History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 140

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

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P. S. Squires, the subject of the sketch, has been one of the suc- cessful and enterprising farmers of the county, and his friends are

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

legion. He was first elected town constable one year, then assessor one year (1851), then town auditor one year, school director eight years, being president of the board during all the time except one year; then was again elected town auditor, and, in 1872, was elected town commissioner for a term of three years; in 1885.86, he was town assessor, and in 1890 was elected county commissioner, which office be now holds. He has never sought rates nor office, and invariably his majorities have been so emphatic that they alone are the highest com- pliments his neighbors could bestow. At the last election, in order to accommodate some of his fellow-candidates, so little did he care for office that he allowed them to sacrifice, to some extent, his interests, and yet polling day showed as usual that his was the largest. These record facts speak more plainly than any words we can add. Mr. Squires is a member of Wyalusing Lodge, No. 503, I. O. O. F., and has passed the chairs; he is a member of Wyalusing Baptist Church. In 1854 he married Harriet H., a daughter of John and Jane (Little) Lafferty, natives of New Jersey, but residents of this county at the time of marriage. By this marriage there are three children : Judson W., Jennie (wife of D. F. Mahoney, of Wilkes-Barre) and Katie (wife of R. S. Hillis, of Herrick township, this county). Mrs. P. S. Squires died January 24, 1886. Mr. Squires is one of the most prominent men of the county, one who makes no loud pretentions, but is sincerely esteemed by all who know him.

FRANK R. STALFORD, farmer, Wilmot township, P. O. Sugar Run, was born September 23, 1857, and is the eldest of the three children of Joseph H. and Mary A. (Dehil) Stalford, natives of Penn- sylvania, and of Scotch-Irish descent. He was reared on his father's farm in Wilmot, and educated in the common schools of Wilmot town- ship. He began life for himself at twenty-one years of age, farming and lumbering, at which he is still engaged. Mr. Stalford married, December 8, 1878, Miss Amelia, daughter of Zodak and Amelia (Har- ford) Hiney, of Rome, Pa., and they have four children : Lucy B., born August 19, 1881 ; Arthur M., born April 22, 1885 ; Mary L, born Sep- tember 27, 1889, and Emily, born December 18, 1890. Politically Mr. Stalford is a Republican.

W. H. STALFORD, manufacturer of lumber, Wyalusing, was born in Wyalusing township, this county, June 22, 1865, a son of Jesse Stal- ford. He passed his boyhood on a farm, and was educated in the common schools and Wyalusing Academy. At the age of eighteen he began teaching, which occupation he continued for a short time; then followed farming until December. 1878, when he went to Michigan, and for three years was engaged in lumbering. At the end of that time he returned home and purchased a sawmill, and has since been engaged in the manufacture of lumber in Bradford county. He owns the Stalford mill on Wyalusing creek, and also owns and oper- ates a portable mill in Wilmot township. He has an elegant residence, which he built in 1888. On December 1, 1886, Mr. Stalford married Ameline C., daughter of Hon. E. B. Chase, of Wilkes-Barre, and they have one child, V. H., born April 25. 1891. Mr. Stalford is a member of White Lilly Lodge, No. 808, I. O. O. F., and has taken all the sub-

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ordinate degrees ; he is a Republican in politics, and has filled various town offices.

CHARLES W. STEELE, of the firm of Steele & Jones, liverymen, Troy, was born in Granville, this county, October 25, 1860, and is a son of Calvin and Achsab (McKeel) Steele, natives of Pennsylvania. His father was a farmer by occupation, and resided in Bradford county many years, where he reared a family of twelve children: Edmond, Emma J. (Mrs. Charles Williams), William A., Emory C., Charles W., James C., Andrew W., Warren B., Samuel, Ada and Ida (twins, of whom Ada married Arthur Field), and Elizabeth (Mrs. Abner Owens). Charles W. Steele was reared in Union township, this county, received a common-school education, and located in Troy in 1884, and for four years was in the employ of Pomeroy Brothers. In 1888, with his brother, James C., he embarked in the livery business under the firm name of Steele Bros., which partnership existed up to September, 1890, when his brother sold his interest, since which time the firm has been Steele & Jones. Mr. Steele is a popular liveryman, and is doing a successful business; politically he is a Republican.

ALONZO R. STEPHENS, physician and surgeon, of Herrick township, P. O. Herrickville, was born in Pike township, June 1, 1835. Jonathan Stephens, his father, was born in Connecticut, of English descent, a carpenter and joiner ; his wife was named Charity, and was also a native of Connecticut. He came to this county in 1842, where he followed his trade until his death. He had eleven children, viz .: Orlena, Charles and Louis (both died in infancy), Caroline (deceased), Harriet (deceased), Almon P. (deceased), Harry (deceased), Eliza (deceased), Charles F. (deceased), Emma A., wife of John Champion, and Alonzo R., the subject of this sketch. The latter attended the district school until his fifteenth year, and then went to Binghamton, N. Y., where he continued his studies. At the age of seventeen he began the study of medicine under Dr. O. V. Thayer, of Binghamton, and, after studying seven years, attended the Albany Medical College, where he received his degree of M. D. in 1855, when he returned to Binghamton, and began practice with Dr. George A. Thayer, and con- tinued with him until 1862. when he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-ninth N. Y. V. I. He was afterward appointed medical cadet, U. S. A., and assigned to temporary duty with the Eighty-ninth Regiment, N. Y. V. I .; was commissioned assistant- surgeon in 1864, and assigned to the Twentieth Army Corps, Second Brigade, Second Division ; he was injured in service, September 14, 1864, receiving a gunshot wound in his leg, and in falling received an injury in his back, which caused paralysis. He was removed to the hospital at Louisville, Ky., and was there until the following March ; then was transferred to the general hospital at Albany, N. Y., where he remained until he was discharged, September 4, 1865, on account of physical disability. He came to LeRaysville, and from there to Herrick- ville, arriving here in 1866, where he engaged in, and has continued to practice, his profession. The Doctor married Nancy, daughter of Hiram and Malvina (Waterman) Sweet, of Glen Castle, N. Y., who died in 1885. They had two children: Hiram H. and George Thayer. On

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January 20, 1889, Dr. Stephens married Mrs. Mary Park, widow of Norman F. Park, and daughter of Clark and Mary (Baldwin) Smith. She was born, September 15, 1850, the fifth in a family of nine chil- dren ; she had been married, March 10, 1868, to Norman F. Park, mer- chant, of Wysox, who died, May 16, 1880, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. Dr. Stephens has a farm of fifty-three acres, and a small dairy and five horses ; he is a member of Hurst Post, No. 86, G. A. R., and a United States Pension Examiner, having received his appoint- ment July 31, 1885, and in politics he is a Democrat. Mrs. Stephens is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

IRA H. STEPHENS, locomotive engineer, Sayre, is a native of Towanda, born December 18, 1856, a son of Ira E. and Mary A. (Gregg) Stephens, natives of Bradford county. Ira E. Stephens is a traveling salesman, and resides in Towanda. Our subject's great- grandfather, Ira H. Stephens, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was a charter member of the Masonic Fraternity in Athens, Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, in 1795; he built a house at the foot of Spanish Hill that is still standing and occupied; he married Cybil, daughter of Capt. Samuel Ransom, who served as an officer in the Continental War, and was killed at the Wyoming massacre. The subject of this sketch, who is the second in a family of eight children, was reared in Towanda, and completed his education in the Collegiate Institute of that place. He commenced driving a team when about eleven years old, working on the building of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and was watchman at the depot awhile, in Towanda. In May, 1874, he went on the road as brakeman, began firing in 1877, was promoted to engi- neer in October, 1881, and has been running on the line since. He has not missed a monthly payment since he commenced work. He is a lover of a good horse, and owns one of the best-bred young trotters in the county. Mr. Stephens was married, in Towanda, February 16, 1882, to Miss Esteele, daughter of Adam and Harriet (Adamson) Wilson, the former of whom is a native of Dumfries, and the latter of Easton, Pa. Her father is a carpenter, and works in the Erie Rail- road shops, at Elmira, where they reside. She is the fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children, and was born in Steuben county, N. Y., April 2, 1860. To Mr. and Mrs. Stephens was born one son, Louis Wilson. Mr. Stephens is a member of the F. & A. M., Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, Union Chapter, No. 161, and Northern Com- mandery, No: 16.

SAMUEL STETHERS, a farmer of Herrick township, P. O. Bal- libay, was born in Herrick township, this county, October 12, 1848. His father, Francis Stethers, was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, June 29, 1812, and in his thirteenth year he went to Liverpool (sailing in the " Henry Bell," the first steamship built to run between Ireland and Liverpool), where he worked through the summer seasons, until March 19, 1837, when he married Anna J. Hillis, daughter of James and Nancy (McCray) Hillis, and came to this country, settling in Her- rick township, this county. He had one sister-Sarah-and three brothers-William, John and James-of whom William died in Liv- erpool, and John and James in Ireland. Sarah and her husband, John

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Hurst, came to this country soon after Francis did. When Francis Stethers first came here he purchased ninety-five acres, the present Stethers homestead, and then bought a house and lot in Camptown, which he sold to Richard Graham. In 1877 he purchased eighty-four acres of the David Nesbit homestead, and in 1867 thirty acres of the Michael Coleman estate, also, from George and Gershum Barnes, thirty-three acres adjoining the Coleman property, and in 1876 he purchased of Richard Graham sixty-nine acres in Wyalusing township, which he sold; then in 1877 bought sixty-seven acres in Wyalusing township, making a total of 309 acres. He built his first log-house and barn in 1839; in 1850 his present barn, and in 1851 his house which in those days was considered quite modern. He raised and dealt quite extensively in cattle, and was considered a very successful man; he died April 23, 1889; Mrs. Stethers died April 5, 1889. They had children as follows: James; Sarah, wife of Theodore Clark (deceased); Nancy; Samuel and Francis M. Samuel Stethers attended the Ballibay school until his thirteenth vear, then went to Camptown and attended a select school kept by Silas Durand, one term, also a select school, kept by Rev. S. F. Brown, three terms, and returned home and went three terms to William Thomson, at Herrick. Then he began farming, taking full charge of his father's affairs, which he managed until his father's death, when he received, as his share, the homestead, with all the personal property and a half interest in the property which his father had purchased, consisting of sixty-three acres which he now owns, having purchased his brother's share. He married, in 1877, Vie Haight, daughter of Harry L. and Caroline (Shiner) Haight, natives of this State; she is the third in a family of seven children, six of whom are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Stethers have had two children. as follows : William L., born January 15, 1882, and Atla D., born October 20, 1884. Mr. Stethers is a Democrat, and is highly regarded by all his neighbors.

ACHATIUS STEVENS, farmer, was born in Standing Stone township, this county, January 10, 1822, and is a son of Asa Stevens, who was born in Wilkes-Barre, September 24, 1790, a son of Jonathan Stevens, a tailor, who was born in Canterbury, Conn., in 1764. Asa Stevens received a common-school education, and worked on a farm until his twenty-fourth year, when he received from his father fifty acres of land, adding to it later ; built his first log house in 1815, and lived in that until 1844, when he built the present frame house, which he enlarged afterward, and followed farming until he died, February 20, 1879. He had married, in 1814, Phebe, daughter of Achatius and Jane (Oakley) Vought, who died March 16, 1876, and they had the following children : Benjamin, Achatius, Jonathan, Joel, Byron, Nelson, Eleanor (wife of Alexander Ennis), Annie (wife of William Kingsley), Sarah and Lydia (wife of James B. Bush). Achatius Ste- vens was educated in the district schools until he was eighteen ; then worked on the farm until his thirtieth year, when he purchased his present farm of sixty acres; he added thirty acres in 1864, and built his house in 1872. He has been town treasurer thirty years, is a member of the Grange, No. 354, and of the Universalist Church ; in

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politics he is a Democrat. He married, in 1852, Sarah, daughter of Jabez and Lucy (Thurston) Sumner, and they had four children : James, Asa Sumner, Lucy Eleanor and Jabez Hamilton. This is one of the highly respected and influential families of Bradford county.

ASA S. STEVENS, farmer, of Franklin township, P. O. Franklin- dale, was born in Standing Stone, this county, December 24, 1854, a son of Achatius and Sarah (Sumner) Stevens, the former born in Standing Stone, this county, the latter in South Auburn, Susquehanna Co., Pa. Achatius is the son of Asa, who was the son of Jonathan, the first settler in Standing Stone, and whose father was killed at the Wyoming massacre. Nelson Stevens, uncle of our subject, is now living on the old homestead where Jonathan first settled, in Standing Stone. Achatius Stevens' family consisted of five children, three of whom grew to maturity. Asa S., who is the second in the family, was reared and educated at Standing Stone, and attended two terms at the Mansfield State Normal School. On December 19, 1878, he married Miss Ella M., daughter of Hiram and Lodoiska Vannest, of Standing Stone, and this union resulted in the birth of three daughters: Lucy M., Florence E. and S. Lodoiska. Mr. Stevens is an enterprising young farmer, and his place is situated on the high land, north of Franklindale; it com- prises 120 acres, and is known as the " Mineral Spring Farm," because of a valuable mineral spring on the place, which has not yet been analyzed. Mr. Stevens is a general farmer, and owns a fine assortment of stock; also pays some attention to wool-raising. His farm is well supplied with a living spring of soft water. He is a Democrat, and has held the offices of auditor and inspector of elections. He is a member of the Grange.

CYRUS LEE STEVENS, physician and surgeon, Athens, is a native of Pike township, this county, a son of Cyrus and Lydia A. (Lacey) Stevens. The father, a farmer, died at Stevensville, this county, February 12, 1890, in his eighty-seventh year ; his widow survives. Dr. Stevens, who is the youngest in a family of eight children, grad- uated at Lafayette College in 1876, was tutor of Natural Sciences at Parsons College for two years, and in 1878 entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, from which he graduated in the spring of 1880; he soon thereafter went to Turkey (Asia Minor), where he practiced his profession three years, when he returned to New York City, where he practiced until 1885 ; during which time he was inedical superintendent of the New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital. In August, 1885, he came to Athens, where he has since practiced. He was married at Laceyville, Pa., in 1880, to Nettie J. Keeney. Dr. and Mrs. Stevens are members of the Presby- terian Church, of which he is a ruling elder. He is a member of the F. & A. M., Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70; of the I. O. O. F., No. 165; of the Royal Arcanum, No. 1153, and of the Order of the Iron Hall, No. 146. The Doctor is ex-president of the Bradford County Medical Society, a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association ; is consulting surgeon of the Robert Packer Hospital, at Sayre, Pa., and is a member of the board of health, Athens. In politics Dr. Stevens is a Republican.

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EBENEZER LACEY STEVENS, merchant, Pike township, P. O. Stevensville, was born, April 4, 1843, on the place where he now resides, a son of Cyrus and Lydia Ann (Lacey) Stevens, natives of Pennsylvania, of New England origin. The paternal grandparents were Aeden and Annis (Warner) Stevens, who came from Connecticut in 1794 and located on the farm where our subject now lives; they had five children, of whom Cyrus was the third in order of birth. To Cyrus and Lydia Ann (Lacey) Stevens were born eight children, E. Lacey being the fifth. He spent his boyhood on the farm, attending the common school, where he completed his education; at twenty-five he engaged in farming, which he has followed to some extent since ; in 1880 he engaged with H. A. Ross in the mercantile business. Mr. Stevens was married, October 8, 1868, to Abbie Birchard, daughter of John and Mary (Griswould) Birchard, and this union has been blessed with three children : Mary Lucretia, born October 24, 1870, and died March 2, 1876; Eva Louise, born November 8, 1874, and Ruie May, born May 1, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are members of the Pres- byterian Church, of which he is an elder ; he is a Republican and has been town commissioner, school director and assistant assessor.

ELMER F. STEVENS, farmer, and manufacturer of lumber, lath and shingles, Stevensville, was born at Stevensville, this county, May 12, 1850, and is a son of Myron and Susan (Bosworth) Stevens, the former a son of Nathan Stevens, and the latter a daughter of Reed Bosworth. In their father's family there were eight children, of whom Elmer F. Stevens is the youngest. He was reared on a farm, educated in the common school and LeRaysville Academy, and began life for himself at the age of twenty-one, engaging in farming the next fourteen years. He then exchanged a portion of his farm, with W. C. Burrows, for a stock of goods, at Stevensville, where he remained in mercantile business three years, and then removed to his present home, where he has since lived. In 1883, he engaged with his brother- in-law, F. E. Eastabrook, in the lumber business, of which they have made a success. Mr. Stevens was married, September 11, 1870, to Clara B., daughter of Edward J. and Emaline (Potter) Eastabrook, of English lineage, and they have the following children: Walter B., born February 10, 1873, head sawyer in his father's mill; Fred E .. born May 21, 1877, and Floyd R., born January 2, 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is a Republican in politics.

GEORGE W. STEVENS, farmer, Pike township, P. O. Stevens- ville, was born, April 3. 1867, on the farm where he now resides, the only child of Aeden and Lucy (Van Gorden) Stevens, natives of Penn- sylvania, and of New England origin. He was reared on a farm, educated in the common-school, and at Nicholson, Pa. He began life for himself at sixteen, on his present farm of seventy-nine acres, which he inherited from his father. Mr. Stevens married, May 11, 1889, Miss Mary, daughter of Sylvester and Della (Terry) Powers, natives of Pennsylvania, also of New England origin, and her grand- parents were among the early settlers in Pike township. They have

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

one child, Earl A., born November 2, 1890. Mr. Stevens is a member of the Farmers' Association, and is a Republican in politics.

JOEL STEVENS, farmer, P. O. Macedonia, was born February 7, 1828, in Standing Stone, this county, a son of Asa and Phoebe (Vought) Stevens, former of whom was born in Luzerne county, Pa., and latter in Peekskill, N. Y. Joel Stevens was reared on his father's farm, educated in the schools of his native town, learned the carpenter's trade, and was a contractor and builder over fifteen years. He was married, January 8, 1863, to Sarah, daughter of George and Rebecca (Terry) Gordon, whose ancestors were among the pioneers of the county, coming here in an early day and settling at Terrytown. To Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were born children, as follows: George, born December 2, 1864, married to Alice G. Cole; Augusta L., born Septem- ber 24, 1866; Mary E., born March 8, 1870; Joseph M., born July 5, 1872; Thomas E., born December 10, 1874, of whom the first three were born in Standing Stone, and the two latter in Asylum. The great-grandfather of subject was killed by the Indians a few days before the massacre at Wyoming, and Grandfather Stevens, who was born in Canterbury, Conn., was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army, enlisting when but fourteen years of age. Mr. Stevens is a Democrat, and has held many places of public trust; he has been a school director twenty years, and at the present time is town auditor. He is a popu- lar man with both political parties, and is respected by a wide circle of friends.

JONATHAN B. STEVENS, farmer, Pike township, was born February 18, 1838, the second of three children of Henry L. and Martha (Brink) Stevens. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common school, beginning life for himself at the age of twenty-one, farming, which occupation he has since followed except while in the army. He enlisted at Towanda, August 24, 1862, in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment P. V. I., and was mustered out April 24, 1863, on surgeon's certificate of disability. Mr. Stevens was married, May 27, 1863, to Miss Sarah C., daughter of Nathan and Delia M. (White) Rockwell, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of New York ; they have one child, Ella M., born October 25, 1864, married to F. E. Eastabrook. Mr. Stevens is a stanch and life- long Republican.

OLIVER W. STEVENS was born in Stevensville, Pike township, this county, Jannary 15, 1831, on the old homestead farm of his grand- father, Col. Aden Stevens, one of the early pioneers of the Wyalusing valley, who purchased and settled upon it in the year 1794, and now is owned and occupied by E. Lacey Stevens, having been kept continuously in the family for three generations, and almost one hundred years. Col. Aden Stevens was the son of Peter Stevens, of New Milford, Conn., a Revolutionary soldier, who was wounded at the capture of Danbury, from which he died August 6, 1779, leaving a large family of children, of which five subsequently settled and raised large families in . Pike township. Two of his sons, Col. Aden and Nathan, came to the present site of Stevensville in 1794, and jointly purchased some five hundred acres of Capt. Bronson, lying on both sides of the Wyalusing

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creek, under the Connecticut title, paying for the same one hundred pounds (money) in gold. The Pennsylvania title was purchased of John B. Wallace and others about 1814. They, after a few years, divided their land, and each established for himself a good home and a fair competency, besides raising large families and paying for their land twice. Col. Aden Stevens was commissioned colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment of Pennsylvania Militia, Second Brigade, Ninth Nivision, composed of the counties of Northumberland, Lycoming and Luzerne, September 9, 1805. During the War of 1812 he was ordered to Northumberland, but peace was declared before he took part in any engagement. He was a very active, energetic man, a deacon of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a member over fifty years. A stanch Whig, he held several important positions of trust, and he died at his home July 28, 1858. He married, November 14, 1796, Anise Warner, and had five children, as follows : Oliver W., Hiram, Cyrus, Anne and Sally. Anise (Warner) Stevens died Feb- ruary 6, 1814, and February 16, 1815, he married Rebecca P. Somers, by whom he had three children : Philena, Louis (died in infancy) and Peter.

Oliver W. went to Ohio in 1819, was a merchant in Cincinnati for some time, and engaged in steamboating on the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers. In or about 1850 he went to California, engaged in banking, and died there a few years since. He was a very successful business man, and amassed a large fortune. Hiram settled upon a farm in Stevensville, was a successful farmer, a devout Christian, and died a few years since, beloved and respected by all who knew him. Cyrus, the father of Oliver W., remained on the homestead farm. He was educated in the common schools, and had the advantage of a thorough home training, With a natural taste for letters, he acquired a general fund of information and knowledge of the sciences that has often put to blush the college graduate. He was a man of modest mien, never forcing his views or opinions (which were very decided)

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 140

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