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 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
"With these developments he labored on the farm and in the workshop; improved the scanty opportunities in his reach to gain knowledge by attend- ing and teaching common schools ; and was active in all of the political and other gatherings of the people. All seemed bright before him.
" On the 5th of June, 1797, he was united in marriage to Betsey Jenkins, of Tunkhannock, who became the mother of his twelve children, and the beloved and faithful partner of his toils and privations, as well as his hopes and en- joyments, during fifty-five years of his earthly pilgrimage.
" In 1801, while living in Exeter with his young family, toiling for and rapidly acquiring wealth-carrying on at the same time the business of farm- ing, blacksmithing, and distilling ardent spirits-he was arrested in his career, and by the power of divine Grace his proud heart was made to yield to the
Payraved by Jthu S . Main, Flult
一
307
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
requirements of the law of faith in an atoning sacrifice, and changed at once all of the plans and purposes of his life.
"He was received and baptized into the Exeter Baptist church, August 9th, 1801, by Eld. Jacob Drake, the pioneer Baptist minister of the valley. Heeding the great commission which seemed directed to him-' Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,' turning back upon place proffered in legislative halls, he commenced preaching that Jesus whom he had persecuted, and that resurrection which, in the scepticism of his heart, he had repudiated. His first sermon was blessed by the divine Spirit in leading his companion to embrace Christ as her only hope.
"In 1803, at the yearly meeting of the Apocalyptic number of Baptist churches, then called the Susquehanna Baptist Connection, he was formally ordained to the ministry, by the imposition of the hands of the elders, and soon came to occupy a prominence which made him the master spirit of the Connection.
"The incident connected with his call to Bridgewater has already been given. Upon his settlement he engaged earnestly in ministerial work.
" In 1810, under his labors, occurred what was afterwards known as 'the great revival,' in which fifty-two, mostly by baptism, were added to the num- ber of the church. The influence spread into the settlement from fifteen to twenty miles around, and he followed it up with an energy and zeal that knew no bounds but impossibilities. Often might he have been seen, on his horse, threading his way from settlement to settlement, along forest paths, over hills, and through valleys, sometimes guided only by marked trees. Here or there, where he found a hut or log cabin, he was wont to stop, if but for a moment, to minister a word of admonition or cheer to its sinning, sick, or disconsolate inhabitants. He soon came to be everywhere known, and a welcome visitor.
" He had studied medicine in his earlier years; and on coming here when there was no physician, his medical services were often required and given. Finding it an aid rather than detriment to his gospel ministry, he continued more or less to practice successfully during subsequent life.
"Not deeming it inconsistent with his ministerial office, nor an infringe- ment upon his pastoral duties, he accepted, through the general solicitation of his fellow citizens, from the hands of the governor, an appointment of associate judge of the then new county of Susquehanna. In this capacity he served successfully and honorably, from the time of the organization of the judiciary, during the term of twenty-seven years.
" He organized churches in Auburn, Rush, Middletown, Choconut, Great Bend, Harford, New Milford, Jackson, Gibson, Dimock, and possibly else- where.
"Eld. Dimock was the sole pastor of the Bridgewater church, from its organization in 1808, down to June, 1835, a term of twenty-seven years. At the close of that period, notwithstanding deaths and removals, the church numbered 322 members.
" At the expiration of his sole pastorate of the church, by his own request, Eld. J. B. Worden became associated with him. This relation continued two years ; when from the infirmities of age and disease, and a desire to retire from the exciting scenes of a new era in the church, he resigned his relation, took a letter from this, and united with the church at Braintrim, having previously received a call to become its pastor. As pastor of that church, he labored, according to the measure of his health and strength, witnessing many tokens that those labors were not in vain, until the fall of 1847, when admonished by physicians, and his personal consciousness of what a long life of labor and privation, as well as disease, had wrought upon his wonderful constitution, he resigned the pastorate to another.
"In the spring of 1848, he returned with his companion to Montrose to reside the remainder of his days with his children. He reunited with this
-
308
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
church and supplied occasionally its pulpit ; lived to enjoy and deepen the interest of its semi-centennial anniversary."
Mrs. Dimock died December 1st, 1852, aged 72. Elder Dimock died September 27th, 1858, aged 82 years and 4 months.
They had twelve children, two of whom died in infancy ; three daughters married and settled in the vicinity, and one died young. Of their sons who lived to adult age-Benjamin, Davis, Asa G., John H., David and Gordon Z .- only two are now living.
Hon. Davis Dimock, Jr., was an early editor in the county, and a politician of influence. He died while a member of Congress, January, 1842.
Jonathan Vaughn, from Arlington, Vt., settled in Bridge- water, February 18, 1810, but had visited this section the pre- vious year. From a short diary kept by him, we have the following items :-
1810 .- February 24, sap free ; April 21, apple trees with leaves ; May 1, Daniel Austin and Chapman Carr came ; went to the mouth of the Wyalus- ing and one and a half miles below to Stalford's for wheat; meeting on Sabbath "out at Wilson's," and at Eld. Dimock's ; September, helped Mr. Warner at a logging bee; November, many inquiring the way to Zion.
1811 .- January, conference meeting at Mr. Samuel Scott's ; singing-school by James Burch ; February, went twice in one week to Lathrop's mills after boards for the school-house; June, married Lydia Avery ; October, four of us pulled one hundred bushels of turnips.
1811 .- July, a Mr. Nelson, missionary, preached in our school-house ; 6th, militia election at Isaac Post's, and a noisy time it was ; December 27, Che- nango turnpike laid out through the settlement across my land.
1812 .- January 30, sap run some. [Caleb Bush and Matthew Baldwin are mentioned. At a later date he enters : "Split 260 rails and left off before night."]
Jonathan Vaughn died in 1869, aged ninety.
Dr. Rose gave ten acres of land on which to erect a school- house. The first one built of logs, was on the old road (long since vacated), about half-way between Thomas Scott's and Scott Baldwin's, who were about two and a half miles apart. The next school-house was built near Scott Baldwin's. Beginning at the foot of "Brewster's Hill," the settlers on the west side of the road in 1810, were in the following order : Simeon Tyler, Scott Baldwin, David Dimock, Simeon Cook, Jonathan Vaughn, and Thomas Scott. (Henry Congdon was a little off from the road.)
On the east side there were: Nathan Brewster, Samuel Bald- win, Phineas Warner, Richard Daniels, Asa Baldwin, Samuel Scott, and Benjamin Fancher.
Jared Clark purchased, in 1812, the lot next above Asa Baldwin.
The north and south roads were well settled, while in the direction of New Milford, and of Heart Lake, all was yet a
309
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
dense forest, with the exception of the clearing of Nathaniel Curtis, who was alone for nearly four years.
In 1810, Hugh and Alexander McCollum, brothers, from Duanesburgh, N. Y., located in his vicinity; Alexander occupied " the Fields farm," now owned by L. Gardner.
In 1811, Cornelius Wood, also from near Albany, N. Y .; Solomon Simmons and family, from Connecticut, and Samuel and Abraham Chamberlin, from Greene County, New York; in 1812, Charles Trumbull, and in 1814, Walter Stewart from Duanesburg, New York, were added to the settlement. All were on the road leading from Brooklyn to New Milford and on roads just west of it, or on that leading from Heart Lake to Montrose, forming a triangle.
Very soon after, Lemuel Beebe and Ebenezer Williams from Connecticut, and Abraham E. Kennard and Joseph Guernsey from Windsor, New York, settled here, and Ezra Kingsley, who in 1832 went with the Mormons.
Of the heads of the foregoing dozen families-constituting " the Curtis neighborhood"-all are now deceased.
There are but two families of the name of Curtis remaining in the neighborhood, viz., Cornelius J. and the family of Joshua W., both sons of Nathaniel Curtis, Jr. The former owns and occupies the farm that his grandfather and father took up when it was a wilderness. The other sons of Nathaniel, Jr., were Anson, a physician of some eminence in Pittston, Luzerne County, who died in 1855, and Gaylord, now a banker at Susquehanna Depot. N. Curtis, Jr., died May, 1850.
Harvey Curtis built the first grist-mill on the outlet of Heart Lake, in 1823. The present one, owned by J. L. Griffing, was built by Grant and Hammond, in 1842.
Alexander McCollum left his farm in Bridgewater, over thirty years ago, and lived some years in New Milford. He died at Lanesboro', April 1, 1871, in his ninety-second year- the last of the east neighborhood pioneers. His sons were five : John, Hugh, George, Alexander, and Peter.
Hugh McCollum, 1st, and family, with the exception of one son, Daniel, moved to Wisconsin in 1844. Daniel McCollum, and John, son of Alexander, remain in Bridgewater ; Hugh McCollum, 2d, is in Montrose.
Of the sons of Solomon Simmons, Julius, Charles, Solomon, Harly, and Garry, went to Illinois, and all are now dead but Charles.
Solomon, Jr., once cut a slender branch from an American willow at Towanda, used it as a cane while walking home, then stuck it into the ground near the house, and it now flourishes as a large tree that marks the site of his father's log cabin, near
310
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
the present toll-gate, on the farm of N. Passmore. (There was once a beaver dam near Passmore's present brick·kiln.)
Ira, son of Solomon Simmons, resided in Bridgewater and New Milford until his death.
The oldest child of Solomon Simmons, Sen., Mrs. Luther Catlin, the only one of the family who remained in the town- ship, died October 25, 1872, in the eighty-fifth year of her age.
Luther Catlin came from Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 1812, and located near his cousin, Putnam Catlin, in what is now Brooklyn; but soon after came to the place now occupied by Robert Kent, and made the first clearing there. He removed after a time to the present location of John Reynolds, on the Meshoppen ; but, about forty years ago, he came to the farm, previously occupied by a Mr. Matteson, where he now resides with his son, Martin L. Two of his sons located at the West.
Erastus Catlin, brother of Luther, made the first clearing on the Harrington farm. He removed to Dundaff, and afterwards to Pitcher, N. Y., where he died. The only representative of his family in the county is Mrs. Abel Turrell.
Ebenezer Williams went to Illinois in 1837; Alonzo L. Kennard, to Iowa; William, son of Samuel Chamberlin, and Lewis E., son of Abraham Chamberlin remained in the town- ship. Israel Chamberlin, who recently murdered his wife and then committed suicide, was the son of Samuel.
Others of the pioneers here are represented by John Trum- bull, Daniel Stewart, Levi Guernsey, John and Peleg Wood- all substantial farmers. The last two are sons of Cornelius Wood, who had four others, viz., Jonathan, Eseck (in Illinois), Ezra, and Ira, now removed.
Ezekiel G. Babcock came to the county (possibly later to this neighborhood), about 1812.
It is remarked that there is a striking contrast in the char- acter and success in life of the families of the pioneers in this section ; those who were taught to reverence the Sabbath seem to be prosperous, while those who disregarded it are the reverse.
The plank road, or its later substitute, has proved of immense service to East Bridgewater; the farmers send over it large quantities of butter every season to Montrose Depot, for the New York markets. At its junction with the road to Brooklyn, the East Bridgewater post-office was established in 1868.
In early times the mills of this and adjoining townships would often lack water, and farmers were obliged to go to Windsor, twenty-six miles, with their grain.
Timothy Brown, from Connecticut, and Samuel Parmeter, from the Mohawk, were early settlers on the farms now owned by Elijah Brown and Andrus Aldrich. Joseph and William
311
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
Darrow were early on the farms now owned by Messrs. Shu- felts and J. F. Gardiner.
Jonah Brewster, brother of Nathan, located in 1812, near the present farm of Joseph Watrous. His house is still standing, being the first one on the road leading to Brooklyn. He was much interested in politics, and once represented this section in the State Legislature. He had five wives (one of whom was a sister of Hon. William Jessup) and ten children. He left Susquehanna County about 1830, and went to Tioga County, where he engaged in the mercantile business. Was appointed to the judgeship to fill a vacancy, and removed to Wellsboro', where he died about 1858, aged seventy-eight.
James W. Hill, afterwards justice of the peace, settled in Bridgewater, in 1812, and cleared a farm, where he resided until his death in 1853, at the age of sixty-three. He and Reuben Reynolds occupied a log-house together for a time.
Joseph Butterfield, who settled in Forest Lake in 1801, re- moved in 1812, to the Samuel Main farm in Bridgewater, where he died in 1848, aged seventy ; Mrs. B. died about ten years later. Their sons, Oliver, Alanson, and Joseph are all dead.
The vicinity of Williams' Pond echoed to the ring of the woodman's ax about the same time with the east neighborhood.
Joseph Williams and Jarah Stephens (his father-in-law) came together from Pierstown, Otsego County, New York, and lo- cated their lands in 1809 ; but returned to their families for the winter. In the spring of 1810, they came again, and made a clearing, and, with the help of men from Great Bend, rolled up a log-house. Mr. Stephens was left to finish it, while Mr. Williams went for his family, who returned with him, May, 1810, accompanied also by Philander, son of Jarah Stephens. Mrs. Williams and her children, Orin and Frederick (the latter born the preceding January), came to the house when it was but half shingled and floored, and when a blanket served for the door, and while in this unprotected condition, heard in the night the tread of a wild animal on the roof, which, by its tracks, was afterwards ascertained to have been a panther. Their daughter, Mrs. A. L. Post, was born here, the framed house (still standing) not being erected until 1823. Mrs. Elea- nor Williams died in 1827.
Jarah and Philander Stephens brought their families in 1811. The former was a captain in the Revolutionary army ; he died here December, 1821; the latter removed to Dimock.
Daniel Foster, who came in 1812 from Vermont, and settled on the road to New Milford, near Williams' Pond, formed the fourth of that name then in the township, including Montrose, between whom there existed no relation. He was on the top
312
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
of the hill; James Stephens cleared the farm beyond, lately occupied by Otis Bullard.
William Stephens occupied what has since been known as Timothy Warner's place; Nathan Shipman, William Salmon, John, James, and Luther Snow, and Stephen Webb, were set- tlers on the Snake Creek about 1812. Luther Peck, Gideon Southworth, from Connecticut, Andrew Young, and perhaps others, were in the vicinity about 1814.
Bela Jones came from Colchester, New London County, Connecticut, May, 1810, and lived for a time with Isaac Post in the first building he put up. On June 7th, 1811, he cut the first tree on his farm, one mile from Montrose. In 1813, he cut floor boards and small timber for the court-house. In 1815 he was town clerk. In the winter of 1818-19 he assisted Wil- liam Jessup in teaching the first school in the old academy ; both being in the lower rooms. In 1820, he took the census for Susquehanna County. In 1833-1835 he honorably repre- sented the county in the State Legislature. Few names occur more frequently than his as chairman of political meetings of the old democratic school. He resided nearly forty years on the northern shore of the lake which is still known as Jones' Lake.
Here, in 1814, he erected a carding-machine. A description of the effort required to accomplish this, was recently given by J. Backus in the 'Montrose Republican.'
"Bela Jones, Esq., and myself proposed to set up a carding-machine at the outlet of Jones' Lake. 'Taking my knapsack of provisions, I started on foot for Otsego County, New York, distant about one hundred miles, where machines were being manufactured; purchased a single machine, and set about finding means of transportation.
" An acquaintance told me he had a skiff in the river somewhere below, and if I could find it I might take it for that purpose. I hired a teamster to carry my machine to a place designated, in the neighborhood of what was then known as Collier's tavern, some miles above Wattles' ferry, where I found the skiff, bottom upwards, with its seams so opened by the sun as to cause it to be very leaky. However, I procured some tow and tar, and pro- ceeded to calk and fit my craft for the voyage. I succeeded, and, loading, I set sail. Landing at night, and putting up with a settler along the bank, I reached Great Bend in safety, deposited my freight in DuBois's shed, and came home. At that time it was much more difficult to get teaming done than now; but Capt. Abinoam Hinds, a very kind, obliging man, went with me on Saturday, to bring the machine, and such was the condition of the roads that we failed to reach our destination till long after dark ; so we de- tached the horses, came into town, put them in Austin Howell's shed, and the captain led the way into the chamber of the house, and we retired for the night. Starting early, before any one was stirring, we unloaded, and returned home without disturbing the community.
" I will describe the locality of our machinery : Across the stream, a short distance below the outlet, we felled a couple of trees for the foundation of the building ; erected a small frame, put the machine in operation, and find- ing business accumulating, we concluded to manufacture a single machine ourselves; but where was the foundry to do our casting? That must be
313
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY
started; so a Mr. Perkins, a very ingenious mechanic, being with us, estab- lished a water blast ; but where was the metal ? I canvassed far and near for broken iron ware, and we succeeded in our endeavors.
"Let any one bear in mind the means and mode of travel, and of doing business, and then step into Sayre's foundry, in Montrose, Mott's cloth factory, in Bridgewater, or Wright's cloth factory, in Forest Lake, and behold the contrast."
With only such facilities, it can hardly be supposed that this, or the saw-mill and grist-mill he erected here about the same time, were the best of their kind; but they served the com- munity many years.
Bela Jones removed a few years since to Liberty, and kept the " Valley House"-noted for its generous cheer. He mar- ried a sister of Nathan Brewster; of their children, three daughters reside in the county, but their only son died young. Mr. Jones died March 9, 1872, in the eighty-second year of his age.
Amos Nichols came to Bridgewater in 1810. The following statement appears in Rev. A. L. Post's 'Historical Discourse.'
" While there is a history of the church, the names of Deacon Amos Nichols and Amindwell, his wife, must have a prominent place. Taking into account their ability and means we shall have to seek long to find those who have accomplished an equal amount of good. They were received into the church on letters from the Baptist church in Salisbury, N. Y., March 18, 1810. In November following, he was ordained the first deacon of the Bridgewater Baptist church."
He died in New Milford July, 1845, at the house of his son- in-law, Secku Meylert, in the seventy-second year of his age. Mrs. Nichols had died in Bridgewater the year previous.
Dr. James Cook, the first regularly educated physician in the town, located about this time across the Wyalusing Creek, opposite Stephen Wilson. He practiced here several years, and then removed to Spencer, N. Y.
Josiah Mills came to Bridgewater in 1811, and settled near C. Hinds' last location. He was born in Roxbury, Massachu- setts, October 7, 1763. In his fourteenth year, then a homeless orphan, he enlisted in the Revolutionary army as a drummer. After a year's service, he exchanged his drum for a musket, which he carried to the close of the war, receiving an honor- able discharge. He was at the battle of White Plains; was with Gates at Stillwater and Saratoga, assisting at the capture of Burgoyne; was also with Washington at Trenton and Princeton, and endured the terrible sufferings of the march through the Jerseys, and the fearful winter at Valley Forge. He was also permitted to share in the glorious triumph of the federal armies at Yorktown. In after years he received a pen- sion.
Soon after the war he emigrated, with his young wife, to the
314
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
wilds of Maine, and was one of the first settlers of the town of Joy, Oxford County, where he remained until his removal to Susquehanna County.
He had received, in 1804, a commission as captain, from Governor Caleb Strong, of Massachusetts-Maine then being a province of that State.
In 1812, he married, for his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Elder Samuel Sturdevant, of Braintrim.
In 1817, Captain Mills settled on a farm two and a half miles west of Montrose, on which he lived until his death, March 23, 1833, in his seventieth year. His widow died in Montrose, September, 1841.
One child, Bartlet Hinds Mills, formerly an editor and mer- chant in Montrose, has been a resident of Upper Alton, Illinois, since 1854.
In a recent letter, he says: "Often have I heard my father speak of the three African regiments in the Revolutionary war, officered by white men, and of the gallant and effective service they rendered ; and, in connection with this, he would denounce the system of American slavery as something abhorrent, utterly at variance with the principles he had suffered to maintain."
Samuel Gregory, who had been with his father in what is now Herrick at an early day, came from Mt. Pleasant late in 1811, and settled half a mile south of Montrose. His family then consisted of his wife, one son, and two daughters; another son and four daughters were born here.
The two sons, Rufus B., a graduate of Union College, and a young lawyer of great promise, and Asa, a graduate of West Point Military Academy, and a lieutenant of the regular army, died in Florida. Rufus was the hero boy of thirteen years, of . whom mention was made, in our county paper, as having, while on a squirrel hunt, encountered and killed a large bear.
Mr. Gregory died June, 1850, aged sixty-five. He had twice been sheriff of the county, and is spoken of as a bold and efficient officer.
A story is told of his serving a writ of ejectment, when he knew the inmates of the house were prepared to eject him with hot water. He managed to elude being seen, and entered the loft of the house through a window, and raised a board of the chamber floor. The hot water did not then prevent his serving the writ.
Mrs. G. had marked characteristics. Without the least osten- tation or affectation, she possessed a quaintness and good humor which was peculiarly attractive. She was a sufferer from ill health many years, and died, in 1869, when within three days of her eighty-sixth birth-day.
Dr. Asa Park, a native of Preston, Connecticut, who had
315
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
located in Mt. Pleasant, in 1806, and had married, in 1808, Lo- rana, sister of Samuel Gregory, came with the latter to the vicinity of Montrose. The two families, at first, occupied the house vacated by Samuel Cogswell, who had sold his farm to Dr. Park.
Dr. P.'s practice began here in January, 1812, and became extensive and lucrative, but was relinquished to his son, Ezra S., after about thirty years. Mrs. P. died in October, 1845, and Dr. Park in January, 1854, aged seventy-one. They were buried on their farm, as were also Mr. and Mrs. Gregory, and other relatives of the family.
Dr. Ezra S. Park practiced here about twenty-five years, and removed to the West in 1858. He was an infant when his pa- rents left Mt. P. They had lost two children. Two sons, Hiram and Asa, and four daughters were born here. Hiram moved West in 1836, and died in 1838. The daughters all married here; two are dead, one resides in Montrose, and one upon the old homestead. Asa was a volunteer in a New York regiment, and was killed at the first battle of Bull Run.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.