Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 8

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 8
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 8

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tion by the people as a principal factor in the progress and improvement of the place ; and that their expectations were not disappointed is shown in the present usefulness of this highway, which, after more than sixty years of continuous opera- tion, still serves to carry to market a large part of the products of the mines of this vicinity."

The course Mr. Reynolds pursued as repre- sentative, and his efforts in furthering the sys- tem of internal improvements, were favor- ably recognized by his constituents in a number of public meetings by resolutions expressing the high regard in which they held his services. The discharge of the duties of representative and the cares incident to the office required more time and attention than he could spare from the de- mands of an active business life, and at the ex- piration of his term he declined a renomination to the office. In October. 1838, his friends urged that he be appointed prothonotary of the court of common pleas of Luzerne county, but he declined to be considered an applicant for the office. He was appointed and commissioned by Governor Porter, March 15, 1841, one of the associate judges of the courts of Luzerne county for the term of five years. At that period the various county courts were held by three judges, one of whom, the president judge, was required to be a trained and experienced lawyer, while the other two were usually laymen, not necessarily learned in the law. Judge Reynolds performed the duties of his office with intelligence, dignity and honor. In 1840 and for several years thereafter, Judge Reynolds served by the appointment of the auditor general of Pennsylvania, as a member of the board of managers of the Wilkes-Barre Bridge Company, the owners of the Market Street Bridge, representing the interests of the com- monwealth in that corporation. He was chosen one of the trustees of the Wyoming Seminary, at Kingston, in 1845, the second year after the establishment of the institution by the Wyoming Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, although a member of a different religious denomination, was continued in the board of trustees for thirteen years by successive elections. In 1852 he, with his former business partner,

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

Henderson Gaylord, Hon. George W. Wood- ward, William Swetland, Samuel Hoyt and others whose interests lay mainly in the development of the mineral resources of Wyoming Valley, se- cured the charter for, and in 1854 proceeded to build the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad, extending from Scranton to Rupert, Pennsyl- vania, first, and then to Northumberland, and now forming a part of the extensive and impor- tant Lackawanna railroad system. Judge Rey- nolds was president of the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad Company during the en- tire period of the construction of its road, com- pleted in 1860, after which he declined a re-elec- tion : he continued, however, a director of the company until 1865. At the time of his death and for several years prior thereto, he was a di- rector of the Wyoming National Bank of Wilkes- Barre. He was an original member of the Wy- oming Historical and Geological Society at Wilkes-Barre, and retained his membership there- in until his death. Judge Reynolds was a man of correct business habits, far-seeing judgment, in- dustry and economy. His taste for literature led him to devote to its study much of the time he spared from business cares, and his kindly tem- perament and cultured mind, united with a fine conversational gift, rendered him a most agreea- ble companion and friend. Colonel H. B. Wright, who knew Mr. Reynolds well during nearly the whole of the latter's life, wrote of him in "His- torical Sketches of Plymouth," published in 1873 : "The success of Judge Reynolds is but an illus- tration of what can be accomplished by a life of industry and perseverance, guided by a sound mind and discerning judgment. He was the

* His architect of his own fortune. %

foresight and high character of intellect led him to make the investment of his spare funds in coal lands, and the increase of the value of those lands was the foundation of a large estate."

William Champion Reynolds was married at Plymouth, June 19, 1832, by the Rev. Nicholas Murray. D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre, to Jane Holberton, born at Plymouth, April 3, 1812, third child of -

John and Frances (Holbertson) Smith of Ply-

mouth. (See sketch of John Smith). Judge Reynolds died at his home on South River street, Wilkes-Barre, January 25, 1869, and his wife died there March 6, 1874. They had the follow- ing children, born in Kingston :

I. Lydia Frances, born July 14, 1833 ; died August 30, 1833.

2. Mary Clinton, born September 1, 1834; died August 19, 1836.

3. Emily, born December 6, 1836; died Feb- ruary 4, 1838.

4. George Murray, born July 17, 1838; of whom later.

5. Charles Denison, born April 17, 1840: married August 7, 1868, Mary W., daughter of J. M. and Mary M. (Porter) Burtis, and grand- daughter of Major Orlando Porter, previously mentioned. Charles Denison Reynolds died April 20, 1869, and some years later his widow became the wife of the Rev. Samuel A. Mutch- more, D. D., of Philadelphia.

6. Elizabeth, born April 13, 1842; of whom later.

7. Sheldon, born February 22, 1844; of whom later.

8. Benjamin, born December 25, 1849; of whom later. H. E. H.

NOTE .- John Smith, born Derby, New Haven county, Connecticut, April 22, 1781, ninth and youngest child of Lieutenant Abraham and Sarah (French) Smith. Ebenezer Smith, of Jamaica, Long Island, who died there in October, 1717, was a large landholder. His wife was Clement, daughter of Samuel and Mary Denton, of Ja- maica, and great-granddaughter of Rev. Rich- ard Denton, who was graduated at the University of Cambridge in 1623, and was of Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1640, and Hempstead, Long Island, in 1646. Ebenezer and Clement (Denton) Smith were the parents of six children, of whom the eldest was Robert, born at Jamaica in the lat- ter part of the seventeenth century. In 1723 he removed, "full-handed," to Norwalk, Connecti- cut, where in May, 1729, he bought for £395 a home-lot, dwelling-house, barn and four acres of land. Thereafter he had a considerable place in the annals of the town. He was married March II, 1724, to Judith, daughter of James Fountain, of Greenwich, Connecticut, and they became the parents of eight children, the sixth of whom was Abraham Smith, born at Norfolk.

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

May 17, 1734. He was married December 5, 1756, to Sarah, born at Derby, Connecticut, July 16. 1738, third child of Samuel and Martha (Chapman) French, and granddaughter of Francis (Jr.) and Anna (Bowers) French of Derby.

Abraham Smith settled at Derby. In 1755. during the French and Indian war, he served three months as a private in Colonel Chauncey's regiment of Connecticut troops in the colonial service. In the autumn of 1774 he was chosen a member of the committee of safety and inspec- tion of Derby, and also a member of the town committee appointed to examine and report upon the resolves of the first Continental Congress. In May, 1777, he was an ensign in the "Alarm List" of the Second Regiment, Connecticut Militia ; in 1778 he was lieutenant of the com- pany commanded by Captain Ebenezer Sumner, in Colonel Thaddeus Cook's regiment of Con- necticut Militia, and in May, 1779, was lieutenant of the Fourth Company in the "Alarm List" of the Second Regiment, Connecticut militia. Lieutenant Abraham Smith died at Derby, Feb- ruary 13, 1796, and his wife, Sarah, died there August 13, 1805. They were the parents of nine sons, of whom the youngest was John Smith, mentioned in the preceding sketch.

John Smith resided in Derby until 1807, when he removed to Plymouth, Pennsylvania, whither an elder brother, Abijah, had preceded him in 1806. John Smith bought a large tract of land adjoining a tract owned by his brother on Ran- som's creek, near the lower end of the present borough of Plymouth. Both of these tracts were entirely underlaid with several strata or veins of the finest anthracite coal-"stone-coal" it was called in those days-but which then was es- teemed of little value. In February, 1808, it was demonstrated in Wilkes-Barre by Judge Jesse Fell that "the common stone-coal of the Valley" could be burned in a grate in an ordi- nary fire-place. Up to that time the use of anthracite coal as a fuel had been confined almost exclusively to furnaces and forges using an air blast. Encouraged by the success of Judge Fell's experiment, Abijah and John Smith determined a few months later, to ship an ark- load of coal down the Susquehanna from the bed on their lands. But, in order to create a market for the fuel, it became necessary to show that it could be used for domestic purposes as well as in furnaces and forges; that it was a better and more convenient fuel than wood, and that its use was attended with no difficulties. In order to accomplish this the Messrs. Smith ac-

companied their arkload of coal down the river, taking with them a stone mason and several iron grates. In several houses at Columbia, and in other towns, fire-places for burning wood were fitted up with grates for the use of coal, and, fires being lighted, the good qualities of "stone-coal" were fully demonstrated. The re- sults were the sale of the coal which had been taken down the river, and the establishment of a trade that grew-very slowly, but continually. In 1808 or 1809 Abijah and John Smith formed a copartnership under the name of Abijah Smith & Company, and thenceforward until 1825 (when Abijah retired from business), the firm was en- gaged almost exclusively in the mining and ship- ping of coal. In September, 1830, a writer in Hazard's "Pennsylvania Register," (vi: 315) stated that "the Messrs. Smith opened their mine in Plymouth about 1810, and it is believed to be the first mine in Wyoming valley from which coal was sent down the river." Pearce, in his "Annals of Luzerne County" says (page 375) : "We have no positive evidence that the Wyom- ing coal has been used in Baltimore prior to this attempt * (in 1815) to introduce the bituminous variety. But the fact that John and * * Abijah Smith were engaged in the business of shipping coal, and in no other, from 1808 until 1825, renders it probable that some of our anthra- cite reached Baltimore shortly after its intro- duction into Columbia (in 1808). The Smiths were energetic, persevering men, and it seems not improbable that they shipped coal from Port Deposit to Baltimore before * * 1815." How- ever, if Abijah Smith & Co. did not ship coal to Baltimore prior to 1815, they did ship some to New York as early at least as 1812, for the evidence is indisputable that in that year they delivered to their factors in the city of New York over two hundred tons of coal from the Plymouth bed, the bulk of which was sold off in small lots prior to January 1, 1813. (See Har- vey's "History of Wilkes-Barre," chap. LI.)

With reference to the production of anthra- cite coal it has been stated, for years, in various histories and cyclopedias, and in official publica- tions issued by the National and State govern- ments, that this industry had its beginning in the vear 1820. when 365 tons were shipped to market from the Lehigh, Pennsylvania, region. On the contrary, as a matter of fact, the industry was begun at Plymouth a dozen years earlier, and Abijah and John Smith were the pioneer miners and shippers of anthracite coal. In a table re- cently issued by the United States Geological Survey, 1814 is given as the year "of the earliest

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

record" of anthracite production, and twenty- two tons as the quantity produced.

After the dissolution of the firm of Abijah Smith & Co., John Smith continued in the busi- ness of mining and shipping coal until 1845. when he also retired. In connection with his mining interests Mr. Smith owned and operated a grist-mill on Ransom's creek from 1825 until 1837, when he leased the property to Jeremiah Fuller. In the latter part of 1836 Mr. Smith changed the motive power of this mill from water to steam, thus setting up the third steam engine and establishing the second steam grist-mill to be operated in Luzerne county.

John Smith was married at Stratford, Con- necticut, January 5, 1806, to Frances (born in the parish of Stratfield, now a part of Bridge- port, Connecticut, January 1, 1780), fifth child of William and Eunice (Burr) Holberton, and widow of Samuel French, born at Weston, Con- necticut, February 17, 1774; married April 15, 1798; died at Stratford, Connecticut, in 1804. William . Holberton, born at Stratfield, Connecti- cut, August 15, 1740, and died there December II, 1797, was the son of John Holberton, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, who was the son of Captain William Holberton, a native of Devon- shire, England, a mariner who owned his own ship, and after 1700 a resident of Boston, where he died in 1716. William Holberton, the sec- ond of this name, saw considerable service as a soldier in the Connecticut forces during the Revolutionary war. His wife, Eunice Burr, to whom he was married in December, 1770, was born in Bridgeport, October 5, 1750, the daugh- ter of Captain John and Eunice (Booth) Burr. Captain John Burr was the son of Colonel John Burr, Sr., and his wife Catharine Wakeman.

John Smith died May 7, 1852, and his wife died at Kingston, Pennsylvania, February 3, 1861. They were the parents of three daughters and one son, of whom the third child and sec- ond daughter was Jane Holberton, who, as prev- iously mentioned, became the wife of William Champion Reynolds.

GEORGE MURRAY REYNOLDS, fourth child and eldest son of Hon. William Champion and Jane Holberton (Smith ) Reynolds, was born in what is now the borough of Kingston, Lu- zerne county, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1838. He received his early education at Wyoming Sem- inary, Kingston, and Edgehill School, Princeton, New Jersey, and then entered Yale College, but,

on account of impaired health following an at- tack of scarlet fever, was unable to finish the prescribed course of study. After leaving col- lege he pursued for some time the study of law, and then engaged in business pursuits. Within a few years thereafter he began to be identified, in a marked degree, with the civil, political, in- dustrial and military interests of Wilkes-Barre.

In February, 1874, Mr. Reynolds was elected to represent the seventh ward of Wilkes-Barre in the city council, and for the ensuing six years he continued to be a member of that body, serv- ing as its president from June, 1875, till April, 1880, and discharging his official duties in a most efficient and satisfactory manner. His labors in the council showed able fitness for the responsible position, a highly intelligent appre- ciation of the legislation necessary for the man- agement of the city's interests, and a conscien- tious devotion to the almost continuous and ardu- ous duties of the office. In 1877 he was ap- pointed by the judges of the Luzerne county courts to serve with Hon. Charles E. Rice, now president judge of the superior court of Penn- sylvania, and the late Harrison Wright, Esq., in making the "Seven Years' Audit," a work which occupied a period of some two years and entailed duties neither pleasant nor profitable. Mr. Reynolds was a member of the board of school directors of the third district of Wilkes- Barre from 1884 till 1891, and for the last two years of his service was secretary of the board. In April, 1880, Mr. Reynolds was elected a trustee of the Wilkes-Barre Female Institute, and he continued in that position until his death, serving as secretary and treasurer of the board of trustees from and after December, 1883. He was also a trustee of the Harry Hillman Acad- emy for several years, and from April, 1892, until his death a trustee of the Osterhout Free Library of Wilkes-Barre. He was also for many years a valued member of the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes -- Barre, and was president of the board from May, 1878, until his death. He was one of the most vigorous workers in bringing about the erec- tion and furnishing of the handsome edifice now

The Lewis Publishing co.

W _ Bather, NY

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

owned by this church. An institution which claimed a large share of his time and attention, and a great deal of his solicitude, was the Wilkes- Barre City Hospital, and it would be impossible to overestimate the value of his service in behalf of that beneficent institution. He was a member of its board of directors from January, 1880, until his death, and treasurer of the hospital from January, 1889, until his death. During these twenty-four years of uninterrupted service -only excepting the last two years of his life, when his health was impaired-he was unre- mitting in his regard for the hospital interests.

When the Ninth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania, was organized at Wilkes-Barre in July, 1879, Mr. Reynolds was unanimously elected its colonel, and upon the expiration of his commission in July, 1884, he was unani- mously re-elected to the office. In May, 1885. Colonel Reynolds tendered his resignation, which was duly accepted, inasmuch as his personal af- fairs would no longer admit of his performing the duties of his office satisfactorily to himself. Much of the efficiency and high standing in the National Guard of the Ninth Regiment is due to Colonel Reynolds' untiring energy in its or- ganization and discipline, and his efforts in cre- ating among the people of Wyoming valley a personal interest in the regiment's welfare and permanence. In recognition of his services, so well understood and highly appreciated by the officers of his command, the latter, upon his re- tirement from the regiment, presented him with a set of resolutions reading in part as follows : "From its (the Ninth's) inception your personal supervision of every detail. your faithful dis- charge of the duties of your position, and earn- est efforts to secure it the proper recognition in the National Guard, is appreciated by us all. Not only the regiment, but the National Guard, has lost an efficient officer, and your courteous bearing towards and impartial treatment, at all times and under all circumstances, of the officers and men of your command have won for you the respect and kindly feeling of the whole regi- ment." When it was determined to make an effort to raise funds for building an armory

for the Ninth Regiment, by holding a fair in Wilkes-Barre in May, 1886, Colonel Reynolds was selected as general manager of the fair; after the armory was erected he was appointed a member of the board of armory trustees, which position he held until his death. In 1890, and other years about that period, Colonel Reynolds was president of the Wilkes-Barre Board of Trade. He was also, for a number of years, a director of the Wyoming Valley Cut- lery works and of the Wyoming National Bank of Wilkes-Barre. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Mayflower Descendants, and was also an active member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society from 1883 un- til his death, serving, as vice-president of the society from 1895 till 1904.

Colonel Reynolds was married at Wilkes- Barre, May 24, 1866, to Stella Mercer, born December 3. 1840, daughter of the Rev. John Dorrance, D. D., pastor of the First Presby- terian Church of Wilkes-Barre from 1833 till 1861, and his wife. Penelope Mercer. (See Dorrance Family.) The work and influence of Mrs. Reynolds, in her sphere, were as eminent and praiseworthy as those of her husband in more conspicuous affairs. Of all those identi- fied with the management of the Home for Friendless Children she was the most tireless, and she was also one of those upon whom fell a large share of the women's work in the First Presbyterian Church. To all her labors in con- nection with these institutions she brought boundless energy, intelligent executive ability, strong practical sense and keenness of percep- tion that gave her acknowledged leadership. She was a member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wyoming Valley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames of America, and other organizations whose pur- suits were of a literary and historical nature. Mrs. Reynolds' death occurred quite unexpect- edly at Wilkes-Barre, November 13, 1904, after a very brief illness. Col. George Murray and Stella Mercer (Dorrance) Reynolds had :

I. Helen Murray, born January 29. 1868;

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

married June 24, 1896, to Burr Churchill Miller, son of Hon. Warner Miller, United States sen- ator from New York 1881-87; Mr. and Mrs. Miller have children: Reynolds, born January 26, 1901 ; and Warner, born April 3. 1904.

2. Schuyler Lea, born May 6, 1872. He is a life member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.

Elizabeth Reynolds, sixth child of Hon. William Champion and Jane Holberton ( Smith) Reynolds, was born at Kingston April 13, 1842, and twenty years later removed with her parents to Wilkes-Barre, where, October 1, 1868, she was married to Col. Robert Bruce Ricketts.

H. E. H.

COL. ROBERT BRUCE RICKETTS, who is of Scottish and English descent, was born at Orangeville,

Columbia county, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1839, fifth son of Elijah Green

and Margaret (Lockhart) Ricketts, and grandson of Lieutenant Ed- ward Ricketts (born 1759), who in 1781 was an officer in the battalion of Pennsylvania mili- tia commanded by Col. Hugh Davidson, of Bed- ford county. At the outbreak of the Civil war Robert Bruce Ricketts, having left school, was pursuing the required studies for admission to the bar. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted for three years in Battery F, Capt. Ezra W. Mat- thews, First Light Artillery, Forty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers; July 8, 1861, he was mustered into service, and on August 5th he was promoted first lieutenant of the battery. The First Light Artillery was or- ganized at Harrisburg. Pennsylvania, under Col. Charles T. Campbell, and early in August, 1861, the regiment was ordered to Washington, where it encamped near the arsenal. There it was more completely armed and equipped, and the same month the several batteries were sep- arated and assigned to different divisions and corps of the army, and were never again united as a regiment. September 12, 1861, Battery F joined Maj .- Gen. N. P. Banks' command, Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, at Darnes- town, Maryland. Lieutenant Ricketts, in com- mand of his section of Battery F, was under

fire for the first time December 20, 1861, in an engagement with a body of the enemy on the upper Potomac. Early in January, 1863, Bat- tery F. having been previously assigned to the Second Division, First Army Corps, was trans- ferred to the Third Division of that corps, at which time Lieutenant Ricketts was in actual command of the battery, which had come to be known as "Ricketts' Battery." February 23, 1863, Brig .- Gen. H. J. Hunt, Chief of Artillery, Army of the Potomac, communicated to the com- mander of the 'artillery of the First Corps the following : "None of your batteries are in bad order-the only corps so reported. The bat- teries in the best order are Reynolds' 'L', First New York: Ricketts' 'F,' First Pennsylvania, and Lepperne's Fifth Maine."

March 14, 1863, Captain Matthews was pro- moted major, and May 8, 1863, Lieutenant Rick- ctts was promoted captain of Battery F. A few weeks later the division to which the battery was attached marched into Pennsylvania. On the Ist of June, 1863, Battery G of the First Artil- lery was attached to Battery F. Captain Rick- etts, assuming command of the consolidated bat- teries, comprising three officers and I4I men, and denominated "Ricketts' Battery." In the battle of Gettysburg this battery performed very noteworthy services. On July 2nd it occupied an exposed position on Cemetery Hill, which Captain Ricketts was ordered to hold to the last extremity. In the midst of the general action the famous "Louisiana Tigers." 1700 strong. suddenly and unexpectedly charged with fiend- ish yells upon "Ricketts' Battery" and its in- fantry supports. "As soon as Captain Ricketts discovered that this compact and desperate rebel column was moving upon his position he charged his pieces with canister, and poured in deadly volleys," states Bates, in his "History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers." "The infantry sup- ports lying behind the stone wall in front fled in despair. The brunt of the attack fell upon Ricketts : but he well knew that the heart of the whole army was throbbing for him in that des- perate hour, and how much the enemy coveted the prize for which he was making so desperate

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

a throw. With an iron hand Ricketts kept every man to his post, and every gun in full play," and the terrible "Tigers" were beaten back and, num- bering barely 600, retired discomfited and dis- rupted. It would be interesting to follow Cap- tain Ricketts and his battery into subsequent im- portant and bloody battles and through other suc- cessful campaigns to the dawn of peace, but the limits of this sketch will not permit any further references to Captain Ricketts' military life other than the statement that December 1, 1864, he was promoted major, and March 15. 1865, he was commissioned colonel of the First Pennsyl- vania Light Artillery. June 3, 1865, he was honorably discharged from the military service of the United States, and shortly thereafter he located in Wilkes-Barre, where lie has since con- tinued to reside.

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 8

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