USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. from a period preceding its settlement to recent times, including the annals and geography of each townshipAlso a sketch of woman's work in the county for the United States sanitary commission, and a list of the soldiers of the national army furnished by many of the townships > Part 20
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Henry Burritt has been longer in the mercantile business than any man in Susquehanna County ; but, in several cases, the establishments of the fathers have been continued by the sons.
In 1827 Warner Hayden opened a store. The firm name was afterwards Hayden & Ward, " merchants and innkeepers."
In 1832 Wm. Ward and son were in partnership.
John McKinstry opened a store in Summersville. This was afterwards kept by Summers & Scott, Summers & Sutphin, etc.
Uriah C. Lewis was a practising physician in the township in 1828.
The borough of New Milford was petitioned for, Aug. 1859. The petition included the following statement respecting the locality :-
"It is a compact, regularly built, populous, and thriving bu- siness place, containing within its limits a railroad depot, two licensed hotels, two extensive tanneries, three churches, a large number of stores, shops, manufactories, and other business places, and private dwellings-the population and business steadily increasing." Decree of Court confirmed Dec. 1859.
The petitioners were a majority of the freeholders within the boundaries given.
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The north line of the borough consists of 84 perches on the north line of the Hayden farm ; the east line, 522 perches; the west line 527 perches; and the south line 234 perches, or nearly three times as many as the north line.
A newspaper writer, Jan. 1870, furnished the following items:
" The main street is a trifle over a mile in length, almost a dead level, and as straight as a 'bee line.' It is broad and well worked, with good side- walks on both sides of the road. Good-sized sugar-maple shade trees fence in the side-walks, from north to south, on both sides of the street; and the Park, in front of the Graded School and the Congregational Church, with graded and graveled walks, is shaded in like manner. The architecture of the buildings and grounds displays taste, refinement, modesty, neatness, and comfort, without the least appearance on the part of any one to over-reach, over-match, or over-display his neighbor.
" The 'Union Mills'-grist and flouring mills, sawing, planing, sash, blinds, and doors, etc., are suspended for the present. There are three cigar manu- facturing establishments in the place, that carry on a large 'stroke of trade.' An iron foundry is energetically working its way into the confidence of the people. Two tanneries-one a ' custom establishment,' and the other a large manufacturing concern. It is now conducted by Messrs. Corbin & Todd, late of Ulster Co., N. Y., and successors to the Pratt Brothers. It now em- ploys from twelve to twenty men, uses from 2000 to 2500 cords of bark per year, at $5.00 per cord, and turns out from twenty to thirty thousand sides of sole leather per year. It is estimated that there is bark enough in the county to serve it for ten years yet-the proprietors owning enough bark land to serve it four years.
" A. B. Smith has a machine shop run by water-power.
" One drug store, and only two doctors-L. A. Smith and D. C. Ainey, sup- plying the region for miles around-speak volumes for the health of the lo- cality.
" Eight mercantile establishments offer to the surrounding country their various wares. This is exclusive of the cigar establishments, that keep Yankee Notions at both wholesale and retail.
"With the exception of one store at Summersville, this is the market place for the whole township and parts of several adjoining townships. Besides the farming interests, there are in this township some dozen circular saw mills, each employing from twelve to twice that number of men, generally with families, all of whom seek family supplies from these stores.
" One banking house-that of S. B. Chase & Co.
" The public hall of the Eagle Hotel is used for lectures, concerts, and reli- gious services, as well as for merry-makings.
" One printing office-that of the 'Northern Pennsylvanian.'"
Another writer says :-
" Our industrial interests, although in a newly settled region, begin to be felt as of some importance. From the Ist of June to the 1st of January, 1870, our lumbermen shipped at this depot, 3,720,000 feet of lumber. I think that every foot of this lumber was taken from the forests of this township, and it is believed that more lumber has been shipped at Somersville and Susquehanna Depot than at New Milford. Our dairymen have also shipped at this depot, through our village merchants, 240,169 pounds of butter, from the 1st of June to the Ist of January."
Sutton's, or the East Lake Steam Saw-mill, about 3} miles from New Milford Depot, runs during the entire year, and
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furnishes the miners and railroads with large quantities of long timber.
In the summer of 1870 the pond belonging to Mr. Elliot Page, and which occupies a space of one hundred acres, was drained preparatory to a repair of the dam; when the fish, which had been accumulating there for about twenty-four years, were made an easy prey by the use of a net. In all, there were caught about six thousand pounds of pickerel, perch, chubs, suckers, bullheads, etc.
A gentleman of Lynn (March, 1869) says :-
"Forty years ago, beginning at the lower end of the town, the inhabitants were Benj. Hayden, and Warner his son, Captain Dean, old Esq. Wm. Ward, Albert Moss, Henry Burritt, John and James Boyle. Those few, with their families, composed the chief of the population where the village now stands. The writer lived nine or ten years very near the old Leach Farm. The old school-house at the foot of Mott's Hill furnished some scenes that still dis- tinctly linger in recollection. In those days the master was supposed to be master of the situation, without the necessity of calling in school directors. On one occasion a boy some nineteen or twenty years old became disobedient, and was forthwith brought up to be chastised. He very distinctly refused to accept the punishment ; whereupon he was seized, and thrown upon the floor, and the whip applied. He being nearly equal in strength with the teacher, the result was doubtful till he was turned upon his face and became more easily managed. He then called to his sister to go home and have his brother, with whom he lived, come to the rescue. 'Go quick !' says he. 'I will,' she answered, and started. 'Come back !' says teacher. 'Go on' and 'come back' were alternately used for a while, when order was restored by a promise of future obedience."
A remarkable case of longevity is mentioned :--
John Robinson, born in Dutchess County, N. Y., 9th November, 1770, died in New Milford 8th April, 1867. His widow Betsy died two years later, aged ninety-four. They lived together in the bonds of matrimony seventy- seven years, and reared a large family. Both were Baptists, and Mrs. R. had been a church member seventy-five years.
The poor-house for the township and borough is in the east- ern part of the township. The farm was purchased of Jesse Baldwin for $4000 and $500 additional for stock. The institu- tion opened April, 1871.
CHURCHES.
There are four churches in the borough: The Protestant Episcopal, dedicated November, 1829, was built principally through the liberality and efforts of David Badger, Gaius and Albert Moss, and William Ward, Esq., with the favoring in- fluence of the rector of the parish, Rev. S. Marks.
The Presbyterian, though built later, represents an earlier denominational interest here; as also the Methodist, which was not built until 1848, though such class-leaders as Benjamin Hayden and Captain Dean held religious services in their own
11
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houses at a very early day. Their church is on land donated by William' C. Ward, Esq.
The Baptist society was constituted February 23, 1827. Their house of worship was dedicated January 15, 1851, in the Moxley neighborhood.
October, 1869, the Roman Catholics started a chapel, 26 × 50 feet, on land donated by John Boyle, but the frame was blown down the following month. In 1870 it was again upon its foundations, and was completed and dedicated July, 1871.
The name of William C. Ward is closely connected with a large portion of the business, political and social, interests of this township, as the high esteem and confidence of the people in imposing upon him offices of trust and responsibility fully attest. He held the office of justice of the peace nearly thirty years, and in the performance of his duties gained the name and character of peace-maker among his neighbors, generally suc- ceeding in settling their disputes to their mutual satisfaction, and gaining the good-will of both the parties. He died Feb- ruary 24, 1871.
Respecting his eldest brother, the following is contributed :-
CHRISTOPHER LONGSTREET WARD was born in New Milford in 1807. He came of a race who found a home upon our shores in the infancy of our country, who shared in her struggles, and bore a loyal part in her early history.
He never lost the leaven of labor, the energy and vigor which have found root and borne fruit in the peculiar growth of American character. To these virtues he united something of the liberality and culture which are distinctive of an older and a riper civilization than our own.
He lent himself from his earliest youth to such studies as leisure would allow, and made himself acquainted with a very considerable range of reading ; his mind was disciplined to hard work and to habits of industry.
His diversions indicated the bent of his mind. From the school-boy to the printer-apprentice, and through the initiatory studies of his profession, he gathered many curious things, and delighted in arranging them appropri- ately ; and in later years this propensity led to his acquisition of a most valuable collection.
With freedom from other demands upon his time, he might have fallen upon some congenial path in the world of letters. He did not yield himself to such a career, but knew much of its consolations amid the cares of business. [His connection with the press, and his occupancy of positions of trust in Susque- hanna County, are mentioned on other pages of this work.]
He removed to 'Towanda, Bradford County, more than thirty years ago, and lent his aid to many enterprises of lasting benefit to the town.
He was the President of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway during its construction through Pennsylvania, and through his instrumentality the means for its early completion were obtained in Europe.
He never deviated from the resolution formed in early life of not entering the political field to hold office, though high honors were tendered him during more than one presidential term.
In political matters he was a tried and trusted counsellor to those with whom he affiliated, and felt the deepest interest in all the important measures of the day.
The laborer and skilled workman profited by his enterprises; the debtor
Engraved by Johnsartain Phila
C. D. Ward ..
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knew his forbearance; the poor blessed him. The following incident is worthy of notice as illustrative of his generosity and unsolicited benevo- lence :-
Such was the confidence felt in the officers of the Susquehanna County Bank, that many persons, including several lady school-teachers, had their savings in its notes. When the bank failed, Mr. Ward felt so keenly the sufferings inflicted upon the latter, that he, though not an officer of the bank, redeemed with his own funds several hundreds of dollars of the worthless notes in their hands.
Those who knew him well remarked that he had a habit of doing and intending a kindness without admitting the intention. His hospitality was liberal to friends and strangers. His acquaintance, by reason of his active and varied course of life, extended widely among the leading men of his time. He had considerable knowledge of the early history of the section in which he lived. Though progressive, he loved the traditions of the past, and honored and respected the men who removed the wilderness, and laid the foundations of both local and national progress.
His love of books and his superiority of taste, united to rare system and method, enabled him to collect many thousands of volumes, selected with great care, and containing, it is stated, more rare works than can be found in any private library of the country. His collection of autographs was unusu- ally complete; and by his skill in arranging, mounting, and illustrating them, they constituted a unique feature of his literary possessions.
He was a well-read and clear-minded lawyer, respecting and respected by the profession, but his business affairs multiplied year by year and took him from active practice, though it had been attended with abundant success. To the extent and variety of his labors may be attributed, in part, the sudden and comparatively premature closing of his life.
He died at Towanda, May 14, 1870, aged sixty-three.
CHAPTER XII.
HERRICK.
THIS township was formed from parts of Gibson1 and Clifford, May, 1825. Its original extent was eight miles on the Wayne County line, south from the N.E. corner of Gibson (then near Long Lake, or Dunn's Pond, now in Ararat), by four miles and a half east and west-a right-angled parallelogram. It was reduced to its present proportions in 1852, having then parted with three-eighths of its former territory on the north. It re- ceived its name in honor of Judge Edward Herrick, who was then presiding over the Courts of Susquehanna County, which was included in one district with Bradford and Tioga. He had been appointed for this district upon its erection in August, 1818, and he continued to preside over it twenty-one years,
1 The court had been petitioned, May, 1815, to have Gibson divided "through the centre from north to south ; the ' westermost ' part to retain the name of Gibson, and the new town to be called Lawrence." Nothing further appears in relation to it.
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lacking one term of court. Judge Herrick is still living at Athens, Bradford County.
" Though now (1870) 82 years of age, he is as erect as ever, and loves to converse, with his older acquaintances especially. Enjoying the fruits of early care and industry, he takes little interest in the contests of the day for wealth or honor ; but in the bosom of his surviving family, and in the society of books and papers, he is a good specimen of vigorous old age. Though he was the weakest of a large family of children, he has outlived them all, thanks to his calm and equable temperament, and the good providence of God."
That section of the township north of the Great Bend and Coshecton Turnpike, is but sparsely settled. The principal timber left there is hemlock. The traveler, in entering the town by the road from Ararat church, passes through woods where there is not a resident for a mile and a half; and, if in summer, seems to be going through a tunnel roofed with green interlacing boughs, which for some time close to him the view of the exit beyond. The surface here appears to be a continu- ation of the broad table-land of Ararat, gradually sloping to the south, from which spring the sources of the east branch of the Tunkhannock. The west branches of the Lackawanna, rising in Ararat, are but slender streams in the northern part of Herrick, which is cold and wet compared with the section below the turnpike. The latter is a good farming country, though but little wheat is grown. The best crops are oats and corn.
The township is walled in by mountains on two sides. The Moosic Mountain ranges along the eastern border, and the two peaks of Elk Mountain tower in the extreme southwest, though Prospect Rock is just below the township line; while East or " Tunkhannock Mountain" (as it was formerly called), rises a little beyond in Gibson, and extends nearly to the line between Herrick and Ararat.
A road traversed the township prior to January, 1798, which was even then known as "the old Brace road." A part of this has been traveled within the memory of present residents; but its route beyond the limits of Herrick seems very indis- tinctly defined.
At the time mentioned above, the Court at Wilkes-Barre appointed a committee to see if a new township was needed, " beginning at the line of Northampton County (now Wayne) where the Brace road crosses said line, then running due west," etc. etc.
At the same term a petition was presented for a road to Great Bend, from Samuel Stanton's near the line of North- ampton County (or near Mount Pleasant) :-
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" To begin at the line of said county, where the road crosses said line, and run west to the third Lackawanna bridge ; thence to Abel Kent's, thence to Asahel Gregory's, thence to Johnson's Creek, thence to D. Church's, thence to Tunkhannock Creek, thence to Joseph Potter's, thence to old Brace road, thence to David Hamilton's, then to Daniel Hunt's, then to Daniel Leach's, then nearly west to Salt Lick, then to R. Corbett's, then north six miles to the ferry Great Bend-23 miles." [See Gibson.]
This, with an alteration afterwards made, was approved and confirmed, April, 1799.
The route proposed is given here to show that the roads were distinct from each other. The line of the Great Bend and Coshecton turnpike, run a few years later, follows the latter in its general route; but the Brace road appears to have been designed to connect the road cut through to Great Bend, by settlers of 1791, with the north and south road in Northamp- ton County, some miles below the point intersected by the road mentioned above.
A road from Belmont to Tioga Point, though never com- pleted, is laid down on Proud's Map of Pennsylvania (1798), as "the grand route northwestward, and the only road in the section now included in Susquehanna County."
At that time Herrick was within the limits of Nicholson township, which then covered territory now embraced in five whole townships, and parts of three more in Susquehanna County, besides a strip of the counties below. Thus we find on the court records mention made of a road "from the Brace road in Nicholson."
It appears to have left Northampton Co., at a point due east from the head of Stillwater Pond, in Clifford, and crossing the northeast corner of the township as it is, entered Herrick near the present farm of E. Carpenter. It passed through the orchard of Major Walter Lyon (late that of Wheeler Lyon), and is said to have intersected the old road to Great Bend not far from the west line of Herrick.
But, controverting this idea, it is the prevalent opinion that it terminated on the top of Tunkhannock (East) Mountain, in Gibson. This, in turn, is discountenanced by the statement that " it crossed the northeast corner of Nine Partners," as an order was issued August, 1800, for a road "from Van Winkle's mills on the Brace road," to run westward from Martin's Creek.
The principal lakes of the township of Herrick are Low Lake and Lewis Lake. The former was named after John N. Low, an early settler who died previous to 1814. It is one mile long, and is near the centre of the township. At its outlet, Lewis Lake, near Uniondale, has superior water privileges. Just above the turnpike there is a large reservoir made by a dam in one of the tributaries of the Lackawanna. This stream, with two tributaries to Tunkhannock Creek, drains the township.
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
SETTLEMENT.
Nathaniel Holdridge was probably the first settler ; it is stated he was here as early as 1789. He removed soon after to Great Bend, then Willingborough.
In 1790-'92, Abel Kent and his brother Gideon, with their families; Asahel Gregory and family ; Jonas and Sylvanus Campbell; Daniel Church, and - Hale (two hunters), came over the mountain, or via the Susquehanna River, into this secluded region, where they were joined in the latter year by Walter Lyon. The only other settler known to have come in before 1800 was John C. Awalt.
Abel, John, and Carlton Kent were brothers (Carlton 2d was son of Abel); and Gideon and Durham sons of Gideon Kent, Sr. The old road of 1791 passed the vicinity of their clearings, which were known as the "Kent Settlement" many years. It was about four miles west of Belmont, and nearly a mile south of the Great Bend and Coshecton Turnpike, and a little west of the Wilkes-Barre turnpike, or where these roads were after- wards located.
Abel Kent was a "taverner," as early as 1798, on the farm now owned by Mr. J. Thomas. He died in 1806. His brother John then kept a public-house on the old road until 1812, when he built and removed to a tavern at the junction of the two turnpikes.
Asahel Gregory, who also had lived on the old road, then moved up to the turnpike, about half a mile west of John Kent. He was the first justice of the peace in this section. His career was an active one for the times, in the hardships of which he had a full share. He brought his family down the Susquehanna River to the Bend on a raft, and when their destination was reached he built a log hut, peeled bark to shelter the bed, and took possession.
Mr. Gregory lived in Herrick over forty years, when he re- moved to the residence of his son Samuel, in Bridgewater, where he died April, 1842, at the age of 83. He was a Revolutionary pensioner. His remains rest in the burial lot on Dr. Asa Park's old place.
Hubbel Gregory, his son, had a small store, about 1820, near his father's residence in Herrick. He removed to Michi- gan, and died at Ann Arbor, in the 72d year of his age.
Traditions of the exploits of the hunters Church and Hale are still extant, but some of them have too improbable an air for sober history. Hale pursued his calling con amore. Once, when entertaining a friend at his house, he heard that peculiar barking of his hounds which announced the approach of game, when he exclaimed, "Oh, what heavenly music !" His friend,
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not appreciating a hunter's taste, or not understanding the cause of his pleasure, replied, " The d-d hounds make such a noise I can't hear it!"
Jonas Campbell remained in this vicinity at least twenty years. He married a daughter of Mr. Awalt; their son was drowned in their spring in his second year, and his body was the first buried in the cemetery at Uniondale, June, 1811.
Walter Lyon came from Ashford, Conn., in 1792, with his wife and one child on a rudely-fashioned sled, a yoke of steers, and an ax; his wife's stepfather (Green) drove in a heifer for her, and carried a pair of steelyards-all their worldly effects. He bought of John Clifford 400 acres, on which he afterwards built the large house in which he lived and died; and, adjoin- ing this tract, he bought 100 acres of William Poyntell (a land- holder who died, 1811, in Philadelphia), and paid for the whole, within a few years afterward, by lumbering on the Delaware River. He had also 200 acres additional.
His family was large, including five sons-Wheeler, Jacob, John, Henry, and Walter, to whom he gave five large adjoin- ing farms, the road through which has been named "Lyon Street." Their descendants are numerous in the vicinity.
In early times, he was obliged to take his grain to Great Bend on his back, and return with his grist in the same man- ner. Once, when the water was low, he was obliged to wait for his grist three weeks; and, not wishing to make a second journey, he hired out to husk corn. In the mean time, his family had only potatoes and milk to eat, and were in great fear for his safety, as his route lay through forests then tra- versed by bears, panthers, and wolves, and broken by only a few clearings.
He was an active man in township and county affairs, being justice of the peace, a major in the 76th regiment Pennsylvania militia, and a county commissioner, besides being often in- trusted with other public business. He went on foot to attend court at Wilkes-Barre before the organization of Susquehanna County. He died in 1838, aged 68.
Wheeler Lyon, his eldest son, occupied the homestead until his death, February 20, 1870, aged 76.
Walter L. died in the spring of 1872.
Jacob L. was colonel of the " Washington Guards," a volun- teer battalion of Pennsylvania militia. He was " honest, patri- otic, intelligent, public-spirited, and generous." He died May 10, 1854, aged nearly 58 years.
John Coonrod Awalt was one of the Hessian soldiers that England hired to fight her colonies of this country; and of those who, after the war, chose to remain here. He located on the road leading from Frost Hollow to Mt. Pleasant, and within
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a few rods of the county line. He had a large family of chil- dren, most of whom had arrived at maturity previous to 1807.
Seth Holmes was, early in the century, if not previously, located southwest from " The Corners."
Luke Harding and his son Elisha were also here early ; their farm was next above Major Lyon's, and joined Abel Kent's, on the opposite side of the road.
Joseph Sweet settled, about 1804 or 1805, on the farm now owned by James Curtis, near the present tannery of Ira Nichols, a locality which, as the center of business, is also called " Her- rick Center," though very nearly on the east line of the town- ship. He kept a tavern very early where, after the Newburgh Turnpike (Great Bend and Coshecton) was completed, a popular house was kept by Sylvanus, son of Ithamar Mott, of New Mil- ford. Here stages and relays of horses were at all times in readiness to supply the heavy demands of the road. Mr. Sweet sold and moved away about 1815, and Ezra Newton had a part of his farm.
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