History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 41

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

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Lot No. 45 was James Irvin's hotel, built in 1791, and in 1818 con- veyed to J. F. Satterlee. On lot 40 was the famous old Red Tavern built in 1795-owned by John Franklin in 1786; he sold to Elisha Mathewson ; Stephen Hopkins built a residence on lot No. 38 in 1790 ; David Paine on lot No. 37 in 1794 ; Enos Paine on lot No. 36; on lot No. 35 was Samuel Hepburn, merchant, his tavern built in 1784, and the same year was the store of David Alexander on lot No. 34; he had also a distillery ; George A. Perkins lived also on lot No. 34, just north of the fort ; John Reddington sold lot No. 32 to Austin Forbes in 1817. On the west side, and facing Tioga river, Elisha Mathewson owned lot No. 1, and George Welles had his distillery on lot No. 2, and his homestead included lots Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9; Clement Paine built his new house and store in 1802 on lots Nos. 10, 11 and 12; Edward Herrick lived on lot No. 13; John Miller built a house and store on lot No. 14, in 1812 (Stephens lived and died in this place). The public square

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

was deeded to Athens' trustees, July 21, 1812. Mathias Hollenback had his hewed log house and store, and his wharf and store built in 1786, on lot No. 15; this was torn down in 1849, and was eventually built on by A. Budd ; Justin Forbes occupied lot No. 18, and L. S. Ellsworth was on lot No. 19. As early as 1784, Samuel Hepburn built his store and tavern on lot No. 19; Noah Murray lived on lot No. 22, a part of the old fort ground, and Abner Murray was on lot No. 23, also a part of the fort ground. A. Decker occupied lot No. 27, the south lot on the west side in the original plat of the village. A street or road at this south line ran from river to river, and in 1801 John Saltmarsh built on the south side of this roadway ; then came the house of Hon. Horace Wil- liston, built in 1819; then Obadiah Spalding's residence; next was Brazilla Cook's and then Joseph Hopkin's residences, latter built in 1811, and the last house on the west side was that of Jeremiah Decker. From Obadiah Spalding's, south for some distance on the west side, the land belonged to Richard Canton. These lots, from No. 1 to No. 53, were the first division ; then was added on the south the second divis- ion, still divided only by a roadway or street in the center and contin- uing down to the junction of the rivers. These were numbered second division, and commenced on the north line and west side " No. 1," and reach to No. 45, as the last north lot on the east side, opposite the starting point. They were simply irregular " out lots " or acre prop- erty. Lots No. 1 and No. 2 were Richard Canton's. Henry Welles' resi- dence was on lot No. 30. The old ferry road to the Susquehanna river ferry was nearly east of Jeremiah Decker's. Two circular lines in the point below the regular town are written : "Indian town of the Sus- quehannock and Iroquois, which was burned by Col. Thomas Hart- ley." This line runs with the Tioga river and circles near the point of junction. The other line bends the opposite way, and reads: " Land set off to George Welles in the partition of Canton and Welles, Septem- ber 1, 1802-350 acres. From these indications it is to be inferred that originally all the land south of Jenkins belonged to Welles and Canton. April 13, 1789, Solomon Bennett deeded to Andreas Budd Nos. 6 and 40 in the second division.

The land north of the old town plat, and between the two rivers, which is now the main center of the borough of Athens, was laid off in irregular lines, and sold by the Susquehanna Company, by numbers. These were still divided by a roadway in the center, equi-distant and running with the rivers. The first lots north of the old village plat was intended for the " minister's" residence; then came Elisha Sat- terlee's purchase, made in 1768, on the east side, and John O'Neal, Shephard and Joseph Tylerson, on the west side; then following up the west side or Tioga river front came Francis Tyler, Dan and Hugh McDuffie, Samuel McDuffie, Joseph and Charles McDuffie; returning to the south, and going up the east side we came to Julius Tozer's, and then to Guy Tozer's; next was Samuel Queenshire and A. H. Spald- ing; then Cornelius Quick. The next improvement was that of Jon- athan Harris, who came in 1789, and built here in 1791. Then going to the northeast corner of the old Athens township, and east of the Susquehanna river, the grants commence at Number 1, John Jenkins;

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111STORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Nos. 2 and 3, John Franklin ; Nos. 4 and 5, William Slocum; No. 6, Richard Halsted ; No. 7, Abram Nesbitt; No. 9, Benjamin Allen Nos. 10 and 11, Elisha Satterlee ; No. 12, Elisha Mathewson ; No. 13, Eldad Kellogg; No. 14, Waterman Baldwin ; No. 15, Mckinstry ; No. 16, John Franklin ; and No. 18, Waterman Baldwin.

Commencing at the south of the township and west of the Tioga and Susquehanna down to Queen Esther's, the tracts or grants are again numbered, commencing at No. 1, purchased by Theodore Loomis ; the Indian village was on the west end of this tract; No. 2, Erastus Loomis ; No. 3, Peter Garrington-he sold to John Griffin; No. 4, Daniel Satterlee, sold in 1788 to Ben Green ; No. 5, sold by Dan Sat- terlee in 1788 to Henry Green ; No. 6, John P. Green and Thomas Lane; No. 7, Ludwig Green ; No. 8, Isaac Morley, Sr., in 1800 trans- ferred to G. H. Morley ; No. 9, Alvin Morley ; No. 10, Isaac Morley ; No. 11, Joseph Spalding, in 1791 sold to John Spalding ; Nos. 12 and 13, Abner Murray, sold in 1791 to E. A. Murray ; No. 14, Stephen Hop- kins, sold to Chauncey N. Shipman; No. 15, Elisha Satterlee sold to Alanson D. Whitmarsh. The next five tracts were those of John Abram, Jacob and Henry Snell. On lot No. 18, Jacob Snell's son was born, Abram Snell, July 5, 1785, the first white child born here. Then there was an unoccupied strip, and then came the tracts of Daniel and Hugh McDuffie and Col. Tozer, who made his improvement in 1795. The next was No. 21, William Scott, and on the east end of his lot, on the Tioga river bank, was the ancient Turtleloe village. The place had been wiped out completely by Col. Hartley, and Mr. Scott built just west, a few feet from where it had stood; No. 20, Samuel Shoe- maker; No. 19, Albert and J. M. Tozer.

Mathias Hollenback, of Wilkes-Barre, was one of the earliest to establish himself in business at this place ; he was a brave defender of the Yankee claimants, but submitted to the decree of Trenton. He was one of the heroic Revolutionary soldiers ; a stocky Dutchman, and a vigorous, strong man in body and mind. At the close of the war he was Indian supply agent in treaties with those people, and was stationed at Newtown. His clerk was John Shepard, father of Mrs. George A. Perkins, author of " Early Times on The Susquehanna." Soon after the war he built his store in Athens, 1786, but had really located here in 1783. He first occupied a small house of Mr. Alexander, near where Samuel Hepburn afterward had a store, near the old fort. He built his new store in 1786, on the corner of the public square, a two-story, of hewed logs, and in time it was clapboarded -house and store together. This was a noted first building in Athens. His clerk, when the new store was opened, was Daniel McDowell. So important was " Hollenback's Store " that often letters sent to men in this section of the State were thus addressed-this was for some time the only name Athens had. Hollenback's was a truly historical house ; he dug the first well, and planted the first apple trees at Tioga Point, some of which trees are still living ; he built a warehouse on the bank of the Chemung river that accommodated, many years, the merchants ; when a boat arrived bringing new goods the horn was blown to announce the fact. Hollenback's house and store was torn down in

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

1849. In 1793, when the revolution in France was raging, Col. Hollen- back was employed, by the Governor of Pennsylvania, to procure a place of retreat for the royal family of France, at some secluded spot on the Susquehanna, and he purchased Asylum township, Bradford county, to which place came the French colony, a few of whose de- scendants are yet with us. The royal family never came-for the good reason they had lost their heads.

The contention over these lands is given in full in another chapter, and it is only necessary here to give the chain of title from Pennsyl- vania in order to preserve historical accuracy.

In 1786 Andrew Elliott, on the part of Pennsylvania, and James Clinton and Simeon Dewitt, on the part of the State of New York, were appointed commissioners to ascertain, run out and mark the boundary line between the two States. This duty was performed in 1786-87 by running a line due west from a small island in the Delaware river to Lake Erie, a distance of 259 miles, 88 perches.

In 1784 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought a large tract of land of the Indians at Fort Stanwix. The land office was opened for the sale of these lands, May 1, 1785. Under the law, applications filed within ten days should have priority of location.

"No. 1" was drawn from the wheel, and the name of the applicant was Josiah Lockhart. This gave him the first choice. He applied for 1038 acres, and made his selection on the point of land between the Tioga and Susquehanna rivers-or Tioga Point (now Athens. His land commenced at the point and extended a little above " Mile Hill," from river to river. The Indian name for the " Point" was Ta-ga-o- gah, meaning "at the forks." This land cost Mr. Lockhart about twenty-six cents per acre. In the early part of the century Mr. Lock- hart sold to Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, one of the notable signers of the Declaration, as well as one of the last survivorsof these immortals ; he was ninty-five years old when he died. From Carroll these lands fell to Richard Caton, his son-in-law, and from him to Welles. He made easy and generous settlement with the most of the Connecticut claimants in their " paying twice for their lands." A notable mark of these lands was the heavy growth of yellow pine that covered the ground. This timber was all killed off by the worm that attacked i in 1796, and the tall dead trees towered as ghastly sentinels many years. The other purchasers at the same time as Lockhart were Nicholas Kiester, Arthur Erwin, Joseph Erwin, Timothy Pickering, Samuel Hodgson, Duncan Ingraham and Tench Cox. Erwin sold to Duffie, and Pickering to John Shepard. It was under the company of the Susquehanna that the village was platted and the lots laid off. The upper end of the old original village plat is indicated by the grave- yard. There was no cross street in the place until you reached this point, and only one roadway north and south, equi-distant from the two rivers. Prince Bryant owned 600 acres, and on his land built a grist and saw mill, and in 1788 sold to Nathaniel Shaw. Paine island was named for Clement Paine.

Guy Maxwell came in 1778, and in company with Samuel Hepburn sold goods in Hollenback's store building. Jonathan Harris, grand-

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

father of N. C. Harris, came in 1789, and located on lot No. 37, now the Leggett farm in Savre borough; his brother, Alpheus Harris, came in 1786, and purchased of S. Swift; he was ejected in 1810 by J. L. Kean. Col. Julius Tozer came in 1794, and first settled at Tozer's Cove. Daniel McDuffie settled on lot No. 32 in 1788. Noah Murray came in 1791 and located west of the Chemung river. At the mouth of Satterlee creek J. V. Nathan Cantlin settled. Noah Murray in 1791 settled on lot 13.

Capt. Joseph Spalding came in 1791, and made his improvement on lot 12, he was succeeded by his son, John Spalding. James Irvine came in 1794, and built the once noted "Pike Tavern " on lot 43; this was burned in 1875; during its time was kept first by Irvine, in 1798 by George Welles, in 1809 by David Paine; the last named, with his brother Clement, came to the place in 1794 and settled on lot 37 and built the "new store" and dwelling in 1802. Daniel Elwell came in 1798 and built on lot 18. Nehemiah Northrop came in 1795; his widowed mother, at the age of ninety years, walked six miles, to Squire Gore's, Sheshequin, for the purpose of being married to Mr. Howard, and returned the same day on foot. The married life of this couple lasted sixteen years, and the old lady died at the age of one hundred and six. The Northrops came in 1830. The old "Red Tavern," mentioned previously, was put up in 1795, the first thing of the kind from Elmira to Wilkes-Barre.

The noted Tioga Indian treaty was held on the banks of the Sus- quehanna river, November 23, 1790, on the ground now back of the Episcopal church. This was a red-letter day in the village. Indians in great numbers were here, and their big and little chiefs and heads of tribes were all here, and their followers came in swarms-all rigged out in barbaric splendor, paints, feathers, red blankets, etc.

The township, as surveyed in 1777, and re-adjusted in 1786, contained twenty-five square miles; was located and laid out by John Franklin and John Jenkins at the request of Prince Bryant, Elisha Satterlee and their associates. The two rivers, Susquehanna and Tioga (in New York, the Chemung), meet within the confines of the township, and these streams divide the township into nearly three equal parts. It has more broad fertile valleys in it than has any other township in the county. The present township includes the grant to Satterlee, Franklin and others, and a strip about three-fourths of a mile wide on the north, which was made by carrying the north line to the State line, and also "the gore " which was added on the west side and taken from Durkee township, and a point, taken off the south line and given to Sheshequin, extending np the river nearly to the junction; this change in the south line was a matter of convenience in working the road run- ning along the east side of the river.

This fertile spot attracted the earliest attention of the whites. In 1768 Penn purchased the land lying east of the river, of the Indians, and as early as 1773 Charles Stewart surveyed this purchase, and that year there were three warrants laid in Athens by Jacob Wetmore, John Stover and David Trisler; these embraced all the level land

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

east of the Susquehanna. These titles subsequently passed to Joseph Wharton, of Philadelphia, and finally this became the source from which title was derived by the settlers. The land west of the Susque- hanna was purchased of the Indians, in 1784, at Ft. Stanwix. The first purchase here was by Josiah Lockhart, of Lancaster, whose first choice took the land on the point lying between the rivers; this is the source of title to most of the land within the borough of Athens. When platted, the lands within the point were laid off into small town lots in the lower portion, ten acre lots above, and on both sides of the rivers, east and west of the point, were one hundred acre lots.

The smoke of the guns of the Revolution had hardly passed away when the first settler, after the war, came here-Benjamin Patterson -and located east of the Susquehanna river, in 1783. He was from Stratford, Conn., where he was born January 15, 1752, and the sup- position is he was in Sullivan's expedition, and while soldiering selected his future home; he sold to Robert McIlhoe, and kept moving west until he reached Missouri ; he died in New Madrid, in 1840.

Thomas Maclure came here in 1786, and two years after he was licensed to keep a tavern, and whether he really kept a tavern or not (for nearly every cabin in the land would entertain the weary trav- eler), vet he renewed, it seems, his tavern license in 1789, but soon after left the place and went to New York.

Col. John Franklin built in 1786 on lot 40, just south of the public square and near the bank of the Susquehanna. He was carried a pris- oner the next year to Philadelphia, and therefore could not make his home here until 1789.

The Satterlees, who figure prominently in the early history, were the children of Benedict Satterlee, who was killed during the Revo- lution in the Wyoming country, leaving a widow and six children, of whom Elizabeth (Mrs. Major Elisha Mathewson) was aged thirteen at the time of the Wyoming battle; the other children were Elisha, Elias, Benedict, Nathaniel and Samuel; the mother fleeing with her children from the valley, after the massacre, perished in the wilderness of exposure and fatigue-no aid, with her infants, no protection from the elements, and scarcity of food-no words could add to this brief state- ment, to this sad tale of suffering and woe. Elisha, the elder brother, had to assume charge of the younger children ; he married Cynthia Stephens, sister of Capt. Ira Stephens. John F. Satterlee, a son from this marriage, and for years a prominent citizen of the county, died February 11, 1856. He was twice married, first to Julia Prentice (daughter of Amos Prentice), who died December 12, 1823, aged thirty- seven ; and his second marriage was with Elizabeth, who died Decem- ber 5, 1871, aged seventy-seven. Benedict Satterlee taught school in Athens, in 1791, in the log house on "school lot" in the original vil- lage plat ; he married Wealthia, danghter of Capt. Joseph Spalding, and died at Mount Morris, N. Y., January 8, 1813. Elias Satterlee commenced in Athens as a shoemaker, and is so mentioned in the assessment of 1796; he afterward studied medicine, removed to Elmira, and practiced with great success; was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun November 11, 1815. Samuel and Nathaniel settled

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

at Smithfield. Nathaniel's son, Samuel, was colonel in the War of 1812, and a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature. Elisha Mathewson, who married the only daughter, was the son of Winchester Mathew- son, who was born in Rhode Island in 1774, and exchanged valuable property in that State for " Connecticut rights," on the Susquehanna, and came to Wyoming, where he died, in 1778, leaving sons, Elisha, Constant and Nero, all of whom were in the Revolutionary War. Nero was killed at Wyoming; Constant was killed at the battle of Mud Fort, near Philadelphia ; Elisha served through the war in Capt. Spalding's company ; discharged in 1783, after seven years' honorable service. He was one of the original proprietors of Athens, and made his per- manent home here in 1788; was elected major in the militia soon after his arrival, and was one of the overseers of the poor of Tioga town- ship. On arrival he moved into Col. Franklin's log house, on lot 40 ; in 1795 he built the old "Red Tavern," and kept it until his death, April 11, 1805. His children were Constant, born in 1792; Elias S., born June 16, 1796 ; Cynthia (Mrs. Hammond); Fanny (Mrs. White) ; Clarissa (Mrs. John Duffie), and Lydia (Mrs. Means). The widow of Major Mathewson (Satterlee) was one of the last survivors of the Wyoming massacre ; died December 14, 1851.

Ira Stephens was another grand old Revolutionary soldier ; a native of Connecticut, born July 24, 1760; son of Jedediah Stephens, who married Sybil Ransom, a daughter of Capt. Samuel Ransom, who was born in Connecticut February 1, 1764. He was also a soldier in Capt. Spalding's company.

Col. Julius Tozer and Jonathan Harris were brothers-in-law. Tozer was born in Colchester, June 16, 1764, and accompanied his family to the Wyoming valley. After the battle they returned to Connecticut, where Julius, though quite young, enlisted in the Colonial army. After the war he married Hannah Conklin, daughter of Ananias Conklin, and came to Athens, from Luzerne county, in 1794. He was colonel of a regiment of militia of this State; during the War of 1812 he raised a company, of which he was captain, and served during the war; his two sons, Samuel and Guy, were in his company. His chil- dren were: Hannah, born October 4, 1788; Alice, March 5, 1789 ;. Elizabeth R., August 28, 1791; Samuel, August 1, 1792 ; Julius, March 7, 1794; Lucy, January 25, 1796; Dorothy, January 28, 1798; Guy, March 7, 1799; Albert, May 30, 1801; Susan, March 1, 1803; Joel Murray, August 11, 1805; Mary Ann, January 21, 1807, and Cynthia, May 1, 1809. Col. Julius Tozer died December 7, 1852; his wife died March 5, 1832. His sons, Albert, Murray and Guy, lived long and honorable lives in the vicinity where they were born. Guy was elected sheriff in 1837; his wife was Wealthy Kinney, and they were married October 4, 1827. Sheriff Tozer died September 20, 1877; his wife, . August 18, 1868.

Civil Proceedings and Titles .- The town was laid out, as said, under warrants of Connecticut, and in 1786 Pennsylvania had sold these lands to speculators, not one of whom was a settler, and hence the conflict of titles. This contention went on until March 19, 1810, when the General Assembly of Pennsylvania passed an act for adjusting the title to the lands in Ulster and Bedford townships,

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Luzerne county, and this included Athens. This act gave the settlers prior rights, if in actual possession, and they could perfect title by the legal price of "seated lands" prior to the act. Under this act the lots were in time paid for and patented to the claimants. The pro- prietors set apart certain lots for public use-the public square in the middle of the village, and also a little over twenty-one acres, known as the "Public Plat," in the modern borough; these were duly patented to John Franklin, Elisha Satterlee and John Shepard, trustees of Athens township -- the stewardship of which trust is to this day maintained, and the trustee's record book is quite a connected history of the acts and doings of the people; however, it should be stated that their record book from 1786 to 1815 is lost.

The trustees, Franklin, Satterlee and Shepard, called a meeting of the people, April 15, 1815. The meeting voted to employ a sur- veyor to survey the public lands into town lots and offer the same for sale. Five acres of the land were to be reserved from sale at that time; conditions of sale to be ten dollars in hand, and balance on ten years' time. The meeting elected John Franklin, Edward Herrick and David Paine, new trustees. The proceeds of the sale were to be paid the Commonwealth in payment for the Athen's lands under the settlement; the interest on sales to be appropriated to the Athens academy fund for its support. Maj. Zephon Flower, who was the surveyor, laid off 30 lots, and these were sold as follows: Lots 5 and 6 to Obadiah Spalding, $100; 9 and 10, Daniel Park, $100; 12 and 19, George Hallock, $100; 2 and 24, Nehemiah Northrop, $146; 23, John Redington, $57; 14 and 15, Isaac S. Boardman, $155; 1, 2, 29 and 30, Michael R. Sharp, $219; 13 and 17, James Hoxton and E. Shaw, $100 ; 16, James Parks, $130; 3 and 4, David Briggs, $100; 8, Uriah Wilson, $50.

On June 18, 1829, the trustees reported as due $1,498.24. This day a public meeting of the taxables of Athens township was con- vened-to consider the subject of the sale of the public lands by the trustees on the public square, which had been made to Guy Tozer. The people voted to rescind the sale-58 votes against and 28 for.

On July 25, 1829, a public meeting on the same subject convened at the store of D. A. Saltmarsh-Stephen Hopkins, chairman, and William Robb, clerk.

On August 29, following, trustees Franklin, Shepard and Thomas Wilcox called another meeting to consider matters relating to the public lots in said village. At this meeting it was unanimously resolved: "We wholly and totally disapprove of the pretended sale by the trustees of the township of the public common in the center of the village of Athens; that the said commons having been surveyed as such, more than forty years ago, and so appropriated from that time." A resolution was passed removing trustees John Franklin, John Shepard and Thomas Wilcox, and Henry Welles, Horace Williston and Francis Tyler were appointed, by the meeting, trustees of the town- ship.

Some evidence of the acrimony of feeling engendered in the dispo- sition of the subject is to be found in the resignation of David Paine,

A. S .Squires

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

trustee. He tenders his resignation and adds: "I beg to recommend the trust to the fostering care of the mob, who sanctioned the recent riotous proceedings in wantonly destroying the fences and cutting away the trees around the public square."

On January 13, 1836, the qualified citizens held an election of Athens township and borough, at the house of Jason K. Wright, and elected Francis Tyler, Nathan Clapp and L. S. Ellsworth, trustees.

June 23, 1836, on settlement it was found there was due on sales $2,333.82.

July 9, 1836, at a meeting, it was resolved to divide it into eight lots and offer the same for sale, " the lot now in the occupancy of N. Flower; also the two reserved lots at the north side of the public plat, to be staked out as soon as the present crop is off."

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 41

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