History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 120

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

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DWIGHT MORLEY, farmer, P. O. Bentley Creek, was born, Feb- ruary 26, 1831, in Springfield township, this county, a son of Walter and Julia (Sargent) Morley, both born in Litchfield, Conn., of English origin ; they removed to Bradford county in 1828, and settled at Leona. The father was a blacksmith, and followed his trade at that place until 1844, when he removed to Wellsburg, and engaged in the hotel busi- ness up to his death, which occurred when he was aged eighty years. The grandfather, Walter Morley, was a captain in the Revolutionary War, and a hotel-keeper. Dwight Morley was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade, which business he followed until 1862, when he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-first N. Y. V. I., and served as a sergeant in the Army of the Potomac ; he saw considerable hard service, but on account of the loss of health he was mustered out, and returned home, and he is now in the enjoyment of a pension. Mr. Morley was twice married, first time, in January, 1856, to Sarah Stev- ens, who died, and he then married, July 5, 1869, his present wife, Catherine Rhodes, of Elmira, N. Y., who was born December 25, 1848, and by her he has two children : La Francis, born August 31, 1881, and Fay D., born February 18, 1884. Mr. Morley is the owner of a beau- tiful farm of seventy-five acres, under a good state of cultivation, with fine buildings, and carries on dairying and stock-raising; he is a mem-

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

ber of the G. A. R., Bingham Post, No. 555, a Republican in politics, and is one of the substantial and reliable men of the township, much respected hy a large circle of friends.

J. D. MORRIS, proprietor of Quarry Glenn Stone Works, Sheshe- quin township, P. O. Quarry Glen, was born in Greene county, N. Y., March 19, 1842, a son of J. D. J. and Margaret D. (Dedritch) Morris, natives of Germany and Greene county, N. Y., respectively. The father came to the United States with his parents, when a small child, and was brought up, and learned the butcher's trade, and then went in the drover's business. He was married in Greene county, and reared his family there; his business, while in Greene county, was dealing in stone, and he was proprietor of the quarries at Malden and Cats- kill ; he now resides in . Philadelphia. His mother died August 31, 1874. His father's family consisted of eight children-five boys and three girls-two, John C. and Wm. H., deceased, while the others live in Philadelphia. J. D. Morris spent his boyhood in Greene county N. Y., where he attended the common schools, and received his educa- tion ; he learned the trade of stone-cutter in his father's quarries. In 1861, he opened a quarry in Greene county, N. Y., and conducted this until February 22, 1864, when he enlisted in Company E, fifteenth Regiment, New York Engineers, and was discharged, June 13, 1865, at Fort Berry, Va., at the close of the war. He was engaged in building bridges, repairing roads, etc. After returning from the army he opened a quarry in Ulster county, N. Y., and operated same two years ; then located at Philadelphia, and dealt in granite and blue-stone, remaining there five years, then, in 1874, came to his present place, and was foreman for the Philadelphia and Susquehanna Blue Stone Co.'s Quarry, one and one-half years, after which he commenced operating a quarry for himself, and his product is a stone that is unsurpassed in quality by any in the United States. He works about twenty-five men during the summer months, and ships to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Florence, turning out, annually about 200,000 tons; and supplies the stone for many of the most noted public buildings in the county, and many of the finest residences. The machinery for working the quarries consists of several huge derricks, four rip-saws, with steam power furnished by two ten-horse-power portable engines. Mr. Morris was married, December 4, 18-, to Mary A., daughter of Archi- bald Davis, of Greene county, N. Y., and hasa family of five children : Ella J., married to Ellsworth Gooding, and has one son ; Edward S., the only son was married, August 5, 1891, to Myra A. Gilletta; Louetta, died June 14, 1891, after an illness of but a few days, in her nineteenth year; Ada and Mary. Mr. Morris is a member of Watkins Post, No. 68, G. A. R .; I. O. O. F., Valley Lodge, No. 108, Towanda ; is officer of the day in the G. A. R. Post, and in politics is a Republican. The family moved to Towanda, in March, 1891, and are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

THOMAS J. MORRIS, of Pike township, carpenter and joiner, P. O. LeRaysville, was born in Towanda, November 26, 1837, and is the eldest of five children of John and Elizabeth (Jenkins) Morris, natives of Wales, and a grandson of William and Mary (Lewis) Morris.

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

His maternal grandparents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Jones) Jenk- ins, and they were the first Welch family that settled in Pike. John Morris was born in 1806, came to America in 1832, and worked at the carpenter's trade one year in New York; then took up a farm in Pike township, and lived there a year. In 1835 he went to Towanda, and took contracts in the carpentering business for fourteen years, and built the first Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and Methodist Episcopal churches in Towanda, also the first "Ward House" and the C. L. Ward residence, and many other buildings in that place. In 1849 he returned to Pike, and was employed by Caleb Cannalt, thirteen years, in constructing the buildings around Cannalt's lake. In 1862 he engaged in farming where he now lives. Thomas J. was educated in the common schools and Towanda graded school, and worked with his father at the car- penter's trade until twenty-four years old, when he started in business for himself, and went to Tennessee, in 1862, where he was a "squad boss" in the United States' construction department for six months. He was drafted to enter the army, but paid for a substitute, and returned to LeRaysville. Later he entered the quartermaster depart- ment at Alexandria, Va., and after six months re-entered the con- struction department, where he remained until the close of the war. He had charge of 130 men, and was paid a salary of $140 a month. At the close of the war he attended the grand review, President Lin- coln's funeral, and many noted public events, then returned to Pike and purchased a farm, which he now owns, and where his father lives. In 1881 he built his own beautiful residence in LeRaysville. June 4, 1865, Mr. Morris married Sophia, daughter of John and Jane (Will- iams) Williams, natives of Wales, and they have had six children: Wal- ter T., born November 24, 1867, married to Sarah Smith, May 6, 1891; Nellie E., born September 5, 1873 ; George R., born March 27, 1877 ; Grace, born June 11, 1879, died February 10, 1882; Mabel, born August 3, 1885, and Fred, born August 19, 1888. Mrs. Morris is a member of the Congregational Church .. Mr. Morris is a member of the Masonic Lodge, and is a Republican ; he has been a member of the borough council nine years, and school director the same length of time, besides having held other minor offices.

NEWTON J. MORROW, farmer, of Herrick township, P. O. Ballibay, was born in Herrick township, this county, January 31, 1848; His father, Hamilton Morrow, was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1812, and came to this county in 1826. He first purchased fifty acres of land and, later, 120 acres, which he afterward exchanged for fifty acres adjoining his original purchase ; in 1862 he purchased forty- four acres and, in 1872, fifty acres, making a total of 194 acres in Her- rick, besides 189 acres he had in Wyalusing. He was a successful far- mer, and followed lumbering ; he died of apoplexy in 1886. In 1839 he married Jane, daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Walsh) Walker, the fourth in a family of six children, and she bore him the following children : James (deceased), Catherine Anne (wife of J. A. Morrow), Dr. Francis G. (of Warren Centre), William J., Mary Jane (deceased), Julia F. (deceased,) William T., Arletta (wife of F. Pendleton), Newton J., and two who died in infancy. Mrs. H. Morrow died September 29,

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

1874. William T. attended school in Ballibay and Camptown, and taught school two terms in Wyalusing, then worked on a farmi one year, and in 1877, went to Nebraska, but soon returned home and farmed two years, then again went to Nebraska. When he returned he purchased of his father, forty-four acres of land, and in 1886, from his brother, N. J. Morrow, fifty acres adjoining his first purchase, and farmed until 1887, when he went to Camptown, and opened a general store, in company with Charles Mallert, under the firm name of Mor- row & Mallert. They closed this out after two years, and William T. returned to his farm permanently. He married, December 11, 1883, Carissa, daughter of Miles E. and Sarah (Van Buren) Reed, the third in a family of four children. and they have one child, Edith Geraldine, born in 1888. The family are members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Mr. Morrow is a Republican in politics.

Newton J. Morrow attended school in Ballibay and Camptown until his twenty-first year, and then worked on the farm and taught school three winters. In 1873 he purchased from his father fifty acres of land in Herrick township, on which he farmed, also carried on the business of buying and shipping hay and grain. In 1875 he went to Rummerfield, and went into business with Wellington Whittaker, deal- ing in general merchandise, under the firm name of Morrow & Whitta- ker, until 1877, when they closed the business ont, and he returned to his farm, and has since followed farming, lumbering and shipping. In 1884 he purchased the homestead from his father; he has been school director two years, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, elected in June, 1890; politically he is a Republican. In 1872 he married Adeline, daughter of John and Mary (Fee) Nesbit, the eldest of seven children, and they have three children : Mary Jane, Hamilton and John Andrew.

C. T. MORSE, farmer, LeRoy, was born in LeRoy, this county, December 30, 1834, a son of Sullivan and Phoebe (Bailey) Morse, also natives of the county. The father was a son of Jesse Morse, who located in LeRoy township, this county, about the year 1805, having been for- merly a resident of Massachusetts. The family consisted of seven children-five daughters and two sons-all of whom are now living. C. T., who is the second in the family, was reared in LeRoy township, educated in the common schools, and in early life learned the black- smith's trade, which he followed fifteen years; also worked at the mason's trade, and then engaged in farming. He was married, at LeRoy, October 4, 1857, to Elma McKee, who was born in 1840, a daughter of Robert and Hannah McKee, the former of whom was born in Seneca county, N. Y., in 1815, the latter in LeRoy, in 1818. To them were born six children, five of whom are now living, as fol- lows: Eva, born in 1858; Floyd, born in 1859 (married Ann, daughter of Wesley and Belle Kerr); Clarice, born in 1865 (married John Kerr); Gertrude, born in 1868, and Martin L., born in 1872. Mr. Morse is an Independent-Republican, and has held various offices of public trust, such as judge of elections and commissioner ; he is a member of the Grange.

HON. GEORGE MOSCRIP, farmer and salesman, P. O. Burling- ton, was born in Greenock, Scotland, January 23, 1840, a son of

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Andrew and Fanny (White) Moscrip, former of whom was a carpenter and builder ; he was a native of Scotland, and when a young man removed to America where he was married, but after some years he returned to his native country. The mother was a direct descendant of Peregrine White (of the Pilgrim stock), who was the first male child born in the Plymouth colony. The paternal grandfather was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, was a clergyman of what was known as the secession branch of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, and was the pastor of that church at Greenock forty years. Andrew Moscrip was an educated man, but chose a trade in preference to a profession. Returning to America he settled in Herrick township, in 1840, and died at the age of sixty-three years, his wife at the age of forty-eight. Their son George, our subject, who was educated in the schools of the township, and at LeRaysville Academy, taught school most of the time, from sixteen years of age until he was thirty, and has, for many years, been engaged in the sale of school books and apparatus. In the fall of 1874 he was elected to the State Legislature, where he served two years. Mr. Moscrip has been twice married: first on April 5, 1870, to Harriet L. Pease, who died in 1874, and afterward, July 18, 1878, to Sarah M. Loomis of Windham, a daughter of Rev. A. W. Loomis, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a member of the Wyoming Con- ference ; she was born at Rome, this county, September 18, 1853, and died August 27, 1891. They had born to them five children : Fannie E., George L., Andrew L., Lewis S. and Clarence A. In the Civil War Mr. Moscrip served in the commissary department of the Second Army Corps. . He is one of the representative men of the county.

E. M. MOSHER, farmer and stock-raiser, a son of Earl and Abigail (Mackey) Mosher, natives of the State of New York, was born in Albany county, N. Y., October 5, 1834. His father's family were of French descent, and grandfather Mosher was among the early pioneers of Dutchess county, N. Y. His mother's people were of Dutch and Irish extraction ; his grandfather, on his mother's side, was a colonel in the War of 1812. The father emigrated to this county in 1872, and died August 24, 1889, at the age of eighty-two; the mother died in New York, March 12, 1876, aged sixty-four ; they were farmers. E. M. Mosher was educated in the State of New York, first in the common schools and afterward he attended the New York Conference Seminary, of Charlotteville, N. Y., about one year, having to leave the Institution on account of sickness before receiving his degree. When twenty-two years old he engaged in teaching, and continued at that four years, during the winter months, farming during the summer ; he then devoted his attention to farming and now owns the "Seven Oaks farm," situated in the Milan Valley ; it is beautifully located, and contains 125 acres of bottom and upland, besides a dairy of eighteen cows. February 15. 1860, he was united in marriage with Sarah E., daughter of G. W. and Silvia C. (Newel) Stryker, and they had the following children : Lillian (the oldest), May (wife of Henry Nolte, of Duluth, Minn.), one died in infancy, Georgie, Dency, Sarah, Eva and John. Mr. Mosher is a member of the Baptist Church, and is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; in politics he is a Democrat.

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

JAMES S. MOSHER, M. D., Austinville, born in Columbia town- ship, this county, January 24, 1867, is a son of Cornelius H. and Martha (Vankirk) Mosher ; his paternal grandfather, William A. Mosher, and maternal grandfather, Joseph Vankirk, were pioneers of Columbia and Wells townships, respectively. The subject of this sketch was reared in his native township, and educated at Troy public schools, where he took a preparatory course for college. In 1882 he began the study of medicine with Dr. T. D. Gray, of Sylvania, later with Dr. E. G. Tracy, of Troy, and entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Md., in 1889, and in May 1891, he began the practice of his profession in Austinville, where he is now located. On April 16, 1891, the Doctor married Laura, daughter of Lesser and Hannah (Lesser) Lesser, of Bremen, Germany. Dr. Mosher is a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F. Lodge, No. 926, Sylvania, and politically he is a Democrat.

REV. ABRAHAM M. MOTT, P. O. Granville Centre, was born in Southport, Chemung Co., N. Y., August 28, 1824, a son of Alvah and Anna (VanCampen) Mott, of German descent. He was reared in bis native county, and received very limited school advantages. He served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, as carriage ironer, in Elmira, N. Y., and settled in Granville, this county, in 1845, where he worked at his trade, with the exception of the time he was in the army, until 1865. In 1861, he enlisted in Capt. Tilford's Company, Fiftieth Regiment, P. V. I., but was soon discharged, on account of disability. In 1864, he re-enlisted, this time in Company F, One Hundred and Eighty-eighth N. Y. V. I., and was honorably discharged at close of the war. On April 16, 1885, he was ordained a minister of the Church of Christ, and he is an advocate and worker in Sunday- schools, and is a successful revivalist. He married, January 1, 1846, Cynthia, daughter of Elisha Bailey, of Granville, and has one son, Devyr, now a prominent physician of Fontana, Kans. Mr. Mott, some years ago, was appointed United States Pension Attorney by the Government. He has been a successful official, and practised before all departments of the Pension Bureau, at Washington, D. C. He has held several of the minor offices in Granville; is a member of the G. A. R., McKee Post, No. 584, West Franklin, Pa., and in politics he is a Republican.

H. K. MOTT, farmer, P. O. LeRoy, was born in Middletown, Dela- ware Co., N. Y., May 19, 1838, a son of Matthew and Mary (Knicker- bocker) Mott, natives of Germany, the former of whom was born in New York, in 1808. Matthew Mott removed from New York in the year 1851, and located in LeRoy, where he built a tannery the same year, which he operated until his death, which occurred March 12, 1877. He wastwice married, and by his first wife he had children, as follows: Knickerbocker, Hiram K., Pratt, Matthew B., Phebe and Sophia, and by the second wife he had as follows: Fremont, Thomas, Samuel, Mary, Myrtie, Alice and Ann, all of whom grew to maturity, ten living in this county. H. K. Mott was reared and educated in LeRoy, and in early life he learned the tanner's trade in all its depart- ments, continuing the business until his twenty-sixth year, after which

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

he became a prosperous speculator, and is now a farmer of extensive means. On January 1, 1859, he married Mary E., daughter of George and Sallie M. Whipple, who removed to this county in 1840. To this union were born six children-five sons and one daughter-viz .: George W., John S., Omar D., Kiah, Andrew and Sadie, the latter married to Charles S. Holcomb, publisher of the Weekly Monogram, of LeRoy. Mr. Mott has a very extensive carp pond on his farm, and in the fall of 1890 he placed about 1,673 young carp therein. Politically he is a Republican, and has been favored with many offices of public trust ; he now holds his fifth commission as justice of the peace; he is a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F.

MARTIN MULLEN, a prominent, respectable farmer of Overton township, P. O. Overton, a native of Ireland, born November 10, 1837, - is a son of Bartholomew and Ann (Judge) Mullen, of County Mayo. The family immigrated to Canada, in 1847, and from there moved to Overton, in 1851, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1862; the mother yet survives. Martin is the fifth in a family of nine children ; his childhood was spent on his father's farm, commencing at a young age, assisting at the farm work in sumn- mer, and attending the short-term winter's school. He has followed the precepts and example of his beloved parents, and from his father's farm he went out into the world on his own account and continued farming. His fortune, chiefly, was his honest industry and thought- ful frugality, and this is told in the fact that he is now the possessor of a farm of 100 acres of rich land in Bradford county, all highly improved. Martin Mullen married Sabina Clark, of Williamsport, daughter of John and Barbara (Brown ) Clark, of Ireland, who came to this country in 1853. Of this happy union are the following chil- dren : Mary Ann (wife of John Welch), Edward J. (school teacher) and Barbara C. The family are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Mullen has been road commissioner, and votes the Democratic ticket.

THOMAS MULLEN, farmer, P. O. Overton. [See sketch of his brother, Martin Mullen, for family record.] He was born in Ireland in December, 1829, the eldest in a family of nine children, grew to manhood in his native home, and came with his father's family to Overton in 1851. He has spent his life farming. having commenced a poor boy, but is now the proud possessor of 100 acres, a finely improved farm, that is the dear old family home. He married, in Williamsport, in 1855, Bridget, daughter of Matthew and Johanna (Brown) Murray, natives of Ireland. To this union were born the following children: Mary E., Annie B., Johanna A., Anthony J. and Maggie A. The family are members of the Roman Catholic Church, and are among the inost respected people of Bradford county. Mr. Mullen has held the office of school director for twenty-five years, road commissioner for the term of twelve years, and township auditor several years ; has been poor master and school treasurer, and in poli- tics he is a Democrat.

ALEXANDER MURDOCK, a farmer and stock-grower, P. O. Ulster, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, June 26, 1825, and is a son of

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Robert and Margaret (Pollock) Murdock, natives of the same place. His father died in Scotland in 1849, but his mother survived about twenty years. Alexander came to this country in 1849, and located on a farm in Ulster. His father was a weaver, and worked in the cloth mills of Gaulstone, Scotland, but did not follow this trade many years. Our subject received a common-school education in his native place, but was put to work at the loom when ten years old, and fol- lowed weaving until he was twenty-one, when he was appointed to a position on the police force of Kilmarnock, where he served three years. The farm he purchased was covered with heavy timber which he cleared, and he now owns the farm he cleared on first coming here, which consists of 200 acres of upland, and is well improved and under a splendid state of cultivation. Of his immediate ancestors he knows but little, and with the exceptions of his own family he has no relatives in this country. He was married, in Scotland, to Janette, daughter of George and Helen (Patterson) Rodgers, natives of Gaulstone, and to them the following named children were born : Robert and George R., born in Scotland (Robert is now a physician in Wilkes-Barre); Christina, wife of Adolphus Watkins; Maggie, wife of Louis Russell, of Wisconsin ; Alexander, a prominent farmer of Smithfield ; Ellen, wife of A. N. Rockwell, of Ulster; James, of Binghamton, N. Y. and Carrie. In religious belief Mr. Murdock is a Baptist, and in his political views he is a Republican.

GEORGE R. MURDOCK, farmer and stock-grower, P. O. Ulster, is a son of Alexander and Janette (Patterson) Murdock, and was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, October 11, 1848. His parents immigrated to this country when he was about eight months old, and settled in Ulster township ; the son attended the Ulster schools until nearly twenty-one years of age, and received a good common-school education, assisting the father in clearing 150 acres of land, which he now owns. He was married, September 16, 1886, to Georgia, daughter of William and Jessie (Gallespie) Irving, and is the father of two children-Lawrence and William. His wife's people are of Scotch descent, and she was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and immigrated to this country about 1870. Mr. Murdock cultivates six acres of tobacco yearly, besides the cereal crops, and now owns the old homestead, which consists of 150 acres of upland, and, with the exception of about three acres in woodland, is all under cultivation ; he also keeps twenty- one cows for dairy purposes. His wife is a member of the Presby- terian Church, and he is a Methodist in his belief, but is not attached to any church : he is a Republican in politics.

JOHN H. MURRAY, farmer and stock-dealer, South Waverly, is a native of the place, born May 20, 1826. His parents were Harris and Ellen (Gordon) Murray, the former a farmer, a native of Athens township, born in June, 1800; his death occurred August 4, 1877; the latter was a native of Standing Stone township, and died in 1830. Mr. Harris Murray was twice married, the second time to Sophia Canfield, a native of Smithsborough, Tioga Co., N. Y., and is now in her ninetieth year, and resides on the old homestead in South Waverly. John is the second in a family of five children by the first marriage;

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

he was reared on the farm, and in 1850 started a meat-market, which he sold in the spring of 1862, and rented two large farms, and engaged in buying and selling cattle, mules and horses. During the war he bought horses and sold them to the Government. In 1870 he again started a meat-market, this time with S. W. Miller, his brother-in-law, and they followed the business about twelve years. In 1870 he pur- chased a tract of timber land at Wyncoop Creek, Chemung Co., N. Y., which contained 525 acres of valuable timber, and erected a sawmill on it, and was engaged in lumbering about twenty-one years. He sold $16,000 worth of lumber off the tract, erected a large barn, and has been improving the land since. In the same year he bought a tract of land in Charles county, Md., which contained 800 acres, of which 700 is timber land; he also owns considerable land in this county, on which he keeps stock. He has had charge of the stock-yards in Waverly for the Lehigh Valley Railroad since they built their line. He was married in Athens township, December 28, 1859, to Jane, daughter of Alvin and Eliza (Parmater) Morley, natives of Connecti- cut. Mr. Morley was a miller early in life, and later went to Man- chester, Iowa, and bought 1,800 acres of land for a speculation. He invented a barb wire for fencing, but did not have it patented. Mrs. Murray was the third of a family of five children, born in Athens township, June 3, 1832; she died April 15, 1888. She was a consist- ent member of the Presbyterian Church. They had two children, Lida and John H. The latter is engaged in the coal business for the D. L. & W. R. R. Co. at South Waverly. Mr. Murray is a member of the F. & A. M., Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70. He served as burgess of South Waverly borough two years, and was township commissioner three years; was nominated for county treasurer, but was defeated with his ticket; he is a Democrat in politics.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 120

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