Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 46

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 46
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 46

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).

258

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

cut, in 1685, and had the following named child- ren : I. Aaron, born about 1654, married Mehit- able Shaw ; 2. John, born about 1656; 3. Will- iam, born 1664: 4. Margaret, married John Fish ; 5. Elizabeth, married Josiah Haynes.

(II). Willian Stark, son of Aaron, born 1664, died 1730. He was reared in the faith of the dominant church ( Congregational ) but after- ward became a Baptist, and one of the most sin- cere exponents of its teachings, as well as one of its pillars, being deacon of the church until his death. He married Elizabeth , and his wife was equally devout in religious walk, and a faithful mother to her children, who were as follows : I. William, born at Groton, Con- necticut, 1687 ; 2. Christopher, of whom later ; 3. Daniel; 4. Phebe, married Thomas Wal- worth.

(III). Christopher Stark, son of William and Elizabeth Stark, born at Groton, Connecticut, 1698, died at Wyoming, 1776, married at Groton, April 1, 1722, Joanna Walworth, daughter of William and Abigail Walworth, of New London, 1691. Christopher Stark was one of the earliest purchasers of land in the Wyoming Valley from the Susquehanna Land Company at Hartford, November 20, 1754. He moved first to Beek- man's precinct, Dutchess county, New York. Thence, after deeding to three of his sons his full "one right" at Wyoming, he moved with them in 1772-73 to Wyoming. Here he and his child- ren shared with the other Connecticut settlers the privations of pioneer life in the wilderness regions of Pennsylvania. They likewise joined with the Yankees in the defense of home and property against the unrelenting Pennamite au- thorities, and also shared the hardships and dis- asters which befell the Westmoreland county set- lers in the terrible massacre of July 3, 1778, when their son, Aaron, fell a victim of Indian revenge. Christopher was commissioned ensign, Third Company of Groton, Connecticut, 1742. Chris- topher and Joanna Stark had among other child- ren. I. Aaron Stark, born November 3. 1732, slain in the massacre of Wyoming, July 3, 1778; married Margaret After the massacre she fled with her children back to Con- necticut, but when Sullivan had driven the In- dians from the Wyoming section some of the sons returned to Westmoreland ; among them was Daniel Stark, who married Charlotte Worden, and had: Jolin D. : Olive, married James Wor- den : Saralı, married Isaac Wilcox ; and Hannah, married Jacob Miller. Many of the descendants of these children still live in the Wyoming Val-

ley. (See Starke Family, Wilcox Family, and Miller Family). 2. James Stark, see later. 3. William Stark, born about 1747, died in Orange county, New York, 1795. He married Polly Carey. He also returned to the Wyoming Valley, but returned later to Orange county, leav- ing a large family of descendants on Tunkhan- nock Creek, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, and in Wyoming Valley.

(IV). James Stark, third son of Shristopher and Joanna (Walworth) Stark, was born May 22, 1734, died July 20, 1777. He married, 1758, Elizabeth Carey, daughter of the Rev. Henry Carey, one of the first Baptist ministers of Dut- chess county, New York. James Stark had en- tered the army under Washington, probably in 1776, but returned to the valley when danger threatened, and died of smallpox. James Stark and Elizabeth (Carey) Stark had, among other children : I. Henry, who married. November 3, 1791, Elizabeth Kennedy, and was the ancestor of James Frederick Stark, of Wyoming. He re- turned to the Valley to live, and his descendants are still there, some of them holding high posi- tions in the activities of life. 2. Samuel Stark, of whom later.

(V). Samuel Stark, son of James and Eliza- beth (Carey) Stark, born in Dutchess county, New York, October 8, 1771, died September 30, 1840, in Michigan. He married August 10, 1793, Polly Birdsall, who bore him thirteen children, four sons and nine daughters.

(VI). Samuel Stark, third son of Samuel and Polly ( Birdsall) Stark, born Cherry Valley, New York, June 9, 1810, died Tunkhannock, Pennsyl- vania, December 15, 1879. He married, March 29, 1838, Lydia, daughter of Colonel Abel and Affa (Harding) Marcy, and granddaughter of Zebulon and Jerusha (Conant) Marcy, of Tunk- hannock. Affa Harding was daughter of John Harding, of Exeter, Luzerne county, Pennsyl- vania, who was a boy at the time of the Wyoming massacre of June 30, 1778, and saved himself from the Indians by hiding among the willows on the river bank. . (See Harding Family). Zeb- ulon Marcy was one of the prominent characters in Wyoming Valley history. In 1770 he erected the first log house in Pittston, and removing from thence in 1772, he built his log cabin on Tunk- hannock Creek, and was a land surveyor in old Putnam township, also town clerk, frequently moderator of town meetings, and proprietor's agent and clerk. He was in the Valley during the troubles with the Pennamites, and also during the Revolution, and was as loyal to the cause of

259

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

the colonies as he was to the Connecticut claim- ants, and fought with all the determination of his Yankee ancestors. In 1779 he was commissioned justice of the peace under Connecticut authority. and in 1800 was appointed to the same office by the governor of Pennsylvania. He died in Tunk- hannock, Pennsylvania, in 1834, aged almost ninety-one years.

Samuel Stark went to Tunkhannock. 1827. and found employment there as clerk for his cousin, Henry Stark. In 1833 he became partner in the business. and from that time until 1877 was a conspicuous figure in the mercantile and financial history of that interesting locality. He dropped merchandizing in 1864, and was one of the organizers of the Wyoming National Bank of Tunkhannock, and was its cashier from 1865 until he retired from active business life in 1877. În many respects he was a factor for good in the community in which he lived. His name was a synonym for integrity and moral worth. He was liberal and public-spirited. generous with friends. kind to the distressed. charitable with those who were poor, and was indeed an earnest. Christian man. a consistent member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. Samuel and Lydia ( Marcy) Stark had five children who grew to maturity : I. Kate MI .. married John Day : 2. Eleanor G .. married Stanley W. Little; 3. Affa C., married (first) Calvin Detrick, (second) James E. Seeley ; 4. Abel MI., died unmarried ; 5. S. Judson.

(VII). S. Judson Stark, youngest child of Samuel and Lydia (Marcy) Stark, was born at Tunkhannock. Pennsylvania, October 2. 1850: married, October 2, 1873, Eva W. Keeney. Mrs. Stark is the only daughter of Ephraim J. Kenney, and wife Elizabeth Neigh. of Windham town- ship. Pennsylvania. Ephraim was prothonotary of Wyoming county two terms. The pioneer of the family in Wyoming Valley was Mark Keeney, of Litchfield county. Connecticut. where he was born. He was a soldier of the French and Eng- lish wars, and of the Revolution. and came to Wyoming in 1787. settling in Braintrim town- ship soon after 1790. His son Joshua married Plebe Sturdevant, and had Seth L. Keeney, who married Mary Wall and had Ephraim J. Keeney. who married Elizabeth Neigh.

S. Judson Stark was educated in the Tunk- hannock public schools. Wyoming Seminary. Kingston. Dickinson College. Carlisle. Bry- ant & Stratton's Commercial College. Phila- delphia : he was not graduated from Dickinson College with the class of 1873 as was his pur- pose. as ill health compelled him to abandon the college course. He then entered as student the

Bryant & Stratton Business College, and took a regular commercial course of study. In 1872 he became partner with Dr. A. B. Woodward in the drug business in Tunkhannock. and soon after- ward became senior member of the firm of Stark, Osterhouse Brothers. dealers in general merchan- clise. Later on he was secretary and treasurer of the Tunkhannock Toy Company, and from 1886 to 1888 was engaged in the furniture business on the court house square in Tunkhannock. He was one of the organizers in 1872 and the first treas- tirer of the old Triton Hose Company. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason : member of Tem- ple Lodge, Temple Chapter. and of Temple Com- mandery. all of Tunkhannock, and of Keystone Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, the latter constituted in 1890, and he is one of its charter members. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of more than thirty years' standing. and has served as steward. trustee. and superintendent of its Sunday school. He is now a resident of West Pittston. Pennsylvania, and engaged in the real estate business. H. E. H.

GRIFFIN LEWIS BALDWIN is a descen- dant of one of the original settlers of Milford colony, his line being Abed (7). 1803: Jude (6) 1775: Jared (5), 1731-2; Caleb (4), 1704: Sam- uel (3), 1674-5; Josiah (2). about 1644; John (I). The latter came with the Milford colony from Buckinghamshire. England. and the vicin- ity of Aylesbury, Clinton parish. in 1639. It is worthy of note that his ancestor. Josiah Baldwin, was married to Mary Camp. of New Haven, daughter of Edward Camp. June 25. 1667. and himself to Anna D. Harrison, daughter of Jack- son Harrison and Rebecca Millard, June 25, 1867, two hundred years to a day, thereafter, there having been five intervening generations.

The people of that period having the aborig- ines, an unsubdued wilderness, and poverty, as surrounding conditions to contend with, were not disposed to disseminate themselves over the new country. The heads of four generations of Baldwins were born where the original ancestor had settled. at Milford. The marital unions of this line were John to Mary -. second to Mary Bruen. of Stapleford, England: Josiah to Mary Camp; Samuel to Rebecca Wilkinson : Caleb to Ann Tibbals : Jared to Damaras Booth : Jude to Elenor Watson : Abed to Philena Lewis. and G. L. to Anna D. Harrison. The latter three marriages occurred in Luzerne county.

Jared Baldwin. who was born the same year with Washington, had been a commissary of a

260

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

regiment of the Connecticut line in the Revolu- tion. He came to Luzerne about the year 1795 or earlier, with his sons, Jared, Tibbals, Amos and Jude. They purchased of the Susquehanna Com- pany, who acted under the Connecticut title, a tract of land extending nearly to Harvey's Lake

from the Falls of Toby's Creek. Their residence was at the Falls, where the village of Huntsville now stands, which was then a part of Plymouth township. This accounts for their names ap-

pearing in the Plymouth tax list in 1796. When the treaty of Trenton confirmed the Penn title they were again obliged to pay for their lands. At the Falls they built a saw mill, grist mill and felt hat factory, Jude having learned the hatter's trade in Connecticut. The grist mill, which was an important feature of a new settlement in those days, stood in the bank between the road leading to Trucksville, over the hill, and the one leading down the creek. In 1809 it was de- stroyed by fire. The saw mill stood at the first bend of the ereek, say five rods above the pres- ent stone bridge. These were the first mills ver built at the Falls of Toby's Creek. An un- usual flood in this creek in 1850 uncovered the apron of the original flume, the planks whereof were fastened down to the bed pieces with wooden pins. This floor revealed to the writer the work of his ancestors done more than fifty years be- fore, when all that country was a forest. Tibbals died at Huntsville and Amos removed to Pitcher. Chenango county, New York. Their mother died in 1816, and the father returned to Connecticut, where he died the next year, at the home of his son, Dr. Gabriel Baldwin, whose wife was a daughter of President Burr, of Princeton Col- lege.

Jude Baldwin, son of Jared Baldwin, remained on a part of the original purchase, in what is now Dallas township, and married. 1797, Elenor Wat- son, daughter of Amariah Watson, who owned a farm on Elm Hill. in now Plymouth borough, and who later removed to Huntington, driven as others were out of the valley by fever and ague. A part of what is now the Huntsville reservoir was once a tamarack forest and the rest a marsh. A dam standing where the present dam stands, raised the water sufficiently to flood and kill this timber, which caused an epidemie of typhus fever, of which Jude Baldwin and several of his family died in the years 1819-21. Eventually all his liv- ing sons removed to Ohio-save Abed, who en- tered upon mercantile and manufacturing pur- suits at Huntsville, where he died in 1854. Abed's name originated with his mother, it being an abridgement of Abednego.

Abed Baldwin. son of Jude Baldwin, was much esteemed by his neighbors. He was of large stature, and commanding presence. He took much interest in military affairs and held the rank of major in a state regiment. His wife was Philena, daughter of Rev. Griffin Lewis, a pioneer Baptist minister. an immigrant from Rhode Island, whose wife was Hannah, daugh- ter of Jonah Rogers. Her mother was Dille Chaffee, and it was her grandmother, the Mrs. Rogers ( Hannah Ford), who died in the "Shades of Death," during the flight after the Wyoming massacre in 1778. The Rogers house stocd where is the yard of the old Gaylord house in Plymouth. Mrs. Lewis' brothers were too young to be at Wyoming, though her brother Jonah Rogers, Jr., figures in the history of that period as a prisoner with Abram Pike, in the hands of the Indians. This connection makes G. L. Bald- win a direct descendant in the tenth degree (counting John first) from John Rogers, who was burned at the stake at Smithfield, England, in 1555, the first victim of Bloody Mary's reign. The generations are : John ( the martyr), Noah, John, Joseph (emigrant to America), Hope, Josiah. Jonah, Hannah, Philena, Lewis, G. L. Baldwin. Philena died at Berrien Springs, Mich- igan, in 1860.

The children of Abed who became adults were : Evaline Avers, 1827 ; Columbus Jackson, 1831 : Augusta Eliza, 1835; Griffin Lewis, 1837, of whom later : Ira Rollin, 1842. Evaline, died in 1847. Columbus J. married Lucy Ann Gager, of Norwalk, Ohio, and now resides there. He was elected clerk of the courts of Luzerne county in 1858, and was re-elected in . 1862 by the aid of the votes of the soldiers in the field. This vote was adjudged unconstitutional, and thereby he lost the second term. He was thereafter appointed as- sistant United States internal revenue assessor for the district west of the river. Augusta E. married Elisha Atherton, and removed to Nor- walk, where she, her husband, and their only son, Walter Abed, have since died. His remains lie in the Soldier's plot at Tombstone, Arizona. He was a member of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and later of a Kansas State Regiment. His history is well told in the following from the Wilkes-Barre Record :

"The following extract is from an article on 'Arizona's Development' in the San Diego (Cal- ifornia), Golden Era, for May, 1889:

"In concluding it is only fair to mention that in his efforts to make the hospital a model one, Dr. Willis is ably seconded by Ira R. Baldwin, an old Union soldier, who holds the position of

261

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

steward. The latter is the hero of many battles, many hairbreadth escapes, wounds, imprison- ments and deprivations in our country's defense. and, besides being personally qualified for his present position, it is eminently fitting that such posts of duty and responsibility be given to such men.

"A telegram from Tombstone, Arizona, an- nounces that Ira R. Baldwin died there Sunday, February 2, 1890.

"Mr. Baldwin was born December 2, 1842, at Huntsville, this county. He was a son of the late Major Abed Baldwin, and a brother of C. J. Baldwin, of Norwalk, Ohio, and of G. L. Baldwin, of Shickshinny, the latter of whom is the only living relative of the name of a once numerous family, now living in Pennsylvania. The breaking out of the war found Ira in Ohio, where he joined an infantry regiment and has- tened to the front. While his brother Lewis, with the Pennsylvania Reserves was driving the Rebels from the crest of South Mountain and from the plains of Antietam, Ira was a paroled prisoner in the rear of Lee's army, having re- mained with his regiment ten days after the ex- piration of his enlistment to help drive back the Rebel horde from the borders of his native state, only to be ignobly surrendered almost without a struggle, at Harper's Ferry, by General Miles, whose name he ever after held in desecration, and always insisted it was his own indignant soldiers who shot Miles-for it is true he was killed a few minutes after he had capitulated.

"The enemy held more prisoners than we, hence the government would not exchange pa- roled prisoners whose enlistments had expired, so Ira hastened to Kansas, joined the militia and helped to drive Quantrell into Indian Territory after he had sacked Lawrence. After the mus- ter out he went to Old Mexico, and later to Vancouver's Island, and finally settled in Tomb- stone, where Sunday ended a life fittingly por- trayed in the extract from the magazine above quoted.

"Burnside Post, 37. Department of Arizona, in which he was O. D., bore his remains to their last rendezvous with all the honors due a dead patriot.

"Rest in peace, patriot, friend and brother."

Griffin Lewis Baldwin, son of Abed Baldwin, was born August 27. 1837, in Huntsville, Penn- sylvania, where he spent twenty years of his life. He attended the public schools and Wyoming Seminary until 1857. He then went to Norwalk. Ohio, where he remained two years, then took a six months' trip through what was at that per-

iod the far west ; then returned to Wilkes-Barre, where he clerked in Reuben J. Flick's store for half a year. He then engaged with Smith & Shupp of Plymouth, to conduct a branch store at Huntsville. In the contract with Smith & Shupp, June, 1860, it was provided that, in the event of the election of Mr. Lincoln, and war should en- sue, Mr. Baldwin could cancel this contract in order to take up a musket for the defence of the Union. Under this provision he gave the re- quired two weeks notice and started for the front, enlisting in Company K, Seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps. On this contract he bases his belief that he was the first Unionist to arrange his business to meet the emergency which soon arose. He was immediately appointed clerk to the regimental adjutant, and though not required by army regulations to do so, always took his place in line when a battle was imminent. At the battle of Mechanicsville, Vir- ginia, he was wounded in the right arm by a minie ball which passed through it near the el- bow, its course being nearly three inches through the flesh. He was the first man of his company to feel the sting of a rebel bullet, though two others of the regiment were wounded about the same moment. He was sent to Eckington and Findlay general hospitals, where he remained two months, but was discharged at his own re- quest. He joined the army at Upson's Hill, which at once went to intercept General Lee in his invasion of Maryland. They passed through Frederick City and Middletown, Maryland, and fought the battle of South Mountain, Sunday afternoon, September 14, 1862, in which General Lee was defeated. As the regiment reached the top of South Mountain the contour of the ground was such as to cause the flanks to crowd the centre. At the moment when an order was given to fall back to straighten the line, Mr. Baldwin and comrades Byron Fairchild, Samuel Mershon, Charles Adams and Peter Williamson found themselves two rods in advance of the line. At this crucial moment the enemy gave direct at- tention to these five eager men. Fairchild and Baldwin threw themselves prone behind a stump, and several sissing minies intended for them lodged in the friendly barrier. Williamson fell with a compound fracture of the thigh. Adams stooped to render needed assistance when a rebel bullet entered the crown of his head, and, falling across Baldwin's legs, he made the three dying gasps which soldiers had become familiar with when a comrade is shot dead.

On the evening of the 16th the Reserves took position in line in front of Antietam creek. The

262

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

Seventh Regiment was assigned to support Ran- som's battery. This was before sundown, and, lying prone upon the ground, it was ten o'clock before it was safe to sit up, owing to the enemy's "spherical case" skimming the surface, and per- cussion and fuse-shells exploding every second about them. They could but watch the cannoniers see them fight and die for the old flag. In one instance a headless body fell to the ground, a pass- ing shot having obliterated the head. For sheer thirst the men could eat little hard tack for sup- per, or breakfast next morning. At first sign of light on the 17th the bugle call sounded along the line-the most solemn sound he ever heard. It was the death summons to thousands. None knew whose turn to die had come ; had they known, few would have shirked, for the old flag had become dearer than life. The Seventh Regiment now moved up to the famous cornfield near the Dun- kard church, its right resting on the turnpike, then moved by the left flank, filed left, thus changing front, and there met a line of the enemy which had emerged from the cornfield. Now en- sued a clear, open fight, not so much as a mullen stock intervening. It was a case of stand up, look your enemy in the face, and take your chances. Mr. Baldwin was now on the right of the regiment-the right fell back under the storm of bullets. He held his position, thinking the line would come up. But it did not, immediately. The enemy was getting nearer. He threw him- self on the ground; turned upon his back to load, then on his face to fire, while our line was firing over him and those who lay dead and wounded about him. The enemy got near enough to dis- tinguish the faces. He sprang back to the line just as the major ordered it up, and then sprang to a line with the colors and the flank dressed on him. A minie now struck his fingers. The One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania Regiment came to the relief and the enemy re- treated. This was the most supremely happy moment of his life. Three balls had cut his equipments, besides the one which hit his fingers.

The remnant of the Seventh took shelter in a depression. A falling ball passed by Baldwin's nead, striking Jerry Cooper in the neck, passing through, lodging against the skin on the opposite side. Later Sergeant Baldwin was detailed to take a file of men and find and bury the body of Lieutenant Saunders, who had been shot through the heart earlier in the day. Three times they partially dug a grave, and each time were driven away by the enemy's batteries. Later Mr. Bald- win was present at the great review at Culpeper,

when General Mcclellan was removed from command.

At the battle of Fredericksburg, when the Re- serves had advanced beyond the railroad, Com- rade Joseph Tubbs and Baldwin, having reached. musket range, sought a fallen tree top from which they poured buck and ball into a rebel battery which was enfilading our line. A few moments later he was on top of Fredericksburg heights (the left), the Reserves having cleaned up the enemy the full length of their front. Had not their support been withdrawn while they were in action they could have cut off Lee's right divi- sion, rolled up his line on its centre, and Freder- icksburg would have been a Union victory. As our brigade was rallying on a big oak tree, Chris- topher Keck and Comrade Baldwin, still on the very front, had a private fight with a few rebels. Each man sprang behind a tree, and thus partially protected carried on the fight. Keck received a ball through his left side, and, though he still lives, never again was fit for service on the front. What the results of our shots were we never knew, but the enemy was first to cease firing. On the night of the retreat from Fred- ericksburg, Baldwin was sergeant of the detail which stood at the river and directed the differ- ent arms of the service to their proper bridge. The following February the Reserves were or- dered to Alexandria, where Mr. Baldwin was prostrated by severe rheumatic fever. In June, 1864, his regiment was mustered out, and he re- ported to Adjutant-General Russell, who sent him to the assistant provost marshal general, who de- tailed him as chief clerk of his several combined offices, where he served to March 28, 1865, when he was discharged.

Soon thereafter he entered partnership with his former employer, Peter Shupp, in the mercan- tile business at Plymouth. In 1869, on account of impaired health, he went to his farm in Caro- line county, Virginia, where he also kept a store. In 1873 he sought a higher altitude at St. Al- bans, West Virginia, where he engaged in ship- ping walnut timber. Regaining his health he re- turned to Ohio, thence to Shickshinny, Pennsyl- vania, where he engaged in general business, lum- ber, mercantile and quarrying. In 1890 Mr. Baldwin purchased one half interest in the. Wilkes-Barre Business College, of which he be- came principal. After two years, his health again failing, he sold out his interest and has since lived a retired life.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 46

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