History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 62

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.

January 28, 1837, at Monroe, Bradford Co., Pa., removed to Marinette, Wis., in the fall of 1856; enlisted in Company H, Twenty-first Regi- ment Wisconsin Volunteers, August 15, 1862, and was discharged May, 1864, on account of disease contracted in the service, which resulted in liis death, June 30, 1864, at Fort Howard, Brown Co., Wis. He was never married. Charles Judson Alden another son of Sylvester and Frances Alden, was born July 5, 1844, at Monroe, Bradford Co., Pa., removed to Menekaunee, Marinette Co., Wis., in September, 1859. He also enlisted in Company H, Twenty-first Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, August 15, 1862, and was discharged from service June 30, 1865, at the close of the war. He married Antoinette Davidson, September 10, 1872, at New Lisbon, Wis. She was born April 9, 1856, at Menomonee Falls, Waukesha Co., Wis. They have had five children, and now reside at La Crosse, Wis.

Sevellon Wells, twin of Sylvester Williams, less than a generation ago, was one of the well-known men of Bradford county. On Novem- ber 16, 1831, he married Mathena, daughter of Dr. Benoni Mandeville, who still resides with her son in Monroeton. When a young man, Sevellen entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and became one of the most widely known preachers on the circuit, and at one time was presiding elder: was a man of more than ordinary ability, a great reader, and had a most retentive memory. He was a frequent contributor to both the local and foreign press ; his communi- cations were full of interest, and were a valuable contribution to our local history, for they supplied many forgotten facts and incidents of the early times in this section. He was, without doubt, better informed about matters pertaining to the early history of this part of the county than any man living. In the field of local research he was an industrious gleaner, and it is due to his exertions that much in early history has been preserved.

Until the last his faith and doctrines where the same as when in the active ministry. In the heat of the war he endured some persecu- tion because of his political opinions, but he always felt and remained loyal to the Methodist Episcopal Church, even to the day of his death. While attending to the duties and studies of pastoral work, he gained a good acquaintance with Greek and Latin ; education was with him a necessary. not an ornamental, accomplishment ; his power to acquire an education was great, and his mental retention was scarcely ever at fault when in the prime of life. He preached about twenty-five years, and was never on a charge without more or less prosperity and con- version under his ministry ; fourteen churches were dedicated during the time of his pastorate. His demise occurred March 22, 1883.

The children of Sevellon Wells and Mathena Alden were Angeline. born September 20, 1832, at Monroe; DeWitt Clinton, born June 10, 1834, at Monroe ; Philo Elzer, born August 27, 1845, at Tyrone, N. Y. Angeline Alden, died May 5, 1842, at Southport N. Y., aged nine years. De Witt Clinton Alden was of a roving disposition, and, during his rather brief lifetime, visited many parts of the world; he was a soldier during the Civil War, and took part in the engagements at Ft. Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, Yazoo Pass, Arkansas Post,

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Port Gibson, Jackson, Champion Hill, Black River Bridge, Vicksburg and Nashville. For a time he was a staff officer, Fourth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland. He married Frances H. Bartlett, at New Orleans, January 20, 1866, and they had two children, both of whom died while young. De Witt C. died at New Orleans, October 30, 1867. He was at the time disbursing officer of the Freedman's Bureau at that place ; his wife married again, and resides in California. Philo is a well-known citizen of Monroeton, and a civil and mining engineer of some note. He is chief engineer of the Williamsport and Binghamton R. R. Co., also chief engineer for the Barclay R. R. Co., and mining engineer for the S. L. & A. R. R. Co., He takes an active part in politics, and during President Cleveland's administration was postmaster at Monroeton. He was married January 21, 1865, to Susan, daughter of Daniel and Rhoda Ormsby, of Albany; she died May 12,1890. The children of this marriage are as follows : E. May, born November 12, 1865 ; Flora June, born May 4, 1867, died December 15, 1873 ; Nathan Elzer, born June 6, 1869, died July 14, 1885, and John Mandeville, born May 10, 1888.

DARWIN N. ALLEN, farmer, P. O. East Troy, was born in Troy township, August 27, 1824, and is a son of Samuel and Maranda (Sheffield) Allen. His paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Allen, a native of Long Island, N. Y., settled in Troy township in 1800, was a surveyor by occupation, and prior to his settlement in Troy was in the employ of the Connecticut Land Company. He was to receive his pay in land, but like many, thus lost his labor as well as pay owing to defect of title. He located on the farm now owned by Phileman Pratt, cleared most of it and died there in 1839; his wife was Lydia Stevens, by whom he had the following children : Adolphus ; Laura, (Mrs. H. Laberien); Samuel ; Alma, (Mrs. Ezra Canfield); and Myron. Of these, Samuel was born in Catskill, N. Y., and was reared in Troy township. He was a farmer by occupation and cleared most of the land where East Troy now stands, and died there in 1855; his wife was a daughter of James Sheffield, of Madison county, N. Y., and by her he had three children : Darwin N .; Lydia M. (Mrs. Monroe Jones) and Adolphus G.

Our subject was reared in Troy township, and, with the exception of two years he was in mercantile business at Addison and Binghamton, N. Y., has always followed farming. In 1854 he married Mary Eliza- betb Lament, of Troy, and hastwo children : Nellie L. (Mrs. Howard Cole) and Laura B. Mr. Allen is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and of the F. & A. M .; he has held various offices in Troy township; politically he is a Republican.

EZRA ALLEN, farmer and stock grower, Wyalusing, was born in Tioga county, N. Y., October 18, 1832, son of Noah and Rhoda (Miller) Allen, the former of whom was born in Vermont, August 11, 1786, and died December 8, 1846, and the latter was born in Tioga county, N. Y., February 10, 1802, and died April 12, 1862; they had children as follows: Lorenzo, born July 22, 1824, died November 19, 1868, was a farmer of Browntown and left a family who after his death removed to Manchester, Conn .; Lucretia, born January 17, 1826, died September

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

26, 1856 ; Lewis, born November 5, 1827, died March 5, 1850; Noah, Jr., born March 6, 1830, died June 12, 1865, a member of Company E, One Hundred and Third P. V., and died at Davis Island Hospital; Ezra Charles, born June 20, 1839, died March 17, 1869; Ethan, born April 7, 1843, now a horseman of Manchester, Conn. His parents came down the river with their family and earthly possessions on an ark, and settled on the farm now owned by our subject, in 1841; his father was a carpenter and afterward a farmer; as a carpenter he was noted for his skill, and he drafted the plans for the first court-house of Owego; before his removal to Bradford county he followed lumbering and ran rafts down the Susquehanna as far as Marietta and Fort Deposit; after coming to Bradford county he turned his attention mostly to farming, and died a few years later. There was but a small amount of cleared land on the place when his father purchased it. but they proceeded to clear it and fit it for cultivation, and soon had as fine a farm as any in the neighborhood ; his father built a neat frame dwell- ing which was destroyed by fire in March, 1882. Mr. Allen then built his present residence which is a handsome and commodious farm house; his parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his mother was an earnest worker in the same. The old homestead, now in his possession, contains one hundred and twenty-five acres of land which he has under a high state of cultivation and is well improved. He has passed the greater portion of his life on the old farm and attended the common school of his neighborhood until he was about twenty-five; always living on the old homestead which he has owned since 1868. He has his farm well stocked with horses, cattle and sheep. He was united in wedlock, April 3, 1862, with Margaret Mahoney, daughter of Michael Mahoney (deceased), a farmer of Tuscarora, and this union has been blessed with three children: Evaline, married to George L. Best, a member of the Washington Fire Clay Company, of Tacoma, Cora and Jessie. The family worship at the Methodist Episcopal Church ; he is a Republican and has filled the various town offices. Mr. Allen has made his way upward without aid from any source but his own industry, and is now one of the most prominent of Wyalusing's farmers. The family occupy a prominent place in society, and are noted for their genial welcome to friends and abundant hospitality.

HENRY H. ALLEN, farmer, P. O. Mountain Lake, was born February 3, 1841, on the farm where he now resides in Burlington township, a son of Aaron P. and Caroline (Park) Allen, both of English descent and natives of Luzerne county, Pa .; their parents were natives of New England. The father was a farmer and came to Burlington, took a tract of land in the wilderness, where he cleared a large farm ; was also largely engaged in lumbering many years ; he died in Burlington township at the age of sixty-six years, and the mother at the age of fifty-seven years. Henry H. Allen was reared on the farm, and at the age of twenty-two responded to the call for troops in the Civil War, enlisting in Company G, Forty-ninth Regi- ment P. V. I .; he participated in two battles; was shot through the wrist, and after fifteen days. while he was in the hospital at Washing-

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

ton, was obliged to have his arm amputated near the elbow ; when he was shot he laid on the field thirty hours, and then was obliged to march a long distance in that suffering condition. He was soon after discharged on February 9, 1865, on account of disability. Mr. Allen was married October 27, 1870, to Sylvia Farr, of Forkston, Wyoming Co., Pa., born February 20, 1848. There have been born to them the following named eight children : Maud E., born December 27, 1871; Myrtle, born December 23, 1873; Etta C., born March 22, 1876; Myron P., born December 21, 1877; Glenn G., born January 29, 1880 ; Flora, born November 7, 1885; Irene, born October 17, 1888; Ada C., born November 23, 1890. Mr. Allen owns a fine farm, the old home- stead of his father. Politically he is a Republican, has been school director, and has held other positions of public trust ; is a member of the G. A. R., of the I. O. O. F. and of the P. of H.

JOHN ALLEN, farmer in Burlington township, P. O. Luther's Mills, was born November 23, 1844, in Ulster, this county. He was adopted and reared by James Adamson and, when only eighteen years of age, enlisted under the name of John Adamson in Company E, One Hundred and Forty-first P. V. I., and served in the Army of the Potomac, participating in many battles, among which were Fredericks- burg and Chancellorsville, at which latter he was taken prisoner, but was soon exchanged. He was again captured, however, October 14, 1863, and was confined at Belle Isle, Richmond, Andersonville, Savannah and Milan; for a period of fourteen months he was starving, in consequence of which terrible exposure his health was undermined, and he is now a pensioner ; he served to the end of the war and was present at Lee's surrender, when he was honorably discharged. Mr. Allen married, October 8, 1866, Annie E. Slater, of Burlington, who was born April 20, 1849, a daughter of Asa and Lucinda (Rundell) Slater, both of whose families were among the early settlers of Towanda and Burlington. Mrs. Allen's great-grandfather, Rundell, was a pioneer Methodist preacher. To this happy union have been born children as follows : Mary E., D. William, M. Belle and J. Walter. Mr. Allen is the owner of a farm of about fifty acres, where he settled in 1867, and on which he carries on general farming. He is a Republican in politics, and has held several offices of public trust; is a member of the G. A. R., and is a man of perseverance, respected by many friends. Mrs. Allen is a consistent member of the Evangelical Church.

J. A. ALLEN, farmer in Rome township, P. O. Rome, is a native of the township, born July 30, 1844, a son of Joseph and Clarissa (White) Allen, the former of whom was born in Franklin township, this county, and the latter in New York. Grandfather Stephen Allen came to this county in its earliest times and located in Wysox, where he left a family of four children, viz : John, Oney, Sallie (married to George Davidson) and Joseph, the father of the gentleman whose name opens this sketch. Joseph Allen left the following children : Mary Eliza (who died in infancy), Dayton, J. B., Sarah, S. W. and S. O., J. H., Clarissa (who died in Texas at the age of twenty-two), Jemima R. (married to J. C. Forbes) and J. A. Our subject passed bis

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

boyhood on the farm and he attended the Rome public schools until eighteen years of age, when he enlisted, August 12, 1862, in Company I, One Hundred and Forty-first P. V. I., Capt. J. P. Spalding, and was discharged July 21, 1865; he was in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and at the latter he received a gunshot wound in the left knee, from the effects of which he never entirely recovered. He was injured by a fall, causing internal injury, that now troubles him greatly. After the battle of Chancellorsville he was taken to Mt. Pleasant Hospital, Washington, where he was then transferred to the vet- eran reserve corps, and acted as guard. After the close of the war he returned home and engaged in farming, commencing on the farm he now occupies of fifty acres, which he has improved and brought to its present state of excellence. His injuries are such as to disable him from hard labor. Mr. Allen was married, April 8, 1866, to Helen I., daughter of R. R. and Eliza (Mandeville) Brown, the former of whom was born in New York, the latter in Massachusetts, of a family of eight children. Their children are: Myrtie E., born January 18, 1868; Freddie J., born February 8, 1871, died January 5, 1874 ; Lizzie W., born January 19, 1875; and one daughter that died in infancy. Mr. Allen is a member of Stevens Post, No. 69, G. A. R., and fills the office of quartermaster ; is also a member of Rome Lodge, No. 480, I. O. O. F., and has passed all the chairs and now fills the office of .R. S. N. G .; he has been a member sixteen years. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he fills the office of trustee; politically he is a Republican.

S. O. ALLEN, farmer in Rome township, P. O. Rome, was born in the township, April 7, 1835, a son of Joseph Allen who was twice married, the first time to Polly Johnston, daughter of Peter Johnston, and by her had three children : Dayton, Joseph H. and J. B. S. O. Allen, who is the third child by the second wife, passed his boyhood on a farm, and attended school at Rome, going to Nancy Woodburn as his first teacher. When about twenty years old he left school and commenced farming. On March 28, 1864, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Twelfth Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, and was honorably discharged July 21, 1865 ; while in the service he participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, at which latter battle be received a gunshot wound in the foot, resulting in the loss of a toe and gangrene causing sciatic rheumatism. After recovering from the effects of this wound, he was transferred to Company F, Sixteenth Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps, and acted as guard at Harrisburg until his discharge. After close of war he returned home and resumed the occupation of farming on the farm he now owns. He had purchased this farm prior to his enlistment, and was engaged in improving it when he responded to his country's call ; the house he had partially completed, stood in its unfinished condition until after the war when he completed it ; it burned November 10, 1889, and the present one was built the following spring. His farm contains fifty acres, and he also owns thirty acres east of Rome. His health was broken in the service, and he is no longer able to do manual labor. Mr. Allen was

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

united in marriage October 17, 1857, with Martha C., daughter of Harry L. and Electa (Allis) Parks, whose family consisted of the following children : Sarah E., born April 18, 1827; Esther M., born October 18, 1828; Joseph W., born November 26, 1831; Chloe O., born August 1, 1833; Hollis S., born June 15, 1835 ; Martha C., born June 22, 1838 ; Mary M., born December 10, 1840; Eliza, born April 15, 1843 ; Charles W., born October 30, 1848, and Laura A., born April 23, 1852. The father, so well known to the early pioneers as " Priest Parks ", was an able and earnest Methodist preacher, and was born close to what is now Rome borough ; his sister Chloe and James Lent were the first couple to marry in what is now Rome township, it being at that time included in Orwell ; his mother underwent the trying ordeal of the Wyoming horror, and was made a prisoner by the Indians, being then twelve years old ; her future husband was at that time serving in the patriot army under Washington ; her father and mother lived together sixty-one years, and celebrated their diamond wedding. To Mr. and Mrs. Allen have been born two children : Hattie C., born June 2, 1859, married to G. W. Crum, and Laura A., born June 8, 1863, married to Horace Russell. The family worship at the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Allen is a member of Stevens Post, No. 69, G. A. R., and also of Rome Lodge, No. 480, I. O. O. F., has passed all the chairs, and is now filling the position of conductor, and is P. D. D. G. M. in the Order. Both he and his wife are members of the Pat- rons of Husbandry, and Mrs. Allen has taken the order of Rebecca. Mr. Allen is a straight Republican. These worthy people are descendants of two of the oldest families of the township, and they have lived honest, industrious lives, are well-known throughout the community, and command the love and respect of all. '

WILLIAM ALLEN, farmer, P. O. LeRaysville, was born April 8, 1831, in County Antrim, Ireland, and is the eldest in the family of three sons and four daughters of James and Ann Allen. He spent his boyhood on the farm and in attending the common school. In 1856 he came to America. After arriving in the New World he remained a short time in Philadelphia, and then came to Bradford county, where he has since lived, a farmer of prominence. He pur- chased his present home in 1874. Mr. Allen was married, in 1855, to Miss Ellen Blair, who was born July 31, 1838, a daughter of Edward and Mary Blair, natives of County Antrim, Ireland; and this happy union has been blessed with three sons and four daughters, viz .: Mary A., born May 8, 1857, married to George R. Brown, a farmer of Pike township; Eliza J., born April 6, 1860. married to William A. Struppler, of Washington; Martha M., born February 7, 1862; William H., born March 22, 1864, of Eaglesmere, Pa .; Robert B., born February 6, 1867. one of the most successful teachers in Bradford county ; Lindsay E., born November 11, 1869, also engaged in teach- ing, and Nellie B., born January 22, 1872, who has taught two years. Mr. and Mrs. Allen early united with the Presbyterian Church in their native place. He has always been identified with the Republican party.

ELIJAH ALLIGER, proprietor of livery, Ulster, was born in

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Ulster county, N. Y., June 20, 1830, son of Cornelia and Jane B (Depuy) Alliger, natives of New York, of Dutch descent. The father's family consisted of nine children, seven of whom are still living, two only being residents of this county. Our subject was born and reared on a farm, and received his early education in the schools of New York. He immigrated to this county in 1870, and followed butcher- ing twelve years; then removed to Waverly where he farmed two vears, when he returned to Sheshequin and farmed four years; then removed from there to Ulster where he resides, and is proprietor of the only livery and feed stable in the village. He has been successful in his business, accumulating his property entirely by his own exertions. On January 9, 1853, he was married to Phobe J., daughter of Henry and Rebecca (Batie) Ostrum, and of this marriage there were six children, two now living: Cornelius W., married to Catherine Wolf, of Ulster, and engaged in the grocery business and the manufacture of cigars, and John, who lives in Waverly, N. Y., and is farming. Mr. Alliger is a member the Dutch Reformed Church, and in politics belongs to the Democratic party.

CHARLES H. ALLIS, merchant, P. O. Allis Hollow, was born in Wysox, this county, January 19, 1858, and is a son of Henry S. and Mary E. (Dresser) Allis, the former a farmer of Wysox township. They had four children, viz .: John, died in infancy ; Elizabeth, married to Frank Wood; Charles H .; and Margaret, married to George Allen. Mr. Allis was born and reared on a farm and had but limited school privileges. He attended the Rome Academy, and when eighteen began teaching and worked his way through the Towanda Graded School, teaching ten terms, when he devoted his entire attention to farming until 1888, when he commenced merchandising. He was alone one year and then was associated with Mr. Wood for about four months, when he sold his interest to him. In the following spring he erected the building he now occupies and opened a general store, carrying a complete line of general merchandise valued at $1,500 ; also buys and ships all kinds of farm produce. Mr. Allis was united in marriage January 1, 1884, with Flora, daughter of Capt. I. A. and Malissa (Merricle) Park, parents of eleven children, of whom she is the ninth. This union has been blessed with four children, as follows: Manly, born December 30, 1886; Mabel, born July 9, 1888, died June 9, 1891, loved by all who knew her ; Stanley, born November 26, 1889, and Aura, born April 15, 1891. Mr. Allis is a Democrat and was postmaster at Allis Hollow from 1888 to 1890. In his business career he has always been successful, and is respected and trusted by all who know him.

EDWIN I. ALLIS, farmer and mill owner, P. O. South Hill, was born in Orwell, this county, June 25, 1821, and is a son of Eleazer, Jr., and Diana (Eastabrooks) Allis, the former of whom, a son of Eleazer Allis, Sr., was born in Massachusetts in 1789, and came to this county with his father in 1804, locating on Johnson's creek near what is now known as Allis Hollow, and made theimprovement that is still in the possession of his descendants. Eleazer Allis, Sr., was three times mar- ried, and was the father of twenty-one children, six by his first marriage, three by the second, and twelve by the third and last, all of whom, as

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

far as known, reached their majority. Eleazer, Jr., was the second child by the first marriage. The farm Mr. Allis now owns was owned by his father, who purchased and cleared nearly the whole of three hundred and seventy acres, over sixty-six years ago, and built the old frame house, which yet stands in a fair state of pr. servation, now owned by Thomas R. Pickering, and occupied by Alonzo Wells. He followed farming and lumbering all his life; his family consisted of four children, of whom Mariam married Harry Stevens, and is now deceased ; Ordensa married T. R. Pickering, and is also dead. Mr. Allis is the eldest, and is now the only living member of the family. He was born and reared within one-half of a mile of his present residence, and attended the common schools of the neighborhood, until nineteen years of age; then began teaching, and taught his first school at what was then called "Shin Bone," known now as Lear's Corners, one mile west of Herrickville, in a log school-house, 12x16, heated by the old fashioned, wide fire-place; then carried on farming and lumbering three years, after which he purchased a stock of goods, and for about two years he followed peddling, carrying his pack on his back from house to house, meeting with good success. He then purchased of his father the place he now owns when it was nearly a wilderness, and has cleared it up, and fitted the greater portion of it for the plow. He and his father built a sawmill, operated by water-power, on South creek, and used it to saw their lumber until 1883, when he built his steam mill, which he still owns. He now owns two hundred and twenty acres of fine farm land, and has the same well stocked with cattle, sheep and horses. He also has a lath saw, and manufactures bee hives. Mr. Allis was united in marriage October 30, 1859, with Lavina Hill, and to them have been born six children, as follows: Erving, married to Julia Schovill; Ned Hunter, married to Angusta, daughter of James Mitten ; Mary, married to B. F. Richards, a merchant, of Windham; George Grant, married to Elma Mericle ; Frank R., and May. Mr. Allis built his present residence in 1887, a modern farm house with all conven- iences, containing eleven rooms. He has lived his entire life in his neighborhood, and he and his excellent wife have built up a large circle of friends, and are noted far and near for their generosity and hospitality.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 62

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