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 52
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" He had studied medicine, and graduated in the University of Pennsylva- nia, to please his friends who thought he should have a profession ; but it is said he never seriously intended to practice.
"His paternal property was sufficient, and his tastes were suited by the circle in which he moved. His musical abilities were of a high order, and his poetic and literary tastes made him a prominent member of the literary club of which Dennie (editor of the 'Port Folio,' until his death, January, 1812), Nicholas Biddle, Ewing, Cadwallader, and a few others were ornaments.
" The venerable Thomas Sully, one of our first as well as our oldest artists (deceased), told me he owed to him a debt of gratitude, for that he took him by the hand when he (Sully) was unknown, encouraged and patronized him, and was, he considered, the founder of his fortune."
Dr. Rose, as an author, is mentioned in a succeeding chapter. As early as 1804 or 1805 he must have made the excursion referred to; but before making his purchase he interested him- self in the disposition of portions of the Drinker and Francis estates.
During the year 1809, he gathered about him a large number of workmen to fell trees near the lake, and to construct a saw- mill preparatory to the erection of his dwelling house.
His enterprises were a benefaction to those whose services he required, as they were paid for in cash-a rare return for labor then.
In 1809, Zenas Bliss came with a large family from Tolland County, Connecticut, and located in the vicinity of the Choco- nut Creek, but still within the bounds of Silver Lake township. He was the first justice of the peace appointed here.
"He was a Puritan of the old school. In early life he made a profession of the religion of Christ, and was ever afterward distinguished for consistent and devoted though unobtrusive piety. As a magistrate, he exhibited an enlightened sense of his duty as a guardian of the public peace. He believed that peace was as effectually promoted by discouraging unnecessary litiga- tion as by inflicting the salutary penalty of the law when circumstances made that necessary."
In 1841, he removed to Leroy, Bradford County, where he died January 26th, 1861, in the 94th year of his age. His wife died there previously. His first vote was cast for Washington, his last for Lincoln.
His sons were six : Gordon (now in Connecticut), Horace, Edwin, Beza H., Clark W., and Chester. Horace, long a resi- dent of Choconut, and deacon of the Baptist Church there, spent the last years of his life in Silver Lake. He died May 15, 1868,
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
aged 76 years. Beza and Clark are also dead. The latter was a physician at Elmira, New York. The youngest son is a physician at Watkins, New York. Of his two daughters, one is living at the latter place. Some of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren are at present residents of Silver Lake.
Dr. Rose held out inducements to industrious men to pur- chase farms in the vicinity. A number of the first settlers were Quakers, and from their location the largest lake in the town- ship-one mile long and half a mile wide-derived the name by which it is most frequently called, Quaker Lake, though its prettier designation-Derwent Lake-should be revived.
Alpheus Finch, Peter Soule, and others were near it;, and the township has not at present, to the tourist, a more inviting locality.
On the 10th of June, 1809, Alpheus and Sylvanus Finch, Jacob Hoag, Isaac Higgins, Charles Wooster, Peter Soule, and Philip Griffith arrived at Binghamton from Duanesburg, Sche- nectady County, New York, and from thence they proceeded by marked trees to Silver Lake. There was but one clearing (a Mr. Gould's), between Binghamton and the lake, except that begun by Dr. Rose.
The party did not bring in their families until 1810. They were two days in reaching Silver Lake from Binghamton.
The first house was erected by Alpheus Finch, on the east side of the Quaker Lake; the second by Philip Griffith, on the farm now owned by James Foster. Logs were rolled up to form the sides, and split logs served for floors, gable ends, and roofs.
Philip Griffith lived fifty-nine years in Silver Lake, until his death, November 21, 1868, in the 79th year of his age. His father, Jabez, came into the township a little later, and remained to the close of his life, March, 1819, aged 82 years.
The wife of Philip Griffith was a sister of Peter Soule and a daughter of Jonathan Soule, who came later. Her death occurred in 1857. They had ten children, and all married while their parents were living. The sons were, David, Jonathan, Benjamin, Isaac, Philip, Ezekiel, Absalom, and Charles. The only one of the family now in Silver Lake is Mrs. Joseph S. Gage.
Four of the sons of Jonathan Soule are living, though none are nearer the lake than Windsor, New York. He had seven sons. and four daughters; one of the latter was the wife of Charles Wooster. He died June, 1842, aged 81.
In 1810, Philo Briggs, Joseph and John Whipple; in 1811, Mortimer Gage, and two or three years later, Henry Hoag, and William Miller, came to the township, all from Duanesburg, New York. Philo Briggs located on Sucker Brook, or the inlet of Quaker Lake. He died in 1859. Two of his daughters now
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
reside in the township-Mrs. Ansel B. Hill, and the widow of Michael Hill. The former has heard her mother speak of pounding corn for three weeks in succession, when it was the only article of food in the house.
Joseph Whipple first cleared the place where Dr. Lewis now lives, at Brackney. He afterwards moved to the northeast cor- ner of Quaker Lake, where a small frame house had been built and vacated by Charles Wooster. After clearing a farm here. he sold it to Dr. Rose, and then bought one hundred acres and a saw-mill on Ranney Creek, where Jonathan Howard lives. This he left, again to subdue the forests on the farm where he now resides. He has raised sixty bushels of wheat from two bushels of seed, in Silver Lake. He is now (1871) an octogena- rian.1 He reared twelve children, all now living, for whom he never spent a dollar for medicine. When he first settled here he could say that he lived in a township where there was neither physician, lawyer, nor justice of the peace. The latter office was soon after filled by Zenas Bliss.
Mortimer Gage (or Gaige, as formerly spelled) was the first- comer of all the Gages in Silver Lake. There have been eigh- teen or twenty families of that name in the township at one time, and at present there are sixteen. There are also six more families just over the State line. All are descendants of four brothers, Simeon, Moses, Benjamin, and Joseph Gage, of Duanes- burg, N. Y., of whom only Joseph resided here.
Dr. Rose had married, in 1810, a daughter of Andrew Hodge, Esq., of Philadelphia, and in 1811 he brought his bride to Silver Lake. For a time Mrs. R. boarded at Judge Thomson's, in Great Bend, " while some last touches were given to her new home; and when she took possession she was obliged to go on horseback, blazed trees alone marking the way. All the house- hold stores were carried on the backs of horses led by men. One stalwart man declared he could carry as much of such stuff as any horse; and a good portion of the more fragile things were packed for his shoulders, and he was paid accordingly, to his great satisfaction, and doubtless to the material benefit of the china."
The first roads of the settlers were in general very bad. They were made by cutting the trees down close to the ground, and when the roots had in a measure decayed, a furrow was ploughed on the outside and the earth thrown into the middle of the road. But even this labor was then thought too great, as the first object of the settlers was to raise grain for their families.
The rapid influx of population, within the next three or four years, can best be shown by an advertisement of Dr. Rose's which
1 Since deceased.
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY
appcared August 26, 1814, in ' The Union,' the first paper printed in Union County, Pa., and issued at Mifflinsburg :-
" To SETTLERS .- The subscriber offers for sale a large body of lands on the waters of the Wyalusing, Choconut, Apolacon, and Wappasuning Creeks, in the townships of Silver Lake, Bridgewater, Choconut, Middletown, and Rush ; county of Susquehanna (lately part of Luzerne county), and State of Pennsylvania. The timber is principally beech, mixed with sugar maple, hemlock, ash. birch, basswood, chestnut, cherry, and white pine. The soil is in general of a good quality, and the country remarkably healthy and well watered. There are several mills built, two post-offices established, and a considerable settlement formed which is rapidly increasing. Montrose, the seat of justice for the county, is placed on the southeastern part of the tract. It is about 130 miles from the city of New York, and 160 from Philadelphia. A turnpike is now making to the city of New York, which passes for twenty miles through the tract ; and another is granted to Wilkes-Barre, on the way to Philadelphia, which passes twelve miles through it. The purchaser is suffered to take his choice of all the land unsettled. The price is three dollars per acre, except for the lots on the turnpikes, which are four dollars per acre. A reasonable credit will be allowed, an indisputable title, and deed of general warrantee will be given. For further particulars inquire of the subscriber, at the Silver Lake, on the premises. ROBERT H. ROSE.
" We the subscribers have purchased farms on the lands of Robert H. Rose. The soil is in general of a good quality, deep and lasting ; and the situation very favorable on account of market for our produce :-
"Daniel Gaige, Peter Soule, Alpheus Finch, Oliver C. Smith, Isaac Howard, Mortimore Gaige, Abraham Gaige, Joseph Whipple, Philip Griffith, Peleg Butts, Charles Davis, Christian Shelp, Nathan Brewster, John Griffis, Jonathan Ellsworth, Henry Ellsworth, Jacob Bump, George Bump, John Lozier, William Price, Lark Moore, Bela Moore, Joseph Addison, Charles Chalker, Daniel Chalker, Scott Baldwin, Richard Daniels, Zenas Bryant, Ephraim Fancher, Zephaniah Cornell, Moses Chamberlin, Benjamin Fancher, Caleb Bush, Asa Baldwin, Samuel Baldwin, Philip Blair, Thurston Carr, Elisha Cole, Isaac Soule, Hiel Tupper, Jabez A. Birchard, David Owen, Jeremiah Glover, Albert Camp, Daniel Heman, Ebenezer Coburn, H. P. Corbin, D. Taylor, Lemuel Walbridge, Leman Turrell, Canfield Stone, Philo Bostwick, Salmon Bradshaw, Billings . Babcock, Robinson Bolles, Zenas Bliss, John C. Sherman, Philo Morehouse, Reuben Faxon, Darius Bixby, Asahel Southwell, Asa Brown, Edward Cox, Peter Brown, Amory Nelson, William Chamberlin, Daniel Chamberlin, Moses W. Chamberlin, Luther Dean.
" From Northumberland the distance is about 120 miles; the road is up the river, by Wilkes-Barre and Tunkhannock, at which places it leaves the river and passes by Montrose to Silver Lake. To Tunkhannock, 90 miles, the road is very good ; the greater part of the rest is bad, but is rapidly improving."
In a handbill, dated September, 1818, the above is repeated with additional statements.
" There are now about five hundred families resident on the land." (This included nearly one-fourth of Susquehanna County.) Another statement gives four post-offices instead of two, as in 1814. The distance from New York is shorter by seven miles. A third turnpike is mentioned (the Great Bend and Cochecton, completed in 1811, but not running through the Rose lands), as affording ready conveyance of produce to New York, as the Susquehanna River for that designed for Baltimore. The price 29
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
of lots on the turnpikes is rated at " six dollars, and for those off of them, five dollars per acre."' The terms were, "the interest commencing at the time of the contract, to be paid at the end of three years, and one-fifth part of the principal annually after- wards, making in all eight years."
Notwithstanding the easiness of these terms, the settlers fell behind in payment; this had been the case especially in previous years, when, between April, 1813, and September, 1815, more than one hundred suits were entered by Dr. Rose against debtors, though his leniency is still remembered. "It reflects no little honor on his memory," writes one, "that notwithstanding the large amount owing to him from a thousand different hands, yet from first to last he was never known to sell by process of law the personal property of any for the purpose of enforcing the collection of a debt."
The handbill stated further :-
"The great improvements making in Susquehanna County offer strong inducements to mechanics of various kinds, especially to those who wish to add to their trade the advantages of a farm in a country where convenience of situation is united to a healthy climate and fertile soil.
" The emigration from the Eastern States to Susquehanna County for the last two or three years has been very considerable; and the industrious farmers from that quarter of the Union find a great advantage in the climate because of its southern situation. A certificate as to the quality and ad- vantages of Susquehanna County might have been published, signed by all the settlers on the tract, but it has not been thought necessary to occupy the paper with more than the following." [Here were given fifty-five of the names included in the previous list.]
Certainly, nothing is stated here, but what has been abund- antly confirmed by the experience and observation of all after- comers; but it is no less true, that the imagination either of the old world emigrants or of correspondents on this side of the water, gave to this portion of the new world a roseate hue which the dull reality did not justify. Dense forests were relieved but by blackened stumps and log-cabins, except the rare occurrence of an occasional frame-house, and perhaps the only instance of one painted, was that of the doctor's own. Not only in beauty of exterior, but in size and all its appointments, it was then unsur- passed in the county. An engraving of it appeared a few years later (June, 1816), in the 'Port Folio' (a copy of which we give), accompanied by the following remarks :-
" The mansion of which we give a view, is the residence of one of the earliest and the most brilliant of the supporters of this journal. When we view our poetical friend retiring from the bustle, the tricks, and the heart- lessness of the world, to the tranquillity of sylvan shades, devoting the rich resources of his mind to the cultivation of the earth, we can scarcely con- ceive the exultation with which he may survey the wilderness of yesterday transformed into sloping lawns and smiling vales, covered with verdure and blossoming with the rose."
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
The " sloping lawns" must have been confined to this locality of the township; and the "smiling vales" were so narrow, it was but a strip of blue that o'erarched the whole.
Previous to the organization of Susquehanna County (1810) only one road had been regularly cut out within the present township of Silver Lake. This was a State road from the twenty- ninth mile-stone to what is now Montrose. It was but two rods wide.
In 1813 a road from Silver to Choconut Creek near Edward Cox's is reported; and in August of the same year, upon the pe- tition of Dr. Rose, the court appointed viewers to lay out a road from his house to Joseph Ross' on the North Branch of the Wyalusing. November 15th and 16th following, Leman Tur- rell, Philo Bostwick, Bela Moore, Joseph Ross, and Isaac Stone viewed the route the second time. It passed through the im- provements of Zenas Bliss and Bela Moore, beginning near Silver Lake and running west to the line between that township and Rush (now Choconut), thence to Choconut Creek road and down it 80 rods, then N. W. and afterwards S. W. to the Milford and Owego turnpike (past Nathan Nelson's), then on the turnpike southeast 48 rods, then southwest to the road leading to Ross', half a mile east of his saw-mill bridge. This was " confirmed finally," January, 1814. Still the facilities for travel were limited until Dr. Rose cut a road through to Snake Creek at his own ex- pense it is said. This connected with " the old Brunson road" in Lawsville, which reached Wiley Creek just within the limits of Great Bend, and followed it to its mouth. This was the first mail route to Great Bend from Montrose via Silver Lake.
John L. Minkler, Isaac and John Howard, and Oliver C. Smith were here prior to 1813. The last-named was a carpenter and joiner of superior skill for the times, and was the architect of the old court-house in Montrose. He built a grist-mill at the outlet. of Quaker Lake. Many years later Joseph Gage, Sen., built another on the same site.
In 1813, Dr. Rose also had a grist-mill in addition to his saw- mill. Both were a little above . the present saw-mill of his son,. E. W. Rose. The following year he paid no taxes in Bridge- water; forty-two taxables had been taken from the latter by the. erection of Silver Lake.
Alpheus Finch and Zenas Bliss were the first supervisors.
Peleg Butts was the first constable. He located near Mud Lake, but afterwards removed to Liberty, very near the State line, where he died.
Once he and his son Isaac, at work in the woods, in a time of. scarcity of provisions, were obliged to relieve their hunger by scraping and eating the inside of birch-bark.
In 1814, Eli Meeker came, with his family, from Columbia
1
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
County, N. Y., and settled near Quaker Lake, where his son Wil- liam (then twelve years old) is now located. His name is on the tax-list of 1813. He was a blacksmith, and had a shop near the lake shore. His sons were: William, Samuel, Nelson, Eli, Joshua, and Andrew, from whom have sprung numerous descend- ants. The sons of William were nine, of whom four reside north of the State line, as also, the six sons of Samuel. The descendants of Nelson and Joshua are in Michigan. Eli, Jr., resides in New York State, but three of his sons are in Silver Lake.
Aaron Meeker, a brother of Eli (Sen.), settled by the shore of the most northern lake in the township, and it has ever since been called by his name. He died July, 1850, leaving but one son, Reuben.
Indian relics, in the shape of sinkers, arrow-heads, hatchets, and pestles, were found by the early settlers in the vicinity of all the lakes, whilst ploughing.
The townships of Silver Lake and Choconut united, in 1814, to form a military company.
In 1815, the first school was taught in a log-house built by David Briggs, a cousin of Philo, on the farm now occupied by John Murphy. Nathaniel Matthews, from Connecticut, was the first teacher, and he was succeeded by Philip Griffith. The first school-house built by the township stood on the southwest corner at the cross-roads in the southern part of Brackney, and it was, for years, also a house of worship.
About 1815, Ephraim Strong built the house on Richmond Hill, which was popularly styled " Richmond Castle." The hill was named by the English settlers, after a locality in England. He kept here a store in a small way.
He was an active Presbyterian, to whose influence the first church of that denomination can trace its origin.
He removed in 1819 to the vicinity of Athens, Pa., where he purchased a large farm.
" Here he, with his numerous sons, made an opening in the pines, planted corn and potatoes, sowed buckwheat, built a snug frame-house, dug a well, and set out an orchard. Here this godly, intelligent, and well-educated household, the father a graduate of Yale College, and the mother a superior woman, lived several years. They removed to Hudson, Ohio."1
Ansel Hill and Zina Bushnell came from Middlesex County, Conn., in 1815. For the last twenty-five years Martin Hogan has occupied the house built by the latter. Just after Mr. B. left it, an Englishman by the name of Walley lived there.
Esquire Hill built near Mr. B., but removed after two years
1 Mrs. Perkins' ' Early Times on the Susquehanna.'
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
to the corners, where, opposite the present residence of his son, Ansel B., he kept a tavern for ten years. He died in 1866,
Joseph Macomber had occupied the same place just previous. Coggshall and P. Griffith afterwards kept the house. Still later, when the Binghamton mail was established on the Chenango turnpike, a Mr. Parker provided accommodations for passengers and horses at this point. Three of the four corners have been occupied by dwelling-houses.
In 1816, Thomas Watters, a brushmaker, and native of Ire- land, lived in a log-house here. An old well is still seen near the spot.
Jesse Coon, Almerin Turner, and Roderick Richards came about 1816. Mr. Richards, in 1817, erected the first distillery in the township, just back of the present residence of Joseph S. Gage's. A blessing in the form of a spring of pure water now marks the spot where formerly the "Worm of the Still" was a curse.
A stone still was afterwards built by Rogers, Brown & Clarke. Both were closed in 1821. Previous to this Henry Denison and family, from Westbrook, Conn., had come in and left.
Charles McCarty, an Irishman, was here in 1816.
The first Roman Catholic did not come until three or four years later.
During 1817-18 there was an accession to the township of at least twenty-five taxables. In 1819 there were nearly forty. These were principally members of
THE BRITISH SETTLEMENT.
In 1818 a meeting was held in Philadelphia by a number of Englishmen, whose object was the selection of an eligible spot for a settlement, which would combine advantages for both farmers and mechanics.
Many had crossed the water with the view of settling on the western prairies, but unfavorable reports of the climate, water, etc., had determined them to seek a situation for the contemplated establishment " on the eastern side of the mountains, and within a reasonable distance from some of the seaports, in which all the surplus produce of the mechanic's labor might be vended, where the toil of the farmer would be rewarded by a good price for his produce, and where, in consequence of the country not being filled with settlers, land might yet be had at a low price."1
All these advantages appeared to be combined in the lands offered for sale by Dr. Rose, and it was resolved, unanimously, to write to him, to ascertain the terms on which he would sell to a society of British emigrants.
1 ' Letters from the British Settlement,' by C. B. Johnson, M.D.
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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
On the receipt of a reply from the Doctor, a meeting of the emigrants was convened, and it was determined that a committee of five should proceed to Susquehanna County to examine the lands carefully, and to make a report of their situation, soil, water, etc. The result was a unanimous opinion in favor of the place ; and a contract was made November 15, 1818.
Dr. Charles B. Johnson, from Shropshire, England, one of the committee, was among the first company. He located at the northeast corner of Quaker Lake, and occupied the house pre- viously mentioned as built by Charles Wooster, on what has since been known as the Main place. It was removed some years later, and is now an out-house on William Meeker's farm.
Dr. Johnson appears as the author of a book, whose state- ments led many other Englishmen into this section, and who remained no longer than he-three or four years. He removed to Binghamton, where he died, in 1835, aged forty-seven years. He is said to have been a skilful surgeon; his family possessed con- siderable talent in the use of the brush and pencil.
From a leader in the 'Montrose Gazette,' April 24, 1819, we glean the following :-
" The tide of emigration is fast setting into this country. The British set- tlement bids fair to advance the agricultural interest in this part of the State. Large purchases are making by the hardy cultivators of the soil from England. We trust those who purchase here in preference to traveling to the western wilds will enhance their own interests and those of our county generally. Indeed, we know of no part of the country better calculated for the English farmer than this ; our lands are cheap, our soil is good, our waters pure, our markets quick, and our climate healthy. Nothing is want- ing but industry to make Susquehanna County rich and flourishing."
A gentleman who visited Silver Lake in 1821 published in the 'Village Record,' of Chester County, Pa., the following item :-
" From fonr and a half acres of land that I was on in the neighborhood of Silver Lake, which was farmed with potatoes on shares, were raised 1600 bushels. The owner gave the laborer $300 as his part of said crop. It (Susquehanna County) is famous for all kinds of roots and garden stuff."
Anthony North, John Deakin, William Lawson, John Caslake, Thomas Rodgers, Charles Innes, James Ressegnie, Thomas Rich, and Samuel Hill were among the English settlers of this period. They were generally located in the vicinity of Quaker and Mud Lakes, which they called Derwent and Tenbury Lakes-reflect- ing credit upon their taste. Here they began a city, which they named Brittania. It was laid out in lots, which were quite nar- row on the road, but were one mile in extent. Nearly all the common trades were represented by the skill of the settlers of 1819, and for a few years following.
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