History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 69

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


USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections > Part 69


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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JOHN BLACKWELL, farmer, P. O. West Burlington, was born April 5, 1823, in Lycoming county, Pa., a son of John and Sarah W. Blackwell, both of whom were born in England and removed to America with their parents when children, settling in the English colony on Pine creek, where our subject was born. The grandfather and father were farmers and lumbermen. In 1826 these families removed to Bradford county and located in the wilderness in West Burlington township, being among the first settlers, and experienced all the privations of pioneer life. John and Sarah Blackwell's family consisted of six children, of whom our subject is the fifth. The father was a man of influence in his time, holding public positions until the time of his death, which occurred when he was aged seventy-four years. The subject of these lines was reared on the farm, has always been a very industrious and persevering man, and has accumulated a


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fine property, being now the owner of a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres, where he has a fine dairy, and raises sheep and cattle quite extensively. He was married April 7, 1847, to Lucy Phelps, of West Burlington, by whom he has had six children, as follows: Alfred C., a merchant, married to Emma Rockwell; Delos, a farmer, married to Maryette Mosier ; Willis, of Elmira, N. Y., married to Jennie Farnsworth ; George, of Syracuse, N. Y., a salesman, married to Etta Pruyne ; Helen, wife of Dix Ballard, and Isadore, wife of Delos Rockwell. Mr. Blackwell is a staunch Republican as was his father, holds the position of assessor, and has occupied several offices of public trust. He is one of the substantial and honored citizens of the town.


THOMAS BLACKWELL, farmer, P. O. Troy, was born January 16, 1816, on Pine creek, near Jersey Shore, Lycoming Co., Pa., and is a son of John and Sarah J. (Wells) Blackwell, and grandson of Thomas Blackwell, all natives of England. His parents settled on Pine creek in pioneer days, first engaged in farming, and for some time kept hotel at Roaring Branch. In 1828 they settled in Burlington town- ship. this county, where the father purchased a farm, and kept adding to it until he had accumulated nearly 500 acres, cleared and improved a large part of it, and died there in 1863, in his seventy-fifth year. His children were: Mary A. (deceased), Thomas, Phebe (Mrs. Abram Moore (deceased), Sarah (Mrs. James McKean), John and Enoch. Of these, Thomas and John own most of the old homestead. Thomas Blackwell lived on the old homestead nearly sixty years, but in 1887 he removed to Troy, where he still resides. In 1841 Mr. Blackwell married Jane, daughter of Hon. Samuel and Julia (McDowell) McKean, of Burlington township, and by her he has had four children : Julia (Mrs. Edward Horton), Sarah (Mrs. Lou Bodien), Ruth and John T. For his second wife he married Irene, daughter of Beull and Samantha (Wilson) Smith, of Canton township, and he has had by her two children : Dr. Clarence H. and Clara (Mrs. George D. Leonard). Mr. Blackwell is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; politically he is a Republican.


A. STRYKER BLAIR, physician and surgeon, Ulster, is a native of Conesville, Schoharie Co., N. Y., born November 20, 1857, a son of Alfred and Charlotte (Allen) Blair, of Scotch descent. His maternal grandfather, John Mckenzie, came to this country from Scotland in early Colonial times, but after remaining here a short time returned to Scotland, and upon completing his business there, started to return to this country and was shipwrecked in mid-ocean. Many years passed and his family mourned him as dead ; in the meantime his wife had formed an attachment with another man, and her marriage with him was about to be consummated, everything was prepared, and the guests invited, when, the night previous to the day set for the marriage, the long-lost husband returned, bringing with him joy, but sorrow to the expectant bridegroom. The family came from New York to Susque- hanna county, Pa., and lived there three years, then removed to Tioga county, N. Y., where he still lives. Stryker received his early educa- tion in the country schools, but his parents finding that the oppor- tunities were not sufficient, sent him to a select school at Newark


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Valley, where he remained several years. He studied medicine and received his medical education at the University Medical College, New York City, graduating in March, 1882, and began the practice of his profession in Susquehanna county, but afterward moved to Ithaca, and from there to Ulster in 1888. As a physician, he has been eminently successful, and while a comparatively young man, has built up a practice of large proportions. On September 5, 1882, he was united in marriage with Lila E. Japhet, daughter of Milo G. and Martha Japhet, the latter of whom is a direct descendant of Gen. Green, of Revolutionary fame. The fruits of this marriage are two children, viz .: L. Blanche and Cecil DeVere. In his early life Mr. Blair identified himself with the Presbyterian Church, and has been an active church worker since, and of which he is an Elder. Mrs. Blair belongs to the same church. In his political views our subject was raised a Democrat, and for awhile voted that ticket, but he has now identified himself with the Prohibition party, of which he is a zealous advocate.


CHARLES D. BLAUVELT, farmer, of Monroe township, P. O. Liberty Corners, was born April 20, 1862, on the farm where he now resides, and is the only son of James and Eliza (Ennis) Blauvelt, the former a native of Herkimer county, N. Y., and of German origin, the latter a native of Asylum, Bradford Co., Pa., and of Scotch lineage. The father of our subject was born August 11, 1820, and died December 14, 1888; the mother was born July 14, 1827, and is still living with him on the old homestead. Charles D. Blauvelt spent his boyhood on the farm, and attended the common school, he completed his education at the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, and has always been engaged in farming on the old homestead. Mr. Blauvelt is a Republican in politics, a man of much public spirit and a supporter of every worthy enterprise for the benefit of the community.


LISTON BLISS, of Bliss, Willour & Price, a well-known business firm of Troy, was born in LeRoy township, this county, November 30, 1846, and is a son of Dr. Chester T. and Nancy (Bostwick) Bliss. His paternal grandfather, Zenos Bliss, a native of Connecticut, settled in LeRoy township in 1841, where he engaged in farming and died. The father of our subject, who was the youngest in a family of eight chil- dren, was a graduate of a Philadelphia Medical College, and for upward of twenty-five years was in the active practice of his profes- sion in LeRoy ; he removed to Rochester, N. Y., in 1873, and there died in 1883 ; his children were four in number, viz .: Sarah H. (Mrs. A. S. Hamilton), Theodore F. (an M. D.), Mary I., and Liston. who was reared in LeRoy township, was educated in the common schools and at Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, Towanda. He began life as a clerk in a store at Athens. Pa., in December, 1865, and followed that occupation there until 1866, and in Troy from 1866 to 1880. He then became a member of the firm of Bliss, Willour & Co., which contin- ued up to 1889, when the style was changed to Bliss, Willour & Price. Mr. Bliss was married twice, his first wife being Aimee Merrick, of Gaines, Tioga Co., Pa., and his second wife Mrs. H. Brunette Pome- roy, of Troy. Mr. Bliss was a member of Company C, Thirtieth


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Pennsylvania Militia, during the Civil War, served six weeks and was honorably discharged in 1863. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and of the G. A. R .; he is a Sir Knight Templar. In politics he is a Republican, and has been burgess and councilman of Troy one term.


J. F. BLOCHER, a farmer and produce dealer, Spring Hill, was born in New Preston, Conn., March 12, 1840. Of the Blocher family we glean the following: The great-grandfather of our subject, John Fredrick Blocher, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, March 23, 1731, and married his first wife, Anna Dower, October 14, 1755, and after her death he married Salome Strobal. By the first marriage he had four children, and by the second, five. The grandfather, John Jacob Blocher, was the second child by the second marriage, was born in Germany, Angust 14, 1770; married, in 1798, Agnes Dannacker, and their family consisted of six children. Martin, the father of our sub- ject, was the second of these children, was born in Germany, May 23, 1801, and died in Herrick township, this county, December 28, 1881; in 1832 he was united in marriage with Anna Mary Sulzla, who was born in Germany, January 13, 1809, and died in Herrick township, June 11, 1870. They emigrated to America in 1837, and after a four year's sojourn in Connecticut removed, in 1841, to Herrick; they had a family of children as follows: Agnes, born in Germany, May 15, 1834, married Charles Sumner, a prominent farmer of Wyalusing township, this county ; William G., born on the ocean, June 14, 1837. enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-first P. V. I., August 27, 1862, and died in Cliffburn Hospital, Washington, October 25, 1862; Jacob Frederick; Mary L., born in Herrick township, this county, June 3, 1842, and married Martin Keeney, a farmer of Lacey- ville, Pa .; Henry M., born in Herrick township, November 7, 1846, a prominent farmer of that township, and a partner in the firm of Fuller & Blocher, owners and proprietors of the Camptown creamery ; George T., born in Herrick, May 23, 1850, a farmer residing on the old homestead in that township. Our subject was born and reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools, Camptown Academy and Wyoming Seminary. When about eighteen years of age he began teaching, and taught every winter for about ten years, in Bradford and Luzerne counties; also had charge of a graded school near Lanark, Ill. In 1857 he began working at the carpenter's trade during the summer, teaching in the winter; in 1864 he removed to Illinois, where he taught school and worked at his trade. In 1865-66 he attended East- man's Business College, Chicago; then worked at his trade in Chicago one year. In the spring of 1869 he returned to Bradford county, and embarked in mercantile business at Wyalusing under the firm name of Ackley, Lloyd & Blocher, conducting a general store in the build- ing now occupied by O. L. Dyer; this firm continued until 1878, when they sold to Gaylord, Sumner & Co. He then entered the produce business in Wyalusing, continuing in same until 1888, when the death of his wife's father called him to the farm where he now resides, and since which time has combined farming and dealing in produce. especially wool and buckwheat flour. He has a beautiful farm of


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two hundred acres, with a fine dwelling house, barns and all necessary buildings, his place, together with the improvements, having no supe- rior in the county. Mr. Blocher was united in marriage, September 5, 1867, with Lucretia A , daughter and only surviving child of Ferris and Emaline (Camp) Ackley, which union has been blessed with five children, as follows: Carrie E., born February 18, 1871; Leona A., born April 18, 1874; Ackley E., born December 20, 1879; Roy L. V., born September 2, 1881, and Martin F., born April 15, 1886. The family are members of the Spring Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Blocher is steward and recording secretary. He has for many years given considerable attention to music, and for about twelve years past has been president of the "Mutual Musical Alli- ance," a prominent and flourishing musical society of eastern Bradford and part of Susquehanna and Wyoming counties. In politics he is a Republican, and has filled various town offices ; is now assessor, which position he has held for the past three years. Mr. Blocher has long been prominent among the business men of this section, and has a host of friends, and the highest respect of all who know him.


CARPENTER J. BLOOM, of Lamkin Bros. & Bloom, prominent dealers in general merchandise, Troy, was born in Canton township, this county, November 10, 1858, and is a son of J. Albert and Mary A. (Hoagland) Bloom. His paternal grandfather, Elisha Bloom, was a native of Germany and a pioneer of Canton township, where he cleared and improved a farm, and resided until his death ; his children were : George, J. Albert, Ann (Mrs. Oakley Lewis), Dolly (Mrs. Charles Hoagland), Dameras (Mrs. George Merchant), and Betsey (Mrs. Isaac Hoagland). Of these J. Albert succeeded to the home- stead, a part of which he now occupies ; his first wife was a daughter of Anthony Hoagland, of English birth, a pioneer of Sullivan county, Pa., and by her he had four children : Rose (deceased), Carpenter. J., Dora and Etta. By his second wife, Mary (Holcomb) Lewis, Mr. Bloom had three children: Alice, Elisha and Nellie. Our subject was reared in Canton township, and was educated in the public schools of Troy. He began life as a teacher in common and graded schools, and in 1882 located in Troy, where for five years he was a clerk in the same general store he has now an interest in. In 1889 he became a member of the firm of Lamkin & Bloom, since when it has been Lamkin Bros. & Bloom. Mr. Bloom was married August 22, 1884, to Emma, daughter of Austin Mitchell, of Troy, and has one child, Earl M. Mr. Bloom is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and of the I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Republican.


JOHN J. BOHLAIER, farmer, P. O. Troy, was born in Wurtem- berg, Germany, July 25, 1834, son of John J. and Christianna (Mein- holt) Bohlaier. He was reared and educated in his native country, and in 1854 came to America. He stopped one year in Brooklyn, N. Y., and in 1855 came to Litchfield, this county, where he worked as a laborer, and also in Granville. In 1857 he purchased a farm in Gran- ville township, a part of which he cleared; and in the latter part of the "sixties " he removed to Troy, where he erected a couple of dwell- ing houses and resided four years, a part of which time he was street


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commissioner of that borough. He purchased the farm he now occu- pies, clearing and improving it, erecting all the buildings on it, and has since added to his possessions until he has now accumulated nearly six hundred acres. Mr. Bohlaier married, in 1858, Elsie A., daughter of John and Polly McClelland, of Columbia township. Mr. Bohlaier, in addition to farming, for a number of years operated a large sawmill, giving employment to from six to fifteen men annually. He is a sub- stantial and successful farmer, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics is a Republican.


PATRICK BOLAND, a prominent farmer, of Warren township, P. O. Cadis, is a native of County Clare, Ireland, and was born in 1807, a son of Patrick and Hannah (Maloney) Boland, natives of the same place, where they spent their lives, the father dying in 1836, and the mother in 1840; they had ten children-seven daughters and three sons-two of the sons coming to this country, Patrick and Michael, latter of whom died February 8, 1891, leaving a widow and two sons. Patrick Boland came to America in 1856, direct to Warren township. He had been reared on a farm in Ireland, and became a successful landowner and farmer in this county ; he has one hundred and ten acres, an excellent farm, finely improved and kept in an excellent state of cultivation. He was married in his native place, in 1841, to Mary Vaughan, daughter of Michael and Winnie (Dugan) Vaughan, the former of whom died in his native place in 1848, and the latter in 1852; they had seven children-six daughters and a son -of whom Mary was the eldest, born in 1819. To Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Boland have been born eight children, as follows: Nora, Mrs. Edward Moran, of Susquehanna county ; Mary, who died August 24, 1888, aged forty years ; Patrick H., a farmer in Warren, married to Nellie Flaherty, and has six children; Bridget, who died February 9, 1863, aged twelve years; Winnie, a resident of Bing- hamton, N. Y .; John J., a farmer in Warren, married to Delia Flaherty, they have two children; Catherine (Mrs. Michael Flanagan), of Binghamton, has two children ; Daniel F., at home, who manages the farm. The family are Catholics, and the venerable father is a Democrat in politics.


O. M. BONNEY, farmer, of Franklin township, P. O. Franklin- dale, was born at Eaton, Madison Co., N. Y., April 22, 1838, a son of Orrin and Irene (Warren) Bonney, both of whom were born in Eaton, N. Y. Orrin was the son of Levi Bonney, a native of New England, and one of the first settlers in Eaton, and who was the father of twelve children-seven sons and five daughters. Orrin Bonney always lived in Eaton on part of the old homestead; he was the father of six children-five sons and one daughter-all of whom grew to maturity, four now living. Orrin Bonney was one of the first Aboli- tionists in Eaton ; three of his sons served their country's cause in the Civil War. Our subject, who is the fourth in the family, was reared and educated in Eaton at the common school, and always confined himself to farming, at which he succeeded. On December 24, 1859, he married, at Franklin, Miss Emma, daughter of John and Martha (Holcomb) McKee. He returned to Eaton after his marriage, and


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in 1863 removed to Franklin where he worked two farms; then moved to Barclay where his family remained until his return from the army in 1865. He enlisted in 1864 in Company B, Two Hundred and Seventh P. V. I, in which he served until the end of the war; after his discharge he settled in Canton township, on what is known as Beach Flats, and remained until 1877, when he removed to Franklin where he now lives on a farm of 100 acres of fertile land, adapted to grain and stock-raising ; he makes a specialty of dairying. Mr. Bonney has one son, C. G., and an adopted daughter, Nellie; C. G. married Miss Mercy Gamble ; Nellie married Charles Fairbanks. Mr. Bonney is a member of the Grange, and is highly respected by his neighbors.


JOHN, ARTHUR and ZECHARIAH BOSTWICK were brothers who came from Cheshire, England, about 1668, and located at Strat- ford, Conn. In 1707 John removed to New Milford, being the second settler in that town. The Bostwicks held offices of trust and import- ance in their town and county, and their names are still held in high respect on the town records as well as in the memory of their descend- ants. Dimon Bostwick, who holds a prominent place among the early settlers of Bradford county, was the eldest of four sons of David, the great-grandson of John. He was born in New Milford, where he was reared and educated ; was an admirable surveyor and draughtsman, and was versed in mathematics, general literature, history and theology. In the year 1792 he left his home to seek his fortune amid the wilds of Pennsylvania, and coming up the Susquehanna, as far as Bradford county, pitched his tent upon Wyalusing creek ; he very soon went off as surveyor in an exploring party, one of the Pompellys, of Owego, being of the number. It is said they moved in the direction of the "Lake country" in Central New York, but the exact course and extent is not precisely known, as Mr. Bostwick's note-book, containing much valuable information and notes of survey, was lost ; tradition says, however, that the men staid out on this expedition so many days that their provisions gave out, and that one of the men died of privation and hunger, while the others subsisted for days on boiled nettles with- out salt. Mr. Bostwick seems to have had some idea of settling where Owego now is, but abandoned the idea and followed the Susquehanna back to Wyalusing creek, then as far up the creek as what is now Pike township, and built a log house in the wilderness.


Most of his time must have been spent in surveying the new coun- try, as among the papers which have been found recently in the possession of the Bostwick heirs are maps of surveys, yellow with age, and in some instances worn and partly defaced ; one map seems to be of what are now the counties of Luzerne, Bradford and Susquehanna ; beginning at the Wyalusing creek, it contains 16,000 acres of land, and is in Dimon Bostwick's own handwriting, bearing date 1796, and is inscribed upon the back : "This survey encroaches upon no survey or town heretofore granted."


The most ancient looking deed, or grant of land, among these old- time relics, is a certificate from the Susquehanna Company to Dimon Bostwick, Elihu Curtis, and the heirs of John Moss, granting them "title and right to Three Thousand Five Hundred Acres of Land, in


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said Company's Purchase, which is located agreeable to the rules of said Company in a Township known by the name of Millsberry. Dimon Bostwick is entitled to Two Thousand, One Hundred Acres of Land, &c." It bears date November 28, 1796, Athens, signed by David Paine, clerk, witnessed by Lib. E. Page.


In the same year (1796) Dimon Bostwick returned to New Milford and married Lois, daughter of David Olmstead, of that place, and a lady of gentle disposition, possessed of much beauty of person and energy of character. They came from Connecticut with an ox team to the Great Bend, and from that place down the river to the mouth of the Wyalusing, and up the creek in a canoe. This worthy couple commenced life within the humble walls of their log house, which stood on the banks of the creek, on what are now the flats belonging to the Bostwick homestead. Benajah Bostwick married Mary, sister of Lois Olmstead, and after several years followed his brother Dimon to the settlement in Pike. He was a man of genial, jovial disposition, and, like his brother, of sterling integrity, and a strong Episcopalian. The brothers worked on peacefully together, Dimon after a time dividing the land, which he had purchased of the Susquehanna Com- pany, with his brother. Nothing seems to have daunted the energy, industry and courage of these lion-hearted men who cleared our forests, and formed the township of Pike. Soon after there was a gristmill built, which was a great comfort and help, for Dimon Bostwick and others had carried grain on their shoulders sixty miles to get it ground, walking on a footpath, and wading the Wyalusing creek several times. In 1802, Dimon Bostwick built a sawmill, and sawed out lumber and built himself a house, comfortable and nice for those times, and moved into it in 1805. This homestead was only rebuilt in 1874 by his son Penett. There were born to Dimon and Lois Bostwick nine children : Almira (Mrs. Canfield Stone), Eliza (wife of Rev. Samuel Marks), Julia, Randolph, Penett Marshall, Valvasa, Esther, Hannah and Sarah (wife of Rev. George P. Hopkins). Lois Olmstead Bostwick died in her eighty-first year, beloved and reverenced by her children.


In 1815, the assessment roll of Pike township, in the handwriting of Dimon Bostwick, contains the honored names of Bosworth, Bost- wick, Bradshaw, Brink, Benham, Stevens, Hancock, Ross, Keeler, Ingham, and many others, including one physician, Dr. Reuben Baker, and one merchant, Salmon Bosworth. The average amount of personal property owned at this time by each man seems to have been one horse, one house, and two cows, in most cases also an ox team. Tradition tells us that these men were all fine-looking in face and figure, and also that there was a public library in this same town of Pike, in this far-off time. It was called the "Friendship Library, " and in the two leaves, yellow with age, which only are left to tell us what they said and what they read, by the old fire places, with the tallow candle's light, there are " The Bye Laws of ye Friendly Library." There was a board of directors, who met once a week, and were ordered " to attend to each Library Day when the books were given out and returned." The Bye-Laws are too long to copy here. The list of books included classics, history, military tactics, philosophy, religion,


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with here and there a book of poems, or work of romance. One book therein contained must have been very ancient; it is called the "Three Woe Trumpets." In 1814, the Parish of St. Mathew's Church was organized, and the names of the men, mentioned on the old asssess- ment roll, appear on the church charter.


We quote the following from Dr. Edward Crandall, a neighbor of Mr. Bostwick and a prominent citizen of Pike township: "Dimon Bostwick died at his residence in Pike township, Bradford Co., Thurs- day morning, December 3, 1856, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. The subject of the above demands more than a passing notice at our hands, he being one of the last links connecting the history of the first settlement upon the Wyalusing creek. In the year 1792 he left his father's house in New Milford, Conn., to seek for himself in the wilds of the Susquehanna Company's purchase of the State of Connecticut ; and having purchased two shares of land and located them, commenced to hew out of the dense unbroken forest a home; with a strong arm and determined will did he encounter the difficulties which surrounded him, and he faltered not until he had obtained what, to the pioneer, was a comfortable home. When the controversy between the Pennsylvania claimants and the Connecticut settlersapproached his possessions, there was aroused in him the lion of his nature, and he waged unrelenting opposition to the fraudulent claims of the land speculators. It, how- ever, embittered at least forty years of his life, and not until the last three years was the title and dispute fully ended. Warm and ardent in his attachments to his friends and family, he lived out a long life of faithful and devoted usefulness to the community and society in the place where he resided for the last sixty-four years; the unbending integrity of his character would never yield to speculation of any kind, consequently he abided at home in the midst of his family, and ate only of the products of continued industry and persevering toil. In 1814 he associated himself with others in the organization of St. Mathew's Church, and continued a leading member, unwavering in his faith, a notable example of steady adherence and abiding confidence in the doctrine and creed of the Protestant Episcopal Church until the hour of his death." Mr. Bostwick bequeathed his estate to the two children who remained at the homestead, Penett Marshall and Valvasa . The former rebuilt the old home in 1874; he was unmarried and lived at his birth-place until his death, which occurred April 25, 1891, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. His two sisters now own the Bostwick homestead, Valvasa, and Sarah, wife of Rev. Geo. P. Hopkins, who was born in Philadelphia and is the youngest son of John Hopkins, of that city, formerly of Dublin, Ireland. John Hopkins was the great grandson of Isaac Hopkins, of Coventry, England, who married a daughter of one of the Miss Gunnings of historic beauty. His wife, who was the mother of Rev. George Hopkins, was Catherine Davenport, the daughter of Edmund Davenport, an eminent lawyer of Dublin, Ireland, and of Huguenot descent upon her mother's side. She was a lady of marked Christian life and character, and high culture. Rev. George P. Hopkins now resides at the Bostwick homestead with his




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