USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 113
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132
Soon after the completion of Mr. Gordon's grist-mill, Joseph C. Town, a carpenter by trade, came to Wyalusing and put up a saw-mill on the creek, near where Mrs. Hiram Buck now lives. This contributed largely to the welfare of the settlement. Previous to this boards were split out of pine logs from four to six feet long. The process was slow and expensive, although suitable pine-trees were abun- dant. In 1798, Mr. Town erected a grist-mill at the same place, of superior, construction to that of Mr. Gordon's, and containing a bolt for making flour. This, however, was swept away by a freshet in the creek in the spring of 1800 or 1801. Mr. Town was from Connecticut, and married a sister of Frances Slocum. Mrs. Town went west with her brother in search of their lost sister, and the frequent visits of the Slocum family at Mr. Town's made all of the older people here familiar with the story of the capture and discovery of Frances, which has been so thrillingly told by Mr. Miner in his history of Wyoming.
About 1791, Benjamin Ackley first came into the town- ship, remaining here a part of the time until November, 1793, when he moved his family here and lived in a log house where Elisha Lewis' house now stands. His native
# In Mr. Gordon's day book, now in possession of Harrison Lamb, his grandson, there is this note : "June 25, 1793. This day I raised my mill." It did not get in operation until the next year.
446
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
place was New Milford, Conn. He was the first regular blacksmith in the township, and until he arrived there was none nearer than Black-Walnut. Mr. Ackley was born in Litchfield Co., Conn., in 1769. His first wife was Nancy Maxfield, to whom he was married in 1780. She having died, he married Amy, daughter of Thomas Lewis, in 1812. In 1813 he was commissioned justice of the peace, and held the office for ten years. He died in Wyalusing in 1855. Mr. Ackley reared a large family of children, many of whom still reside in the township. It is worthy of note that somewhat later than the period now under considera- tion, there were four families living upon one square mile, who collectively numbered upwards of sixty children, viz. : John Hollenback, Major Taylor, Mr. Buck, and Mr. Ackley.
Among other early settlers in this part of the township who were here previous to 1800 was James Hines, who came from Ballibay, Ireland, soon -after the close of the Revolutionary war. Soon afterwards, probably owing to a previous knowledge of Samuel Gordon and James Ander- son, who were from the same place, he came to Wyalusing and worked for the Stalfords. While here he became ac- quainted with the family of Isaac Hancock, and married his daughter Sarah. He built a distillery on the little stream near Warren Brown's. Among others who may be mentioned are Judah Benjamin, a shoemaker, and Catharine Bartges, from Lancaster county, a German woman of con- siderable wealth, intelligence, and prominence. One of her daughters married James Ellsworth, and another was the second wife of John Ogden. His first wife was a daughter of Thomas Wigton. Ogden was a blacksmith. Thomas Brink lived for some time on the Stalford place, and then worked the lower part of the present Welles farm for Judge Hollenback, and then moved into Pike township.
MERRYALL SETTLEMENT.
Justus Lewis, late of Wyalnsing, gave the following account of the origin of the name of this locality : " In the early settlement of Connecticut a few hardy pioneers began a settlement in the township of New Milford, in what was afterwards the parish of New Preston, and having got a little rum while regaling themselves by a fine cold spring, christened it with the name of ' Merryall.' From this place came Thomas Lewis and the wives of Reuben Wells and several others of the first settlers, hence the name of the place." Mr. Lewis wrote a history of the settlement of Merryall, which is now unfortunately lost, except a single page, from which we quote the following items :
"On the 13th day of July, 1788, Thomas Lewis and family moved from the river on to a place now called Merryall. The year before they came from Connecticut and made a temporary residence at the mouth of the creek, and on that day they settled in a log cabin in a wild, dreary wilderness, four miles from a neighbor on one side and forty on the other. The prospect was dreary enough, but they persevered, and helped others to come in and settle around them.
" In 1790, Daniel Turrell and Sherman Buck settled near them, Mr. Turrell on the place occupied by (the late) Elijah Camp, Mr. Buek adjoining Thomas Lewis. About
the same time Reuben Wells settled below him, and Zacha- riah Price adjoining. The next year (1791) James and David Lake and Benjamin Ackley settled adjoining them, on the place now occupied by Elisha Lewis. In 1792, Job Camp settled where (the late) William Camp lived. Other settlers occasionally came in, and some settled higher up the creek.
" In 1794, Joseph Elliott, Amasa Wells, and Guy Wells moved into the neighborhood. Joseph Elliott where the family now live, Amasa Wells where Elijah Camp (lately) resided. In 1795 the mother of Amasa and Guy Wells (Hannah Loomis, widow of Lieut. James Wells) died, and, while she lay a corpse, the neighbors cleared off a place for the grave, where the present Merryall burying- ground is. She was the first corpse buried there. In the mean time the settlers began locating along up the creek. Jonas Ingham and family came on in 1795. William Dal- ton settled on the west side of the creek, opposite the meet- ing-house. In 1799 the first bridge was built across the Wyalusing creek, where Camptown now is. It was not finished when the high flood of 1800 carried it away.
" Three years after, in June, 1803, John Dalton mur- dered Amos Hurlbut on the low ground where Hiram Buck (Manfred Stevens) now lives. He was tried for his life in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne county, as we then belonged to that county, and, through the obstinacy of one man, was brought in guilty of murder in the second degree, and sen- tenced to eighteen years' confinement in the penitentiary in Philadelphia. Dalton was, however, pardoned in 1808, while Thomas M'Kean was governor of Pennsylvania, but he never returned home. He died soon after in hospital, in Philadelphia."
As this was the first capital offense which occurred in the county, we may complete the story by giving the official account of the trial as it appears on the records of the court :
" Res publica vs. John Dalton. Indictment for the' murder of Amos Hulburd, with count for voluntary man- slaughter. True Bill.
" Aug. 16, 1803. The defendant, being charged at the Bar, pleads not guilty, and thereof puts himself on the country for trial ; Attorney-General likewise.
" And now, August 17, 1803, a jury being called came, to wit: James Atherton, Noah Taylor, Solomon Johnson, Oliver Pettibone, Zebulon Marcy, Daniel Ayres, Caleb Wright, Joseph Sweatland, Joseph Reynolds, Abraham Shurtz, Roger Searle, and Case Cortlandt, who, being duly sworn and affirmed to try the issue aforesaid, on their oaths and affirmations, respectively, do say that they find the de- fendant guilty of murder in the second degree.
" Whereupon, the Court, to wit, on the 19th day of August, 1803, sentence the defendant to undergo an im- prisonment at hard labor for the period of eighteen years ; and that he be fed and clothed, and in all respects treated, according to the directions of the ' Act to reform the penal laws of the State;' and that he be placed and kept three years out of the eighteen in the solitary cells in the Peni- tentiary house in the city of Philadelphia, and fed on low and coarse diet; and that he pay the costs of prosecution, and stand committed until this whole sentence be complied with."
Photo. by A. B. Porter.
JUSTUS LEWIS.
Mr. Lewis was born in Wyalusing, Aug. 24, 1787, and was the fifth son and eighth child of Thomas and Mary (Turrell) Lewis. His father was a soldier of the Revolution, and, at the battle of Danbury, caught Gen. Wooster as he was falling, shot, from his horse. Justus obtained a good education, principally by study at home, and taught school very acceptably for several years. He married Polly, daughter of Elisha Keeler, of Pike township, Dec. 3, 1812, and at once entered upon the occupation of farming and lumbering, which he followed successfully for many years. In April, 1844, he united, with his wife, two sons, and one daughter, with the Presbyterian church of Wyalusing, but for some years before he made a public confession of Chris- tianity, he was one of the most cordial and efficient coadjutors in the work of the church, contributing as much towards the support of the pastor and the benevolent socie- ties as any other member of the congregation. From 1837 to 1860, scarcely a month passed in which he was not actively engaged in the temperance and anti-slavery reforms,
and especially during the years 1840-41, in the dis- cussions in the lyceum meetings. in the school-house at the mouth of the Wyalusing creek. He was always outspoken, and no matter how unpopular his views might be, he never failed to communicate them openly and ably.
Imbibing from his father the political principles of 1776, he never swerved from them. In 1808 he was a Federalist, in 1824 a National Republican, in 1840-44-48 an anti- slavery Whig, and a strong Republican from the organi- zation of that party till the close of his life.
He possessed excellent social qualities and winning manners, and had many warm friends.
As an energetic business man, Mr. Lewis was proverbial. If a public work was to be performed, a road to be laid out, a school- or meeting-house to be built, he was always foremost. He died May 10, 1874, leaving five sons and two daughters, to each of whom he bequeathed the rich legacy of an unblemished character, and a long life replete with lessons of wisdom.
John Elliott
The subject of this sketch was born in Sugar Run, Brad- ford Co., Pa., May 20, 1791, and belonged to one of the old families of the North Branch valley, and of this county. His father, Joseph, was one of the most active and daring spirits of the Revolution. The son, John, inherited some- thing of his father's martial spirit, and when but just passed his twentieth birthday, received from Gov. Snyder an en- sign's commission, which bears date Aug. 3, 1811 ; in three years was promoted to the captaincy of the Seventh com- pany of the Fifteenth Regiment of Pennsylvania militia, and Aug. 3, 1828, was commissioned division quartermaster. At this time the militia was considered a very important part of the public service, its trainings and musters were the grand holidays, and to be elevated to an official position in it was a high token of confidence and esteem. Under a commission dated April 13, 1829, Mr. Elliott was appointed by Gov. Shulze justice of the peace for the eighth district, composed of the townships of Wyalusing, Asylum, and Albany, as those towns were then constituted, and held the office until the late constitution went in force, by which the office was made elective, and then was elected to the same position by the people of his township, a sufficient guarantee that he had performed its duties to their satis- faction.
In the fall of 1843 he was elected to represent his dis- trict in the State legislature, and re-elected the following year. In addition to these, he was at various times called
to fill different offices in the township and county, in all which he displayed such good sense, strict uprightness, and honesty as to challenge the esteem and confidence of his friends and constituents.
In private life, Mr. Elliott was affectionate in his domestic relations, a generous friend, hospitable in his entertainment, frugal in his habits, industrious in his business, cheerful in disposition, and possessed of an unusually retentive memory, that never allowed the minutest thing, a name or a date, to escape its grasp. These qualities made him an interesting and instructive companion, whose vivid story of the men and events of the olden time were the centre of interest in the social circle.
Politically, Mr. Elliott was a life-long Democrat. While never, at least in his later years, obtruding his opinions upon others, he held with an unswerving grasp the tenets of his own political faith, which was endeared to him by so many early associations.
Above the ordinary size, he possessed great physical vigor and endurance. Until within a few days of his death his form was as erect, and his step as elastic as a boy's, while his exuberant flow of spirits, his exhaustless fund of humor and pleasantry gave one the impression that his fourscore years sat lightly on him. His sickness was short, and he retained his faculties to the last. He died in his home at Merryall, aged eighty-four years and nine months, leaving a large and respectable family to mourn his death.
447
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
In 1792, Job Camp came to Wyalusing, planted a piece of eorn, and, after it was harvested, returned to Connecticut for his family, moved in the next year, and settled at Camp- town, which was then a dense, unbroken wilderness. At this time, there were, besides Jones Ingham, two or three families above him on the ereek. As illustrating the diffi- eulties which the early settlers experienced in their emigra- tion to the country, the case of Mr. Camp is in point. He started from Connectieut with a yoke of oxen, which were used to transport his family and goods. Taking the usual course of the emigrants,-across the country from the Hud- son to Stroudsburg, and through the great swamp,-they reached the Susquehanna at Pittston. The route was a slow and toilsome one, but thus far there was a road along which they could drive a team, but up the river there was nothing but the narrow Indian path. They were therefore compelled to unyoke their oxen and drive them along singly. The cart, younger members of the family, and household goods were then placed on a keel-boat, and two men were hired to push it up the river to Wyalusing. The progress was slow and the labor severe, and several days were necessary for the trip. It took all of Mr. Camp's crop of corn raised the preceding year to pay the boatmen, and the family were obliged to get along as best they could until another crop was harvested. Mr. Camp was by trade a carpenter, and, the year he moved in, built a large barn for Mr. Lewis, the first erected on the Wyalusing. In 1795 he built a barn for himself, which is still standing. This barn is covered with boards split out of pine logs, which are fastened on with wronght nails, made by Salmon Bos- worth, who had moved up the Wyalusing.
Mr. Camp had a large family of children, and the name is one of frequent occurrence. The village of Camptown, five miles up the Wyalusing, is named in honor of him. His wife was Anna Oviatt, and her brother Thomas came about the same time with him, and lived on the farm now owned by Benjamin Ackley.
Jonas Ingham was settled above him, an account of whom is given in the biography of John Ingham.
William Dalton, an Irishman by birth, and an impressed seaman in the British service, deserted, and came to Wy- oming before the Revolutionary war. The day before the battle (July 2, 1778), he went up the river on a scout, when, seeing a small party of Indians, they watched their opportunity and Dalton shot one and wounded him mortally, but the wounded Indian returned the fire and wounded Dalton in the knee, and he carried the ball to his grave. The Indian killed was reported to have been a son of Queen Esther, and this has been given as the reason for her fiendish cruelty to the American prisoners taken at the battle. He married a girl brought up by Adonijah Stansbery, and set- tled in Merryall, on the Wyalusing, back of where the church stands. The old gentleman was a man of great strength and a skillful boxer, but in the wrestling matches, so eommon in former days, he seldom took part unless he thought some boasting fellow was trying to impose upon a weaker man, when a few well-dealt blows would put an end to the imposition. He and his wife died in Merryall. They had four children,-two sons and two daughters. One of the sons, Jolin, was the one who killed Hurlbut.
The other, Josiah, went to Alleghany Co., N. Y. The daughters married, and went to Susquehanna county.
Zachariah Price lived about midway between where Clinton and Elisha Lewis now live, in Merryall. He built a log house and lived in it previous to 1793. He ex- changed properties with Guy Wells,-the deeds are dated December, 1793,-and lived on the old Wells place for a year or two. He sold it to Mr. Hollenbaek, Feb. 17, 1796, and then moved to Wysox, and about 1818 moved into Susquehanna county. He had two sons, Elizur and Demmon, and four daughters, one of whom married Chester Wells.
Asa Flint came from Exeter and settled in Merryall in 1790. He was brother-in-law to Jeremiah Lewis, both having married sisters of Thomas Gardner, who settled in the same neighborhood, as did his brother Francis. Flint lived near where there are some old apple-trees standing, just below Mr. Cleaveland's, the Gardners a little above. Flint sold to Elijah Camp, and moved into central New York, in 1807 or 1808. Francis Gardner moved first into Pike, and then followed his brother Thomas into New York State.
FAIRBANKS SETTLEMENT.
Benjamin Crawford lived on the farm now owned by Jabez Chamberlain. He came from Darby to Wyoming, in 1785, moved to Wyalusing in 1789, and lived in a log house near the railroad cut. They had raised a good crop of corn and potatoes on the island opposite. They had harvested their eorn and stored it in the house, and dug all but about five bushels of their potatoes, and had gone over after them, when they discovered their house to be on fire, which was burned with all it contained. In 1793 he moved on the Jabez Chamberlain place, and built a log house. In the next spring, while chopping, the limb of a tree fell on him and broke his leg, and his family were compelled to go a mile to obtain help to carry him into the house. Mr. Crawford died here July 27, 1804, and was buried in the old burying-ground at Terrytown. His son thus describes the funeral service : " On the day of the funeral they took the corpse over the river, in a canoe, to the flat below Maj. Dodge's house, where a couple of large maple-trees were standing near together. Here they arranged for the funeral serviee. Uriah Terry read a sermon and Parshall Terry made a prayer, and then they buried him. Salt was our greatest necessity. It was brought from New York State, and sold for $10 per barrel. I remember that once my mother bought a barrel of salt for twenty yards of cloth. I never felt so independent in my life as I did when they rolled that barrel of salt on shore." The older Crawfords were eager to go west; they therefore sold the farm after their father's death, and started for the Genesee.
The next farm above Mr. Crawford was owned by Nathan Winton, who, June 6, 1793, sold to Humphrey Brown. It is described as land lying between Justus Gaylord and Ben- jamin Crawford. There was a log house and a small im- provement in 1798. Mr. Brown thought the place was favorable for a settlement, and surveyed several acres into town lots, with streets and alleys. It looked well on paper, but the scheme had to be given up. Next above were the Gaylord lands, on which were his children and their families, viz. : Mrs. Wigton, Mrs. Shoemaker, Timothy and Chauncy
448
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Gaylord, the latter unmarried. Charles Homet bought out most of these, and they scattered to various places.
Dr. Jabez Chamberlain came from Dutchess Co., N. Y., to Wyoming valley. He had married Jane Wilson, whose only son, William, for many years lived on the Crawford farmn, and recently died. The wife of Dr. Chamberlain died soon after, and he went over into the Wyoming val- ley. While there he became acquainted with the Gilbert family, followed them up the river, and married Irene Gil- bert June 9, 1795. Oliver D. and Hon. John F. Cham- berlain are among the children by this marriage. Soon after his marriage he went up into the State of New York, and remained there a few years, and returned to French- town, where he died Sept. 30, 1848, at the age of eighty- one years .*
Among the later comers in this neighborhood were the Merritts, the Biles, and Strunks. Of the former were the three brothers, Gilbert, Daniel, and Hezekiah; and the latter two families were connected by marriage. The mother of Alexander P. Biles was a sister of Alexander Patterson, of Wyoming notoriety. They were from Northampton county, and came to Wyalusing in 1825.
In the Vaughan hill neighborhood Simeon Marsh made the first improvement. He began on what was known as the Indian spring, which is at the head of the run that comes down by the railroad tank, near where Mr. Fitzgerald lives. He made a small clearing on the old Vaughan place, and Stephen Charlott, from Trenton, N. J., bought him ont, and about 1814 or 1815 exchanged property with Elias Vaughan and went to Rummerfield, and after six or seven years went to the State of Ohio with his family. The account of the Vaughan family will be found in the biography of Elias Vaughan.
Among other and well-known settlers were John Taylor, who has a special biography in this work, and Mr. Buck, who was a neighbor to him.
In 1801, John Hollenback came to Wyalusing, and bring- ing with him 2400 pounds of goods, engaged in the mer- cantile business. Previous to this Mr. Gaylord had kept a . few goods for the use of the settlers, and afterwards Peter Stevens, who occupied a house nearly opposite the Presby- terian church, had a small store, but neither of them had near the quantity brought up by Mr. Hollenback. His goods were brought in wagons to Middletown, where they were loaded on boats and taken up the river.+ Mr. Hollen- back had been engaged since 1796 in traffic for his uncle, Matthias Hollenback, who at that time was carrying on an extensive business along the river. In the spring of 1797 the former assisted in opening a shad-fishery on the river, a little below Wyalusing village, the first opened in this part of the country. In 1801, he rafted the first platform of boards at Town's mill that ever went out of the Wyalusing creek. After his settlement here, he was for many years
prominent in the business of the place, which, so far as he was concerned, was conducted with great energy. In the year of Mr. Hollenback's removal here (1801), there was a grand Fourth of July celebration at Wyalusing. Several things contributed to give it interest. First, there was the conflict about land-titles. And then it was the year of.Mr. Jefferson's accession to the presidency. From the adop- tion of the Federal constitution there had been two great political parties in the country, and in 1800 the party which elected Mr. Jefferson had, for the first time, been successful.
The following anniversary of American Independence was seized upon by that party, which was largely in the ascendant here, for a general jubilation. Gen. Washington had died a short time before, and it seemed to be a great consolation to the Democrats to have Mr. Jefferson for his successor in the presidency. All of these things combined to give this first general celebration of American Indepen- dence at Wyalusing great interest. People assembled from all parts of the country. Such a gathering had never been witnessed here before. Mr. Hollenback presided at the meeting. Jonas Ingham delivered a spirited address on the subject of " Disputed land-titles," in which he defended the claims of the Connecticut settlers, and with great severity characterized the adverse legislation of Pennsylvania as op- posed to the liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. Uriah Terry prepared an ode on the " Death of Washington," which was sung by Polly Sill. The whole celebration ended with a barbecue. A huge bear, killed that morning, and roasted whole, afforded the entertainment.
Mr. Hollenback was prominent in many of the enter- prises of the neighborhood. He died in Wyalusing, in 1867, at the age of ninety-one years.
In 1821, under the direction of John Hollenback, the grist-mill at the mouth of the creek was built, which, from its superior construction and favorable location, was of great advantage to the surrounding country.
Among other of the prominent settlers in the township, who can hardly be classed among its pioneer settlers, the best known was Charles F. Welles, Esq., who at the organization of the county, received from the governor authority to ad- minister the oaths of office to the newly-chosen officers, and himself was appointed prothonatory, clerk of the courts, register, and recorder, and the first records of the county are in his own neat and peculiar penmanship.
Mr. Welles was a son of George Welles, of Athens, and was born in Glastenbury, Conn., Nov. 5, 1789, and the family were among thie early settlers of Athens. In 1816, he married Miss Ellen J., daughter of Judge Hollenback, and removed to Wyalusing in 1822, where he died Sept. 23, 1866. Mr. Welles was a man of varied and exten- sive reading, and probably knew more of the history of the county, of its resources and men, than any other man of his day. He wielded a busy pen, and contributed for the press some of the best poetic articles which were pub- lished .* Though never a politician, in the sense of aspir-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.