History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 109

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections > Part 109

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).

950

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Kuykendall, also natives of New York and of German and English descent, respectively; they were farmers, who came to Bradford county in 1844, settling in Windham township, where.the father died in 1876, and had reared a family of eleven children-five daughters and six sons -- of whom Benjamin is the sixth. The youthful days of our sub- ject were divided between his native place and Windham township; in 1873 he first made his residence in the borough. His elegant farm of 175 acres is situated in Windham township, is one of the best in the county and he has two other farms in other townships, as well as con- siderable town property in Towanda. Benjamin Kuykendall was married March 9, 1853, to Pamela Anna, daughter of Rev. Daniel and Tamar (Williamson) Gardner, natives of Orange county, N. Y., and of English stock. Mrs. Kuykendall was born in Windham township, on January 6, 1833; her grandfather, Williamson, was a lay-reader in the Episcopal Church, and a very prominent Mason ; he was a distinguished minister of the Baptist Church. To this marriage union came eight children, and in the order of birth, as follows: Thomas, who died at eleven years of age ; and two died in infancy ; Anna (Mrs. John H. Dean); Deborah O. (Mrs. George A. Dayton); Benjamin (an attorney in Towanda); Paul (a bookkeeper in Duluth, Minn.); and Francis E. (Mrs. Benson Landon, in Chicago). This is one of the prominent families in the social life of Towanda. Mr. Kuykendall was ten years a justice in Windham township; was elected county commissioner in 1872, and served a full term; he is a prominent temperance advocate and a good Republican.

C. S. LAFFERTY, retired merchant, Camptown, ranks among Brad- ford county's most successful business men. He was born in New Jersey, July 30, 1832, and is a son of John and Jane (Little) Lafferty ; the former was born in County Antrim, Ireland, but while yet a boy came to America, and located in Sussex county, N. J., of which place his wife was a native; he was a shoemaker by trade, and followed that occupation until 1834, when he removed to Herrick township, this county, and purchased a farm, and followed the occupation of a farmer until his death, in 1890, being then in his ninetieth year; he had a family of six children, of whom our subject is the eldest. The others were: Harriet, married to P. S. Squires, of Herrick, now county com- missioner ; Catherine, married to Thomas Lee, and residing in Herrick ; William (deceased); James (deceased); and John (deceased). Our subject was reared on a farm, and was educated in the common schools, and Wyoming Seminary. After reaching his majority he was a traveling salesman for nine years. In 1860 he came to Camptown, and built a store room (which has since been incorporated into the house he now occupies as a residence), and opened a general store, having S. R. Stevens associated with him, under the firm name of Lafferty & Stevens. This firm continued in business four years, when Mr. Stevens retired, Mr. Lafferty purchasing his interest. The latter continued the business alone until 1870, and then took, as a partner, George HI. Landon, and the business was conducted under the firm name of Lafferty & Landon four years. In 1878 he built the store-room now occupied by Smith Brothers, which is one of the best-appointed and most commodious

951

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

store-rooms in the county ; he continued in business there until 1880, and then sold to Smith Brothers; since that period he has been dealing extensively in Western lands and city property. Besides his large real estate interests in this county, he has real estate in Chicago, Denver (Colo.), Nebraska and West Virginia. Mr. Lafferty was united in marriage, April 20, 1868, with Emma E., daughter of Thomas and Miranda (Knott) Jones; her father was a native of Wales, and died in Herrick township in 1848. Her only sister, Martha, married Martin Fee, of Camptown. Mr. and Mrs. Lafferty have one child, W. S., born April 26, 1868; he was educated in Camptown Academy, Wyoming Seminary, and Elmira Business College; he is now a merchant in Chicago. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Camp- town. Mr. Lafferty is a member of the F. & A. M., a Master Mason, and belongs to Franklin Lodge, Towanda ; also a member of Wyalus- ing Lodge, No. 503, I. O. O. F., Camptown, has taken all the degrees, and is past grand. His political views are Democratic. Mr. Lafferty has from the start depended entirely upon his own resources, and has been eminently successful.

HARRISON LAMB, farmer, P. O. Macedonia, was born Novem- ber 24, 1820, at Browntown, Wyalusing township, this county, a son of Ebenezer and Nancy (Gordon) Lamb, the former a native of Ver- mont and the latter of New Jersey, of English and Scotch-Irish ancestry. Samuel Gordon, his grandfather, settled in Wyalnsing in 1780, about three miles from the mouth of the creek, where he built the first gristmill, probably, in the county, and was one of the promi- nent pioneers of the country. Grandfather Lamb was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was a prisoner with the Indians in Canada for a long time. Harrison Lamb was reared on a farm, and when grown began farming on his own account, also lumbering in connec- tion. He came to Macedonia in 1887, and located on his present farm. Mr. Lamb was married in October, 18 -- , to Esther Whitney, who was born in September, 1830, and of this marriage there are nine children, as follows : Laura, born October 9, 1858; Louise, born, February 28, 1860; Andrew, born May 3, 1861; Lizzie, born December 21, 1862; Beecher M., born November 13, 1864; May, born September 8, 1866; Mertie, born April 24, 1868; Eugene, born July 14, 1870; Herbert, born November 16, 1872. The girls are mostly teachers, and some are in Philadelphia as nurses. Mrs. Lamb, who was a faithful member of the Presbyterian Church, departed this life May 7, 1889, deeply mourned by the family, and much lamented by those who were inti- mately acquainted with her. She was a daughter of the late Dr. Elisha Whitney, of Wyalnsing.

GEORGE A. LAMKIN, senior member of the firm of Lamkin Bros. & Bloom, prominent dealers in general merchandise, Troy, was born in Ithaca, N. Y., February 1, 1854, is a son of James and Barbara (Tucker) Lamkin, and is of English parentage [see sketch of James W. Lamkin]; he was reared in Tompkins county, N. Y., received a pub- lic-school education, and after attaining his majority, began life for himself as a clerk in an agricultural store in Danby, N. Y., where he remained six years. In 1879 he located in Troy, Pa., and was clerk in

952

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

a general store until 1882, when he embarked in the general merchan- dising business as a member of the firm of Gernert, Lamkin & Moore, until 1885, then as Gernert & Lamkin until 1887, then as Lamkin, Bloom & Manley until 1888, when the present firm of Lamkin Bros. & Bloom was organized, and they are among the most popular busi- ness houses of Troy. Mr. Lamkin married, September 18, 1890, Ada C., daughter of Brewster A. and Louisa C. (Colborn) Long, of Troy borough. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, is a Sir Knight Templar and a member of the I. O. O. F. Though he never sought office he is known as a worker in the interest of the political party he represents, which is the Republican.

JAMES W. LAMKIN, of Lamkin Bros. & Bloom, dealers in gen- eral merchandise, Troy, was born in Lansing, Tompkins Co., N. Y., June 14, 1852, and is a son of James and Barbara (Tucker) Lamkin, natives of England, who came to America about 1845, and settled in Lansing, N. Y., where the father engaged in farming until his death ; their children were eight: Elizabeth (Mrs. Hoffman Swartout), James W., George A., Charles (deceased), Jane (Mrs. Willis Euest), Hattie (Mrs. Charles Hanford), John, and Julia (Mrs. Fred. Johnson). Our subject was reared in Tompkins county, N. Y., educated at Danby High School, began life as a farmer, and later served in the capacity of clerk in the general store of Danby & Spencer for four years. In March, 1887, he located in Troy, Pa., and purchased an interest in a clothing store with E. S. Jewell, in which be continued until 1889, under the firm name of Jewell & Lamkin ; he then became a member of the firm of Lamkin Bros. & Bloom, one of the leading business houses of Troy, with whom he is still connected. Mr. Lamkin was twice married, his first wife being Olive, daughter of John and Eliza (Malks) Thomas, of Danby, N. Y., by whom he had one daughter, Amelia; his second wife was Gertrude Jewell, daughter of E. S. and Araminta (Davidson) Jewell, of Troy, Pa. Mr. Lamkin is a live and enterprising business man ; he is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics is a Republican.

H. LAMPHERE, farmer and dairyman, P. O., Wyalusing, was born in LeRaysville, this county, October 10, 1843, a son of Zelwin and Delila (Platt) Lamphere. His father was a carpenter and contractor, and resided a greater portion of his time in LeRaysville; he had a family of six children, viz .: Edward, now in California; Charles, a farmer, of Standing Stone; George (deceased); Emily, married to Theodore Rosencrans, a farmer residing in Nebraska; Sarah, married to George Corner, a farmer in Nebraska, and our subject. H. Lam- phere spent his boyhood, until sixteen, in LeRaysville, where he attended school most of that time. In March, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Seventy-Fifth P. V. I., and was in the battles of Fort Fisher, Wilmington, and the campaign against Richmond ; was twice struck by bullets, so as to leave permanent scars, but never seriously wounded ; was mustered out with his regiment, July 10, 1865. After returning from the army he purchased a blacksmith shop at Wysox, and worked at that trade for two years, then went West and took up a homestead in Nebraska, but after staying there about six months

953

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

moved on to Idaho, and for some time was engaged in work on the Northern Pacific Railroad ; he then came back to Clarence, Iowa, and farmed for a year, and then returned and located at Standing Stone, and for the following eight years made that his home, with the excep- tion of one year spent in lumbering, close to Lanark, Pa. He then came to Wyalusing township, and for four years was on the Bixby farm; and then, in the spring of 1887, removed to his present residence, the Washington Taylor farm, now owned by Dr. J. M. Chamberlain. Mr. Lamphere married, August 14, 1871, Anna Benjamin, a daughter of Morgan Benjamin, of Standing Stone, and this union has been blessed with four children : Elmer, Jennie, Earnest and Albert. Mr. Lamphere is a member of Glosson Lodge, No. 920, I. O. O. F., Sugar. Run, and of Hurst Post, No. 86, G. A. R., Camptown, and is a Repub- lican. He has lived in the vicinity of his present home many years, and commands the esteem and respect of all ; he has always depended entirely on his own resources and has been very successful.

FREDERICK C. LANDMESSER. merchant, was born in Hanover township, Luzerne Co., Pa., July 26, 1857. His father, Peter Land- messer, was born in Germany, on the Rhine, November 4, 1819, and his grandfather, John Nicholas Landmesser, was born in the same place, November 17, 1776. His great-grandfather, John Nicholas Landmesser, who was an officer under the Duke of Nassau, married a Miss Krumpf, and they had four children : John Nicholas, Elizabeth (wife of D. Barkler), Catherine (wife of W. Warner) and Mary. John Nicholas married Louisa Barks, and had nine children, all born in Germany, of whom are given the names of Louisa (wife of N. Bish), Catherine (wife of Andrew Weiskarger), Mary (wife of K. Keller), Nicholas, Frederick (retired mine superintendent), Peter, and Ludwig, a coal operator. John Nicholas came to this country in 1836, having lost his wife in 1823 ; he died in 1855, and is buried in Hanover, Pa. Peter Landmesser began life prospecting for coal in his seventeenth year, and lived at home until he was twenty-four, during which time he worked on the Lehigh Canal, and in cutting and packing broom corn, also in public works and mining ; he was superintendent of the mines at Silver Brook, the Baltimore mines and the Oliphant, near Carbondale. In 1856 he erected a slope which was afterward aban- doned ; was then mine boss for his brother Ludwig, who was agent for the Hartford Coal Company, and was superintendent in 1860 for the Continental Coal Company, during which year he took a contract with the Baltimore Coal Company and sank a slope for them. In 1861 he was superintendent for Gray and Mortagie; in 1862 for Mortagie ; in 1863 was mine boss for the Wilkes-Barre Coal and Iron Company, and in 1864 superintendent for Gray & Longstreet, in Schuylkill county. In 1864 he was superintendent for the Baltimore Company Slope, No. 3, at Wilkes-Barre, and in 1865 they were burned out, and he lost all his personal property. He remained with this com- pany until 1865, when he began purchasing farm produce along the canal ; then came to Standing Stone, and purchased the " Rummerfield Hotel " in 1867, which he conducted until 1873, also trading, and then turned his hotel into a general store, which he conducted until 1876.

954

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

He then purchased, from the heirs of James Eshey, his present home and two hundred or more acres of land, and has devoted the balance of his life to farming aud trading. Mr. Landmesser was school director three years ; is a member of the Wilkes-Barre Lodge, No. 61, A. F. & A. M., and is a Republican. He married, in 1847, Josephine, the eldest of six children of Nicholas and Christiana (Diedersfelt) Rittersbacher. Of this union were children as follows: John Nicholas, who died in infancy; Peter (deceased) ; Louisa, wife of George P. Hilpert, both deceased, leaving a daughter, Georgie J. Hilpert, who is with her grand- father ; Peter B .; Lonise and Alexander (deceased). Frederick C., the subject of this sketch, attended school at Wilkes-Barre and Stand- . ing Stone, until his fourteenth year; then worked on a farm eight years ; he had charge of the "Rummerfield Hotel" eighteen months ; traded in apples and produce two years, and then took a commercial course in Kingston College, Luzerne county. Returning to Rummer- field he engaged in the hay, grain, and coal business, with Billings, Feel and Stewart, under the name of F. C. Landmesser & Co., with main office at Homet's Ferry. In 1887 he withdrew from this firm, and built the store which he now occupies, dealing in general mer- chandise ; he is one of the prosperous business men of the county, and carries a stock of about $5,500, doing an annual business of about $12,- 000. In politics he is a Republican. He married, February 23, 1887, Sarah O., eldest daughter of William and Almira (Barton) Claggett. Mrs Landmesser worships at the Methodist Episcopal Church.

PETER BARNEY LANDMESSER, station agent, Rummerfield, was born near Wilkes-Barre, Pa .. April 22, 1854, a son of Peter B. Landmesser. In the days of his youth he attended school in Luzerne and Bradford counties, until his sixteenth year, when he began to make his own way in the world, and worked mostly on the farm until the fall of 1873, when he was appointed station agent at Rummerfield on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. He received this appointment from Gen'l. Supt. R. A. Packer, and has continued in that employ to the present time. He married Sarah J., daughter of Nelson and Lois (Chaffee) VanNest; she was the sixth of nine children, eight of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Landmesser have had four children, as fol- lows : Louis P., born February 20, 1879 ; Mabel E., born April 11, 1882 ; Louise J., born September 8, 1885, and Perry C., born December 24, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Landmesser attend the M. E. Church, and in politics he votes the Republican ticket. This family is of the pleasant and much respected ones of Bradford county.

NEUTON LANDON, dealer in groceries and feed, Canton, is a native of the place, born Angust 1, 1842, a son of Eldaah and Lucy (Loveridge) Landon, the former a native of Canton township, this county, having been born, April 15, 1808, one and one-half miles south of Canton borough. The mother died in 1848 in her thirty-eighth year. The grandparents were Laban and Elizabeth (Gillis) Landon, natives of New Jersey and Newbury, N. Y., respectively; they came from Williamsport to Canton township, between the years 1797 and 1800. Their son, Joshua Landon, was born in Canton, February 27, 1800-the first white child born in this vicinity. Laban Landon served in the

955

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Revolutionary War, and was one of Washington's bodyguard; he died in June, 1828, in his seventieth year. Mrs. Landon died in June, 1848, in her eighty-fourth year. Eldaah Landon is the youngest in a family of fourteen children. The family removed to Troy in 1822, where they resided until 1830, when they returned to Canton where Mr. Landon still resides. The subject of this memoir is the fourth in a family of four children, of whom two are now living. He was reared in Canton, and received a public-school education. He enlisted in April, 1861, in the three months' service, and re-enlisted September 7, 1861, for three years, in Company K, Fiftieth P. V. I .; he went with Porter's fleet South, and was in the second battle of Bull Run, also the one at Chantilly, and in some minor engagements. He was mustered out on account of disability, January 22, 1863, and Septem- ber 3, 1864, he re-enlisted in Company K, Fifteenth New York Engi- neers, and was mustered out at Fort Berry, Virginia, June 13, 1865. He returned home and taught school during the winters of 1865 and 1866; then clerked in a store one and one-half years, after which he took up farming, which he followed until July, 1881, when he embarked in the grocery business. Mr. Landon was married in Granville, this county, in 1868, to Maggie, daughter of William and Maria Bunyan, natives of Scotland and Havana, N. Y., respectively; her father was a farmer, served several years as county treasurer, and died in April, 1882, in his seventy-seventh year; her mother, who is still living, is the sixth in a family of eleven children, and was born in Granville township in 1847. To Mr. and Mrs. Landon were born two children: Jennie and Charles F. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the board of trustees, served three years as councilman, assessor three years, and tax collector two years; is a charter member of Canton Masonic Lodge, No. 415, Troy Chapter, No. 261, and Canton Commandery, No. 64, also a member of the fol- lowing: G. A. R., Ingham Post, No. 91, of which he was the first commander ; I. O. O. F., Canton Lodge, No. 321, and has passed all the chairs in the Order; is also a member of the Encampment, and has passed the chairs. He is a Republican, and was census enumerator for Canton borough in 1890.

REV. ALEXANDER LANE (deceased) was born October 3, 1809, in Burlington township, this county, on the farm where he died, and where his daughter, Margaret A., and son, Stephen A., now reside. He was the eighth generation of Alexander. Lanes in America, and was of Pilgrim origin, a son of Alexander and Abigail (Mills) Lane, natives of Connecticut, and who removed to Bradford county from Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1795, settling in Burlington, being one of the pioneer families. He was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and the name was originally McLane. The sub- ject of this sketch married Catharine Shoemaker, who was born October 18, 1813, at Kingston, Luzerne Co., Pa., of Quaker ancestry, and by her he had nine children, as follows: Margaret A., born January 5, 1834; Asa S., born December 5, 1835 ; John W., born June 19, 1838; William Alexander, born June 25, 1841 ; Noel W., born July 9, 1844; Stephen A., born December 7, 1846; Catharine F., born August 8, 1849;

956

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Charles H., born September 8, 1852; and Gustavus G., born June 18, 1855. William Alexander was the ninth generation of Alexanders in America ; was a physician, and a soldier in the Civil War, Company B, Two Hundred and Seventh Regiment, P. V. Charles H. is a phy- sician in Pittsburgh, Pa. Gustavus G. is a farmer occupying a part of the old homestead ; was married to Susan Wrisley, of Burlington, and of New England ancestry, whose parents removed to the county in 1858.

Rev. Alexander Lane, the subject proper of this sketch, was a cler- gyman of the Methodist Protestant Church, having joined the Penn- sylvania Conference at the age of eighteen ; he traveled as an itinerant preacher, on horseback, as was the custom in those early days, in the States of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania; was a powerful preacher and an excellent man ; he was nearly sixty years in active pastoral work, and died April 26, 1890, at the age of eighty years.

WILLIAM PENN LANE, farmer, Burlington township, P. O. Luther's Mills, was born October 6, 1842, on the farm where he now resides, a son of Zepheniah and Polly (Clarke) Lane, the former of whom was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., of Scotch-Irish origin. The maternal grandfather Clarke, was in the Wyoming massacre, and his father was a captain in the Revolutionary War, and a pioneer of Ulster township. Grandfather Lane was one of the first settlers of Burlington, and experienced all the privations of the pioneer. The father, who was a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a farmer, with the aid of his sons cleared the farm where William P. now resides; he died at the age of seventy-six years; when a mere lad he was a soldier in the War of 1812. In 1864 Mr. Lane enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Eighty-eighth N. Y. V. I., and was in several battles ; heis now a pensioner (he had one brother and four half- brothers also in the war). He was married, April 20, 1864, to Jane Fairchild, of Burlington, who was born April 18, 1846, a daughter of Gideon and Lydia Knight, of English origin. To Mr. and Mrs. Lane have been born five children, two of whom are living, as follows : Grove, born June 20, 1874, and Minnie, born May 14, 1867. The old homestead, where Mr. Lane resides, is a farm of eighty-five acres under a good state of cultivation, on which he has a fine dairy. Mr. Lane is an excellent man in all respects, is a member of the G. A. R., in politics is a Republican, and has held many offices of public trust; is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has been a steward, and superintendent of the Sunday-school many years.

ROBERT H. LANING, Wysox, was born in Wyalusing, this county, June 25, 1837, and is a son of Matthias H. and Ann H. (Over- ton) Laning. His father, who was a native of Owego, N. Y., and a son of John and Mary (Hollenback) Laning, removed to Wyalusing about the year 1835, where he built a large section of the North Branch Canal, and kept a store, and also for the purpose of looking after the estate of his mother who was a daughter of Judge Matthias Hollenback, a well-known pioneer and large land-owner of the Wyom- ing Valley. Matthias Hollenback Laning located, in 1842, in Wysox township, on the farm now occupied by his son, and resided there until

957

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

his death, May 3, 1890; he was largely interested in real estate in Wysox and Towanda, and in mining in the Wyoming Valley at Wilkes- Barre and elsewhere. His wife was a daughter of Thomas B. and Maria (Hodkinson) Overton, of Wilkes-Barre, by whom he had four children; Robert H., Mary A. (Mrs. Edward T. Elliott), Emily T. (Mrs. William T. Bishop) and Elizabeth L. (Mrs. Clark B. Porter). Robert H. Laning was reared in Bradford county, and was educated at Dickinson's Seminary, Williamsport, and Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, Towanda. Since attaining his majority he has been engaged in various business enterprises, and during the lifetime of his father assisted him in the management of his business. He married, May 21, 1890, Mrs. Mary (Mowry) Morgan, daughter of Ezekiel Mowry, of Meshoppen. Mr. Laning has served as school director of Wysox four terms ; also several terms as road commissioner, and is in these posi- tions now; is a director of the First National Bank, Towanda ; presi- dent of the Bradford County Agricultural Society; is a Sir Knight Templar, and in politics is a Democrat.

GEORGE LANTZ, farmer, Franklin township, P. O. Franklin- dale, was born in Monroe township, this county, July 21, 1832, a son of Peter and Catherine (VanNest) Lantz, both of whom were born in New Jersey, and came to this county about 1825, locating at Wysox, from which place they removed to Franklindale, where the father died in 1862, at the age of seventy-nine years. He purchased a farm of 100 acres of wild land, which he improved and beautified, living on it fifty years ; his family were ten in number-three sons and seven daughters -all of whom grew to maturity, but only three are now living -George (our subject) being the youngest of the family. Peter was married twice; both of his wives were VanNests, and cousins; he had six children by the former marriage and four by the latter. When our subject was twenty-four years of age he purchased a farm and made a home for himself; at the age of thirty he married Miss Marga- ret, daughter of Samuel and Mary Anable, and the result of this union was six children-two sons and four daughters: Cora (died when four years old); Jennie; Louella (died when ten months old); Mamie. Samuel and James. Mr. Lantz has a neat home in the village of Franklindale, besides a farm of 100 acres, on which he raises grain, hay and wool; politically he is a Republican.

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.

History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 109

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