USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Genealogical and personal history of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 6
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workmen; and it seems almost needless to state in this connection that Bingham H. Coryell is the active head of the company and directs its business operations.
Mr. Coryell married, June 12, 1895, Marie Stewart, daughter of Clement Stewart, of Easton, Pennsylvania, whose genealogy appears on page thirty-four, " Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania."
HAMILTON B. HUMES.
Hamilton B. Humes, president of the Jersey Shore Banking Com- pany, and who is widely and favorably known as a man of original ideas and much force of character, was born in Jersey Shore, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1844, a descendant of a Scotch-Irish and French ancestry, prominent among whom were the Steel family and Captain Jacob Bailey, of Revolutionary fame.
John Humes, grandfather of Hamilton B. Humes, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, later lived in Milton, Pennsylvania, and was a cabinet-maker by occupation. His son, John Humes, and an uncle of Hamilton B. Humes, was one of the builders of the old canal, his partner in the work having been George Tomb, who was a well known resident of Jersey Shore from the time of his settlement in that borough up to the time of his death, January 31, 1870, and who was a son-in-law of John Humes, Sr. By the marriage of John Humes, Sr., to Mary Duncan the following children were born: Mary, Martha, Samuel, Jane, John, and Elizabeth.
Samuel Humes, father of Hamilton B. Humes, was born in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1801. After completing his edu- cation in the Milton Academy, he clerked in a store at Milton for a short
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time. About 1824 he formed a partnership with Samuel Lloyd in the mercantile business at Jersey Shore, and afterwards established a busi- ness of his own, which later was conducted under the firm name of Samuel Humes & Son. For four decades he was engaged in business in Jersey Shore, during which long period of time he was successful in his operations and accumulated a competence by shrewd investments. He was a director in the Jersey Shore Bank, and also filled a similar position in the Jersey Shore high school. . He was a member and trustee of the Presbyterian church, a Whig in politics, and for several years served as postmaster of Jersey Shore. In 1825 Mr. Humes married Anna Bailey, daughter of John Bailey, and they had one son, John Harvey, who engaged in the mercantile and contracting business, died in Delaware, June, 1898, aged seventy-one years, and was buried at Jersey Shore. Mr. Humes married for his second wife Rachel Bailey Humes, daughter of Hamilton and Anna Elmira (Bailey) Humes. Of this marriage were four children, three of whom died in infancy, and Hamilton B. Humes is the only survivor. Mr. Humes, after a long and useful life, died March 29, 1859, and his remains were interred in the cemetery at Jersey Shore.
Hamilton B. Humes attended the common schools and West Branch high school, the latter being then controlled by the Presbyterian church ; also State College, Centre county, and Columbia University, New York city, matriculating in 1862 and graduating from the law department in 1865. In May, 1865, he was admitted to the bar of New York city, and shortly afterward returned to Jersey Shore, where he entered the Jersey Shore National Bank as clerk. He served in this capacity for two years, during which time John A. Gamble was president and John J. Sanderson was cashier. In 1869 a new institution was established at Jersey Shore under the firm name of Gamble, Humes & White, with
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John A. Gamble as president, Matthew A. Gamble as vice-president, and Hamilton B. Humes as cashier. In 1878 title was changed to the Jersey Shore Banking Company, incorporated under the state law of Pennsyl- vania in 1886, with Hamilton B. Humes as president, Robert McCul- lough as vice-president, and Robert A. Sebring as cashier, the old insti- tution, the Jersey Shore National Bank, having been removed to Will- iamsport in 1871. Mr. Humes is the treasurer of the Cemetery Com- pany, a director of the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad, and was actively interested in the building of the Electric Light and Trolley Company's line. He is a member of the Presbyterian church of Jersey Shore, was treasurer of the building committee when the structure was erected in 1894, served as superintendent of the Sunday School connected there- with for fifteen years, and also in the capacity of teacher. Mr. Humes was made a Mason in La Belle Vallée Lodge No. 232, Free and Ac- cepted Masons of Jersey Shore, August 4, 1865, served as worshipful master, and is the oldest past master of that body. He received the capitular degrees in Lafayette Chapter No. 163, Royal Arch Masons, September 27, 1866. He was knighted in Baldwin II Commandery No. 22, Knights Templar, November 20, 1866; received the cryptic degrees in Adoniram Council No. 26, Royal and Select Masters, June 23, 1903, and in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite attained the thirty-second de- gree in Williamsport Consistory, January 31, 1900. He is a noble of Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine.
Mr. Humes was married June 23, 1868, to S. Floretta Sebring, born at Jersey Shore, June 22, 1845, daughter of John and Mary (Pfouts) Sebring, and five children were the issue: I. Mary, born July 1, 1869, died May 19, 1884. 2. Samuel, born October 25, 1870, mentioned at length on a following page. 3 Rachel B., born December 15, 1872, wife of William M. Hepburn, a farmer residing near Jersey
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iamstown, Massachusetts, graduating therefrom in 1891. Upon his re- turn home he entered the banking house of the Jersey Shore Banking Company as clerk, later was promoted to assistant cashier, and then to vice-president, and in all capacities took an active part in the conduct of the business of the institution, being an expert in stocks and bonds. He served as treasurer of the Electric Light Company of Jersey Shore, of the Business Men's Club, and of the board of trustees of the Presby- terian church. He was a man of exemplary habits, and his good quali- ties were innumerable. He was well liked and thoroughly trusted by all who knew him, was well informed in financial affairs, and his opinion was often sought at home and abroad.
Samuel Humes was a member of the Presbyterian church for a number of years, and had always taken great interest in church and Sab- bath school work and in the Young People's Society of Christian En- deavor. He was trustee of the church and superintendent of the Sun- day school at the time of his death, and although absorbed in business he never allowed it to overshadow his devotion to his church and the interests of his Master's kingdom. There were no interests in the church in which he did not take an active part, and no demands for its maintenance and work to which he was not among the first to respond. There was never a call looking towards the world's evangelization to which he did not open a liberal hand, and, besides the regular channels of the church for benevolence, the worthy and needy were constantly encouraged by substantial help of which the church and world knew nothing. Every missionary of the cross had an interest in his prayers, and every Christian worker a large place in his helpful sympathy. His nature was an intense one, and this intensity manifested itself no more in his business than in his love and loyalty to his church and to his Lord. No other expression but unfaltering faithfulness will describe what he
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was as a son, husband, father, citizen and Christian. Mr. Humes died September 30, 1904, and the funeral service was held in the Presby- terian church. In the absence of the pastor, Rev. Charles H. Bruce, the Rev. W. V. Ganoe, of the First Methodist Episcopal church, offici- ated.
Mr. Humes was united in marriage December 28, 1893, to Miss Jessica Cole Prindle. Three children were born to them: Margaret Prindle, born December 2, 1894; Hamilton Marshall, born May 8, 1896, died July 9, 1897; Samuel, Jr., born January 29, 1901. Mrs. Humes and the two surviving children reside in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Humes was born November 7, 1870, at Williamstown, Massa- chusetts, and began her studies in the common schools of her native town, and pursued advanced courses in Glen Seminary, Williamstown, and Abbott Academy, at Andover, Massachusetts. She is a daughter of Marshall and Caroline Prindle, both of whom are now living. Mar- shall Prindle was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1819, a son of John and Penelope (Johnson) Prindle. John Prindle was a farmer, and was a son of John Prindle, who was a merchant in New Milford, Connecticut, of a leading family of that state. Marshall Prindle was a prominent and prosperous farmer at Williamstown. He married (second) Caroline Lamphier, who was of French ancestry on the paternal side and of English ancestry on the maternal side.
William Pringle (also spelled Prindle in his will), a native of Scot- land, the emigrant ancestor and progenitor of the family in America, settled in New Haven, Connecticut, where he took the oath of fidelity to the New Haven jurisdiction, Theophilus Eaton, governor, on April 4, 1654. He is first mentioned in the New Haven Colonial Records as " the Scotchman which lives at Mr. Allerton's," who was one of the Mayflower Pilgrims. Savage says that William Pringle " was a Pro-
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prietor in 1685, and so was Joseph, who may have been a son." He married, December 7, 1655, Mary Desborough, daughter of
Desborough, Mr. Stephen Goodyear, magistrate, officiating. Eleven children were born to them, seven sons and four daughters; of these sons, Ebenezer, Elezar and Samuel settled in Milford, Connecticut. Ebenezer later removed to New Town, Connecticut. Elezar died in middle life, and Samuel betook himself to New Milford and was one of the twelve original settlers of that town. Samuel Prindle was born April 15, 1668, was twice married, and had one of those good old colonial families of nine children-Elizabeth, Samuel, John, Sarah, and Dorothy, Daniel, Abigail, Mary and Obedience. His son John became a merchant in New Milford, but about 1760 a young minister of New Milford, one Whitman Welch, was called to take charge of a new little church just started at Williamstown, Massachusetts. After him flocked a goodly number of the citizens of Milford and New Milford, and he became a great help to them in their selection of lots, and to sign their deeds as witness. Among these we find John Prindle, with two sons-Solomon and John-who, having sold his store in New Milford, came too, along with his fellow townsmen. He purchased the original sixty-acre lot No. 54, on Birch Hill, on what is commonly known as the " Prindle place," and was the grandfather of Marshall Prindle.
The maternal ancestors of Mrs. Humes, the Coles of England, trace their lineage back to the year 1001. There were some twenty- seven coats-of-arms in the family, and the representatives in England filled positions of honor and trust. During the Revolutionary war eight hundred and sixty-five members of the family enlisted their services, thus clearly demonstrating their loyalty and patriotism. The pioneer ancestor of the branch of the family named in this narrative was James Cole, born in Highgate, a suburb of London, England, in 1600. He
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married in 1625, Mary Lobel, and came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1632. He owned for many years what is still known as Coles Hill, and opened and kept for many years the first hotel of Plymouth, one of if not the first in New England. He and his son James for a long number of years owned the ground upon which rests Plymouth Rock.
Hugh Cole, son of James and Mary (Lobel) Cole, was born in England in 1627. He was one of the proprietors of Swansea, and the river running through Swansea bears his name-Cole's river. He was. a soldier in King Philip's war, 1675-77. He was deputy general of the court and representative of Swansea for many years. In 1665 he pur- chased from King Philip a farm which is yet in possession of his de- scendants, having suffered no alienation during this long period of two hundred and thirty-six years. His home, built upon the banks of the river, was the first burned by King Philip; he rebuilt the same, but after his death it was again burned. He married, January 8, 1654, Mary Troxwell, who bore him ten children, six sons and four daughters.
Benjamin Cole, son of Hugh and Mary (Troxwell) Cole, was born in Swansea, Massachusetts, 1678, died in Swansea, September 29, 1748. He was a farmer, and the house built by him in 1701 is still standing and in good condition. He was a deacon in the Baptist church of Swansea for thirty-five years. He married, June 27, 1701, Hannah Eddy, who bore him eight children, five sons and three daughters.
Israel Cole, son of Benjamin and Hannah (Eddy) Cole, was born in Swansea, Massachusetts, March 4, 1709. He married, March 5, 1733, Susannah Wheaton, who bore him six children, five sons and one daughter. At about the same time his son Israel removed to Royalton, he with the remainder of the family removed to Shaftsbury, Vermont, where he died August 5, 1789.
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Israel Cole, son of Israel and Susannah (Wheaton) Cole, was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, September 26, 1735. He married, Janu- ary 17, 1765, Susannah Wood, and they were the parents of nine chil- dren, five sons and four daughters. About the year 1769 the family settled in Royalston, Massachusetts, having gone there with the Wood and Mason families, and afterwards Mr. Cole removed to Cheshire and was a very successful farmer. He served in Captain Parker's company, Colonel Leonard's regiment, at Ticonderoga during the Revolutionary war. He died at his home in Cheshire, July 6, 1830.
Lydia Cole, daughter of Israel and Susannah (Wood) Cole, was born in Cheshire, Massachusetts, 1766. In 1787 she became the wife of Jason White, born in 1762 in New Ashford, Massachusetts, son of William White. Abigail, their fourth and youngest child, was born August 27, 1809, in New Ashford, Massachusetts. In 1826 she was married, by Elder John Leland, to Benjamin Lamphier.
Caroline Lamphier, youngest child of Benjamin and Abigail (White) Lamphier, was born November 25, 1839. She became the wife of Marshall E. Prindle, above mentioned, December 10, 1862, and their children are: Franklin Everett, of Beloit, Wisconsin; Jennie A., of Williamstown, Massachusetts; Jessica Cole, who married Samuel Humes ; and Clarence Harvey, who resides with his parents.
DEWITT BODINE.
DeWitt Bodine, a leading citizen of Hughesville, and for many years prominently identified with the commercial and financial interests of Lycoming county, is the representative of an old and honored ancestry dating back to colonial times, only a few years after the Dutch authority was superseded by English rule.
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The emigrant ancestor of the Bodine family in America was Jean Bodin, a Huguenot, born in France in 1645, and died on Staten Island, New York, in 1695. His son John had a son Abraham, whose son Cornelius, born in New Jersey in 1756, served with honor in the Revo- lutionary war. Cornelius Bodine married Margaret Van Sutphen, of Dutch descent, and they settled in the vicinity of Hughesville, Lycom- ing county, in 1802, and subsequently removed to Seneca county, New York, where they died, respectively, June 12, 1820, and November 15, 1824. Their children were: Abraham, Peter, John, Cornelius, Gilbert, Isaac, Charles and George.
Abraham, eldest child of Cornelius and Margaret (Van Sutphen) Bodine, was born in Readington, New Jersey, in 1779, and with his father moved to Lycoming county, where he became one of the foremost land owners of his period. He married first Mercy Paxon, a member of the Society of Friends, by whom he had five children, and, second, Bar- bara Cruse, by whom he had one child. His six children were: John, Elizabeth, Charles, Margaret, George and Russell. He died at Hughes- ville, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1862.
Charles Bodine, third child of Abraham and Mercy (Paxon) Bo- dine, was born July 4, 1809. He was a merchant, and one of the promi- nent business men of his day. He married Maria Christman, and their children were: C. Christman, Clinton, DeWitt, Milton and Mary, all deceased except DeWitt. Charles Bodine died April 19, 1851, and his widow thirty years later, on February 26, 1880. -
DeWitt Bodine, third child and third son of Charles and Maria (Christman) Bodine, was born in Hughesville, Lycoming county, Penn- sylvania, September 22, 1841. He began his education in the public schools and completed it in Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, from which he was graduated with the highest honors and distinction in 1861,
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as valedictorian of his class, at the age of twenty years. Shortly after- ward, in 1862, under the "Emergency Call " of Governor Curtin, he enlisted in the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Emergency Regiment, acquit- ting himself as a soldier most creditably. On his return from military service he engaged in the lumber and real estate business, and has con- tinued successfully in its prosecution to the present time, having been associated with his uncle, George Bodine, and after his death continu- ing the business upon his own account. He has constantly extended his aid, vigorously and intelligently, to the furtherance of every move- ment calculated to promote the interests of the city and county, and is regarded as one of the most substantial and public-spirited citizens of the county-trustworthy, liberal, a safe counselor and a willing helper, both in public and private concerns. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Hughesville, of which he has been president for many years past. To him the Muncy Valley is largely indebted for the building of the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad. He early discerned the advantage such an outlet would be to the industries and trade of Lycoming and Sullivan counties, and was vigorous and persist- ent in his efforts to bring about the consummation of the project. He has long taken a deep interest in the development of Eagles' Mere, and as a director and treasurer of the syndicate has borne his share in the labor of bringing this charming place of resort into public notice and favor. One of his marked characteristics has ever been his zealous interest in educational concerns, and it is most pleasant to make record of his benefactions in connection with Dickinson Seminary, his alma mater. To this institution he contributed sufficient means to establish its first full scholarship, entitled the "DeWitt Bodine Scholarship," which covers all expenses of a regular course, including tuition, board, room, laundry work, light and heat, everything but books. This schol-
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arship is annually awarded at the close of the scholastic year to that student of the Hughesville High School who shall have attained to the highest degree of advancement, and this excellent benefaction has been the means of providing to many a young person a thoroughness of prep- aration which has enabled the recipient to enter upon a successful career in life. He has also founded a permanent scholarship in the Susque- hanna University at Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, placing it under the ab- solute control of the Lutheran church of Hughesville. In both of these time-honored and excellent institutions Mr. Bodine has long served as a member of the board of directors, and both have been the objects of his constant solicitude and benefactions other than those named.
In politics Mr. Bodine has ever been an ardent Republican, and takes a hearty pride in the fact that his first presidential vote was cast for - Abraham Lincoln, at the second election of that foremost of all Ameri- cans, but a few months before he fell at the hand of the assassin, in the hour of the nation's victory. He has always been found on the side of true reform, and, while fearless in advocating the principles which stand approved by his conscience, is ever considerate of the feelings of others and respectful of their differing views.
In October, 1876, Mr. Bodine was married to Miss Emma Biddle, daughter of the late General Gershom Biddle, a prominent and enter- prising citizen of Lycoming county. No children have been born of this marriage. Highly successful in life, Mr. Bodine has secured a comfort- able competence, with not a dollar bearing a taint of improper acquire- ment. He occupies a beautiful residence, and his home life is delightful in its unpretentious culture and comfort. Mr. Bodine's personal traits of character may be estimated in large degree from what has been said in this narrative with reference to his liberal aid to educational institu- tions. His solicitude extends likewise to the distressed in body and
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estate, many of whom address him for assistance from time to time. In such instances, husband and wife, whose sympathies are in entire accord in all things, agree upon relief, which is freely extended, and which goes unheralded save by the grateful recipients of their bounty.
SPROAT (OR SPROUT) FAMILY.
The following genealogical sketch of the Sproat (or Sprout) fam- ilies was given by Robert "Sproat" to Samuel, his grandson, November 6, 1792, and copied by the said Samuel with his own additions up to August, 1845, he being then seventy-three years of age.
Robert Sproat was the first one of the name that came to New England, about fifteen or twenty years after the "landing of the Pil- grims" at Plymouth. He emigrated from Scotland, and worked to pay his passage. The name of Sproat in Scotland was designated by a coat- of-arms representing three salmon with rings in their mouths, color deep and pale blue, with spots of gold and silver, and kept in the Scotch Heraldry, but what they represented was never learned. The above named Robert Sproat settled in Scituate, in the county of Plymouth, Massachusetts, as a farmer. He had eight children, three sons and five daughters. The sons were Robert, James and Ebenezer. The daugh- ters were Marcy, Mary, Annie and Hannah.
James Sproat, second son of the first named Robert, settled in Scituate, and had four children, two sons and two daughters. The sons were Robert and Nathaniel. One daughter's name was Marcy. Robert, first son of the above James, died when about twenty-two years of age. . The next child was named after him, who was the writer's grandfather, who settled in Middleborough county, Massachusetts, being a mill-
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wright by trade. He had three children. They were Zebadee, Samuel and Robert.
Zebadee, the writer's father, settled in Midleborough and had six children-one (Betsey) by his first wife, and two sons, Samuel and Peter ; and two daughters, Lucinda and Katie, by his second wife. And now we come to the family of the writer (Samuel Sproat), Amasa De- lano Sproat, Betsy Sproat, Samuel Sproat, Jr., and Sarah Mariah Sproat, and I am now (August, 1845) settled at Windsor, county of Windsor, state of Vermont. Amasa D., my oldest son, is settled at Chillicothe, Ohio; my other son, Samuel Jr., at Harwick, Vermont. And now return- ing to the children of the first named Robert Sproat: Robert, Jr., was drowned when young. Ebenezer settled in Scituate as aforesaid, and had five children, two sons, Ebenezer and James, and three daughters, Thankful, Abigail and Mary. Nathaniel, son of James and brother of the writer's grandfather, settled in Hardwick, Massachusetts, and had eight sons-Macha, Robert, Ebenezer, Nathaniel, James, Samuel, Nath- an and Lemuel; and three daughters-Albrah (or Abrah), Mary and Hannah. They are scattered abroad, and their places of settlement un- known to the writer. Ebenezer, Jr., settled in Middleboro, Massachu- setts, and had seven children-five sons, Ebenezer, Thomas, James, Earle and Samuel, and two daughters-Molly and Busheba. The last named Ebenezer and Earle settled in Marietta, Ohio. Ebenezer was the first sheriff of Marietta county, and colonel of a regiment. Thomas succeeded his father as proprietor of a large hotel in Middleborough Common. James became a noted attorney of Old Taunton, Massachu- setts. The writer has no further history of this family. James, the son of Ebenezer, became a minister of the Gospel and settled in Phila- delphia. Samuel, the brother of the writer's father, died when ten years of age. His brother Robert, then called Robert Sproat, Jr., set-
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tled in Middleborough and enlisted in the three years service in the war of the Revolution and died of smallpox. He had four children; one died when young, and the others, James, Leonard and Hannah. Leonard fell from a house in his youth and was killed; James is also deceased.
The foregoing sketches of the Sproat families given by Samuel in August, 1845, are undoubtedly of the ancestors of Sprout families now settled in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and other states of the union, as given by Ebenezer Sproat, late of Picture Rocks, Lyco- ming county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1868, and written (from his statement given from memory) by his son Amos E. Sproat, and copied from his original manuscript December 23, 1897. The change from Sproat to Sprout has been made by the families in New England in the latter part of the seventeenth century and was, as near as we can ascer- tain by corresponding with parties in Scotland, formerly written Sprot, Sprott, Spratt, and Spear, but all or nearly all in the United States at this date seem to have adopted Sprout, and by that name all the de- scendants of the Sproat families are known. The following is the statement of Ebenezer Sprout above referred to :
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