History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 102

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.)
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1340

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country, are of English, and some say Roman, origin, and came to America as early as 1635, their first representative in this country being Barnabas Horton, who located permanently on Long Island in 1640; they are a numerous people, having sprung from a race hardy and vigorous ; have filled various offices of responsibility and trust in this and other counties. The grandparents of our subject were in the

Wyoming massacre. Israel, the father of John, and Parcell Terry's widow, each of whom had eleven children, were married, and there was one room assigned to the children, and a teacher employed to teach this home-made school. J. P. Horton is now retired from business ; his life has been active and energetic ; he was a farmer, lumberman, speculator, merchant, hotel-keeper and tanner. He is living on a farm of 300 acres, which he superintends himself; has been honored by the office of justice of the peace, and other minor offices .. He was twice married, his first wife being Olivia Ladd, by whom he had two chil- dren : James and Jane; the second wife was Roxey Covey, by whom he had seven children : Jane, Mary L., Josephine A., Liberty A., Phebe T., Eunice M. and George F., the latter of whom keeps a store and the postoffice at New Era. Mr. Horton is a consistent member of the Baptist Church, and in politics is a Republican.

CAPTAIN ULYSSES E. HORTON, farmer and stock-grower, Sheshequin township, P. O. Hornbrook, was born in Sheshequin town- ship, February 13, 1819, and is a son of Joshua (one of seven brothers who came to this county in early times) and Lucinda (Ellis) Horton. He was born and reared on a farm, attended the common schools, and at the age of twenty-one engaged in sawing and rafting lumber to Marietta, Middletown and Fort Deposit, and was thus employed about ten years. He purchased the farm known as the " McAfee Farm," in 1840, and sold it in 1855, and bought the one he now occupies, which contains 150 acres. He is still actively engaged on his farm, and has been eminently successful in business, and has accumulated his prop- erty by his own exertions. He enlisted, October 16, 1862, in Company B, One Hundred and Seventy-first Regiment, P. V., was elected cap- tain of the company, and was discharged at Harrisburg, August 7, 1863, and returned to his peaceful farm life. Captain Horton was married, September 22, 1840, to Sallie, daughter of Joseph and Jemimie (Horton) Elliott, and they have five children: Amelia, married to Elisha Forbes, of Athens; Lucinda, married to George L. Horton; E. W., married to Mary Blackman, of Hornbrook; Orpha, married to George W. Heasley, of Passaic, N. J .; Lucy Elliott, adopted, married to Dr. Hector Alley, of Lincoln, Neb. Mrs. Horton is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Horton is a member of Watkins Post, No. 198, G. A. R., Towanda, also of the I. O. O. F., Val- ley Lodge, No. 446, Sheshequin, and is a Republican.

MILES E. HORTON, farmer and stock-grower, Sheshequin town- ship, P. O. Quarry Glen, was born on the farm he now occupies, November 18, 1851, and is a son of William B. and Saloma J. (Kilmer) . Horton. He was educated in the common schools of Sheshequin, and is a farmer. Mr. Horton was married, July 3, 1872, to Mary A., daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Bull) Webb, and of this union are

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three children, as follows : William B., born October 13, 1873 ; Gordon O., born November 7, 1881; Belle Helline, born June 21, 1886. Mr. Horton is a Democrat, and a worthy representative of one of the prominent families who were the early settlers of Bradford county.

WILLIAM TRUMAN HORTON, lumberman, Pike township, P. O. Stevensville, was born at Falls, Pa., November 15, 1849, a son of Daniel T. and Hannah (Angell) Horton, the father a farmer of New York, born of Scotch and German descent ; the mother of New Jersey, of English and German extraction. Daniel T. Horton, who was a cooper by trade, and did valiant service for his country, both in the Mexican and Civil Wars, is still living, and spends most of his time traveling. In his family there were three children : William T .; Mary (married to Edward Fowler, overseer of the magazine for Thomas Ford at Pittston), and Willis A., a farmer in Wisconsin. William T. Horton was educated in the common school, and at LeRaysville Academy, then in charge of Hobert Bassett, a well-known pedagogue of Bradford county. He began life for himself at sixteen, working in a sawmill, and has followed lumbering and contracting since. Mr. Horton was married, August 22, 1869, to Hannah M., daughter of Nathan and Permelia (Brewster) Coleman, and granddaughter of Reuben Coleman, an early settler of Pike township. Mr. and Mrs. Horton have the following children : R. May, born October 29, 1875; William D., born October 10, 1878; Inez P., born January 9, 1881; Lisle T., born July 1, 1885; and Ella Mabel, born August 17, 1888. Mr. Horton has always been identified with the Republican party.

NORMAN S. HOSLEY, farmer, P. O. Big Pond, was born May 28, 1817, in Windham county, Vermont, a son of Rufus and Polly (Gates) Hosley, who removed to Bradford county in 1818, and settled in Smithfield, where he lived fifteen years; then removed to Spring- field, near where the subject of this sketch now resides; he has been a Republican ; has been commissioner, anditor and school director many years, and has held other offices of public trust; is a member of the F. & A. M., and is a man respected by his neighbors and a wide circle of friends. His father was a merchant, in early life, in Massachusetts, and, later, a farmer; he was a great politician in local affairs, and an active Universalist. He died at the age of seventy-six years, in 1853, and the mother died at the age of sixty-one years. Her family were among the early settlers of the township. Our subject was the third in a family of five children. He was reared on his father's farm, and has always been a tiller of the soil. June 24, 1847, he married Hannah, daughter of Daniel and Mahala (Burgess) Carpenter, of Springfield, who was born in October, 1825, and was the second in the family of seven children. Her parents removed here when she was four years of age, in 1829; they were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; her father died at the age of seventy-eight years, and her mother at the age of forty-six. Hiram Carpenter, her brother, was in the Pennsylvania Cavalry in the Civil War, and is a pensioner. Mr. and Mrs. Hosley have had seven children, as follows: Rollin F .. born June 10, 1848, died, aged nineteen years; Leland E., born October 10, 1849, married to Francis Bailey ; Laura M., born Marchi 16, 1851, wife of

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Daniel O. Dickerson; Hiram W., born March 18, 1853, married to Laura E. Grace ; Lena E., born June 12, 1855, wife of Addison W. Grace ; Helen, born October 30, 1858, wife of Burtis B. Bailey, and Norman S., Jr., born October 19, 1860, married to Emma Varney. He lives on the old homestead with his father, and manages the large farm of 145 acres, on which dairying is the principal business.

JOHN C. HOTTENSTEIN, P. O. Overton, is a farmer and prom- inent leading citizen of Overton township, equally distinguished for his intelligence and integrity of character. His ancestry, who were Germans, came to America, in 1711. He is a son of Jacob and Lydia Ruth Hottenstein, natives of Lehigh county, Pa. The family came to Overton from Lehigh county in 1829, and here they made their home during the remainder of their lives. The motherdied January 5, 1879, and the father followed her to the grave, November 6, 1880. They were of Bradford county's eminently respectable people, and their memories will be long respected. John C. Hottenstein, who is the seventh in the order of birth in a family of nine children, was born April 18, 1833, and grew to manhood in the bosom of his father's family, having only the sparse advantages of the farmer's lad of the day, the chief lesson being patient industry and severe economy. The son grew into the occupation of his people, and when he went out from the family roof-tree, it was to engage in farming on his own account, which he has followed uninterruptedly to the present time. He was married, December 7, 1858, to Rosina, daughter of Charles Kilmer, a native of New York, and of this union there are the follow- ing : Orin, born February 7, 1862; Lucinda, born May 29, 1864 ; Lottie, born July 20, 1866; Carrie, born December 28, 1868; Ira, born Feb- ruary 1, 1872, and George E., born February 8, 1874. The mother and family worship at the Methodist Church. Mr. Hottenstein enlisted in the service of his country, October 16, 1862, in the One Hundred and Seventy-first P. V. I., Company D, and was honorably discharged, August 8, 1863, participating in the battles, marches and sieges of his command, most of the time filling the non-commis- sioned office of corporal in his company. At different times in his life he has filled the offices of postmaster, school director, road com- missioner, justice of the peace and tax collector, and with the lapse of years has continued and grown in the esteem and respect of the old neighbors and friends among whom he was born and has spent the years of his honorable life. Mr. Hottenstein is a man of more than average intelligence and education, of strong judgment, and well up in the questions of the day.

BENJAMIN J. HOUSEKNECHT, farmer, P. O. Overton, is a native of Lycoming county, Pa., born October 4. 1843, and is a son of George and Catherine (Berger) Houseknecht, natives of Pennsylvania and Germany, respectively. The father was a mill-wright, and spent his life in Lycoming county, where he died, March 6, 1877; his beloved wife died at the family home in 1863. Benjamin was the ninth of a family of thirteen children, and grew to manhood in the family home, partaking of the advantages of the public and district schools of his county, and learned the lessons of industry and economy as taught

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the average farmer's boy of his day. When old enough to engage in the affairs of life, on his own account, he continued in the footsteps of his family, who were agriculturists, and followed this industry eigh- teen years; then, the next seven years, he was engaged at the carpen- ter's trade, but returned to his original occupation, and now owns and occupies seventy acres of valuable and highly-improved land, as his family homestead, all the sweetened fruit of his own patience and toil, as he started in life with no other fortune than his bare hands, and a stout, honest heart. Mr. Houseknecht has been twice married : the first time, in 1865, to Mary, daughter of Gideon and Celia Lan- daw, who bore one child, which died in infancy. The second marriage occurred in July, 1871, when he espoused Martha, daughter of Jolin and Elizabeth (Waltman) Mathews, who has borne him eight children, as follows : Joseph V., Herbert, Mabel L., Charles O., Jennie L., Flos- sie L., Sadie L. and Ina L. The family is one that is widely esteemed throughout the county, and the respected head of the household is one of Bradford county's leading farmers and influential citizens, a trustee and class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has filled the offices of school director and constable, and is a Republican. His sol- dier record is that of a true patriot ; was twice enlisted and mustered into his country's service, first in July, 1863, in the Thirty-ninth P. V. I., Company D, and was discharged in September, 1863, and enlisted, for the second time, in November, 1864, in the Two Hundred and Tenth P. V. I., Company E, and participated in the battles of Peters- burg, Gravel Run, South Side Railroad, and many other skirmishes and hard marches; was finally and honorably discharged in June, 1865. Is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has passed all the degrees of the Lodge.

ALLEN HOVER, farmer and tobacco-grower, Wyalusing township, P. O. Homet's Ferry, was born in Pike county, March 2, 1845, and is a son of John L. and Lydia (Bradley) Hover, natives of Wyalusing township. He passed his boyhood, until about thirteen years of age, in Pike county, and then came with the family to Bradford and located in Wyalusing township, near Homet's Ferry, where his father yet resides. He was educated in the common schools and Wyalusing Academy, remained on his father's farm, assisting on the same, until twenty-nine years of age, when he purchased a portion of his present farm, which was mostly cleared, and began to improve the same. He owns as good farm buildings as the county affords, in a section noted for fine farms, and has added to his original purchase of fifty-two acres until he now owns 120 acres, and has a fine lot of cattle, horses and sheep ; his farm is almost entirely fenced with a stone wall. Mr. Hover was united in marriage, May 15, 1874, with Helen M. Biles, and their union has been blessed with one child, Edith. He is a member of Fairbanks Association, Patrons of Industry, No. 3304; is a Republican, an active politician, and has filled various township offices. Is a shrewd business man, and a careful and successful farmer.

R. M. HOVEY, clerk, Lehigh Valley Railroad. Sayre, is a native of Ulster township, this county, born November 18, 1847. He is a son of William and Jane (Moore) Hovey, natives of the same place, the

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former of whom died on the old homestead, in 1849, at the age of thirty-six years, and the latter, now Mrs. Jane Mundy (having remar- ried), resides in Ithaca, N. Y. William Hovey's grandfather, Capt. Benjamin Clark, was a member of Gen. Washington's staff, during the Revolution, and his father, Nathaniel Hovey (grandfather of R. M. Hovey), was an orderly sergeant in the War of 1812, dying in the ser- vice of his country. In the family of William and Jane (Moore) Hovey were six children, of whom four survive, the subject of these lines being the fifth in order of birth. He attended the public schools in his boyhood, after which he was a student at the Towanda Colle- giate Institute, and afterward at Eastman's Business College, where he graduated in 1866. His first business experience was in the store of Powell & Co., dry-goods merchants, Towanda, with whom he was em- ployed until 1872, when he was offered and accepted a position on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, at Ithaca, N. Y. He afterward removed to Sayre, where he has since remained. In November, 1870, Mr. Hovey was united in marriage, at Ithaca, N. Y., with Miss Laura Stillwell, daughter of John and Eunice (Hart) Stillwell. She is the youngest in a family of nine-two sons and seven daughters-and was born in Hector, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Hovey have two children : Kate E. and William S. The family are prominent and exemplary members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Hovey is president of the board of trustees. He is a member of Fidelity. Lodge, No. 51, F. & A. M., of St. Augustine Commandery, No. 38, and of Eagle Chapter, No. 58. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party.

E. A. HOWE, farmer, P. O. Rome, was born in Orwell township, this county, August 23, 1860, and is a son of Henry and Jane (Russell) Howe, in whose family were four children: George H. (an eminent professor in Missouri), E. A., Lelia J. and Irvin L. Mr. Howe was born and reared on a farm, and attended the common schools of his neighborhood. He then entered the Collegiate Institute, where he remained two years, when he went to Chicago and filled a position as salesman two years; then farmed, one summer, in Carroll county, Ill., and was engaged then as traveling salesman for a nursery. He was married, December 28, 1886, to Adelia F. Atwood, daughter of George C. and Henrietta (Taylor) Atwood, of this county. Her father, who was one of the best known and most successful farmers and business men of the county, was a son of Reuben and Abiah (Platt) Atwood, former of whom was born in Connecticut, November 1, 1782, and came to Pike township in early times, making the trip from Connecti- cut in an ox-cart, and guiding his way by marked trees, the sun and stars. He died, October 25, 1878, at the advanced age of ninety-six years. Aaron Taylor, his wife's father, was born at Surrey, N. H., December 10, 1787, and was one of the pioneers of Susquehanna county ; he died, March 10, 1872, aged four score and five years. George C. Atwood was born in Pike township, this county, May 17, 1825 ; was married July 3, 1852, and died October 19, 1889 ; his widow was born April 3, 1833, and now resides on the farm in Herrick. George, was reared on a farm, and removed to Wyalusing where he remained until 1866, when he came to the farm now occupied by his

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widow, where he resided until his death, at which time he was an extensive land owner of this county, and he left a valuable estate to his widow and children. His family of children were : Ella J., born August 16, 1853, married to E. W. Buttles (she died February 8, 1883); Elmer J., born August 23, 1855; Alice H., born October 6, 1856, married to H. H. Coleman ; Adelia F., wife of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch (she was born at Camptown, and when six years old her parents removed to Herrick, where she attended the graded school of Herrickville, then, after a few terms at Wyoming Seminary, she entered the Collegiate Institute at Towanda; later she entered the Commercial College, Kingtson, where she was graduated, and took a course in telegraphy; also taught penmanship a short time in the female Seminary at Wilkes-Barre; then taught four terms in the com- mon schools of Bradford, and also taught writing schools in various sections of the county); Ida L., born June 4, 1862, married to Frank H. Abbott; Georgianna, born October 15, 1865; Elizabeth S., born March 3, 1867; Frederick G., born August 24, 1868 ; Rollin C., born April 28, 1870; William L., born February 9, 1872 ; Cora J., born May 1, 1874, and Leon M., born May 15, 1877. Only one of the family of twelve is dead. After Mr. and Mrs. Howe's marriage they went to Kansas City, in 1887, where he was a salesman, and she was cashier and book-keeper for the New Home Sewing Machine Company. They were there about two years, and then went to St. Louis, where Mr. Howe secured a position, and Mrs. Howe a position as cashier in the wholesale department of the Singer Manufacturing Company. They remained there one summer, and then returned to Bradford, to their farm, where they now reside. They have had two children, the eldest of whom, Earl George, died in infancy; the second, Rollin Eugene, was born January 16, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Howe are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church, and are Republicans.

HENRY HOWE, farmer and stock-grower, Orwell township, P. O. Orwell, was born August 11, 1834, on the farm he now occupies, and is a son of Earl and Julia Ann (Dennison) Howe, the former of whom was born in Rhode Island in 1808, and came here when two years old with his family. The grandfather secured 104 acres of wild land, and began to make a farm in which he was assisted. after a few years, by his son, Earl ; the grandfather was twice married, and had four chil- dren : Sallie, married to John Beers; Pearly, married to Uriah Brown, whom she survives ; Lucy, married to Dan Robinson, both dead, and Earl (father of subject), who died in 1850. The last named had a family of nine children, as follows: Charlotte, married to E. M. Farrar ; Phoba, died young; Henry ; William, deceased ; Helen; Philander, deceased; Helen, deceased ; George, deceased, and Earl, deceased. (Phoba, Philander and Helen died of scarlet fever and were buried in one grave, and about eight years later George and Earl died of the same disease.) Henry was born and reared on a farm, receiving his education in the common schools and Orwell Hill Academy. When he was fourteen his father died, and the management of the farm, from that time, devolved largely upon him; he learned enough of carpentering to do his own work. He purchased' the old

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homestead when he was twenty-one, and has since added to it, until now it contains 150 acres, well stocked ; he keeps a large dairy, dis- posing of his milk to the Orwell Creamery Company, of which he is a stockholder. He was united in wedlock, October 15, 1856, with Jane Russell, a daughter of Nathaniel Russell, and granddaughter of Dan Russell, Sr., the first settler in Orwell township, and of this union were born four children, viz .: George H., born February 3, 1859, married to Alida Champlain ; Eugene A .; Leila J., born November 5, 1870 ; Irvin L., born July 6, 1872. The family are members of the Presby- terian Church, of which Mr. Howe is a trustee ; he is a member of the Golden Cycle, No. 167, Orwell, and is a Prohibitionist, formerly a Republican, and has held various township offices.

HON. HOWELL HOWELL, farmer and stockman, Warren town- ship. P. O. Neath, is a native of Wales, born December 10, 1826, a son of Evan and Jane (Howell), natives of the same place, and of one of the old families of that country, where they were yeoman. The family migrated to America, in 1832, when he was but six years of age, com- ing direct to Bradford county, and settling on a farm in Warren town- ship, where they then made their permanent home. The father died in February, 1875, the mother having preceded him to the " silent city " in February, 1873; they had three children, viz .: Howell, John (who was drowned in the river at Towanda in May, 1847, when eigh- teen years of age), and Mary (Mrs. Samuel M. Williams), who has five children, and resides in Pike township. Howell spent his young life on his father's farm, and attended the common schools of the neighborhood; then became a student at Wilkes-Barre Academy. Completing his education he returned home and engaged in farming, and is now owner of 100 acres of fine farm land, well improved with good buildings, and in a high state of cultivation. He was married in Warren township, May 28, 1859, to Ann, daughter of David and Elizabeth (Howell) Davis, also natives of Wales, who came to this country in 1834, and located in Warren township; their family com- prised ten children, of whom Mrs. Howell was the fourth, one of twins; she became the mother of three children: Arthur, born May 8, 1860, and married to Carrie Case, daughter of Franklin Case ; J. Rienzi, born November 14, 1864, and died July 18, 1872; and Ger- trude. Mr. Howell enlisted in the army, September 2, 1864, in the Fifteenth Regiment, New York Engineers, Company H, and with his command went directly to the front, at Petersburg. where he was engaged in the Engineer Corps, and was present at the battles of Petersburg and Hatcher's Run, and served until the end of the war; he was discharged, June 30, 1865, and returned home. Mr. Howell is a member of Spalding Post, No. 33, G. A. R., at LeRaysville. In 1884 lie was elected a member of the Legislature. and served his full term with distinction. During fifteen years he filled the office of jus- tice of the peace, nine years as school director, and three years as auditor. During nearly twenty years of his active life he was a school teacher, and did much to elevate and ennoble the profession. In the army he was first sergeant, and company clerk. He has been regarded for many years as an active and prominent leader and factor in th

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

councils and movements of the Republican party; faithful to party and friends, and vigilant in the care and welfare of the good of the people. He is personally popular, and, while brave and outspoken in sentiment, commands only the respect and confidence of even his political enemies; personally he has no enemies.

JAMES G. HOWIE, farmer and stock-grower, Ulster, born in Ayrshire, Scotland, January 12, 1834, is a son of William and Mary (Howie) Howie, natives of Ayrshire, farmers. The lad was fired with the hope of being a sailor, but that ambition was never gratified.

The Howie family was first planted in Scotland, in 1162. At that time three brothers fled from France, to escape religious persecution, and settled in Ayrshire, renting a farm from some old feudal lord. The direct descendants of those brothers still occupy the same farm, it having been held on lease by the family for over 800 years ; the family now in possession of that estate are third cousins, and are of the thirty- third generation from the three brothers who immigrated there from France. Another peculiar thing about the family is that the holder of the lease in Scotland has borne either the name of James or John until the present, when by some misorder of things the gentleman who now holds the lease is named Thomas. Connected with this estate in Scot- land is the old Howie library, dating back to the twelfth century, and containing several hundred volumes, many of them being written on parchment, and worth their weight in gold. James attended the public schools of Scotland until twelve years of age, but having had the mis- fortune to lose the sight of one eye, when about three years old, he had that disadvantage to labor under, in securing an education, but never- theless he secured a fair common-school training. His parents immi- grated to America in 1854, landing here July 29, and came direct to Ulster, and his father purchased 133 acres of land in the wilderness, which is still in the possession of members of the family. With the exception of about a year spent in the machine shops at Ontario, James has spent his life on the farm first purchased by his father. His father died April 18, 1867, aged sixty-three years, and his mother died April 24, 1890, aged eighty-four; their family consisted of eight children, six of whom survive. John died in Scotland before the family immigrated to this country ; Jennie, who died in Monroe township, was the wife of J. F. Woodruff; Mary was born on the ocean during the voyage over from Scotland, and is now the wife of S. A. Gordon ; the four boys live on adjoining farms. James was married January 22, 1856, to Margaret Calderwood, daughter of James Calderwood, of Ayrshire, Scotland ; she came to this country in 1855, and made her home with James' father until her marriage ; they have no children. James made a visit to his native land in 1884, where he found that progress had been at work on the eastern as well as the western side of the Atlantic, and that many changes had taken place. In his business Mr. Howie has always been very successful, and has accumulated his fortune almost entirely by his own endeavors. He now stands well at the head of the prosperous farmers of Ulster township. In his relig- jous views he is a Presbyterian, and in polities he is a Republican.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 102

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.) Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.)
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1340