History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 130

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

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

EZRA E. REYNOLDS, Windham township, farmer and stock- grower, P. O. North Orwell, was born in Delaware county, N. Y., December 18, 1836, and is a son of John and Violetta (Bates) Rey- nolds, of Connecticut, of English origin, a people who have been tillers of the soil for generations. The family came to Bradford county in 1846, and settled in Windham township, and made this their permanent home, and the father died in 1870; the mother still sur- vives. Their family consisted of eight children, of whom Ezra was the second, and grew to manhood in Windham township, and com- menced life a farmer, and has, with his own hands, made his way to a competency, and his highly improved and valuable farm consists of 186 acres of rich land. He married, in 1860, Lucinda, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Wilsey) Wilson, also natives of New York, and of English origin. To them were born two children, Mary E., wife of Platt Osborn, of Windham, and Martin, a merchant of New York City. The family worship, usually, at the Methodist Church, though Mrs. Reynolds is a member of the Episcopal Church. In 1864 Mr. Reynolds enlisted in Company B, Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cav- alry, and was under Gen. Sheridan; was in the battle of Winchester as his first fight, and was at Snicker's Gap and Maryland Heights. After arriving at Washington he was taken sick, and was sent to the hospital, and when convalescent beame a nurse in the small-pox ward. He never fully recovered from his camp sickness, and is a pensioner. He is a member of the G. A. R., Stevens Post, No. 69, Rome, and has held the office of treasurer; in politics he votes the Republican ticket.

GEORGE F. REYNOLDS, farmer, Wysox township, P. O. Myers- burg, was born in Wysox, this county, October 25, 1827, and is a son of Samuel and Sarah (Bennett) Reynolds, natives of Pennsylvania, the former of whom was a mill-wright. They reared a family of four children, of whom George F. is the eldest and the only survivor. Our subject was reared on the farm, educated in the common school, and assisted his father on the farm and at his trade until he was twenty- four ; then purchased his present home of his father. On August 10, 1862, he enlisted at Towanda,and was mustered out January 6, 1863. on surgeon's certificate of disability; his wife was obliged to go to Washing- ton to bring him home. He has since given his attention chiefly to farm- ing, and has made a success. G. F. Reynolds' grandfather, Wilbur Ben- nett, and his brother, Robert, traded a farm in Wilkes-Barre for a tract of land extending from Myersburg to Gillett's bridge, called Plum Vale Tract, where they settled about 1804. The farm owned by G. F. Reynolds and son, William, is part of that tract of land. Robert afterward sold his claim, but Wilbur remained and cleared a large farm ; he reared a family of three children : Asa, Benjamin and Sarah. G. F. Reynolds was married, November 17, 1853, to Miss Malinda Porter, who was born October 4, 1834. This happy union has been blessed with five children : Ellen J., born September 10, 1856 (married to George Fox, of Durell, and died April 21, 1886); Addie M., born July 2, 1858 (married to Samuel Chamberlain, a farmer of Wysox township) ; Georgia, born August 8, 1860 (married to Frank Frisbie, a blacksmith, of Durell) ; William S., born March 11, 1866, a farmer, of Wysox

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township; Mary C., born March 24, 1874. Mrs. Reynolds is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Myersburg. Mr. Reynolds is a Republican in his political preferments.

WILLIAM S. REYNOLDS, farmer, of Wysox township, P. O. Myersburg, was born, March 11, 1866, in Wysox, this county, a son of George F. and Malinda (Porter) Reynolds. He was reared on the farm, educated in the common school at Myersburg, and at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He is now engaged in farming on a portion of the old homestead. Mr. Reynolds was married. Octo- ber 17, 1888, to Miss Hattie M., daughter of Charles and Harriet (Strope) Brown, of Rome, and they have two children : Vivian Beatrice, born September 24, 1889, and Winton Llewellyn, born March 21, 1891. Mr. Reynolds is a supporter of every worthy public enterprise. In politics he is a Republican.

WILLIAM RICE, druggist, and physician and surgeon, Rome, was born in what is now Rome borough, this county, April 16, 1840, a son of Hiram and Amanda (Guernsey) Rice, the former of whom was a native of this county, born in Smithfield township, in 1809; the latter a native of Chenango county, N. Y. The father was first a printer, at Towanda, and edited the Northern Banner, the second newspaper ever published in Bradford county. This he abandoned, while yet a young man, and commenced to read medicine in the office of Samuel Huston, M. D., of Towanda; afterward attended a New York school of medicine, from which he graduated. After his graduation, he came directly to Rome, in 1837, and began the practice of medicine, which he followed here up to his death, which occurred in 1876, when he was aged sixty-seven years. He had a family of four children, viz .: Wil- liam, Lizzie, Amanda and Charles; their mother died in 1888, aged eighty years. The early life of William was spent in Rome, where he attended the public schools, and, afterward, the academy at Towanda, and, having read the necessary time with his father, he entered Jeffer- son College, at Philadelphia, and was graduated in 1862. Returning at once to Rome, he was associated with his father in the practice of medicine for a few years. In 1864, he received the appointment of as- sistant-surgeon in the Union Army, and was acting surgeon of the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Gen. W. T. Sherman, until the close of the war; he was with the Army of the West, when it made its famous march from Atlanta to the sea. During his service, he had charge of the Brigade Hospital, at Lexington, N. C., also the hospital at Durham, same State. At the close of the war, he returned home, and resumed the practice of medicine, which he has continued to the present day. In 1880, he opened a drug store, and he now carries a full line of drugs and medicines. The Doctor was married, May 1, 1862, to Emily V. Whitney, of Wysox township, and they have six children, viz .: Fred- erick W., Nellie M., Robert G., Mary W., Willie and David. Of these, Nellie married U. G. Russell, and Robert married Margaruite Kilmer.

Dr. Frederick W. Rice, who has adopted his father's profession, as well as studying and graduating in dentistry, was born in Rome, December 20, 1864, and received his education in the public schools of Rome borough. During his leisure hours, he clerked in his father's

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

drug store, where he studied pharmacy, and he became a registered pharmacist in 1887; then read medicine with his father, and, after a sufficient course of reading, entered Jefferson Medical College, of Phil- adelphia, and was graduated April 4. 1889. He commenced the study of dentistry, and entered the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, of Philadelphia, was graduated, and received the degree of D. D. S., in 1891. He is also a registered pharmacist, and clerks in his father's store. He was united in marriage, June 11, 1888, with Clara E. Forbes, of Rome. William Rice is a member of Stevens Post, No. 69, G. A. R .; also a member of the Masonic Fraternity, at Rome, Lodge No. 418, and has taken the degree of A. Y. M. Politically the family were formerly Democratic, but have been stanch Republicans since the organization of that party.

J. W. RICHARDS, dispatcher, Northern Division, L. V. R. R., Sayre, isa native of Factoryville, Luzerne Co., Pa., and was born May 14, 1852, a son of Edward and Harriet (Allen) Richards, natives of Orange county, N. Y. His father, who was a farmer, died in Scranton, in 1872, in his fifty-ninth year ; his mother died in 1869, in her forty- ninth year. At the age of thirteen J. W. started out in life for himself, and at the age of sixteen began an apprenticeship at the boiler-maker's trade, in Scranton, where he worked until 1880, when he came to Sayre, and in 1881 was made foreman in the boiler shops, and held that position until April, 1890, when he was promoted to his present position. He was married, in Scranton, in 1873, to Miss Anna, daughter of Joab and Sarah Haywood, natives of England, and, of their family of seven children, she is the youngest in order of birth, and was born in Water- town, N. Y., in August, 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Richards have one daughter, Alice. Mrs. Richards is a member of the Baptist Church ; Mr. Richards is a member of the F. & A. M., Rural Amity, No. 70, Chapter No. 161, of the Northern Commandery, No. 16, and of the Royal Arcanum and Iron Hall ; in politics he is a Republican.

ROBERT RICHARDS, farmer and stock-grower, Windham town- ship, P. O. Windham Summit, is a native of Ithaca, N. Y., born June 13, 1814, and is a son of Athinal and Hannah (Smith) Richards, the former born in Wyoming county, Pa., the latter in New Jersey. When a small boy in his father's Wyoming home, Athinal Richards gave unusual indications of being a natural musician, and in after life was pronounced the best violinist in the State of New York. The young man, with his fiddle, the big end of his patrimony, came to Bradford county, and located in Durell township in 1813, but after a stay of one year removed to Tompkins, N. Y., where he remained until his death in 1846; by his side was laid his widow in 1850. The parents of this musician were of English stock, the mother being Rachel (Davenport), and they were married in Wyoming county. The father was severely wounded in the battle of Wyoming, in 1763, and died two months thereafter; the widow afterward, in the year 1790, removed to Standing Stone, in this county, where she died in 1856. Athinal Richards had nine children, of whom Robert, the sub- ject of this notice, is the fifth. He became, like his ancestors, a farmer, and in 1847 came to Bradford county, where he purchased a

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

farm in Rome township, where he remained seven years; then sold and went to Orwell, and was on his farm in that place eleven years. In 1866 he again sold, and located in Windham, giving to his son, W. N. Richards, his elegant farm of 100 acres. He was twice married, first to Elizabeth Roe, daughter of Samuel J. and Sarah (McCann) Roe, of Ithaca, N. Y., and by her had two children : W. N., now in Owego, N. Y., very wealthy, and Mary E., wife of Daniel Vanloane. Mrs. Richards died July 29, 1847, and he was afterward married in Standing Stone, March 8, 1848, to Rebecca, daughter of John V. and Polly Morris, natives of Peekskill, N. Y., by which marriage there were three children : Lou, who died October 25, 1881. aged thirty-one years ; Benjamin F., who is postmaster at Windham Summit, and George A., a civil engineer on the St. Paul, Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad. In the family is an adopted son, Frank M. This wife was twice married, first to Nehemia Vought, by whom there were two chil- dren : Isaac, a farmer in Orwell, and Charles M., who died at the age of ten. Robert Richards enlisted in the army, October 15, 1862, in the Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company D, and was mustered in October 17 at Camp Curtin. From severe exposure on camp duty in the frosty and rainy winter, he was stricken down with sickness, and contracted chronic rheumatism; was furloughed sixty days, and while still sick was carried off, as a deserter, to Camp Distri- bution, Va., and from there was sent to his own camp, and placed on a dismounted cannon near Washington, where he was again examined by surgeons and honorably discharged. From that day to this he has been a constant sufferer from disease contracted on duty, and is now wholly disabled. He was the oldest soldier in his regi- ment, and now is the oldest ex-soldier in the county ; is a member of the G. A. R. Post, at Nichols, N. Y., and in politics he is Republican. He voted the first Abolition ticket ever put in the ballot box at Rome. The complete explanation of the charge of desertion is in the fact that, when his furlough expired, he was unable to report, and was arrested; but full proofs were made, and he was honorably acquitted, and no man to-day stands higher in the ranks of the old soldiers. He is now drawing a pension. He was one of the first settlers in Greenwood, Steuben Co., N. Y.

SAMUEL Y. RICHARDS, photographer, Towanda, is a native of the bright little county of Montour, Pa., where he was born August 31, 1836, a son of John and Rebecca (Clark) Richards, of Welsh and Scotch- Irish stock, and natives of Pennsylvania. They were a family of farmers, and of that heroic mold that braved the forests and carved out new farms of the wild wood-land. His parents removed to the outer borders of Lycoming county, when he was little more than a young infant, and there, on his farm, his father spent the remainder of his days, and reared his family of seven children, and died in 1862. Samuel, the youngest of the family, whose childhood was spent in the deep woods, miles away from the nearest school-house, and, instead of books, he learned, at an early age, to chop and plow and do general farm labor, and there are few secrets connected with clearing a farm but that he well remembers from experience just how people go about it;

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

and when he was a young man grown he was innocent of knowing the names or faces of the alphabet. When he was about twenty-five years old, he very wisely found his partner in life; married, and now has not only the best of wives, but his school teacher; for, commencing with "A B C," she carried him along to a very respectable English educa- tion. While the good wife was helping him with his books, he was helping himself, and from chopping wood, he became an expert shingle- maker, and by slow gradations, eventually, a carpenter and builder.

From day to day and year to year he labored on, adding both to his material and mental resources, and after fourteen years of carpen- tering he removed, in 1858, to Danville (the county-seat of his native county), where he was married (as above related), and continued the carpentering trade until 1867, when a fortunate acquaintance with a photographer of that place finally led him to learn the art and mysteries of the trade of photography. His good reputation enabled him to borrow the money to start himself in this business, and his close attention and skill in the art enabled him to repay the loan in a short time, and to finally come to Towanda and build up one of the most extensive and finest studios in northern Pennsylvania; and so rapidly has his fame extended and his work accumulated, that now he owns two hranch offices. He came to Towanda in 1883, and here has his head studio, and his excellent work has spread his fame abroad. Mr. Richards was married in Danville, in 1861, to Matilda, daughter of David Keim, and widow of John Young, and who had a daughter, Ella (Mrs. Charles Colburn, of Wilkes-Barre). They have had three children, born as follows: Hattie (died, aged nineteen), Elizabeth (an artist, the wife of Walter Smith) and Mary Alice (wife of George O. Englebreckt). Mr. and Mrs. Richards are prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Republican, a member of the I. O. O. F. In connection with his gallery he has a stock of artists' goods.

LEWIS RINEBOLD, a leading farmer of Overton township, P. O. Overton, one of the surviving wounded veterans of the Civil War, is a native of Lehigh county, Pa., born April 19, 1831, and is a son of Lewis and Sallie (Slatterleigh) Rinebold, natives of Pennsylvania and of German extraction. The father, who followed the trade of shoe- maker, came to Bradford county in 1834, and made Overton his home until he died in 1856; the mother died in 1863. Lewis Rinebold, who is the tenth in a family of eleven children, grew to manhood in the family home, and when of sufficient age was put to learning the cabinet-maker's trade, which he followed for twenty years; he then pur- chased a sawmill, which he operated the next twenty-two years, when he engaged in farming, his present occupation, on his farm of fifty- seven acres in Overton Valley, which is highly improved, and makes a most comfortable old homestead. On January 31, 1870, Mr. Rinebold was joined in wedlock with Mira, daughter of Alfred and Hannah (Mudge) Leonard, Pennsylvanians of English origin, who came to Bradford county in 1835, and settled in Troy, where they passed the remainder of their days. The Rinebolds are members of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, of which he is a trustee, steward and class- leader, superintendent of the Sunday-school, and Bible-class teacher, in

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

the latter of which Mrs. Rinebold is also a teacher. He votes the Pro- hibition ticket, and has held the office of school director. He enlisted in the army, September 7, 1862, in the One Hundred and Forty-first P. V. I., Company C, and was wounded by a musket ball, in the hip, at the battle of Chancellorsville; he participated in the battles of Fred- ericksburg and Chancellorsville; and was honorably discharged, Sep- tember 7, 1863.

REUBEN RINEBOLD, Overton township, P. O. Overton, a lead- ing and influential farmer of his township, a native of Lehigh county, Pa., born March 20, 1820, is a son of Ludwig and Sallie (Slothy) Rinebold, Pennsylvanians of remote German descent. His father, who was a shoemaker and farmer, came to Overton in 1835, where he died January 7, 1856, and his widow, March 12, 1864. Their children were eleven in number, of whom Reuben is the fourth in order of birth. He remained in the family home, and when he attained his majority commenced life on his own account, and carved out his own fortune ; he is now retired from active labor, having sold his fifty-acre farm to his son Adison. Mr. Rinebold was married, in Overton, January 5, 1843, to Catherine, daughter of Daniel and Magdaline (Wilt) Heverly, of the early pioneer family of Overton, and to this union there were eleven children, of whom Adison L., is the fifth in the order of birth, born in Overton where he grew to manhood and engaged in sawmill and lumbering eleven years, and then purchased his father's farm, which he still occupies. Adison L. Rinebold and Effie Allen were joined in matrimony, December 25, 1879, and have a family of four children, as follows; Grace, George E., Francis R. and Murray. Reuben is "Prohibition " in politics, while Adison is Repub- lican. The former is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has filled the offices of class-leader, steward and trustee; has also held the offices of school director, road commissioner, treasurer and assessor.

JOHN RING, farmer and stockman, P. O. Cadis, was born in County Cork, Ireland, December 16, 1838, to Daniel and Johanna (Malmes) Ring, natives of the same place, and farmers. The family migrated to America in 1839, and pushed at once their way to the present abode in Warren township, this county, one of the early pio- neers to this part of the county, and a hearty, bold young man he was, who, with ax in hand, measured his strength of body against the dark old primeval forests that clung upon the hillsides and shadowed so deeply the rich valleys. No man in his time, perhaps, cleared for cul- tivation more acres of these rich lands than he. He died March 25, 1878, and his good wife and helpmeet departed this life February 24, 1884. To them had been born ten children-five sons and five daugh- ters-of whom John, the subject of this sketch, is the eldest; Mary, a resident of Omaha ; Ellen (Mrs. Thomas Dunlovey), of Warren town- ship, the mother of eleven children ; Catherine (Mrs. Luke Cheghem- essy), of Owego, N. Y., has eight children ; Richard, died July 3, 1888, aged forty-one, at Wilkes-Barre ; Jerry, married Anna Ryan, of Kings- ton, N. Y., they have one child, aged seven, died in 1866; Johanna (Mrs. Michael Pingrose) of Windham, her husband died October 6,

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1888; Margaret (Mrs. Edward B. Brosnan, who has five children). John Ring was reared on his father's farm in Warren township, and in early life learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade, which he fol- lowed eighteen years, and then turned his attention to farming. He has 145 acres well improved and stocked, with ample and good build- ings, with one of the finest farm residences in this part of the county. Mr. Ring was married in Warren township, March 31, 1861, to Johanna, daughter of Patrick and Mary (Spaid) Shelton, natives of County Clare, Ireland, who came to this country in their early married life; the father died in 1877, and the mother in 1875. They had children, as follows : James, married to Maggie Murray (they have one child, John, and reside in Williamsport) ; Mary, of Elkland, Pa .; Daniel ; Henry, a blacksmith, of Altoona ; John, died in 1871, aged three years. Mr. Ring was married, the second time, in 1871, to Julia daughter of Daniel and Julia Delhouty, of Tipperary, Ireland, and to this marriage were born four children: Joseph, a blacksmith, of Altoona; Julia and Hannah, school teachers, and Kit at school. The family are prominent and exemplary members of the Catholic Church, and in politics he is a Democrat.

ORIN G. ROBBINS, farmer, Monroe township, P. O. Liberty Corners, was born on the farm where he now resides, April 10, 1865, and is a son of Isaac and Emily (Arnot) Robbins. The ancestors of Isaac Robbins had lived in Pennsylvania several generations, and his vife is a descendant of Selah and Prudence (Knight) Arnot, who came to Monroe in 1816; the former of German and the latter of Holland origin. They were accompanied by their children : George E., Joshua, Samuel, Mahala, Susan, Hannah, Cidney and Jane, and set- tled on the farm adjoining where Orin G. Robbins now resides. The first school at Liberty Corners was kept in a log-barn on this place, and was soon changed into a hewn-log building, which had been built for a shingle shop. In Isaac's family there were two children : George E., born June 9, 1856, a hair dresser in Oswego, N. Y., and Orin G., who was reared on the farm, educated in the common school, and after following various occupations for brief intervals, engaged in farming on the old homestead, where he has since resided. Mr. Robbins was married, March 24, 1888, to Miss May, daughter of George and Char- lotte (McGill) Edsall, of South Branch, and they have two children : Nema Belle, born January 8, 1889, and Edna May, born January 7, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are members of the Patrons of Industry, and he is a Republican in politics.

J. W. ROBERTSON, farmer, P. O. Orwell, was born in Fairdale, Susquehanna Co., Pa., July 11, 1822, and is a son of John and Hannah (Sherer) Robertson, the former of whom was a native of New Hamp- shire, removed to Susquehanna, in 1816, and passed the greater por- tion of his life there, passing much of his last years with his son, J. W. Robertson, and died in 1877; the mother died in 1875; they were agriculturists, but the father worked at the shoemaker's trade several years. He reared a family of ten children, viz .: David S., Hannah (married to William J. Arnold, both deceased), Mary (married to David Patterson, both deceased), William, J. W., Samuel (deceased), James

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M., Rhoda (deceased), Helen (married to Dr. Augustus Bissell, of Maha- noy City) and Samuel. J. W. Robertson passed his boyhood in Susque- hanna county, receiving a fair common-school education, and on reaching his majority farmed on his own account, and resided on the old homestead until 1866, when he bought his present farm, on which he has made the improvements. During the past twenty-five years Mr. Rob- ertson has suffered from rheumatism to such an extent that he has been disabled from farm labor, which he has trusted to his son, Frank C. He was united in wedlock, June 1, 1848, with Laura L., a daughter of Richard and Lydia (Robinson) Jillson, natives of Connecticut ; her father, who was a farmer, came to Bradford in 1825, and reared a fam- ily of nine children, of whom Mrs. Robertson is the second. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson have had three children : Franklin, born September 30, 1849, died September 6, 1851; Amos, born November 30, 1850, married Dellie Gould, and is now operating a butter and milk store in New York City ; Frank C., born May 29, 1854, in Susquehanna county, was reared on a farm and received a common-school education. After reaching his majority he engaged in farming on his own account; he was married, January 3, 1884, to Josie M. Green, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of John H. and Deborah (Bailey) Green; the farm they now own contains 145 acres, highly improved and well stocked. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson have had two children : Ethel A., born Feb- ruary 21,1885 ; and Jennie L., born September 11, 1889, and died when about three months old ; the family worship at the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and since becoming members they have been earnest workers. Mrs. Frank Robertson is a member of the Free-Baptist, of which denomination her father was a minister. Mr. J. W. Robertson is an uncompromising Republican ; Frank is a member of the Prohibi- tion party.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 130

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