USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 79
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W' TINSLOW, HON. REUBEN C. The history of the Winslow family dates back to the pilgrim settlers of Plymouth, Mass. The founder of the family, Kenelm Win- slow, son of Edward Winslow, of Droitwich, England, was born at that place on the 29th of April, 1599. He was the younger brother of Governor Winslow, and arrived at Plymouth in the Mayflower in 1629-this was the Mayflower's second voyage. He settled at Marshfield, Mass., but subsequently removed to Salem, where he died on the 13th of September, 1672, aged seventy-three years. Some of his descendants still re- side upon the property which he purchased from the Indians April 2, 1659.
Carpenter Winslow was his great-great-grandson, and was born at Pittston, Mass., March 20, 1766. His father, James Winslow, was a millwright, and he very early be- came familiar with the use of mechanical implements, and was afterwards engaged in ship building-having a ship yard at Wiscasset, Me., for several years. He married Elizabeth Coulburn in 1787, and was the father of nine sons, four of whom became noted seamen.
In the year of 1818 this branch of the Winslow family came to Jefferson county, and Carpenter Winslow settled on what is now the old homestead, in Gaskill township. The county was then a dense wilderness, and like all new settlers they had to undergo un- told privations; but they found themselves in a healthy climate, and where the soil, though hard to " clear," was productive, so that they were soon able to raise grain and feed in abundance, while the surrounding forests and streams afforded them game and fish. One of their difficulties was having to carry their grain twenty or more miles along bridle-paths through the forest to mill.
In a few months the family of Dr. John W. Jenks came into the neighborhood, and with some others settled in what is now Punxsutawney, and the Bowers family located near the Winslows. These were followed by other settlers, and they soon found them- selves in the midst of a good neighborhood, which is to-day one of the best farming sections of the county.
Carpenter Winslow died in November, 1827, his wife surviving him about eighteen years. Both are buried in the cemetery near Punxsutawney. Only two of his sons, James and Joseph W., father of R. C. Winslow, still survive. The rest have all passed away, leaving however, a large posterity, who are among the most prominent and best citizens of Jefferson and Elk counties. Joseph W. Winslow the youngest son of Car- penter Winslow, was born at Wiscasset, Me., December 10, 1804, and in 1832 married Christena Long, youngest daughter of Joseph Long, of Punxsutawney. Their family consisted of eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, who were all born at the old
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
homestead, and who all survive. except a son and daughter who died in infancy. Mr. Winslow has resided on his farm for almost seventy years, and is now one of the patri- archs of the county. Two of his sons, Augustus G. and Joseph Clark Winslow, reside with their venerable parent at the homestead.
Reuben C. Winslow, the eldest son, was born November 9, 1833. and worked on the farm at home, getting his schooling in the winter until he was in his twenty second year. He read law with Phineas W. Jenks, esq., of Punxsutawney, and was admitted to practice at the February term, 1858, and entered into partnership with his preceptor, the firm of Jenks & Winslow continuing until May, 1880. when it was dissolved, and the same month Mr. Winslow entered into partnership with John E. Calderwood, the firm of Winslow & Calderwood still continuing.
Mr. Winslow was married to Miss Martha Drum, youngest daughter of the late John Drum, esq., of Punxsutawney, June 24. 1858. The result of this union was two sons, John Carlton. born June 13, 1859, and Willie W .. born May 7, 1862. The eldest son, Carlton, died November 11, 1881.
Mr. Winslow is a Republican in politics, and was elected to the State Senate in 1874. He still resides in Punxsutawney, where his home is one of the most beautiful in that thriving town.
F ERMAN ALONZO, was born November 27, 1818 in Franklin county. N. Y .; he came here and settled where he now lives in Snyder township. Jefferson county, Pa., in 1839, and engaged in the lumber business. which business he still follows. He was married August 9, 1848, to Miss Susannah Bundy. They have had eight children : James Albert, Eliza M., Samuel B., Clara S .. M. Josephine, Nellie, Allie (who died Au- gust 6. 18So, in her sixteenth year). and Zadie V., of whom five are married.
IUNTER, SAMUEL ANDERSON, was born in Westmoreland county in 1826. H Mr. Hunter came to Jefferson county in 1846. His father, Andrew Hunter, had removed to the county and purchased a farm in Knox township a year or two before Samuel came. He worked on this farm for a year or two and then bought it from his father, and has continued to reside upon it ever since.
In 1853 Mr. Hunter was married to Miss Sarah H. Foster. This union has been blessed with seven children - Amanda Jane. Emma, Elmer, E. Perry, Mary Alice, Samuel A. and Everett. Of these Amanda died in 1859, and Mary Alice and Everett in 1871, both dying in one day of that scourge of childhood, diphtheria. Emma and Elmer are married, and Perry and Samuel A., jr., are still at home with their parents. Mr. Hunter has filled almost all the offices of trust in Knox township, and was elected county commissioner in 1873, and re-elected in 1875. He made a careful and judicious official. He has devoted himself since he came to Jefferson county to farming and lumbering, being a member of the firm of Orr. McKinley & Co. for several years. He is one of the most prominent and useful citizens of Knox township.
Mr. Hunter has found in his wife a veritable helpmeet. She is one of the most earnest and effective workers in the temperance cause. being one of the superintendents of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the county union, and president of Pleasant Hill Union. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hunter are consistent and earnest members of the Methodist Church.
689
JOHN JAMISON Y. THOMPSON.
T THOMPSON, JOHN JAMISON Y. Of the early history of the Thompson family we have nothing very authentic. They came from Ireland at an early day and set- tled in Cumberland or Franklin county, and were among the first emigrants to cross the Allegheny Mountains into Western Pennsylvania, as early as 1790. settling near Blairs- ville. in Indiana county. The family consisted of the father Robert Thompson, his wife, and their four sons. Alexander, Moses, Adam and William, with the father of Mrs. Thompson, Robert Gordon. About the year 1816, Alexander removed to the State of Indiana, where he died ; the rest of the family all lived and died in Indiana county. William, the father of the subject of this sketch, married Nancy Jamison, a daughter of Rev. John Jamison. He was born at Ellershie, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and was a stu- ‹lent of John Brown, of Haddington. Mr. Jamison was a lineal descendant of the Wal- lace family, that gave to Scotland its great patriot, Sir William Wallace. He emigrated to this country at the close of the Revolutionary War, landing in Philadelphia in 1783, when his daughter, afterwards the wife of William Thompson, was only six years old. He purchased a grist-mill and six hundred acres of land, in Cumberland county, includ- ing what is known as Big Springs. Mr. Jamison was for some years pastor of the Asso- ciate Reformed or Seceder Church at Shippensburg, one of the first churches established in Cumberland county.
About the year 1794, he crossed the Allegheny Mountains, and located near Blairs- ville. Here he preached the gospel as a missionary and pioneer minister of the Seceder Church, in all the territory west of the Alleghenies. He was a Scotch divine of more than ordinary ability, of large build, being six feet, two inches in height, and possessing powerful physical energy and endurance, traveling as far south as Georgia. preaching and organizing churches. He was somewhat hyper-Calvinistic in his theological views, and disposed to defend them with true Cameronian zeal.
John J. Y. Thompson, was born near Blairsville, in 1805 ; his father, William Thomp- son, died of small-pox, in 1817, and his mother lived and died on the farm near Blairs- ville.
Of his early boyhood days we have but little knowledge, except that he was unusu- ally apt at school, where he was beloved by his schoolmates, and esteemed by his teach- ers. He excelled in civil engineering and surveying, and was invariably selected as an assistant when there were lands to be laid out and surveyed, and in after years he did much of the surveying in Jefferson county. At an early age he left home and became a clerk in the store of Nathaniel Nesbitt, of Blairsville. He soon left this position and engaged in business for himself, but this venture not proving successful, he abandoned it, and in 1831 removed to Brookville, and with Thomas Reed, published and edited the first newspaper in Jefferson county, the Brookville Democrat. Their office was located in the hotel of William Clark on Jefferson street, and William Kennedy, now of Union township, a brother of Mrs. Thompson, was an apprentice in this office. On the 25th day of July, 1833; John J. Y. Thompson was married to Agnes S. Kennedy, and commenced housekeeping in Brookville, but in the fall of 1834. he removed to Dow]- ingville, where they remained until 1837, when they returned to Brookville again. and in 1838 Mr. Thompson built the saw-mill on Sandy Lick at what is now known as Belle's Mills. About 1840 he sold the property to Alpheus Shaw, and returned to Brookville, where he remained three months, and then removed to Heathville, return- ing again November, 1841, to Brookville. He then removed to the farm, now owned by William L. Morrison, in Union township. where he resided one year. In 1843 Mr.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Thompson purchased a tract of land from Daniel Stanard, of Indiana, at the crossing of the Waterford and Susquehanna, and Olean, turnpike, where he erected a hotel. and engaged in the hotel business, and in merchandising, and secured a post-office at the place which he called Corsica, and to which he was appointed postmaster, November 29, 1843. In 1847 Mr. Thompson and Daniel Stanard laid out and surveyed the town of Corsica, calling it after the post-office already established. In 1852 Mr. Thompson again returned to Brookville, and purchased from Judge Heath, the American Hotel and Arcade building, then the finest building in the town. He engaged in the hotel business, until May, 1856, when in the disastrous fire, which then visited the town. the hotel was destroyed with nearly all its contents. This fire left Mr. Thompson. almost penniless : but nothing daunted, he commenced the morning after the fire to clear away the debris from the ruins, and began preparations for rebuilding. Owing to his well-known business integrity, and his indomitable energy, he surmounted every obstacle, and in the winter of 1857, he had the American Hotel again ready for the reception of guests. He continued the owner and proprietor of this popular and well-known hotel, until the spring of 1865. when he sold the property to Captain R. R. Means, and removes to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he engaged extensively in the lumbering business, until he was suddenly removed by death, caused by apoplexy, on the 19th of August, 1865, in the sixty-first year of his age.
Few men were more closely identified with the early history of Jefferson county than was Judge Thompson. He held many offices of public trust, being elected county surveyor, prothonotary, clerk of courts, etc., in 1845, and associate judge in 1861. For many years his services as surveyor were in requisition in all this region of country, and his name and face were well known in every cabin in the then backwoods. He was foremost in aiding and advancing every public enterprise of his day. He was of a genial, social disposition, inspiring all with the spirit of sociability, with whom he came in contact. Kind and sympathetic by nature. he was ever ready to aid the poor and distressed, who were never turned away from his door. A strong Republican, he was an uncompromising Union man during the war, and took the deepest interest in all that pertained to those times that tried men's souls. Outspoken and botd in his utterances. he was nearly always found engaged in defending the principles for which his own boys were fighting. He was, during the war, the devoted friend of the soldier, and the fami- lies of those who were absent fighting the battles for freedom. He kept " open house " for the "boys," on their way to and from the front : and one of Jefferson county's vete- rans said of him not long since : " One of the most vivid recollections of my departure for the army, is the close hand-shake, and the fervent 'God bless you,' of Judge Thompson, as bare-headed. and with tears running down his cheeks, he bade us good bye." Judge Thompson ever adhered to the faith of his fathers, and lived and died a member of the United Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. Agnes S. Thompson was the daughter of Rev. William and Mary Kennedy,, and was born near Lewistown. Mifflin county, in the year 1813; her father being the first Presbyterian minister to locate in Jefferson county. Her mother was Mary, daughter of Benjamin and Agnes, née Wallace. McClure, of Uwchlan. Chester county, so that Mrs. Thompson was descended from one of the oldest and most noted families in eastern Pennsylvania. The family still holds lands in Uwchlan township, that were granted to their ancestor, John McClure, by William Penn, in 1748. This John Mc- Clure, who was Mrs. Thompson's great-grandfather, emigrated to the United States
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691
JOHN JAMISON Y. THOMPSON. - ALBERT ACKLEY CARRIER.
in 1730 from the north of Ireland, where he had gone from Scotland, and settled in North Carolina, afterwards removing to Chester county, where he died. The McClure family were staunch Presbyterians, and they left Ireland in order that they might wor- ship God according to their own forms of worship. From conviction they were " Federalists," Mrs. Thompson's grandfather, Benjamin McClure, serving in the Revo- utionary War, and with one or two exceptions they have held to the political faith of their fathers, and are to-day staunch Republicans.
Mr. Thompson was worthy of the good old Scotch-Irish ancestry from which she sprang, being a woman of sterling worth, possessing all those qualities of mind that caused her to be beloved and respected by all who knew her. She spent the greater part of her life in Jefferson county, with the exception of five years residence in Ports- mouth, Ohio, from whence she returned to Brookville in 1870, and where she resided until June 27, 1877, when she exchanged her home here for that " better one " to which her husband and some of her children had preceded her.
The children of John J. Y. and Agnes Thompson numbered ten, of whom two died in infancy. James, aged about one year, and Blanche, aged about three years. Laura Edith Thompson married George T. Rodgers, and died at the age of twenty-three years. Clarence Russell Thompson was but a boy in his teens when the war cloud burst upon the land ; but he promptly enlisted " for the war " as a private in Company I Sixty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was soon promoted to sergeant. He was in all engagements in which his gallant command took part, up to the battle of Gaines's Mills, Virginia, where he was last seen in a hand to hand encounter with the rebel foe. His superior officers being all hors de combat, Sergeant Thompson was in command of his company at the time. Clarence was an intelligent, brave and noble youth, and his uncertain fate was a great grief to his family and friends.
Those of the family now living are William Kennedy, who resides in Portsmouth, Ohio; John Jamison, of Brookville; Annie M., wife of John N. Garrison, also residing in Brookville : Albert Clifton. of Portsmouth, Ohio; Robert Means, of New York city, and Ella Agnes, wife of John L. McNeil, of Denver, Colorado.
C ARRIER, ALBERT ACKLEY, son of Euphrastus and Harriet R. Carrier, nec Buell, was born in Colchester, New London county. Conn., April 23, 1829, and the same fall came with his parents to Jefferson county. His father had resided in Pennsyl- vania some years prior to his marriage.
Mr. Carrier's early life was spent in Clover township, and September 12, 1850, he was married to Miss Almira McCann, who died October 9, 1879. The result of this marriage was twelve children: Almy F. married to G. A. McAninch ; Harriet I. mar- ried to N. J. Hall ; Susan M .: Malinda J. married to U H. Eshelman ; Noah L. died May 18, 1861; Lucinda H. died in 1861; Antinett died in 1864; Pett R. married to C. M. Miller ; Agnes A .: Alice A. married to G. M. Burns; Mary B .; Albert A. died November 2, 1874. March 11, 18So, Mr. Carrier was united in marriage to Miss Syd- ney Tong, of Cecil county, Maryland. The fruit of this second marriage is three chil- dren : An infant, who died November 8, 1880 ; George C., and Kate L. Mr. Carrier has devoted himself closely to farming and lumbering, taking but little interest in politics. He still continues to reside in Clover township, where his first home in Jefferson county was made. He has grown up with the county, and having shared all its early privations and toils, is now reaping the reward of his labors, and sharing the prosperity of the
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
county. Mr. Carrier has resided on his present farm for about thirty years, and has in that time made it one of the model farms in the county. He has introduced the very best labor saving farm machinery, and among other enterprises has engaged in the creamery business, having a creamery with Cooley creamers, for twenty cows, the churn- ing being done by steam power. He has the reputation of furnishing some of the best butter in the county, which always commands the highest market prices.
Mr. Carrier is one of those public spirited men who aid in every good work in their neighborhoods, and it is greatly owing to his generous assistance that the Webster Liter- ary Society was able to erect their pleasant and commodious lyceum building in 1881. He also done much towards the organization of the "Twin Sister " brass band, called for his twin daughters, Agnes and Alice, girls of fifteen, who for some time were the leaders of this, one of the best bands in the county, they both being accomplished cor- net players.
The pleasant home of Mr. Carrier at Mount Pleasant is noted for its hospitality, and the jovial host is always ready to entertain his friends there.
L' ONG, JAMES ELLIOTT. The name of Long is one that is conspicuous in the early days of our county's history. Louis Long, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, settled in Pine Creek township in 1803. But little is known of his early history except that his father was an officer in one of the companies of Hessian troops who came over to the Americans from the British, and fought for them during the Revolution. He was a noted hunter, and this love for the chase descended to his chil- dren. Mr. Long, after residing in Jefferson county for several years, removed to Ohio, after which all trace of him is lost. His son, John, the father of James E. Long. was born near Reading, in Berks county, in 1797, and was only six years of age when his parents removed to this county. His brothers, Michael and William, were two of the most noted hunters that Pennsylvania ever produced. Their hunting exploits and deeds of prowess would fill a volume. John Long, though not so devoted to the chase as his brothers, yet had some thrilling adventures with the wild animals that infested all this county, some of which have already been given in the sketch of Pine Creek township.
Mr. John Long was married in 1821 to Miss Jane Robinson, a daughter of Irwin Robinson, who resided in Indiana county. just opposite Bolivar, in Westmoreland county. Mrs. Long's father had served seven years in the War of the Revolution, and the family yet have a Bible that has a bullet hole through it which it received while Mr. Robinson carried it when he was in the service. Mrs. Long's mother was an Elliott, and her uncle, Jesse D. Elliott, was commander of the " Niagara," and second to Perry in com- mand at the battle of Lake Erie, where he rendered efficient service. The government granted gold medals to both Perry and Elliott for this glorious naval victory. Com- mander Elliott succeeded Commander Perry as commandant of the naval station at Erie.
Mrs. Long was a very estimable lady, and well educated for those days, having in her youth attended the old academy at Indiana. Her brother, Hance Robinson, had settled on the old Long farm now owned by Mr. David McConnell, and started a store in Pine Creek township, and brought his sister from her home in Indiana county to keep house for him, the journey being made on horseback through the unbroken forest. Soon after her arrival they made the acquaintance of the young pioneer, John Long, and their marriage followed the following spring. Eight children, six of whom are now living, were the result of this marriage.
& B. Tony
693
JAMES ELLIOTT LONG.
Mr. James E. Long, the youngest of these children, was born on the 13th day of February, 1837, in an old log house that stood on the farm in Pine Creek township. Mr. Long says of his birth-place : " The house had a kitchen, dining-room and bed- rooms. but with no partition between them. It was all in one, and had a big chimney of stone and mud, with a large fireplace, opening at one side, into which could be put huge logs that made a roaring fire which kept the whole house warm. Though only three years old, I remember this house well. We then moved up on to the hill into a larger house, with a brick chimney and fireplace that I always enjoyed. Many a night when a boy I lay on the hearth listening to the hum of my mother's old spinning-wheel, for in those days she spun the wool and wove the cloth that clothed the whole family. I recollect how proud I was when I got my first blouse tied at the corners in front."
Mr. John Long followed farming and lumbering, and trapped and hunted in the winter as long as his age would permit him to engage in such avocations. His family were noted for their great strength and powers of endurance. His mother, though a small woman, could stand in a half bushel and shoulder three bushels of wheat. Game was so plenty that in the first years of their married life Mr. Long would frequently go out and shoot a deer while his wife got breakfast. The Indians were frequent visitors but were always peaceable. James E. Long never had but two years schooling, for his services on the farm were too valuable in clearing off the timber, burning brush, etc., to be wasted on books ; but he read persistently all the books that came in his way, and thus laid the foundation of a practical education. At the age of twelve years he had almost the entire charge of the farm, and at that age made his first trip "down the creek." and from that time until he left the farm, had the general charge of his father's business. In the summer he worked on the farm and lumbered in the winter. When only fourteen he broke a yoke of oxen that he had raised himself, and that winter put in the first two rafts he ever owned, doing all the work himself, and hauling the timber to the creek with his own ox team. He ran these rafts to Pittsburgh and sold them for three cents per cubic foot, and if his father had not given him " expense money," would have " come out behind " in this operation. But the young lumberman persevered, and at the age of fifteen was able to pilot a raft from above Brookville to Pittsburgh. The next year his father sent him with a fleet of boards to Wheeling, Va., where he had to stay six weeks before he made a sale. The importance of this transaction made him think he was a man indeed. From that time he lumbered on his own account until 1861, when he enlisted in defence of his country, and was elected second lieutenant of company K. Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves. He remained with his regiment until February 21, 1862, when his brother, Irvin R. Long, a member of Company H, One Hundred and Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, died at his home in Pine Creek township of camp fever contracted at Camp Jamieson, Va., he yiekled to the wishes of his aged parents and resigned from the army and came home. He subsequently. however, en- listed during the emergency campaign of 1863, when he served as first lieutenant of Company H, Fifty-seventh regiment. On his return from the army his first work was to raft in the timber he had left lying on the banks of the stream when he enlisted the year previous. The next year he cleared about ten thousand dollars on the lumber he put in and purchased. In 1863 Mr. Long removed to Brookville, and from that time has resided there. His father and mother came with him, and made his home theirs until they were gathered into the home above. His father died May 2, 1876, and his mother September 15. 1879. They had led busy lives, and had seen the wilderness give
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