History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 26

Author: Craft, David, 1832-1908; L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 812

USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 26

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Mr. Weld, an Englishman, passed through Bradford County in October, 1796, and speaks of Asylum as a " town laid out at the expense of several philanthropic persons of Pennsylvania, who entered into a subscription for the pur- pose as a place of retreat for the unfortunate French emi- grants who fled to America. The town consists of about fifty log houses, and, for the use of the inhabitants, a con- siderable land has been purchased adjoining it, which has been divided into farms. The French settled here, how- ever, seem to have no great ability or inclination to culti- vate the earth, and the greater part of them have let their lands at a small yearly rental to the Americans, and amuse themselves with driving deer, fowling, and fishing. They live entirely to themselves; they hate the Americans, and the Americans in the neighborhood hate and accuse them of being an idle and dissolute set. The manners of the two people are so very different that it is impossible they should ever agree."

The duke also speaks of the dislike many of the French colonists had for the Americans, which was so strong that a number of them declared they would never learn to speak English.

Mr. Talon planned his improvements on a large scale. His first care was to open and make passable the roads leading to Asylum, and to construct a road to the Loyal Sock. This was opened as far as the present Laddsburg, and is still known as the old French road. It is said that Mr. Talon expended in a single year more than three thou- sand dollars on this one item of improvements. Farms were also laid out, and quite a settlement was begun on the farm in Terry township formerly owned by Hiram Stone. The refugees, being all royalists, felt the deepest interest in their unfortunate king and his family, who, when they left France, were being rapidly degraded by the constituent as- sembly, and whose lives were in constant jeopardy from the mobs that controlled Paris. It was thought at one time that the royal family could be safely brought to America, and arrangements were actually made to this effect. Two spa- cious houses were erected on the Loyal Sock road near the settlement in Terry, a large bakery was constructed, and other buildings were in contemplation, when the news reached Asylum of the death of the king, which put an end to all further preparations,

Io the valley of the south branch of the Towanda creek, from New Albany to Laddsburg, numerous choppings were commenced, but no further improvements were undertaken, except that at the latter place the frame of a saw-mill was put up, some of the irons necessary for the gearing were brought over, and one or two sugar-camps were crected. One solitary adventurer had gone four miles beyond, to the site of the present village of Dushore, and there commenced a clearing. At Asylum a brewery was built on the small stream which crosses the road a little above Richard Gilbert's. Arrangements were subsequently made for its enlargement, but the disruption of the colony prevented the plans being carried out.

As an illustration of the improvements made, style of their houses and gardens, the following description, recited in an agreement between Sophia de Seybert and Guy de Noailles, made Dec. 23, 1797, may be of interest : "On Number 416, stands a log house thirty by eighteen feet, covered with nailed shingles. The house is divided into two lower rooms and two in the upper story; the lower ones are papered. On both sides of the house stand two small buildings of the same kind ; one is used for a kitchen, the other being papered is commonly called the dining- room ; both these buildings have good fire-places and a half- story. Three rooms in the biggest house have fire-places ; the two side-buildings and the other are joined together by a piazza. There is a good cellar under the dining-room. The yard is inclosed by a nailed pale-fence, and there is a good double gate. The garden has a like fence, and a con- stant stream of water runs through it. Over the spring a spring-house has been erected; it is divided into two rooms, one of which is floored. The garden is decorated by a con- siderable number of fruit-trees, young Lombardy poplars, and weeping willows, and by a lattice summer-house. Next to the garden is a nursery of about nine hundred apple- trees. The lower part of the lot forms a piece of meadow of about eight acres, inclosed by a post- and rail-fence. On the same lot stands a horse grist-mill. The building is forty feet long by thirty-four feet wide. Part of the lower story is contrived into a stable for the mill horses and a cow-stable. Part of the upper story is used to keep fodder. The mill is double-geared and in complete order, being fur- nished with a good pair of stones, good bolting-cloth, and in one corner stands a good fire-place. Above the mill runs a never-failing spring, which waters a great part of the meadow."

The house of Mr. Talon was of the same style, but con- siderably larger, and stood near the site of the old La Porte dwelling. Some of the emigrants succeeded in bringing away from France a part of their furniture, which added somewhat to the elegance of their mode of living. I shall never forget the enthusiasm with which Mrs. John Huff (a daughter of one of these immigrants, who was born in Paris, and has told me that she can remember seeing men's heads carried on pike-poles through the streets of that city) said to me, in pointing to a bureau with a marble top, " That came from France."

Two stores were opened at Asylum, which were far better supplied with goods than any which had been established by our own people, and although they were designed for

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the especial benefit of the colony, were in a short time fre- quented by people from a distance. The duke mentions with evident zest the pleasure with which M. Blacons lis- tened to the complaints made at Tioga Point, that their trade had been sadly damaged by the stores at Asylum.

Although lying on that side of the river where there was usually the least travel, yet Asylum soon came to be thronged with visitors, who were drawn to it either from motives of curiosity or business, or on account of the su- perior entertainment it afforded. To accommodate the strangers who came among them, as well as some of their own countrymen who were without homes, in August, 1794, M. Le Fevre was licensed to keep an inn at Asylum. At its January session, 1795, the court of Luzerne granted a like license to M. Heraud, and in April, 1797, to Peter Regnier and John Becdelliere.

Among the noted visitors at Asylum, beside the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, in 1795, was Talleyrand, who had occupied a prominent position in the constituent assembly, escaped to the United States in 1792, and was at Asylum in the autumn of 1795, where he remained for some time.

In 1796, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, and afterwards king of France, visited the colony and remained for a week or two, the guest of his former acquaintances in Paris. In company with him were the Duke Montpensier and Count Beaujolais.

Among the more important families who lived at Asylum the following may be noticed :

Lucretius de Blacons, a marquis, was deputy for Dau- phine in the constituent assembly. After leaving France he married Mademoiselle de Maulde, late canoness of the Chapter of Bonbourg. He kept a store, having as partner Mancy Colin, formerly Abbé de Sévigny and Archdeacon of Tours. M. Blacons returned to France, and became a meniher of the national assembly. M. Colin went to St. Domingo; became chaplain in the army of Toussaint L'Ouverture. On the surrender to Bonaparte he fled to Charleston, S. C., where he died shortly after. James de Montulé, a French baron, was captain of a troop of horse in the king's service. In Asylum he lived in the upper part of the settlement, and was superintendent of the clear- ings. His cousin, Madame de Sybert, whose husband was a rich planter of St. Domingo, where he died, lived near him. John Becdelliere had a store near where Miller's house is. He had for partners two brothers, Augustine and Francis de la Roue, one of whom was a petit gend'arme and the other a captain of infantry. They returned to France with Talleyrand, to whom one of them became private secretary. M. Becdelliere returned to France in 1803. M. Beaulieu was a captain in the French service ; served in the legion of Potosky in the Revolutionary war. He remained in this country, and married his wife here. Doctor Lawrence Buzard was a rich planter in St. Domingo, and, with his wife, son, and daughter, settled at Asylum. He was emi- nent as a physician. He removed to the island of Cuba, where he died. Mr. John Brevost, a native of Paris, was, with M. Dulong, interested in the settlement at the But- ternuts. At Asylum he was a farmer. In January, 1801, he advertises in the Wilkes-Barre Gazette " that he intends to open at Asylum a school for teaching the French lan-

guage. The price of tuition and boarding a child between the ages of ten and sixteen years will be sixty bushels of wheat per year, to be delivered at Newtown, Tioga, Asylum, or Wilkes-Barre, at the places pointed out by the subscriber, one-half every six months." The school at Asylum proving a failure, he went to New Orleans, where he, his wife, and daughter established a flourishing ladies' seminary. Peter Regnier, who has been mentioned as an inn-keeper in 1797, in a letter to Judge Gore, dated at Wilmington, Del., Nov. 20, 1803, writes that Henry Welles, of Tioga, had made application to Mr. Brevost to purchase the horse-mill M. Regnier had at Asylum, and says that it can be had of Mr. George Aubrey, of Asylum; and adds, " After a long journey of two years in Europe, I am returned to this country, with the intention never to quit it again, being of opinion that there is not a better one in the world. I have no doubt but you will hear with much concern that I have been very unfortunate during my absence. With a great deal of trouble, I had realized some properties I had in France, and remitted the proceeds to my house in Philadelphia; in short, I expected to have an independent fortune. Far from it. Three months previous to my arrival here my partner had made his escape to the West Indies, leaving me and my family destitute of everything. However, I keep up my spirits and trust in Providence, now the only hope I can rely on." Mr. Aubrey was a blacksmith at Asylum ; went to Philadelphia for surgical aid to remove a tumor from his neck, and remained there. M. Fromente and M. Carles were priests, and conducted religious services in the colony. The old missal used there is still in existence, and was only recently in the possession of Rev. P. Toner, priest at Plymouth, Penn. Alexander d'Autremont married a daughter of Major Dodge, of Terrytown. He, his brother, and mother removed to Angelica,* New York. John Keat- ing, an Irishman, was a prominent man at St. Domingo, who, rather than violate his oath of loyalty to the king of France, retired to the United States without a shilling. He was a valued counselor of M. Talon. Afterwards removed to Philadelphia, where he became a prominent merchant.

But the most remarkable man in the whole settlement was Aristide Aubert Du-petit-Thouars, or, as he was usually called by the people here, " the Admiral," a post-captain in the French navy, born in 1760, and educated in the mili- tary school of Paris. Of a frank, generous disposition, and fond of adventure, he was very popular with his eom- panions at school and in arms. He was in the French naval service during a war with England, and after the peace was engaged in cruises to England and elsewhere. Later his interest became aroused in the fate of the missing navi- gator, La Perouse, and, at great personal sacrifice, he fitted out an expedition to find and rescue the uufortunate adven- turers. He set sail in September, 1792, and had only fairly begun his voyage when a fatal malady carried off one-third of his crew in a few days, upon which he determined to put into the nearest harbor,-the island of Ferdinand de Noronha. Here the Portuguese seized his vessel, arrested and sent him a prisoner to Lisbon, where he underwent a captivity of some duration. Immediately on his release he

* He gave to this place its name, which was in honor of his daughter.

John Franklin

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

came to America, where, being acquainted with M. de Noailles, he was induced to come to Asylum. His fine spirit, genial temper, and benevolent disposition made him beloved and respected by all who knew him. No one of the French people is so well remembered as he, and of none are so many anecdotes repeated as of the " Admiral." On his arrival at Asylum he was the guest of M. Talon ; but, disdaining to be the mere idle recipient of his favors, he obtained a grant of four hundred acres of land in the neigh- borhood of Dushore. Single-handed (he had lost an arm in an attack upon a pirate ship) and alone, he went four miles beyond any other clearing, and commenced an opening in the forest within the limits of the borough of Dushore, near what has since been known as the Frenchman's spring. Several years afterwards the late C. F. Welles, Esq., of Wyalusing, in company with Mr. John Mozier, the owner of the tract, discovered the clearing, and knowing the history of this remarkable man, at once suggested the name Dushóre (the common pronunciation of the admiral's name by the Ameri- cans) to the adjoining settlement, which was then just com- menced, a name which it has ever since retained. Among the numerous anecdotes related of Du-petit-Thouars the following are characteristic : Returning one day to Asylum, he met a man nearly naked, who told him he had been a captive among the Indians and had just escaped, whercupon the admiral gave him his only shirt, and, buttoning up his coat to conceal the loss of his nether garment, returned to M. Talon's. That evening, at tea, the room being" very warm, the admiral was observed to be in a profuse perspira- tion, when it was suggested he would be more comfortable if he unbuttoned his coat. With true French politeness, be thanked them for their attention, but observed that he was only comfortable,-too proud to expose his own poverty and too modest to tell of his own benevolence. His neccs- sities were soon known, and supplied in a way to save his feelings from mortification. When his clothing was so much worn as not to be respectable, the soiled articles were quietly exchanged for better ones and no remarks were made. When the Duke de la Rochefoucauld left Asylum, Messrs. Blacons and Du-petit-Thouars accompanied him to Niagara Falls, the former on horseback and the latter on foot, protesting all the time that he much preferred walking to riding, when the truth was he was too proud to appear to be dependent upon others. On the revocation of the decree of expatriation he returned to France, and was recommended by the most noted naval captains for a place in the French navy. It is said of him that when he prc- sented himself before the minister of marine to receive his commission, the minister said to him, " You have but one hand, you ought to go on the retired and not on the active list." Du-petit-Thouars, proudly rising and stretching forth the handless stump, replied, " True, sir, I have given one hand to France, but here is another for her service." Soon after, the expedition to Egypt was proposed, and Du-petit- Thouars was placed in command of "Le Tonnant," an old vessel of eighty guns. Having reached its destination, the fleet was on the point of returning, but was detained in the roadstead of Aboukir by the imprudent orders of the general-in-chief. Du-petit-Thouars declared they were lost if they awaited Nelson in this unfavorable position, and urged

they should set sail without delay ; but declared, " I do not know what counsels may prevail, but one thing is certain, as soon as I am on deck my colors shall be nailed to the mast." He fought with great bravery against the already victorious enemy, and was slain just at the close of the en- gagement, August 1, 1798 .*

When the French National Assembly came under the controlling influence of Robespierre, it issued a decree com- manding all emigrants to return immediately to France, and on their failure to do so declared that they were forever ex- patriated, and their cstates were confiscated. Wiser counsels prevailed about the time Napolcon began to assume the con- trol of public affairs, and all Frenclimen were invited to return to their native country, with the assurance of the restoration of their estates. From what has already been said it may be inferred the French people at Asylum were not happy in their new occupation, and when the post brought the news of the new decree, the whole settlement was given over to a jubilee, and the great majority at once began to make preparations to return to their own beautiful France. Others, as we have scen, went to other parts of the United States ; but three families remained, an account of whom will be given in the annals of the township, on a subsequent page of this volume.

Although the colony was of only short duration, yet in the example of better modes of living, the construction of pass- able roads, the introduction of more polite manners, better buildings, and, what was of much more value, the use of money, several thousand dollars of which were expended by them, they left an influence for good which was felt in all the subsequent history of the country.

CHAPTER VIII.

COLONEL JOHN FRANKLIN.

THE name of Col. John Franklin has been frequently mentioned in the chapters which relate to the Connecticut claim and the Revolutionary war ; but he was a man every way so remarkable, and occupied so important a position in Pennsylvania history, that a more extended notice seems to be demanded in a work devoted to the history of the county where he spent the greater part of his life, and where his ashes are entombed.

Of the early life and history of this remarkable man but little is known. His father, John Franklin, was of English descent, and was born in 1716. Settled and dicd in Canaan, Conn. He married Kczia Pierce. The result of this union was the following children, to wit:

# In his official account of the Battle of the Nile, given by Rear- Admiral Gantiaume to General Bruix, minister of marine and colo- nies, dated Alexandria, Aug. 23, 1798, he says, "The admirals, the chiefs of division, Casa-Bianea, Thevenard, and Du-petit-Thouars aro killed, and six other superior officers are dangerously wounded." Almost every school hoy has read the poetie description of the mili- tary obedience of the son of Casa-Bianca, who would not leave the burning ship without his father's command, beginning,-

" The boy stood on the burning deck."

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

1. Susanna, who married a Mr. Harrison, and died in 1804.

2. Abigail, who married a Mr. Collander, of Massachu- setts, and died August 6, 1823, aged seventy-six years.

3. John, the subject of this sketch, born in Canaan, Conn., Sept. 26, 1749, and died in Athens, March 1, 1831.

4. Samuel, born in Canaan, married, settled, and died in Huntington, Pa.

5. Amos, born in Canaan, settled in Huntington, and dicd there.

6. A daughter who was born in Canaan, married a Mr. Tubbs, and settled in Huntington.

7. Mary, married - Fellows.

8. Abia.

9. Silas, the youngest, born in Canaan, and remained on the old homestead.

John Franklin, the elder, was a man of considerable wealth and standing in his native town, a strict disciplinarian in his family, yet commanding the love and esteem of his children, a man of piety and virtue. The following anec- dote is almost the only incident preserved of Col. Franklin's boyhood days. It occurred when he was about seventeen years of age, and is thus related by Mr. Miner. Having accompanied the family to their place of worship, the meeting-house being only inclosed, but neither ceiled nor plastered, the beams and rafters were all exposed to view. John saw that his austere father sat through the sermon with great uneasiness, but could not divine the cause. On returning home, " John," said his father, " it is my duty to give yon a severe thrashing" (common in old times), " and you shall have it presently, so prepare yourself." " But you won't whip me, father, without telling me what for ?" " No, certainly ; your conduct at meeting, sir, is the cause. Instead of attending to the sermon, you were all the while gaping about as if you were counting the beams and rafters of the meeting-honse." " Well, father, can you repeat the sermon ?" "Sermon ! no; I had as much as I could do to watch your inattention." " If I'll tell you all the min- ister said, you won't whip me?" "No, John, no; but that is impossible." Young Franklin immediately named the text, and, taking up the discourse, went through every head of it with surprising accuracy. " Upon my word," said the delighted parent, " I should not have thought it." " And now, father," said John, "I can tell you exactly how many beams and rafters there are in the meeting- house." His ever-springing affection for this parent is beautifully evinced in his journal. Almost every other page has the entry, " wrote a letter to father."

February 2, 1774, he married Lydia Doolittle (born in Canaan, Conn., Aug. 13, 1751), and in the spring follow- ing moved to Wyoming, and settled in Plymouth. Here his family remained until the summer of 1776, as both his sons were born in this township, viz., Billa, Nov. 3, 1774, and Amos, June 4, 1776. Colonel Franklin's father had become a proprietor in the Susquehanna purchase, and located his rights in the township of Huntington. Thither John, leaving his family in Plymouth, went solitary and alone in the spring of 1775, and made his " pitch" on the banks of the Huntington creek, in Luzerne county. Hav- ing circumscribed the limits of his claim by notching and

blazing the bark of the trees, he overturned some of the turf with the pole of his axe. These were the formalities of appropriating the forest, and this was his warrant of entry. No white man had preceded him in this vicinity ; he was the first, and the unmolested choice of the virgin soil was before him, and here he made his selection and dedicated his future home .* During this year he erected his log house, cleared and sowed some three or four acres to grain, and in the summer of 1776 moved his family into the wilderness. His nearest neighbor was at the Susque- hanna river, a distance of some seven or eight miles. For the next two years he was busily engaged on his farm, attending the town-meetings, where he was quick to debate, and able to defend his opinions, and was soon looked upon as one of the foremost men of the valley. When the Twenty-fourth Regiment of Connecticut militia was organ- ized, John Franklin was made captain of the Salem and Huntington company. At the battle of Wyoming Frank- lin and his company were directed to report at the Forty fort immediately, but his company was so scattered that he was unable to bring them on in time to participate in the battle. Of himself he says, as soon he had taken care of his family (he had now three children, the third, a daugh- ter, named Kezia, having been born at Huntington, April 11, 1778, and consequently now was less than three months old) he set out, with what few of his company could be gathered, for Wyoming, and reached the fort too late to participate in the engagement. He was present, however, to lend his advice in regard to the surrender, and his aid to the fugitives. Having done all in his power to help the sufferers, he returned to his family, and taking his wife and three little children, the oldest not four years old, started for a place of safety. Going down the river to Paxton, they remained there but a short time, and then went to Windsor, in Berks county. Here the family were attacked with the smallpox, and Mrs. Franklin died of the disease, Nov. 17, 1778. As soon as they recovered, feeling his own inability to take suitable care of his infant children, Capt. Franklin determined to placc them in the care of his friends in Canaan. Hitching a yoke of oxen to a little cart, he put into it his three little children, the youngest about eight months old, tied a cow by the horns to follow, and drove on, having a cup, into which, from time to time, as occasion re- quired, he milked and fed the babe. Thus he traveled the rough way, through forests, fording streams, and frequently sleeping under the canopy of the beavens, 260 miles, arriving at his destination in safety, and exhibiting all the patience and tenderness of a mother, as well as the care and provi- dence of a father.

Leaving here his helpless family, he hastened to Wy- oming, where some of the refugees had returned to gather their crops, and had built some defenses and shelter. Here Capt. Franklin's ability as a leader began to manifest itself. Those who had returned to Wyoming, the better for their protection, had banded together as a military company, of which Franklin was made captain. He was also com- missioncd justice of the peace by the legislature of Con- necticut. The duties of both offices were responsible.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 26

Author: Craft, David, 1832-1908; L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 812

Author: Craft, David, 1832-1908; L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 812