USA > Pennsylvania > Sullivan County > History of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania > Part 26
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C' HARLES S. SICK. - When the record of Sullivan county is written the his- tory of Charles S. Sick should occupy a prominent place on its pages, for he is one of the leading business men. He possesses untiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution; and his close application to business and his excellent management
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have brought to him the high degree of prosperity which is to-day his. As fariner, merchant and postmaster of Cherry Mills, he is widely known, and the community re- gards him not only as a prosperous business man, but also asone of the most progressive and valued citizens of the locality, for his support is ever given to the measures which are calculated to promote the general wel- fare.
Mr. Sick has spent his entire life in Sul- livan county, his birth having occurred about a half mile from his present home, on the 13th of February, 1841. The family is of German origin, and the ancestry can be traced back to the great-grandfather, who was a native of Prussia. The grandfather, Joseph Sick, was born in Baden, Germany, and there spent his entire life, following farming and shoemaking. He married a Miss Reinbold, and died in 1832, at the age of fifty-one years. The record of their fam- ily is not complete. One of their sons, Joseph, died in Baden, while Charles, the father of our subject came to America. A daughter, Frances, married a Mr. Seifred and came to the United States, locating in Philadelphia, where she died soon after- ward. There were several other daughters of the family, but all account of them has been lost.
Charles Sick, father of our subject, was born in Baden, Germany, in October, 18.15, and in the land of his birth learned the shoemaker's trade, which he there followed for seven years. Hoping to benefit his financial condition, he crossed the Atlantic to the United States, in 1836, and located in Camden, New Jersey, where he worked at his trade for a year, receiving seven dol- lars per month in compensation for his serv- ices. He then purchased a shop, which he conducted two years, after which he sold.
out and came to Cherry township, Sullivan county, Pennsylvania. That was in 1839, and Sullivan was then a part of Lycoming county. Here he purchased seventy-one acres of land, at three dollars per acre, and in connection with agricultural pursuits he carried on his trade until his death, which occurred July 22, 1877. He was a man of considerable prominence in the community, and held a number of township offices, dis- charging his duties in a prompt and able manner. In 1840 he married Miss Hannah Reinfried, who was born in Germany and was brought by her parents to America in infancy. She died in April, 1863, at the age of forty-four years, and with her hus- band lies buried in the Germany cemetery at Dushore, Pennsylvania. They were both members of the Catholic church, and in his political views Mr. Sick was a Democrat. They reared a large family of children: Charles; Caroline, who was born August 30, 1842, and is the wife of Henry Stohl, a res- ident of Cherry township; Joseph, of Cherry township, who was born July 25, 1844, and married Emma Gravely; Leo, who was born February 18, 1846, and died, leaving a widow, who in her maidenhood bore the name of Elizabeth Younkin; Lydia, who was born January 23, 1848, and is the wife of Ralph Litzelman, a farmer of Cherry township; Wendell, a farmer of the same township, who was born September 11, 1849, and married Sarah McDonald; Mary, who was born June 16, 1851, and is the wife of John Litzelman, an agriculturist of Cherry township; Hannah, who was born May 10, 1853, and is the widow of Joseph Cook, of Dushore, Pennsylvania; Augustine, who was born in March, 1855, and died in No- vember, 1857; Rosina, who was born March 15, 1857, and is the wife of Edward J. Weisbrod, a farmer of Cherry township;
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Julius, a farmer of Nordmont, who was born December 30, 1861, and married Dora Sperry; William, who was born November 28, 1863, and married Kate Kelly, of Over- tou, Pennsylvania.
Charles S. Sick, whose name introduces this review, was reared on his father's farm in Cherry township until twenty-two years of age, and assisted in the development and cultivation of the fields. He then went to the lumber woods, where he worked for four years, at the expiration of which period he returned home with a capital of one thousand dollars, as the result of his in- dustry and economy. He then purchased a gristmill of Benjamin Sylvarie, for which he paid thirty-five hundred dollars, and operated the mill for eleven years, when he traded it to John Dado for the place which he now owns, The mill is now carried on by his brother Joseph. After his retire- ment from milling, Charles S. Sick turned liis attention to farming, and his richly cul- tivated fields well indicate his careful su-
pervision and progressive methods. In 1882 he also embarked in merchandising which he has since followed, and for some years he has engaged in loaning money and discounting notes. He is a man of splen- did business ability and sound judgment, and carries forward to successful comple- tion whatever he undertakes. For the past twenty years he has served as postmaster of Cherry Mills, and in the discharge of his duties has been most faithful.
On the 20th of June, 1866, at Cherry Mills, Mr. Sick married Miss Hannah Yon- kin, who was born in Cherry township March 26, 1846, a daughter of Peter and Catherine (Suber) Yonkin. The latter was a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Frowndeld- er) Suber, of Schuylkill county, whence they reinoved to Sullivan county. Peter
Yonkin was born in this county, December 2, 1823, and died in Cherry township, June 9, 1897, his remains being interred in Ger- many cemetery. He was a farmer through- out his entire life and was a leading and in- fluential citizen, who held a number of local offices, including that of justice of the peace, in which capacity he served for ten years. His wife, who was born in Schuyl- kill county, March 15, 1824, is still living on the old homestead in Sullivan county. She is a member of the Reformed church, while her husband belonged to the Lutheran church, and was a Democrat in his political affiliations. They were the parents of sev- en children, as follows: Caroline, wife of John K. Bird, an extensive farmer of Mill- view, Pennsylvania; Hannah the honored wife of our subject; Adam, who died at the age of four years; Joseph H., who married Hannah Mosier, and is living on the old family homestead; Elizabeth, widow of Leo Sick, of Cherry township; Emma M., a res- ident of Elmira, New York; and Levi, who married Orilla Wentzel, and is a farmer of Cherry township.
Mrs. Sick has spent her entire life in Sullivan county, and is most widely and favorably known, her many excellencies of character bringing her the high regard of all. She has been to her husband a faith- ful companion and helpineet during the thirty-two years in which they have trav- eled life's journey together, sharing with him in the joys and sorrows, the adversity and prosperity, which checker the lives of all. They have become the parents of four children: Cora, wife of John Gross, proprie- tor of the hotel at Cherry Mills; Allie, wife of Morris Baumgardener, a railroad man of Sunbury, Pennsylvania; Blanche and Edna, twins, at home. The members of the fam- ily have many friends in the community
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and the household is noted for its hospital- ity. The parents are members of the Re- formed church, and Mr. Sick exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democratic party. In bus- iness circles he is energetic, prompt and notably reliable, and his success has result- ed from his own well directed and honora- ble efforts.
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AMES S. GAINER .- Among the fam- J ily names that will ever be remembered in connection with the pioneer history of Cherry township, Sullivan county, that of the prosperous and successful farmer, whose name stands at the head of this sketch, shines clear and prominent. Mr. Gainer is of the third generation of a sturdy Irish family, which in the early years of the pres- ent century left their native land, and in a new country laid the foundations for a new fortune.
The grandfather who thus severed his home ties to endure the trials and hardships of a journey to a distant and unknown land was James Gainer. With his young wife, who had been Bridget Finnan, and with his small children he, in 1832, bade adieu to his friends in county Longford, Ireland, and took passage for the long ocean voyage. Upon his arrival in America he lived for a time in Philadelphia and in New York, then removed to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, whence he came to Cherry township, Sulli- van county, arriving March 25, 1841, and taking up his abode upon a small and wild tract of sixty-one acres, which is now a portion of the beautiful farm owned by his grandson and namesake, the subject of this sketch. A small clearing was made, upon which the primitive log cabin was built, that for many years remained the homely .
but endeared family shrine of the emigrants. Honest toil gradually cleared the acres, crops brought return, and the little farm began to expand by the purchase of adja- cent tracts.
Thomas Gainer, his son, and the fa- ther of our subject, was born in Ireland, August 1, 1831, and was only one year of age when brought by his parents to America. He was ten years old when the future home in Sullivan county was founded-old enough to vividly recall in his later years the scenes of desolation that environed the pioneer cabin. He was old enough, too, to realize in a great measure the great labor that must be performed to reduce those mon- archs of the forest and bring to a state of prolific cultivation those broad acres. Per- haps he discerned with prophetic vision the rewards that were to come to him in after years, but at any rate he was manfully ready to assist with his young strength in the work of subduing wild and cheerless nature.
When he grew to manhood Thomas Gainer chose for his helpmate Margaret Cullen. He had met her in Cherry town- ship and they were married in January, 1856. Like her husband, she was a na- tive of Ireland, the daughter of Daniel and Mary (Murphy) Cullen , who had emigrated to America and settled in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where they remained life- long residents. Seven children were born to Thomas and Margaret Gainer, of whom but two survived-James S., the oldest and the subject of this sketch, and Kate, who is the wife of Thomas Doyle, a farmer of Cherry township. Two children died in in- fancy; Peter and Mary D. died in child- hood, and Maggie at the age of twenty- nine years.
Thomas Gainer remained through life a farmer of Cherry township. He was emi-
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nently successful, possessing one of those rare judgments, combined with industry, which made the acquisition and accumula- tion of property easy. In politics he was a Democrat, and he and his family were devout members of the Catholic church. His useful and successful career was closed by death July 30, 1898. His wife had inany years preceded him to the grave, pass- ing away September 8, 1886, at the age of twenty-nine years. Both parents were buried in St. Basil's cemetery.
James S. Gainer, our subject, was born the farin he now owns and occupies on December 26, 1856. There he was reared, and obtained such education as was afforded by the time and place of his youth. He adopted the vocation, so successfully follow- ed by his father, and devoted himself with diligence and liking to the independent pur- suits of farming. His marriage to Miss Bridget Farley was celebrated at Dushore April 18, 1891. She was born in county Cavan, Ireland, February 1, 1866, daughter of Cornelius and Margaret (Burns) Farley, and granddaughter of Michael and Ann Farley and of Edward and Bridget Burns. All her grandparents died in Ireland. There, too, lier father now resides, an active old gentleman of ninety years, yet engaged in farming. The mother of Mrs. Gainer died April 23, 1891, aged forty-five years. The family of Cornelius and Margaret Farley consisted of the following children: Michael, a fariner in Ireland; Ann and Edward, both living in Ireland; John, a farmer of Wilmot, Pennsylvania; Bridget, wife of our subject; Patrick, a farmer of Wilmot, Pennsylvania; Mary, residing in Ireland; James, a merchant in Ireland; Margaret, deceased; and Thomas, residing in Ireland. Bridget was seventeen years of age when, in 1883, accompained by her younger brother Patrick, she migrated
to America, arriving July 18th of that year. For four weeks she remained in Philadelphia, then removed to Wilmot, Pennsylvania. Her future husband she first met at a picnic at Overton, Pennsylvania. Mutual regard followed and a happy marriage.
Mr. Gainer has been a life-long resident of his present home. He is a prominent member of the Catholic church, and in pol- itics he is a Democrat. He has inherited the excellent business talent of his father and has established for himself the reputa- tion of being not only a prosperous and successful farmer, but a man of affairs, whose opinions and judgments are prized, and whose acts are naturally those of a leader among men. His farm now consists of one hundred and fifty-three acres, of which one hundred and five acres were pur- chased, and the remainder inherited from his father.
W ILLIAM ALVAH MASON, son of Eliphalet and Roxey (Fowler) Mason, was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania, on September 29, 1818. His parents were of sturdy New England stock, the ancestral line reaching back through prominent gen- erations to the early days of colonial occu- pancy.
Eliphalet Mason, himself a native of Ashford, Connecticut, born on June 23, 1780, was a man far in advance of his day. Educated for the Presbyterian ministry, in early manhood he came to the new settle- ments of Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and became a surveyor, making his residence first at Orwell (Warren), but soon at To- wanda. He constructed a surveyor's com- pass and for many years was largely en- gaged in laying out lands, roads, etc. He possessed a taste for science, wrote numer-
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Mr. A. Masowo
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ous articles for various journals and other publications, and was a practical worker in electricity, having quite a store of electrical machines and apparatus. In 1814 he was elected auditor of the county, the first Democrat elected to any office in the county. In 1821 he purchased a mill property and lands in Monroe, where he made his home, erected saw and grist mills, and developed the little village of Masontown, which yet retains his name. He was a Freemason for many years, standing high in the fra- ternity. He held numerous and important offices, fully set forth in an extended biog- raphy in Craft's History of Bradford County. Hedied in Towanda, on March 11, 1853, aged seventy years. He was twice married- first in 1802 to Zilpah Coburn, who died in 1803, and secondly to Roxey Fowler, on October 22, 1804, who died February 15, 1851, at the Monroeton homestead, aged sixty five years. Of their nine children, eight attained mature life and all are now deceased. They were Zilpah; Mrs. Isaac Rogers; Roxey, Mrs. Charles Burch; Gor- don F., long an attorney and prominent citizen of Bradford county; Kufus. H .; Eliphalet Hastings, a leading physician and prominent man in county affairs; William A .; Lemuel A .; and Sarah, Mrs. Jacob Vealie.
Judge William A. Mason, after a course of instruction at Towanda Academy, became a surveyor and civil engineer, acquiring practical skill under the tutelage of his brother Gordon. His first surveying and engineer- ing was done in 1840 on the preliminary survey of the Barclay Railroad. From that time until his death he was largely engaged in these vocations. In 1847 he was em- ployed in running lines and surveying in Clinton county, and the same year was one of the commissioners appointed to define 25
and set off the new county of Sullivan. He surveyed extensively in Susquehanna, Ly- coming, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Wyoming, Bradford, Wayne, Pike, Mon- roe, Schuylkill, Tioga and other counties in a period embracing many years. He was especially noted for his skill in tracing old lines and ascertaining the exact original lo- cation of tracts of land. Much of his work was expert work on difficult and contested lines, and his great skill and acknowledged integrity made him a most valuable witness in litigated cases. In 1848 he made his permanent home in Laporte, the incipient county-seat of Sullivan county, where his residence was the second framed house erected, and here his widow and children now reside. In 1847 Mr. Mason surveyed the site of Laporte, and broke the first brush in the virgin forest now occupied by the county-seat. Duringthe construction of the State Line & Sullivan Railroad Mr. Mason was its resident engineer. He was the chief engineer of the Muncy Creek Railroad, which he built from. Halls to Hughsville, and when this road was reorganized as the Williamsport & North Branch Railroad, he became its chief engineer, and held the position until his death. He located the extension from Hughesville to Dome Sum- mit (Satterfield), and under his administra- tion the road was built from Hughesville to Nordmont.
Originally a Democrat, Mr. Mason be- came a Republican soon after the organiza- tion of that party. He was the first post- master of Laporte and its first justice of the peace, was county surveyor for several terms, and in 1856 was elected an associate judge of the county, which office he held five years. In 1881 he was elected county treasurer and served as such for three years. In all his official positions integrity, accur-
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acy and promptness were his leading char- acteristics, and such was the purity of his life and motives that never a word was ut- tered in disparagement of either. His char- acter was above reproach and his word was as good as a bond. In social and family re- lations Judge Mason was an exemplar of the moral and domestic virtues, an un- wavering friend, a devoted husband and an affectionate parent. He had a winning per- sonal magnetism that attracted individuals and made them friends. His nature was constructed on broad and liberal lines, his religion in early and mature life being Uni- versalism. In later life both himself and family gave their adherence to the great truths of Spiritualism, which to them be- came eternal verities, not mere questions of belief subject to doubt. Judge Mason was long a Freemason, and held his member- ship in the chapter at Towanda. In a very wide range of acquaintance, acquired dur- ing years of active life, he was unusually popular, and when called to the higher life, on January 7, 1892, a wide circle acknowl- edged a personal loss.
On September 23, 1841, Judge Mason was married to Mary Angeline Cheney, a daughter of Abel and Priscilla (Washburn) Cheney, who was born in Cortland, Cort- land county, New York, on October 28, 1820. Her ancestry reaches back through historic New England families to prominent English and Scotch progenitors. The six children of Judge and Mrs. Mason are Eth- lin M., born November 17, 1842, long a successful teacher in Sullivan county schools, and twice postmaster of Laporte; Ida A., who was born July 11, 1845, mar- ried Warren T. Watrous, and died Septem- ber 26, 1891; Mary E., who was born No- veinber 22, 1847, died January 16, 1874; William E., who was born May 18, 1850,
and died June 27, 1852; William Clayton, born July 11, 1853; and Gordon H., who was born June 22, 1861, died July 28, 1863.
William Clayton Mason, son of Judge William A. and Mary A. (Cheney) Mason, received a common-school education, sup- plemented by attendance at the excel- lent private school of Rev. Hallock Arınstrong, at Monroeton, Mansfield's Nor- mal School and at Oberlin (Ollio) Com- mercial College. Under the supervision of his father he became skilled in surveying and civil engineering, in actual service in the field and in the surveys and locating of . the Muncy Creek and Williamsport & North Branch Railroads, and also on the State Line & Sullivan Railroad. Later he was a transit man in the location of the Pennsyl- vania Midland road, now part of the Wilkes- barre & Eastern Railroad. From there he went to northern New York as a transit man on the Adirondack & St. Lawrence Railroad. Serving here with ability in a higher position than his ostensible station indicated, he returned to Sullivan county, and has since been identified with railroad work. He located and had full charge of the construction of the Eagle's Mere Nar- row-gauge Railroad running from Sones- town to Eagle's Mere, and is still the chief engineer of the road. He then became the resident engineer of the Williamsport & North Branch Railroad during its extension to Satterfield, and in 1897 became the chief engineer of that road and now holds the position. -
He has been justice of the peace for fifteen years, is a Republican in politics, and has served acceptably as chairman of the Republican county committee. He was married on December 28, 1881, to Eliza S. Stormont, daughter of Scotch parents, Rob-
HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
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ert and Elizabeth (Lindsey) Stormont and a native of Canada. She died in La Porte on October 13. 1895, aged thirty-five years. Their children are Mary Irene, born Decem- ber 2, 1882; William Robert, August 24, 1885, Ethlin Ione, January 9, 1889; and Marjorie Ida, August 14, 1894.
JOSEPH SICK .- The self-made man is J' a product of America. In this " land of the free" where effort is untrammeled, and where industry wins advancement that is crowned with a just reward, the man of am- bition and enterprise frequently rises from humble surroundings to a position of afflu- ence. Of this class Joseph Sick is a repre- sentative, and his prosperity is certainly well deserved. He is now proprietor of the Cherry Mills, located in the village of that name, in Sullivan county, Pennsylvania. In Cherry township he was born July 26, 1844, his parents being Charles and Han- nah (Reinfried) Sick. He remained on his father's farm until seventeen years of age, and then went to the pine woods, whence he returned with eighty dollars, of which he gave his father seventy-five dollars. His father told him he might keep his earnings from that time on, if he would save them, and so with an added incentive for indus- trious effort, he continued to provide for his own maintenance. He attended school from January 1, until March 1, 1862, and then, borrowing a dollar and a half from his brother, went to Hillsgrove, Pennsylvania, where he worked for several months, for twenty dollars per month. He next located at Westport, Clinton county, Pennsylvania, where he worked on the river in connection with a lumber mill, receiving three dollars per day in compensation for his services. Later he worked on a boom at Williams-,|
port for a few months, after which he spent a short time in Clearfield county, Pennsyl- vania, lumbering and rafting until his enlist- ment in the Union army.
On the 2d of August, 1863, Mr. Sick of- fered his services to the government, at Lock Haven, joining Company C. Two Hundred and Seventh Regiment of Penn- sylvania Volunteers, under Captain James W. Fredericks. He served until June, 1865, when he was mustered out at Harrisburg. He was never wounded, but while building a stable for his colonel's horse, in front of Petersburg, cut his foot, which necessitated his remaining in the hospital for five weeks. He then rejoined his regiment, took part in the charge on Petersburg, and participated in the engagements at Dutch Gap, Poplar Grove Church, Weldon Railroad and others, He was a brave and loyal soldier, always found at his post of duty.
After receiving an honorable discharge, Mr. Sick returned to Williamsport, Penn- sylvania, where his two brothers were em- ployed, and there worked on a boom until his removal to Lock Haven, where he re- mained until Christmas, of 1865. He then returned home, and on the 6th of April, 1866, purchased of Benjamin Sylvarie an eighty-acre farm. In 1891 he bought of Mrs. Haycock the mill which he now owns and operates-a water-mill of twenty- horse power, which was built in 1846. It was operated by Mr. Sick's son until 1894, when he assumed the active management. In 1888 he purchased another farm, of eighty- four acres, of Patrick Finnen, and has both tracts of land under a high state of cultiva- tion, the rich fields yielding to the owner a golden tribute in return for the care which he bestows upon them.
On the 28th of August, 1866, in Colley township, Sullivan county, Mr. Sick wedded
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· Miss Emily S. Gravely, who was born in Cherry township, in 1848, a daughter of Het- ry and Elizabeth (Yonkin) Gravely. Her father was a native of Germany, and came to America when two years of age, with his parents, the family locating in Cherry town- ship, Sullivan county, which district was then an ahnost unbroken wilderness. Upon the farm which he there developed, his wife, son and daughter are yet living. In 1833 he married Elizabeth Yonkin, who was born in Pennsylvania, May 18, 1816, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Haines) Yonkin. Mr. Gravely followed farming throughout his entire life, and died in Cherry township, October 14, 1883, his re- mains being interred in the Germany ceme- tery at Dushore. He gave support to the Democratic party, and was a member of the Lutheran church. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gravely are E. Catherine, who died in 1896; William H., who died suddenly in Dushore, in September, 1898; Jacob J., a farmer of Cherry township, who married Elizabeth Henshaw; Mary, who resides with her mother on the old homestead; Emma, wife of Joseph Sick; George, who is also on the homestead farin; Lewis, an agriculturist of Cherry township; and Wellington, a partner of Lewis.
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