USA > Pennsylvania > Sullivan County > History of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania > Part 3
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SHREWSBURY SETTLEMENT.
While the settlements were extending from the Forks to Elkland and Fox, settle- ments were also being made along the Courson road. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Courson, who were brothers, settled on ad- joining farms on Muncy creek flats, about ten miles from Pennsborough (Muncy). These farms were not in the present limits of Sullivan county, but were not far from the present county line. All the settlers who came into what is now Shrewsbury passed the Courson farms. Samuel Wallis had located most of the lands in that vicin- ity previous to 1794, and in June of that year he sold a number of tracts to Charles Wolstoncraft, who in September of the same year sold ten thousand, two hundred and seventeen acres to George Lewis. This land included the lake long known as Lewis' lake, and now Eaglesmere, and ex- tended from the Loyalsock to Muncy creek. Mr. Lewis was a wealthy Englishman who resided in New York at that time and con- ducted the American branch of a London importing house. He also engaged in buy- ing real estate for English capitalists. There is no evidence that Mr. Lewis visited his lake before 1803, but in the summer of that year he spent six weeks at the lake. On returning to his home in the city he found that .yellow fever had prevailed during his absence, and that very many of his dearest friends had died in consequence. He was so impressed with the feeling that 3
his life had been spared from his remaining in this mountainous wilderness, that he re- solved to build him a home on the shore of the lake.
His first sale of land was made to Rob- ert Taylor, who settled on Rock Run in 1804. Taylor made his own road over the ridge to Rock Run, cleared up a farm and erected a sawmill and a gristmi!l. He was the father of Richard, Frederick, James, Robert and George W. Taylor; and many of his descendants are still in this county. In 1804 Lewis employed men to open a road from Robert Taylor's to the lake, and had a house erected there. He then com- menced clearing his farm, and putting up buildings for the manufacturing of glass. He pushed the work so steadily that in 1808 the great stone building on the summit overlooking the lake was completed, and also a large frame house, which was occu- pied George Lewis and his family; and on the same street (now Eaglesmere avenue) three stone liouses, and on the street at right angles therefrom were six frame houses, painted red; also a school-house; and further around, out of sight of the lake, a large boarding-house. A sawmill was built at the outlet of the lake. That the buildings described were erected there is certain, but some fix the date a year or two later. This was the first village in the county, and for some years a very busy one. They boated sand from the head of the lake and hauled it up the hill to the glass- works building.
George Edkins came to the Shrewsbury settlement in 1806. He was an Englishman who had been in the employ of General Horatio Gates, to superintend his farm on the Hudson. His first journey to Lewis' lake was made on foot, and he kept a jour- nal of each day's travel. He was eight
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
days going to Shrewsbury, and six days re- turning to the Gates farm. The distance as he made it was two hundred and fourteen miles. Edkins purchased of Lewis lands which had been improved by John Hender- son, and moved his family there May 10, 1808. It was an interesting incident in the life of George Edkins that he left England to avoid an arrest, because he had not sufficiently respected the game laws. When he left he was engaged to a young lady named Moorby, and as it was not prudent for him to return to her, she came to him, and they were married in this country. Ed- kins built a good frame house, made a good farm, planted orchards, ornamental trees and shrubs. The evidence of his taste re- mained upon the place long after his death. After Sullivan county was organized he was elected county treasurer. He left a family of four sons and two daughters, and their descendants are numerous in this county.
John G. Holmes, who was among the early settlers, taught school in his own house, two miles from the lake, in the winter of 1807-8. He understood navigation and surveying. Mr. Holmes continued to teach occasionally until 1818.
Theophilus Little made an examination of lands from Pennsborough (Muncy) to Lewis' lake as early as 1799. Land where the borough of Hughesville now stands was offered to him at a lower price than land near the lake, but he did not like the soil, preferring timbered land of the mountains, and purchased about three thousand acres within a mile or two of the lake. He was at that time a resident of Monmouth county, New Jersey. He had six sons, named John, Daniel, Thomas, Theophilus, Tobias and another whose name cannot be obtained. Daniel, the second son, came upon the land in 1804, and others
came later. Johncommenced at Rock Run. Thomas, with his father, cleared the farm at Little's Corners, a mile from the lake. Thomas afterward exchanged land with Tobias Little and went to the valley of the Loyalsock. Tobias was a younger brother, born in July, 1779, and with him came his father and mother. Tobias made a large clearing, a mile or so beyond Little's Cor- ners, but built no house there, and after- ward moved on the land where J. H. W. Little now resides. Mary Little, his mother, died soon after she came there. His father died February 19, 1825, aged eighty-one years. The Little fainily came fromn Eng- land, but were of Scotch-Irish descent. They were active patriots during the Revolu- tion, two of the family having been in the the army as commissioned officers. They were always active in promoting the educa- tional and religious interests of the com- munity. The descendants of the family are numerous and many still reside in the county.
Among the early settlers of Shrewsbury, though not the very earliest, were Joel Ben- nett and Thomas Bennett. Joel Bennett came from Jersey in 1809, when he was twenty-one years of age, and went into the settlement about the forks of the Loyalsock, where he worked six or eight years, and during that time earned money to buy some land in Elkland. He then married Sarah Bird, daughter of Powell Bird, and in 1817 they moved on the land which he had bought in Elkland. There he remained about three years, and then sold his land to Joseph Pardoe and moved to Lewis' lake, where he worked for George Lewis about six years. He then bought land of George Lewis, adjoining Edkin's, and commenced a clearing there, where he remained during the greater part of his life. He died in
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
1867. He had ten children. Only three remained in this county, -George W. Ben- nett, William Bennett and Caroline Sheets.
Like most of the settlers at that day, Joel Bennett was an occasional hunter, and incidents of his early hunting in this county are still related. On one occasion he and his brother Thomas were out together; one went up one side of Hunter's lake, and the other on the opposite side. Joel soon saw a large animal on a log, and, having a ball and twenty buckshot in his musket, fired away. The animal rolled off; up started another of the same kind, which made a few jumps, and then stopped and looked him in the face. He hastened to load and at the same time called his brother. The shouting started the beast away, and when Thomas came it was gone. The dead ani- mal proved to be a large panther.
Thomas Bennett, brother of Joel, came with him to this country in 1809, but re- turned to Jersey, where he remained sev- eral years, and there married. He then came with his wife to Lewis' lake and worked for George Lewis for several years, then moved to the outlet of Hunter's lake, where he tended Lewis' gristmill. He re- mained there a number of years, then bought land of Lewis, adjoining land bought by his brother Joel, and there made a home, which he occupied most of his life. He died in 1870, aged eighty-eight years, ten months and four days. He had fourteen children.
George W. Bennett, son of Joel Ben- nett, was an influential man in Shrewsbury for many years. He was a justice of the peace and held other township offices. His children were Boyd P., Nelson M., Monroe, Herbert, Libby, Ida, Martha and Bernice.
George L. Bennett, son of Thomas, was likewise a leading citizen and highly-respect- ed man in the township. His children were
Richard W., Jonathan F., Araminta, Emma K. and Annie E. Bennett.
While the war with Great Britain con- tinued the glassworks of George Lewis at the lake, although situated far from the market for his glass at Philadelphia, and with no other nreans of transportation except by wagons over poor roads, was, neverthe- less, profitable; but when peace was de- clared, and English glass was imported in large quantities, with low duties, the manu- facture of glass so far in the interior was impossible except at a loss, and Mr. Lewis was compelled to suspend operations. His farming business, however, continued. The farm was large, and was in a state of good cultivation. At one time he had a flock of four hundred sheep, a fine stock of cattle, raised a good deal of grain, and had an abundance of fruit. In 1822 he was living at the lake with his family, but the tenant houses were empty, and most of the laborers gone.
Among the notable events which took place here was a Fourth of July celebration at the glassworks in 1824. Preparations were made on a grand scale, and almost the entire population of the surrounding country gathered at the place to give utterance to their patriotic feeling, which had been rekindled by the visit of Gen- eral Lafayette to this country. After this date Mr. Lewis' health began to fail. He had met with severe financial losses, not only in the stoppage of his glassworks, but by investments made in New York and else- where, and in the purchase of such large bodies of wild lands, which were taxed but produced no income. In 1829 he placed his real estate of twelve thousand and two hundred acres of land, in Sullivan county, and seven thousand and five hundred acres, in Franklin county, New York, in the hands
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
of William Elliott, his brother-in-law, and Ithiel Town, to be sold for the benefit of his creditors. He. soon afterward went to England on business, and there, in 1830, died. . In his will he gave direction for the removal of his body to Mount Lewis .for burial, and his directions were followed to the extent of shipping his remains to New York, where they were buried. The diffi- culty of removing the body to Mount Lewis in warm weather, without railroad facilities, no doubt prevented his wishes from being carried out. The glassworks, with about two thousand acres of land, were sold at public sale in June, 1831, and purchased by John J. Adams, of Washington, District of Columbia. Adam removed to Mount Lewis with his family, and recommenced the man- ufacture of glass, which he continued for three or four years. The property then passed through several hands, and in 1845 was purchased by J. R. Jones, who, about 1847, came with his family to reside upon it. His wife's maiden name was Clay. She was twice married, her first husband's name being Laussat.
Judge Jones farmed extensively, and practiced law. He was a fine scholar and a very ready and forcible speaker. Mr. Jones' military service and death in the war for the Union will be related further on. While Mrs. Jones was attending the funeral of her husband, the family residence took fire and burned to the ground.
Thomas Haywood, an Englishinan, with wife, daughter and son John, accompanied by his son-in-law, Christopher Peale, and wife, came to reside at Eaglesmere about 1858. Two years later another son of Thomas Heywood, Thomas Heywood, Jr., with his wife, joined his parents at Eagles- mere. These four families purchased wild lands west and south of the outlet of the
lake, and labored from year to year in clear- ing land. After the death of Judge Jones, Christopher Peale continued in charge of the Englesmere estate.
Even at that early period Eaglesmere had many summer visitors, and the homes of the occupants of the property would often be taxed to their utmost capacity to accommodate the boarders who desired to remain some time at the lake. Soon after the death of Judge Jones a considerable amount of his real estate was conveyed to Emile C. Geyelin, Mrs. Jones' son-in-law, who erected a sawmill, made improvements, and carried on the lumber business at the outlet of Hunter's lake. The stage route from Muncy had been changed as as to reach Laporte by way of Sonestown. The only families remaining at Eaglesmere were those who had small farms adjoining the Jones property. The heirs of the Jones estate, through their representative, Will- iam Bradford, commenced the sale of lots at Eaglesmere during March, 1877. The Hays and Green lots were then conveyed. and buildings erected soon afterward. Dr. Hays, of Muncy, acted as agent in making sale of lots, and to his energy and his faith in the health-giving situation of Eaglesmere may be attributed the rapid development of the place as a summer resort.
In 1879 Lewis Smith purchased the lots on Alleghany avenue, on which was stand- ing the only dwelling-house that had sur- vived since the days of George Lewis. During the same year Henry Van Etten ob- tained title to the land on which Hotel Eaglesmere is erected, and built during that summer a part of the hotel building. He retained his ownership one year, when he disposed of the property to E. V. Ingham. Mr. Ingham had, the year before, purchasing
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
1
the hotel, built a store-house on the corner of Laporte and Eaglesmere avenues.
As soon as Mr. Ingham obtained the hotel he enlarged it, and continued to make improvements from year to year. He was the first to send out advertising pamphlets, and his energy and good management did much to attract attention to Eaglesmere as a summer resort in its early years. We have not space to outline the recent rapid growth of this fine village.
DAVIDSON.
Another settlement, quite distinct from the others described, was made at the base of the North mountain by Colonel Adam Derr, David Richart and Nathan Howell. They came from that part of Northumber- land county since made Columbia county. While hunting, they found a fertile upland plateau at the west end of the North mount- ain. They were so much pleased with the location that they purchased land, and made a road around the mountain to it. They moved there with their families in 1806 or 1808. Colonel Derr had served in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. When these settlers first moved there, no road was open to Muncy. The distance, in.a direct line, to the gristinill of Robert Taylor was not very great. It is probable that a road was made to the Shrewsbury settlement before very long.
In 1812 Griffith Phillips, Sr., moved to the North mountain with his family. He cleared up the farm since occupied by David Phillips, Griffith Phillips, Jr., and Thomas Phillips. He was an enterprising and intelligent man. His son, Evan H. Phillips, was the first sheriff of this county. His son, Griffith Phillips, Jr., was a county commissioner, and his grandson, Maynard J. Phillips, has been one of the associate
judges of Sullivan county. David S. Phill- ips, who went with Griffith Phillips, Jr., to. the North mountain, enlisted in the army and served in the war of 1812. He was at the battles of Lundy's Lane, Chippewa and Stony creek.
Elias Smith moved to the North mount- ain settlement the same year that Griffith Phillips, Sr., came. Soon after that Will- iam Richart, Thomas Reed, John Straw- bridge and William M. Clemens moved there. About 1805 Thomas Reed moved down to Muncy bottom and commenced im- provements on land afterward owned by James Taylor. The adjoining farm was first settled by William Smith and after- ward taken by Robert Taylor, Jr. His farm included the land now occupied by the thriving village of Muncy Valley. The first . opening in the mountain-sheltered valley. where the village of Sonestown is now flourishing, was made by Timothy Crawley and Peter Anderson. They kept batchelor's hall for several years, until Timothy Craw- ley was married. Anderson and Crawley sold the land to Benjamin Fiester, who afterward sold it to George Sones.
George Sones at one time owned the whole valley. He sold a large part of it to his son, John Sones, who lived there until his death. John Sones had previously com- nienced an improvement on land which in- cluded the present site of the village of Glen Sharon.
About 1820 James Glidewell, an Eng- lishman, bought land and settled a short distance up the east banch of Muncy creek. He came to America in 1801, first settling in Northumberland county. His wife was Mary King, whose parents were settled in Elkland township. Mr. Glidewell was the father of ten children: Hester, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, John, William, Sarah,
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
Ann and Dinah. His sons Thomas and John took up lands near their father. Thomas Glidewell married Hester Lacey, and their children were: James, Josiah, Sarah, Thomas, Ann, Dinah and Charles. John Glidewell (son of James) settled on the high plateau overlooking the valley of Muncy creek above Sonestown, not far from a precipice. He cleared a large farm, raised a large family, and was a man of honesty and intelligence. As a hunter he was mostly after the bear, and the number he killed and trapped was remarkable, but no record has been kept of the number. He lived until he was past ninety. Will- iam, another son of James Glidewell, re- moved to Elkland township, where he made a fine farm and put up excellent buildings. His son, George W. Glidewell, still owns the farm, and has been county commis- sioner.
In 1822 John Whitacre moved on the lar.d first taken by John Sones and improved it. He was succeeded by his son, William Whitacre, who was succeeded by his son, Robert, from whom it passed to Peter E. Armstrong, who laid out the village of Glen Sharon.
SONESTOWN.
A sawmill was built by George Sones near the present villaage of Sonestown about 1843, and John F. Hazen, a mill- wright, purchased a site and built a gristmill in 1850. Jacob Simmons moved from Moreland township, Lycoming county, into a log house that stood near where Magar- gle's hotel now stands, on the 17th day of March, 1842, and lived there until he bought the Morrison place, on which he re- sided until after the close of the war, when he moved into the house where Thomas S. Simmons now lives and where he died Au- gust 9, 1884, aged seventy-nine years. His 1
wife was Jane Sones, and their children were John, Isaac N., George W., Simpson S., Thomas S., Davis S., Rosetta A. and Jacob L. His son John was elected sheriff in 1863. Five of his sons did good service in the war for the Union, and two of them, Simpson S. and Isaac, were killed in service. The other three who enlisted are still liv- ing. - George W. Simmons is postmaster at Sonestown; Thomas S. Simmons is a jus- tice of the peace, and David S. is in the west.
In 1851 George Miller made a purchase of one thousand seven hundred acres of land in Sonestown and vicinity, and moved his family there. He had several sons, among whom were Cyrus, William and Peter, who were for a number of years engaged in im- proving the place. In 1851 Jacob Reed purchased lots and erected a small tavern, which he occupied for a few years, and then disposed of the property to William Corson. In connection with his tavern Mr. Corson ran a line of stages from Muncy to Dushore. He continued in the hotel business about ten years, when he sold the tavern stand to James Taylor and moved to the west. The tavern stand was subsequently sold to Thomas S. Magargle.
The first store-house was built by Ed- kin Corson, who engaged in the mercantile business for a short time and afterward in lumbering. In 1867 Edward Lyons pur- chased the Bennett farm, sawmill and tim- ber lands of Mr. Corson, and engaged ex- tensively in the lumber business. About the same time William and Jacob Lorah and Thomas Dent engaged in lumbering, farming and mercantile business in the place.
ELKLICK SETTLEMENT.
The part of Davidson known as the Elk- lick settlement was an unbroken forest un-
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
til 1823, when James Rogers and a Mr. Wilson first explored it. The next year they cut a road from the Susquehanna and Tioga turnpike, and moved in with their families. In 1826 John Keeler moved there with his family and soon after that John Hiddleson, Edmund Pennington, John R. Pennington, Christopher Speary, Samuel Speary, John Hunter, Robbins and a few others moved there. It was some time be- fore they had a road to connect them with the Crawley-Anderson settlement.
Miles Sperry came from Huntington, Luzerne county, in 1826, and took up four hundred acres of land in Davidson. He was the father of seventeen children, and his descendants are quite numerous in the county. One of his grandsons, James Sperry, was killed at the battle of Chancel- lorsville. Joseph Converse came to Elk- lick settlement in 1828. He was the fa- ther of nine children, and the Converse families are remembered as possessing many of the characteristics of the New England people. Although in a wilderness their homes were made enjoyable by good housekeeping, neatness and pleasant sur- roundings.
In 1833 William Smith removed from the Muncy valley farm to the Elklick settle- ment, where he lived until he was nearly eighty. He was county commissioner in Lycoming county before Sullivan county was formed, was active in the formation of the new county and the location of the county seat, and a leading man in the pol- itics. He held the offices of county treas- urer and associate judge.
About 1832 the Elklick settlers united and built a schoolhouse at the intersection of the Muncy road with the first road built across North mountain. John Hiddleson was born in 1790 in Chester county, Penn-
sylvania, was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and arrived with his family in the set- tlement in April, 1826. He cleared a large farm, built and operated a sawmill. About 1865, his health having failed, and desirous of being near his children who had gone west, he removed to Illinois, where he died in 1875, having outlived his wife for several years.
DUSHORE.
In 1794, the same year that Molyneux, Warren and Bird made the first clearing for Priestly at the Forks, a lone Frenchman, with one arm, made a clearing and built a cabin in the present limits of Dushore. His name was Aristide Aubert Dupetit Thouars -pronounced Du-Petit-Twor. We are in- debted to the researches of Rev. David Craft for this man's biography, which may be found at length in Craft's history of Bradford county.
Aristide Dupetit Thouars was born in France, in 1760, educated at a military school, obtained a position in the marine corps and was in several naval battles. In a few years he was made a captain and had command of a warship. In 1792 he set out on a voyage to rescue LaPerouse, in a vessel purchased in part with the proceeds of his share of his father's estate. A fatal inalady carried off one-third of his crew, and he put into the nearest Portugese har- bor. He was arrested and sent to Lisbon, where he underwent a captivity of some duration. His vessel was confiscated and sold. After an investigation it appeared his arrest was illegal. He was released and six thousand francs were paid to him by the Portugese government as the proceeds of the sale of his vessel. He distributed most of this money among his crew, and made his way to the United States. , He
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
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landed at Philadelphia and went on foot to the French settlement at Asylum, which is on the North branch, ten miles below Tow- anda. He arrived there in the spring of 1794 entirely destitute. Mr. Talon, the resident manager at Asylum, gave him four hundred acres of land, including what was subsequently the John Mosier farm, in Cherry. He built a cabin near a spring, afterward called the Frenchman's spring, which is now well known in Dushore. There alone, and with only one hand, he undertook to clear a farm. . His habit was to return to Asylum, fifteen or twenty miles distant, every Saturday night and back to his work Monday morning. Thus he spent the summer of 1794. In 1796 he went on foot to Niagara Falls in company with some French noblemen, who rode on horseback. The next year he got a sinall patch of land under cultivation, but the progress of events in France soon took him back to that country. He sailed for France in 1797, obtained a place in the navy, was put in the command of a vessel with eighty guns, and sailed with the French fleet on an ex- pedition to Egypt. The French fleet en- countered the English fleet, under the com- mand of Admiral Nelson, and the famous battle of the Nile ensued. The French were taken at a disadvantage, and the fire of the English guns raked thein with terrible effect. Captain Du Thouars, finding that the battle was growing desperate, nailed his colors to the mast and told his men they would never surrender. A shot took off his only arm, but he still kept on his feet, com- manding his vessel. Very soon another shot took off a leg. Though prostrate on the deck he still incited his men to fight to the last, but while being carried away a third shot killed him. This was on the first
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