History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 91

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

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J. W. FRAZER was born June 3, 1846, a son of Hugh S. and Caroline (Scovill) Frazer. He was born and raised on a farm, and educated in the common schools and academies of Wyalusing and

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Camptown. On reaching his majority he began life for himself, and located in Scranton, where he entered the employ of a sewing machine company, and was with them about one year; then engaged in the sewing machine business on his own account, and has followed that calling ever since, doing business both in Elmira and Williamsport. He finally returned to Wyalusing and located on his farm, within one- half mile of his boyhood's home. He was united in marriage June 3, 1869, with Amelia S., daughter of Christian and Deborah A. (Vancise) Bartholomew, the youngest in a family of three children. This union has been blessed with one child, Lena V. Mr. Frazer is still engaged in the sewing-machine business, and is proprietor of the Mountain Cottage Summer Resort, which he has built on his place since his return, and which is beautifully located about three miles from Wyalusing, in the midst of grand scenery and the finest fishing in the State. It is crowded with guests during the season, every one speak- ing in high praise of their host and hostess. Mr. Frazer is a Repub- lican, and an active politician.

N. S. FRAZER, farmer and stock grower, Wyalusing, was born in Wyalusing, Bradford Co., Pa., January 6, 1843, a son of H. S. and Caroline (Scovill) Frazer, the former of whom died in 1889, aged eighty-two years, and the latter in 1883, aged seventy-seven years. H. S. Frazer was born in Clearfield county, Pa., came to Bradford in 1833, and entered mercantile business near Homet's Ferry ; after several years he removed to where N. S. Frazer now resides, and began farming, where he remained until his death. Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Frazer had a family of five children, viz .: Jennie (married to William Chamberlain, a farmer of Wyalusing) ; Nettie (married to D. O. Holland, of North Towanda); N. S .; J. W. (a farmer of Wyalusing) ; Sarah (married to A. B. Smith, a farmer, of Southport, N. Y.). N. S. Frazer, the subject of this sketch, was born and reared on the farm where he now resides, and was educated in the common schools and at the Collegiate Institute of Towanda; he gradu- ated when twenty-one and entered the law office of Mercur & Morrow where he read law. When ready for admission to the bar he was called home by the failing health of his parents, and, sacrific- ing his ambition for their comfort, gave up his career in law and took charge of the old homestead, and has been engaged in agricultural pursuits to the present. In 1884 he opened a summer resort which was very popular ; after about four years the building was burned, but he rebuilt much larger and better, and in 1890 the beautiful place was filled with people from the large cities seeking rest and pleasant scenery ; in March, 1891, however, the building, together with the large barn and all the out-buildings were entirely consumed by fire, with all the contents; within two years he has twice lost everything by fire, yet, with unflagging energy. he pursues his way toward success in preparing to rebuild for the third time. Mr. Frazer was united in wedlock, July 3, 1883, with Lizzie Benjamin, daughter of Dr. Benjamin, of Dushore, and this union has been blessed with one child, Carrie. Mr. Frazer is a Republican in politics, and has held

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the office of justice of peace many years, besides many other town- ship offices.

WALTER H. FRENCH, United States Claim Agent, and notary public, Athens, is a native of Sheshequin, this county, born May 19, 1847, son of Walter and Sarah (Rogers) French, natives of this county; the father was a farmer, and died in Sheshequin in August, 1890, aged seventy-seven years; the mother died in 1864 in her fifty-third year. Walter H. French who is the sixth in a family of ten children, remained on the farm with his father until he was fifteen, when, responding to the call of his country, he enlisted, September 19, 1862, in Company D, Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Gen. Sheridan's command. He was wounded in his forty-seventh regular engagement, at Front Royal, Va., August 16, 1864, and about sundown that evening his leg was taken off by a shell and his horse killed at the same time. He was put in an ambulance and taken to Winchester, a distance of seventeen miles, where he was captured the next morning, August 17, and was re-captured at Winchester, September 19, 1864, and put in a lumber wagon and taken to Martinsburg and from there by rail to Baltimore, to the hospital, where he remained three months. He was then taken to the hospital in York, Pa., where he was kept three weeks, and then taken to the hospital and school, corner of Sixteenth and Filbert streets, Philadelphia, which he attended as a soldier three years, when he obtained the position of cashier and book-keeper in a store in Phila- delphia. Remaining there six months, he returned home and taught school three years. He was first married in Sheshequin, in 1872, to Miss Henrietta, daughter of Louis and Nancy (Holcomb) Russell, natives of this county (she was the second in a family of three children). To this union were born two children: Eugene (deceased) and Howard E. Mrs. Henrietta French died in 1881, and in 1887 Mr. French married, in Athens, Miss Gertrude H., daughter of Andrew Y. and Milly (Drake) VanSice, natives of this county (she is the third in a family of four children, and was born in Rome township in 1862). To Mr. and Mrs. French was born one son, Andrew. Mr. French has been recognized · as a claim agent by the Government since 1875, although not practicing until the spring of 1890; was appointed notary public in June, 1890; he is commander of Perkins Post, No. 202, G. A. R., and also a member of the Union Veteran Legion, No. 28, and the Union Veteran Union of Sayre. He was in Sheridan's famous ride from Culpeper to Rich- mond, and from there to Yorktown, the distance of 160 miles being ridden in forty-eight hours. Mr. French is a Republican, and was constable and collector in Sheshequin township from 1872 to 1875. The account of his war experience, at the time he lost his leg, is so thrilling, that we here give it in his own language: " When I was recaptured at Winchester, September 19, 1864, the hospital I was in was located on Main street, through which the rebels ran, after being routed by the Union Army. Sheridan shelled them as they were running through the town, three cannon balls passing through the hospital, one within a foot of my head, which knocked me senseless for a time, passing through another room where another wounded soldier lay, cutting his bunk and even the sheet in two, and throwing him out

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on the floor, without seriously injuring him. My company stopped when passing through the town after the rebels, and Amos Congdon, a member of my company, went out and brought the shell in that passed so close to my head."

ABRAHAM FRIES, farmer, P. O. Columbia Cross Roads, was born in Wells township, this county, August 28, 1841, a son of James and Sophia (Besley) Fries; his paternal grandparents, James and Margaret (Cool) Fries, formerly of New Jersey and of Presbyterian stock, settled in Wells township, this county, in 1837, partially cleared and improved a farm and died there ; their children were Anna (Mrs. Dennis Lewis), Margaret (Mrs. Renselear Wolfe), Elizabeth, Jacob, James, Mary J. (Mrs. Bassett), Martin, David (on the old homestead) and Lydia (Mrs. Bascom Taylor). Of these James partially cleared a farm in Wells township, and died there; his wife was the daughter of Oliver and Rhoda (Westbrook) Besley, pioneers of Columbia township, and by her he had one son, Abraham. The subject of this memoir was reared on a farm in Columbia township, from seven years of age, by his uncle, Jacob Fries, who cleared several farms in Columbia town- ship, where he resided about forty-five years. He is a member of the Baptist Church and in politics is a Democrat. Abraham Fries has always been engaged in farming, and is one of the representative agriculturists of the township. He married, in 1862, Margaret, . daughter of Peter and Barbara (Gernert) McClelland, of Columbia township, by whom he has two children : Katie (Mrs. Ransom Cor- nell) and Cora Blanche. Politically Mr. Fries is a Democrat.

ADDISON C. FRISBIE, farmer and stock grower, Orwell, was born October 20, 1829, on the farm he now occupies, son of Zebulon Frisbie, who was born on the same farm July 4, 1801, a son of Levi Frisbie, who was born in Connecticut. Levi Frisbie married Phoebe Gaylord, of Connecticut, and immigrated to Bradford county, locating where A. C. Frisbie resides. He was the first to open a tanyard in this section ; he was a man of splendid physique, of pleasing and engaging manners, making many friends, and at the time of his death he owned about 212 acres. Zebulon Frisbie was the youngest in the family, and learned his father's trade of tanner, and with his brother, Chauncy, succeeded to his father's business, which they finally sold, and engaged in farming. He was married December 4, 1828, to Polly Goodwin, a daughter of Warren Goodwin, of Connecticut, and had the following children : Addison C. (born October 20, 1829), Warren R. (born August 31, 1831, died September 15, 1865), William L. (born March 26, 1834), Chauncy M. (born November 29, 1839), Ruby H. (born June 15, 1843, married to Edward Boardman), Orin G. (born June 8, 1845, died December 5, 1847), Emily P. (born October 1, 1847, died February 20, 1849), Mary E. (born October 6, 1849), Olin G. (born February 20, 1852). The father was a member of the Presbyterian Church and an elder. Politically he was a Whig and Republican, and was a justice of the peace many years, also associate Judge, and stood high as an official. He died August 29, 1881, and his loss was sorely felt in all sections of the county. Addison C. Frisbie passed his boyhood on his father's farm, receiving an academical education, and when seventeen

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years old he engaged as a clerk in a store until 1857, when he went to Carbondale, where he was a prostrated by sickness, from which he recovered in 1859. He was in a similar employ at Orwell Hill, where he remained until 1864 ; then moved to LeRaysville, and engaged in mercantile business on his own account, remaining until 1867; then went to Orwell Hill, and with G. C. Frisbie conducted a store, and with different partners was merchandising until 1879, when he sold and removed to Towanda, having been elected in 1878 register and recorder of Bradford county, ably serving the people three years. In March, 1882, he removed to the old Frisbie homestead, where he has since resided. He was united in marriage October 17, 1855, with N. N. Newell. To Mr. and Mrs. Frisbie have been born five children : Cora St. Leon (born October 31, 1856, married to P. A. Pendleton), Kate L. (born July 11, 1858, married to N. N. Elsbree), George C. (born December 24, 1861), Mary E. (born April 29, 1864, married to W. B. Payson), Edwin N. (born September 24, 1870). Mr. Frisbie is a member of the F. & A. M., and of the K. of P. at Towanda, he is a Republican, and has hield the various township offices. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church.

A. G. FRISBIE, farmer and stock grower, Orwell, was born in Orwell, this county, March 4, 1826, a son of Levi Frisbie, who was born in Connecticut, November 19, 1798, a son of Levi Frisbie, born in Bristol, Conn., January 31, 1758, who died October 5, 1842, and had married, December 20, 1786, Phoebe Gaylord, who was born in Bristol, Conn., November 19, 1767, and died in Orwell, October 5, 1852, a daughter of Aaron Gaylord, who was a lieutenant in the militia, and took part in the battle of Wyoming; he escaped to the woods with a companion, where they were found by the Indians, and he was killed, but his companion escaped. To Levi and Phoebe (Gaylord) Frisbie were born the following named children: Chauncy, born November 16, 1787, died May 4, 1864; Laura, born January 1, 1790, married to Ira Bronson ; Catherine, born April 1, 1792, and Levi. Levi Frisbie, Sr., was descended from the old Puritan stock of Connecticut, and was an acknowledged leader in all enterprises tending to the advancement or improvement of this county. Coming as he did, in the year 1800, when the woods of Bradford county contained primitive log cabins, he devoted his life to the advancement of the county, its churches and schools; he was the brave and fearless friend of the poor and the oppressed; in his private life, sociable and eminently hospitable, his family loved and reverenced him as more than a father, and to the shelter of his broad bosom his grandchildren always fled as a haven of refuge ; although a member of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, he identified himself with the Presbyterian Church as soon as the society was formed on Orwell Hill, and allowed no niceties as to any proscribed creed to interfere with his labors to better the condition of his fellow-men; and the seed sown by such earnest labors, nearly a century ago, is still yielding fruit in abundance; he was never known to swear, use intoxicating liquors of any kind, excepting cider, which he drank at meals in lieu of tea or coffee, which he never used, or tobacco; his word was implicitly received, and in the arbitrament

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of his neighbors he never failed to give satisfaction. His sons were worthy of such a father, and among the many eminent and good men of this county none stood higher than they, all living earnest workers in the Presbyterian Church, three being elders in the same for years; all were liberal to the church and schools; these noble sons of an illustrious sire have been gathered to their fathers, leaving behind a spotless page in the history of Bradford county. All the family, except the youngest, were born in Connecticut.

A. G. Frisbie was born and reared on the old Frisbie homestead farm, and received a common-school education. His farm was located in Allis Hollow, and contained 100 acres of land, which he cleared and fitted for the plow, and here he lived from his twenty-fourth year until 1867, when he removed to his present farm known as the "Minor Taylor " farm, which is well stocked with cattle, horses, etc. He was united in wedlock, December 5, 1850, with Ordelia, daughter of Abel and Laura (Allis) Darling, and to them have been born the following named children : William E., born February 18, 1853, married to Cyntha Bull; Ann Elizabeth, born January 2, 1855, married to Hiram E. Bull; Stewart G., born August 27, 1857, married to Mary A. Newman; Frank Darling, born February 28, 1859, died September 7, 1866; Levi A., born August 15, 1861; Laura C., born March 14, 1863, married to Charles Werkheiser, and Kate, born August 5, 1866. Mr. Frisbie was for years a member of the Orwell Artillery Company ; was elected second lieutenant of that organization, May 14, 1846, and promoted to captain June 23, 1847, and to major June 4, 1849. During the Rebellion he served in the construction corps attached to the Army of the West, and spent five months in Tennessee. His father, Levi Frisbie, Jr., was a strict church member, unflinching in pursuing the course he thought to be right; was honest and upright in all his business tran- sactions, and bitterly opposed to the use of intoxicants. He was married, March 3, 1825, to Chloe Chubbuck, and to them were born the following named children : A. G .; Catherine, born July 29, 1828, married to Stewart Line; Eaton N., born June 24, 1832; Wilbur E .; Laura P., married to Frank Bachman ; Joseph A., a coal merchant of Elmira, N. Y .; Eaton N., president of the S. & L. V. R. R., and who was mavor of the city of Elmira, N. Y., one term. The mother died August 20, 1869, and the father November 23, 1889. Mr. A. G. Fris- bie is a stanch Republican, and has held the various town offices.

FRANK FRISBIE, blacksmith, Durell, was born July 21, 1863. in Asylum township, Bradford Co., Pa., and is a son of Myron and Susana Ann (Grippin) Frisbie, natives of Asylum, and of Yankee and Scotch-Irish extraction. The son was reared to the trade of his father, blacksmithing, and now owns the place which had been managed many years previously by his father. He was in the Southern States some years, and returning here has since continued to carry on general blacksmithing business, also a nice trade in agricultural implements, harness, hardware and all kinds of lubricating oils. He was married, April 2, 1884. to Georgia Reynolds who was born in Wysox, this county, August 4, 1863, third in a family of five children of George and Mathilda (Porter) Reynolds, natives of New York State. There have been born

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to Mr. and Mrs. Frisbie four children, two of whom are living: Leon W., born January 21, 1888, and Josie, born July 18, 1890. Mr. Frisbie is a member of the Patrons of Industry, in politics he is a Republican, and takes an intelligent interest in the affairs of the community.

W. L. FRISBIE, M. D., Potterville, was born March 25, 1834, in Orwell, this county, where his brother A. C. Frisbie resides, was reared on a farm, educated at the common schools of Orwell, and had also an academic training. When twenty-four years old he began busi- ness for himself, farming and teaching, his first school being in War- ren when he was twenty years old ; thus was he engaged six years in this county, and Carroll county, Ill. When twenty-eight years of age he began the study of medicine, reading under Dr. Oliver Lewis, of Orwell, and in 1867 entered Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y., where he was graduated in the spring of 1869. He then located in Potterville and continued in the practice, except from May 7, 1874, to May 14, 1875, which time was spent on Orwell hill. He was married October 26, 1859, to Alswitha Knapp, daughter of Hiram L. and Elizabeth (Eastabrook) Knapp, the former of whom was a physician, a graduate of the Albany School of Medicine; he had children as follows: Martha, married to N. C. Elsbree; Theresa, married to Manson Elsbree; Alswitha; Dr. Hiram L., practicing at Windham, a graduate of the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati : Elizabeth H., widow of H. Taylor; Armenia, first married to Dr. Benjamin Babcock, after whose death she married Charles Crandall; Dr. C. B., of Washington State, a graduate of Hobart Medical College, N. Y .; M. L., a farmer; and Josephine, mar- ried to P. F. Elsworth, of Windham. Dr. and Mrs. Frisbie have had three children, viz .: Armenia H., born August 27, 1862, married W. L. Carrington, of Orwell; Dr. H. Zebulon, born June 30, 1867, educated at Orwell, and has attended one course of lectures at Jefferson College, Philadelphia; and Paul, born September 6, 1872. Dr. W. L. Frisbie is a member of A. Y. M., of Rome; he is a Republican, and has held the office of justice of the peace ten years, also that of school director ; he does a general practice, and has been highly successful. The family are members of the Congregational Church.

WILLIAM FRISBY, farmer, P. O. Evergreen, was born in Asylum township, this county, January 13, 1815, a son of John and Elizabeth (Ackley) Frisby, who were descended from Eastern people. The grandfather settled in Bradford county, at the place known as " Frisby's Springs," where it is supposed John was born. John Frisby removed to Asylum township when a young man, and married Miss Elizabeth Ackley, by whom he had two sons. John Frisby and one of his sons went to Ohio, where he died. William, the younger son, remained in this county, was reared and educated in Asylum, and always followed agricultural pursuits, being more of a producer than a consumer. On July 9, 1840, he married, in Asylum, Miss Charlotte, daughter of John and Margaret Wood, and there were born to this union eight children, all of whom grew to maturity, five now living, viz .: Myron, a black- smith ; John, a farmer ; Henry, a farmer ; Ulysses, a telegraph operator at Dushore, and William, who is living at home with his father, whom he assists on the farm. William married, March 13, 1884, Emma,

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daughter of James and Catherine Simmons, and there have been born to them two children : Estella, now six years of age, and Cassie, now four years of age. He removed from Asylum to Terry township, in 1867, where he has since lived. He purchased his farm of Bills & McCue, the place then consisting of 134 acres, but has been sold until now only fifty-two acres remain. He is a large, muscular man, meas- uring six feet four inches ; is a general farmer, raising whatever the soil will produce with a fair profit. He has made many improvements in the erection of buildings; when he moved on the place there was only a small log house which served its purpose for a time. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Benjamin Ackley, father of Mrs. Elizabeth Frisby, removed to Asylum in 1782, in company with Amos 'Bennett and Joshua Bailey, and settled in the " Bend," now owned by Richard Benjamin.

EDWARD FROST, of J. O. Frost's Sons, furniture manufacturers, Towanda, was born in Rush, Susquehanna Co., Pa., September 8, 1846, and is a son of James O. and Chloe (Hill) Frost. He was reared in Bradford county, and educated in the common and public schools and Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, and began life as a clerk in his father's furniture store in Towanda, and was admitted as a member of the firm of J. O. Frost & Sons in 1871, and on the reorganization of the firm in 1876, became the senior member of the firm of J. O. Frost's Sons, and since 1883 have been manufacturers of furniture exclusively. May 10, 1870, he married Sarah, daughter of Mrs. Jane Hovey, of Towanda, by whom he has had four children as follows: Herbert (died at the age of two and a half years), Jennie, Mande and Edward. He is an attendant of the Presbyterian Church, and was burgess of Towanda in 1886, and again in 1888, and served as councilman three terms; he was chief of Towanda Fire Department in 1890, and once before; he was a member of company G, Ninth Pennsylvania Militia five years, and was sergeant and quartermaster of the company; politi- cally he is a stanch Republican.

E. M. FROST, of the firm of E. N. Frost & Son, dealers in furni- ture and undertakers, Athens, is a native of Bradford county, Pa., born August 25, 1848, a son of E. N. and Sarah (Parks) Frost, also natives of this county. E. N. Frost began the furniture and under- taking business at Rome, and came to Athens in 1877, where he was engaged in the same business until the time of his death, in November, 1885, when he was in his sixtieth year ; his widow survives. Her great- grandmother was in the Wyoming massacre. E. M. Frost is the second in a family of three children. When a young man he was in the drug business in Rome five years, and in 1879 he came to Athens and formed a partnership with his father, in the furniture and undertak- ing business, under the firm name of E. N. Frost & Son ; they have two store rooms, also several warerooms, and are one of the leading firms in their line of business in the county. Mr. Frost was married in Rome, November 18, 1868, to Sallie W., daughter of Reuben and Mary (West) Thompson, natives of this county (she is the younger of two children, and was born in Sheshequin township in 1851). Mr. and Mrs. Frost have one daughter, Clara A. Mr. Frost is a Sir Knight

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Templar and a member of the I. O. O. F., Rome Lodge, No. 320; Roya Arcanum, Sexennial League and Equitable Aid Union, and in politics is a Republican.

JAMES O. FROST, manufacturer, Towanda, is the founder and head of the extensive furniture manufactory of J: O. Frost & Sons. This gentleman is entitled to prominence among those who have con- tributed so materially to the development of the interests of Bradford county, especially its mills and factories. From humble beginnings, with no aids but his bare hands and strong perceptions, he has worked his way to success over difficulties that would have appalled many a man. He has stood helplessly by and. seen the fruits of years of patient toil swept away in an hour, in flames and smoke, and has recommenced building his fortune from the very foundation. That man who is not utterly cast down under some misfortunes is the self- contained man of infinite resources, and is of the type of manhood that builds States and founds great communities. He was born in Wilber- ham, Mass., November 26, 1820, of Aaron and Polly (Craw) Frost, natives of Massachusetts of English descent; his father, a farmer and miller, who came with his family to Bradford county, locating in Orwell township in 1832, died on his farm, on January 17, 1855, full of years and honors. His family consisted of four sons and four daughters, of whom James O. Frost was next the youngest, and grew to manhood in his father's household, dividing his time between the country school-house, the farm and his father's mill, and on reaching his majority, he found employment as a miller until 1845, when he built one of his own at Middletown, Susquehanna county. After oper- ating this two years he returned to Orwell and built the Potterville mill and operated it ten years, and then came to Towanda and soon thereafter organized and built what is now one of the most important industries of the borough-the Frost Furniture Manufacturing Co., by Frost & Sons, opening the same for business in 1882, and increasing its capacity from that time to the present, now employing about 100 hands and having all the latest improved machinery in such institutions. He was married at Wysox, December 8, 1842, to Miss Chloe, daughter of Chester Hill; she is a native of this county ; her people are of English descent. Their family of children are as follows: Elsie (Mrs. Col. J. F. Means), Edward, one of the partners with his father; Lester R., also a partner in the factory; Helen M., wife of Henry Dodge, teller in the First National Bank, Towanda, and George E., also one of the firm of Frost & Sons. Mr. and Mrs. Frost are members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been trustee, and is one of the prominent pro- moters in the organization. While in Orwell he filled the office of school director, and all his life has been among the most public-spirited citizens. With him it may be said that it is always the general good first, and then he is an earnest Republican.

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 91

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