touching the rules and reg- ulations prescribed by the Honorable Continental Congress, and will unanimously join our brethren in America in the common cause of defending our liberty.

"Voted, that Mr. John Jenkins, Joseph Slu- man, Esq., Nathan Denison, Esq., Mr. Obadiah Gore, Jr., and Lieut. William Buck, be chosen a committee of correspondence for the town of Westmoreland."

On July 3, 1778, John Jenkins and his family, except his eldest son, Colonel John, were pris- oners in Jenkins' Fort, with Stephen Harding's family and others-some sick and some wounded. He died at the "drowned lands" in the Minisink region, in the fall of 1784.

Colonel John Jenkins (5) was one of the famous characters of the revolution. In the early settlement times in the Wyoming Valley he was school teacher, surveyor and conveyancer, mer- chant, and iron monger. He came to live in the valley in 1769 and at once took an active part in the Pennamite war. Early during the revolu- tion he was taken prisoner by the Indians (No- vember, 1777), but succeeded in making his escape. He then was made lieutenant in Captain Spaulding's company, and went with Colonel Hartley to Tioga Point (September, 1778) and took part in the battle of Indian Hill, below W'ya- lusing. In April, 1779, he visited General Wash- ington at headquarters, and with him planned the Sullivan campaign, in which he acted as chief guide of the army, and for his service and bra- very in the battle of Newtown (Elmira, New York,) in August, 1779, he received the thanks of Sullivan in general orders. In 1781, with his company, he joined Washington's army on the Hudson, marched with the troops to Yorktown, and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis, serving under Steuben. In 1782 he resigned his commission and returned home. He was honored with several public offices-member of the gen- eral assembly, surveyor general, general agent of the Susquehanna Land Company; was made major and later lieutenant-colonel of militia ; was elected high sheriff in 1796. His house was in Exeter township, and he died March 19, 1827, on the site of the old battle ground.

Thomas Jenkins (5), fourth son, fifth child, of John Jenkins and his wife Lydia Gardner, was born January 19, 1761. died April 22, 1812 ; mar- ried Eleanor Schoutz. They had children : (I) Polly, married (first) James Slocum : (sec- ond) Joel Smith ; (third) Joseph Shaw ; and had two children by her second husband, William and Joel. (2) Hettie, married Dr. John Smith, and

John A free time

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had seven children. (3) Adie, married Pierce Smith, and had four children. (4) Benjamin, married Sallie Tuttle, and had twelve children. (5) David, married Mary Hallock, and had five children. (6) Thomas. (7) Fanny, married Beech Tuttle, and had two children. (8) John, married Lydia Barber, and had seven children. (9) Catherine, married Daniel Jones, and had twelve children.

Benjamin Jenkins (6), eldest son, fourth child. of Thomas Jenkins, was born November 26, 1792, on a farm where a part of West Pitts- ton now stands, known as the Jenkins Ferry farm. He learned the trade of carpenter and joiner but was chiefly a farmer by occupation. He was captain of a company of state militia, and there gained the military title of "Capt. Ben," by which he was generally known. Benjamin Jenkins died May 22, 1861. He married, Jan- uary 21, 1813, Sallie Tuttle, sister of Captain Chester Tuttle, of Forty Fort, and they had they had children: Thomas; Eleanor, married James Shaw ; Elizabeth, died in infancy ; Hugh, died in infancy; Martha Ann, married Peter Sine, of Exeter township; Rachel, married Jude L. Vandenburg ; Catherine, married John Baker : Holden T., died aged ten years; Mary, married Jacob Kern; Sarah, married Thomas S. Knapp ; John S., married Rhoda A., daughter of Miles Spencer, of Dallas; Adeline E., married Jesse Gangwer.

John S. Jenkins (7), (Benjamin 6, Thomas 5, John 4, John 3, Zachariah 2, John I) fourth son, eleventh child, of Benjamin Jenkins and his wife Sally (Tuttle) Jenkins, was born Exeter, Jan- uary 21, 1835; married December 29, 1860, Rhoda A. Spencer, daughter of Miles Spencer and his wife, Rhoda Montross. Their children are : Thomas W., born August 4, 1862; died in infancy. E. Coray, born July 13, 1864, now living in Moosic, Pennsylvania. He is a clerk in a store. He married Elizabeth Leyshon, and their children are John S., May, Reta, Ralph, Rhoda. Walter and Eleanor. Maggie, died in infancy. Charles G., born March 4, 1869, near Scranton, Penn., now living in Brooklyn, N. Y., a boiler maker and steam fitter. He married Eliz- abeth Sanesberry; two children, John S. and Charles G.

John S. Jenkins, of Pittston, spent his early life in Exeter, where he acquired the rudiments of an education in the public schools. In 1847 he started out for himself and found employment with Samuel Benedict, of Pittston; two years later, 1849, he began business for himself, boat-

ing coal on the North Branch canal, between Pittston and New York. He helped to take the first boat load of coal that the Pennsylvania Coal Company ever took to New York City. In the second year of the war of 1861-5 he enlisted as private, and was promoted sergeant of Company G, One Hundred and Eighty-seventh Pennsyl- vania Infantry, and served with the regiment un- til mustered out August 3, 1865. He then re- turned to Pittston and took charge of the Green- wood colliery in August, 1865, and was its superintendent outside and inside till 1876. August 1, 1877, he was made superintend- ent of the Spring Brook railroad, a lum- ber carrying road chiefly, and from 1871 until 1876 he was interested in a large general store which was operated under the firm style of John S. Jenkins & Co. He then sold out, but in 1879 he started a new store in this same building and continued this with a slight interruption till 1882, then sold out. From 1879 to 1887 Mr. Jenkins was engaged in various mining enterprises, leas- ing and re-letting coal mines and rights, in many cases developing coal lands which were supposed to be unproductive. In 1887 he purchased of John Jermyn a mining property in Blakeley bor- ough, developed it into a paying operation, or- ganized the Rush Brook Coal Company ,and be- came its president, a position he held till 1899 when it was sold to the Ontario and Western Railroad. All that the company was, and all that the mine was, was due almost wholly to the efforts of John S. Jenkins. His efforts in busi- ness life have been successful and that success has been deserved.

Mr. Jenkins is a Republican, and has held the office of councilman of West Pittston a num- ber of terms and is still serving. He is a Mason, a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 233, of Pitts- ton : a member of the A. A. S. R., up to and in- cluding the thirty-second degree; of Keystone Consistory, S. P. R. S. ; and also past commander of W. G. Nugent Post, No. 245, G. A. R., of Pittston. H. E. H.

BENNETT FAMILY. "Mihi Consulit Deus." Such is the motto of that branch of the Bennett family under consideration here : "a

very ancient family of which a pedigree of thirteen descendants

is re- corded in the College of Arms." says Burke; and a family, according to accepted author- ity "of the order of decent gentry," who were descended from two brothers of Berkshire who migrated to London toward the close of the six-

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teenth century. The immigrant ancestor of the family in America was Edward Bennett, of Wilt- shire, England, who was one of the first colonists of Weymouth, in New England; freeman there 1636, and one of the founders of Rehoboth, Mass- achusetts, where he died, 1646. Little is of rec- ord regarding Edward Bennett, but among his sons was one Samuel, born 1628, died 1684, of Greenwich, Rhode Island, where he bought lands, 1652; was made freeman, 1655, sergeant of mil- itia at a salary of £20, 1656 ; was voted 100 acres of public land in consideration of his military services during the war with the Narragansetts and also with King Philip; was deputy to the general court, 1678. This Samuel Bennett had a son Samuel, born 1654, died at Coventry, Rhode Island, 1735; married (I) Sarah Forsman, (2) Desire Berry, (3) Rachel He was by trade a carpenter ; was made freeman, 1684; grand. juror, 1688; deputy to the general court, 1688; and was lieutenant of militia. He had a son, Samuel Bennett, born in Coventry, Rhode Island, 1690, to whom was granted by his father, in 17II, ten acres of land. He married Mary Stafford, one of their children was Ephraim Ben- nett ; another was Thomas Bennett, the hero of Wyoming, who was in Forty Fort at the time of the massacre, and whose services during the Revolution and also during the Pennamite war have been referred to by almost every chronicler of contemporary history. Thomas always wrote his surname Bennet, and nearly all of his direct descendants have adopted that way of spelling the name. No satisfactory record of the progeny of the third Samuel Bennett is found, but it is reasonably certain that Ephraim Bennett and Thomas Benet were brothers and sons of Samuel Bennett and Mary Stafford. Another son was Ishmael Bennett, senior, who married Abigail (Beers) Weeks, widow of Philip Weeks, who was killed in the massacre.

Ephraim Bennett, senior, also married a Mary Stafford, a descendant of Stukely Westcott and Rosanna Hill, who were of the twelve persons baptized by Roger Williams upon the organiza- tion in 1638 of the First Baptist Church in the colonies. Ephraim Bennett, the elder, was a soldier in Colonel Williams' Massachusetts regi- ment, and was in the battle of Lake George, Sep- tember 8. 1755. He was taken prisoner with others to Canada and held in confinement there until 1758, when he was released through the in- tercession of the general assembly of Massachu- setts. It is therefore probable that at the time of the battle Ephraim Bennett was a resident in the province of Massachusetts. That he emigrated

with the Connecticut settlers after the close of the Revolutionary war is certain, as he paid taxes in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, in 1783 and 1785 ; and that he soon afterward went up the Susquehanna is equally certain, for in 1795 lie owned and sold lands in what is now Chemung county, New York.

Ephraim Bennett, son of Ephraim Bennett and his wife, Mary Stafford, was born in Rhode Island in 1762, and died in 1843 at Watkin Glen, New York. His wife was Hannah Bentley, born in Rhode Island, 1759, died 1839. The Bennett and Bentley families appear to have been inti- mately associated from an early date. They left Kingstown, Rhode Island, together previous to the Revolution, remained in Orange county, New York, during the war, and afterward removed in company to the Wyoming regions of Penn- sylvania, probably in 1782. In 1789 they went up the Susquehanna and settled between Athens, Pennsylvania, and Elmira, New York, near where Bentley creek, named for the Bentleys, empties into the Susquehanna. Here the pioneer heads of the families lived many years, and and from here their children and descendants went forth into the activities of business life and settled themselves in various sections of the land. The Bentleys were conspicuous figures in American history during the colonial period and the Revol- ution. The American ancestor of the family was William Bentley, who sailed from London for New England, September 19, 1635. His Eng- lish ancestors were superior men in all ways. Military records show that fourteen Bentleys, all of this family, served in New York state during the Revolution and they were conspicuous for bravery and daring. William Bentley, the im- migrant, had a son William, who had a son William, of Stonington, Connecticut. He mar- ried Mary Elliott. Their son, Green M. Bentley, was one of the famous men of his time and of his family. He served through the French and In- dian wars and also in the Revolution, and the old Tioga county (New York) town was named "Veteran" in allusion to his long and loyal mili- tary service. He was the maternal great-grand- father of Stephen Beers Bennett, of Pittston, Pennsylvania.

Ephraim and Hannah (Bentley) Bennett had eleven children, six sons, five daughters. Eph- raim was a private in Colonel Hathorne's regi- ment under Captain David McCambly ; and at least three of his brothers. James, Abraham and Thaddeus, were members of the command in which their father was sergeant. Ephraim Ben- nett located at the head of Seneca lake. His fourth

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

child, Colonel Green Bentley Bennett, was born near Elmira, New York, November 27, 1797, died 1878. He removed with his father to Cath- erinestown, now Havana, Schuyler county, where his young life was spent. Colonel Bennett, as he was generally known, married ( I) Cynthia McLure (otherwise known as McClure and also as McLeur), and (2) Anna Beers Tyler. He was the owner of extensive timber lands and milling properties, and accumulated a fortune, but this was swept away by his mistaken con- fidence in the capacity and integrity of one whom he set up in business. He was colonel of militia previous to 1840, and was member of assembly in 1839; was superintendent of the Chemung canal, 1846-48, and 1851-52. He was a promi- nent figure in New York politics, state and local, and was a Democrat of the old school. His children, born of his first marriage, were : Thomas Streight, born 1822, married Mary Brown. John McClure, born 1824, married (I) Elizabeth Tyler, (2) Clymena Shutts. Charles Mitchell, born 1826, married Melissa Cole. Eph- raim, born 1828, died 1853 unmarried. George Coryell; born 1830, died 1848. Emily Peck, born 1833, married L. WV. Morse. By his second mar- riage he had one child :

Stephen Beers Bennett, born Moreland, Cheming county, (now Schuylkill county) New York, February 12, 1840, married, December, 1865, Sarah Clymena Shutts, born Terre Haute, Indiana, daughter of Nehemiah Shutts and wife Louisa Sanford.

Stephen Beers Bennett, being country bred. became acccustomed to all the diversified labors belonging to the occupation of farming. He en- listed in the Forty-eighth New York Volunteer infantry, September 7, 1861, and served with that command in the operations at and near Port Royal Inlet and later at Port Royal. At the end of about fifteen months he was discharged, and later became a member of the Norfolk post band, stationed at Norfolk, Virginia, and remained there until the general muster out in 1865. Re- turning home he entered the service of the Fall Brook Coal Company at Corning, New York. In March, 1872, he removed to Pittston, Pennsyl- vania, to take charge of the operations at the old Butler colliery, one of the first mines operated in that district. He was appointed postmaster of Pittston in 1885, and during his term estab- lished the free delivery system in both the Pitts- tons. In 1894 he was elected burgess of West Pittston, and served in that capacity three years. He was a delegate to the Indianapolis convention that nominated Palmer and Buckner, and felt it

an honor to act with the distinguished Democrats and citizens who were opposed to the Bryan De- mocracy. He is now president of the Pittston Hospital Association ; a member of Nugent Post. No. 245, G. A. R. ; past eminent commander of Wyoming Commandery, K. T. ; a member of the Scranton New England Society ; the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society ; and member of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett had two children :

Elizabeth, born in Corning, New York, August 5, 1868, married Charles S. Morrow, son of the late President Judge Charles D. Morrow, of Bradford county, Pennsylvania; removed to Duluth, Minnesota, where he died, December, 1893, leaving one daughter, Henrietta Bennett Morrow, born Duluth, June 6, 1891.

Charles Frederick, born West Pittston, De- cember 31, 1876, educated West Pittston High School ; graduated St. Johns' Military School. Manlius, New York : commissioned first lieuten- ant Company C. Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers for service during the Spanish-American war ; mustered out of service October 29, 1898, re- taining his commission in N. G. P .; appointed, 1900, inspector of rifle practice with rank of first lieutenant ; subsequently raised to rank of captain on staff of Colonel Dougherty ; served thirty-eight days during the coal strike of 1902 ; member of the Wyoming Commemorative Association ; the New England Society of Foreign Wars, and of the Military Service Institution. H. E. H.

S. JUDSON STARK. In the early days of the New England colonies there were those of the surname Starke (sometimes written Stark, and occasionally Start, for these forefathers of ours in early American history knew no arbitrary rules of spelling) in Massachusetts, in Connecti- cut, and in Rhode Island.

(I). Aaron Starke was among the first of the name in Connecticut. He served under Cap- tain John Mason during the Pequot war in 1637, and several years later this same Aaron was again in military service in the Narragansett war of 1675, under the same commander. Aaron Starke was of Mystic (the eastern part of the township of New London, Connecticut) as early as 1653, and in the year 1666 was made a freeman in Stonington and in New London in 1669. He was a man who had much to do with the affairs of the church in Stonington. He was born in England in 1608, but the year of his immigration and the first place of his settlement in the colonies is uncertain. He died in New London, Connecti-

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 45

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