USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 114
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# Joseph Chamberlain came from Tolland, Conn., in 1755, and settled on the farm owned by the Nye family. He died in 1765. His sons were Calbe, James, John, and William. John was a physi- cian of acknowledged skill, and lived a while in Poughkeepsie. Dr. Jabez was a son of John, and studied with Dr. Fowler, of Pough- keepsie.
+ Mr. Jordan, of Philadelphia, says that he well remembers seeing wagons loaded with goods at his father's store for Wyalusing.
# A gentleman engaged for many years as an editor of a literary paper, who only knew Mr. Welles through his published articles, once observed, " That Charles F. Welles had written some of the finest pieces of fugitive poetry that had ever been produced in this country, in his day."
A. B. POATER.
O
NOT
LUSING
BASCOM TAYLOR.
RESIDENCE OF MRS. BASCO
-
A.B. PORTER PHOTO WYAI
MRS. BASCOM TAYLOR.
I TAYLOR. WYALUSING, PA.
449
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
ing for office, he took a deep interest in political questions. In early life he espoused the principles advocated by Jeffer- son ; later, he became an admirer of Henry Clay and a defender of his policy. During his ten years' residence in Towanda he exerted a well-nigh controlling influence in the politics of the county. His articles on political ques- tions, written at this time, were marked by a breadth of view and urged by a cogency of reasoning that carried conviction to the mind of the reader, while the corrupt politician received scathing rebukes from his trenchant pen.
Judge Holleuback, with characteristie forcthought, had invested largely in lands in the county, and on the removal of Mr. Welles to Wyalusing he found abundant employ- ment in superintending their management, in addition to the business growing out of his own affairs. As a man of business he was punctual, ready, accurate, of unquestioned integrity, possessing a generous heart, and a kindly feeling for the distressed. The tenants upon his farm, or the peo- ple in his employ, ever found him liberal in his demands, and unexacting in his requirements. Though engaged in extended and frequently harassing business, his interest in public matters continued unabated ; and it is believed that, until within the last year of his life, he never missed attendance upon a single term of court held at Towanda.
On the breaking out of the late rebellion his whole heart was enlisted on the side of the government, which he aided in every way in his power, and the hearty Godspeed with which he bade the company raised in his vicinity go fight the battles of their country will ever be remembered by those who witnessed it.
In the latter years of his life he spent much time in reading on subjects of natural history, especially geology, in which he kept fairly abreast, and was thoroughly con- versant with the theories of the leading writers in this favorite department of his study.
He was deeply interested in the public enterprises of the place. On the completion of the North Branch canal, a basin was excavated and a commodious warehouse and coal- bins were constructed, which, through the facilities. for business thus afforded, have been the means of doing more than any other one thing to develop the resources of the surrounding country, and make Wyalusing the centre of a large and rapidly-increasing trade.
His name is yet familiarly mentioned all over the county. Mrs. Welles died March, 1876, at an advanced age. The old mansion, which Mr. Welles used, playfully, to call the "old castle," is now occupied by his son, George H. Welles.
INCIDENTS.
" Aug. 6, 1802 .- At Wyalusing, Mr. Nehemiah Main, accompanied by Mr. Miles Bunnel, went into the wheat- field of the latter, where he espied a huge bear. With his trusty rifle he drew upon the monster and shot him through the thigh, and then advanced to close combat. As soon as within reach the bear raised himself up, and grasping our hero in his paws, threw him upon the ground, bit him through the thigh in three places, and wounded him severely in the arm. After a considerable struggle, with the assist- ance of Mr. Bunnel, he extricated himself from his adver- sary, when they returned to the attack with more success,
and succeeded in dispatching the bear. Mr. Main, with the assistance of Mr. Bunnel, returned home. He was confined ten days with his wounds."- Willces- Barre Ga- zette.
" July 9, 1804 .- Mr. Nathaniel Parks, of this place (Wyalusing), was passing through his field after a severe thunder-gust, and as he was approaching a large pine-tree the lightning struck it, which shivered it from the top to the bottom ; the whole came to the ground. The end of a large limb, near sixty fect in height, struck Mr. Parks on the head, which, in an instant, put a period to his existence. A man and a boy plowing at a distance of about ten rods from the spot were stunned by the explosion."*
In 1854 the Methodists erected their brick house of worship at Wyalusing, and in the same year the Presby- terians built an edifice on the site of the old school-house, where the first church was organized; a view of it is here- with given.
WYALUSING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
In 1818, Elizur Price, son of Zachariah Price, one of the first members of the old church, organized a Sabbath-school in Wyalusing. It had been customary for the minister to gather the members of the congregation on the Sabbath, between the services, for the study of the Scriptures and for the discussion of difficult questions in theology ; but the enterprise of Mr. Price was the first attempt to organize a Sabbath-school on a plan analogous to the present method which has become so prevalent in all religious societies. The school then commenced has continued, with but few interruptions, until the present time, when there are at least five such schools in the township.
In 1837, Dr. D. C. Scovill settled in Wyalusing, and was
# Wilkes-Barre paper.
57
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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
the first permanently located physician. As early as 1795, Dr. Jabez Chamberlin settled at Fairbanks, where he re- mained for a short time, then went to New York for a while, and afterwards returned to Wyalusing, where he died. Sev- eral physicians were here for a short time, among whom may be mentioned Dr. Sharts, Daniel Scofield, and Dr. Tewksbury. Dr. Hayden, who rode through all this section of the country, had his share of patients in Wyalusing. After him for several years the people were dependent mainly on Dr. Crandall and Dr. Horton, the former having lived in Wyalusing several years and then removed to Stevensville, and the latter having settled at Terrytown.
The construction of the canal through the county for the time created high hopes of the advantages which the people of the county would derive from it, and during its con- struction the large force employed in excavating it stimulated business and production all along the line, but the failure of the canal to answer the purpose for which it was intended soon caused the people to abandon their cherished hopes, and quietly acquiesce in the law permitting its appropriation by the railroad company. A few families in the township were drawn here by their interest in the public works, as the McCrossins and Dunovans. The Dunovan Brothers, in the lower end of the town, are young, enterprising, thriving young men.
At the close of 1795, there were about forty-five or fifty families within the present limits of the township. These were scattered along the river from Browntown to Fairbanks, a distance of about six miles, and about the same distance up the creek. To these were assessed about eight thousand acres of land, of which, excepting the misson lands, but little if any more than one-fifth were cultivated.
The population in 1850 was 1275; in 1860, 1477; in 1870, 1577 native and 130 foreign born, a total of 1707. There are twelve school districts and one half-district. Wya- lusing is the principal village, at the mouth of the creek. It contains two churches,-one Presbyterian and one Metho- dist,-six stores of various kinds, a hotel, academy, plan- ing-mill, cabinet manufactory, and some very pleasant resi- dences. The Presbyterian church at Merryall is about one mile below Camptown, on the creek, while at Camptown there is one church (Baptist), three stores, hotel, cabinet- shop, and twenty dwellings. There is also an Old-School Baptist church at Vaughan hill.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
HENRY GAYLORD.
Justus Gaylord, Jr., or, as he was commonly called, " Major Gaylord," the grandfather of the subject of this brief notice, was one of the earliest settlers and most promi- nent citizens of Wyalusing. In company with his brother, Ambrose, in 1776, he moved his family to this county, and settled on his father's farm, at Miciscum, the Indian meadows, now Fairbanks. There he remained until the troubles of the Revolutionary war began to reach the frontier settlements, when he returned to Wyoming, en-
listed in Captain Ransom's company, and served with distinction during the war.
After the return of peace, in 1785, he again removed to Wyalusing, living for seven years near the line dividing the farms of G. H. Welles and J. B. Stalford. In 1792 he purchased 900 acres of land on the north side of Wyalu- sing creek, to which he removed, and where he remained until his death. Here he was among the foremost in every public enterprise, extensively engaged in business, and often called to fill responsible places of trust.
Henry Gaylord went to live with his grandfather when but a child, and at first a helper, soon came to have largely the management of the business. In 1828, Henry married Martha, daughter of Major John Taylor. Mrs. Taylor was the only daughter of Capt. Aholiab Buck, and was about four months old when her father was slain in the ill-starred battle of Wyoming, and granddaughter of Amos York, who was captured near his old home in Wyalusing by a band of Tories and Indians, Feb. 14, 1778.
In politics Henry Gaylord was an old-line Whig, until the formation of the Republican party, whose principles he heartily indorsed and supported. In 1840 he was elected justice of the peace when the township was largely Demo- cratic. He was a wise counselor, yet quiet and unobtrusive in his manners. Like his grandfather, he identified himself with every enterprise which tended to advance the welfare of the community in which he lived. At the time the first temperance society was organized in Wyalusing, in 1829, Major Gaylord had a distillery, and young Henry was running it ; but he counted the cost,-the manufacture of whisky at the Gaylords' stopped, and the distillery went to ruin. He was a stockholder in the academy, and for many years president of the board of trustees for the Edu- cational Union at Wyalusing. In 1831 he made a pro- fession of religion, and united with the Presbyterian church, then worshiping at Merryall. Upon the organization of the second church, in the village of Wyalusing, in 1854, he became one of its members, and was ruling elder until his death.
In June, 1872, he was stricken with paralysis, and though maintaining his mental faculties to the last, the loss of physical strength compelled him to keep closely to his room most of the time. He departed this life, at Wyalu- sing, Jan. 1, 1875, aged sixty-eight years, eight months, and sixteen days.
BASCOM TAYLOR.
The central and western parts of Pennsylvania were settled largely by a Scotch-Irish emigration, a race noted for their love of freedom, their energy, intelligence, integrity, and pa- triotism. Of this race, and possessing its distinguishing char- acteristics, was John Taylor, or, as he had been a militia ma- jor, he was familiarly known as Major Taylor, who came from Dauphin county to Wyalusing in 1792, bought a farm of Major Gaylord, and began making preparations for a settle- ment. This farm included a clearing and the mill-seat of Amos Bennett's mill. May 16, 1794, he married Deborah Buck. She was a granddaughter of Amos York, and daughter of Capt. Aholiab Buck, who was slain in the
E. R.NVaughan Jesse Ho Vanghan
PHOTOS. BY G. H. WOOD
RESIDENCE OF E. R. VAUGHAN, WYALUSING, PA.
451
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
battle and massacre of Wyoming, on that fatal July 3. At this time Mrs. Taylor was a nursing infant in the arms of her mother. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor early became mem- bers of the Presbyterian church in Wyalusing, Mr. Taylor being church clerk for more than thirty years, and a ruling elder until the day of his death, and a stauch supporter of religion, morality, and education, as well as a man of thrift and energy. To Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were born seventeen children, several of whom died in infancy or early youth. Bascom, born Aug. 3, 1814, was the youngest, who survived, and became the successor of his father to the paternal estate, and to his father's place in the church.
In 1843, Bascom Taylor married Lydia Fries, of Troy, Pa., and daughter of James and Margaret (Cool). Mrs. Taylor was born in 1818, in Knowlton, Sussex Co., N. J. In his former home, Mr. Fries had been ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, and on his removal to Bradford County, in 1835, he was chosen to the same office in the church of Wells and Columbia, with which he had con- nected himself. He died in 1854.
To Bascom and Lydia Taylor have been born five sons : Samuel F., who is engaged in business in the west ; Jus- tus V., who is manager of the homestead; John B., now in the Theological Seminary in New York city; Francis and Alton, who are remaining at home.
Mr. Taylor was a man of great energy and a most thorough business man, who commanded the respect and esteem of the community in which he lived. At the time of his death, which occurred in Pittston, whither he had gone on business in 1874, he was a ruling elder in the Second Presbyterian church in Wyalusing. A view of his beautiful home is given on another page of this work.
ELIAS VAUGHAN.
The tradition in the family as to the cause of their an- cestor's emigration to America has so romantic a coloring that we can hardly forbear to allude to it. The story runs that John Vaughan was a gardener to an English nobleman, with whose daughter he fell in love. The affection being returned, they were secretly married, when, to escape the anger of the young lady's aristocratic parents, on account of the daughter marrying out of the alleged social level of the family, the young couple fled to America. This John Vaughan, who settled in Litchfield Co., Conn., had three sons-John, Richard, and Edward-and one daughter. John, the younger, settled near Providence; Edward, who was a professional man, settled in the State of New York. Coming to Athens, in this county, on business, he was taken suddenly sick, and died there. Richard was in the war of the Revolution,-a quartermaster in the army, and served in that capacity for six years, when, on account of sickness in his family, just at the close of the war, he obtained a furlough, came home, and before he could re- turn to the field the war was over. He bought a Connec- ticut title to a farm on the Susquehanna, to which he moved with his family, being the first or among the first settlers on what is now called Lacey street, above the village of Laceyville, in Wyoming Co., Pa. Living on the river was one Jonathan Woodcock, who was suspected of being a
Pennamite and of holding opinions a little too favorable towards the British government, and Richard Vaughan with some others was bound to drive him from the country. At the first terin of the court of quarter sessions for Luzerne county is a bill of indictment against John Franklin, Elisha Satterlee, Elisha Mathewson, Gideon Church, and Richard Vaughan, for assault and battery, in which it is charged that, July 10, 1787, they " did with force and arms take about five tons of hay, three or four acres of wheat, off the premises occupied by Jonathan Woodcock, and then tried to tear down his house, and did abuse him, so that lie was afraid of his life, and that he suffered the loss of £25 of the goods and chattels of the said Jonathan Woodcock ;" but nothing further was done about it. Mr. Vaughan was commissioned by Governor Mifflin, May 1, 1789, lieutenant of the 5th company of the 2d battalion of militia of Luzerne county. He died Aug. 26, 1691, at the age of thirty-six years and ten days. Owing to some informality in the title, soon after her husband's death, Mrs. Vaughan was threatened with a writ of ejectment. Her sons, rather than contest the title, went up to the mouth of Rummerfreld creek, where they bought a piece of land, probably under the Connecticut title, and began an improvement. To this place they moved their mother, and here she died. Her oldest son, John, also died here of spotted fever. Of the rest of the family, William went to Sackett's Harbor, and was a captain in the war of 1812. Robert and Richard went first to New York, and then to Canada; Phoebe married a man by the name of Wilson, and lived near Watertown, N. Y .; Anna married Daniel Coolbaugh, of Wysox ; Justus moved near Seneca lake; Polly married Walter Seaman, and moved into the State of New York ; Elias remained in the county. He married Sarah Abbott, whose father was a sea-captain, lived in Baltimore, Md., owned a schooner, and was lost at sea. The family still live in Baltimore.
Elias Vaughan remained at Rummerfield until June, 1814, when he exchanged places with Stephen Charlott and moved on the farm now owned by his son, E. R. Vaughan. June 8, 1812, he was appointed postmaster for Asylum, Luzerne county, by Gideon Granger, postmaster- general of the United States. Aug. 3, 1807, he was com- missioned lieutenant of the 5th company of the 144th Regt. of militia, which was attached to the 2d Brigade of the 9th Division. He was afterwards promoted to the captaincy of the same company, and was ever afterwards known in his neighborhood as Captain Vaughan. On the purchase of his farm he gave his attention mainly to its cultivation and improvement, became one of the leading farmers of the township, and was in possession of a large and valuable farm.
He had children: Eleanor ( was married to Samuel Lake, and after his death to Joshua Corbin, and lives on Spring hill), John, Elias, Harriet (died young), James, Edward, Evander R., Alonzo (died young), George (died, unmar- ried, at the age of twenty-four), Rhoda Jane (died at the age of fourteen), Mary (is married to John G. Kaler, and lives in Wyalusing), and Orilla (is married to Rev. George B. Day, and lives in Paterson, N. J.). The sons are all settled on adjoining farms, where they have families grown up about them. It is seldom in this country of frequent
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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
removals that so large a family of children and grandchil- dren are found settled on contiguous farms.
Evander R. is on the old homestead. He married Au- gusta, daughter of Abner Hinman, who is great-grand- daughter of Amos York, who, it will be remembered, was an early settler in Wyalusing, and the family were great sufferers from Indian depredations. They have one son, who is the only child in the household.
CHAS. HOMET, JR.
Mr. Homet was the oldest of four children of Charles and Mariah Theresa Homet. Charles, the father, was among the French refugees who came to this country during the revolution of 1793. In Paris he had been a steward in the household of Louis XVI., and fled from that city with others about the time the king made that unfortunate attempt to escape from France. They came in a French war-ship, and were chased three days in their voyage by an English vessel, but made their eseape. Mrs. Homet, whose family name was Scheilinger, was born in Strasburg, and was one of the waiting-maids of the un- fortunate Marie Antoinette. Both took passage for America on the same vessel, and, becoming acquainted while on the voyage, were married soon after their arrival in this country, and for a year or more lived at a place called Bottle Hill, in New Jersey, now ealled Madison. Here Charles, the subject of this sketch, was born, May 7, 1794. Mr. Homet, Sr., then removed to Asylum, and soon after to the settlement in the western part of Terry township, where, it will be remembered, arrangements had been made for the reception of the king and queen of France. After a year or two Mr. Homet, Sr., again returned to Asylum, where he bought several lots of the Asylum company. When the French people left Asylum, he and Mr. La Porte purchased the greater part of the lands there. Mrs. Homet died at Asylum, in 1823, at the age of sixty-three years. Mr. Homet, Sr., married a second time, in 1827. By this marriage he had one daughter, who is the wife of E. T. Fox, of Towanda. He turned his attention to farm- ing. He pursued that business very successfully, aeeumu- lated a valuable property, and cleared up quite a large farm. He was a member of the Methodist church in his later years. After marrying his second wife he removed to Wysox, where he died in December, 1838, at the allotted age of threescore years and ten.
By the first marriage there were born to him four chil- dren. Besides Charles, these were Francis, Harriet, and Joseph. Francis was born at Asylum, married Lucy Dodge, and settled upon a part of the old home farm, where he still resides. He has no children, is a farmer by occupation, and an active member of the Methodist church. Harriet married Simon Stevens, of Standing Stone, and was the mother of five children,-Charles, George, Ellen, Harriet, and Mary. Joseph married Oris Brown, and lived at and owned the Homet's mills. About A.D. 1840 he sold out and moved to Monroeton, the former home of his wife. He was also a farmer and a member of the Baptist church ; was the father of three children, who lived to attain ma-
turity,-Jewett G., Marion, and Lydia,-and now lives at Williamsport, Pa.
Charles married Lucy Stevens, by whom he had nine children,-Francis, Theresa, Jonathan, Edward, Milton, Charles S., Volney, Seth, and Joseph A. Francis married Mary Gilbert, who died, and after her death he married Ada Chamberlain, by whom he had three children,-Mary, Geo. S., and Rachel,-and was accidentally killed by the fall of a derrick at the erection of an abutment of the Lehigh Valley railroad bridge across the Wyalusing creek in the year 1867. Theresa married U. P. Stone, by whom she has four children,-Chas. R. T., Benton, Ulysses, and Luey. Jonathan married Harriet Donley, and has two daughters,-Lucy and Ada. Edward married Maria Minnis, M.D., and has one daughter,-Lucy J. Milton married Mary Ann Irvine, and has two children,-Irvine and Theresa. Charles S. married Julia Horton, and has three children,-William, Eliza, and Francis. Dr. Volney married Emma Ingham, and has one daughter,-Jesse. Seth married Elizabeth Eilenberger, and has three children, -Ella, Charlie, and Cora. Joseph A. married Adelia Gordon, and has five children,-Augusta, Fanny, Edward, Minor, Eleazer.
Mr. Homet was a resident of Wyalusing, living on the farm now occupied by his son Seth. He was a man of great energy and good practical sense. In whatever he undertook he was bound to succeed, if hard work and careful management could win. His farm was eleared and well cultivated. Nothing was done by halves. His belief was what was worth doing at all was worth doing well. He was ambitious to acquire property, but never coveted that which belonged to another,-never took advantage of the unfortunate. Those in want often came to him for aid. With a firm trust in God and charity for all men, and believing that the true road to success was through minding one's own business and following it, he had but few lawsuits, was counted a successful business man, a good neighbor, and respected citizen. He lived to see his children all grown up and provided each with a farm of his own purchase, within a short distance from his own home; and when he lay down to take his last rest, they were there to minister to his wants; and when the lamp went out they laid him away in a sunny nook, in the year 1865, at the age of seventy, on the farm, by the side of his companion, who had preceded him some thirteen years.
HON. L. P. STALFORD.
Levi P. Stalford, son of Benjamin and Urania Stalford, was born April 11, 1811, in Wyalusing township, Bradford County, near the old Moravian mission village. It will be remembered that Governor Penn granted to Job Chillaway, an Indian interpreter, and who was connected with the mis- sion, a patent for 625 acres of land, extending from Wya- lusing ereek south ward, and covering the site of the Indian town and the principal clearings connected with it. By indenture bearing date May 4, 1775, Henry Pawling, a wealthy gentleman of Montgomery county, purchased the tract of Chillaway, and by his will, in 1792, bequeathed to
*
PHOTO BY A B PORTER WYALUSING
C. Honwet
THE OLD HOME OF C.HOMET, PRESENT RES. OF SETH HOM ET, WYALUSING, PA.
453
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
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