USA > Pennsylvania > Sullivan County > History of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania > Part 17
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JOHN C. CAMPBELL, the popular post- master at Piatt, Fox township, is one of the well known citizens of Sullivan county and a veteran of the Civil war. He was born in New Albany, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1837, the son of Caleb and Catherine (English) Campbell. Caleb Campbell was the sixth son of John C. Campbell, who was a direct descendant of the famous Campbells of Scottish history, whose Highland chiefs play such a promi-
nent part in song and story. John Camp- bell and his wife, nec Caroline Metcalf, had seven children: Alice, William, Caleb, John, Jaines, Hiram and Joseph. Caleb Campbell was a miller by trade and fol- lowed this occupation in company with C. H. Mills for a number of years in Susque- hanna and Bradford counties. He then came to Sullivan county and founded the town of Campbellsville in or about 1850. Later he lived in New Albany, Dushore, Headly Mills, Monroe Corners, Cape Mills, and finally settled in Shunk, Fox township, where he carried on a milling business until his health failed and he was obliged to retire from active life. His death took place at Eagle's Mere, in October, 1895, when seventy-eight years of age.
Mr. Campbell was twice married, his first wife being Miss Catherine English, who was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of William and Mary English. Ten children were born of this union: John C., subject of this sketch; Fernando, who died in childhood; Theodore, who also died at an early age; William, who was a soldier in the Civil war, a mem- ber of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry, in which he served nineteen months, and died while at home on a fur- lough; Henry, who also was a soldier, serving three years and four months in the Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer In- fantry, and is deceased; Wilson, who lives in New Albany, Pennsylvania; Charles, deceased; Alice, who became the wife of George Northrup and is deceased; Louise, who married John Smith and lives near Forksville, this county; and Rebecca, the wife of Charles Easenwine, and is living in Towanda, Pennsylvania. The mother of these children died in 1854, at the early age of thirty-three years. Mr. Campbell's
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second wife was Miss Ursula Cheever, who bore him two children-Willis and Samuel.
John C. Campbell had the usual advan- tages of schooling which boys of his day en- joyed, and when he was old enough learned the carpenter's trade. In August, 1864, he enlisted as a soldier in the Civil war, becom- ing a member of Company I, Two Hundred and Third Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served during the remainder of the war and saw some heavy fighting in the battles of Deep Bottom, Fort Fisher, Wilmington and Portsmouth. He was in the hospital for some time at Long Island and was dis- charged on July 14, 1865, with a good record as a faithful and brave soklier. Mr. Campbell took up his residence in Sullivan county in 1867, working at his trade at Williamsport. After General Harrison had been elected president Mr. Campbell went to Washington, District of Columbia, where he remained some time, returning to this county in 1892, since which time he has lived at Piatt.
Mr. Campbell's first wife, to whom he was married in 1861, was Miss Margaret Lowe, a daughter of Jesse and Jessie (Plotts) Lowe. She died at Eagle's Mere in 1892, leaving one son, George L. Camp- bell, now a resident of Dushore and the manager of the Campbell Electric Traction Company, of Towanda. See his sketch on another page of this volume. Mrs. Jessie (Plotts) Lowe was widely known throughout Sullivan county, before the days of regular physicians, as an expert nurse and doctress. The second wife of our subject was Mrs. Emily (Hoagland) Williams, the widow of Daniel Williams, to whom he was married January 25, 1893. Mr. Campbell resides on a fine. farm of fifty acres, which he has under excellent cultivation and on which he has built a very pleasant and confortable
house and also a cosy little building used as the post-office. He was appointed post- master by President Mckinley on November 24, 1897, and is fulfilling the duties of that office to the general satisfaction of the pub- lic. He is well liked by every one and is deserving of the high esteem in which he is held.
JAMES L. BRENCHLEY .- This well- known farmer and lumberman of Shunk. Fox township, Sullivan county, is a native . of Bradford county, this state, having been born at the latter place November 15, 1864; His parents are George and Lydia (Loomis) Brenchley, now residing in Fox township. The mother is a native of Bradford connty and a daughter of James Loomis, of the latter place. The father was a native of Fox township, his parents coming to this country, and locating in that township be- fore 1840. George Brenchley was twice married-his first wife being a Miss Weed, by whom he had two children, Abraham and John, the latter dying at the age of twenty-four years. After the death of his wife he was again united in matrimony to Miss Lydia Loomis. To them were born the following children: Minnie, the wife of Gay Fuller, of Springfield, Pennsylva- nia; James, the subject of these memoirs; Frank, who married Mattie Leonard and is living at home engaged in lumbering; Mag- gie, the wife of Emery Tellison, of Smith- field, this state; Maud, Walter and Wal- lace, the latter three living at home.
When James L. Brenchley was a child of nine years his parents came to Sullivan county, settling in Fox township. Here he attended the common schools, receiving such education as could be obtained from them until he reached his eighteenth year;
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at this age he began to work for himself, employed in the extensive lumber tracts of that region. He afterward bought a farm of seventy-four acres, from which he has cleared most of the timber and otherwise greatly improved, devoting the land to gen- farming. He also engaged in lumbering.
At the age of twenty-three he was united in marriage to Miss Cora, daughter of James H. Campbell. Two children have blessed this union: Ina Belle, born December 6, 1896, and Ethel M., born July 26, 1898. In politics Mr. Brenchley is an unyielding Republican and is at present serving a three- years term as road commissioner. Ile is a prominent member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America, with which he united some four years ago, and is deservedly pop- ular throughout the county, where he is well known.
FRANCIS W. OSTHAUS .- The foreign- born residents of this section constitute a most desirable class of citizens, and the subject of this sketch, a worthy representa- tive of the thrifty, enterprising class, is de- serving of special mention in this volume. For many years he has been identified with the agricultural interests of Forks township. Sullivan county, while he also conducts a large mercantile business at Overton, Brad- ford county, and in both these lines of work he has met with marked success.
The ancestral home of Mr. Osthaus is in Munster, Germany, and his grandfather, Antone Osthaus, a life-long resident of that place and a prosperous wine merchant, died there at the age of eighty-four years, leav- ing two children: Henry A., father of our subject, and a daughter who married and remained in Germany. Henry A. was born in Munster, April 22, 1766, and when a
young man moved to Hamburg, where he secured a position as bookkeeper in a large. merchandising house. He remained there a few years, when his health failed, and in 1793 he took up farming. . He located first on government land in Himinelsthueur, or Heavensport, remaining about fifteen years, then renting a farin at Woellingerode, near Goslar, where he died in June, 1838. He was married in 1803 to Clara Van Buck, who was born in 1786 and was the daugh- ter of Major Van Buck, an officer in the army of the Bishop of Monster. Her death occurred in February, 1844. Our subject was the youngest of four children, the others being: Minnie, who married Gus- tavus Wienhagen, a farmer in Germany, and is deceased; Carl, who succeeded his father on the home farm and died in 1879; and Elizabeth, who is now the widow of Carl Boettcher, a judge in Hertzberg in the province of Hanover.
Francis William Osthaus was born in Woeltingerode, May 10, 1821 .. He grew to manhood in his native province, receiv- ing a college education, and at the age of eighteen was employed by a gentleman who lived in the city as overseer and adminis- trator of his farm land. This position he held for twelve years. In 1852 he came to America and located in Forks township. Sullivan county, where he first purchased fifty acres of partially cleared land. This he sold a few years later and he now owns two adjoining farms, one of one hundred and seventy and the other of ninety acres, having about one hundred and fifty acres in all under cultivation. He is a general farm- er but has been interested in stock-raising for many years, and was extensively en- gaged in that business during the Civil war. In 1854 he went into the mercantile busi- ness in the same township, and in 1867
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
built his present store at Overton, where he has a lucrative trade in general merchan- dise. Politically he is a "gold standard" Democrat, but has never aspired to public office, and at one time when elected, justice of the peace, he declined to qualify. Al- though not a church member he is in hearty sympathy with religious movements and has always been a friend to progress in any form.
In 1851 Mr. Osthaus was married to his first wife, Miss Minna Huebenir, who died in 1859. In 1861 he was married in Sulli- van county to Jennie, a native of Prussia and a daughter of Edward and Augusta (Groskopf) Francke. By his first marriage he had four children: Herman H., who was educated in Heidelberg and Gættingen, Germany, and in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was graduated in 1877; in 1878 he was admitted to the bar and at present is practicing law at Scranton, Pennsylvania; Arthur, who was a Normal graduate, and died in 1876, at the age of twenty-one years; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Dr. Herrmann, of Dushore, Pennsylvania; and Gustavus died in infancy. By the second marriage there were three children: Row- ena; Carl Edward, who resides at home and is in partnership with his father in the store at Overton; and Adolphus, who died in 1876, aged two and a half years.
H' JIRAM LONG, a prosperous general farmer residing in Cherry township, was there born December 26, 1826, being a son of Hiram and Barbre (Hartzigg) Long. His father was of English extraction and was born in Venango county, New York, where he died in 1840, at the age of forty years. He conducted a hotel and also car- ried on a general merchandise business.
The mother died in 1861, at the good old age of eighty-six years.
When two years old our subject was taken to raise by his grandfather Hartzigg, with whom he made his home until reach- ing his majority. He then went to Monroe- ton, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where he was employed as a hostler in a hotel for a short time, then removed to Towanda, Pennsylvania, where he worked for a Mr. Fowler at rafting on the Towanda creek. From this place he went to Laporte and was in the employ of Michael Millett, work- ing in the lumber woods. From Mr. Mil- lett he purchased a farm of one hundred acres, agreeing to work out the price of it at fifty cents a day, but at the end of two months he became discouraged, and, feeling that at that rate it would take a long time to earn the purchase money, he threw up his job and returned to Monroeton. He spent the following nine months in lumber- ing, and then, his grandparents desiring him to return, he went back to his old home and ran the farm one year on shares.
On June 23, 1850, Mr. Long was mar- ried, in Cherry township, to Miss Victoria Ritchlin, and soon afterward bought his present farm. There were at that time but two acres of it cleared, and in this stood a poor. log cabin built by the former owner of the place, Solomon Hunsinger. In no way daunted by the prospect of hard work, Mr. Long repaired the humble home and made it as comfortable as possible, and at once began the improvement of his land. Later he put up a better house of logs, and in 1870 built his present comfortable resi -. dence. By constant industry, coupled with economy and with never-failing persistence and energy, Mr. Long has conquered all difficulties and has prospered in his under- takings. To-day he owns three profitable
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farms, has money at interest, and is able to sit down and rest, with the pleasant convic- tion that his work has been well done and that the closing days of his busy life may be passed in the bosom of his family, peace- fully and happily.
Mr. Long has been twice married, and by his first wife had ten children: Louis F., born .January 4, 1852; Julia A., born March 14, 1854, deceased; Edward W., born November 1, 1855, is a hotel-keeper at Mt. Jewett, Pennsylvania; Ellen L., born Noveniber 19, 1857, married Harry Carson, who keeps a hotel at Kane; Mary J., born March 5, 1860, deceased; Julius, born May 28, 1862, married Miss Mary Barth and is in the laundry business at Dushore, Penn- sylvania; Loretta, born January 20, 1865, deceased; Charles F., born May 5, 1866, deceased; Amelia, born September 25, 1868, married Fred Stark and is deceased; Alice A., born May 26, 1872, married Wal- ter Matthews.
Mrs. Victoria (Ritchlin) Long was born June 16, '1830, at Dayton, Switzerland, and came with her parents to America and set- tled in Sullivan county at an early day. She died December 4, 1893, at the age of sixty-three years.
Mr. Long was married the second time on December 16, 1896, when he wedded Mrs. Sarah (Kaye) Wilkinson, a native of Yorkshire, England. She is the daughter , of Henry and Ruth (Crawshaw) Kaye, of Yorkshire, where they still reside, her father now being seventy years old and her inother seventy-five years old. They had three children, Sarah; Harriet, who died in infancy; and Albert, who married Miss Mary A. Taylor, and is carrying on coal-mining 1 in his native land. Mrs. Long's paternal grandparents, Henry and Ann (Bedford) . Kaye, came to this country from England
in 1850, and settled in Sullivan county. where they spent the remainder of their lives. By her marriage to Albert Wilkinson, in England, Mrs. Long had two children: Ruth Alice, deceased, and Carrie, born October 15, 1883. Mrs. Long came to America in 1885 with relatives, who settled in Elkland township, where she made her home until her marriage to our subject.
Mr. and Mrs. Long are members of the Lutheran church and in politics he is a Democrat. They have one child, Eliza- beth Winifred, born November 7, 1897.
R ANSOM THRASHER. - The subject of this sketch, the treasurer of Sulli- van county, is not only one of the foremost citizens of that county, but is also a representative of one of its foremost families. In the township of Cherry is the Thrasher settlement, thus made memorable by a hardy and enterprising pioneer, George Thrasher, the grandfather of our subject, who came to the county in its state of native wildness, and with the aid of his seven lusty sons made the welkin ring with the cheery and civilizing ax till the nucleus of a settlement rapidly developed into a prosperous community, radiating a benefi- cent influence throughout a widening region.
George Thrasher, the pioneer, was a native of Reading, Pennsylvaina, where he was born in 1774, just before the Revolutio- nary war. He married Catherine Fox, of that city, and became one of the strong and prosperous lumbermen and farmers of the Keystone state. He first settled in Luzerne county, where he remained until 1828. Purchasing from a land agent, a Mr. Kittwolder, a tract of eight hundred acres in what is now Cherry township, Sullivan
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
county, he in that year emigrated with his household of hardy lads to the new county. Here he remained, an engergetic and pros- perous citizen, through life, and passed away July 12, 1846, aged seventy-one years, nine months and twenty-four days. His wife Catherine who was born July 18, 1773. and died May 8, 1854. The ten children of George and Catherine Thrasher were as follows: Elizabeth, who died unmarried: Catherine, who first married a Mr. Miller and afterward Philip Heverly; Hannah, who first married George Rupert and later Mr. Bendinger; George, father of our subject; Benjamin, who married Anna Hunsinger; Jonathan, who married Catherine Bostian; Samnel, who married Rachel Person; Adam who married Hannah Dieffenbach; Joseph, who died unmarried; and Renben, who married Anna Suber.
George Thrasher, father of our subject, was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, in 1803. He was raised in that county and there married Lydia Weaver, a native of Luzerne county, the daughter of Christian and Maria Weaver, who on April 1, 1847, emigrated to Cherry township, Sullivan county, and there remained through life. Christian Weaver wasa wheelwright and fol- lowed his trade in connection with farming. He died December 26, 1837, aged fifty-one years, five months and one day; his wife, Maria, died May 10, 1831, aged thirty-seven years and nine months; both are buried in the Thrasher cemetery. To Christian and Maria Weaver were born seven children, as follows: Lydia, mother of our subject; Ro- sanna, who married Christian Benninger; Anthony, who married Mary Dieffenbach; Barnhart, who married Mary Kizer; George and Jacob, twins, the former marrying Mar- garet Eagly and the latter having twice mar- ried, first Eliza Conley, and later a widow 17
from New York; Margaret, who became the wife of George. Eberling.
The family of George and Lydia Thrash- er consisted of the following children: Jo- seph, who married Sally Moyer and is a farmer of Cherry township, Sullivan coun- ty; Stephen, who married Caroline Kinsley and is now deceased; Phoebe, who became the wife of J. B. Lamberson and is now de- ceased; Ransom, subject of this sketch; Adam, who is unmarried and is the partner of our subject in the ownership and tilling of the old homestead; Rachel, widow of Benjamin Heiver, a farmer of Cherry town- ship, who was killed by lightning at his home in June, 1895: Reuben, who married Elizabeth Barber and resides in Colley town- ship, Sullivan county; and Catherine A., who died unmarried. George and Lydia Thrasher remained in Luzerne county until the death of the elder Thrasher in 1846. He then moved to the farm in Cherry town- ship, now owned by his sons, Ransom and Adam. Two years later his life was cut short by an accident. While on his way to mill, March 18, 1849, with a load of grain, between his home and Dushore, his team ran away and he was killed, at the age of forty-five years, seven months and twenty- one days. The widow, who was born June 13, 1812, survived until June 13, 1887. Both are buried at the Thrasher cemetery, which adjoins the homestead of our subject, a spot which in 1829 was dedicated to burial purposes and where about sixty of the Thrasher family are now interred. The first burial in the lot was that of Joseph Thrasher, an uncle of our subject, who was there laid away in 1829. George Thrasher was a successful farmer and in political faith a Democrat. He and his family were mem- bers of the Lutheran church.
Ransom Thrasher, the subject of our
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
sketch, was born in Sugarloaf township. Luzerne county, February 5, 1839. He was seven years of age when he came with his parents to Sullivan county and but ten years of age when deprived of a father's care. He has remained a citizen of Cherry township and for his home clings to the old homestead which he and his brother Adam secured by purchasing the interest of the other heirs, and which they have since jointly and very successfuly cultivated. Adam has avoided political honors, but the subject of our sketch has been called upon to fill some of the most responsible public duties. In 1882 he was elected collector of Cherry township, and in 1896 was elected to the office of county treasurer, an office for which his keen business grasp of mind has eminently fitted him. Mr. Thrasher has been highly successful in his business affairs, is public-spirited, and besides the general yet deep interest which he takes in public affairs is especially attached to home, party and religion. He is in politics a stanch Democrat and his religious affilia- tions are with the Lutheran church. The edifice of that denomination in which he attends services and the adjoining cemetery are situated on land taken from the old homestead. The premises are kept in that neat and tasteful manner which character- izes inethods on the Thrasher homestead. Long since Mr. Thrasher has risen by his native talents and kindly disposition to an envied place in the esteem of his fellow citi- zens, and he now enjoys the full meed of respect, and regard which come to a life so well and successfully spent.
JOSHUA. BATTIN is among the oldest residents of Sullivan county, and was born in Fox township March 21, 1819, when
that township was known as Elkland. He has passed all of his life as a resident of these two townships. He was an industri- ous youth, and at the age of twenty-two began to take care of himself, working on the railroad at track work or for the neigh- boring farmers. He then cultivated the homestead, raising stock and saving his earnings until he had accumulated sufficient to purchase land of his own. His first farm was in his native township; this he soon sold and bought land in Elkland township. He continued to buy at different times and was at one time the owner of two hundred and fifty acres. Much of this land has since been sold. It was his custom to buy land partly improved, and he has cleared some fifty acres of timber. He devotes his time to stock-raising and general farming.
His grandfather, John Battin, was born in Chester county, on the Brandywine river. He married Susanna McDermitt and lived in Columbia, Lycoming and Sullivan coun- ties, dying in the latter. He was a surveyor and school-teacher, many years having been spent in the latter employment in this county. Being a man of more than ordi- nary education, his services were in much demand in writing for his neighbors. Of his children, John was a weaver in Colum- bia county; Henry was a farmer and horse- dealer in the same county; and Marshall, the father of our subject.
Marshall Battin was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1784. He was married in that part of Lycoming county, now. Fox township, Sullivan county, March 27, 1809, to Mary Hoagland, of Elkland township, Esquire Eldred perform- ing the ceremony. Soon after his marriage he received a tract of one hundred acres of land as a homestead from the Barclays, offered by them as an inducement to open
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
up the wilderness to settlement. This land lay in Elkland and was wild timber land. He cleared some seventy-five acres and did farming and stock-raising. He took a deep interest in politics, especially during his later years. He was first a Democrat, became a Whig, and at the time of his death was a Republican. He served his town as supervisor and auditor several times. Both he and his wife were members of the Friends' church and were earnest Christians. Their family was com- posed of the following children, viz .: John, born March 3, 1810, a farmer of Fox town- ship, deceased; Joseph, born May 6, 1812, also was a farmer in Fox township, and died there; Henry, born June 6, 1815, re- sided in the same township, and died July 19, 1859; Hannah was born September 9, 1816, married George Kilmer and died in Nebraska; Joshua, whose history is here briefly given; Samuel, born November 25, 1821, is a farmer in Fox township, as is Reuben, who was born May 18, 1826; and Benjamin, born October 24, 1831, and died January 30, 1835. Marshall Battin was a noted hunter, even for that time, and killed a great deal of the game which was so plentiful in that region. He died Decem- ber 4, 1875. His wife was born December 30, 1789, and died December 2, 1880.
Joshua Battin was married in Elkland township, to Miss Ellen Woodhead, a native of England, by whom he had three children, namely: Mary Hannah, who died at the age of five years; Edwin P., a farmer of Forks township; and Walter C., living in Elkland township. After the death of his wife, Mr. Battin contracted a second'matri- monial alliance, with Miss Amelia Hess, a daughter of Christian Hess and a native of Germany. They are members and liberal contributors to the Friends' church, and are
quick to respond to the call of any worthy object. He is a stanch Republican, and has been supervisor, auditor and school di- rector, and also served on the board of election.
THOMAS J. FITZGERALD, who is tele- graph operator and also clerk for the State Line & Sullivan Railroad Company, at Bernice, was born at Wyalusing, Brad- ford county, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1874. He is the son of John and Nancy (Donahue) Fitzgerald, the former of whom was born at Pottsville and the latter in Bradford county. They now reside at New Albany, this state, where the father is foreman of a railroad section. Besides our subject they have four children: Ella M., Anna B. and Gertrude are at home with their parents; and John B. is an agent of the Lehigh Val- ley Railroad Company.
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