USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Genealogical and personal history of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 3
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Mr. Foresman married Margaret Smith, daughter of Henry B. Smith and Martha F. Allen. Their children are Martha A., Rebecca, and James W. Foresman.
Henry B. Smith, whose daughter Margaret married Henry Melick Foresman, is a son of Isaac Smith, whose wife was Harriet Hutton. Isaac Smith was a son of Benjamin Smith, the Revolutionary patriot, and his wife, Elsie Woodman. Benjamin Smith was born in Temple, New Hampshire, May 1, 1766, and was less than ten years old when he entered the American service, although at that time he is said to have weighed one hundred and fifty pounds. As a matter of fact the New Hampshire Revolutionary records show that this Benjamin Smith was one of the Temple company of minute men who marched from that town to Cambridge on the occasion of the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775. At Cambridge he enlisted for eight months and was at the battle of Bunker Hill. A pay-roll of Captain Ezra Towne's company of Colonel James Reed's regiment to August 1, 1775, shows that Benjamin Smith
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enlisted April 23, 1775, and was in service three months and sixteen days. A pay-roll of Captain Ebenezer Greene's company in Colonel Bedell's regiment raised by the Continental Congress in the colony of New Hampshire "in defense of the liberties of America, and joined to the Northern Continental Army under General Washington," shows the name of Benjamin Smith as private, enlisted February 30, 1776. Colonel Nathan Baldwin's regiment raised in September, 1776, and sent into the state of New York, was in the battle of White Plains, and the name of Benjamin Smith appears on the muster roll in Captain Philip Putnam's company in that regiment. Records also show that Benjamin Smith, of Temple, New Hampshire, enlisted in April, 1777, for "three years or during the war" in Captain Fry's company of Colonel Scom- mel's regiment of the continental line. A "size-roll" of the absentees belonging to the First New Hampshire Regiment, commanded by Colonel Joseph Gilley, dated Valley Forge, January 10, 1778, mentions the name of Benjamin Smith as left sick at Albany, New York; and a return of the members of the Third New Hampshire Regiment, dated Camp Dan- bury, December 8, 1779, mentions Benjamin Smith of Temple, New Hampshire, as a member of Captain Ellis' company.
Benjamin Smith married October 6, 1786, Elsie Woodman, by whom he had ten children: Lydia, born July 15, 1787; Elisha and Abigail, twins, born April 27, 1789; Joshua W., born January 25, 1791 ; Lewis, born September 1I, 1792; Benjamin, Junior, born July 8, 1794; Joseph, born March 2, 1796; Isaac, born April 26, 1800; Stephen, born May 17, 1804; and Elsie, born August 5, 1806.
Benjamin Smith died at Belmont, Maine, February 29, 1836, aged seventy years. His father's christian name is not definitely known, but his mother's family name was Hutton. Her ancestors were from Eng- land. Elsie Woodman, wife of Benjamin Smith, was of Scotch an-
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cestry, among whom evidently were persons of the nobility, for in the family was a coat of arms and a crest, the latter bearing the motto "Faith and Hope."
On the maternal side Margaret Smith Foresman is a granddaughter of William Allen and Margaret Taylor; and Margaret Taylor was the daughter of William and Sarah Taylor, both of whon: are buried in Moreland township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. William Taylor was a soldier of the Revolution, and enlisted February 17, 1777, in Cap- tain Bateman Lloyd's company in the Fourth Battalion of the Second Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers. Mr. Taylor was a pensioner of the United States government for his services during the war until his death, March 31, 1838, at the age of eighty-six years, ten months, twenty-one days; and his widow, Sarah Taylor, was a pensioner until her death, April 15, 1856, at the age of ninety-one years, nine months.
HENRY CLAY McCORMICK.
The debt of gratitude which Pennsylvania owes to her early set- tlers can hardly be over-estimated. Especially is this true of those of her pioneers who were the founders of families the members of which, in the successive generations, have helped to rear and uphold the social and political fabric of the state and of the nation. Among the names of these old and distinguished families none is more justly honored than that of McCormick. Much of the lustre of the name is derived from the character and career of Henry Clay McCormick, for many years a lead- ing citizen of Williamsport and one who faithfully served his native state in various offices of trust and responsibility. The history of the notable race from which Mr. McCormick sprang is traced through the following generations :
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James McCormick (1), of Londonderry, Ireland, was the father of two sons : Hugh, mentioned at length hereinafter; and Thomas. James McCormick, the father, appears to have been of that sturdy north of Ireland stock which was so potent a factor in the colonization of this country. It is not improbable that the McCormicks were one of the many Scottish families which, for political reasons, had been transplanted to Ireland.
Hugh McCormick (2), son of James McCormick (I), was born about 1695, in the province of Ulster, Ireland, and about 1735 emigrated to the American colonies in company with his brother Thomas. Hugh McCormick married and had four children: John, James, Samuel and Hugh, mentioned at length hereinafter. These two brothers, Hugh and Thomas McCormick, were the founders of the Pennsylvania branch of the family. It was in that province that they settled, making homes for themselves in Lancaster (now Dauphin) county.
Hugh McCormick (3), youngest son of Hugh McCormick (2), was born in 1725, in Ireland, and was ten years of age when brought by his parents to their new home across the sea. About 1770 he pur- chased thirteen hundred acres of land in White Deer Valley. He mar- ried Sarah, daughter of James and Mary Alcorn, of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and among the nine children born to them were two sons : Thomas; and Seth, mentioned at length hereinafter. Hugh McCormick, the father, was a man of substance and influence in his day and genera- tion.
Seth McCormick (4), son of Hugh (3), and Sarah ( Alcorn) Mc- Cormick, was born in 1756, in Paxtang township, in what was then Lancaster county. He and his brother Thomas settled on the land in White Deer Valley which had been purchased by their father. Seth McCormick married Margaret, daughter of Samuel and Margaret
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(Plunkett ) Simmons, of Buffalo Valley, and niece of Dr. Plunkett whose name is prominent in the early history of Northumberland county. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick were the parents of the following children : I. Robert, who was born in 1782, married Nancy Foresman, and died in 1874. 2. Hugh, who was born in 1784 and died in 1826. 3. Sam- 11el, who was born in 1787, married Elizabeth Piatt, and died in 1864. 4. Seth, mentioned at length hereinafter. 5. Thomas, who was born in 1791, married Maria Hammond, and died in 1818. 6. Sarah, who was born in 1793, became the wife of Robert J. Foresman, and died in 1874. 7. John, who was born in 1797, and was thrice married, his first wife being Hester Coryell, his second Sarah Bush, and his third Sarah Brown; he died in 1871. 8. Cynthia, who was born in 1800, married Samuel Eason, and died in 1880. 9. Susan, who was born in 1802, married Matthew B. Hammond, and died in 1883. 10. Joseph, who was born in 1805, married Margaret Schooley, and died in 1876.
Seth McCormick (5), fourth child of Seth (4) and Margaret (Sim- mons) McCormick, was born in 1789, and married Hannah Hammond. Among their children was a son, Seth Thomas, mentioned at length hereinafter. The death of Mr. McCormick occurred in 1821, when he had attained only to the comparatively early age of thirty-two.
Seth Thomas McCormick (6), second son of Seth (5) and Han- nah (Hammond) McCormick, was born January 27, 1817, in Washing- ton township, Lycoming county. He was trained to the work of a farm- er and lumberman, and devoted himself to these pursuits until he was more than forty years old. In 1861 he moved his family to Williams- port and entered the office of W. W. Willard, Esq., for the purpose of studying law. In 1863 after a highly creditable examination he was admitted to the bar of Lycoming county. By dint of energy, ability and application he built up for himself a large and lucrative practice, and
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after a few years associated with himself his son, Henry Clay McCor- mick, thus forming the firm of S. T. & H. C. McCormick, which occu- pied a place in the front rank of the legal profession. Mr. McCormick took a keen interest in every enterprise having a tendency to advance the best interests of the community in which he resided. He was many times elected a member of the common council, during which service his influence was always exerted in behalf of honest municipal government He was the compiler of the book of the charter, laws and ordinances of the city of Williamsport and nearly every ordinance of the city was drafted by his hand. In 1871 he was nominated by the Democrats for the office of city recorder, but the city being strongly Republican he was defeated by a small majority.
Mr. McCormick married, in 1837, Eleanor Miller, of White Deer Valley, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Isaac Grier. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McCormick : I. Sarah Elizabeth, who was born in 1839, and married William D. Oakes. 2. Hannah Hammond, who was born in 1841 and died in 1847. 3. Henry Clay, mentioned at length hereinafter. 4. William Miller, who was born in 1846, and was twice married, his first wife being Sarah R. Roth- rock, and his second Josephine Lawrence. 5. Horace Greeley, who was born in 1850, is a practicing physician of Williamsport, and married Margaretta Hill. 6. Hannah Hammond, who was born in 1853, and married Thomas L. Painter. 7. Frank Hammond, who was born in 1857, and married Marietta Culver. 8. Seth Thomas, who was born in 1860, and married Belle Herdic. Mr. McCormick died December I, 1878. He was a man of most remarkable character, inasmuch as he showed himself able in middie life to fit himself for a new sphere of en- deavor, and to enter successfully upon a hitherto untried field of action. His widow, who survived him many years, passed away May 27, 1897.
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Henry Clay McCormick (7), eldest son of Seth Thomas (6) and Eleanor (Miller) McCormick, was born June 30, 1844, in Washington township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. As a boy he worked on his father's farm, receiving his preparatory education in the district schools of his native township and at Dickinson Seminary, being seven- teen years of age when the family moved to Williamsport. In 1863 he attended Eastman's Business College, in Poughkeepsie, New York, grad- uating with high honors from that institution. After his return home he engaged in keeping books for a local firm and subsequently took charge of a school. In October, 1864, he began the study of law, con- tinuing at the same time his duties as a teacher, and on August 28, 1866, was admitted to the bar. He then went to Iowa, but after a few months' stay returned to Williamsport and entered into partnership with his father under the firm name of S. T. & H. C. McCormick. From Febru- ary, 1867, until the death of his father, the firm was so continued, and on January 1, 1882, Mr. McCormick took as a partner his younger brother, Seth Thomas, the title of the firm becoming H. C. & S. T. Mc- Cormick. This connection was continued without interruption until the death of Mr. McCormick. For nearly forty years the firm stood at the head of the legal profession of the county. Mr. McCormick's abilities as an attorney have for so long a period been fully and thoroughly recog- nized that more words on the subject seem superfluous if not imperti- nent. The industry, research, method and skill with which he prepared his cases for court has afforded an explanation of the uniform success which he enjoyed. As a speaker, both in court and on the platform, he showed himself well equipped, forcible, logical and effective.
As a business man Mr. McCormick possessed the same traits and qualifications which made him one of the leading lawyers of the state. For many years he was closely allied with the material advancement and
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prosperity of Williamsport. In 1873 he helped to organize the Lycc- ming National Bank, of which he was a director for fourteen years. In April, 1887, he severed his connection with that bank to assist in found- ing the banking house of Cochran, Payne & McCormick, an institution of great financial strength and popularity. He served for many years as a member and director of the Board of Trade, and was the chief mover in organizing the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. Dur- ing the first two years of the existence of this organization, he filled the office of president and subsequently served on the board of directors. In February, 1892, he was elected president of the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad Company and took an active part in the promo- tion of many other enterprises. Mr. McCormick's marked talents for the conduct of public affairs were recognized at a very early period in his career. In 1869, when barely twenty-five years of age, he was elected solicitor of the city of Williamsport, and in 1879 was reelected. In the latter year he was strongly urged for the appointment of United States district attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania, and was endorsed generally by the bench and bar for the position. Although Mr. McCormick had never been a candidate for any public office, in the congressional contest of 1882 he was asked by nine of the eighteen conferences of the sixteenth district, then composed of the counties of Lycoming, Tioga, Sullivan, Potter, Cameron and Mckean, to stand as a candidate. For three weeks he steadily received these votes, and finally his supporters, at his request, voted for W. W. Brown, of Mckean county, and nominated him.
October 18, 1886, after a protracted deadlock of many weeks, Mr. McCormick was nominated for congress by the Republican conference, on the two hundred and fifty-third ballot, to represent the sixteenth dis- trict. It was only ten days prior to the election, but he received a ma-
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jority of four thousand eight hundred and twenty-six, a larger one than had ever been accorded to any previous candidate. Mr. McCormick carried the Democratic county of Lycoming (which shortly before had given over two thousand five hundred majority for the Democratic dis- trict-attorney-elect) by a majority of eight hundred and forty-seven, the only time in the history of the county that it gave a majority for a Re- publican candidate for congress. Mr. McCormick took his seat in the fiftieth congress December 5, 1887, and was placed on the committees of railroads, canals and militia. May 5, 1888, he delivered his maiden speech, in opposition to the free importation of lumber. After the house had voted to put lumber on the free list by passing the Mills bill, he ap- peared before the sub-committee on finance in the senate, and it was largely through his instrumentality that the committee reported in favor of retaining the duty, thus protecting the lumbermen against Canadian competition. In the fiftieth congress the Republican party was in the minority, and much of the work done by Mr. McCormick did not appear on the surface, but he proved a decided acquisition to the Republicans of the Pennsylvania delegation, and gained prestige second to no other first-term member of the house. At the subsequent meeting of the Republican congressional conference of his district his course was strong- ly endorsed, and he received the thanks of those engaged in the lumber industry for his efforts in opposition to the Mills bill.
Mr. McCormick was always an earnest advocate of liberal pensions, believing that the government should care for its defenders and those dependent upon them. In a letter to the commander of Post No. 141, G. A. R., of Bradford, Pennsylvania, under date of October 23, 1886, in answer to a query as to his attitude on pensions, he wrote as follows:
"Permit me to say that in my belief the time has arrived when every honorably discharged soldier and sailor should receive substantial recog-
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nition by the government, without being obliged to prove that he was physically or mentally disabled in the service. The granting of pensions to all soldiers of the late war is, in my judgment, only a question of time, and I think the time should not be delayed. These are my views and they have not been acquired simply since I have been a candidate for con- gress, but have been expressed publicly and privately many times." On the 5th of January, 1888, he introduced in congress a bill which he had prepared, by the provisions of which every soldier who had served four months or over was given a pension of eight dollars a month, but the bill was smothered in committee and never saw the light.
In 1888 Mr. McCormick was renominated as the Republican candi- date and was reelected by the large majority of four thousand six hundred and sixty-four, leading the presidential ticket two hundred and fifty- four votes, which was a substantial recognition of his worth and popular- ity, and a marked approval of his course during his first term. In the fifty-first congress he was made chairman of the committee on railways and canals, and a member of the judiciary committee on education. He was universally recognized as one of the ablest members from Pennsyl- vania. He was one of the delegates-at-large from Pennsylvania to the Republican National Convention in 1892, held in Minneapolis, and voted for the nomination of William McKinley.
Governor Hastings, immediately after the election in 1894, tendered Mr. McCormick the appointment of attorney-general, which was ac- cepted, and he served in that important office throughout the entire Hast- ings administration. It was in this position that he achieved his most notable triumph, and gave to the country a stainless example of an able, fearless, honest public servant. He was much more than merely the first law officer of the state. He became the intimate and confidential adviser of Governor Hastings in all the perplexing problems that con-
.
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fronted his administration. Mr. McCormick, with his rugged sense of honor and official rectitude, threw the whole weight of his great ability and his wide influence against the methods of the then ruling political machine in Pennsylvania. With him, in spirit as well as in letter, he knew no master save the people he was called to serve, and no chart for his guidance save the constitution he was sworn to defend. The commonwealth will always cherish his memory for the consummate skill and unwavering fidelity to its best interest which he exerted as attorney-general. Upon his retirement from public life in 1899, Mr. McCormick returned to the practice of his profession, of which he was always devotedly fond, and to which, during the remainder of his life, he gave his principal attention. He was one of the originators of the Lycoming Law Association, and for many years served as its secretary. He and his wife were members of the First Presbyterian church of Williamsport.
Mr. McCormick married, October 21, 1875, at Erie, Pennsylvania, Ida, daughter of John W. and Sarah (Jackson) Hays, of that city. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick were the parents of three children: Nelle, who was born August 12, 1876, wife of Joseph W. Cochran, and has one child, Henry McCormick ; John Hays, born July 12, 1879; and Henry C., born August 14, 1883, died in infancy. Mrs. McCormick was born August 1, 1855. Her paternal ancestry is traced to Scotland, and she is a descendant of John Forester, a native of county Antrim, Ireland, who emigrated to America early in the eighteenth century and settled in what is now Dauphin county, Pennsylvania.
The death of Mr. McCormick, which occurred May 26, 1902, was regarded as a public calamity, and the members of his family were con- scious that in their affliction they received the sympathy of many who were personally unknown to them. All classes of the community ex-
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perienced a sense of bereavement in the loss of one who had lived among them as a man admirable in all the relations of life, and one whose in- fluence had ever been exerted in the cause of right and justice; a man who had united in his character the virtues of a devoted husband and father, and a kind neighbor, with the attributes of an upright, disin- terested citizen, an able and conscientious lawyer, and a loyal and high- minded statesman.
C. LARUE MUNSON.
Cyrus LaRue Munson, who is among the most eminent and highly successful lawyers of Pennsylvania, and whose home is at Williamsport, where he is an important member of the bar and a leading spirit in all that tends toward the present day prosperity of that flourishing city, is descended from American ancestry through the following direct line from Thomas Munson, an English emigrant in the early part of the 17th century.
(I) Thomas Munson was born in Suffolkshire in England, in 1612, and emigrated to the Colony of Massachusetts during the Puritan exodus, some time prior to 1636. The first record we have of him is in 1637, when, at the age of twenty-five years, he was one of the ninety men composing Mason's renowned company, and in the Pequot War as- sisted in the extermination of the Indian tribe of that name. At this time he resided in Hartford, in the colony of Connecticote, as it was then spelled. In 1638 he was one of the company formed by the Rev. John Davenport who became the purchasers from the Indians of the territory now composing the City of New Haven, Connecticut, and several ad- jacent towns. On June 4, 1639, he was one of the sixty-three signers of the famous Fundamental Agreement, whereby the colony of New Haven was formed, and flourished until it was consolidated with the
thRue Munson .
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colony of Connecticut. In 1675 he was captain in command of the forces of his colony in the historic King Phillip's war, and held various other offices of trust and honor in his colony. This unique and curiously spelled record can be found among the official records of the colony of New Haven, under date of September 10, 1649:
"The Gouerner further Informed the Court that Sarjant Munson is aboute goeing to Connecticote, to staye their this winter. Therefore the Court maye Consider whether it be safe for ye towne to lett him goe, - seeing Sarjant Andrewes is not at home. The Court thought it not fitt that he should now goe; but desired the Gouerner to Informe them at Connecticote, whom it Concernes, that it is not his neglect,- but the Towne hinders him for publique respects."
He died in 1685, leaving two daughters and one son, Samuel, and his gravestone can still be found in the old cemetery at New Haven.
(II) Samuel Munson, son of Thomas (I), was born in New Haven in 1643. Like his father he was of what is now known as the Congregational faith and held many important positions of trust in the colony, among others being the first rector, or principal, in 1684, of the well known Hopkins Grammar School, to this day a leading educational institution in New Haven. In October, 1665, he married Martha, daughter of William and Alice (Pritchard) Bradley, and died in the winter of 1692-3 at Wallingford, Connecticut, of which town he was a founder, leaving ten children, of whom Joseph was the sixth.
(III) Joseph Munson, son of Samuel (II), was born November 6, 1677, and married Margery, daughter of John Hitchcock, on March 10, 1700. He died October 30, 1725, in Wallingford, Connecticut, of which place he had been a life long resident and honored citizen.
(IV) Ephraim Munson, son of Joseph (III), was born November 5: 1714, in Wallingford, and later resided in Branford, afterwards re-
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moving to Granville, Massachusetts, of which place he was one of the first settlers. He was married in May, 1739, to Comfort, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Hall) Curtis, and died September 21, 1770.
(V) Jared Munson, son of Ephraim (IV), was born in 1742, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He showed his faith in the American cause by purchasing in 1778 from his colony land in Vermont which had been confiscated from the tories, paying for it £1200, a for- tune in those early days; his only hope of maintaining his title being in the supremacy of the colonial arms in their struggle with England, and by this purchase materially assisting the cause of his country. He then made his home in Manchester, Vermont, married Annorah, daughter of Joseph Hall, and died there July 30, 1823.
(VI) Rufus Munson, son of Jared (V), was born in 1762 at Manchester, Vermont, and was also in the Revolutionary war, serving for about two years. In 1790 he married Bethiah, daughter of Josiah Burton, and died in Manchester September 13, 1797.
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