History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 90

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

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E. G. FITCH & CO., furniture manufacturers, Athens. E. G. Fitch is a native of Delaware county, N. Y., and was born April 28, 1843, a son of Cyrus and Evaline (Eells) Fitch, natives of New Canaan, Conn., who removed to New York when quite young. Cyrus Fitch was a farmer, and died in Athens in January, 1886 ; Evaline Fitch died in Delaware county, N. Y., in 1852. E. G. Fitch is the youngest in a family of nine children. In 1870 he engaged in the hardware business of Fitch & Kinney, present firm. In 1885 he erected buildings and began the manufacture of furniture. He was married in Delaware county, N. Y., December 27, 1866, to Miss Emma J., daughter of John P. and Polly (Wakeman) St. John, natives of Delaware county, N. Y. Mrs. Fitch is the elder of two children. To this union have been born three daughters, viz .: Florence E., Cora S. and Eunice C. They are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Fitch enlisted in the army, August 12, 1862, in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-fourth, N. Y. V. I., and served until the close of the war. He is a member of the G. A. R., Perkins Post, No. 202, and is a Republican. He is one of the prominent leading and public-spirited citizens of Athens. An account of his factory will be found on page 425.

CORNELIUS FITZGERALD, farmer, of Terry township. P. O. Marsh View, was born in County Limerick, Ireland, March 4, 1804, and is a son of John Fitzgerald, a farmer, who by reason of high rent and landlord oppression was forced to send some of his family to the "land of the free and the home of the brave; " he reared a family of thirteen children, seven of whom grew to maturity. Cornelius being the eldest came with some of the younger members of the family to this country, landing at Castle Garden, New York, in 1835. Mr. Fitzgerald worked on public works several years, each year adding to what he had saved the previous year. In 1837 he married Miss Margaret Henchey, a native of Limerick, with whom he had been acquainted in their native country ; by this marriage there were born to them eight children, five of whom grew to maturity, but two only

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survive, Thomas and Mary. Thomas married Miss Mary Burke, by whom he had six children: John, Nellie, Maggie, Cornelius, Martin and Mary; Mary was married to James Burke, a brother of Thomas' wife, and they have five children : John, Cornelius, Maggie, Nellie and James. In 1840 Mr. Fitzgerald removed to Terry township, where he purchased 100 acres of land on which he built a house; in those days there was game in abundance; their nearest point to mill was French- town or Monroeton, five or eight miles distant, respectively. He labored hard to improve his farm, and succeeded, for in twenty years after his settlement on his first 100 acres he bought 200 acres more, all of which he now owns. He is a farmer on a large scale; his son Thomas is the head farmer and takes the chief management of affairs ; he lives with his father. The principal business is stock raising and dairying, as well as mixed farming. Both he and his son are Demo- crats, and members of the Catholic Church.

DANIEL FLEISHER, principal of the public schools, Troy, was born near Newport, Perry Co., Pa., September 22, 1852, a son of Jacob and Mary (Clouser) Fleisher. His paternal grandfather was George, son of Jolin Fleisher, of German descent, and all were farmers of Perry county, Pa. Our subject was reared in his native county, edu- cated in the public schools, Bloomfield Academy and Lafayette and Pennsylvania colleges, and was graduated from the latter, at Gettys- burg, in 1880, and also graduated in a special course in 1888, receiving Ph. D. degree by examination in same college. In 1880 he organized a select school in Newport, Pa., known as Newport Academy, which he taught four years, and in 1884 was elected principal of the Troy graded school, which position he has since hield with credit to himself and the school. His career as a teacher began when he was eighteen years of age, when he taught two years in the public schools of Plymouth, Pa., one year as principal of the public school of Liverpool, and was assistant in the Bloomfield Academy one and one-half years. Prof. Fleisher married, May 10, 1881, Mrs. Anna (Power) Fleisher, of Landisburg, Pa., a daughter of William Power. He is a member of the Lutheran Church ; is a Royal Arch Mason, and politically he is a Republican.

DAVID T. FLEMING, farmer, P. O. Herrick, was born in County Donegal, Ireland, in 1837. His father, John Fleming, who was born in the same place. married Mary Taylor, and they had six children, viz .: Mary, first wife of R. Warnock ; Margaret, wife of S. Best; David T .; Isabel, second wife of R. Warnock ; Fannie, wife of C. Kyle, and John, a machinist in Washington, D. C. The father came to this country in 1848, and worked on a farm one year, when he died from the effects of a sun stroke; his widow survived him eleven years, dying in 1865. David T. Fleming was educated in Ireland, and came to this country in his twentieth year. He worked one year with Daniel Durand, then went to Wilmot township, and worked three years, then, in 1862, be purchased from George C. Atwood 105 acres of land, of which, in 1865, he sold fifty acres to J. II. - Hurst, and same year he purchased from Stewart Harris sixty-six acres adjoining his other property. He erected his present house in

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

1879-80, and 1886, and erected his barn in 1883. He has always been a successful man; was a member of Herrick Grange, is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics is Independent. He married in 1868, Margaret Jane Taylor, eldest in the family of nine children of William and Mary (McDougal) Taylor; and they have had four children: Mary, who died in her fourteenth year; Fannie Elizabeth. a school teacher, Anabel and William (latter deceased). This is one of the highly respected families of Bradford county.

B. FRANK FLETCHER, farmer, of East Smithfield township, P. O. Hoblet, was born January 20, 1847, a son of Stephen F. and Rhoda (Scouten) Fletcher, natives of this county. His grandfather was one of the pioneers of Smithfield. Our subject, who is one of a family of eight children-six boys and two girls-was reared on the farm and educated in the schools of the township. He was married September 21, 1876, to Juliaett Rumsey, of Tioga county, Pa., born August 8, 1847, and there have been born to them three children, as follows : Velma M., born April 23, 1881; E. Pearl, born August 4, 1882, and Maud, born June 11, 1884. Mr. Fletcher has accumulated a nice property by industry and economy, and is now the owner of a fine farm of eighty acres under a good state of cultivation ; his prin- cipal interests are dairying and stock raising. He is a Republican in politics, and takes an active interest in the affairs of the town and county. Mrs. Flether had three brothers in the Civil War: Sobrine K., Horace K. and Artemus, all of whom saw a good deal of hard service.

JOHN P. FLETCHER, postmaster, Troy, was born in Smithfield township, this county. June 9, 1843,, a son of Stephen F. and Rhoda (Scouten) Fletcher. His paternal grandfather, Jabez Fletcher, whose parents came to this country from England, was born in East Haddam, Mass., in 1783, and in 1811 moved to East Smithfield, this county, where he cleared and improved a farm, and resided until his death, which occurred in April, 1847, when he was aged sixty-four years ; his wife was Naomi Pettibone, by whom he had eight children : David, Jacob, Stephen, John, James, Sylvia (Mrs. Uriah Williams), Almira (Mrs. Abram Kniffin) and Charlotte (Mrs. Abram Estman). The father of the subject of these lines was born in Smithfield township in 1816, and still resides there, where he cleared and improved a farm ; his wife was a daughter of Abram Scouten. of Delaware, and by her he had ten children : John P., Scouten, B. Franklin, Jabez G., Alfred E., David C., Charles, Viola (Mrs. Madison Sargeant), Elizabeth (Mrs. S. Ross) and Ella. Our subject was reared in Smithfield township, receiving a common-school education. and in 1866 he embarked in the grocery business at Hornellsville, N. Y., in which he continued there until 1867, when he removed to Troy, Pa., where he served in the capacity of clerk in a dry-goods store until April, 1890, when he was appointed postmaster at Trov, which position he now holds. Mr. Fletcher married, in October, 1871, Polly, daughter of Guernsey and Jane Blakeslee, of Troy township. and by her he has three children : Cora B., Grace B. and John G. He is a member of the Methodist

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Episcopal Church, and socially is a Sir Knight Templar. In politics Mr. Fletcher has always been an active Republican, and has frequently been honored with public positions of trust. Since living in Troy, this county, he has held the honorable position of school director for the borough of Troy for four years, and was treasurer of the Troy School Board three years. In 1888 he was chosen by the county con- vention a delegate for western Bradford to the Republican State Con- vention held at Harrisburg. In 1890 he was appointed postmaster at Troy borough, and has proved himself to be an honest and efficient officer. All these positions of honor and trust have come to Mr. Fletcher by merit, for he has ever been an honest, enthusiastic, hard worker for his party's interests. Any success he may have attained through life is due to his own personal efforts, and his success is deservedly earned.

WILLIAM H. FLORY, foreman of the erecting department, L. V. R. R. machine shops, Sayre, is a native of Northampton county, Pa., born February 23, 1849, a son of Jacob and Margaret (Eyer) Flory. natives of Northampton county, Pa. The father was a mechanic, and died in Scranton in 1882, in his sixty-fourth year; the mother is now a resident of Sayre and is in her seventy-third year. William H. Flory, who is the fourth, in order of birth, in a family of eight children, was reared in Williamsburg, Northampton county, until he was seven years of age when the family removed to Scranton, where he received his education in the public schools of Scranton, and then clerked in a store several years. In 1866 he began an apprenticeship at the machinist trade at the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Shops, Scranton, where he worked until 1872, and then went to Sus- quehanna and worked in the machine shops there until September, 1880, when he came to Sayre and took charge of the link-motion gang, and was promoted to his present position in July, 1889. Mr. Flory was married in Scranton, January 4, 1871, to Miss Mary M., daughter of John and Maria (Mans) Paul, natives of Lorraine, France; she was born May 30, 1848.) To Mr. and Mrs. Flory were born four children, one of whom died in infancy, the others were : Burton P., Lula M. (deceased) and Jennie G. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a member of the Patriotic Sons of Ameri- ica, Iron Hall and Royal Arcanum. He is a Republican, and has served three years as school director in the Independent district, and is also a member of the borough council and of the school board.

THOMAS F. FOLEY, deputy sheriff, Towanda, was born in Athens (old Tioga Point), this county, February 4, 1868, and is a son of Patrick M. and Catherine (Doran) Foley, the former of whom was a native of County Waterford, Ireland, and in early life came to America, settling in Athens, where he followed carpentering until his death, which occurred March 16, 1870 ; his wife was a native of Athens, and a daughter of John Doran, who was among the early pioneers of Athens, coming from Ireland. Patrick M. Foley reared a family of seven sons and one daughter, as follows : Manrice (a contractor), John, William, Michael (a Catholic priest in the Pittsburgh diocese), Matthew, Patrick, Thomas F. and Mary. Of these Thomas F. was reared in

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Athens and was educated in the public schools, where he graduated, taking the first prize in the speaking contest, February 24, 1885, and in the county contest again took the first prize, in 1886. In 1888 he entered the office of H. F. Maynard as a law student, and continued as such until his appointment as deputy sheriff of Bradford county, January 5, 1891, which official position he now fills, and his personal popularity, although one of the youngest men holding such an office, has caused him to be one of the popular county officials ; he is a stanch Democrat.

JAMES A. FOLLETT, Windham township, P. O. Nichols, N. Y., a leading farmer of Windham township, was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., October 9, 1823 ; his parents, William and Maria (Hunt) Follett, were natives of New York, of English descent, and were agriculturists ; his father is still active and vigorous, at the green old age of ninety-four years, living in Cayuga county, N. Y .; his mother died in 1886, at the age of eighty-eight. James, who was the second in their family of nine children, grew to manhood in his native county, learned the photographer's art, and followed same about twelve years, at first traveling, and then opened a gallery in Owego, which he con- ducted for eight years, but owing to a difficulty of the eyes, he abandoned that business and commenced farming in this county, in 1883, and is now the owner of a fine farm of 105 acres, well improved. In 1850, he married, in Warren township, Eliza. daughter of Nehemiah and Sarah (Williams) Coburn, natives of New York. They have one child, Adelbert, an employé in the asylum at Binghamton. Politically Mr. Follett is in sympathy with the Republican party.

ANDREW D. FORBES, miller, Wysox. was born in Sheshequin, March 2, 1841, a son of William and Rozina (Forbes) Forbes, natives of Pennsylvania and of German origin. His grandfather was Arnest Forbes, and his great-grandfather was John C. Forbes, from whom descended the American branch. John C. Forbes, when a boy, was induced to go on board a vessel, under the supposition that it would land a short distance away on the German coast, but it carried him to America, where he landed about 1777, by which disposition he was deprived of his inheritance, but would not return, and being very eccentric he seldom said much concerning his family and experience. Andrew D. Forbes, the subject of this sketch, spent his boyhood on the farm and attended the common schools; at nineteen he appren- ticed himself to R. S. Barnes, of Rome, to learn the miller's trade. On June 17, 1863, he enlisted at Harrisburg in the " Luzerne Rangers," an independent division. Having the typhoid fever while in the army he was in no engagements. and was discharged at the expiration of his time, August 27, 1863. From 1864 to 1867 he worked at his trade in Monroe. and soon after re-engaged with R. S. Barnes, with whom he remained ten years; then was in Dayton's mills, Towanda, two and one-half years. He purchased his present place of business in 1883, and has one of the finest water-powers in Bradford county, the Hun- garian process of grinding being used, to which he will add the roller process, present season. Besides his manufacturing interests he has a large wholesale and retail trade in flour, feed, grain, etc. Mr. Forbes

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was married December 24, 1864, to Mervil, daugliter of John and Jerusha (Miles) Cannan, natives of Pennsylvania, and two children have been born to them : Fred W., born February 4. 1868, died March 15, 1888, and Stella, born November 18, 1875. Mr. Forbes is a mem- ber of the F. & A. M. and of the G. A. R. Post at Rome; in politics he is a. Republican.

FREDERICK FOSTER, farmer, of Towanda township, P. O. North Towanda, was born in North Towanda township, this county, April 2, 1846, and is a son of William H. and Miltilda (Alloway) Fos- ter. His great-grandfather, Isaac Foster, with two sons, Abial and Rufus, came to what is now North Towanda in 1784, taking up 100 acres of land. Isaac cleared a part of it, but being a mechanic gave more attention to manufacturing spinning wheels than to tilling the soil. Abial and Rufus also took up 100 acres of land each, but added afterward to the original grant. Abial, the paternal grandfather of Frederick Foster, settled on the farm now owned by Frederick and E. H. Horton. He was a stirring business man ; besides attending to his farming he erected a sawmill on the site of "Myers' Mills," and later the first gristmill on Sugar creek, and was also interested in mills near the Pail Factory. He did an extensive business in lumber- ing, milling and farming in his younger days, but in his later life gave his entire attention to farming. His wife was Mary Means, by whom he had children as follows: Betsey (Mrs. Major Gerould); Samuel B .; Sarah B .; Nancy (Mrs. Judson Gerould); Electa (Mrs. Wheelock Bingham) ; Polly (Mrs. Elijah H. Horton); Alenda (Mrs. Owen Campbell) ; William H. and Jane (Mrs. George Upright). Of these William H., the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in North Towanda, where he spent his life in farming ; he died suddenly in 1879, at the age of sixty-four years ; his children were as follows : Celinda (Mrs. James Foster), Frederick ; Helen (Mrs. David Lindley) ; Jeanette (Mrs. Charles Cash); Irene (Mrs. Charles Havens). Frederick was reared in his native township, received a common-school educa- tion, and has always followed farming. He was married, January 18, 1871, to Emma, daughter of David and Sally (Rundell) Newell, of Sheshequin township, by whom he had six children : Harry (deceased), Lula, Hattie, James (deceased), Eva and Nettie C. Mr. Foster is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics is a Republican.

GEORGE H. FOX, farmer, P. O. Towanda, was born in Towanda, this county, March 2, 1840, and is a lineal descendant of the notable first settler in Bradford county, Rudolph Fox. who was of the Palatines, and came down from their settlement in New York, incompany with one, Peter Shuefelt. Mr. Fox settled at the mouth of Towanda creek, and Shuefelt followed on down the river. The experiences of Rudolph Fox and his family in their struggles for life in the wilderness-braving disease, the wild woods, the wild beasts, the men and the invading armies in their pitiless marauds along this beautiful valley -- is one of the unwritten stories, in its simple recital, that exceeds fiction. This pioneer, Rudolph Fox, was the great-grandfather of George H., whose parents were John M. and Elvira A. Fox ; the latter, the daughter of Samuel and Lucretia (Wooster) Beard, of Connecticut. John M. Fox

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was born on the old family homestead farm, now owned and possessed by his son George, the only surviving son of the family; his brother Charles was born October 16, 1837, and died at the age of eighteen. This noted old homestead was once known as a part of "Fox Chase;" it comprises 200 acres and is one of the valuable farms in the county, and its present proprietor, George H. Fox, is not only the largest raiser of tobacco, but is really the father of that important industry in the valley. He is a Republican, and has the entire respect of all Bradford county people as a leading, representative and public spirited citizen.

JOHN A. FOX, of Towanda township, P. O. Rienzi, is a descendant of the first permanent white settler in what is now Bradford county. There is much said in the general history of the first settlers in this volume, and to this the reader is referred, as there is no family name in the county that is in itself more replete with the story of the trials and sufferings, as well as the endurance and heroism, of the advance pioneers, than that of the Fox family. They were of the Palatines, who came to New York, from there to the upper Delaware river, fol- lowed the streams and, crossing the portages, finally looked upon this beautiful land of the Susquehanna. John A. Fox is a son of William and Ellen (Barnwell) Fox, who reside on their farm in Terry town- ship, and who reared a family of five children, as follows: John A., Richard, Mary, William, Jr., and Ellen. The subject of this sketch, who, it will be seen is the eldest, was reared in Wyalusing, attended the common schools, was a student in the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, and then in Lafayette College. Since attaining his majority he has been engaged in the hay, grain and produce trade, and has met with well-merited success. He is at present assessor of Terry township, secretary of the school board, and secretary and treasurer of the County School Directors Association. He is the patentee of some valuable inven- tions in mechanism. At the general election in 1890 he was an Inde- pendent candidate for county commissioner, and was announced as such only toward the end of the campaign, and with his name on none of the regular party organization tickets, yet was defeated by but a small majority, and this in the face of the fact that at some of the polls it was not known that he was a candidate. Politically, he is an outspoken Democrat.

WILLIAM FOYLE, a prominent member of the Bradford county bar, was born in Herrick township, this county, August 31, 1847, a son of John and Mary (Fogarty) Foyle, natives of Kilkenny, Ireland, who came to America in 1832, locating in Maine one and a half years, and later resided in New York six years, where the father was engaged in the construction of the Croton Water-works. About 1840 they set- tled in Herrick township, this county, and engaged in farming; both parents were born in 1808, and both died in 1878, the father in Novem- ber, and the mother in December. William Foyle was reared in his native county, and educated at Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, Towanda, and St. Bonaventure's College, Allegany, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. He read law with Elhanan Smith and William and Benjamin M. Peck ; was admitted to the bar March 16, 1870, and has been in active practice since. He married, September 10, 1872, Ella, daughte

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of Thomas and Isabel (Lackey) Fitzgerald, of Wyalusing, Pa., and has two children, William T'. and Charles E. Mr. Foyle was a law partner of T. McPherson, Esq., and also of the late H. W. Patrick. He has been concerned in some of the heaviest litigation in the courts during his practice at the Bradford county bar. He taught in the public schools before his admission to the bar. Mr. Foyle has been engaged in no other business but the practice of his profession.

GEORGE W. FRANKLIN, proprietor of the Franklin Blue Stone Quarries, P. O. Quarry Glen, was born in Philadelphia, February 3, 1866, and is a son of John J. and Julia (Heppard) Franklin, also natives of Philadelphia, the former a lineal descendant of Benjamin Franklin ; his father was an attorney. George W. Franklin was educated in the ward schools of Philadelphia, and, quitting the school room at the age of fourteen years, he entered upon his business career, first as a journeyman in a cloth house, then commenced to travel when only fifteen years old, for his father, selling artificial stone. The firm was known as the Franklin Artificial Stone Company, but their plant being destroyed by fire, young Franklin then entered the employment of John A. Jackson & J. C. Blair, paper manufacturers, of Philadelphia, as traveling salesman, and remained with them about five years, when he accepted a position as traveling salesman for George F. Brown, paper manufacturer, New York City, remaining with him until 1889, when he commenced operating the Blue Stone Quarries in Sheshequin township, this county. His line of travel was from Boston to Omaha, throughout twenty-two States. His father owns the farm on which the quarry is located, and leases the quarry to the Franklin Blue Stone Company, which consists of George W. Franklin and J. D. Morris, only. Mr. Franklin is a member of the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 15, Philadelphia, and politically is a Republican.

JOHN FRAWLEY, farmer, P. O. Overton. This gentleman, who is one of the prominent farmer citizens of Overton township, was born in Ireland, a son of James and Bridget (Sullivan) Frawley, of County Limerick; the family came to America in 1840; the father died in Overton in 1880, and the mother in 1881. John Frawley was born in 1844, and has worked his way in life successfully, with no other aids than what nature gave him, added to the worthy precepts and examples of his poor but eminently respectable parents. He is the possessor of a valuable farm of 140 acres in Overton township. He was married in Elmira, N. Y., to Mary, daughter of John and Mar- garet (Wolf) Pickley, also natives of Limerick, Ireland, and to this union the following children were born : Thomas E., Timothy H., Margaret E., John F., Mary A., Catherine J., Annie T. and Joseph D. The family worship at the Catholic Church, of which they are faithful adherents. As a family they bear the love and respect of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Frawley has filled the offices of school director and road commissioner, and has a warm place in. his heart for the Democratic party.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 90

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