History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 149

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.

The childhood of the subject of this sketch was passed where he was born until he had reached the age of eight years, when he was adopted into the family of his mother's brother, Nathaniel Flower, where he was schooled in the old Franklin school-house near Athens village, when schools were open, and assisted about the farm when there was no school, until about 1840, when he took an academical course in Athens Academy. At the age of nineteen he commenced land surveying under direction of his grandfather, Maj. Flower, and the first lot surveyed was for Henry Mitten, in the town of Herrick, Pa. This and civil engineering have been his vocation since. He has made more surveys in Bradford, Sullivan, Lycoming and Tioga coun- ties, Pa., and Tioga county, N. Y., than any other surveyor living at this time; having the advantage of all the records and maps of Maj. Z. Flower, who preceded him as a surveyor in these counties. His first work as an engineer was on assisting in the location of the old North Branch Canal from Athens to State line. He entered the sur- vey of the location of the, then, Athens & Ithaca Railroad, now the Ithaca Branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, being on the same from its inception to its final completion. Soon after this he laid out and staked the, now, borough of Sayre, besides many other works in the engineering line. He entered the service as engineer and draughts- man for the Lehigh Valley Railroad, Northern Division, January 21, 1882, and is in that position now. He has made many maps of land surveys as well as of railroads, both right of way and mechanical. In 1850 he made a very elaborate map of the subdivision of the Decatur Lands, situated in Litchfield, Sheshequin, Rome, Windham, Herrick and Pike townships, covering some 14,000 acres cut up in fifty and one- hundred-acre lots, which were sent to Belgium, Europe, for the owner, Mr. Decatur. During this time Mr. Walker carried on his farm on which he lives and was brought up on since his adoption by his uncle, Capt. Flower. His uncle, Capt. Nathaniel Flower, purchased the homestead part of the late Col. John Franklin farm in the spring of 1834, and at his death, September 8, 1852, he bequeathed the same by will to the subject of this sketch. It is on this farm that Col. John Franklin and his wife, as well as Maj. Zephon Flower and his wife, Capt. Nathaniel Flower and his wife, and Heloisa, daughter of Maj. Flower, are buried, and neat marble upright flags mark their resting- places ; and the community can esteem the benevolence of Capt. Nathaniel Flower, who (though no way related) paid for, from his own fund, and placed the stones to mark the place of burial of Col. Franklin and wife. Mr. Walker politically was a Whig until the breaking up of the parties, when he identified himself with the Repub- licans for two years; but, their views not agreeing with his, he went over to the Democrats and stands firm with them to-day. Posts of honor, politically, he has never sought, although he has served and filled his share of the local offices of the town. Among other distant relatives in New York is Roswell P. Flower, governor-elect of that State.

Z. F. Walker was married, August 9, 1854, at Seneca, Mich., to Rebecca M., daughter of Amos and Cynthia Franklin, and great-grand-

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daughter of Col. John Franklin. Amos Franklin was a son of Billa Franklin, whose father was Col. John Franklin. Cynthia Franklin (née Mckinney) was a daughter of Henry and Rebecca Mckinney, who had a settlement in Athens as early as 1788. The results of the union of Z. F. and R. M. Walker have been : Frank Z., Nathaniel F., Alfred I., Clara, Ada and Helena, and all are living.

GEORGE W. T. WARBURTON, farmer, LeRoy township, P. O. LeRoy, was born in Elkland, Sullivan Co., Pa., November 13, 1849, a son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Brown) Warburton, the former a native of Liverpool, England, and the latter of Wilton, same country. They came to this country in 1816, locating in Sullivan county, but removed to Bradford county in 1853. Mr. Warburton died in 1872, Mrs. War- burton in 1884. Their family consisted of four children-two sons and two daughters-all of whom grew to maturity. The subject of these lines, who is the youngest, was reared and educated in LeRoy. In early life he was engaged in the jeweler's trade almost ten years. On July 19, 1882, he was married at Granville to Ettie B., daughter of Philander and Rebecca Foster, and this union has been blessed with one son and one daughter : Arthur T., born December 10, 1883, and Sarah Ann, born June 27, 1887. Mr. Warburton is a farmer of considerable ability, and has always lived on the old homestead of only sixty acres; he has two carp ponds, one of which is stocked ; last year he sold over twenty-six dollars worth of young carp. His farm- ing is general, and he raises considerable wool; he holds the office of Meteorological Observer for the United States. He is a deacon in the Baptist Church; in politics he is a Republican, and is auditor.

O. P. WARD, farmer, P. O. Alba, is a native of Canton township, this county, born June 23, 1835, a son of Eliphalet and Polly (Case) Ward, natives of Connecticut and Vermont, respectively. Eliphalet Ward was a farmer and an early settler of Canton township. He served in the War of 1812, and died in August, 1865, in his seventy- sixth year. Mrs. Ward died in April, 1876, in her eighty-fourth year. The paternal grandfathers were in the Revolutionary War. The sub- ject of this sketch, who is the youngest in order of birth in a family of eleven children, was reared in Canton township, receiving his edu- cation in the common schools, and has made farming his occupation. He enlisted, August 24, 1861, for three years in Company F, Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Capt. B. B. Mitchell ; took part in the battles of Petersburg, Wilson's Raid and Deserted House, and was in many skirmishes ; was mustered out at Jones's Neck, Va., August 26, 1864. He was married in Fox, Sullivan Co., Pa., April 1, 1866, to Paulina, daughter of Aaron and Julia (Burdick) Wright, natives of Delaware county, N. Y. Aaron Wright was a farmer, and died in Fox township, Sullivan Co., Pa., in 1879, in his sixty-ninth year; Mrs. Wright still survives him, is in her seventy-ninth year, and resides in Alba. Mrs. Ward's great-grandfather Wright was a soldier in the Revolutionary War ; she is the sixth in order of birth in a family of nine children, and was born in Springfield township, this county, January 25, 1844. To. Mr. and Mrs. Ward were born three children, as follows : Minnie, wife of Frank Jennings; Allen T. and Julia. Mr. Ward is a

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member of the G. A. R., Ingham Post, No. 91, and Union Veteran Legion, No. 48; also a member of the Keystone Grange. Politically he is a Democrat, and holds the office of road commissioner ; served six years as school director and one term as town clerk.

DRAPER N. WARNER, farmer, Tuscarora township, P. O. Spring Hill, was born, June 30, 1860, about two miles from where he now resides, and is a son of Charles and Betsey M. (Black) Warner, the former a native of New York, and the latter of Pennsylvania, both being of New England origin. Mr. Warner has one sister, Jennie, who was married to William Richardson, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The father was a soldier in the Rebellion, being a member of Battery H, One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was taken prisoner at Petersburg, and sent to Salisbury Prison, where he died of starvation. Draper N. Warner was educated at the Soldiers' Orphans School, at Harford, Pa., and from the time he left there, which was when he was sixteen, he lived with his stepfather till he was past twenty. At twenty-one he began life for himself, farming on his present place, whichi was left to him by his father. He was married, December 24, 1881, to Miss Sarah L., daughter of William and Mary Jane (Lacey) Peet, of Tuscarora, and they have two children : Charles Wesley, born December 5, 1883, and Eldridge L., born August 19, 1885. In politics Mr. Warner is a pronounced Republican.

JOHN M. WARNER, farmer, P. O. Windham, is a native of Albany county, N. Y., where he was born December 22, 1827, a son of Peter and Amanda (Smith) Warner, also of New York, but remotely of German and English descent, and belonging to the Agricultural class who migrated to Bradford county in 1845, and located in the immediate vicinity of the subject's present residence; the mother died in 1882 at the age of eighty-two years, and the father departed this life at the age of ninety-two. Their family of children were five in num- ber, John being the third in order of birth. He came with his parents to Bradford county. and when grown engaged in farming, and now owns fifty-three acres. In October, 1861, he enlisted in the Fifty-seventh Regiment, P. V. I., Company G, joining the Army of the Potomac, and was at the siege of Yorktown. He was detailed for extra duty on the steamer " Commodore," and was on duty there at the time of the bat- tles of Williamsburg and Fair Oaks. He also did arduous duty on the fleet at White House Landing; he was seriously hurt in the hip in getting off a train, and from disability was discharged from the service in December, 1862, having been in the hospital nine months; these injuries are a life affliction. Mr. Warner was married in Litchfield, in 1848, to Phobe Kuykendall, who was born in 1828, a daughter of John and Betsey (Brack) Kuykendall, of New York, and they have had four children: Harry (deceased); Eugene (deceased); Delphine, married to Luther Bixby, a farmer, and Betsey Ann (deceased wife of Albert Johnson). Mr. Warner raises improved stock on his farm. Mrs. War- ner is a registered physician in Bradford county.

M. S. WARNER, a prominent farmer, of Ulster township, P. O. Milan, son of Adnijah and Nancy (Means) Warner, was born in Wysox township, this county, October 12, 1808. His father was of English

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descent, and a native of Massachusetts; his mother was of Northum- berland county, Pa .; his grandfather, Adnijah Warner, was a resident of Boston at the breaking out of the Revolution, and was one of the crowd who organized the noted "Boston tea party." His father migrated to Athens in 1792, it then being a village containing only three or four houses ; he was a young physician, and formed a part- nership with Dr. Hopkins in 1797; he removed to Sheshequin, and engaged to teach the common school at that place, with the privilege of visiting his patients when called. He was married, in 1798, to Nancy Means, of Towanda, removed to Wysox and continued the prac- tice of medicine at that place until 1835, when he retired from active practice ; he died in 1846, aged eighty-three years.

M. S. Warner, the subject of this sketch, was born on the farm at Wysox, and attended the common schools, walking a distance of two miles to reach the school-house. On reaching manhood he farmed until 1844, when he received the appointment of State weigh-master, and removed to Northumberland ; he remained there until 1848, when he bought the farm he now owns and occupies, which consists of 200 acres of finely improved land ; the improvements have all been made by him ; his business ventures have always been successful, having secured his entire fortune by his own exertions. He was married, January 6, 1833, to Harriet, daughter of Ebenezer Smith, and niece of Gen. War- ren, the eminent Revolutionary soldier; his family consists of the following children : Adelaide D., wife of Dr. Addison Sayres, of Har- rison county, Texas; Mary Ellen, wife of J. P. Drake, of Beech Pond, Wayne Co., Pa .; Frances I., wife of N. W. Price, of Rockford, Ill .; Charles B. married to Jane Stiles, died January 16, 1890; and Emma St. Leon. Mr. Warner is a member of the Freemasons, Lodge No. 108, Towanda, and is a Presbyterian in religious views ; politically he is a Jackson Democrat on the Jefferson model. He has reached a green old age, and still carries on his business with a skill and success that many a younger man might envy, and is surrounded with the comforts of life, which his own exertions have brought him.

CHARLES WARREN, farmer, P. O. Alba, is a native of Sullivan county, Pa., born August 25, 1834, a son of Josiah and Sarah (Glide- well) Warren, natives of Sullivan and Northumberland counties, Pa., respectively, the former born in 1808. He is a farmer and resides in Granville township; Mrs. Sarah Warren died in 1881, in her seventy- first year. The paternal grandfather, John Warren, also a farmer, emigrated from England, and was one of the first settlers in what is now Sullivan county, near what is now Millview ; he died in 1813; his wife was Mary Ward, whom he married in England. The subject of these lines, who is the eldest in a family of six living children, was reared in Canton township, from one year of age. He was educated in the common schools and attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary two years. He began teaching when eighteen, and taught almost continu- ously until 1884. He owns a farm containing 190 acres in a good state of cultivation, and is also engaged in the dairy business. Mr. Warren was married in Alba, in 1861, to Celestia, daughter of William and Laurinda (Lane) Shoemaker, natives of Granville and Burlington town-

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ships, respectively. William Shoemaker is a farmer, and resides in Granville township. Mrs. Warren is the eldest in a family of four children, and was born in Granville township, in September, 1842. To Mr. and Mrs. Warren were born eight children, of whom four are living, as follows: G. A., B. J., Errett and Edna. The family are members of the Disciple Church, of which Mr. Warren is an elder, and super- intendent of the Sunday-school; he is a member of the West Granville Grange. Politically he is a Republican, and is serving his fourth term as township auditor.

EZEKIEL N. WATERMAN, farmer, and one of the surviving veterans of the Civil War, P. O. Nichols, Tioga Co., N. Y., is a native of Smithboro, Tioga Co., N. Y., born October 9, 1834, a son of James and Lucinda (Smith) Waterman, natives of New York and Pennsylvania, respectively, and of remote English and German descent. James was a " village blacksmith," and died in 1859, while his widow survived until 1875. Their family consisted of fourteen children, of whom Ezekiel is the ninth, and grew to his majority in his father's humble home. He came to Bradford county in 1871, and has been a farmer and mill operator in Windham township, and is now retired on his comfortable little home farm. He volunteered in the service in July, 1863, in Company B, One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, N. Y. V. I., and with his command was sent directly to the front, going from Owego to Elmira, then to New York, then to Rockers Island, then by sea to Norfolk, then to Alexandria, and thence to the Rappahannock river under Gen. Robinson, the Confederates living on one side of the river and the Union forces on the other. They then crossed over to Brundy Station, and thence to the Rapidan, which they reached October 11, where he was stricken with fever, and when the army fell back he was left, and an ambulance took him to Cul- peper, from where he was sent to Corse Hospital in Washington, where he was in the hospital five weeks, then was sent home on fur- lough, and was ultimately discharged July 29, 1865, and has never recovered fully, but remains disabled and is pensioned. On his return from the army he entered a store and was in partnership three years, when he purchased the little farm he now occupies. He married Dell, daughter of Job R. and Parmelia (Osborn) Bixby, the former a native of Bradford county, and the latter of Orange county, N. Y., of Scotch and German origin. Of this marriage are children as follows : George H., Ed J., Frank O., Iva M., Sarah N., Bertha L. and Winifred U. In politics he is a Republican, has been on the school board, and served as president last year and is now secretary.

A. WATKINS, farmer and stock-grower, Ulster township,P.O.Ulster, was born the thirty-first day of August, 1840, on the farm which he now occupies. His father, Lorenzo Watkins, was born in South Reading, Windsor Co., Vt., in 1807; his mother, Matilda Watkins, was born at Athens, this county, in 1815. Lorenzo Watkins migrated to Bradford county, in 1836 ; his family consisted of two children. A. Watkins, the subject of the sketch, was reared on a farm, receiving his education in the country schools, with the exception of four or five terms at Towanda; leav- ing school he engaged in farming and has always been successful.

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December 24, 1862, he was married to Sarah, daughter of S. Clark, of Burlington ; by this marriage were two children: Frank, a physician, of Grey's Harbor, Washington, and Edwin, a teacher. His first wife died in 1870, and September 24, 1872, he was married to Christena Murdoch, daughter of Alexander and Janette Murdoch, natives of Scotland, but residents of Ulster; by this marriage there were three children : Cora, died, January 10,1877; George H. and Leslie Day. In his political views Mr. Watkins is a stanch Republican; in religious views he is independent, not being connected with any church. In his possession is an old parch- ment deed, granting lands to Simonds, said lands being his and a part of three other farms. There is on his farm an old burying ground used by the aborigines as a place of interment ; it is located on the river bank and he has plowed up numerous skeletons, some of them being of very large size; he also made a discovery near the same place, tending to show that the aborigines either used the means of cremation, or else offered human sacrifices at their funerals, probably the latter-of a large flat stone, of a variety and formation unknown in that locality, it was sur- rounded with smaller stones firmly cemented together so as to form a bowl-shaped cavity ; in the hollow of this structure was found charcoal and the charred remains of human bones. Mr. Watkins now owns 100 acres of finely improved and highly cultivated land, and devotes his attention entirely to farming and sheep raising.

MIAL WATKINS, a prominent farmer of Columbia township, P. O. Austinville, was born in Columbia township, Bradford Co., Pa., February 13, 1819, and is a son of David and Polly (Seeley) Watkins, natives of Connecticut, who were of the first settlers in Columbia township. David Watkins was born January 21, 1779. He cleared the farm now owned by our subject and son Burt, and died there; his children were Laura (Mrs. Philip Slade), who was the first white child born in Columbia township; Charry (Mrs. John Wolfe), Seeley, William, Rebecca (Mrs. Isaac Besley), Eliada, Mial, Hannah (Mrs. Isaiah Montanye), Mary (Mrs. John Perry). Mial Watkins was reared in Columbia township, where he has always resided, and is the owner of five farms of which he cleared a large part of the homestead. He was twice married : first time to Ophelia, daughter of Alexander Harris, of Rutland, Tioga Co., Pa., and by her he had three children, as follows : Ida Belle (Mrs. David Deforest), Walter and Burt. His second wife was Mrs. Hester M. (Case) Pennell, of Troy township, by whom he has one son named Treat. Mr. Watkins in politics is a Republican.

WILLIAM B. WATKINS, farmer of Columbia township, P. O. Altus, was born in that township, June 3, 1869, and is a son of Joel and Eliza (Horton) Watkins. His paternal grandparents were William C. and Pamphelia (Furman) Watkins, and his great-grandparents were David and Polly (Seeley) Watkins, one of the five families who first settled in Columbia township. The maternal grandfather of our sub- ject was Thomas Horton, a pioneer of Rutland, Tioga Co., Pa., and the father of our subject was a native of Columbia township, where he followed the occupation of farming, and is now residing at Austin- ville. He reared a family of five children : Flora (Mrs. H. A. Bullock),

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William B., Carrie, Grace and Thaddeus. The children of William C. and his wife Pamphelia (Furman) Watkins were Justus, John, Cor- delia (Mrs. Charles Strait) and Joel. William B. was reared in his native township, educated in the common schools, and resides on the old homestead of his father and grandfather. He married, March 28, 1888, Lillian, daughter of William W. and Sarah (Ayres) Young, of Columbia township, and has one son, Leslie. Mr. Watkins is one of the prominent young farmers of Columbia township; in politics he is Republican.

NELSON S. WATSON, merchant, Springfield township, P. O. Big Pond, was born November 14, 1830, in Greene, Chenango Co., N. Y., a son of John K. and Maria (Upham) Watson, natives of that county. John K. was a farmer and came to this county in 1838, and located on a farm at Big Pond, then nearly a dense wilderness; he was a man of influence, and died at the age of sixty-eight years, November 4, 1872, and the mother died March 30, 1875, at the age of sixty-nine years; they were of English extraction. Mr. Watson was the second in a family of seven children-five sons and two daughters; he was reared on the farm and was educated in the schools of the township, and was a lumberman and farmer many years. Twenty-six years ago he com- menced in his present business, that of a general merchant, in which he has accumulated a competence. Two of his brothers, Thomas and George, were in the Civil War, and George was wounded at the battle of the Wilderness and taken a prisoner to Andersonville, and when nearly starved to death was exchanged, and brought home a complete wreck. August 27, 1855, subject married Hannah, of Springfield, born August 31, 1828, daughter of Luke and Charity Pitts, early settlers in the township. Mr. Pitts built the first gristmill in the township; they are believed to be of the same family as Sir William Pitt. Mr. and Mrs. Watson have had two children: Willie, who died when two and one-half years of age, and Charles, born November 2, 1857, married Jessie Ham- mond, of Ridgebury, and is a newspaper reporter. Mr. Watson is a strong Republican as well as a great temperance man.

JOHN MASON WATTLES (deceased) was born in Wysox, this county, February 9, 1816, a son of Arunah and Elizabeth (Allen) Wattles, of Scotch and Irish lineage, respectively. His grandfather, Jesse Allen, who was a nephew of Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary fame, was among the first settlers in Wysox, and one of the founders and leaders of the church at that place. As far back as it has been possible to trace the Wattles family is to one John Wattles, who came from Scotland and settled in Connecticut; he had two sons, John and Dan, both of whom settled in Delaware county, N. Y., Dan after- wards coming to Bradford county ; he married Cynthia Williams, a niece of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, and had three children, Arunah, Caroline and John. Arunah Wattles was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1848. In his family there were eleven children, of whom John Mason was the sec- ond. The subject of these lines, when quite a young man, was chosen clerk in the county commissioner's office, at Towanda, where he remained several years; then located on a farm in Wysox, and in

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1872 removed to the present estate, where he died April 11, 1889. He was married, August 31, 1843, to Amanda, daughter of Shepard and Sarah (Coolbaugh) Pierce, the former a native of New York and of Irish origin, the latter a native of Pennsylvania and of German origin. They have five children, as follows: Henry Leslie, a conductor on the Northern Pacific Railroad, at Tacoma, Wash .; John P., on a ranch near Denver, Col .; Fred, married to Ellen Moscrip (they have two children, Fred Mason and Helen); Sara Pierce and Ruth, who are liv- ing on the old homestead which they now own. Mr. Wattles was, during his life, a strong Democrat and unusually well versed in the workings of the Government.

A. E. WATTS, farmer and dairyman, P. O. East Canton, was born January 31, 1833, on the farm where he now resides, a son of Squire and Margaret (Gregg) Watts, natives of Towanda and Sheshequin, respectively. Squire Watts was a farmer, born August 5, 1800, and was killed while helping to take down a barn in May, 1863. Mrs. Watts died November 1, 1886, in her ninetieth year ; the paternal grandfather, Frank Watts, was a native of Scotland. A. E. Watts is the youngest in a family of six children-four sons and two daughters- of whom five are now living. He was reared on the farm, and received his education in the common schools; was engaged in lumber business several years, but made farming his main occupation, and now owns a farm containing eighty acres in a good state of cultivation. He was married in LeRoy township, in 1866, to Samantha, daughter of Sullivan and Phoebe (Bailey) Morse, natives of LeRoy township and Massa- chusetts, respectively. Sullivan Morse is a farmer, and resides in LeRoy township. Mrs. Watts is the sixth in order of birth in a family of seven children, and was born in LeRoy township July 3, 1844. To Mr. and Mrs. Watts were born two sons : Frank (clerk in the First National Bank of Canton) and Clarence. Mrs. Watts is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Watts is a member of the F. & A. M., Canton Lodge, No. 415, and also of the Keystone Grange. He enlisted, July 25, 1862, in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty- second P. V. I., for nine months ; he took part in the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg, where he was wounded December 13, 1862, and was mustered out at Harrisburg May 24, 1863 .. Politically he is Independent, and has served one term as school director and one term as collector.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 149

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