History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 51

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 900

USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 51
USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 51
USA > Pennsylvania > Wyoming County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 51

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

Mr. and Mrs. Pursel had four children born to them, three of whom, with their mother, are living. Their names were, in the order of their nativity, Ellen, Ark, Sallie and Daniel. Sallie died at the family residence, on Union street, July 7th, 1868, in her twenty-six year. She had been an invalid for seven years. The Christian resignation with which she endured suffering was remark- able, and that she was more than ready for the great change which must come to us all could not but be ap- parent. She had a mind thoroughly cultivated and a spirit subservient to the will of God; she had no words except words of comfort to her sorrowing parents and brothers and sister to the end.

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195

CIVIL HISTORY OF WILKES-BARRE.

council. May 14th, 1806, the first meeting of the bor- ough council took place, and a more efficient board never met. They were all first-class men socially and in business life. Messrs. Hollenback and Butler were the principal merchants of the town. Messrs. Wells and Palmer were lawyers of ability; Charles Miner, the sub- sequent historian of Wyoming, was a printer and the editor of the Federalist, and a leader in borough affairs as long as he remained a member of the council; Arnold Colt, a blacksmith by trade, was a man of sterling quali- ties. Peleg Tracy was appointed clerk. Soon after organizing, the council adopted a series of rules for the government of its proceedings, the last of which imposed a fine of twenty-five cents upon a councilman for non- attendance at regularly authorized meetings. These regulations were thirty-two in number, and are said to have been drawn up by Charles Miner. Rule thirty-sec- ond first had application in the case of Colonel Hollen- back, who was absent at the second meeting of the coun- cil and was accordingly fined.

Owing to the incompleteness of the early records of the borough the names of those who served as burgess between 1806 and 1811 do not appear. The names of the successive incumbents of that office from the latter date to the incorporation of Wilkes-Barre as a city are as follows:

Lord Butler, 1811-13; Jesse Fell, 1814-18; Matthias Hollenback, 1819; Thomas Dyer, 1820-22; Ebenezor Bowinan, 1823; David Scott, 1824-26; John N. Conyingham, 1827, 1834-37 ; Garrick Mallery, 1828 ; George Deni- son, 1829; Josiah Orlando Lewis, 1830-32; Porter, 1833; Hendrick B. Wright, 1838 ; Joseph P. Le Clere, 1839, 1840 ; Isaac Gray, 1841, 1842; Elea- zer Carey, 1843 ; Augustus C. Laning, 1844, 1845; Joseph B. Williams, 1846, 1847 ; Gilbert Burrows, 1848; Benjamiu Drake, 1849 ; Sidney Tracy, 1850; Oliver Helme, 1851; Charles A. Lane, 1852 ; H. B. Hillman, 1853, 1854 ; W. W. Loomis, 1855-62; Charles Bennett, 1862-64 ; E. B. Harvey, 1865 ; J. B. Stark, 1866, 1867 ; David L. Patrick, 1868, 1869; I. M. Kirkendall, 1870.

Under an act of the Legislature of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the regulation of boroughs, passed in 1851, a new charter was granted to Wilkes-Barre borough at the April term of court in 1855, under which it existed until 1871.

The names of those who served as justice of the peace in the districts of which Wilkes-Barre formed the whole or a portion previous to the adoption of the constitution of 1838 have been given elsewhere. The following is a list of those who have been incumbents of that office in Wilkes-Barre township and borough since that date, with the years of their election:

William P. Johnson, 1840; John Stark, 1840, 1845 ; Lyman C. Kidder, 1845; Matthew Wood, 1850; Jaines Williams, 1850; Matthias Belles, 1854; John Louder, 1857, 1867; George Sleppy, 1857; Christian Gruver, 1860; Daniel Harkins, 1867; Jaines E. Clarke, 1869 : Jacob Kocher, 1869 ; Lau- renee Hoeroy, 1870 ; Owen Boyle, 1870 ; John Hughes, 1874 ; P. J. Foley, 1879 ; Thomas Dyer, 1840, 1845; Eleazer Carey, 1840 ; Jacob I. Dennis, 1841; Gilbert Burrows, 1845, 1850, 1855 ; Eliphalet A. Bulkley, 1846 ; Joseph B. Williams, 1850; Stephen Vaughn, 1831, 1856, 1861; George S. Groff, 1851; 1856; Sharp D. Lewis, 1859, 1864, 1859; B. A. Barnes, 1858 ; Charles Ben- nett, 1861; Charles A. Zoigler, 1852, 1867; Matthew Wood. 1860, 1867 ; Frederick J. Helfrich, 1863; E. B. Harvey, 1866, 1871; Jacob Bertels; 1863 ; Sanford E. Parsons, 1865, 1870; Sylvester Dana, 1865; A. B. Winder, 1869.

WILKES-BARRE A CITY.

The city of Wilkes-Barre was incorporated by an act of Assembly approved May 24th, 1871, and included the borough of Wilkes-Barre and all of the township of Wilkes-

Barre lying west of the Empire road, projected northerly to the township line of Plains and southerly to the town- ship line of Hanover. It was divided into fifteen wards.

The first municipal election resulted in the choice of the following officers : I. M. Kirkendall, mayor ; F. D. Vose, high constable ; Isaac S. Osterhout, Adolph Voigt and J. A. Rippard, auditors. The following named gentlemen composed the first board of councilmen : J. E. Clarke, M. Regan, J. C. Williamson, H. B. Hillman, Hiram Wentz, William A. Swan, Walter G. Sterling, H. C. Fry, George H. Parrish, Charles A. Miner, C. P. Kidder, Joseph Schilling, Anthony Helfrich, C. B. Dana, and John Gilligan.

The following named persons have served successively as mayor : 1871-73, I. M. Kirkendall ; 1874-76, M. A. Kearney ; 1877-79, W. W. Loomis. Thomas Broderick was elected in 1880.

The following named citizens have been elected alder- men in their respective wards in the years given :

First .- Levi Jones, 1872; Thomas Flaherty, 1877; M. Cannon, 1879. Second .- Jolin C. Hilbert, 1871 ; Edward R. Barrett, 1876. Third .- John F. Donohue, 1876. Fourth .- Charles L. Bulkeley, 1874, 1879. Fifth .- M. J. Philbin, 1871, 1876; James Thomas, 1879. Sixth .- E. H. Hawk, 1873 : Michael Murphy, 1878. Seventh .- W. S. Parsons, 1872, 1877. Eighth .- Charles A. Zeigler, 1872, 1877. Ninth .- David Caird, 1871; Jeremiah Rooney, 1878. Tenth .- Benjamin F. Bailey, 1873; J. A. Wood, 1878. Eleventh .- Matthew Wood, 1872; Luther M. Chase, 1876; James Higgs. Twelfth .- C. B. Sutton, 1874, 1879. Thirteenth .- Frederick A. Seybert, 1871; Jacob Gutendorf, 1874; George Baer, 1879. Fourteenth .- Owen O'Boyle, 1875. Thomas Q. Wagner, 1873; John B. Quick, 1876.

POPULATION.

In 1772 the population of Wilkes-Barre was so small that there were within its borders only five white women; but during the year several of the settlers went east to bring out their families. The whole number of buildings in 1784 was 26, and 23 of these were burned by the Pen- namites during that year. The population of the village in 1800 is not definitely known; but the entire number of taxables in the township, as then bounded, the previous year was 121. At the date of the incorporation of the borough (1806) the number of persons living within its limits is said to have been about 500, and there were only 48 houses between North and South streets. The borough had attained to a population of 732 in 1820. In 1830 it was 1,201; in 1840, 1,718; in 1850, 2,723; in 1860, 4,259. About this time the borough began that rapid growth which caused the number of its inhabitants to reach 10,174 in 1870 and to increase to 23,340 in 1880 out of a total of 130,000 for Luzerne county.

EVENTS OF HISTORICAL INTEREST.

The history of the city of Wilkes-Barre has never been written. Those early, events which have made its name and location famous to all readers of the pioneer history of Pennsylvania have been recorded from time to time in the various works relating to Wyoming and its tragic past, and isolated articles have appeared which treated of special elements in its growth and prosperity, while a few of the operations incident to its earlier ad- vancement have formed not uninteresting portions of the works above referred to; but the history of the city, as

196

HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

such, treating of its commercial, educational, social, reli- gious and municipal growth is first attempted in this volume. Those events which occurred within the limits of the present city subsequent to the first settlement of Wyoming, and during the trying periods of the Revolu- tionary and Pennamite wars, were so intimately related to others whose locale was up and down and across the river, in adjoining villages and townships, that it has been found impossible to consider them separately from those other events which, with these, formed the material for the thrilling history of Wyoming. As a remarkable chain of tragic occurrences they have, in their entirety, excited remark from the pens of distinguished historians, poets and novelists on both sides of the Atlantic. They have taken their place in the annals of the commonwealth as without parallel for the many terrible elements which rendered the beautiful Wyoming valley an abiding place for horror, rapine and murder, and to the general history of the county tlre reader is referred for such record as they have seemed to deserve at our hands. The erection of Forts Durkee, Wyoming and Wilkes-Barre within the borders of the town-plot, Fort Ogden just within the bor- der of Plains and Fort Lillope or Jenkins on the Wilkes- Barre mountain; the capture of John Franklin in 1787 and of Timothy Pickering June 26th, 1788; the zeal of Wilkes-Barreans in the Revolutionary cause; the burning of the village, July 4th, 1788; the capture of Frances Slo- cum by the Indians and her subsequent interesting story, the sojourn of the Duke of Orleans, the Duke of Mont- pensier and the Count of Beaujolais, French exiles, at Arndt's tavern in June, 1797, and other noteworthy oc- currences are most of them among those referred to above, and all help to form the events in a history as striking and as full of tragic interest as that of any part of the United States. Those events of which the forts mentioned were the centres would, if they could be writ ten of as isolated occurrences, properly belong to the history of the township and present city of Wilkes-Barre Those events and measures which have contributed to the growth and prosperity of Wilkes-Barre successively as a frontier settlement, a charming country village, a thriving borough and a busy city it is designed to con- sider in the following pages.

FAMILY NAMES.

"The leading families of Wilkes-Barre," says Clark, " are nearly all direct descendants of the pioneers of Wyo- ming valley, and are cultured to an enviable degree. * * A few of the familiar names may be cited as ex- hibiting the social status of the city. Here is the Ross family, historical as descended from General William Ross; the Hollenbacks, tracing with pride to the old colonel, of whom every household in northern Pennsyl- vania has heard; the Butlers, from General Lord Butler; the Dorrance family, from Colonel Benjamin Dorrance; the Pettebones, from Noah Pettebone, an old hero in the early struggles; the Johnsons, from Rev. Jacob John- son; the Myers family; Shoemaker family; the Denisons, from Colonel Nathan Denison; the Sweetlands, M'Kera-

chans and Careys; the Ransom and Jenkins families; Inmans, Ives and Abbotts; Blackmans and Starks; the Harding and Dana descendants, now prominent in local history; Beach, Jameson, Perkins, Searle and Gore; Young, Durkee, Sill, Fitch, Atherton, Harvey, Pierce, Gere, Gaylord, Miner, and a long line of others too numerous to mention." It is a singular fact that Mr. Steuben Butler, a son of the colonel commanding, and a daughter of Colonel Denison (Mrs. Sarah Abbott), who was second in command on the field of massacre, are the only living immediate descendants of that fated band of heroic men who fought so desperately on the plains at Wyoming in opposing the savage invaders of the valley in 1778.

EARLY MERCHANTS AND BUILDERS.

There were numbers of young men ready to embark in mercantile enterprises in the new territory to the full ex- tent of their means, anticipating large return profits for their limited outlays. The first settlers brought their first year's supplies with them, and a merchant would have found small resultant profits who depended upon the early settlers alone for his patronage; but here was a promising field for Indian commerce-a great volume of the peltry trade, extending from the Nanticoke falls up the Susquehanna river to Seneca lake and from thence to Niagara, the central point of the Indian traffic in furs-both before and after the Revolutionary struggle.

It is pretty certain that there were Indian traders in Wyoming before the first advent of the Yankee colonists in 1763, and subsequently in 1769 ; but of these traders there is no record among the archives of the Susque- hanna Company, though it is a well established fact that John Jacob Astor visited the valley as early as 1775, and made the tour to Niagara with Matthias Hollenback as his guide and partner in trade. It was during this journey that Mr. Hollenback marked out his future pro- gramme as a trader from Wilkes-Barre to Niagara. He came to the valley from Lebanon county, whither his father had come from Virginia, and another branch of the family had settled in Montgomery county. It is quite certain that Mr. Hollenback kept a store on South Main street, just below the corner of Northampton, pre- vious to the battle of July 3d, 1778 ; and this store was kept after the restoration of peace up to about 1820, when it was removed to the new brick store of George M. Hollenback. Mr. Hollenback was the first regular merchant of Wilkes-Barre, and one of only two merchants in Westmoreland in 1781. His business extended for many years after the war up the Susquehanna river to Niagara, with branches at Wysox, Tioga (N. Y.), and a fur trading house at Niagara, in which he had succeeded John Jacob Astor in 1783.

After the peace of 1783 and thereturn of the fugitive settlers to Wilkes-Barre there was no lack of storekeepers. Among the first, if not the very first, was Lord Butler, on the corner of River and Northampton streets. This estab- lishment was continued up to 1820. About the same time John P. Schott opened a retail store on River street, between

Elijah Shoemaker

18.14.

197

BUSINESS BEGINNINGS AT WILKES-BARRE.

Lord Butler's and South street, but did not continue long in trade. As early as 1795, or perhaps earlier, Thomas Wright and Thomas Duane opened a store in Wilkes-Barre, on the corner of the public square and North Main street, which in 1801 was removed to Pittston Ferry and made an adjunct of Wright's "Old Forge." In 1800 Rossett & Doyle opened quite an establishment on the corner of Market and River streets, which they continued to 1803 or 1804. They were suc- ceeded by Jacob and Joseph L. Suitan, who in 1816 removed to the corner of Franklin ard Market streets, where they flourished for many years on the ground where now stands the Wyoming bank. In 1803 Allen Jack came from the north of Ireland to Wilkes-Barre and opened a store on South Main street in the residence of Dr. M. Covell, where he sold goods until his death, in 1814.

In 1804 Benjamin Perry kept a small store on the cor- ner of Northampton and Main streets, and on the oppo- site corner Nathan Palmer, Esq., dispensed dry goods and groceries. Both these establishments were short- lived. Mr. Palmer sold out to Zebulon Butler, who dis- continued the business after a brief period. Ziba Ben- nett came from Newtown (now Elmira), N. Y., in 1815, and began trade in company with Matthias Hollenback. In 1826 he embarked in business singly, on North Main street, where he continued in trade until his death, in 1878, having been connected -with the mercantile busi- ness of Wilkes-Barre over sixty years, and having en- joyed the distinction of being recognized as the oldest merchant in Luzerne county.

These were the principal store-keepers of that early period, when the goods were brought from Philadelphia to Harrisburg by wagons, and shipped in Durham boats up the Susquehanna to Wilkes- Barre.

From 1800 to 1802 Joseph Hitchcock was the leading builder, and was succeeded by George Chahoon, who did a very large business up to 1816.

OTHER BUSINESS BEGINNINGS-COAL AND IRON-SHIP- BUILDING-MANUFACTURES.

The business history of the township is identical with that of the city, the commercial progress of both depend- ing largely upon the mining and sale of coal which under- lies the surface of the ground in all directions. Iron ore has also been found in the township. As an agricultural township Wilkes-Barre does not take high rank, most of the land outside of the city limits being devoted to the mining of coal and too uneven and broken to be success- fully farmed.

In the early days hominy blocks were plenty in the township. The necessity for these rude appliances was done away with in 1782 by the erection of a grist mill on Mill creek, near the river. The builder was James Sut- ton, who had previously erected mills in Kingston and Exeter townships. It was of hewn logs and had only one run of stones. On the roof was a sentry-box, rendered necessary by the perils of the times, from

which a view of the surrounding country could be had. This mill was swept away by the " pumpkin flood."

In 1804 there were six distilleries in Wilkesbarre town- ship. A shipyard was established on the public com - mon, and the construction of ships was begun in the hope that they could be navigated to the ocean by way of the Susquehanna and there disposed of profitably. In 1803 a small ship named the " Franklin," in honor of John Franklin, was built and reached the ocean in safety. A stock company was organized, and begun operations in 1811; and early in the following year a vessel named the "Luzerne," of between fifty and sixty tons measure- ment, was finished. The builder was a Mr. Mack, but J. P. Arndt was the principal proprietor. It was launched early in April, and a few days later started on its voyage down the river, only to be dashed to pieces on the rocks at Conawaga Falls, near Middletown. The loss of this vessel was a disaster not only to its proprietors but to many who had hoped to drive a profitable trade in tim- ber, and to others who hoped to reap profit from the sale of lots when the ship-building interest should become permanently established. But like many another alluring project before and since, this had failed and no more ships were built at Wilkes-Barre.

A small cut-nail manufactory was established by Fran- cis McShane in 1811, and for several years a somewhat extensive wholesale and retail business was carried on. There were other enterprises which were begun early and flourished for longer or shorter periods, leaving their im- press on the advancement and prosperity of the village and township, though the men who conceived them have long been dead.

EARLY PUBLIC HOUSES.

Abel Yarrington kept a house of entertainment, which was probably the first in Wilkes-Barre, on the ground now occupied by the Judge Conyngham homestead, on River street, below Market, at a very early period. In his journal John Franklin mentions having been at Mr. Yar- rington's February 28th, 1789, and again in the following month. Mr. Yarrington removed to what was afterward the Wyoming Hotel, on Main street, below the public square.

Jesse Fell kept the " Old Fell house" before the be- ginning of this century, it having been erected in 1787 or 1788. This ancient hostelry, a part of which is incorpo- rated in the present structure, was during its earlier days headquarters for the legal fraternity, and as such was the scene of frequent festivities. It was here that Jesse Fell, in 1808, made his first experiment of burning anthracite coal in an open grate.

Another old-time inn and one that had historic asso- ciations was the Arndt tavern, which stood on River street below Northampton, on the site of the residence of E. P. Darling, Esq. The proprietor was John P. Arndt, who with his brother Philip came from Easton at an early date and engaged in various business enterprises. Thomas H. Morgan succeeded Mr. Arndt, and he in turn was fol- lowed by Major Orlando Porter, whose stay was brief,

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

he soon taking charge of the then new Phoenix, out of which has grown the Wyoming Valley Hotel. The fame of the old tavern declined gradually and it even- tually became a dwelling house. The old Arndt tavern sheltered the royal fugitives of France, princes of the Orleans-Bourbon line, afterwards Louis Phillippe, king of the French, and his two brothers, the Duke de Mont -. . pensier and Count de Beaujolais, on their way to Bradford county, where Robert Morris had purchased for them 1,200 acres of land lying on the Susquehanna river. This place is still known as Frenchtown. Another noted visitor at the old inn, which was pre-eminently the center of social gaiety, was the beautiful and accomplished wife of Herman Blennerhasset, so graphically described by William Wirt in the trial of Aaron Burr for treason. This visit was made subsequent to Burr's conspiracy, which resulted in the ruin of the Blennerhassets.

At a later date a hotel at the corner of Market and River streets was kept by a little round fat man named Richardson, and afterwards by a widow Johnson. Thomas Duane, John Paul Scott and afterwards Jonathan Han- cock kept a hotel where the Luzerne House now is. The latter also kept open house at the corner of Market and Franklin streets. Archippus Parrish kept a hotel on the public square near the site of the Daily Record of the Times office. It was set fire to and burned down in warming it for a Washington's birthday ball. Mock's tavern, on the hillside just below South. Wilkes-Barre, is well remembered by many of the present citizens of Wilkes-Barre. Years ago it was noted as the scene of too convivial Sunday gatherings, which were broken up by a few Christian workers who, with the consent of the proprietor, established a flourishing Sunday school in the old hostelry.

OTHER PRIMITIVE THINGS AND EVENTS.

Probably the first physician to minister to citizens of Wilkes-Barre was Dr. William Hooker Smith, who emi- grated from New York and settled in the clearing at Wilkes-Barre in 1772. After Sullivan's campaign, in which he participated, he located permanently at Old Forge. Drs. Joseph Sprague and Gustin, who were also early settlers in the valley, were no doubt called to visit the afflicted in the settlement. Previous to 1800 Doctor Matthew Covell located permanently in Wilkes-Barre, and he and Dr. George W. Trott were both practicing there before 1810. Doctor Samuel Baldwin resided in Wilkes- Barre for a time, and afterwards crossed the river into Kingston. The first settled preacher was Rev. Jacob Johnson. The earliest professional lawyer was Anderson Dana. The first dwelling within the limits of the town plot was John Abbott's log cabin, erected at the south- west corner of Main and Northampton streets in 1769. The first brick buildings were the dwelling of Joseph Slocum, on the southeast side of the public square, after- ward occupied by his son-in-law Lord Butler, and that of Benjamin Perry, at the corner of Main and Northampton streets, both erected in 1807.

The first marriage in the township was celebrated in a

log cabin which stood at the corner of River and South streets, on the ground since occupied by the old Wells house, in 1769. The contracting parties were Colonel Nathan Denison and Miss Sill. The first birth occurred in 1773. It was that of Lazarus Denison, a son of the couple above mentioned. The first restaurant in the vil- lage was opened by Sam Wright, a negro, who came from New Jersey in 1822.

Professor Wise, the celebrated aeronaut, whose dis- aster in September, 1879, is yet fresh in the minds of the reading public, made the first balloon ascension in Wilkes-Barre in 1842, descending on the west side of the Susquehanna after a two hours' flight.

THE "COMMON" ON THE RIVER BANK.

When Colonel Durkee laid out the town plot of Wilkes- Barre he donated the public square and the common for "the use of the public forever," and they were succes- sively under the jurisdiction of the town of Westmore- land, the township of Wilkes-Barre and the borough and afterwards the city of Wilkes- Barre. The original boun- daries of the common were probably the same as those of the present day. . Years ago it was much wider than now, numerous floods having washed away a portion. " As I first remember this common," wrote Mr. James A. Gordon, "it was a beautiful lawn extending from South street along the river bank to North street. Between Union and North streets, along the base of Redoubt Hill, was a low wet marsh, very imperfectly drained, or rather not drained at all. Immediately at the northern base of the redoubt, lived Mollie McCalpin, in rather a hard-looking shanty, built by herself with the aid of Job Gibbs, who was at that time reputed to be the laziest man in Wilkes-Barre. But Mollie was not the only tres- passer upon these public grounds." Matthias Hollen- back's warehouse and another, the property of John P. Arndt, stood on the common ; but both disappeared long since, and mother McCalpin's shanty is seen no more At various times enterprising or speculative business men have attempted to lease portions of the common for the erection of buildings in which to carry on conmierce. In 1808 an effort was made by certain parties to drain that part lying between North and Union streets, the ulterior object being to obtain and hold possession of the land for the benefit of the proposed drainers ; but that and all subsequent attempts failed, it having been deci- ded that the borough had no authority to lease the com- mon nor any portion of it; and it remains to-day the property of the public, a place much frequented by both residents and visitors, and one of the most attractive spots in the city. Forts Durkee and Wyoming stood on the common, which because of its historical associations will long remain a point of interest.

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History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 51

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York Publication date: 1880 Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co. Number of Pages: 900

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 900