History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 127

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

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In 1855-56, in company with Marcus Blair, of New Jersey, he con- structed twenty miles of railroad in that State. In the same year his brother, Joseph E., built the Barclay Railroad from Towanda to the Barclay mines, a distance of sixteen miles. While at this time he was actively engaged in various enterprises, the political world received a share of attention. A life-long personal friend of Mr. Buchanan, in his election Col. Piollet performed the most excellent and loyal service on the stump in Pennsylvania. Mr. Buchanan, recognizing the ability of his friend, Col. Piollett, proffered him the position of private secre- tary. Being then engaged in business that required his personal atten- tion, he declined the place, but consented to remain a few weeks at

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the National Capital, and act in the capacity that the President desired him to occupy during his administration. He once informed the author of this sketch that his duties, while he remained at the White House, consisted largely in returning the presents which had been sent the President. While the guest of Mr. Buchanan, one day, at dinner, he was seated opposite the British Minister, with whom he conversed quite freely in regard to the relation of the two countries. The dinner over, the representative of Great Britain inquired of Mr. Buchanan in regard to the profession of Col. Piollett, and was quite astonished when informed that he was a Pennsylvania farmer.

In April, 1861, immediately after President Lincoln's proclamation, calling for 75,000 volunteers to put down the Rebellion, a meeting was called at the court-house in Towanda, to enlist volunteers to fill the quota of Pennsylvania. Col. Piollet addressed the meeting from the court-house balcony in a speech, which for eloquence and patriotism, has never been excelled in this county ; his words were the strongest appeal to our citizens to stand by the emblem of our nationality, and our free institution; the integrity of the Union, and its indissolubility had no firmer or more loyal advocate and friend than Victor E. Piollett from 1861 to 1865.

In 1864, in June, he represented the Thirteenth Congressional District in the Democratic National Convention, which nominated Gen. Mcclellan for the Presidency. In the same year he was the Democratic candidate for Congress, in the district composed of Brad- ford, Sullivan, Montour, Columbia and Wyoming counties ; his oppo- nent was the late Chief-Justice Ulysses Mercur. The district was Republican by a majority of one thousand. Of the vote actually cast in the district, Col. Piollet had a majority, but was defeated by the vote declared cast against him by the soldiers in the field. Many of his friends seriously questioned the declared result. He was instru- mental and the active agent in the purchase of the North Branch Canal for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, and when accom- plished was made superintendent of the construction, in 1866, of the rail- road extension from Lackawanna Junction to Waverly, N. Y., the work occupying three years; the first train bearing the president of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, Hon. Asa Packer, its chief officials and hun- dreds of citizens along the line, passed over the road September 9, 1869. Col. Piollet was the active spirit in formulating this great enterprise and bringing it to the attention of the officials of the " Lehigh Valley."

In 1868 he was made the Democratic candidate for Congress, and was again confronted by his old opponent, Judge Mercur. Party lines were sharply drawn on the issues of the war, viz .: the reconstruc- tion of the Southern States, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. After an active canvass he was defeated by the insignificant majority of 311 in the largest vote ever cast for Congress, in the Thirteenth District. In 1874 he was elected lecturer of the State Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and visited every county of the State. Through his efforts the number of organizations and members was greatly increased. Ile was subsequently honored by being elected

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master and chairman of the Executive Committee. His interest in the success of the producing classes never wavered, and was untiring. His desire was to educate and elevate all engaged in agricultural pur- suits. How earnest and energetic were his efforts can be attested by thousands in his native State. In 1875 he was nominated by the Democratic State Convention for State treasurer, and canvassed Pennsylvania, from Lake Erie to the Delaware, but was defeated by 4,000 in the State. In 1886 he was again the leader of the forlorn hope for Congress in a district containing 4,000 Republican majority. In the Presidential canvass of 1888 he, with Hon. Samuel J. Randall and thousands of other Democrats, refused to support President Cleveland's tariff reform platform, and opposed his election on the ground that the protection was for the best interests of the American people. Victor E. Piollet possessed the courage of his convictions, and in that canvass severed his connections with the Democratic party.

He has passed from "the land of shadows," and peacefully rests in the beautiful valley of the Susquehanna, made glorious by his efforts more perhaps than by any other man, living or dead.

JOSEPH E. PIOLLET, farmer, Wysox, is a son of Hon. Joseph M. and Elizabeth (Whitney) Piollet. He was born August 30, 1819, almost on the spot where he now resides, and of him it may be said (and what more need be said of any man) that he is a worthy son of un illustrious father. His father came to this county in 1807, and the first year was at Rummerfield, and then in 1808 removed to Wysox, and was for years merchandising with William Keeler. Joseph M. Piollet died in Wysox, in, 1850, aged seventy-seven. Victor E. and Joseph M. Piollet were more than brothers; they were inseparable com- panions and partners in all the business affairs of their lives, a close communion without variableness and change, that only parted when the Grim Reaper gathered his harvest, in August, 1890, in the death of the elder brother, and when the two were thus forever separated, the next nearest thing to that continued companionship and communion was to place Victor's son, Louis, in the place of his father, and the business went on. Joseph E. Piollet and Esther A. Cox (a daughter of John Cox, of Scotch-Irish descent) were united in the holy bonds of wedlock, in Dauphin county, in 1849, and of this happy union were born four sons and one daughter, of whom, John C. is at home, and is manager of his father's large farm; Heister is a locomotive engineer on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and resides at Sayre.

The two brothers, Victor and Joseph, engaged largely in railroad building at different times, and constructed many miles of the Lehigh Valley, almost the entire road bed of the Barclay Railroad. Joseph was president of the Bradford County Agricultural Society, eleven years; he was nominated on the Democratic ticket for the Legislature, but suffered defeat with his ticket, though running largely ahead of it. The brothers were contractors on the old canal. It is proper to state here, that while the brothers were Democrats, the younger one eschewed politics and left that almost wholly to his brother, and his one ambition was to be one of the best of the many famous farmers

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of old Bradford county, and he fully realized his fondest expectations in this respect. Of his brothers and sisters, other than Victor E., it is proper here to say that his sister Frances T. married Alexander Dewing (she is now a widow and a resident of Wysox); Emile V., married to Thomas T. Wierman, resides at Harrisburg ; her children are two sons and three daughters (her eldest daughter married the eminent Dr. Mitchell); Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Joseph M. Piollet, married D. C. Salsbury, and died at at the age of twenty-two, leaving one child.

To the outside public these two companion and partner brothers' lives ran in very different grooves, but it was not so. The one simply was indifferent to all except the vast business affairs and his quiet home ; this was merely responsive to his nature, the conservatism of his born characteristics, and they were best known and best, or per- haps only fully, appreciated by that brother and partner. His long and useful life is gently closing, and it brings to him the cheering con- solation that it has been a true life, and is rounded out with those features that will make it a study and subject of fond respect by a remote posterity.

JOHN PIOLLET, farmer and stock-grower, Wysox township, was born in Wysox, this county, April 12, 1856, and is a son of J. E. Piol- let. He spent his boyhood on the farm, attending the common schools, and has always been engaged with his father on the farm. Mr. Piollet was married, November 1, 1882, to Miss Carrie, daughter of Eugene D. and Clara (Krafft) Morgan, of Memphis, Tenn., and this union has been blessed with three bright and beautiful children, viz .: Theresa, Clara Eugenia and John Cox. Mr. and Mrs. Piollet are members of Wysox Grange; he is a life-long and full-fledged Democrat, and a strong advocate of political reform.

LOUIS PIOLLET, farmer, of Wysox township, is a descendant of one of the most illustrious families of Bradford, a people eminent for their progressive enterprise, as well as for their convictions, that command universal attention and respect. He was born May 22, 1859, and is the only son of Col. Victor E. Piollet. His sister, Emily V., first married Robert A. Packer, known throughout the country in con- nection with the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and whose splendid residence is now the noted Robert A. Packer Hospital, Sayre; he died when a young man, and she afterward married Richard H. Eggleston, cashier of Lincoln National Bank, New York, and of which they are residents. She is the only other surviving child of Col. Victor E. Piollett.

The childhood life of young Piollet was surrounded with the unusual advantages that came of great wealth, and one of the most intelligent and interesting families of the Commonwealth. At his mother's knee he imbibed his first lessons of life, impressed, as they were, every hour and minute of his childhood, hy the stronger will and the nearly equal deep affection of a father of rare intelligence and gentle blood. When he was old enough, his parents provided a private tutor, both a teacher and companion, who guided his footsteps along the intricate paths of that higher and better education, including the sciences and the classics. Thus he came, in tender years, in touch with only the best influences,

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and the lad was responsive to all this parental care and solicitude that their fond hearts could bestow. His home education completed, the text books had been successfully passed, when his parents sent him to polish the whole with travel, both in this country and in Europe. His companionship in his travels was, most fortunately, part of the time with Robert A. Packer, with whom he visited most of the noted spots in Europe, many parts of this country, especially Florida, at Mr. Packer's cottage by the sea, and at the National Democratic Convention, St. Louis, in 1876, that nominated Gov. Samuel J. Tilden for President. Thus, by travel and by circumstances, he was thrown in contact with many of the most noted men of the day, both in this country and in the Old World. When he returned to his old home, he began at once to relieve his father of some of the vast business cares that were well and bravely met, and in a short time, when he had demonstrated his ability, he was more and more entrusted, until soon the declining years of his father were soothed with the glowing satisfaction that both his confidence and hope were well placed. Thus and then only may the young, in part, repay the solicitous love and care of fond parents. The young inan soon mastered affairs, and carried along successfully the enterprises that had been so well placed on their foundations by his sire. The great farm, and its interests and many-sided concerns, were being moved ever forward by the young man. At the same time he was not allowing his literary tastes to rust or spoil, and he gave careful attention to the great economic questions of government, and, young as he was, in 1890 he canvassed the entire State in behalf of the grand old Republican party, winning laurels where often old veterans of the stump had failed to catch the public favor.

The young man had hardly passed his "teens" when he stood at the head of the noted farmers of the grand old Commonwealth ; and hardly had he passed his majority before his eloquence and wisdom were sought, and not in vain, in the more important councils of his party-a party in Bradford county that can boast of its Wilmot, its Graw, and its Mercur. Thus, as intimated above, as child, youth, and young man, he was most fortunate in all his surroundings, happily found fallow ground in his young soul, and ready responses have come to every touch. He was married November 29, 1885, to Georgianna Mowery, daughter of Hon. Ezekiel Mowery, of Wyoming county, of English descent. To this marriage were born three children, as fol- lows: Emeline V., Victor E. and Thomas Wierman. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church; he is a Master Mason, and a member of Pomona Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, No. 23, of Sulli- van and Bradford counties.

WILTON L. PITCHER, blacksmith, P. O. Warren Centre, was born in Jackson Valley, Pa., March 26, 1861, a son of Joel and Eliza- beth (Beeman) Pitcher, natives of this State, and of English stock. The father was a wagon-maker by trade, and was born in this county, where he now resides. His family consisted of four children, and our subject, who is the third in the order of birth, was reared and edu- cated in Warren township, and was placed, while quite young, in a blacksmith shop here, where he learned the trade, which he has fol-

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lowed with marked success, and his shop in Warren Centre is well known and largely patronized ; his residence is one of the elegant buildings of the place, which has many find residences. He married, in in his native township, February 15, 1882, Ella A., daughter of James and Frances (Corson) Tibbetts, natives of Rhode Island and New York, respectively, and of English extraction. Her father was a school teacher, and died December 12, 1888, aged sixty seven ; he was the son of Capt. James Tibbetts, who died July 19, 1879, aged ninety-seven years. The widow of James Tibbetts, Jr., survives, and is a resident of Owego, N. Y. To them were born two children, Seth E. (of Maine) and Ella (wife of our subject). To Mr. and Mrs. Wilton L. Pitcher have been born three children, as follows: Lee E., born June 2, 1884; Lora A., born January 17, 1886, and Walter W., born April 26, 1887. Mr. Pitcher is a member of the Sexennial League, and is a Republican. Mrs. Pitcher is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The family count among their intimates and friends many of the best peo- ple of the county, and are highly respected.

GEORGE PLANTS, farmer, Litchfield township, P. O. Litchfield, was born April 20, 1836, in Chemung county, N. Y., a son of Leonard and Hulda Plants, the former a native of Cumberland county, Pa., the latter of Orange county, N. Y .; they settled in Litchfield township on a farm of eigty-six acres. Their family consisted of ten children, eight of whom are living, George being the youngest. The subject of this memoir was reared in Litchfield, and educated at the common school. He served one year in the War of the Rebellion under Gen. Butler, as a member of Company E, Seventy-sixth P. V. I., and was honorably discharged. He is now a prosperous farmer, enjoying the confidence of his fellow citizens. He is a Republican in politics. and was elected to the offices of auditor, judge of elections, and justice of the peace, which latter office he is at present filling. In his religions views he is a Baptist.

C. BURTON POMEROY, a prominent farmer of Bradford county, P. O. Troy, was born in Troy township, this county, April 11, 1839, a son of Ebenezer and Laura (Brewster) Pomeroy, both natives of Tolland county, Conn., and is of Puritan and Pilgrim stock. His paternal grandparents were Eleazer and Priscilla (Kingsbury) Pomeroy; Eleazer was a son of Daniel and Naomi (Kibbs) Pomeroy; Daniel, a son of Noah and Elizabeth (Sterling) Pomeroy; Noah, a son of Joseph, who was a son of Eltweed Pomeroy, who came from England to America in 1630, settling in Northampton, Mass., and later, at Wind- sor. Conn. Ebenezer Pomeroy settled in Troy township about 1818, and for some years carried on the carding and cloth dressing works near Long's Mills. He afterward purchased the land now owned by his sons Chauncey N. and our subject, which he cleared and improved, and where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1878, when he was aged seventy-three years. He was the father of ten children : Edwin S., Emily (Mrs. Volney M. Long), Kingsbury, Fayette, Augustus, Chauncey N., Sybil M. (Mrs. E. B. Parsons), Mary, Frances (Mrs. W. B. Hoff) and C. Burton. The subject of this sketeli was reared on the old homestead, a part of which he now owns and

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occupies. He married, October 30, 1867, Sophia, daughter of Lorenzo and Jane A. (Welch) Webber, of Elmira, N. Y., by whom he has five children : Edwin S., John W., Adelle, Horace B. and Fayette B. Mr. Pomeroy is a leading and progressive farmer of Troy township, is a breeder of Jersey cattle, registered in the American Herd Book, of Shropshire sheep and Wood Hambletonian horses ; he is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Troy, and is a Republican in politics.

SAMUEL WHITE POMEROY, of the firm of Pomeroy Bros., bankers, Troy, was born in Troy, this county, December 8, 1821, a son of Col. Isaac N. and Anna (Kingsbury) Pomeroy, and can trace his ancestry to the time of William the Conqueror. His father, a native of Coventry, Conn., was born March 28, 1791, and was a son of Eleazer and Priscilla (Kingsbury) Pomeroy. Eleazer was a son of Daniel and Naomi (Kibbs) Pomeroy ; Daniel was a son of Noah and Elizabeth (Sterling) Pomeroy; Noah was a son of Joseph, a son of Eltweed Pomeroy, who came from England to America in 1630, settling in Dorchester, Mass., and later in Windsor, Conn. Isaac N. Pomeroy received a good education, which laid the foundation of his future successful business career ; he spent some years in Genoa, Cayuga Co., N. Y., and in 1818 settled in Troy, Pa., and at once engaged in the manufacture of cloth, which he followed successfully for ten years ; he then purchased a farm near Troy, upon which he lived ten years, when he bought the "Eagle Hotel " at Troy, which he rebuilt, and was its successful proprietor for nearly twenty years. About this time he built the residence, adjoining the bank, in company with his son Horace ; he was interested largely in village property, imparting, by means of his excellent business talents and liberality, a stimulus to Troy that will long be gratefully remembered ; he was extensively engaged for many years with staging and bridge building, being considered one of the most courteous and genial of employers. He took an active part in military affairs, and was elected colonel of a militia regiment, his affability and fine military bearing making him one of the most popular officers of the regiment. He was married three times : his first wife was Anna O. Kingsbury, to whom he was married December 8, 1813, and the issue of this union was seven children : Sybil K , Daniel F., Eleazer, Horace, Samuel W., Laura A., and Charlotte Eliza (Mrs. Charles C. Paine); his second wife was Maria A. Merrick, whom he married March 17, 1832, and by her had two children : Newton M. and Anna M .; by his third wife, Lucinda W. Merrick, whom he married October 9, 1839, he had three children: Solyman, Henrietta B. (Mrs. George B. Davidson) and George H. Few men have left the impress of their lives and characters upon the community where they resided more forcibly and indelibly than Col. Pomeroy, or have been more just in their business transactions. He died May 30, 1861, in his seventy-first year.

Samuel W. Pomeroy, the subject of the sketch, was the fifth child and fourth son, was reared in his native town, received an academical education, and began life as a clerk in a dry-goods store in Owego, N. Y., when twenty-one years of age. He embarked in the general merchandise business in Troy, Pa., as a member of the firm of

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Pomeroy & Redington, and from 1844 up to 1860 as S. W. & D. F. Pomeroy & Co .; he then engaged in the banking business with his brothers, Daniel F. and Horace, under the name of Pomeroy Brothers, in which name the business has been successfully conducted to the present time ; in 1869 a branch bank was established at Bloss- burg, Tioga Co., Pa., under the name of Pomeroy Bros. & Smith, which has also been conducted and successfully managed up to date; besides his banking interests, Mr. Pomeroy is also interested in farming, in Troy township, and is a stockholder in a large cattle ranch in South Dakota. Mr. Pomeroy was married, May 15, 1843, to A. Malvina, daughter of Edward and Olive (Bennett) Davidson, of Tompkins county, N. Y., and has one daughter : Ellen E. (Mrs. Capt. B. B. Mitchell). Mr. Pomeroy is pre-eminently a self-made man ; he and his family are members of the Presbyterian Church ; politically he is a Republican.

A. B. PORTER, postmaster, Wyalusing, was born in Newton, Fair- field Co., Conn., January 10, 1834, and is a son of M. B. and Sabra (Peck) Porter. M. B. Porter, who was born in Danbury, Conn., in 1808, learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed several years; then began to preach the Gospel, belonging to the Wesleyan Methodist denomi- nation; in 1844 he came to Bradford county, and after a short sojourn in Pike township, he purchased a farm in Herrick township, where he resided some time; he then went to LeRaysville, and from there to Montrose, where he was engaged in mercantile business, and died June, 20, 1876; of a family of four children, three reached maturity, viz: Hor- ace S. (deceased), Harriet M. (married to Hon. Asa Nichols, and died in LeRaysville in December, 1889), and our subject. A. B. Porter was born and reared on a farm, attending the common-school until seven- teen, when he began teaching, which he followed about twelve years, attending the LeRaysville Academy in the meantime; he afterward took a course in Bryant & Stratton's Commercial Academy, in Phila- delphia, graduating from same, October 3, 1861. He enlisted in Com- pany L, Second Pennsylvania Cavalry, in 1862, he was promoted to hospital steward, and veteranized December 26, 1863; he served until July 13, 1865, and was then mustered out with his company; he partic- ipated in over forty engagements, among which were Second Bull Run, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, Wilderness and the campaign against Rich- mond. After returning home he learned the photographer's business at Wyalusing, where he remained twelve years, and was traveling salesman for a book house one year. In July, 1889, he received his appointment as postmaster at Wyalusing. Mr. Porter was united in wedlock, January 5, 1870, with Amelia R., daughter of Henry and Martha (Taylor) Gaylord, and they have the following children: Sabra L. (born October 13, 1870), Gustavus A. (born June 22, 1872, died September 23, 1872), and Evangeline (born August 28, 1877). The family worship at the Presbyterian Church of Wyalusing. Mr. Porter is a member of Jackson Post, No. 74, G. A. R., also of the I. O. O. F., No. 808, Wyalusing, and has passed all the chairs; he is a Republican in politics, and has held the office of justice of the peace fifteen years.

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

CLARK B. PORTER, a prominent druggist of Towanda, was born in Cheshire, New Haven Co., Conn., January 19, 1844, and is a son of Hobart C. and Jerusha (Bronson) Porter. His paternal grandfather was Horace Porter, of Puritan stock, and a large land owner and dealer in real estate, at Waterbury, Conn., where he lived and died. The maternal grandfather was Benjamin Bronson, also of Puritan stock, and a prominent merchant of his day, at New Haven, Conn. Hobart C. Porter was a native of Waterbury, Conn .; was edu- cated at New Haven, and began his business career as a merchant, in Cheshire, Conn., and died in New Haven, in 1859; his children were Clark B. and Helen P. (Mrs. Arthur Snow, now deceased). Clark B. Porter was reared in New Haven county, Conn., until fifteen years old. In 1859 he came to Towanda, and entered the drug store of Dr. H. C. Porter, as clerk, and served an apprenticeship of seven years at the business, after which he was employed in the Treasury Depart- ment at Washington, two years. In 1868 he embarked in the drug business, at Towanda, with Job P. Kirby, the partnership existing four years, under the firm name of Porter & Kirby, when he sold his interest to Mr. Kirby, and engaged in business alone, at his present location, south end of the " Ward House," where he has since con- ducted a successful business, and is now the pioneer druggist of the city. Mr. Porter married Lizzie L., daughter of Matthias H. and Annie (Overton) Laning, of Wysox township, this county, and has three children, viz .: Mary R., Fannie L. and Emily L. Mr. Porter is a member and vestryman of Christ Episcopal Church, and is a F. & A. M. He is president of Oak Hill Cemetery, president of the Lin-ta Hose Company, a director of the Hawes Manufacturing Company, and Electric Light Company, and is a member of the Board of Trade. He has served two terms as a member of Towanda borough council, and burgess of Towanda, three years. He has served two terms as chief engineer of the Fire Department, is president of the Providence Shield Insurance Company, and in politics is a Democrat.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 127

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