History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 143

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 143

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).

1214

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

after attaining his majority engaged in farming until 1888, in Wells township. He then located at Columbia Cross Roads, and embarked in general merchandising, in which he still successfully continues. On October 19, 1887, he married Jessie M., daughter of Richard M. and Jane (Gustin) Howland, of Columbia township, and has two children : Bessie C. and Lillian. Mr. Swayze is a popular merchant, a member of the Presbyterian Church, of the I. O. O. F., and politically he is a Republican.

DALLAS J. SWEET, a leading citizen of Towanda, was born in Monroe township, this county, November 3, 1843, and is a son of Free- man and Nancy (Ridgeway) Sweet. His paternal grandfather was Elezar Sweet, a native of Connecticut, who settled in Albany, this county, in 1812; later removed to Monroe township, where he cleared and improved a farm, on which he resided until his death, which occurred in 1866, when he was aged eighty-eight. His wife was Amy Wilcox, by whom he had eight children, as follows: Freeman, Lavina (Mrs. Ezra Kellogg), Jemima (Mrs. Lemuel Streeter), Rosena (Mrs .- Cole), Jane (Mrs. George Irvin), Elizabeth (Mrs. Lyman Hollam), Hiram and Ransom. Of these, Freeman, father of Dallas J., was a farmer and lumberman for many years, and is now living a retired life in Monroeton. He reared a family of eight children, viz .: Edwin, Charles, Hiram, Dallas J., Ulysses, Emma, J. Theron and Ella. Dallas J. was reared in Monroe township, received a common-school educa- tion, and in his nineteenth year entered the Union Army, enlisting August 7, 1862, in Company C, One Hundred and Forty-first P. V. I. and participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Cold Har- bor, Petersburg, Hatcher's Run, Sailor's Creek, and witnessed the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He was honorably discharged, May 29, 1865. After his return home he engaged in farming for three years, and then embarked in mercantile business at Monroeton, in which he continued alone until January 1, 1885. Mr. B. F. Myer then became associated with him for one year, and in 1886 his brother Theron purchased Mr. Myer's interest, since which time the business has been under the firm name of Sweet & Co. In 1884 Mr. Sweet was elected sheriff of Bradford county, for a term of three years. He has been a resident of Towanda since January 1, 1885, and in 1888 embarked in the lumber business, in which he still engages. He was married, August 18, 1870, to Ella, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Young) Myer, of Monroeton, and has one daughter living, Lucy. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet are members of the Presbyterian Church ; he is a member of the G. A. R., and in politics is a stanch Republican.

JAMES THERON SWEET, merchant, Monroeton, was born in Monroe township, this county, May 23, 1854, and is a son of Freeman and Nancy J. (Ridgeway) Sweet, natives of New York and Pennsyl- vania, respectively, and of English origin. In his father's family there were eight children, of whom our subject is the seventh. He went West and started in life for himself at twenty-one years of age, and worked at various occupations five years; then took charge of his father's farm on the South branch for four years, after which he engaged in mer-

1215

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

cantile business with his brother, D. J., in his present place of busi- ness. He handles a general line of goods, and has built up a large and lucrative trade. Mr. Sweet married, May 2, 1884, Miss Isadore, daughter of Hiram and Lavina (Manley) Linley, of Canton; he is a member of the P. O. S. of A., and is a Republican; he is serving his second term as burgess; and has also been in the council.

FRED TAYLOR, lumberman, P. O. Granville Centre, was born in Granville township, this county, January 13, 1859, and is a son of Levi and Sarah (Campbell) Taylor. His paternal grandparents were Jere- miah and Martha (Bailey) Taylor, natives of Connecticut, who came to Granville township in 1800, and were the first settlers of same. Levi Taylor, father of subject, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., September 19, 1797, and in 1800 came to Granville with his parents, where he was reared ; he cleared several farms and resided in the township until his death, April 27, 1890, at the age of ninety-three. He was three times married : first time, to Louise (daughter of Sterling and Betsey (Stone) Holcomb, of LeRoy township), by whom he had four children : Alvira (Mrs. S. Denton Perry), Betsey (Mrs. Hiram Reynolds), Volney and Sterling ; his second wife was Mary Landon, and his third was Sarah Campbell (daughter of James and Kesiah (Patrick) Campbell, of Tioga county, Pa.), by whom he had three children : Milan, Hollis and Fred. The subject of these lines was reared in Granville, educated at Troy High School, and after attaining his majority engaged in farm- ing until 1890, since when he has given his time and attention to lumbering. He married, May 27, 1880, Ida, daughter of Hiram and Lucy (Saxton) Kittle, of Granville township, and has three children, viz .: Bayard, Irene and Elise. He is a member of the F. & A. M., Trojan Lodge, and is District Deputy Grand Master of the I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Republican.

GEORGE F. TAYLOR, a prominent farmer of Troy township, P. O. Troy, was born in Columbia township, this county, August 12, 1842, a son of Howard and Betsey (Porter) Taylor. His paternal grandfather, Charles Taylor, was a son of Moses Taylor, and both were prominent farmers and pioneers of Columbia township. Charles Taylor cleared and improved a farm on which he lived and died ; his wife was Marinda Canfield, by whom he had the following children : Seba C., Dr. Charles Allen, Howard, Alanson, Lucy J. (Mrs. Charles Ballard) and Juliette (Mrs. William Bradford). Of these, Howard occupies the old homestead in Columbia township, where he was born and reared, and is one of the representative farmers of the town- ship; his wife was a daughter of John and Martha (Fruman) Porter, of Troy township, by whom he had one son, George F., our subject, who was reared in his native township, educated in the cominon schools and Troy Academy, and has spent most of his life in farming ; he has resided on his present farm in Troy township since 1869. In 1866 he married Annie C., daughter of Archibald and Clarissa (Greeno) Maynard, and granddaughter of Shubel Maynard, formerly of Ver- mont, and a pioneer of Troy township. By this union there are two children, Clara B. and Maynard. Mr. Taylor is a Republican.

1216

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

HARRIS BROWNING TAYLOR, manufacturer of lumber, cigars and proprietary medicines, Pike township, was born in East Herrick, this county, January 29, 1841, a son of Benjamin P. and Lucy Ann (Browning) Taylor, the former of whom, a native of Connecticut and of New England origin, came with his father, Eben St. John Taylor, to Pike township in the year 1816; the mother is a native of Orwell, Pa., of English lineage. In their family there were three children, of whom the subject of these lines is the eldest. He was reared on a farm, educated in the common school and at Mansfield State Normal School, and began life for himself at eighteen, teaching writing school, winters, and working a farm, summers. On April 23, 1861, he enlisted at Towanda in Company A, which was the first company organized in the county ; he was the first one enlisted from his township for the Civil War, and was mustered into the Fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Reserves, at Harrisburg, May 15, of the same year. He participated in the following engagements : Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mills, Charles City Cross Roads, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, and some minor engagements. He was wounded in the shoulder at Gaines' Mills, and was in the hospital from September 1, 1862, to January 5, 1863, where he was discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability ; then returned to Pike, purchased his present home, and lived there until 1867, when he went to Mansfield, Pa., as steward and professor of penmanship in the State Normal School, at that place, which position he filled for two years ; then returned to his present home, where he has since lived. In 1870 he began to manufacture a liniment known as "Taylor's Oil," which he now handles very extensively ; it has a great record as an annihilator of rheumatism and neuralgia, and as a healing agent in sores and wounds in man or beast ; he also manufactures several other medi- cines; and the rapid and steady increase of his business for the past twenty-one years stands as unrebutted evidence of the true merit of his goods. Mr. Taylor was married, February 24, 1864, to Sarah E., daughter of David and Phebe (Buffington) Hine ; they have no chil- dren. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, having served suc- cessively as junior and senior warden, and master of LeRoy Lodge, No. 471; and is also a Royal Arch Mason, being a member of the Chapter at Towanda. He is also a member of Spalding Post, No. 33, G. A. R., at LeRaysville, Pa., and has always been a straight Repub- lican. He has been, physically, helpless since May 16, 1890, from the disabilities he received in the army, but still continues the medicine business through his various agents.

H. H. TAYLOR, proprietor of planing mill, Canton, is a native of Granville Centre, this county, born January 20, 1848, a son of Levi and Sarah (Campbell) Taylor, natives of Berkshire, Mass., and Tioga county, respectively. The father, who was a farmer and lumberman, came with his parents to Sugar Creek, Burlington township, this county, when two years of age. He taught school in Canton town- ship when there was just one house where the borough now stands. By his third marriage he had three children, of whom H. H. is the second; he died in Granville Centre, April 25, 1890, in his ninety-third year. The mother died in 1883, in her sixty-ninth year. H. H. Taylor

1217

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

was reared in Granville, and received a public-school education. He worked on the farm and at the lumber business with his father until he was about twenty-five years of age; then engaged in the lumber business for himself. He moved, in 1885, from Granville Centre to Canton, where he engaged in building and contracting. He was married, in Canton township, in 1871, to Madana, who was born in Canton township, July 20, 1848, and is the youngest in order of birth in the family of eight children of Remington and Maria (Bakeman) Lewis, natives of New York State. To Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were born two children : Milan L. and Floyd D. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the Disciple Church. Mr. Taylor is a member of the F. & A. M., Canton Lodge, No. 415, Troy Chapter, No. 216 and Canton Commandery, No. 64; he is Past Grand in the I. O. O. F., Granville Centre, No. 687, and of the Canton Encampment; has passed the chairs in the Order. Politically he is a Republican, and is a member of the borough council.

HIRAM P. TAYLOR, farmer and stockman, P. O. West Warren, is a native of Susquehanna county, Pa., born May 17, 1818, and is a son of Israel and Theresa (Plumb) Taylor, natives of New York, and of English descent. His father was a farmer; he removed to this county in 1820, and located in Windham township, and commenced the heroic work of clearing and preparing for a farm 100 acres of the heavy growth then everywhere; he died July 13, 1863, and his widow followed him October 17, 1879. Their family consisted of nine children, of whom Hiram was the third in the order of birth. He was less than two years old when his father brought his family to this county, and grew up, a fine specimen of a pioneer's boy, in wild and rugged pioneer times, and, when grown, commenced life for himself at the very bottom round of the ladder, but has labored, waited and pros- pered well, and owns a fine farm of 160 acres, in an excellent state of cultivation, with elegant and commodious buildings. He married, in 1840, Polly, danghter of William Rodgers, a native of New York. William Rodgers' family consisted of six children, of whom Polly was the fifth, born, reared and educated in Windham township. To this union were born seven children, as follows: Francis E., married to Flor- ence Lathrop, resides at Humboldt, Iowa, and has seven children ; Miles, married to Ann Bowen, and has five children ; Theresa (Mrs. Horace Whitman), of Newark Valley, N. Y .; Emerson H., married to Laura Prince, is proprietor, with his brother, William, of a hotel in Nichols, N. Y .; Charles A., born Angust 8, 1854, died June 20, 1864; Melissa, married to Frederick Hotchkiss, and had three children (she died October 13, 1886) ; and William M., married to Mary Madden, and resides at Nichols. Our subject's family are all members of the Con- gregational Church. He has always voted the Democratic ticket, and lived an honest, industrious and exemplary life: was twelve years commissioner, eight years school director, and a full term postmaster.

J. H. TAYLOR, mechanic, Wyalusing, was born in Tuscarora township, this county, September 25, 1840, a son of Walter and Sallie C. (Montgomery) Taylor, natives of Delaware county, N. Y. The father, who was a farmer. came to Bradford county January 1, 1840, and located on a farm in Tuscarora township, where he resided until

1218

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

his death, August 30, 1873, in his sixty-second year ; his widow died, January 15, 1887, aged sixty-four; they had three children, viz .: Andrew, on the old homestead in Tuscarora township; Olly A., mar- ried to C. H. Newman, a farmer in Tuscarora township, and J. H. Our subject was born and reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools. He followed farming until March 30, 1864, when he enlisted in Company G, Fiftieth P. V. V. I .; he was in the battles of the Wilderness and Petersburg. On May 6, 1864, during the battle of the Wilderness, he received a gun-shot wound in the left thigh, the ball ranging downwards and backwards, lodging close to the knee, where it was cut out; he was in the hospital until Christmas, 1864, when he rejoined his regiment before Petersburg. He served with his regiment until July 30, 1865, when he was mustered out. For two years after his return home he followed farming, and then worked at the blacksmith trade about a year; then began working at the car- penter's trade, which he followed fifteen successive years. He pur- chased a farm in Tuscarora township, and operated it about seven years, when he sold his farm and opened a store in Wyalusing, October 28, 1890. Mr. Taylor was united in marriage, April 12, 1861, with Nancy J. Hitchcock, daughter of Marshall Hitchcock, of Her- rick township, and they have been blessed with four children: James E., married to Clarissa Brown, and residing in Wyalusing; Laura, mar- ried to Jacob Neskey, also residing in Wyalusing; D. L. and Dora May. Mr. Taylor is a member of Jackson Post, No. 74, G. A. R., is a Repub- lican, and has held various township offices during his residence in Tuscarora.

JOHN M. TAYLOR, farmer, Tuscarora township, P. O. Spring Hill, was born October 7, 1827, on his present place in Tuscarora township, was reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools. He is a son of Aholiab and Mary A. (Ackley) Taylor, the former a native of Wyalusing, a son of John Taylor who was a daring pioneer of Bradford county, and among the early settlers of Wyalusing; he was also captain of a company in the War of 1812, and his brother James is numbered among the Revolutionary heroes who sacrificed their lives for their country's glory and independence. Capt. Buck, who was one of the victims of the merciless Wyoming massacre, was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Taylor's father settled in Tuscarora in 1821, and was one of the three first set- tlers of the township. Our subject began life for himself at his father's death, April 24, 1849, farming on the old homestead, and was married, December 28, 1854, to Harriet A., daughter of James and Amanda (Lake) Coburn, of Tuscarora, and they have seven children, as follows : Charles E., born September 18, 1855, now engaged in the hotel business at Manchester, Conn .; Addie L., born April 27, 1857. died July 22, 1858; Hiram E., born May 4, 1858, died February 6, 1865 ; Jennie R., born October 7, 1861, married to M. G. Barton, a manufacturer, of Chicago, Ill .; James A., born July 2, 1864, engaged in farming with his father in Tuscarora; Vida E., born January 14, 1866, and Ruth A., born June 4, 1869, a teacher. In politics Mr. Taylor is a pronounced Republican.

1219

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

J. R. TAYLOR, farmer and stock-grower, of Wyalusing township, P. O. Wyalusing, was born in Moravia, N. Y., April 16, 1832, a son of George and Abigail (Baldwin) Taylor, the former of whom was a native of Wyalusing, and the latter of Bloomfield, N. J. The grand- father was Maj. John Taylor, prominent in the early history of this county. The Major's parents were from Scotland, but he was born in Dauphin county, Pa., and was among the few hardy settlers found in the Wyalusing Valley in 1792. The great grandmother, Mrs. Aho- liab Buck, was one of the few to escape from the Indians at Wyoming, and she carried the grandmother of our subject (then an infant) through to Connecticut on horseback. The father of our subject was born November 19, 1797, and died June 30, 1842; he was married, October 18, 1826, and was licensed as a Presbyterian minister, April 28, 1824, and ordained February 15, 1825; during his early life he was a farmer, but afterward began the study of theology. After gradu- ating from Princeton College he entered the ministry, where he remained until his death; he was a hard student, an eloquent speaker and earnest worker in his chosen profession. By his first marriage he became the father of three children, viz .: Sarah L., married to Jesse R. Smith, a farmer of Monroe county; Mary E., married to Washing- ton Ingham, of Sugar Run, and J. R. George Taylor, the father, mar- ried, for his second wife, Caroline Ward, and they had two children : John W., cashier of the First National Bank, Kalamazoo, Mich., and George W., merchant of the same place. The subject of these lines passed his boyhood until eight or nine years old at Moravia, N. Y .; his father dying about that time, he made his home with his grand- father, John Taylor, in Wyalusing, and was educated in the Wyalusing schools. After reaching his majority he took up farming, and in 1853 he purchased his first farm (where I. M. Allis now lives), which he owned until 1860, when he purchased his present farm containing 105 acres; it was a wilderness when he obtained possession, not an acre cleared, but he has since cleared it and fitted it for the plow, built handsome and substantial farm buildings, and he now has one of the prettiest farms in his section. Mr. Taylor was united in marriage, June 25, 1861, with Abigail Vaughn, daughter of John and Jane (Overton) Vaughn, and this union has been blessed with two children: George V., born August 27, 1869, and James I., born September 27, 1874, died September 5, 1875. Politically Mr. Taylor is a Republican, and he has filled various township offices.

J. W. TAYLOR, proprietor of the " Packard House," Canton, is a native of Burlington, this county, born July 30, 1836, a son of John M. and Ruth Ann (Albro) Taylor, natives of Luzerne county, Pa .; the father, who was a farmer, died in Athens in April, 1890, in his seventy- sixth year; the mother died in Monroeton, in February, 1879, in her sixty-fourth year. Great-grandfather Major Taylor served seven years in the Revolutionary War, and was mustered out in Washington's own handwriting. The subject of this memoir, who is the eldest in a fam- ily of nine children-six daughters and three sons-was reared in Bur- lington and Franklin townships, receiving a public-school education ; then went to Franklindale in the fall of 1860, and was engaged in the

1220

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

hotel business there two years. In 1863 he removed to Covington, Tioga Co., Pa., where he kept the "Covington House " until 1864. He enlisted, August 26, 1864, in Battery B, Third New York Light Artillery, and was in active service until the close of the war; was mustered out at Syracuse, N. Y., July 13, 1865, and returned to Frank- lindale, where he was engaged in the hotel business a short time, after which he was engaged in the lumber business. In 1881 he removed to Fall Brook, Tioga Co., Pa., and was there foreman for the Fall Brook Coal Company five years; then, in 1886, came to Canton, and took charge of the "Packard House." Mr. Taylor was married, in Bur- lington, in 1859, to Jane, daughter of John and Katy (Hoover) Kirk- endall, natives of Berwick, Columbia Co., and Bradford county, Pa. She is the sixth in a family of seven living children, and was born in Towanda in 1839. To Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were born four children, of whom two are living : Lillie Blanche, wife of E. D. Rosa, residing in Elkland, Tioga Co., Pa .; and Fred R. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the Evangelical Church. Mr. Taylor is a member of the G. A. R., Ingham Post, No. 91, and Knights of Honor, Fall Brook, No. 2506. Politically he is a Republican.

HON. L. D. TAYLOR, dealer in general merchandise, Granville Centre, was born in Granville, this county, November 28, 1820, a son of Jeremiah and Mary (White) Taylor. The paternal grandfather was Jeremiah Taylor, formerly of Berkshire county, Mass., who settled in Granville in 1800, cleared and improved a farm and died there; his wife was Martha Bailey, by whom he had four children: Jeremiah, Levi, Sylvester and Abigail (Mrs. Isaac Putnam). Of these, Jeremiah, the eldest son, cleared a part of the old homestead, and in connection with his farming interests conducted a grist and saw mill, also a chair and rake factory, and did an extensive business; his chairs are now looked upon as heirlooms in many of the families of Granville; his wife was a daughter of David and Mary (Ferris) White, pioneers of Troy township, and by her he had four children; Benjamin F .. Luman D., Lemira (Mrs. Dennis Perry) and Malvina (Mrs. Heman Bush). The subject of this sketch was reared in Granville, where he has always resided. In early life he taught school, winters, and assisted his father in business affairs. In December, 1847, he married Matilda, daughter of Sterling and Betsey (Stone) Holcomb, of LeRoy township. and has one child, Ella (Mrs. S. M. Manley). In the same month and year he embarked in general merchandising at Granville Centre, in which he has since continued successfully. and also cleared and improved a large farm in the township. He is a member of the Church of Christ, and was superintendent of the Sabbath-school fifteen years. Politically he has always been a Republican, and was post- master at Granville Centre nearly thirty years; in 1881 he was elected a member of the State Legislature, serving one term.

ORLANDO TAYLOR, farmer, P. O. Granville Centre, was born in Granville township, this county, April 13, 1832, and is the only child of Sylvester and Susannah (DeWitt) Taylor. His paternal grandparents, Jeremiah and Martha (Bailey) Taylor, natives of Con- necticut, located in Granville township in 1800, and were the first set-

1221

HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

tlers of the same. Sylvester, father of subject, and who was the first white child born in Granville (the date of his birth being October 9, 1803), resided in the township until his death, in January, 1881. He was a farmer by occupation, cleared some land, was a man of consider- able literary taste, and spent some time in gathering material for a history of Bradford county, the manuscript of which is in the posses- sion of his son, Orlando. For many years he was a frequent contrib- utor to the Press, both religious and secular, and his contributions were characterized by the forcible and vigorous expression of his ideas. In 1840 he was deputy marshal, and took the census of the western half of Bradford county ; he was postmaster at Granville Centre twenty- four years in succession. His wife was a daughter of Paul and Eliza- beth (Slye) DeWitt, of German descent, natives of Northumberland county, Pa., and among the first settlers of West Burlington township. Orlando Taylor was reared in Granville township, where he has always resided and been engaged in farming. He married, April 17, 1853, Esther M., daughter of Lewis D. and Minerva (Sabins) Fowler, who, in 1845, settled on a farm now occupied by subject, which they cleared and improved, and they resided there until 1881, when they removed to LeRoy township. Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Taylor have two children : Melda (Mrs. Charles F. Gray) and Encell (who married Euphemia Shedden). Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are members of the Church of Christ ; he is a member of the F. & A. M., Trojan Lodge, and of the P. of H .; in politics he is a Republican.

VOLNEY TAYLOR, farmer, of Granville township, P. O. Granville Centre, was born in Granville township, Bradford Co., Pa., February 14, 1829, and is a son of Levi and Louise (Holcomb) Taylor. His paternal grandparents, Jeremiah and Martha (Bailey) Taylor, settled in Granville township, this county, in 1800 ; his maternal grandparents, Sterling and Betsey (Stone) Holcomb, were pioneers of LeRoy town- ship, same county, and the great-grandfather, Eli Holcomb, was a pioneer of Ulster township. Levi Taylor was reared in Granville township from three years of age, was a farmer by occupation and cleared and improved the farm now owned by Charles G. Sayles, where he died April 27, 1890, in his ninety-third year. He was thrice married : first time to Louisa, daughter of Sterling and Betsey (Stone) Holcomb, of LeRoy township, and by her he had four children : Alvira (Mrs. S. D. Perry), Sterling, Betsey (Mrs. Hiram Reynold) and Volney ; his second wife was Mary Landon, and his third, Sarah Campbell, by whom he had three children : Milan, Hollis and Fred. Our subject was reared in Granville, where he has always resided engaged in farming, and has lived on his present farm since 1869. Ile has been twice mar- ried : first time to Laura Jennings, of Troy, Pa., and afterward to Francina Babb, of Granville. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Church of Christ, and in politics is a Republican.

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 143

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