History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 135

Author:
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1454

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valley, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and settled on the site of Elkland, where the father joined them later. He served as postmaster at that place, then called Ryons- ville, from 1822 to 1830, and died January 20, 1832. His son, James, subsequently removed to Illinois, while John remained in this county and became one of its most distinguished citizens.

JUDGE JOHN RYON, son of John Ryon, Sr., was born in the Wyoming valley, near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1787. He came with the colony to the site of Elkland, Tioga county, in March, 1811, but did not bring his family until the following month. Here he cleared a large farm, engaged in merchandising, and followed the mercantile and farming occupations for many years. About 1848 he removed to Lawrenceville and purchased the present Ryon homestead, known as "The Elms," where he carried on the mercantile business and spent the remainder of his life. Judge Ryon was a self-made man, a politician of considerable note, and one of the leading Democrats of Tioga county. In 1816 he was elected a justice of the peace, in which capacity he served for many years. In 1819 he was elected a county commissioner. He represented this district three terms in the legislature, 1821, 1822 and 1823, and was state senator in 1824-25. In 1829 he was appointed superintendent of the West Branch division of the Pennsylvania canal, which position he filled with ability and honor. On January 29, 1833, he was appointed an associate judge of Tioga county, and served on the bench continuously up to March, 1847. He also held several military positions in the militia, the highest being that of lieutenant colonel. Judge Ryon was a kind, courteous, Christian man, and an active worker in the Presbyterian church. A few years prior to his removal to the Cowanesque valley, he married Susannah Tubbs, a daughter of Samuel Tubbs, a pioneer of the Cowanesque. She was born in Newtown, now a part of Elmira, New York, and became the mother of twelve children, as follows: Sally, who married Col. Philip Taylor, of Elkland, and died in Osceola, March 1, 1896; Samuel, a deceased farmer of Lawrence township; George L., who died in the same township, April 2, 1897; Emily, widow of Dr. E. D. Benedict, of Westfield; Harris T., of Nelson; Harriet, deceased wife of Joseph Barker, of Chicago; Charles and Mary, both deceased; John W., a lawyer and ex-congressman of Pottsville; Robert T., a resident of Columbia, Pennsylvania; James, an ex-judge of Schuylkill county, now living in Pottsville, and Wallace P., who resides in the old homestead at Law- renceville. Judge Ryon died at his home in Lawrenceville, July 22, 1859. His widow survived him nearly twenty-two years, dying March 5, 1881. He was one of the most prominent and successful men in northern Pennsylvania, and a leader in the Democratic party throughout his long and active career. His public and private life was ever governed by the Ryon family motto-"Death before Dishonor."

SAMUEL RYON, eldest son of Judge John Ryon, was born in what is now Elmira, New York, March 10, 1811, and was reared in Elkland, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, where he assisted his father in clearing off the forest then covering the site of that borough. In 1832 he and his brother, George L., opened a store in Elkland, which they carried on up to 1843. On January 27, 1833, he married Mary Power, a daugh- ter of Dr. Simeon Power, a pioneer physician of the Cowanesque valley. Three children, Alexander H., Simeon P. and Norman H., grew to maturity from this union, the last being the only survivor of the family. Simeon P. represented

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Columbia county, Pennsylvania, in the legislature, and died during his term, April 12, 1876. Samuel Ryon possessed a good education, was a fine mathematician, and served as assistant civil engineer on the Pennsylvania canal while his father was a member of the legislature. He was extensively engaged in farming and lumbering on the Cowanesque, near Lawrenceville, whither he removed from Elkland, and also operated a grist and woolen-mill at the same place for many years. Politically, a life-long Democrat, he was appointed postmaster of Ryonsville, now Elkland, April 24, 1834, by William T. Barry, postmaster general under President Jackson, and served a full term. Mr. Ryon spent the latter years of his life in Lawrenceville, where he died April 26, 1877. His wife died August 13, 1876. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while he adhered to the Presbyterian faith.

GEORGE L. RYON, second son of Judge John Ryon, was born in Elkland, Tioga county, June 28, 1813. He was educated principally in the common schools at Elk- land, but finished his education by attending school at Harrisburg. When nineteen years of age he commenced business as a merchant in partnership with his older brother, Samuel, at Elkland, where they carried on business for eleven years. In 1838 he succeeded his brother, Samuel, as postmaster at Elkland. In connection with merchandising they carried on lumbering quite extensively. By the flood of 1843 they lost heavily, and were compelled to give up the lumber business. Mr. Ryon then turned his attention to farming, and cultivated the old homestead at Elkland for two years, at the end of which time he purchased an interest in a large tract of land near Elkland, and began the work of clearing and improving it. He was a noted pilot, knowing every part of the water from this county down the Cowanesque, Tioga, Chemung and Susquehanna rivers to Port Deposit, Maryland, a matter of importance in early days, as much depended on the skill and knowledge of the pilot in charge of the immense rafts that were started from this county to tide- water. Mr. Ryon was a captain in the State Militia, and for many years a prominent figure at the "trainings," as they were then called. He commanded the Elkland Guards, and one of his grandsons is now in possession of the sword presented to him, which was at that time said to be one of the handsomest in the State. He was also a noted rifle shot, and in his more youthful days was a keen sportsman. In 1849 he sold out his interests at Elkland and purchased his late homestead farm near Law- renceville, upon which he resided until his death, April 2, 1897, in the eighty- fourth year of his age. In 1836 he married Hannah Hammond, a daughter of David Hammond, of Elkland, who bore him a family of thirteen children, five of whom died in early infancy. The remaining eight are named as follows: Ellen O., who married W. T. Rhodes, of Tioga, and died April 2, 1890; George W., a prominent lawyer and banker of Shamokin; Alvin F., an attorney of Lock Haven; Mary M., wife of H. L. Fitch, of New Hampton, Iowa; John A., a jeweler of Charles City, Iowa; Alice H., wife of Clark S. Ingraham, a druggist of Elmira, New York; Wil- liam W., a lawyer of Shamokin, and David H., a farmer of Lawrence township. Mrs. Ryon died at the old homestead June 9, 1888, after a happy married life of more than half a century. Mr. Ryon and wife were members of the Presbyterian church, in which he filled the office of trustee for many years. In politics he was an ardent supporter of the Democratic party, and always took a commendable in- terest in public affairs, filling acceptably for many years the office of school director

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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

and other official positions. He was one of the most respected citizens of Tioga county, in which his entire life was passed. In private life he was a dignified, un- obtrusive gentleman, very sociable and hospitable in his disposition, and when death called him at the close of a busy and useful life, he left a record of a long and honorable career as a valuable inheritance and example for his children.

HARRIS T. RYON, third son of Judge John Ryon, was born in Elkland, Tioga county, January 9, 1816, and there grew to manhood. He then engaged in the mer- cantile business at Elkland for two years, and later embarked in farming in Nelson township, clearing a part of the farm now owned by Shaw and Tubbs. In 1849 he located at Lawrenceville, where he was engaged in general merchandising eight years. Returning to Nelson in 1861, he resumed agriculture, and has cleared and improved most of the farm of eighty acres he now occupies. Mr. Ryon has been twice married. In 1837 he married Hannah M., a daughter of George and Mary (Champlin) Congdon, of Steuben county, New York. She bore him two children who grew to maturity, viz: Alzadia, and Sarah A., wife of R. C. Bailey. Mrs. Ryon died in 1842, and the following year he married Elizabeth Sherwood, a daughter of John and Lucy Sherwood, of Orleans county, New York. Two children have been born to this union: John S., a lawyer of Elkland, and Emma A., wife of John D. James. Mr. Ryon is a member of the Presbyterian church, in politics, a Repub- lican, and is one of the representative farmers of Nelson township. He has lived in the Cowanesque valley more than eighty years.

WALLACE PULASKI RYON was born in Elkland, Tioga county, July 18, 1836, and is the youngest child of Judge John Ryon. He was educated in the Lawrenceville Academy, at Lawrenceville, in Lima College, at Lima, New York, and in Dickinson Seminary, at Williamsport, and also studied under the private tutorship of Rev. Sidney Mills. He read law with Hon. John W. Ryon, now a resident of Pottsville, and was admitted to the bar of Tioga county, at Wellsboro, in 1861. He next clerked for his brother, John W., who was a paymaster in the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, and in the spring of 1862 located at Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, for the practice of his profession, remaining there one year. He then removed to Pottsville with his brother, John W., where he followed his profession up to 1879. From 1869 to 1872 he was also cashier of the Pennsylvania National Bank, of Pottsville, and in 1873 was president of the Merchant's Exchange Bank of that place. In 1879 he removed to Philadelphia, where he was connected with the coal and iron business up to 1882, in which year he returned to the old homestead in Lawrenceville. He has since devoted himself to farming and the practice of his profession. Like his father, Mr. Ryon was a Democrat, and for many years gave his active support to that party. He was connected with the secret service of the postal department during President Cleveland's first administration, and was appointed by Postmaster-General Vilas, president of a commission composed of postal experts to investigate the public service in the first and second-class postoffices in the United States, and to formu- late a uniform system of classification and compensation therein. Mr. Ryon was married at Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1863, to Mary S. Rice, a daughter of Edward L. Rice, of Wilmington, Delaware. Mrs. Ryon comes of a family distin- guished in the early annals of the Colonies. On her father's side she is a descendant of Don Eduardo Reice, a Spanish refugee who settled at what is now Eastport, Maine,

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and whose descendants afterwards settled in Massachusetts, Delaware and Ohio. The Delaware branch of the family is well known in the early history of the settle- ments on the Delaware river. Her great-great-grandfather, Evan Rice, was judge of the courts from 1756 to 1777, and her grandfather, Washington Rice, was one of the early business men of Wilmington, being an importer of teas, coffees and spices. Her father, Edward L. Rice, succeeded his father in business, and after an honorable and successful career of twenty-five years, retired. He was born in Wilmington, January 2, 1811, and was one of Delaware's most prominent and respected citizens. During the Rebellion he gave largely to the Union cause. In politics, he was origin- ally a Whig, but later a Republican. He was twice tendered the nomination for governor of his State, but refused to accept the honor. An enthusiastic sportsman, he was known by the appellation of the "Nimrod of Delaware." He died November 21, 1891, after a long life of honor and usefulness. On her mother's side, Mrs. Ryon comes from the sturdy Swedish stock that first settled in Delaware. The old Colonial records give the Naff family prominence in the affairs of the Colony at Wilmington. Several of her Swedish ancestors were Revolutionary soldiers, serving principally in Washington's army. Six children have been born to Wallace P. and Mary S. Ryon, viz: Edward Anderson, Estella Rice, Wallace Herbert, James Percy, John Naff, deceased, and Mary Edith Louise. The family are members of the Protestant Episcopal church, of Lawrenceville, in which Mr. Ryon is junior warden.

HIRAM BEEBE was born in Canaan, Litchfield county, Connecticut, there grew to maturity, and then came to Owego, New York, where he and a man named Holla- bert carried on a store for two or three years. In 1815 they came to Lawrenceville, and opened the first store in the village, on the south corner of Cowanesque and Main streets, under the firm name of Beebe & Hollabert. The latter remained only a few years, but Mr. Beebe continued the business until 1840, when he sold out and formed a partnership with Hunt Pomeroy, and opened a store at Nelson, in which he was interested ten years. Soon after coming to Lawrenceville, Mr. Beebe married Margaret Allen, of Owego, who bore him two children, both of whom died in youth. He was one of the most influential Democrats in Tioga county, and for that reason was locally named "King Hiram." He was postmaster at Lawrenceville many years. In 1822 he was elected a county commissioner, and again in 1826. In connection with merchandising, he also carried on the lumber business quite extensively, and was agent for the Bingham lands until Mr. Clymer succeeded him. Mr. Beebe and wife both died prior to the Rebellion.

ANSON BEEBE, a brother of Hiram, came to Lawrenceville in 1817 and engaged in the manufacture of gloves and mittens, which business he followed until his death, in February, 1830. He married Lucy Lincoln, a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, who bore him the following children: Edward, who died in infancy; Charles, of Lawrenceville; Harriet, wife of Morgan Seely, of Osceola; Mariah, who married Jacob Prutsman, of Tioga, and James, the last two of whom are dead. Mrs. Beebe died in 1875.

CHARLES BEEBE was born in Lawrenceville, September 10, 1819, a son of Anson and Lucy Beebe. At the age of twenty he began learning the wagon-maker's trade with Charles Powers, whose business he purchased in the fall of 1840. He carried on wagon-making at Lawrenceville until February, 1885, a period of nearly forty-

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five years, when he fell and broke his right hip, which compelled him to retire from active work. On January 1, 1848, Mr. Beebe married Martha Dodd, of Spencer, New York, and has one daughter, Mary C., wife of B. F. Madison, of Galeton, Potter county. In politics, he is a Republican, and in religion, a Presbyterian. Mr. Beebe is the oldest native born resident of Lawrenceville, and is regarded as one of the best posted men on local history in the Cowanesque valley.

DR. LEWIS DARLING, SR., one of the well-remembered pioneer physicians of Tioga county, was born in Woodstock, Windsor county, Vermont, March 4, 1804, a son of Seth and Chloe (Marsh) Darling, who were of Puritan stock. He was edu- cated in the public schools and the Woodstock Academy, and at the age of twenty- two graduated from Dartmouth University. Three years later, in 1829, he took his degree of M. D., at the same institution, and soon afterwards started west, driving from Vermont to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, where he commenced the practice of his profession the same year. In 1831 he removed to Lawrenceville, where he continued in active practice for fifty-one years. In 1862 he was appointed surgeon of the One Hundred and Sixty-first New York Volunteers, with the rank of major, and served under General Banks in the department of the gulf, accompanying his regiment through the famous Red River Campaign. Owing to poor health he was finally obliged to resign and return to his home, where he resumed practice. In 1871 he was appointed examining surgeon for the pension department, a position he held until his death, July 15, 1882. Dr. Darling was married October 17, 1831, to Lucy M. Parsons, a daughter of Capt. Luke Parsons, a cavalry soldier in the War of 1812. Eight children were born to this union, named as follows: Otis G. and Louis, both of whom died in infancy; Horace M., a resident of Southport, New York; Bostock J. and Parsons L., both deceased; Lewis, a well-known physician of Lawrence- ville; Thomas V., deceased, and Emeline G., who graduated at Hartford Female College in 1865, and resides with her brother in Lawrenceville.

HORACE M. DARLING, son of Dr. Lewis Darling, Sr., was born February 2, 1835, was educated at Hobart College, graduated in medicine from the University of Michigan, and began the practice of his profession at Painted Post, New York, in 1858. One year later he removed to Helena, Arkansas, where he practiced his pro- fession until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he was appointed surgeon of the First Arkansas regiment, and served through the entire war. After its close he located at Columbus, Mississippi, and continued in practice for a time, when owing to failing health he gave up his professional duties and again entered the University of Michigan, taking a full law course, and graduating with the degree of LL.B. He then located at Mahanoy City, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he became prominent in the legal profession and filled the office of district attorney. Here he married Miss Mollie James, at whose death he gave up his legal practice and spent two years in travel, at the end of which period he located at Southport, New York, and again took up the practice of medicine. After a time he removed to Corning, but two years later returned to Southport, where he now resides on a farm. Here he was married a second time to Miss Mary Webb.

PARSONS L. DARLING, son of Dr. Lewis Darling, Sr., was born on January 5, 1839, was educated at Hobart College, and went to Helena, Arkansas, where he became principal of the High School. At the breaking out of the war he en-

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listed in the First Arkansas regiment, and was appointed commissary of subsistence, with the rank of captain, and served as such through the war. He then went to Columbus, Mississippi, and studied for the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church, but giving up his studies he removed to Kansas City, where he died.

DR. LEWIS DARLING was born in Lawrenceville, Tioga county, October 19, 1840, a son of Dr. Lewis Darling, Sr. He was educated in the Lawrenceville Academy, and began the study of law with John W. Ryon, but before his admission to the bar he went west and clerked in a bank at Independence, Iowa, for one year. He then returned to Lawrenceville and began the study of medicine under his father, and attended the Medical College of Georgetown, D. C., for one year. At the end of this time he enlisted as assistant surgeon, and did hospital duty one year at Wash- ington, when he was assigned to the western army and served in the hospitals at St. Louis and Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He was also surgeon of the transport, City of Memphis, engaged in carrying sick and wounded from the seat of war. He was at the surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, whence he returned to Jefferson Barracks, and was later assigned to the Army of the Cumberland and served in the hospitals at Chattanooga and Knoxville during the winter of 1863-64. In the spring of 1864 he was with the Army of the Ohio in the Georgia Campaign, and at the battle of Peach Tree Creek was operating surgeon of the Twenty-third Army Corps. He was next assigned to the hospitals at Franklin and Knoxville, Tennessee, and later went to Marietta, Georgia, where he resigned from the army, and received permission to go before the examining board for an appointment as surgeon in the United States navy, and was first assigned to the Brooklyn navy yard, where he served as one of the board of examiners for recruits. He was next appointed surgeon for the United States steamer Florida, but before going to sea, he was detailed and returned to duty on the receiving ship North Carolina, then in the Brooklyn navy yard. In March, 1865, he was detached from this position and ordered to report to the South Atlantic Squadron, under the command of Admiral Dahlgren, and as- signed to duty in the naval hospitals at Land's End, Island of St. Helena and Port Royal harbor. After serving a short time in these hospitals, he was assigned as sur- geon to the United States steamer Nahant, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. Returning home he entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he graduated in medicine in 1866. After taking a post-graduate course, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he practiced a few months, then returned to Lawrenceville and became associated with his father in practice, which continued until the death of the latter. He then succeeded his father as special pension ex- aminer, a position he still holds. Dr. Darling is a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, the Elmira Academy of Medicine, the Corning Academy of Medi- cine, the Tioga County Medical Association, and the Association of Railway Sur- geons of the United States. He is a member of the F. & A. M., and the E. A. U., being medical examiner for the latter society. He is also medical examiner for seventeen life insurance companies, and local surgeon for the Fall Brook Railroad Company. On January 1, 1867, Dr. Darling married Julia L. Day, a daughter of Hon. C. E. Day, of Avon, Connecticut. Three sons have been born to this union, viz: Arland L., who studied medicine under his father, graduated at the University

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of Buffalo, in 1892, and has since been in partnership with his father; Carlos P., who graduated at Hobart College in 1894, and is now engaged in special study, and Walter W., now taking a post-graduate course. The family are members of the Protestant Episcopal church, of Lawrenceville, in which Dr. Darling is senior warden. In politics, he is a stanch Democrat, and served as assistant deputy revenue collector during President Johnson's administration. In February, 1897, he was elected burgess of Lawrenceville. He has always taken an active part in the pro- motion of education, and has been president of the school board for several terms. Dr. Darling is recognized as one of the leading, successful physicians of his native county.

THOMAS V. DARLING was born in Lawrenceville, Tioga county, October 17, 1842, youngest son of Dr. Lewis Darling, Sr. He was educated at Lawrenceville Academy, where he was a student at the breaking out of the war. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served four years. Returning home in shattered health, he never fully recovered, and died in September, 1890. He married Delphine Chase, of Lawrenceville, who, with two sons and two daughters, resides in Washing- ton, D. C.

*MILTON PARDEE ORTON, M. D., was born at Sharon, Connecticut, in 1795. His paternal ancestor, Thomas Orton, came to Ancient Windsor, Connecticut, in 1640, and from a very early date the family have been cultured, literary people. He was also a descendant of Thomas Yale, one of the founders of Yale College, and of George Pardee, of New Haven, whose parents were Huguenots and were driven from France by the troubles there. George Pardee was the founder of the famous Hopkins Grammar School, of New Haven. Dr. Orton was also descended from Capt. Samuel Turner, of New Haven, a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery and distinguished for his bravery. He graduated at Yale with honor, after which he took the medical course at the same institution. In 1834 he came to Lawrenceville, Tioga county, where he practiced his profession for nearly thirty years. He married Mary Lindsley Ford, oldest daughter of Hon. James Ford. They had ten children, seven of whom grew to maturity. Mrs. Orton died in 1852, aged forty-two years. Dr. Orton died February 2, 1864, while surgeon in charge at Hatteras Inlet. Their children were as follows: James Ford; Maria Lindsley, wife of Col. Eugene B. Beaumont, U. S. A., a retired officer now living at Wilkes-Barre, who served in the War of the Rebellion, being five times brevetted for gallant and meritorious service, and appointed to receive Jefferson Davis when the latter was captured; Stella Shoemaker, widow of the late Joseph F. Rusling, of Lawrenceville; Charles Ford, who married Sarah Morgan; Ellen Bicking, who married James H. Sherrerd, of Philadelphia; Benjamin Ford, who married Isabella A. Pleasants, and Chester Butler Orton.

JOSEPH FOWLER RUSLING was born in Bridgton, Cumberland county, New Jersey, November 29, 1831, a son of Rev. Sedgwick and Electa W. (Cummings) Rusling, natives of New Jersey, and of English extraction. His parents reared a family of seven children, and his father died in Lawrenceville in 1876. Joseph F. was educated in the public schools of New Jersey and at Pennington Seminary. In

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History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 135

Author: Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown Number of Pages: 1454

Author:
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1454