History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 93

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

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NATHANIEL N. GAMBLE was a son of James and Isabella (Nesbit) Gamble, who emigrated from Ireland and came to this country in 1811, settling in Wilmot township, where they remained on their farm until death, the father dying October 10, 1865, and the mother July 23, 1868. Their children were twelve in number, all born in this country, except the eldest, Margaret, who was brought here with her parents at the age of one year, and who became the wife of Robert Morrow ; then comes William; then John, who died aged nine- teen; Nathaniel N. was the fourth in order of birth; then came Eliza- beth; Jane (married to David Currier); Joseph; George S .; James S. (who emigrated to Michigan); Abagail; Debbie H., and Jonathan (last of whom died in infancy). The subject of this sketch was reared on his father's farm, where he remained until reaching manhood, and engaged in farming. He was married, in Herrick township, February 21, 1856, to Mary Ann Mitten, daughter of Thomas and Jane (Wood) Mitten, both of Irish blood. Mr. and Mrs. Gamble were the parents of four children; Thomas J., Charles R. (married to Minnie Smith; he died March 27, 1890, leaving a widow and two children), Amelia (Mrs. Fred Dodge, who has two children) and Eliza (died January 29, 1888, aged twenty- three.) Mrs. Nathaniel N. Gamble died in Wilmot township, April 3, 1869. Nathaniel N. Gamble removed to Warren Centre in 1875, and there made his family home until his death, which occurred August 19, 1891, when he was aged seventy-five years and ten months. Thus it will be seen that the Gamble family were of the early settlers of Brad- ford county, and they long since have been esteemed among the best of our people; honorable, industrious and frugal, the immigrants came here poor, but soon carved their way to a competence, and surrounded

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

their children with all the refining influences of the best agricultural life. Miss Debbie H. Gamble is postmistress at Herrick. Nathaniel N. Gamble was postmaster in Wilmot for several years ; the postoffice was then called Blainey, and is now called Sugar Run.

THOMAS A. GAMBLE, M. D., East Troy, was born in Morris town- ship, Tioga Co., Pa., March 9, 1845, a son of Andrew and Rebecca (Dur- flinger) Gamble, and is of Irish and German descent. The father, who was a native of Clinton county, Pa., was for a number of years promi- nently identified with the lumbering interests of Tioga and Lycoming counties, and died in 1847; his children were five in number, as follows: Elizabeth (Mrs. Benjamin Baldwin); Mannel D. (deceased, late a prominent physician of Waverly, N. Y.); George H .; Mercy (Mrs. Edward H. Ritcher) and Thomas A. Mrs. Gamble married, for her second husband, Gates Wilcox, a prominent lumberman, and in 1855 she removed to Franklin township, this county, and resided there until her death ; by her second marriage she had two children : Prudence E. (Mrs. Edgar Cole) and Winfield S. The subject of these lines was reared in Franklin township from ten years of age, receiving a com- mon-school education, and at the age of sixteen, upon President Lin- coln's call for troops, he enlisted at Canton, but on account of his vouth his mother refused to allow him to go; he again enlisted, however, June 27, 1863, in Company I, Forty-seventh P. V. I., and was honorably discharged from the service August 13, 1863. Soon after- ward he began the study of medicine, and in 1871 he entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadel- phia, where he was graduated in the spring of 1873; in 1874 he located at East Troy, where he has since been in active practice, having established a lucrative business, and stands among the most successful practitioners in the county. Dr. Gamble was married, in 1869, to Almeda, daughter of Enoch and Lucy (Snyder) Lloyd, of Lycoming county, Pa. The Doctor is prominently identified with the Masonic Fraternity as a member of Troy Lodge, No. 306, F. & A. M., of the Chapter, No. 261 of Troy, also of the K. T., Commandery No. 64, of Canton ; is also a member of Hector Lodge, No. 166, I. O. O. F., of East Troy, and of Gustin Post, G. A. R. For two years he was physician of the County House at Burlington ; politically he is a Republican.

R. R. GAREY, proprietor of the " Garey House," Wyalusing, was born in Wyoming county, Pa., September 5, 1833, a son of James W. and Jerusia (Robinson) Garey, the former of whom was a prominent farmer, lumberman and mill owner of Wyoming county. They had a family of nine children, of whom our subject is the second. R. R. Garey was born and reared on a farm, and his boyhood was passed in assisting his father in agricultural pursuits, in the woods and at the mill, leaving him little time for forming idle habits, and this training well prepared him for a successful and industrious life. He attended the common schools of his neighborhood, and afterward was a student at Harvard University. At the age of twenty-two he began life for himself, adopting farming for his occupation, which he followed exclu- sively until 1865 or 1866, when he began dealing in stock, which, com- bined with farming, constituted his business many years. He was an ex- tensive dealer, purchasing throughout the counties of Sullivan, Bradford,

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Wyoming and Tioga, and marketed his cattle in Wilkes-Barre and New York. In 1867 he purchased his first farm, located in the vicinity of Lovelton, Wyoming Co., Pa., where he resided until 1886; thence removed to Wilkes-Barre, and was there two years; then proceeded to Mehoop- any, and made that his home until the fall of 1888, when he purchased the old Gaylord homestead in Wyalusing, this county, whither he came and continued in stock dealing, till 1891, in which year he opened the " Garey House," which, under the civil and quiet management of its worthy host, assisted by the son, W. R., in the capacity of clerk, is fast becoming a favorite hostelry for the traveling public. This hotel is not a mere stopping place, as so many are, but there will be found what a traveling man so greatly appreciates, a home, cheer and home comforts. Besides the hotel Mr. Garey owns a farm of seventy acres near Lovel- ton, Pa., beautifully located and well improved. He was united in wedlock, July 20, 1865, with Sibyl Vose, a daughter of Oliver Vose, a prominent farmer of Wyoming county. To Mr. and Mrs. Garey were born three children : Helen, Leona and Willard. Mr. Garey is a Dem- ocrat in politics, and filled the office of town burgess one term, besides various other offices; he has had to make his own way in the world, has always borne the reputation of scrupulous honesty, and has been one of the very successful business men of which Bradford is justly so proud.

PROFESSOR C. P. GARRISON, principal of Sayre borough schools, Sayre, is a native of Tioga county, N. Y., and was born October 20, 1849. His father, David R. Garrison, was for many years a successful lumberman and farmer of said county, and at present resides with his son at Sayre. His mother, Abbie C. (Fairbanks) Garrison, died in 1887 in her sixty-second year, and was buried at Franklin, this county-the home of her childhood. Her grandfather took part in the Revolutionary struggle. The Garrison family con- sisted of eight children, of whom Prof. C. P. is the second in order of birth. He was reared in his native county, and received his early education in the common school, and at the Owego Academy. He taught his first term of school in Susquehanna county in 1868, and the next year was called to Franklindale, Bradford county, to take charge of a large ungraded school. He has been principal of the graded school of Monroeton, Barclay, New Albany, this county, and Hills- grove, Sullivan county. Entered the Mansfield State Normal School in 1887, and graduated in June, 1889. He taught mathematics while at this institution. Took charge of the Sayre graded schools in September, 1889, and by his untiring energy has brought the schools to a high standard of excellence. The schools opened the present year with fifteen teachers and about 800 pupils. Prof. Garrison is a member of the I. O. O. F .; vice-president of the Bradford County Teacher's Institute; secretary of the Board of Examiners for State Certificates, and has recently served as president of the Bradford County Teacher's Association. Politically he is a Republican. Prof. Garrison was married in Ulster, this county, August 28, 1873, to Miss Mary Dell, daughter of Ancil and Helen (Holcomb) Olmstead, natives of Ulster township. She was born in Ulster in 1855. To Prof. and Mrs.

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

Garrison have been born two daughters : Georgia and Jessie. The family attend the Methodist Church.

H. B. GAYLORD, merchant, Wyalusing, among the prominent merchants of this place, was born in Wyalusing, June 5, 1847, a son of Henry and Martha (Taylor) Gaylord, and a grandson of Justus Gaylord, one of the pioneers of this section. His parents had a fam- ily of fourteen children, of whom he is the ninth; his father was a farmer, and one of the most prominent men in religion and educational matters of this section ; he served as justice of the peace here thirty-five years, and for almost that long a time was chorister of the Presbyterian Church ; he died in 1855, leaving a void that no one could fill. H. B. Gaylord was born and reared on a farm, and after the building of the Wyalusing Academy, in which he assisted, he finished his education there. Upon reaching his majority, he farmed a short time and then opened a fancy dry-goods store, having his brother S. C. (since deceased) associated with him as partner. In connection with the dry- goods business they conducted a branch office for an Eastern Insur- ance Company; he also received the appointment of postmaster. After a few years' partnership his brother retired, and he continued in the insurance business, still retaining the postoffice; in January, 1877, he gave up that business, and for about one year taught vocal music; then, in 1878, formed a partnership and conducted a general store in Wyalusing under the firm name of Gaylord, Sumner & Co .; he was with this firm six or seven years, and dissolved, going into busi- ness for himself in the stand he now occupies ; he carries a line of dry- goods and notions and fine shoes. He was first married to Martha Sumner in October, 1872, daughter of George Sumner, of Spring Hill, and after her death, August, 1879, was married, November 9, 1881, to. Isabelle Kintner, daughter of M. S. Kintner, Esq., of Mehoopany. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church of Wyalusing; he is a member of the I. O. O. F. and connected with White Lilly Lodge, No. 872, Wyalusing; also member of the State Encampment; in politics he has always been identified with the Republican party.

H. P. GAYLORD, mechanic, Wyalusing, was born in Wyalusing township, this county, August 22, 1853, a son of Joseph and Lorinda (Jayne) Gaylord, the former of whom was of the old Gaylord family, who was among the first pioneers of the township; the father, who is deceased, was always a farmer, and his late farm is now occupied by the town of Wyalusing; the mother is yet living; their family consisted of the following children: H. P., W. W. (residing in Wyalusing), Minnie R. (married to A. Ruff), J. J. (residing at Sayre), Charles and Emily, (both deceased). H. P. Gaylord was born and reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools, and at Wyalusing Academy. When twenty-four years old he began farming for himself; then worked at the carpenter's trade until 1886, since which time he has been following the trade of stone and brick mason, and stone cutter, and letterer. He has always resided in the township of Wyalusing. Mr. Gaylord has been twice married; first time March 18, 1877, to Hannah A., daughter of Philo P. Finch, of New Albany; which union was blessed with five children: Lena A., Josie E., Daniel W., Millie S. (deceased)

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

and Margaret P. This wife dying December 18, 1885, Mr. Gaylord married March 3, 1887, Harriet M. Bennett, daughter of William Bennett, of Wyalusing. Mr. Gaylord is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of Wyalusing; also of White Lilly Lodge, No. 808, I. O. O. F .; and politically he is a Republican. He is a member of the Wyalusing Cornet Band, in which he has played the baritone for ten years, and is a violin player in the Wyalusing Orchestra. With the rod and line he is one of the most successful fishermen along the Susquehanna.

JOSEPH GAYLORD (deceased) was among the early settlers of Bradford county, and a grandson of Justus Gaylord, one of the hardy pioneer settlers of the county. His mother, Mrs. Welthy (York) Gaylord, was a daughter of the York connected with the Wyoming massacre of 1778. The Gaylord history has become a part of the history of the county, and this family are well known for their many good qualities. Joseph Gaylord's early life was spent on the Gaylord farm, comprising a tract of some 500 acres situated where the borough of Wyalusing now stands. He was reared and educated, and lived on a part of the tract, up to the time of his death, which occurred December 25, 1880. He married Miss Lorinda H. Jaynes, of Monroe county, this State, a daughter of Peter Jaynes, an officer in the War of 1812. They lived a happy life and prospered, and raised a family of six children : H. P. (who is now a mechanic), W. W. and Minnie R. (now the wife of A. Ruff), all of Wyalusing; J. J., a resident of Sayre, Pa .; Charles and Emily are deceased. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics they are Republicans.

Justus J. Gaylord, youngest son of Joseph and Lorinda H. Gay- lord, was born in Wyalusing, this county, January 23, 1863, and is now a resident of Sayre, Pa. He attended the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in the year 1883. At present he is employed in the passenger service of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

N. J. GAYLORD, retired farmer, Wyalusing, was born in Wya- lusing township, October 31, 1840, and is a son of Henry Gaylord. He was born and reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. August 28, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Forty- first Regiment, being one of the first men to enlist in that company, and was made corporal at the organization of the company. Novem- ber, 1863, at the battle of Poolsville, he received a gunshot wound in the left hand, and was captured by Stewart's cavalry ; paroled the same day and went to the Patent Office Hospital, and soon after was fur- loughed and came home, where he was attacked by the fever and measles. After recovering he returned and was soon discharged, Feb- ruary 27, 1863, after which he served for one year in Gen. Ruckner's commissary department; then returned home and began farming and lumbering, and followed farming until 1886, when, receiving a para- lytic stroke, which disabled his left side, he was compelled to retire from active life. He was married October 14, 1868, to Julia M. Lewis, daughter of Edwin and Polly (Lathrop) Lewis, and to them have been born six children, viz .: Edward W., printer, born May 16, 1871; George L., a teacher and clerk in store, born August 8, 1872 ; Bert A. and Bertha A. (twins), born June 29, 1875; E. Mott, born April 9,

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

1879, and Martha, born July 27, 1883. The family worship at the Presbyterian Church. He is a member of Jackson Post, No. 74, G. A. R., and is past commander ; is a member of the I. O. O. F., and one of the first men of this section to become a member, joining the Order at Camptown ; he has passed all the chairs, and is a member of the State Grand Lodge; is a Republican, and has filled the various town offices, and has been school director since the establishment of the borough ; is also president of the board of cemetery trustees, which office he has filled since 1882.

JULIUS GEE, farmer, P. O. Granville Centre, was born in Penn- sylvania, July 27, 1845, and is a son of James and Mehitable (Ralyea) Gee. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Gee, formerly of Cortland county, N. Y., was among the early settlers of Granville township, where he located on the farm now occupied by R. D. Bailey, but in later life removed to Potter county and died there ; his wife was Han- nah Hopkins. The father of our subject was a native of Portland county, N. Y., but came to Granville in early manhood with his par- ents, and started life for himself on the farm now owned by our sub- ject, and most of which he cleared and improved. He died there in August, 1875, in his fifty-sixth year ; he reared a family of three chil- dren: Sarah (Mrs. Gilbert Baxter), Mary (Mrs. W. J. Smith) and Julius. The latter was reared on the old homestead from three years of age, and succeeded to the same upon his father's death. In 1876 he married Clara, daughter of Hiram and Elise (Smith) Every, of Leroy township, and has one adopted daughter, Lottie. He is a member of the Church of Christ, the P. of H., and in politics is a Republican.

J. VALENTINE GEIGER, gunsmith, Towanda, was born in Towanda, this county, October 5, 1832, a son of John E. and Sarah A. (Shockey) Geiger, and is of German descent. His father was a native of Sunbury, Pa., and a son of John V. and Catherine Geiger, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Carlisle, Pa. The father was reared in Reading, Pa., learned the gunsmith trade in Williamsport, and later worked as a journeyman in various sections of the country. In 1830 he settled in Towanda, and established the first place for the manufacture and sale of guns in the county (his shop being on the site where Rosenfield's store now stands), and continued in business until his retirement in 1857; he died in August, 1878, aged seventy-eight years. J. Valentine, who was the only child who grew to maturity, was reared in Towanda and learned the gunsmith trade with his father, with whom he worked until the latter's retirement in 1857, when he succeeded to the business, which he has since conducted. It was established sixty-one years ago, and is probably the oldest con- cern conducted by father and son in Bradford county. Mr. Geiger was twice married; his first wife was Lucy, daughter of John Wough- ter, of Union, N. Y., and by her he had one son, Fred W .; his second wife was Martha N., daughter of Mark C. Arnot, of Towanda, for many years a prominent tanner of the place. At the organization of the Franklin Fire Company No. 1, of Towanda, in 1854, Mr. Geiger became a member, has held all the positions in the gift of the company, and is still on the active list, and the oldest member of the fire depart-

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

ment of Towanda. He is a well-known representative citizen of Bradford county ; he was elected secretary of the Central Republican Club in 1856, and has held it up to the present time ; for several years has been, and is now, the secretary of the Republican County Com- mittee, and is known to be well posted on all Bradford county political matters. Mr. Geiger has hosts of friends outside of his own party, and his genial disposition will continually add to the number. He has never asked for any party office, and after long years of service says he is always ready to assist his friends, and have all the fun there is in politics.

S. A. GENUNG, proprietor of lumber yard, Waverly, Tioga Co., N. Y., is a native of Tioga county, N. Y., born November 15, 1848; he is a son of Nathaniel and Lydia L. (Stuart) Genung, natives of Tompkins county, N. Y., who removed to Tioga county about the year 1835, when it was all a wild wood. The father, who was a farmer and bridge and barn builder, died in Tioga county in 1878, in his sixty-sixth year; the mother is now in her seventy-eighth year, remarkable for her health and constitutional activity, and has never worn glasses. Grandfather Stuart was a soldier in the War of 1812. S. A. Genung is the sixth in a family of ten children, all of whom are living. He was reared on a farm, received a good common-school education, and when eighteen went to Cortland, N. Y., to work at his trade of carpenter and joiner, which he followed six years; then engaged in contracting, building and jobbing in lumber. In 1868 he removed to Waverly, and in 1879 started his lumber yard, where he is at present. He was married in Waverly, in September, 1870, to Miss Emma, daughter of Samuel and Delilah (Brown) Howell, natives of Tompkins county, N. Y. (she is the fifth in a family of seven children, and was born in Barton, Tioga Co., N. Y., May 3, 1848). To this marriage was born one child, which died in infancy. They have an adopted daughter, Mabel. Mr. Genung is a member of the F. & A. M., Waverly Lodge, No. 407, Knights of Honor, and has passed . the chairs in the Order (is district deputy at the present time; has represented the Order in the Grand Lodge) ; a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor (which he has represented in the Grand Lodge); of the Empire Order of Mutual Aid (has represented the Order at the Grand Lodge seven times, and is now district deputy) ; a mem- ber of the Masonic Relief Association, Royal Ark and Sexennial League ; was a member of the school board six years in South Waverly borough, Pa., and served as secretary three years, and treasurer of the board three years. during that time. Politically he is a Democrat.

JOHN P. GERNERT, farmer, P. O. Columbia Cross Roads, was born in Columbia township, this county, October 5, 1823, and is a son of William and Deborah (Clapp) Gernert. His paternal grandparents, Peter and Ann (Budd) Gernert, natives of Germany, immigrated to Philadelphia, where they worked out their passage money, married, and in 1786 settled at Tioga Point, this county, and in 1802 removed to Columbia township. His maternal grandfather, Clapp, was of French descent, and a pioneer of Bradford county. William Gernert was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1784, was reared in Bradford

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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY.

county, and spent most of his life in Columbia township, where, with the assistance of his sons, he cleared several farms and died there at. the age of eighty-four. John P. Gernert was reared in Columbia township, received a common-school education, and has always followed farming. In January, 1859, he married Martha, daughter of John and Jerusha McMullen, of Columbia township, and has four children : William A., Stephen C., Seth M. and Charles W .; he is a representa- tive farmer and leading citizen ; politically he is a Republican.

STEPHEN C. GERNERT, farmer, Columbia Cross Roads, was born in Columbia township, this county, February 6, 1863. and is a son of John P. and Martha (McMullen) Gernert. He was reared in his native township, where he has always resided, and was educated at Troy High School, where he graduated in 1881; then taught school several terms, and in 1884 embarked in the hay and grain business at Columbia Cross Roads, in which he successfully continued six years, and has been since engaged in farming. He married, October 16, 1890, Bertha B., daughter of Dr. A. M. Ingham, of Burlington, this county. Mr. Gernert is one of the popular citizens of Columbia town- ship; he is now holding the office of constable and collector, which he has held several terms ; was school director one term, secretary of school board one year, and president of the board one year; in politics he is a Republican.

STEPHEN G. GERNERT, a farmer, Columbia Cross Roads, was born in Columbia township, this county, June 14, 1826, a son of William and Deborah (Clapp) Gernert. His paternal grandfather was Peter Gernert, of French parentage, who located at Tioga Point, prior to 1800, and in 1802 in Columbia township; later he went West and was never afterward heard from; his wife, Ann (Budd) was a native of Philadelphia, of German parentage, and by her he had nine children : Polly, Kate, William, Andrew, Barbara, Armenda, Casper, Sally and Solomon Clay. The father of our subject in early life cleared and improved a farm near Austinville, now occupied by his sons; he also cleared land adjoining, and died on the farm Stephen resides on at Columbia Cross Roads, he was the father of five children : Esther A., William H., Nathaniel A., John P. and Stephen G. Our subject was reared in Columbia township, where he has always resided, and has followed agricultural pursuits. On September 29, 1858, he married Hannah T., daughter of John G. and Asenath S. (Cox) MeCarrick, of Springfield township, and formerly of Deckertown, Sussex county, N. J. Mr. Gernert is an enterprising citizen of Columbia township; he isa member of the I. O. O. F., and in politics is a Republican.

WILLIAM E. GERNERT, of the firm of Strong & Gernert, general merchants, Columbia Cross Roads, was born in Columbia town- ship, this county, January 28, 1848, and is a son of William H. and Maria (Howland) Gernert. His paternal grandfather, William Gernert, was a son of Peter Gernert, a pioneer of Tioga Point and Columbia township; the wife of Peter Gernert was Ann Budd, and the wife of William Gernert was Deborah Clapp. William Gernert cleared sev- eral farms in Columbia township, and died there. William H. Gernert, father of William E., was born in Athens township, September 19,

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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 93

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