History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 136

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections > Part 136

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1160

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

building in which the second tavern in the township was opened. In religious belief he is a Universalist, and a Republican in politics.

HENRY SHAW, station agent, Ulster, was born December 31, 1836, at Ulster, Bradford Co., Pa., son of Uriah and Patience Lenity (Segar) Shaw. He secured a business education, engaged in the mer- cantile trade, and in connection with his brother, B. F. Shaw, opened a confectionery and bakery in Towanda, in 1860. In 1861 he pur- chased his brother's interest, and was alone for a time, when he sold out and purchased a canal boat, which he ran from Buffalo to New York, returning via Elmira, and from there to Baltimore. He was thus engaged two years, and then with his father and brother, Hiram, built and stocked the grocery store on the canal at Ulster, known as the "canal grocery." The firm was U. Shaw & Sons; he continued in the grocery until their business was ruined by the abandonment of the canal, in 1871, and then secured the appointment for agent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and has held that position to the present time. He has a beautiful home in Ulster, and has saved a fair com- petence from his gains in business. On Christmas Day. 1863, he was united in marriage with M. E. Smith, daughter of I. W. and Selestia A. (Arnold) Smith, a lady of English descent. To them were born four children, of whom Hattie died in infancy, and Minnie, the wife of W. Ethel Shoemaker, also died; Lulu and Fred Harper live with their parents. The family are Universalists; in politics, Mr. Shaw is Republican. In the possession of Mr. Shaw is one of the first two clocks brought to Bradford county, which was brought by his grand- father, Ebenezer Shaw, about the year 1816; it is over seven feet high, and a sight of it carries us back to the old New England kitchen, where it occupied the post of honor and chimed out its music to the pitcher of cider and rosy-cheeked apples.

SHEPARD. Among the most prominent families of western Brad- ford were two sons of John Shepard, namely, Silas E. Shepard, D. D. (deceased), and Samuel W. Shepard, M. D., of Troy, representatives of the Shepard and Bonesteel families. John Shepard married Elizabeth Bonesteel; he was the son of John and Abigail (Eaton), the son of Daniel and Jane (Hosmer), the son of Daniel and Mary (Smedley), the son of John and Sarah, the son of Ralph and Thanks. Ralph came from England in 1635; died September 11, 1693, aged ninety years. John Milton Shepard, son of Silas E. Shepard, died June 1, 1853. He married, December 29, 1846, Matilda Willey Benton, who was born August 14, 1824. Allen Benton, her father, was born June 9, 1792, married July 22, 1819; his wife, Deborah (Willey), was born February 1, 1797. Allen Benton died September 12, 1879; Deborah (Willey) Benton died August 23, 1867. Milton left one daughter, who mar- ried Rev. D. W. Hart, now of Wilton, Conn. John Shepard, who mar- ried Elizabeth Bonesteel, was born December 26, 1780, died March 8, 1833. Elizabeth Bonesteel was born November 26, 1781, died May 1, 1832. Their children were: Paul, born March 25, 1799, married Mercy Osborne, born May 13, 1800, died October 7, 1876. Silas Eaton, born February 2, 1801, died in Troy, Pa., November 12, 1877; he married Nancy Lake in 1821; had three children: Catherine, John Milton and

1161

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Alma Wright. Luke, born March 19, 1803, died April 20, 1837, mar- ried Jerusha Boynton; his children were Manly and Jackson. John, born March 28, 1805, died in 1826. Millicent, born September 5, 1807, died in 1826. Stephen A., born October 4, 1809, died in 1888. Betsy Shepard, born in 1812, died in Bay City in 1876. Lysander Curtis, born April 6, 1814. Daniel Bonesteel, born April 19, 1816, died in Bay City in 1875. Samuel W., born September 24, 1818. Rosina, born November 7, 1821, died in 1886.

Following is the genealogy of the Bonesteel family on the maternal side of the house: Nicholas Bonesteel, born in Germany about 1695, emigrated to Dutchess county, N. Y., United States of America, about 1720, died near Troy, N. Y., about 1788; was a farmer near Rhinebeck, N. Y .; had five sons-Jacob, Philip, Nicholas, Jeremiah and David- and several daughters; he had only one brother, David.

David, brother of Nicholas, came from Germany, and the descend- ants of the two brothers are a great race, on both sides of the Hudson river, from New York City to Troy from 1700, now numerous in Ontario, Cattaraugus and Niagara counties, N. Y., and in Northern Penn- sylvania.

Philip Bonesteel, born in Dutchess county, N. Y., 1753, thence removed, about 1755, to Florida, Montgomery Co., N. Y., had eleven children, and died September 17, 1848, aged ninety-four years ; was with the Shakers at West Pittsfield, Mass .; he was forty-three years a Shaker, and was known as " Father Philip." He married, in 1775, Elizabeth Ray, born in Dutchess county, N. Y., 1754, married in her native county, died in Benton, Yates Co., N. Y., 1814, aged about sixty years. She had brothers, Mathias and Christian; sisters, Margaret (Stirzees), Mary (Pettit), Catherine (Roland). Their father, Christian Ray, born in Germany before 1700, immigrated to America about 1720 in a sail- ing vessel, the trip from land to land occupying eleven months, and buried one child at sea; settled in Dutchess county, N. Y .; kept hotel on main thoroughfare, and often entertained General Washington. Him- self and wife died just after Revolutionary War. Wife unknown. The sons and daughters of Philip Bonesteel and Elizabeth Ray were Philip, second, married Roland, had a few sons and daughters, removed to Wisconsin. Elizabeth married John Shepard, children: Paul, Silas, Luke, John, Betsey, Lysander, Samuel and Rosina, Stephen. John married three times, had twenty-two children; first family in Cattarau- gus county, N. Y .; second family, in Pennsylvania; third family, in Niagara, N. Y. Sarah married John Gay, descendants at or near Albion, Mich. Luke married; very small family, in West. Amos mar- ried; very small family, Wisconsin. Mary married Benjamin Wood, eleven children. Anna married Samuel Carley and then George L. Carley; large family, Oswego county, N. Y. Nicholas married Miss Squire, then married Miss Fosdick; large family, Cattaraugus county, N. Y. Asenath, married Ebenezer Pettit; three daughters and one son, all dead, Livingston county, N. Y.

The children of Benjamin Wood and Mary Bonesteel : Elmira married John S. Bristol, both dead; one daughter and two sons. Mary Ann married Ezra Cornell (deceased), of whom Cornell College took

1162

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

its name; nine children, three sons and two daughters now living, at Ithaca, N. Y. Lydia died unmarried. Orrin Squire married Mary I. Mitchell ; married Julia Forbes; married Mrs. Anna Dodd; two daugh- ters and one son, at Staten Island, N. Y. Merritt L. married Caroline B. Sage; no children; Micanopy, Florida. Emily married Jonathan Dunham; two daughters and one son, at Valley Springs, South Dakota. Harriet (deceased) married Jonathan Dunham. Caroline died unmar- ried. Norman B. married Anna Spencer; two daughters living. Otis Eddy married Olive A. Houtz; two sons living, Ithaca, N. Y. Cor- delia M. married Alonzo Chase; three daughters, Redfield, South Dakota.

DR. SILAS EATON SHEPARD, son of John and Elizabeth Shepard, was a native of Utica, Oneida Co., N. Y., born of Puritan blood, and from the public schools was a student at the academy in Norwich, N. Y., and while at this school turned from the Congrega- tional to the Baptist Church. He came to Shamokin, this State, as a teacher when eighteen, and the same year became a preacher and entered upon the long work of fifty-eight years that marked his course in life. He married in 1821, at Washingtonville, Pa., Nancy Lake; visited Canton in 1825, located there in 1827, and purchased a farın in Armenia; was regularly preaching at the church in Canton. At this time Dr. Alexander Campbell became known to the world, and Rev. Dr. Shepard accepted Campbell's theological views, and began that thorough course of studying Latin, Greek and Hebrew that soon made him a famous scholar. In 1828 he began preaching in Smithfield and other places in western Bradford. In 1834 he moved to Auburn, N.Y., editing, the next four years, the Primitive Christian. While here he attacked the prison system and effected a revolution therein; 'returned to Troy in 1839, and practiced medicine four years as a homeo- path. In 1843 he went to Cincinnati, and was present at Campbell's and Rice's discussion; then returned to Troy and in conjunction with his son Milton preached in Canton, Granville and Smithfield. In 1850 he was called to the pastorate of the Church of the Disciples on Sev- enteenth street, New York, and was here eight years ; while here he became a member of the American Bible Union for translating the Scriptures, and his translations rank unexcelled. The death of his son Milton recalled him to Troy June 1, 1853; there he built the house now Hon. Delos Rockwell's. In 1858 he made the tour of Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land. On his return he spent 1861-62 as pastor of the Central Christian Church, of Cincinnati, when he returned to Troy and now divided his time between this place and New York, at work at the Bible Union, and lecturing. In 1864 he was candidate for State Senator on the People's ticket, and with his party was defeated. In 1865 he went to Indianapolis, and was pastor of a church in that place, and in 1867 he took charge of the new Hiram College of Ohio- a self-educated man at the head of a great institution of learning ! He was now called to Troy by the illness of his wife, and again took up his abode and the work of preaching, and his pen was busy writing those strong and vigorous articles that marked the columns of the Christian Standard and the Christian Quarterly of which he was

1163

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

one of the founders, editing the latter many years; and of the good man gone it was well said: "Know ve not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel ?"

DR. SAMUEL W. SHEPARD was born in New Berlin, Chenango (then Broonie) Co., N. Y. When one year old his parents moved to Pittsfield, Mass., where he attended school from five until ten years of age; thence went to Virgil, Cortland Co., N. Y., remaining one winter; thence to Bradford county, attending school in Canton and Granville townships until fifteen years of age; thence traveled through Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, and returned in January, 1838, after nearly four years spent in the then "far West." He married Amanda, daughter of Scovil Bailey, of Granville, and settled on a farm; having studied medicine several years in various ways as Regular, Thomsonian or Eclectic, he commenced the practice in a small neighborhood, and, in 1846, studied Homeopathy under his brother, Silas E. Shepard, M. D., who was in practice in Troy. His brother removing to New York City, Dr. Samuel took his practice in western Bradford, and has continued with wonderful success until the present time ; but now, being in his seventy-third year, he cares not to be burdened with the sick. In politics, always a Democrat. He has held all of the township offices, from school director to justice of the peace, and was three years county auditor; in 1855 he was the Democratic nominee for Representative, receiving every vote in Troy township and borough, but a coalition of the Free-Soilers and Whigs defeated the Democrats. In religion he is a Disciple. Dr. S. W. Shepard and Amanda Bailey were joined in wedlock, September 2, 1838. She was a daughter of Scovil and Jerusha (Hail) Bailey, of Gran- ville township, formerly of Connecticut, and of this marriage were four children ; the eldest, Jerusha E., born October 27, 1841, married May 7, 1872, William J. Hillis, M. D., of Herrick, who died in 1888. She has three children-two daughters and one son. Lovina, born September 25, 1844, married H. M. Spalding, son of Andrew Spalding, of Canton ; they have four children- one daughter and three sons. O'Meara, born in 1847, of Granville Centre, a farmer, has three sons, Earnest, Samuel and George, of Granville Centre, and Philena, married to A. M. Wooster, of Granville; they are now living in Troy. Mrs. Wooster has three sons, making thirteen grandchildren, all healthy and understanding the principles of homeopathy. The Doctor has but one brother now living, out of eleven children-eight sons and three daughters. The brother, Lysander Curtis Shepard, Esq., was born in April, 1814, and never remembers of being confined to the house one day by sickness. He has lived at Fallbrook, Tioga Co., Pa., about thirty-five years, except six years in Raleigh, N. C. When at Fallbrook he held the office of justice of the peace the entire time while there. He has three sons and one daughter living, having lost two daughters. The Doctor's relatives are very numerous on the maternal and paternal sides, living in every State of the Union.

MORRIS SHEPARD, ex-sheriff, Towanda, and one of the most prominent farmers of Bradford county, has been county commissioner and recently turned over the office of sheriff to his successor. He was

1164

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

born April 18, 1838, in Wells township, where is his fine farm, a son of Nathan and Jane (Case) Shepard, natives of New Jersey and of English and Scotch descent, respectively. His parents were agriculturists who came to Bradford county in 1836, and located in Wells township on their farm, where the father died in 1862, and reared a family of six children, all of whom grew to their majority. Our subject, who is the third in the order of birth, and was on the old homestead working as a farmer's boy, and attending the schools in about their average way and manner, commenced life for himself with no other hope or ambition than that of being a good farmer. But his neighbors found him out in time, and by their suffrage made him county commissioner, serving a term with distinguished credit, and returned to his farm and private life; but in 1887 they again called on him to stand for sheriff, and he was elected. His farm is 186 acres of choice land in a high state of cultivation, the whole the proud product of his own energy and patient toil. He was married in Wells township, May 10, 1862, to Mary Jewell, daughter of Rev. Joel Jewell, minister of the Presbyterian Church, and to this marriage have been born children as follows : Charles N., Perry (died aged three years) and Orpha May. The family worship at the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Shepard is a member of Trojan Lodge, No. 306, F. and A. M., Troy, Pa., and is a stanch Republican.

O'MEARA SHEPARD, farmer, P. O. Granville Centre, was born in Granville township, this county, March 30, 1847, a son of Dr. Samuel W. and Amanda (Bailey) Shepard. His maternal grandparents, Scovil and Jerusha (Hale) Bailey, natives of Connecticut, were pioneers of Granville, where they settled in 1801. The subject of this memoir was reared in Granville, received a public-school education and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed ten years. In 1878 he located in LeRoy township, where he was engaged in farming five years, and has occupied his present farm in Granville township since 1883. He married, November 24, 1869, Jennie, daughter of William and Roselta M. (FitzGerald) Bunyan, of Granville. Mrs. Shepard's father, who was a native of Melrose, Scotland, a carpenter by trade, settled in Granville about 1838, and cleared the farm on what is known as Bunyan Hill, now occupied by his sons, Andrew and George, and died there. His wife was a native of New York, and by her he had eleven children : Mary (Mrs. John Jackson); Ann (Mrs. S. C. Wright); William ; Silas (killed at the battle of Fort Johnson, July 3, 1863; he was in Company E, Fifty-second Regiment P. V. I.); Andrew; Frank ; Margaret (Mrs. Newton Landon); Jeanette (wife of the subject); Effie (Mrs .. J. W. Duart); George L. and Alice (Mrs. Dayton Saxton). Mr. and Mrs. Shepard have three sons: Ernest N., Samuel W. and George B. Mr. Shepard is a highly respected citizen.

ROBERT E. SHERIDAN, foundryman, Athens, is a native of the city of Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland, where he was born in October, 1840, and is a son of Robert and Hanora (Shanahan) Sheri- dan, natives of Ireland. His father was a mechanic, and worked in the dock yards, and died in 1849, in his forty-second year, and his widow is now a resident of Towanda. When the son was nine years

1165

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

old his parents came to Port Jervis, N. Y., where he had relatives. He served an apprenticeship at the molder's trade in Port Jervis and Middletown, N. Y., and in 1862 came to Athens, where he remained about four years, during which time he worked about one year in Williamsport, and from Athens went to Wilkes-Barre, and was there two years. He returned to Athens, and in 1869 removed to Owego, N. Y., and worked at his trade until 1890, and then worked a short time in Williamsport. In the spring of 1890 he erected a building, 30 x 68, for his foundry, where he makes castings for plows, stove trimmings, hitching posts, chimney tops, window weights, and all kinds of castings in the rough. He was married in Athens, in April, 1863, to Miss Mary, daughter of John and Mary (Buck) Doran, natives of Ireland ; she is the fifth in a family of six children, and was born in Athens in 1842. To them were born two daughters, Mary and Hanora. The family are members of the Roman Catholic Church, and the father is a Republican, politically.

JAMES W. SHINER, harness manufacturer and dealer in hides and wool, Towanda, was born in Towanda, this county, August 4, 1864, and is a son of Andrew and . - (Wilcox) Shiner. His paternal grandfather, Stephen Shiner, came from New Jersey to Bradford county in 1836, settling in Towanda township, where he engaged in farming, and died. His wife was Sally A. Pearson, by whom he had nine children, as follows : Silas, Andrew, Stephen, Jacob, Mary A. (Mrs. Wells Goff), Susan (Mrs. John Annis), Phebe J., Lydia E. and Eliza Shiner. His maternal grandfather was James V. Wilcox, a resi- dent of Towanda, where he still resides. Andrew Shiner is a farmer of Towanda township, where he was reared from six years of age. His children were four in number, viz .: Fannie (Mrs. Dr. F. W. Brockway), James W., Charles S. and Fred. James W. Shiner, the subject of the sketch, was reared in Towanda township, received a common-school education, and learned the harness-maker's trade with his grandfather, J. V. Wilcox, of Towanda, serving an apprenticeship of three years. In 1887 he engaged in business for himself, and has built up a success- ful trade. He was married in November, 1886, to Mary E., daughter of Stephen and Caroline (Holmes) Strickland, of Wysox, Pa., and has one daughter, C. Eugenia. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he is a Republican.

ABRAM F. SHOEMAKER, farmer, Granville township, P. O. Granville Summit, was born in Granville, this county, May 31, 1833, and is the son of Malachi and Susan (Shafer) Shoemaker, formerly of Luzerne county, Pa., who settled in Granville in 1826, cleared and improved the farm now owned by T. F. Porter, and died there. Their children were: Payne, Catherine (Mrs. Alex. Lane), William, Susan (Mrs. Alva Mitchell), Malachi T., Martha A. (Mrs. Peter Groom), Elizabeth (Mrs. John Fenton), Mary A. (Mrs. James Davis), Sarah (Mrs. Lewis Spalding) and Abram F., the latter of whom was reared in Granville, and settled on the farm he now occupies, in 1858, where he has since resided. He married, October 10, 1858, Sophia, daughter of David and Sally (Downs) Coe, of Granville, and has four children : Frances E., Hattie (Mrs. O. Hawthorn), L. D. and Harry. Mr. Shoe-

1166

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

maker enlisted, September 27, 1864, in the Civil War, and served in the Fifteenth New York Engineers, and after nine months' service was honorably discharged ; he is a member of the G. A. R. and P. of H .; politically he is a Democrat.

MAHLON W. SHORES, teacher, Sheshequin township, P. O. Sheshequin, was born in Sheshequin, this county, April 3, 1863, and is the only son of Meramon and Mary (Shores) Shores, natives of She- shequin, and of English origin. He is a descendant of the Shores family, who occupy so important a place in English history, as well as in the history of Bradford connty. Our subject was reared on a farm, educated in the common school, Towanda graded school, Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, and Warner's Commercial College, Elmira, from which he was graduated in 1884. He has taught nine terms of school in Bradford county, and has been salesman in various capacities and in different lines. He is in strong sympathy with the Republican party, but votes purely on principle and for the best man.

HENRY W. SHORTELLE, shoemaker, LeRaysville, was born June 23, 1853, a son of Robert P. and Mary (Finn) Shortelle, the latter of whom, who is still living with her son H. W., was born in Carrick- on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland, the third in the family of six children of Stephen and Margaret (Briscon) Finn. She was married, in 1833, to Robert P. Shortelle, also a native of Ireland, and they came to America in 1836, settling at LeRaysville, where the father was employed as superintendent of a boot and shoe department, and after- ward had a shop of his own; he was for several years overseer of a boot and shoe factory in Elmira, N. Y .; he died November 8, 1859. They had the following children : Patrick, born March 17, 1834, died February, 1836; Robert, born 1835, died in infancy; Robert, Jr., born in 1837, died in infancy; Margaret, born 1840, married Perley Coburn, who has been principal of the Elmira Grammer School twenty-six years; Robert (third), born March 30, 1843 (enlisted as clerk in Company I, Sixth Pennsylvania Reserves, in 1861, rose to adjutant's clerk, and his commission of lieutenant arrived the day after his death ; he partici- pated in fifteen battles, and was killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, by a grape shot ; he was a graduate of Binghamton Commercial School) ; Stephen, born in 1845, died 1850; James E., born in 1847 (was gradu- ated from the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, Towanda, appointed cadet at West Point, on recommendation of Judge Mercur, was gradu- ated in very good standing in his class, June 12, 1871, and died at Elmira, on his way home, August 5, same year. Once, when home on a vacation, a young man by the name of Davis, who had been in the army, requested James to go through the West Point drill to see if it was the same as in the army ; he did so with an old musket that had lain untouched many years; when the order was given to "fire" his hand seemed to tremble on the trigger and he refused, but young Davis, who was acting as drill-master, stamped his foot, repeating the command; James then fired and killed Davis instantly; as these two young men were the greatest of friends, the incident is sad to relate, and, as it has been often remarked, "the shot killed them both") .The youngest child is Henry W., born June 23, 1853, a shoemaker by trade,

1167

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

who had a shop for some time in LeRaysville, and has been in the employ of Carl & Pierce several years. The Shortelle family are members of the Roman Catholic Church, and in politics are Republi- cans. Mrs. Shortelle was married, January 25, 1868, to Azariah Champion, a farmer in Pike township; he died December 18, 1884. Mrs. Champion, who is now seventy-four years of age, still takes much interest in all kinds of literature; she is a great reader and an excellent conversationalist, fully up with the times; she is one of those types of true and upright womanhood one always feels better by having met.

JOHN ANDERSON SHUMAN, blacksmith, Sugar Run, was born at Tamaqua, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and is the fourth in the family of eight children of George and Mary (McCancey) Shuman, the former a native of Pennsylvania, born of German lineage, and the latter a native of Ireland. He began life for himself at the age of fifteen, blacksmithing with Joseph Geiger, of Mainsville, and after serving an apprenticeship of four years went to Lock Haven, and worked at his trade about three years ; then went to Georgia on the Altamaha river, Baird's Bluff, where he remained until 1859, working at his trade ; he then returned to Mainsville, where he was engaged at clerking for a time, but resumed blacksmithing, and finally went into the hotel business, in which he remained about a year, when he sold out and moved to Wilkes-Barre, where he continued in the hotel business two years ; then came to this county, and was employed with Kirkendall & Troxel, lumbering two years ; thence went to Panther's Lick, where he operated a sawmill for Schurchill; then went to Foot of Plain, where he superintended the Schrader Land Co's sawmill at that place, until 1874, when he removed to Sugar Run and resumed his trade. In 1887 he went to Wyalusing, where he worked at his trade until the spring of 1891, when he returned to Sugar Run. Mr. Shuman married Amanda Gitling, of Columbia county, who died, leaving one child, Kate M., married to H. G. Gouvier, a produce dealer at Hazleton. Mr. Shuman married, for his second wife, Deborah, daughter of Daniel Wilson, of Wilmot. The subject of these lines is a member of the I. O. O. F. at Sugar Run, the Masonic Lodge at Laceyville, and the Knights of Pythias at Barclay, and in politics he is a stanch Democrat.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 136

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