USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Genealogical and personal history of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 31
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James Wilson was born in September, 1719 (or 1720), died Sep- tember 28, 1793. He married, first, Martha Sterrett, and afterward Ann Sterrett. Martha Sterrett was born June 16, 1725, married April 3, 1742, and died in 1789.
They had eight children, of whom William, the first, was born
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June 4, 1743, died April 9, 1824. He married Elizabeth Robinson, who was born February 7, 1758, died April 11, 1815.
Two sons of William, Thomas and Samuel, purchased the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead and divided the land equally. Samuel Wilson married Elizabeth Nevius, whose mother was a daughter of Colonel Chamberlain. Colonel Chamberlain served as lieutenant- colonel in Second Regiment, New Jersey Infantry, Colonel Daniel Cham- bers, his commission bearing date September 9, 1777. He participated in the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, where his eldest son Lewis was killed by a cannon ball. They had twelve children, of whom Samuel Wilson was the seventh, and whose birth, marriage and death are noted under the Nevius descent, following.
Samuel Wilson was educated at Lewisburg and completed his studies at Bucknell University in 1852. In April, 1861, at Jersey Shore, he assisted in recruiting a company called the Humes Guards, of which he was commissioned First Lieutenant, May 6, 1861, but receiving no assurance that their services would be accepted the company disbanded. In June following Colonel Wilson recruited a company for E. G. Chor- man of Philadelphia, and reported with his men in that city about the middle of July. This company was mustered in July 23, 1861, as Com- pany B, Chorman's Independent Mounted Rifle Rangers, afterwards known as the Eighth Pennsylvania Cavalry. Samuel Wilson was com- missioned first lieutenant and as his company was the foundation of the regiment it remained in Philadelphia until October and was then sent to Washington. After a month it was sent across the Potomac and engaged in scouting duty. On February 26, 1862, Samuel Wilson was promoted to Captain of Co. L, and served in the Army of the Potomac until October 17, 1864. He was captured December 2, 1862, and confined in Libby Prison but was soon exchanged and returned
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to his regiment. He was promoted to major but never commissioned and was commissioned lieutenant colonel of his regiment December 23, 1863. He was a brave and gallant soldier and was wounded five dif- ferent times, twice in the right arm, once in the left arm, was struck by a piece of shell in the left hip and had his right leg above the ankle fractured. He received a letter from General Meade recommending him to the President for promotion because of services rendered, and re- ceived a colonel's commission from the President. This was the first presidential commission received by any officer of the regiment. Colonel Wilson was mustered out of the service October 17, 1864. In 1870 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the legislature and again elected in 1871. In 1879 he was elected sheriff of Lycoming county, removed from Jersey Shore to Williamsport January 1, 1880, and resided there until his death December 19, 1903. He was deputy U. S. revenue collector from December 1, 1886, to October 1, 1889. A member of the First Presbyterian church and a past master of La Belle Valley Lodge, F. & A. M., of Jersey Shore. ( Marriage and children following Nevius descent. )
Mary Wilson Laird also traces her descent from Rev. Johannes Nevius, who was born in Holland about 1594, and while acting as pastor of the church at Zoelen was married to Maria Becx of Cologne, July 25, 1625. They had five children, of whom the first was Johannes Nevius, baptized March 14, 1627, and who emigrating to America in 1651, became the head of the American family. He married Adrientje Bleijck, afterward called Bleecker, November 18, 1653, and became of considerable importance as a citizen of New Amsterdam, where he held offices of trust under the appointment of Governor General Peter Stuyvesant and was city secretary and recorder in 1657-1665. He died sometime in or near the month of May or June, 1672.
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They had eight children, two of whom, Cornielis and Pieter, sur- vived. Pieter or Petrus was baptized in New Amsterdam February 4, 1663. He was a man of strong, forceful personality, of good education, with much influence and was known as " Captain Pieter " from his rank in the militia. In 1689 he was elected a deacon of the Flat-lands Dutch church. April 3, 1705, he was appointed one of a committee to divide the common lands of Flatlands and April 6, 1708, appointed overseer of Flatlands. August 15, 17II, as captain in Lieutenant Colonel Henry Filkins' Kings County Regiment, he signed a petition with his brother officers and the lieutenant-colonel " in relation to their defense in case of invasion (N. Y. State Hist. Rept. 1896, p. 448), 1713; captain of Kings County Company at Flatlands under Colonel Van Cortland (N. Y. State Hist. Rept. 1896, p. 450), July 21, 1721. Captain Peter Nevius was appointed a commissioner of highways for the " Township of Flatlands " (Col. Laws of N. Y., Vol. 2, p. 68), also on October 29, 1730 (Col. Laws of N. Y., Vol. 2, p. 659). He died April 29, 1740.
He had fourteen children, of whom Roeloff, the second, was born about 1687, date of death unknown, but after 1726. He was married at Flatlands, New York, May 3, 1712, to Catalyntje Lucasse Van Voor- hees. Roeloff, whose name appears as Ralph Nephis, was in 1715 a private in Captain George Rescarrick's Fifth Company of Colonel Thomas Farmer's Regiment, New Jersey Militia (N. Y. State Hist. Rept. 1896, p. 534). It is believed that Roeloff left Flatlands and went to Three-Mile-Run before 1715. Of his children Peter was bap- tized April 23, 1727, at New Brunswick and died probably after 1800. Peter about 175I married Maria Van Doren of Middlebush, New Jer- sey, who was born February 9, 1729, and died 1822. They had ten children, of whom Christian was the fifth, born November 1, 1759, died November 1, 1815.
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Christian on November 16, 1789, married Lucretia Chamberlain, of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. She was born December 20, 1765, died January 19, 1841. After marriage he removed to Northum- berland county, Pennsylvania, where he afterward resided. In 1780 he is on the pay-roll of Major William Beard's Company at Elizabeth- town. He is also noted as in Captain Jacob Ten Eyck's Company, First Battalion of Somerset. (Stryker's Official Reg. of New Jersey Soldiers in the Revolution, p. 701.)
They had eleven children, the fifth of whom, Elizabeth, was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1796, and died at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1851. Married Samuel Wilson December 12, 1816, born at Lewisburg April 9, 1790, died January 16, 1843. They had twelve children, of whom the seventh, Samuel Wilson, born February 28, 1831, died at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1903, married Harriet Babb McGowan December 29, 1864.
They had two children, Mary and Elizabeth Wilson. The first named married Herbert Russell Laird, of Williamsport, the latter mar- ried C. Frank Williamson, of Media, Pennsylvania.
Mary Wilson Laird is a charter member of Lycoming Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and has been its registrar since the organization.
Herbert Russell Laird was educated in the public schools of Will- iamsport, was graduated from the Williamsport High School in the class of 1885, and served two years as the president of the Alumni Association of that school. He spent five years in the newspaper busi- ness and in January, 1894, entered the fire insurance and real estate business, which he still conducts. November 10, 1900, he was elected manager of the reorganized Williamsport Board of Trade, and still occupies that position. For fifteen years he has been treasurer of the
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First Presbyterian church and is treasurer of the Williamsport Under- writers Association. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 1895 was master of Lodge No. 106; in 1893, high priest of the Ly- coming Chapter No. 222, and in 1897, eminent commander of Baldwin II Commandery No. 22, Knights Templar. He was the youngest pre- siding officer who has yet filled the offices referred to. He is a member of Williamsport Consistory, A. A. S. R., thirty-second degree. He was one of the seven organizers of the Temple Club, now The Howard Club of Knights Templar, served as its secretary from the date of organiza- tion, November 19, 1900, to January, 1902, and was president of the club in 1904. He is the representative of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar, of Vermont, in the state of Pennsylvania, and is a representative of Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, in the Imperial Coun- cil of North America. He has been a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution since February II, 1896, and is chairman of the Executive Committee in charge of the Fifty-second Annual Conclave of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar, of Penn- sylvania, to be held in Williamsport May 22-24, 1905.
Herbert Russell Laird and Mary Wilson were married in the First Presbyterian Church of Williamsport, April 21, 1892, and have two children, Samuel Wilson Laird, born January 25, 1893, and Ellen Churchill Laird, born July 29, 1898.
CHARLES EDWARD BENNETT.
Charles E. Bennett, president of the First National Bank of Mon- toursville and prothonotary of Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, the duties of which office he has discharged with credit and efficiency since
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1901, his election being rather out of the usual order of things, he being a firm adherent of the principles of the Prohibition party, was born in Loyalsock township, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1858, a son of John and Catherine (Kern) Bennett.
John Bennett ( father) was a native of Germany, emigrating from thence to the United States in 1825, and at the age of twenty years secured a position to labor on a farm. By means of industry and fru- gality he accumulated sufficient capital to enable him to engage in the lime burning business, which proved a most lucrative source of income, and which he followed up to the time of his decease. He possessed in a large degree the characteristics of his native race, and throughout his long residence in his adopted country displayed an interest in all that concerned its welfare. His wife, Catherine (Kern) Bennett, bore him the following named children: Mary Jane, who became the wife of Lemuel R. Swisher, no issue; Margaret, who became the wife of Briton M. Reed, now deceased, and their children were, Florence and Charles Reed; John, who married Lucy Cupp, and they are the parents of sev- eral children ; George W., who married Mary Berger, and their children were Clara and Seth Bennett; Charles Edward, mentioned at length hereinafter; Caroline, who became the wife of Reuben Carpenter, and they are the parents of two children, Rebecca and Raymond; and Emma, who became the wife of Costello Bubb, no issue.
The educational advantages enjoyed by Charles E. Bennett were obtained in the public schools in the vicinity of his home, the County Normal School, which at that time was at Montoursville, and the com- mercial college at Williamsport. During this period of time he assisted his father in his numerous duties, and at the completion of his studies turned his attention to the lumber business, thoroughly mastering all the details of the various branches. He continued in this line of work for
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four years, in the meantime pursuing a course of advanced study, after which he took a position as teacher, in which capacity he served for sev- eral years. He then engaged in mercantile pursuits for a number of years, after which he entered into business relations with Samuel and Albert Weaver in the manufacture of lumber, business being conducted under the style of S. Weaver and Company. After the death of Mr. Samuel Weaver, the senior member of the firm, the style changed to Weaver & Bennett. This connection continued up to the time of the county election in 1900, when Mr. Bennett was a candidate for the office of prothonotary, was elected, taking his seat in 1901 and serving for three years. He is still in the lumber business. He belongs to the Blue Lodge of Masonry in Montoursville, and is a Knight Templar, belonging to Baldwin Commandery of Wiliamsport, and has attained the thirty-second degree; also is a Shriner, being a member of Irem Temple, Wilkesbarre. He is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and the Protective Order of Sons of America. In religion he adheres to the tenets of the Methodist church. Mr. Bennett enjoys an extended acquaintance throughout this section of the county, and his popularity among all classes is unquestioned.
Mr. Bennett was united in marriage to Ella Weaver, and they are the parents of one child, Cora Alice Bennett.
FRANK P. CUMMINGS.
Frank P. Cummings, an eminent representative of the legal pro- fession, and the city solicitor of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is recog- nized as a man of executive ability and clear judgment, and as an official has rendered valuable service, efficiently conducting the duties entrusted to his care, thus commanding the respect and confidence of his fellow-
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citizens. He was born in Lewis township, Lycoming county, Pennsyl- vania, a son of Patrick F. and Elizabeth (Kelley) Cummings.
Patrick F. Cummings (father) came to this country about the year 1842 from the north of Ireland, settling in what was then known as the Rising Sun Village, now a part of Philadelphia, where he was em- ployed as general manager for Madame Smith, a very wealthy lady. Mr. Cummings was married in the United States to Elizabeth Kelley, who was born in the north of Ireland, but went to England at an early age, from whence she came to this country. They were the parents of nine children, one of whom died in infancy. The surviving members were as follows : James H., deceased, who married Winnifred Plunkett, of Brooklyn, and their children were: William E., whose death was the result of an accident; Loretta, wife of George Harris; and Florence, unmarried. Mary A., unmarried. William E., who married Elvira Rook, and their children were: William Scott, who married Margaret Kline, and Adda, who became the wife of Norman Jacobs. Eliza J., who became the wife of Considine Gallagher, and mother of the follow- ing named children: William; Annie; John, a member of the United States army; Frank; Elizabeth, wife of Hugh Faughnan, and mother of two children, and Thomas; James; and Catherine, wife of Thomas J. Faughnan. Catherine G., wife of William Gesler. Frank P., mentioned at length hereinafter. Charles J., a member of the med- ical profession, who married Ella McGoughran. George B. McClellan, unmarried, a member of the medical profession.
Frank P. Cummings obtained an excellent rudimentary education in the public schools of his native township, and later pursued advanced studies at the Normal School at Muncy. He then devoted considerable time to private study, for three years was a student of law in the office of J. F. Strieby, and after a successful examination was admitted to the
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bar of Lycoming county, April 3, 1884. Shortly afterward he formed a partnership with Charles J. Reilly, and in June, 1884, they opened an office for the practice of law on Pine street, Williamsport. This con- nection was dissolved at the expiration of four years, Mr. Reilly continu- ing at the same office, and Mr. Cummings removing to his present loca- tion at No. 32 West Fourth street, where he conducted a general prac- tice of law, receiving an extensive and lucrative patronage. In 1902 he was elected city solicitor of Williamsport, taking his office on April 14 of the same year, the date of expiration being three years from time of election. He was re-elected unanimously April 10, 1905, to serve three more years. He is and has been for the last seventeen years treasurer of the Lycoming Law Association. During his incumbency of the office he has been very successful in winning many cases for the city, and having cases that he has won in the lower court, and been ap- pealed, sustained by the decision of the supreme court. . He is a member of the Board of Trade. His political affiliations are with the Demo- cratic party, in the principles of which great organization he firmly be- lieves.
Mr. Cummings was united in marriage to Nellie M. Farrell, eldest child of Thomas and the late Elizabeth (Kelley) Farrell, whose family consisted of two other children, namely: John D. and Rebecca, both unmarried. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Thomas Farrell mar- ried James F. Quinn, by whom she had several children. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Cummings are as follows: Elizabeth Kelley, Eleanor Anne, Agnes May, Catherine Clementine and John Kelley. Mr. Cum- mings is a Roman Catholic in religion, and he and his family are mem- bers of the Church of the Annunciation of Williamsport.
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FLETCHER COLEMAN.
Fletcher Coleman, deceased, was during a long and active career one of the foremost business men of Williamsport, one of the pioneer lumbermen of that region, and one who was numbered among the mak- ers of the city. He was a man of marked enterprise and public spirit, and was held in honor for those sterling virtues which characterized the best types of character of his day-sincerity, integrity and faith in his kind.
Mr. Coleman was born in Chatham Four Corners, New York, June 7, 1833. He came of excellent ancestry and parentage, and was the eldest son of the Rev. Seymour and Sophia (Thorpe) Coleman, the father being a well-known minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fletcher Coleman passed his boyhood days in the villages of Troy, Glen Falls and Schuylerville, New York, and received his preliminary educa- tion in the common schools. He completed his studies in a Methodist seminary in Poultney, Vermont, and left that institution so well equipped that for several years he acquitted himself most creditably as a school teacher in Schuylerville and Glen Falls, New York-places where, as a boy, he had himself attended school. He subsequently went to Fort Edward, New York, where, in company with others, he opened a lumber yard and grain store, a business which he successfully prosecuted for about four years, and which proved his introduction to his larger career. In 1858 he was sent by the lumber firm of Langdon & Diven, of Elmira, New York, to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to superintend the operation of what was then known as "the big water mill," one of the leading industrial plants of that day. He continued thus employed until the breaking out of the Civil war, when Mr. Coleman was recalled by his employers to Elmira, to superintend the erection of the great barracks
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buildings for the accommodation of the volunteers being recruited throughout the state for army service.
In 1865 Mr. Coleman located permanently in Williamsport and en- gaged in business upon his own account. His first venture was the pur- chase from John and Charles Dodge of a sawmill at the foot of Susque- hanna street, in association with Mr. Watson Malone, of Philadelphia, and with whom he separated by dissolution of partnership in the course of six years, from which time until a few years prior to his death, Mr. Coleman continued in business alone. As the leading spirit and manager of the enterprise, Mr. Coleman prosecuted the business with remarkable perseverance and ability, making the mill one of the most extensive in the Lycoming lumber region, and gaining a fortune as his well deserved reward. The mill was operated without cessation until 1894, when the lumber supply on lands owned by Mr. Coleman became exhausted, and he settled up its affairs and retired from his lumbering operations. He was well known throughout the state in connection with this occupa- tion, and for many years served efficiently as president of the Lumber- men's Exchange. He was during the same time actively identified with various large railway interests, and served as director for various lines of road in the lumber and mining regions, and which eventually came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was also deeply devoted to the local interests of the city of Williamsport, and contributed cheerfully and liberally of his efforts and means to the ad- vancement of every movement contributing to the advantage of the com- munity, whether along material, moral or social lines. For several years past Mr. Coleman had been in infirm health. His death occurred on July 17, 1905, following a paralytic stroke, which affected his right side and confined him to his bed. The funeral took place from his late resi- dence on the Thursday following, and was attended by a large and deep-
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ly affected concourse of friends from the city and elsewhere, who held the deceased in affectionate regard for his usefulness of life and his ex- cellent personal traits of character. The funeral services were conducted by the Rev. George C. Foley, D. D. The Ross Club, of which deceased was a prominent member, also bore sincere testimony to his worth. One trait in his character is deserving of more than a passing word-the interest he ever manifested in the young man struggling to make for him- self a place in the world. Many such he aided with words of cheer and sympathy, and, if the truth were known, concealed as it was through his modesty and dislike of aught savoring of ostentation, it would doubt- less be found that his sympathy in many cases took a more practical form. One of the world's deep thinkers said "Kind hearts are more than coronets," and many of those who surrounded the newly made grave of Fletcher Coleman, in Wildwood Cemetery, crowned with their reverence and gratitude the memory of the good man whose kindness of heart had ever shone in his acts as well as words.
Soon after his coming to Williamsport, Mr. Coleman was married to Miss Melicent Bowman, the ceremony being solemnized in the Pine Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Coleman came from an ex- cellent family, which numbered among its members the Rev. Thomas Bowman, D. D., a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal church, and who is her cousin. Mrs. Coleman survives her lamented husband, and with her their three children: Josephine B., Clinton B. and Melicent B., all of whom have for their middle name that of her own maidenhood, Bow- man. Two brothers of Mr. Coleman survive him: James, living in Washington City; and Seymoure, residing in Chicago, Illinois.
JOHN KING HAYS.
Prominent among the old and well-known families of Pennsylva- nia is the numerous and notable race of which John King Hays of
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Williamsport is a representative. Both as patriots of the revolution and loyal citizens of the United States, the successive generations of the Hays family have earned for themselves an honorable name.
John Hays (I) came to this country from Ireland in 1730, and settled in Chester county, where his dwelling was destroyed by fire. Undaunted by this disaster, he moved in 1732 to Bucks (now Northamp- ton) county, and settled near Weaversville. There he became the land- lord of a public house, at the same time conducting a store and operating a tannery. His wife was Jane Love, whom he married before leaving Ireland, and their children were: John, mentioned at length hereinafter, William, Robert, James, Francis, Jane, Isabel, Mary and Elizabeth. All the sons, with the exception of William who died young, served in the Revolutionary army. Two of them are said to have been with the de- tachment left to keep up the camp-fires at Trenton when Washington surprised the British at Princeton. John Hays, the father of these patriot soldiers, died November 16, 1789, at the age of eighty-five years, and was buried in the graveyard connected with the Presbyterian church near Weaversville. His widow, who survived to the great age of ninety- four, died in 1806, at the home of her son Robert, at Derry, Northum- berland county.
John Hays (2), eldest child of John (1) and Jane (Love) Hays, was born in Ireland, and was two years old when brought by his parents to Pennsylvania. In December, 1776, he recruited a company of which he was chosen captain, and which he marched to Philadelphia for the pur- pose of offering the services of himself and his men to the Continental Congress. After the war Captain Hays resided in the settlement, devot- ing his time to milling, tanning and farming. He was twice married, his first wife being Barbara King, to whom he was united October 16, 1760. By this marriage there were five children: Mary, John, men-
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tioned at length hereinafter, Jane, James and Elizabeth. The mother of these children passed away August 13, 1770, and on the same day of the ensuing year Captain Hays married Jane Walker, by whom he be- came the father of six sons and four daughters: Ann, William, Isabel. Robert, Thomas, Richard, Samuel, Mary, Joseph and Rebecca. Desiring to purchase an estate large enough to enable him to settle the members of his numerous family near each other, Captain Hays entered into nego- tiations with the Moravians with the view of receiving from them an extensive tract of land in exchange for the farm on which he resided. The property was situated in what is now Crawford county, and Captain Hays, in company with his son William, undertook a journey on horse- back for the purpose of examining the land. While engaged in this work he became overheated and while in that condition drank a large quantity of cold water, in consequence of which imprudence he was taken ill, and on November 3, 1796, this staunch patriot and brave soldier expired at Meadville, Pennsylvania, at the age of sixty-six. The death of his widow occurred December 15, 1825.
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