History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 119

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

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Eloise. In 1884, with three others, he engaged in the live-stock busi- ness, on the plains of South Dakota. In 1885 the live-stock company was incorporated as the Keystone Land and Cattle Company, with an authorized capital of. half a million ; Capt. Mitchell was chosen secre- tary and treasurer of the company, and has continued to look after their large business interests, both at home and in the West, to the .. present time. For many years he has taken an active interest in politics and public matters generally; was a member of the State Legislature from 1882 until 1884; has served as justice of the peace of Troy by appointment, and by election has been member of the borough council and clerk of the borough, an active member of the board of education for fifteen years, and is at present secretary of said board. He has, for many years, presented the Mitchell Gold Medal to the pupil, in the Troy graded and high schools, most perfect in orthography. He was a charter member of the first G. A. R. Post at Troy, and was its commander, two vears; was also a charter member of Glenwood Cemetery Association, and has continued it's secretary to the present time. Mr. Mitchell is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and was three years superintendent of the Sunday-school; he is a Sir Knight Templar, a member of the G. A. R., and in politics is a Republican.

WILLIAM MITTEN, farmer, Wyalusing township, P. O. Wyalu- sing, who is one of the few survivors of the Mexican War, was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, about 1819, a son of Thomas and Mary (Conn) Mitten, and came to the United States with his parents in 1839, locating in Herrick township. His mother died when he was two or three years old, and his father was married, the second time, to Jane Wood; he had three children by his first marriage, viz .: Joseph, who died in infancy; James, now residing in Herrick, and William; the children by his second marriage were: Susan, who died in infancy; Mary Ann, married to Nesbit Gamble (now deceased) and Eliza, married to Jesse Carman, and living in Camptown. William Mitten, the subject of this sketch, spent his time on the farm until May 30, 1844, when he enlisted in Company H, Eighth Regiment, United States Infantry, commanded by Capt. J. V. Boneford, stationed at St. Augustine, Fla. He remained there until June 8, 1845, and was transferred to Tampa Bay, and same fall to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he remained until March 9, 1846, when the army was started on the march for the East, along the bank of the Rio Grande, and the troops of which he was a mem- ber, werc engaged for some time in building Fort Brown. He was of the party that started on May 1, for Fort Isabel for supplies, securing which, they started, on May 7, on their return, and on May 8 fought in the battle of Palo Alto. The next day they again encountered the enemy at Resacca de la Palma, where they were posted in the dry bed of a ravine; here the Eighth Infantry, commanded by Col. Belknap, was held as reserve to support the attacking army. but were soon into the fight. The Mexicans fought until nearly all were slain or taken prisoners of war. The army crossed the Rio Grande on the 18th, and shortly afterward were taken by water to Comorgo, whence they started on the campaign against Monterey; during this campaign his

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regiment was under fire one night from the division of deserters from the American army, and Captain McKavett was killed, and others wounded ; the next day he was in the division that stoned and cap- tured the Bishop's palace; next day they captured the city and army of Monterey, and shortly afterward started to Saltill, which was taken without opposition. He then joined the forces of Gen. Scott, and, after the army concentrated and organized, started on the campaign against the city of Mexico; the army landed through the surf at San Juan de Ullo, Worth's division being the first to reach shore, and at once engaged the enemy, which, after a short but severe skirmish, fell back; they then invested the city of Vera Cruz, and remained there after the fall of the city, until April 18, 1847, when they had moved on and fought the battle of Cerro Gordo, where Santa Anna's wooden leg was captured; then Puebla was surrendered without a fight, and the American flag unfurled upon the walls of the city that the Mexi- cans boasted would never surrender. A few days later, after suffering from severe cold in the mountain, they came before the fortifications of the City of Mexico; then, on the twentieth, came the storming and capture of Contreras and Chernbusco, his company being the first to enter the latter fort, which they did after wading a ditch filled breast- high with water; the next engagement he participated in was the storming of Molino del Rey, where he narrowly escaped a bayonet thrust, turning aside so that the bayonet pierced his knapsack ; next vas the storming of Chapultepec, where Longstreet was wounded, and carried to the rear on the back of William Mitten; his division was under a constant fire along the acqueduct road into the city, where he lost one of his companions, Sergt. John H. Hoose, whom he had tented with since entering the army; they worked their way into the city, and the war was over. From November 14th, Worth's army was away from the city, occupying the city of Toluca, until Angust, 1848, when they started for home, making the trip by way of Vera Cruz and New Orleans, thence to St. Louis, Mo., and W. Mitten was there stationed for a short time, and in the fall of 1848 started for Port Lavaca, in Texas; the cholera broke out in his regiment, and out of the remnant left from the Mexican War, one hundred and twenty- seven fell victims to its ravages; from there he came home on a thirty days' furlough, and was discharged without rejoining his regiment; he was promoted to corporal at St. Augustine, and to first sergeant at Monterey, also was honored by having the straps taken from another sergeant and given to him; he was in the service five years, and met with many narrow escapes from the dangers of the field and march. After returning home he settled down to the duties of civil life, taking up farming, and he has passed the remainder of his life so far in the vicinity where he now lives; he now has 137 acres of land, beautifully located and well. improved. On September 6, 1849, he was united in wedlock with Margaret Morrow, a daughter of William Morrow, a prominent farmer of Wyalusing, and to them were born seven chil- dren, five of whom yet survive: Nancy J. married to J. W. Hurst, of Herrick township, and ex-register and recorder of Bradford county; R. J., member of the mercantile house of Mitten, Nesbit & Mitten, of

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Tekamah, Neb .; W. T., farmer, having charge of the old homestead; Jessie, married to T. J. Claggett, of Standing Stone, and Mary A., now housekeeper for her father and brother, W. T. Mr. Mitten is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church; he neither votes nor sits on juries. He lost his devoted wife by death, April 24, 1891. This family fills a prominent place in the love and respect of the community in which they live and move.

FREDERICK A. MOGER, retired farmer, P. O. Wyalusing, was born in Standing Stone, this county, July 29, 1842, a son of Nathaniel and Anna (Huyck) Moger. His parents were natives of Bradford county, of German origin; his mother died about thirty years ago, and his father, who was a farmer in Standing Stone, died in 1886, aged eighty-four years. They had a family of ten children, viz .: Sally, Margaret, Jane, William, Franklin, Lydia Ann, Frederick A., Arte- mesia, Inez and Anna, seven of whom are still living, and six reside in Bradford county. Frederick was born and reared on a farm, received a limited common-school education, and worked on his father's farm until March 1, 1864, when he enlisted in Company E, Fifty-second P. V. V. I., and served until July 22, 1865, when he was mustered out with his regiment, at Harrisburg; soon after his enlistment he was attached to the Signal Corps and did scout duty the greater portion of his term, thus being in no pitched battles, but enduring as hard and dangerous service as was to be found in the army; upon his return home he resumed the occupation of farming, and followed that for a short time; then entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, where he remained fourteen years. Prior to this time he had pur- chased a farm in Susquehanna county. In March, 1873, he came to Wyalusing, where he has since remained. On February 21, 1871, he married Martha Roberts, widow of Mortimer Roberts, and daughter of Albert Leonard, of Susquehanna county, and to them was born one child, who died in infancy. Mr. Moger is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Wyalusing, of Jackson Post, No. 74, G. A. R., and has been an officer of the guard the past three years; politically he is a stanch Democrat, but does not interest himself greatly in political matters.

GEORGE P. MONRO, farmer, P. O. Sylvania, was born in what is now North Towanda township. this county, August 31, 1838, and is a son of Peter and Lavinia (Pettibone) Monro, natives of Bristol, R. I., and Bennington, Vt., respectively; his paternal grandfather, Thomas Monro, son of Dr. Thomas Monro, settled in Columbia township, in 1823, and partially cleared the farm now owned by the heirs of Henry Card, and died there; his wife was Sybil Borden, by whom he had children, all of whom grew to maturity: Sally (Mrs. Henry Card), Thomas B., William, Mary T., George, Abram, Peter, Sybil (Mrs. James Metler), Bateman, Jolin and James, of whom Peter was born in Bristol, R. I., September 15, 1808 ; came with parents to Columbia township, in 1823, and after attaining his majority worked at the car- penter's trade, until 1858; then engaged in mercantile business. He died, February 13, 1888, after a permanent residence in Columbia township of fifty years; his wife was a daughter of Ira and Betsey

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(Tenney) Pettibone, of Manchester, Vt., by whom he had two chil- dren : George P. and Lucy L. (Mrs. L. W. Webb). Our subject was reared in Columbia township, received a common-school education, and for twenty seven years was with his father in the store at Sylvania, and was postmaster during that period, having been appointed May S, 1858. He resigned, October 1, 1885, and has since been engaged in farming. He married, December 25, 1879, Josephine, daughter of Thomas M. and Ann (Eustace) Embrey, of Fauquier county, Va., and has three children ; Ira T., George H. and Max L. Mr. Monro is a member of the Universalist Church ; is a charter member of Sylvan Lodge, No. 926, I. O. O. F. In politics he is Republican, and in 1860 was appointed assessor of United States Internal Revenue, holding position two years.

ALEXANDER MONROE, farmer, of Pike township, P. O., Le- Raysville, was born in Sharon, N. Y., October 5, 1838, the youngest living of the eleven children of Jacob and Rachel (Bice) Monroe, the former of whom, who was a blacksmith by trade, and of Scotch-Irish descent, moved from Connecticut, by teams, in March, 1852, to Barker, N. Y., where he died in 1863. Our subject obtained his education chiefly by private study until the age of eighteen. Afterward he attended school at Lodi and Argusville, N. Y., and fitted himself for teaching. He began life for himself in October, 1861, by enlisting in Company F, Twenty-seventh New York Volunteers, and was in the following engagements : West Point, Gaines' Mills, and Seven Days' figlit at White Oak Swamp, where his ankle was fractured, while on picket duty. He was mustered out, May 31, 1863, at the expiration of his term. Since that time he has chiefly followed farming, summers, and blacksmithing, winters, and has lived successively at Sharon (N. Y.), Franklin (Pa.). Barker (N. Y.), Rush (Pa.), LeRaysville and Towanda, then returned to LeRaysville, where he now resides. Mr. Monroe married Miss Emma E., daughter of Ira and Polly H. (Shum- way) Hyde, natives of Connecticut, and of English origin ; the children born to them are as follows: Arthur B., born September 1, 1868, a graduate of the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, class of '90, and one of Bradford county's most successful teachers : Addie C., born March 11, 1871, also a teacher, and Mertie N., born February 22, 1881. Mr. Monroe is a member of Spalding Post, No. 33, G. A. R., and is a Pro- hibitionist in politics.

M. MONTGOMERY, stone dealer, Silvara, was born in Delaware county. N. Y., May 25, 1825, a son of Alexander and Mary Ann (Hopkins) Montgomery. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, but both par- ents were natives of Washington county, N. Y. His father was a farmer by occupation, and passed his entire life in New York. They had a family of nine children, viz .: Hannah, Daniel, Lydia, Polly Ann, John, Martin, J. W., Moses and Olive A., of whom three are now living, as follows : Martin, Polly Ann (who married John Orcutt, and now resides in Washington county, N. Y.) and J. W., a farmer and miller. of Greene county, N. Y. Our subject was born and reared on a farm, but did not attend school until after his fourteenth year, and then only a short period of eighteen months. Until after his majority

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he then attended Hobart Academy and State Normal, of New York, and began teaching; taught in New York about three years, and in 1854 he came to Bradford county, where he taught the school at Merryall, also engaged in operating a sawmill at that place. He remained in Wyalusing township about three years, and then removed to what is known as Montgomery Corners, on Spring Hill, where he resided until 1874, when he removed to Silvara and purchased his present home. He had learned the trade of stone-mason, which, together with teaching, constituted his occupation until 1883. In 1879 he first turned his attention to the stone business, and began operating a quarry in the neighborhood of Silvara, known as the Coggswell quarry, which he operated five years, and then opened his present quarry, known as the Montgomery quarry, which is situated on the land of A. J. Silvara, and is an excellent place, producing both flag and stock of superior quality, which he markets on the yards at Skinner's Eddy. He employs a force of about seven men, and has an output of twenty-five hundred feet per week. Mr. Montgomery was united in marriage, December 31, 1851, with Esther Morris, a daughter of Gilbert Morris, of Ulster county, N. Y., and their union was blessed with two children: Mary E., who married William Sterling. a stone-cutter, of Silvara, and Hayden, who engaged with his father in the stone business. Mrs. Montgomery died March 16, 1883. Our subject is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, of Silvara; politically, he is a Republican, and takes an active part in local politics, but has never been a place-seeker. Mr. Montgomery has one of the best of the many excellent quarries in his section, and has it fitted with a good derrick, and all modern improve- inents for getting out stone.

DR. HORACE M. MOODY, physician, East Smithfield, born December 7, 1838, a son of Moses and Phoebe (Allen) Moody. Moses was the eldest of five sons, and came to this county with his father when five years of age, from Haverhill, Mass. The grandfather of the Doctor, Nathaniel Peasly Moody, was in the senior class in Yale College at the commencement of the Revolutionary War ; he enlisted on a privateer and went to sea, but was soon captured by the British and pressed into the Dutch service; after two years he was exchanged, and went into the army, rose to the rank of major and was at the surren- der of Burgoyne at Yorktown. Nathaniel settled in Rome in 1795, and soon took a possession near the mouth of Ballard creek, and after two years traded for a farm, where the village of Rome now stands, and paid a difference of 180 pounds of maple sugar; on account of his superior education he was a man of great influence in his time. Hor-

ace M. was educated at the schools of his native village, and at the Old Academy at Smithfield; he read medicine with Dr. E. P. Allen, now of Athens, attended one course of lectures at Ann Arbor, and was graduated at Geneva Medical College; he commenced the practice of his profession at East Smithfield in 1861. He was assistant-surgeon from 1863 until the close of the war, in the One Hundred and Eighty- third Pennsylvania, and was present at the surrender of Lee's army at Clover Hill, Va. He was married, October 26, 1865, to Lucinda L. Allen, a sister of Dr. Allen, born in 1841, and they have one daughter,

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. Corie Etta, born in 1866. The Moodys have been Federalists, Whigs and Republicans. Dr. Moody has five brothers who have been justices of the peace, and two, Myron and Nelson, were soldiers in the Civil War. He was the first man to help in the erection of the monument at the Centre in memory of the fallen heroes of the war, from Smith- field township, which was the first monument erected in northern Pennsylvania ; he is a commander of the G. A. R., and a Freemason. ULYSSES MOODY, merchant, Asylum, was born May 9, 1811, in Rome, this county, a son of Nathaniel P. and Susan (Griffin) Moody. Nathaniel P. Moody was a Revolutionary soldier; he offered himself to his country early in the war, but being too young was rejected, and was then shipped on board a privateer, at Boston, but in a few days it was captured at sea by the British, and he was taken as a prisoner of war to England, where he was pressed into service in the war against the Dutch. At the time of Burgoyne's defeat, he was exchanged, and then enlisted in the War for Independence, in which he experienced many hardships ; he was a man of great perseverance and sterling worth, and settled in Rome, this county, in 1790; his son, Benjamin, was the first white male child born in the county east of the river in Rome, Warren, Windham and Orwell. Ulysses is the youngest of nine children. He was married, August 17, 1837, to Mary A., daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Franklin) Terry, the father a native of Pennsylvania, the mother being English. Her grandfather was the first settler of Terry township. To Mr. and Mrs. Moody have been born four children, three of whom died in childhood. The sur- vivor, Nathaniel P., born December 16, 1843, in Asylum township, was educated in the common schools, and then at Towanda and Easton; was a sergeant in the Civil War; was in the battle of Fredericksburg, but, on account of failing health, was discharged ; he married Sarah, daughter of Dr. Edward C. Crandall, who died, October 14, 1887 (Nathaniel is a partner in the business with his father). The father has been continuously in the business since 1835, fifty-six years. This is one of the highly respectable families of the county.

GEORGE H. MOORE, wholesale and retail grocer, Towanda, was born in St Paul, Minn., April 17,1866, and is a son of Charles P. and Elizabeth (McCabe) Moore. His paternal grandfather, Henry P. Moore, who was a resident of Bradford county about sixty years, spent his boyhood in Standing Stone, and after reaching his majority became the junior member of the firm of Tracy & Moore, dealers in general merchandise there, and later in Towanda. He was also inter- ested in boating on the North Branch Canal, and owned a couple of boats which he operated several years. He died in Towanda, in the fall of 1888, at the age of seventy years. His wife was Amelia Nobles, by whom he had nine children, of whom Charles P., father of subject, was the second child, and eldest son. He was born in Towanda, and reared, educated and married there. In 1864 he removed to St. Paul, Minn., where he remained two years. He returned to Towanda in 1866, and took charge of his father's store for a time, and later, for ten years, was in the employ of the Erie Railroad Company at Barclay, as weighmaster and assistant superintendent of

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their mines. He afterward engaged in the liquor business one year, in Towanda, and then was for five years in the grocery business. Mr. Moore died January 5, 1889. His wife was a daughter of George McCabe, a native of Ireland, and a pioneer of Bradford county, and by her had two children, George H. and Jeanette. George H. Moore was reared and educated in Towanda, and when sixteen years of age took charge of Patch & Packer's store, at Sayre, for one year, and at seventeen embarked in business for himself at Towanda, in which he has since successfully continued. He married, October 15, 1890, Isabel, daughter of John and Aurissa (Angle) Spalding, of Towanda. He is a member of the Episcopal Church and F. & A. M .; politically he is a Republican.

P. W. MOREY, farmer, P. O. Rummerfield Creek, was born Octo- ber 26, 1832, in Northampton county, Pa., a son of Tobias and Marga- ret (Wiedman) Morey, natives of Pennsylvania, who were of Scotch and German ancestry. He was married, April 9, 1856, to Emma, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Lochr, of Michigan, who were of Ger- man extraction ; she was the third in a family of four children, all of whom are living. This union has been blessed with six children, all yet living, as follows: Sarah A., born July 9, 1857; Eugene, born October 1, 1859; Joseph L., born August 4, 1862, married to Emma Decker, December 24, 1885; Ida, born November 12, 1864, wife of C. F. Park ; Maggie May, born March 27, 1870, married to George A. Frutchey, and Augusta, born June 13, 1873. Mr. Morey was raised on his father's farm, came to this county in April, 1871, and purchased a part of the old Laporte farm in Asylum township, on the French- town flats, and owns over two hundred acres of as fine land as there is in the State. He is a very successful and prosperous farmer, combin- ing the growing of tobacco and stock-raising with that of general agriculture. He is a member of the F. & A. M., No. 311, Mount Bethel Lodge, and is a Democrat in politics. The family are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Morey ever manifests an interest in the education and welfare of his community.

ENOS W. MORGAN, farmer and carpenter, P. O. Burlington, was born in Massachusetts, September 15, 1830, a son of Herman and Orilla (Boyce) Morgan, farmers and natives of New England, of Eng- lish ancestry. The grandfather, Morgan, was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. Our subject was brought by his parents to Bradford county, in 1832, and they settled in Armenia, where they engaged in farming. In 1862, Enos W. enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Seventy-first P. V. I., and was many times under fire. On account of great exposure, and consequent loss of health, he was discharged in September, 1863, and is now a pensioner and a member of the G. A. R. Mr. Morgan has been twice married, his first marriage being with Rosilla Brown, who died, and he then married, April 10, 1878, Mrs. Permelia (Lane) Riley. By his first wife he had four children, as fol- lows : G. Lorenzo, married to Laura Beals; Alma J., wife of Joseph Pierce ; Susan, wife of Clinton Murray ; and Charles Newton, married to Alice Farnsworth. Mr. Morgan has been a carpenter, builder and farmer all his life. In politics he is a Republican, but his sympathies

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are largely with the Prohibition party. His father died at the age of eighty-one years, and his mother lived to the great age of ninety-five years. The family are members of the Disciple Church.

ZOPHAR L. MORGAN, farmer, P. O. Luther's Mills, was born October 3, 1842, in Truxton, Cortland Co., N. Y., a son of Samuel R. and Harriet (Wicks) Morgan, the former a native of Massachusetts, and the latter of Connecticut, both of English ancestry ; they were agricul- turists and removed to Bradford county, where they first settled in Ulster township, in 1852, and here with his sons the father engaged in the lumbering business and farming; the family numbered nine children. The father died at the age of eighty years; the mother is living at the age of eighty-eight years. Zophar L. was reared on the farm, and in August, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty- second P. V. I., for service in the Civil War ; he lost his health while in active service, caused from an injury, was discharged in November, 1863, and is now a pensioner. Mr. Morgan was married, September 19, 1866, to Juliette C. Knapp, who was born September 8, 1850, a daughter of Mortimer and Melisa (Clark) Knapp, of Burlington; she is a niece of R. M. Knapp, of Burlington, and her family were among the pioneers of the township ; her father is a grocer at Luther's Mills in which business he has been engaged many years, and is now seventy-one years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are residing on the old homestead of her father and grandfather, a nice farm of about eighty acres. They have had one child-a son named Mortimer M. M., born June 12, 1868. Mr. Morgan was several years in the grocery business at Campbell, N. Y., and Sayre, Pa. He is a Republican, has been treasurer of the town many years, and is a member of the G. A. R. The family are members of the Church at Luther's Mills. Mr. Morgan is respected by the entire community.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 119

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