History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 152

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

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the canal ; then was for a short time engaged in surveying and building the Louisburg & Tyrone Railroad in 1884; he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as engineer of special work, which position he has since filled. During his busy and active life he has been engaged in various outside enterprises, among which was the construction of the Stand-pipe system of water-works at Harrisburg, Pa., built in 1874. He was united in marriage, November 10, 1856, at Rockford, Ill., to Olive A., daughter of Lemuel S. and Amanda (Cranmer) Maynard, natives of this county, and to this union were born the following children : Williard Prentice, married to Josephine Thomas, a locomotive engineer ; Mary Hellena, married to Charles A. Study, a book-keeper ; A. J., Jr., assistant superintendent Pennsylvania Railroad ; Grace Hover, of Tyrone; Olive A., married to William L. Madill ; Thomas and Ruth M. The family are Presbyterians, and in politics Mr. Whitney is a Democrat. He is a member of the Grange. Of his ancestry, two brothers came to the United States in the six- teenth century, and settled, one on Long Island, and the other in Massachusetts ; his grandfather, Eli. Whitney, descended from the old Massachusetts branch, was a Revolutionary soldier, and closely related to Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin. Mr. Whitney left Bradford county in 1852, since which time his life has been mostly spent in other sections. He owns his interests in the old homestead farm of Wysox, besides fifty-five acres of finely-situated farm land in Rome township, all well improved.

GEORGE WICKIZER, farmer, Herrick township, P. O. Herrick, was born in Rome township, this county, March 7, 1827. His father, Jacob Wickizer, was born near Wilkes-Barre, Pa., October 18, 1784; he was a farmer, purchasing a farm of 150 acres, and died March 5, 1868; his wife was Thankful Green, whose parents were natives of this State, and she was born in 1790, and died December 28, 1862, leaving thirteen children, viz .: Rosina, wife of H. Russell ; Lucy, Mar- garet and Andrew, all three deceased ; Jacob, Catherine, John, Alex- ander, Willard. Sarah (wife of John Horton), George, Marium (deceased) and Andrew. George, the subject of this sketch, attended school in Orwell township until his eighteenth year, and worked on his father's farm until 1848, when he purchased seventy-two acres of his present farm, on which he erected his house in 1856; his barn was destroyed by fire in 1887, having been struck by lightning, and rebuilt in May, 1889. He is a Republican, and was school director one term. On December 13, 1846, he married Emily Permelia, daughter of John D. Wage, of this county. By this union there is one child, George L., a farmer in Wyalusing township. Mrs. Wickizer died December 22, 1890, in her sixty-fourth year. Mr. and Mrs. Wickizer were members of the Baptist Church.

WILLIAM J. WIGSTEIN, farmer in Springfield township, P. O. Big Pond, was born in County Down, Ireland, January 18, 1836, a son of Matthew and Mary (Johnston) Wigstein, also natives of Ireland, born of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The father, who was a farmer, immigrated to this country in 1850, the voyage occupying eight and one half weeks, on account of a disaster which befell the ship. He settled on the farm

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where the son now resides, and lived to the age of eighty-five years, the mother living to be seventy-six. The father was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and the mother of the Episcopal, in Ireland. Our subject, who is the second in a family of three children, was married, March 7, 1867, to Mary McKee, who was born March 18, 1847, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (McCaw) McKee, of Ridgebury, but natives of County Down, Ireland, having come here in early life; her father was a farmer, and died at the age of seventy-three, and her mother died when aged forty-three years. To Mr. and Mrs. Wigstein have been born six children, as follows : John H., born December 20, 1867 ; Frank A., born February 17, 1869; William, born August 10, 1872 ; Judd, born December 31, 1873 ; Cora, born December 29, 1878; Jennie, born October 4, 1882. Mr. Wigstein is the owner of a farm of 200 acres under a fine state of cultivation, dairying being the principle industry. In politics he is a Republican, has been assessor ten years, and has held other offices of public trust; is a member of the F. & A. M., Troy Lodge, and is a very genial and pleasant gentleman.

GEORGE W. WILCOX, farmer, LeRoy township, P. O. East Canton, was born in LeRoy, this county, August 4, 1834, a son of Hezekiah and Eliza (Moore) Wilcox, the former of whom was born in Orange county, N. Y., December 24, 1809, and the latter at the same place March 30, 1806. The subject's father was unfortunate in losing one of his limbs when quite a young man, in consequence of which he learned the tailor's trade; he soon turned his attention to farming, which occupation he followed until fifty years of age, when with the aid of his sons he engaged in the lumber business under the firm name of H. Wilcox & Sons, which firm continued until his death, April 22, 1876. His family consisted of six children : Samuel W., born October 30, 1831, and died in infancy; George W .; Mary, born March 23, 1836, married W. P. Tillotson; E. Western, born July 13, 1838; S. A., born October 8, 1841, and R. D., born January 7, 1844. Our subject is the second in the family and was reared and educated in his native town; in early life he taught school in this county several terms. He married, at Canton, November 4, 1857, Joanna Elizabeth, daughter of Augustus and Amy Ellis, of Tompkins county, N. Y. To them were born three sons and three daughters, as follows : Mary O., born March 30. 1860, married to Jonathan Bellows; Amy E., born 1 December 8, 1861, married to J. T. O'Brien, of Williamsport, Lycoming Co., Pa .; J. D., born April 9, 1863; H. S., born August 31, 1867; Charles E., born May 20, 1869, and Sarah, born March 24, 1872, all of whom grew to maturity. Mr. Wilcox devotes his time to farming, but often fills the position of clerk for the merchants of Canton. He owns a farm of 100 acres of fertile land, which is well watered with living springs, and which he has stocked with Jerseys. His principal pursuit is dairying and market gardening. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, also of the Grange, and in politics he is a Prohibitionist.

JOHN L. WILCOX, merchant, Bentley Creek, was born June 20, 1863, in Smithfield, this county, a son of Orrin and Esther (Harkness) Wilcox, the former of whom, also born in Smithfield, is a carpenter

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and farmer; his father (the grandfather of John L.) was among the pioneers of Ridgebury township and a veteran of the War of 1812. The mother's grandfather, John Harkness, was the first permanent settler in the town of Smithfield, and was a Revolutionary soldier. John L. Wilcox is an only son, and has two sisters. He was reared to the carpenter's trade with his father, and graduated at the Mansfield Business College in April, 1885. In August, 1883, he located at Bent- ley Creek, and engaged as clerk in the mercantile establishment of Craig & Tuton. On September 14, 1887, he married Ettie B. Raynor, who was born in Ridgebury, Pa., July 22, 1862, a daughter of William H. Raynor, a son of Samuel and Charlotte (Van Buskirk) Raynor, who were born in Orange county, N. J., and moved to Wellsburg, N. Y., many years ago. The grandfather was a veteran of the War of 1812. She was a granddaughter of Elijah and Lucetta Brown. Her father died June 30, 1863, aged thirty-three years, and her mother is now the wife of James Stirton, of Ridgebury. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox have one son, Earl O., born August 27, 1889. Mr. Wilcox is a Republican in politics, but takes litttle interest in the affairs of the party, rather devoting his attention to business affairs; is also a consistent member of the Disciple Church, of Smithfield. He has one of the most pleas- ant homes in the village, and is one of the growing business men of his community.

LUCINDA M. WILCOX, farmer, P. O. East Canton, widow of Samuel W. Wilcox, was born in Brady township, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., February 2, 1837. a daughter of Levi and Philena (Clark) Burton, who removed from Michigan to Tioga county about 1840, where they engaged in farming. In 1854 she came to this county, and made her home with William Lewis. On August 5, 1855, at LeRoy, she mar- ried Samuel W. Wilcox, a carpenter, who was born in Bradford county, Pa., a son of Isaac Wilcox, one of the pioneers of this county. To this union were born four sons, three of whom grew to maturity : Emery B. and Emerson B. (twins), born April 13, 1856 (Emery B. married, in September, 1881, Rose, daughter of Lewis and Elizabeth Sellard, of Canton; Emerson B. married, Mav 2, 1877, Hattie R., daughter of Walter and Emily Leavett, of Canton), and George L., born August 22, 1860, married, in December, 1884, to Lettie D., daughter of Orlando and Lucinda Perry. Samuel W. Wilcox (deceased) enlisted in the army in 1862, in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-second P. V. I., and, for courage and good behavior, he was promoted during the first year to the rank of sergeant; he was wounded in the first finger of the right hand. After his discharge from the One Hundred and Thirty-second he joined, on September 16, 1864, a regiment of New York Cavalry for the term of three years, of which he served six months. While on a raid near Goldsborough he was shot dead on the field. Mr. Wilcox was a soldier loved and respected by his com- rades in arms. His widow, the subject of this sketch, lives on the farm of eighty acres, and on which are raised stock, grain and butter. Her two eldest sons were educated at the Soldiers' Orphans School, Hartford, where they spent six years. Mrs. Wilcox is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

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S. A. WILCOX, farmer, LeRoy township, P. O. East Canton, was born in LeRoy township, this county, October 8, 1841, a son of Heze- kiah and Eliza (Moore) Wilcox, natives of Orange county, N. Y., who removed to and settled in LeRoy about 1830, on a farm of eighty acres, where in addition to farming Mr. Wilcox also gave his attention to the lumber business. At the age of twelve the father lost one of his limbs through sickness, which made it difficult for him to move around in after years ; his family numbered four sons and one daugh- ter, all of whom grew to maturity. The subject of these lines, who is the fourth member of the family, was reared and educated in his native town. On June 19, 1863, he married Carrie, daughter of George W. and Hannah (Morse) Porter, of LeRoy, and to them has come one child, Coryell, born May 21, 1866, who married Mary, daughter of Hiram and Lucinda Parkhurst, and is now a prosperous merchant in North Dakota. Mr. Wilcox is engaged in general farm- ing on a tract of 117 acres. He served nine months in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-second P. V. I., was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg, and now draws a pension of $10 per month. Mr. Wilcox is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the G. A. R., and is a Republican in politics.

FREEMAN N. WILLCOX, farmer, P. O. New Albany, was born on the farm where he now resides, in Albany township, this county, April 19, 1828, a son of Hiram S. and Maria (Langford) Willcox, farmers, of English origin, former of whom was also born in Albany township. Grandfather Freeman Willcox, who was a pioneer in New Albany, and one of the first permanent settlers, was a great hunter, and is believed to have killed more deer and panthers than any man in the county; he was a soldier in the War of 1812, a man of influence in political matters, one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Albany township, and a great Abolitionist. Hiram S. Willcox was also an active man in politics, and was a justice of the peace many years. Freeman N. Willcox was reared on the farm and at the age of fifteen years engaged in a general store at Wyalusing as a clerk; was also many years in mercantile business for himself, and has been successful in all his enterprises. Returning to his farm in 1859, he engaged in farming. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany K, Fiftieth P. V. I., and in April, 1862, he was discharged on account of ill-health, but re-enlisted in March, 1864, in Company G, same regiment; he was wounded through the thigh by a gun-shot at the battle of Spottsylvania, and was eight months in the hospital; then was detailed as clerk of his regiment, which position he held until July, 1865, when he was discharged. Mr. Willcox is a Republican in politics, and in 1880 he was elected a justice of the peace, and is now serving his third term. He was married, November 16, 1852, to Celinda A. Lawrence, who was born February 24, 1830, and whose maternal grandfather, Ephraim Ladd, was one of the pioneers of the township of Albany. Mr. and Mrs. Willcox have had the following named children: George H., married to Ada L. Jones; Frankie J., wife of Edward E. Cole; Freeman C., married to Ida Bowman, and Maud E. Mr. Willcox has a fine farin of seventy-five acres, and his

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grandchildren are of the fifth generation of the name who are living on the place. Heis much respected by the entire community.

G. H. WILLEY, farmer, of Franklin township, P. O. Franklindale, was born in Franklin township, this county, May 26, 1852, a son of Horace S. and Debby Ann (Andrus) Willey, the former born in Dutchess county, N. Y., in 1801, the latter in Schuyler county, N. Y. The father removed to this county in 1830, locating at the mouth of Sugar creek, where he engaged in wool carding and fulling business. After the lapse of a few years he removed to Franklin township, locating on what is now known as the "Willey property," a part of a 400-acre lot which he purchased from the State. His property was divided into two parts, one known as the "upper place," and the other as the " lower place," both being situated on the north side of Towanda creek. He first lived on the upper place a few years, and then moved to the lower place. He successfully engaged in the manufacture of lumber, chiefly on the upper place, and operated a gristmill on the lower place, buying an old mill which he so materially improved and operated as to make a success of it, and at which he continued until his death, which occurred November 29, 1889, at the age of eighty eight years. He was a self-made man, accumulating all of his property by hard labor, which property is now divided among his heirs. At the age of thirty-five he married Miss Debby Ann, daughter of Cyrus Andrus, by whom he had six children-three sons and three daughters-four of whom grew to maturity, our subject being the sixth in the family. He was reared and educated at Franklindale. spending two terms at the Mansfield State Normal School, and has always followed farming. On December 17, 1879, he married, at Monroeton, Marion, daughter of Humphrey and Esther Knickerbocker, former of whom was a native of New York, and died in Libby Prison during the Civil War. To this marriage has been born four children : Horace K .. G. H., Jr., Max L. and Mattie L., all unmarried. Mr. Willey follows general farming. His stock is well mixed with Jerseys, and he has 100 acres of fertile bottom-land well under cultivation. He is a member of the Patrons of Industry, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a Democrat.

A. D. WILLIAMS, of the firm of Burk. Thomas & Co., Canton, was born in 'Troy, May 25, 1840. His parents were Edwin C. and Julia A. (Williams) Williams, natives of Troy township, where the former was a mechanic and also followed farming; he died in Troy, in Octo- ber, 1875, in his sixty-third year. The mother was the daughter of Ansel Williams, of Troy, and was born July 30, 1815, and for forty-five years resided on the spot where she died ; she was a person beloved by all who knew her. "Kind to the poor and unfortunate, her cheery words have lightened the gloom of many hearts and made life seem bright." Her grandfather, David Williams, emigrated from Wales to this country in an early dav. Our subject was an only child, and was reared in Troy, receiving his education in the public schools of Troy, Troy Academy and Dickson Seminary, at Williamsport, Pa. In 1867 he removed to Canton, and formed a partnership with Timothy Burk and E. H. Thomas in the general merchandising business, and it is one of the oldest and most successful business firms in the county. He

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was united in marriage in Canton, in 1869, with Emma, daughter of Samuel H. and Almira (Manley) Newman, natives of Wyoming county, Pa. Mrs. Williams, who is the second in order of birth in a family of six children, was born in Wyoming county, Pa., in 1843. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams was born one daughter, Anna. The family are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Williams is an elder, and a teacher of the Sunday-school ; politically he is a Republican.

FRANK WILLIAMS, farmer, Pike township, P. O. Neath, was born in Middletown, Susquehanna Co., Pa., July 28, 1864, a son of Samuel F. and Elizabeth (Watkins) Williams, natives of Pennsylvania and of Welch descent. In his father's family there were three children, of whom Frank is the second. Mr. Williams spent his boyhood on the farm, attended the common school and the LeRaysville Academy ; he purchased his present home of 125 acres, in 1890. On April 16, 1890, he was married to Miss Anna, daughter of James and Mary (Howells) Jones, natives of Wales. Mrs. Williams is a member of the Congrega- tional Church at Neath; in politics Mr. Williams is a Republican.

H. N. WILLIAMS, of the law firm of Williams, Elsbree & Wil- liams, Towanda. This is one of the prominent firms of Bradford county, known all over this section, and commanding a clientage both large and respectable. Mr. Williams is a son of N. P. and Elizabeth (Miller) Williams, natives of the same place; the father of English descent, the mother of Dutch. The family were agriculturists on their farm in Steuben county, N. Y., where they had located in 1835, and remained until the death of the father in 1884 at the advanced age of eighty-one ; his widow survives and is aged eighty-six. They had born to them six chil- dren, of whom H. N. is the eldest living of the four sons. He grew to his majority as a farm boy, with the advantages of superior home influences, and was in attendance at the academy some time. When a well-grown youth he commenced teaching school, and followed this some time both in the country and village schools, and then was engaged as principal of the Wellsborough (Pa.) Academy, during three years. While teaching he occupied his spare hours, and commenced taking a bird's-eye view of the " garnered wisdom of the ages " of a long time ago, when " the memory of man runneth not to the contrary," and in 1859 was licensed to practice law in the town of Wellsborough. Soon thereafter he opened his office at Canton, where he remained in a busy professional life seventeen years. In 1878 he removed to Towanda, and has made this his permanent home and abiding-place. As an advocate before the courts it can be truthfully said of Mr. Williams that he has, upon appeal to the highest court, succeeded in reserving the decisions from which he has appealed in an average of more cases than perhaps any lawyer in the county, having had four cases reversed, and sent back at one term of the Supreme Court. His statement of the case to the high court is always so clear and distinct that it is all the printed argument that he needs to make. While Mr. Williams has eschewed office hold- ing, and given himself almost wholly to his profession, yet he is not an unknown quantity in the politics of the day either in the county or State. A Republican, he has wielded a significant influence in the councils of his party, and has carried its banners, to many of its most

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brilliant victories, and has helped successfully in guiding it between the Scylla and Charybdis that at one time or another will frown upon the progress of every dominant party. In 1858 he was united in .mar- riage with Miss Lucy A. Austin, who died April 1, 1889. They had a family of two children : Charles R. Williams (in the Government employ as postal clerk) and Robert H. Williams, a partner in his father's law office.

JOHN WILLIAMS, molder, Sayre, is a native of Bavaria, and was born March 1, 1837, a son of Frank and Magdalena (Achna) Williams, natives of Bavaria, who immigrated to New York City, in 1838. In early life the father was a farmer. John is the eldest in a family of four sons and daughters; he served an apprenticeship at the molders' trade in New York City, where he remained about twenty- six years, and then worked in Buffalo, Jersey and Mauch Chunk, and remained in the latter place about ten years; then went to Elkhart, Ind., and from there returned to Mauch Chunk, and remained until March, 1885, when he came to Sayre, and has worked in the L. V. R. R. foundry since. He married, in Mauch Chunk, in 1873, Miss Mary A. Keefer, a native of Lehigh county. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Williams enlisted in the " One-hundred-day call," in Company A, Eleventh N. Y. V. I., and was discharged at the expiration of his term; then re-enlisted in the lat- ter part of 1863, in the North Atlantic Squadron of the United States Navy, and was in the engagement at Fort Fisher and other battles along the Cape Fear river. He was mustered out after Lee's surren- der. Politically, Mr. Williams is a Democrat.

B. G. WILMOT, miller, and of the firm of B. G. Wilmot & Son, Rome Planing Mill, Rome, was born in Orwell township, this county, August 10, 1840, and is a son of Henry and Sarah (Crum) Wilmot. His father was twice married and had eleven children, three by his first wife, of whom our subject is the youngest, and the only one living. Of the children by the second marriage, Albert N. resides in Sullivan county, Pa .; Henry B. is in Larrabee City, N. Dak., the oldest engin- eer on the Union Pacific Railroad ; Ida married George Fields and resides in Groton, N. Y., and Mary married Alonzo Robinson, of Towanda. Our subject's boyhood, up to his tenth year, was spent on the farm, then he began driving teams, hauling merchandise and prod- uce to and from Smithboro, N. Y., Orwell and Rome, and followed this six years, and attended district school, receiving quite a good education for that period. He then worked in a gristmill in Allegany county, N. Y., and remained there three years and learned the trade of a miller in a mill now owned by W. H. Sypher, and remained there until August 11, 1861, when he enlisted in the Union Army in Com- pany G, Fifth N. Y. V. C., and participated in every battle fought by the Army of the Potomac, as well as many skirmishes; he was cap- tured at the battle of Hagerstown, July 6, 1863, and was taken to Libby Prison, and then to Belle Isle, where he was paroled October 28, 1863, and sent to Navy Yard Hospital at Annapolis. From there he was sent to Dismount Camp, Geesboro, and Washington, D. C., and there he was prostrated by intermittent fever and erysipelas, and was

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sent to Dismount Hospital. After his recovery he was appointed ward master of that hospital, but when fully recovered rejoined his regiment at Fredericksburg. At the battle of Nve River he was recaptured, in company with his captain, May 15, 1864, and experienced all the horrors of all the Southern prison pens, as he was moved from one to another, from Richmond to Charleston, and after nine months of horror was released, January 3, 1865, a mere shadow of his former self, weighing only 112 pounds. He with others had attempted to tunnel out of the prison, with nothing but knives to dig their way, and some who got out, after weeks of such labor, were recaptured and returned. When again well, he rejoined his regiment, in May, 1865. He married, April 7, 1863, while at home on a ten-days' furlough, Sophia C., daughter of Damford and Debora (Rockwell) Chaffee. The fruits of this marriage are six children, viz .: Lettie, married to F. E. Boothers; Minnie R .; Charles L., married to Alice J. Johnson (he is associated with his father in the planing mill); Claud B .; Daisie and Susie. After returning from the army our subject learned the trades of wagon making and house carpentering, which he has followed since, and he is also a stair builder of pronounced skill. He and his son Charles built the mill they now operate, in 1889; the machinery consists of two planers and two buzz-saws, turning lathe, one jig-saw, one scroll-saw, shingle machine and feed-mill; the mill has not the capacity to fill the orders they have. Mr. Wilmot is a member of Stevens Post, No. 69, G. A. R., is past senior commander, and now holds the office of adjutant; is a member of Roman Lodge, No. 418, F. & A. M .; has taken the degrees, is past master, and now fills the chair of senior deacon. He is a straight Republican, has been elected to nearly all the borough offices, and was constable and tax collector nine years.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 152

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