Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 15

Author: Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 538


USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 15


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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ginia ; children : Frank and Fred, live in West Virginia. 3. Addie, of previous mention. 4. Marietta, married Washington Cosper, an oil- well operator of Kinzua, Pennsylvania, and lives in West Virginia; they have one son. 5. Mary Elizabeth, married Philip Knight, de- ceased, and lives in Bradford, Pennsylvania ; children : Edwin, Lewis, Harry and Maud. 6. Lucy, married William, Pratt, a farmer of Jamestown, where she lives; children, Alice and Grace. 7. Grace, married Judson Cosper, an oil-well operator of Kinzua, Pennsylvania, and lives in Sistersville, West Virginia.


The American ancestor of the DEMPSEY Dempsey family of Bradford, Pennsylvania, herein record- ed, was Lawrence Dempsey, born in Ireland, of Scotch ancestors. He first became a resi- dent of Center county, Pennsylvania, soon after the close of the revolution. In 1797 he penetrated the wilds of the Upper Allegheny Valley to the lands open to settlement on the general terms presented by the state. He was the first settler in the region and made his first improvement on the "Cauvel" farm, not far from the old graveyard near Dempseytown, a hamlet named in his honor. Here he planted an orchard, one of the first in the county, and certainly the first in what is now Oakland township. He had two sons, Peter and David. Lawrence Dempsey died in one of the eastern counties of the state, but his wife and one son are buried in the family graveyard at Dempsey- town. The name of his wife was Mary Kaf- man and she was of German origin, coming from the eastern part of the state. They had two sons: Peter, of whom further and David. (II) Peter, son of Lawrence Dempsey, was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, and came with his father to Venango county, where they settled on the site of the present town. Peter spent his life after 1797 in Venango county, engaged in farming and lumbering. He was a Democrat and a man of strong, upright character. His brother David was also a man of prominence in the county, and served for a time in congress. While Lawrence Dempsey, was the first settler in Dempsey- town, Peter Dempsey, his son, laid out the town, employing Samuel Dale who surveyed for him, September 2, 1800, four hundred and one acres of land lying next to the tract owned by his father. On it he built a house, and on the same site later built a hotel that he kept for


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many years. The old tavern stood until about 1885, when it was destroyed by fire. Peter Dempsey married Susanna, daughter of Thomas Carter, who was the first white child born in Pittsburgh, and who served in the revolution- ary war when a young man. He was in the military service at Pittsburgh, also at Fort Franklin, and he settled on Sugar Creek, near Cooperstown. In 1803 he settled at Dempsey- town, where he died at an advanced age. Chil- dren of Peter Dempsey were: Thomas C., of whom further; Cicero T., born December 18, 1808, married Nancy Kelley; Maria, Septem- ber 16, 1810, married James Reed ; David, Oc- tober 8, 1813, married Jane Arters ; Washing- ton, February 5, 1816, lost on the Ohio river in 1844; Hetty C., April 3, 1818, married Rob- ert Kelley ; John C., April 5, 1820, married Jemima Reninger ; Sally, April 5, 1820 (twin), married John Kelley; Isabel, February 7, 1823, never married.


(III) Thomas Carter, son of Peter Demp- sey, was born at Dempseytown, Venango county, Pennsylvania, October 13, 1806, died in Springboro, Crawford county, January 27, 1884. He received his education in the district school, and learned the carpenter's trade, which he never followed but became a farmer. In 1848 he moved to Kaneville, Venango county, later to Crawford county, where he died. Hc was a Democrat until the Fremont campaign, when he transferred his allegiance to the Re- publican party, and ever afterward supported that party. He married Mary Ann, born at Tidioute, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1807, died in 1866, daughter of John Arthurs, then of Tidi- oute, later of Brookville, Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, where he died. His wife was a Miss Clover. Mary Ann (Arthurs) Dempsey had four brothers : Richard, John, Samuel and James. The children of Thomas Carter and Mary Ann (Arthurs) Dempsey were : I. Rich- ard Arthurs, of whom further. 2. Carter G., born in Ravenna, Ohio, April 13, 1839, de- ceased ; married Rhoda Clover ; four children : i. Carter G., deceased ; ii. Harry, now of Erie, Pennsylvania; iii. Benton Thomas, resides in Michigan; iv. Mary, now of Erie, Pennsyl- vania. 3. Joanna, born in 1845, on the Ve- nango farm; married Harvey Knickerbocker, deceased, who was a merchant and farmer ; two children : i. William, a farmer of Glendon, Crawford county, Pennsylvania ; ii. Anna, also a resident of Glendon.


(IV) Richard Arthurs, son of Thomas Car-


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ter Dempsey, was born in Dempseytown, Ve- 1871 has owned and operated an oil refinery. In 1877 he came to Bradford, bringing his family in 1880. In 1882 he became a member ·of a company in Custer City extensively en- gaged in the manufacture of high explosives used in the oil field. He retired from that company in 1902. He also owned a large tract of land in Kansas operated as a cattle ranch. At present (1912) he is president of the Pure Carbon Oil Company, president of the Hubbs Oil Company, president of the Dempsey Oil Company, manager of the Lafayette Oil & Gas Company, and of the Holly Oil Company. He is an energetic, capable man of affairs and is held in the highest esteem in business circles. He has given much of his time and ability to the public service, first appearing in public life as the successful candidate for mayor of Bradford. This was in 1886, and his first term covered the years 1887-88; five years later he was again elected mayor, serving in 1893-94-95. He has also filled the elective offices of supervisor of Bradford township, school director, water commissioner, coroner of Mckean county, member of the house of assembly (two terms), 1897 to 1900, and served his party as chairman of Mckean coun- ty Republican committee. Before coming to Bradford he was postmaster at Kane City one term, and Custer City one term. He is past noble grand of Bradford Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; past master of the Ancient Order of United Workmen ; past com- mander of Bradford Post, No. 141, Grand Army of the Republic, having held that office many times, and belongs to the Union Veteran Legion of Bradford. He is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church, and interested in church and charitable work. nango county, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1837. He was educated in the public schools of Oak- land township, Venango county, and of Corn- planter township, Venango county, Pennsyl- vania. After his school days were over he worked at farming during the summer, and in the winter months in the lumber woods, con- tinuing this until 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry. His regiment was attached to the Army of the Potomac, and with it he fought in many of the historic battles of the civil war, under Generals McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade and Grant. He was captured by the enemy near Petersburg, Virginia, Oc- tober 1, 1864, and for three months and three weeks was held a prisoner at Salisbury, North Carolina, and being detailed to cut wood for the use of the camp he found opportunity to escape January 25, 1865, and after many ad- ventures joined the Union army in Tennessee. His military record is an enviable one. IIe was advanced successively to the rank of cor- poral, sergeant, first sergeant and was com- missioned first lieutenant of Company E to date from January 1, 1865. With his regiment he fought in Virginia, at Fredericksburg, Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna, Toto- potomy, Bethesda, Cold Harbor, around Peters- burg, and at Peebles' farm. In 1864 he was under fire every day from May 5, to October I, the day he was captured. On June 16, 1864, a comrade, William Mckenzie, was shot by his side and instantly killed at Petersburg. Sergeant Dempsey with a few men was de- tached and sent to reconnoitre at North Anna. During the night a staff officer visited them and gave orders for them to remain where He married Martha Emmeline, born in Wallaceville, Venango county, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1843, daughter of Joseph Campbell, of Scotch parentage, born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1811, a miller and farmer in both Mercer and Venango counties (see Campbell). Martha Emmeline (Camp- they were until further orders which did not arrive until late the next day, the little squad having been without food since noon of the previous day. When he was captured he was stripped of all his belongings, and with ten thousand other Union prisoners endured the intense suffering of a southern prison pen. . bell) Dempsey is a member of the Bradford After making his escape five hundred miles of hostile country lay between him and the Union Methodist Episcopal Church and of the Ladies Union Veteran Legion. Children of Richard army. He accomplished this distance in the . Arthurs Dempsey : I. Nettie Gertrude, born in dead of winter in thirty-six days, finally reach- ing the Union army in Tennessee. After the war ended he returned to Pennsylvania, where for a time he engaged in mercantile business, and later in the production of oil, and since Venango county, April 29, 1861, died August 8, 1883 ; married, January 3, 1883, D. H. Mc- Cullough. 2. Mary Ann, born September 6, 1866, in Kane City, Pennsylvania ; married, May 10, 1887, at Bradford, Frank Howard, a


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merchant of Steamburg, New York; deceased ;. now a contractor of Morcroft, Wyoming, mar- children: i. Charles Dempsey, born April 7, ried Zora Williamson ; children : Gertrude and Bertha. 10. Ida Alice, born in Venango coun- ty, July 4, 1854, died at Mount Pleasant, Michi- gan, March, 1883; married Wilson Hunter ; child, Grace, now living at Evans City, Penn- sylvania. II. Wallace R., born in Warren county, November 24, 1856, married Ruth Parke, and now resides on their farm at Forestville, New York. 1888, now a carbon manufacturer at Wells- ville, New York; ii. Lois, born June 15, 1891. 3. Carrie J., April 11, 1868, died in Kane City, August 31, 1868. 4. Lissa M., born in Kane City, July 6, 1869, resides with her parents in Bradford. 5. Nora E., born in Kane City, February 2, 1871, married Orville B. Cutting, a contractor, builder and oil producer, now living in Monticello, Kentucky; children: i. Richard II., born July 4, 1901, at Woodsfield, Ohio; 1i. Martha, born March 16, 1911, at Monticello. 6. Dick S., born July, 1875, died July 31, 1876. 7. Lulu C., born March 30, 1879, at Kane City, now residing with her parents in Bradford.


(The Campbell Line).


Joseph Campbell married Mary M. Patter- son, born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1818, died December, 1909, and their chil- dren were: I. William, born in Mercer county, February 2, 1838, married Louise Smith, who died March 2, 1858. 2. Thomas Patterson, born in Mercer county, October 15, 1839, died April, 1899; he served four years and three months in the civil war and at the time of his death was superintendent of water works at Sistersville, West Virginia ; he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Post No. 68, at Sistersville. 3. Mary E., born in Venango county, July 27, 1841 ; she married William Wenton, a machinist, now liv- ing in Warren county ; children : Mina, Adda, Susan, Mary, all living, and Samuel, deceased. 4. Martha Emmeline, married Richard A. Dempsey (see Dempsey IV). 5. Sarah R., born in Venango county, June 5, 1844, married Alfred Flyte, whom she survives, a resident of Rixford, Mckean county ; children: Pride and Emma. 6. Margaret R., born in Venango county, March 17, 1846, died 1906; she mar- ried Nelson Fleeger, of Butler county, who died in 1908; child, Albert, a machinist, living in Indiana. 7. Melissa M., born in Venango county, December 26, 1847, married James P. Boggs, of Butler county, now residing at Evans City, Butler county ; children : Mary, Frank, Nettie, Carrie, Zora. 8. William Fil- more, born in Venango county, May 25, 1850, died June 11, 1910; he married the widow of Captain Knight ; child, Maud, married Edwin L. Bliss, of Lynn, Massachusetts. 9. Bruce M., born in Venango county, May 20, 1852,


Mary M. (Patterson) Campbell, the mother of these children, was a daughter of Thomas Patterson, born in Ireland in 1759, died 1840. He was the son of William Patterson, who married Sarah Douglass, born in Scotland. Thomas Patterson came to America at an early day and drifted westward joining a company of scouts in 1775, under Daniel Boone at Boonesboro, Kentucky. He served in the revo- lution under General Greene and was at Valley Forge the dreadful winter of suffering endured by Washington's army. He married (first) Nancy Blakeley, (second) Martha McVannan, in the Ligonier Valley of Pennsylvania, in 1810. The latter was born in 1784, died in 1864. She was in receipt of a revolutionary pension of four dollars monthly on account of the patriotic services of her husband, which was sent to her at Plain Grove, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, care of Hutchinson Bo- vard, until her death.


COFFIN The family of Coffin in England was seated at Portledge, in the parish of Alwington, in the north- ern part of county Devon, and has been in England since the Norman conquest. There are various branches of this family in the county. The Portledge family of Coffin bore these arms: "Vert, five cross-crosslets argent, between four plates". These arms are also used by the American families.


(I) Tristram Coffin, the earliest English progenitor of whom there is authentic record, lived in Brixton, county Devon, England. His will was dated November 16, 1601, and was proved at Tetness in 1602. He left legacies to Joan, Anna and John, children of Nicholas Coffin ; to Richard and Joan, children of Lionel Coffin ; to Philip Coffin, and his son Tristram ; and appointed Nicholas Coffin his executor.


(II) Nicholas, son of Tristram (1) Coffin, lived at Butlers, county Devon. His will was dated September 12, 1613, and proved Novem- her 3. 1613. It mentions his wife Joan : sons,.


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Peter, of whom further, and Tristram, Nich- olas and John; daughter, Anna; and Joan, daughter of one of his sons.


(III) Peter, son of Nicholas Coffin, married Joan Thember. He lived at Brixton, and died in 1628. His will was dated December 21, 1627, and proved March 13, 1628. It provides that his wife shall have the estate during her life, and that it then goes to his son Tristram, "who is to be provided for according to his degree and calling." He mentions daughters, Joan, Deborah, Eunice and Mary, as being under twenty years of age. He refers to his tenement called Silfernay, in Butlers, and to his brother Nicholas. In 1649 his widow with her son Tristram and two daughters, went to Salisbury, Massachusetts, and thence to Haver- hill and Newbury, Massachusetts. She died in Nantucket or Boston in May, 1661, aged sev- enty-seven years. She was said to possess re- markable strength of character, and on the occasion of her death Rev. Mr. Wilson preach- ed a funeral sermon. Children : John, born in England, died in Plymouth Fort; Tristram (2), of whom further; Joan, probably died in England ; Deborah, probably died in England ; Eunice, born in England; Mary, born in Eng- land.


(IV) Tristram (2), son of Peter Coffin, was born in England in 1609, died in Nan- tucket, Massachusetts, October 2, 1681. He married, in England, Dionis, daughter of Rob- ert Stevens, of Brixton, county Devon. He was the immigrant ancestor, and came to Salis- bury, Massachusetts, in 1642, with five chil- dren. He removed in a short time to Haver- hill, and was witness to an Indian deed of that place November 15, 1642. About 1648 he moved to Newbury, Massachusetts, where he kept an ordinary, and thence to Salisbury again in 1654 or 1655 and was commissioner there. In 1659 he was one of the company of Salis- bury men who bought land at Nantucket Island, where he removed in 1660 with his wife, mother, and some of his children, and there he died. He was one of the first magis- trates of the island and a capable officer. Chil- dren: Hon. Peter, born in England, 1631 ; Tristram (3), of whom further ; Elizabeth, born in England; James, born August 12, 1640; John, born in England, died in Haverhill, Oc- tober 30, 1642; Deborah, born in Haverhill, November 15, 1642, died December 2, 1642; Mary, born in Haverhill, February 20, 1645, mother of the first white child born in Nan-


tucket; John, born in Haverhill, October 30, 1647; Stephen, in Newbury, May 1I, 1652.


(V) Tristram (3), son of Tristram (2) Coffin, was born in England, in 1632, died at Newbury, Massachusetts, February 4, 1704. He settled in Newbury and was admitted a freeman April 29, 1668. He is the ancestor of all the Newbury families of the name. His house, which at last accounts was still occu- pied by his descendants, was built about 1659, and is therefore over two hundred years old. He married, in Newbury, March 2, 1652-53, Judith (Greenleaf) Somerby, born 1625, died at Newbury, December 15, 1705, daughter of Edmund and Sarah Greenleaf, and widow of Henry Somerby. Children, born at Newbury : Judith, born December 4, 1653; Deborah, born November 10, 1656; Mary, November 12, 1657; James, April 22, 1659; John, died Sep- tember 8, 1700; Lydia, born April 22, 1662; Enoch, January 21, 1663; Stephen, of whom further ; Peter, July 27, 1667; Hon. Nathaniel, born March 22, 1669.


(VI) Stephen, son of Tristram (3) Coffin, was born in Newbury, August 18, 1664, died August 31, 1725. He married, October 8, 1685, Sarah Atkinson, born November 27, 1665, daughter of John and Sarah (Mirick) Atkin- son. Children, born at Haverhill : Sarah, born May 16, 1686; Tristram, January 14, 1688, died March 9, 1688; Tristram, born March 6, 1689, died. at Newbury, January 23, 1718; Lydia, July 21, 1691; Judith, February 23, 1693; John, January 20, 1695. Children, born at Newbury: Abigail, born September 25, 1696; Stephen, 1698; Daniel, September 19, 1700; Abner, April 29, 1702; Mary, Septem- ber 26, 1704, died January 18, 1717; Joseph, December 26, 1706; Benjamin, of whom fur- ther.


(VII) Benjamin, son of Stephen Coffin, was born at Newbury, Massachusetts, June 14, 1710, died April 30, 1784. He married, October 28, 1731, Miriam, daughter of Jon- athan Woodman, of Newbury. Children, born at Newbury : Miriam, born August 22, 1732; Abigail, July 29, 1734; Benjamin, September 6, 1735; Moses, January 30, 1737; Sarah, Oc- tober 12, 1740; Stephen, July 25, 1743; Anna, October 2, 1745; Jonathan, of whom further ; Amos, October 5, 1749; Lemuel, November 27, 1751; Mary, March 12, 1754; Jacob, June II, 1756.


(VIII) Jonathan, son of Benjamin (I) Coffin, was born at Newbury, October 1, 1747,


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died at Alton, New Hampshire, in 1813. He married Jane Flanders, who died in 1818. He settled at New Durham Gore, now Alton, New Hampshire, before or during the revolution. In 1782 he was selectman of that town. In 1790 he was living there, according to the first federal census, and had in his family two males over sixteen, four under that age, and five females. Children, born at Newbury and Al- ton : Benjamin. (2), of whom further; Jon- athan, Moses, Samuel, Stephen, Sarah, Jane, Miriam and Anna.


(IX) Benjamin (2), son of Jonathan Coffin, was born about 1770, at Newbury, Massachu- setts, died at Alton, New Hampshire, in 1858. He came to Alton when a child and was edu- cated there in the public schools. He follow- ed farming for his occupation, and lived at Al- ton. He and his family were Free Will Bap- tists in religion. He married , died in 1860, and had three sons and three daughters, among them Joseph M., of whom further.


(X) Joseph M., son of Benjamin (2) Coffin, born in 1820, at Alton, New Hampshire, died at Gilmanton in 1887. He was educated in the public schools of his native town. He followed farming most of his life at Alton and Gilmanton, New Hampshire, and was also a dealer in cattle. In politics he was a Repub- lican, and was supervisor for several years. He was prominent in the Free Will Baptist Church and deacon. . He married, in 1845, Dorothy S. Gale, who was born at Gilmanton, New Hampshire, and died there in 1867, aged eighty-four years, daughter of Abram S. and Martha (Moulton) Gale. Her father was a blacksmith and dealer in horses at Gilmanton. Joseph M. Coffin had one child, Smith Gale, of whom further.


(XI) Smith Gale, son of Joseph M. Coffin, was born at Gilmanton, New Hampshire, Oc- tober 17, 1847. He lived in his native town during youth, worked on his father's farm and attended the public schools in Gilmanton and Pittsfield, New Hampshire. After leaving school he was for one year a conductor on a street car in Boston, and afterward was in the employ of C. Morrison until the spring of 1870, dealing in wholesale produce. He re- moved to Brady's Bend, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, and had charge for three years of a store owned by the Brady's Bend Iron Company. He resigned to become manager of a feed and grain store in the same town. Thence he moved to Petrolia, Butler county,


Pennsylvania, and engaged in business as pro- prietor of a livery and sale stable. In the fall of 1880 he removed to Bradford, Mckean county, Pennsylvania, and started a livery stable, and has continued in this business to the present time. At the present time he owns very spacious and finely equipped stables on Barbour street. He has been prosperous in this business and has also been successful in numerous oil ventures and as an oil producer. In politics he is a Republican, and while living at Petrolia was a member of the city council, but has never sought public office. He is a member of a Lodge of Free Masons ; Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons; Council, Royal and Select Masters; Commandery, Knights Templar ; and Lodge, Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks; the Merchants' Club, the Edgewood Club, and the Lafayette Gun and Fishing Club. He has been president of the Edgewood Club, and is a director of the Mer- chants' Club. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.


He married, June 24, 1874, Flora M. Flem- ing, who was born at Fair View, Butler coun- ty, Pennsylvania, daughter of William A. Flem- ing, a native of Butler county. Her father was superintendent of an iron furnace in that county, but afterwards lived at Petrolia, where he held the office of justice of the peace, and where he died in 1906. Her mother, L. J. Gra- ham, was born in Clarion county, Pennsyl- vania, not far from Foxburgh. Mrs. Flora M. Coffin had two brothers, George and Ed- ward, both now deceased, as her parents had four children, one of whom died in infancy. Children of Smith Gale Coffin: I. Claudia Dorothy, born June 1, 1876; married (first) V. Oxley, (second) Calvin Watson; child by first marriage, Gale C. Oxley; none by the second; she now resides at Bradford, Penn- sylvania. 2. George Ralph, born August 29, 1878; married, October 17, 1911, Grace Ren- derneck; resides at Bradford. 3. Charles Jo- seph, born September 4, 1880, an oil producer, living at Robinson, Illinois.


LINDSLEY This family probably came from near London, England. Francis Lindsley is said to have come to the American colonies in 1639, and to have been on the first vessel which anchored in New Haven bay. This is, how- ever, not beyond question. It is certain that he was living at Branford, Connecticut, in


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1645, and his brother John signed the oath of fidelity to New Haven in 1641. Francis Linds- ley removed to New Jersey in 1667, going from Branford with the Milford, Connecticut, com- pany.


(I) Eleazer Lindsley, the first member of this family about whom we have definite in- formation, was born December 7, 1737, died June 1, 1794. There is divergence about the colony of his birth, whether it was Connecticut or New Jersey; if the latter, he was probably a descendant of Francis Lindsley. Before the revolution he was living in New Jersey, and in that war he was an officer in the regi- ment called the Jersey Blues. From the church records of Morristown, New Jersey, although his parentage is not disclosed, we learn that he had brothers, Timothy, died June 5, 1787, aged fifty-seven, and Benjamin, born Febru- ary 22, 1731, died November 8, 1815, married Sarah After the revolution he rode through the Genesee country to find a tract of land. In 1789 he bought at least one- half of township number one, range two, Phelps and Gorham purchase; some hold that he bought the whole township. In the spring of 1790 a party left New Jersey to settle on this new land. The party was of about forty persons, of whom seven were slaves. There were Colonel Lindsley, two sons, Samuel and Eleazer, and several sons-in-law, with other men; nearly all brought their families. The journey was made by wagons and horseback to the Susquehanna river at Wilkes-Barre, thence they went in boats to the purchase, and landed at the Tioga Flats, June 7, 1790. The new town was called Lindsley, but by a mis- take the name was changed to Lindley, and this name has been preserved. Here he built the first saw mill; after his death his wife kept the first tavern, and she entertained Colonel Williamson and his company. In 1793 Colonel Lindsley was elected to the legislature. He was a worthy leader of the community, kind and generous, public-spirited, and an earnest Christian. At Morristown he had been a member of the Presbyterian church, as also his wife; in the new settlement, when there were no traveling ministers, he would himself read sermons on the Sundays. He married Mary, born August 23, 1738, died November 20, 1806, daughter of Thomas and Margaret ( Wal- lace) Miller. Children : I. Samuel, of whom further. 2. Anne, born July 24, 1762, died March 10, 1764. 3. Elizabeth, born July 17,




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