History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 153

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

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

came to the United States with his two sons, and stopped a few days in Fall Brook, Tioga county, Pennsylvania. He then went to Arnot and found employ- ment with the Tioga Railroad Company. Here his wife joined him in April, 1882. He remained with the Tioga Railroad Company about one year, and later found employment with the Blossburg Coal Company, for which he worked three or four years. At the end of this time he purchased a farm in Liberty township, Tioga county, and has since devoted his attention to agriculture in connection with mining and other pursuits. To Mr. and Mrs. Duff were born four children, viz: James, born in Scotland, February 2, 1870, who is engaged in mining and farming; David S. and John H., twins, born in Scotland, June 4, 1872, both of whom are engaged in mining, and Jessie G., born February 9, 1874, who lives at home. In religion, the family are Presbyterians, and in politics, adherents of the Republican party. They are also members of Sebring Grange, No. 1047, P. of H. Mrs. Duff died March 6, 1894.

MICHAEL McMAHON was born in County Clare, Ireland, January 6, 1838, a son of Michael McMahon, also a native of Ireland, who immigrated to the United States in 1848. His father was a distant relative of Marshal McMahon, of France, com- mander of the French forces under Napoleon, and subsequently president of the French Republic. He settled in Elmira, New York, where he lived two years, engaged in farming and working on what was then known as the New York and Lake Erie railroad. In 1850 he came to Jackson township, Tioga county, in which year his wife and six children came to the United States. The subject of this sketch was then twelve years old. He had attended the common schools of his native land, and afterwards went to the academy at Troy, Pennsylvania. In 1853 he located in Elmira, and followed farming and railroading. In 1862 he came to Nauvoo, Lib- erty township, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in general merchan- dising, removing in 1867 to the farm on which he now resides. From 1868 to 1870 he was engaged in the mercantile business in Liberty, during which time he also followed farming, and did considerable lumbering in Jackson and Pine townships, Lycoming county. He introduced and bred what was known as the "Clay" or "McMahon" horses in Tioga county, and was also a breeder of fine cattle. In 1883 he married Minda Reed, a daughter of Isaac Reed, of Liberty township, Tioga county, and has one son, Michael K., born July 5, 1885. In politics, Mr. McMahon is a Republican.

WILLIAM H. LEISENRING is a native of Liberty township, Tioga county, where he was born May 4, 1844. After quitting school he went to Seneca Falls, New York, and learned the machinist's trade with John A. Rumsey & Company, at which he worked until December 28, 1861. He then enlisted in Company A, Thirty-third New York Volunteers, became color bearer, and served until March 27, 1862, when he was discharged, but immediately re-enlisted in Company A, Third New York Volunteers. He served in this regiment until February 9, 1863, when he was again discharged, and again enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Volunteers for the three years' service. He participated in all the battles and skirmishes in which his command took part, including the operations against Peters- burg and Richmond, Swift Creek, Proctor's Creek, Drury's Bluff, Bermuda Hun- dred, and Cold Harbor, where he received a sabre wound, and also five gunshot

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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

wounds in the right side and leg. He was subsequently confined in the hospital at Portsmouth Grove, Rhode Island, from June, 1864, until July, 1865, when he was honorably discharged and returned to his home in Liberty township. March 24, 1868, Mr. Leisenring married Lodiaskia Emick, of Liberty, to which union have been born seven children, viz: Matilda, wife of Wesley Lloyd, of Blackwells, Tioga county; H. W., F. L., Hannah A. and John E., both deceased; Rolla R. and Mary Lydia. In politics, Mr. Leisenring is a stanch Republican, and is a member of King Brothers Post, No. 288, G. A. R., of Liberty. He is also a member of Guyon Lodge, No. 16, F. & A. M., of Seneca Falls, New York.

CHARLES F. HEYLER was born in Liberty township, Tioga county, Pennsyl- vania, March 1, 1862, was reared in his native township, and received a common . school education. His father was a butcher, and Charles F. assisted him in that business for twelve years. In 1887 he went to Towanda, Bradford county, where he learned the tailor's trade, which business he worked at in that place for seven years. In 1894 he returned to Liberty, and has since devoted his attention to his trade in that borough. In politics, Mr. Heyler is a stanch Republican, and in religion, a member of the Evangelical Protestant church. He is also connected with Washington Camp, No. 628, P. O. S. of A., of Liberty.

SAMUEL LOUDENSLAGER was born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, there grew to manhood, and spent his entire life in his native State. He married Mary Kevel, to which union were born fourteen children, two of whom died in infancy. The living are as follows: Henry, George, Adaline, who married John Shugar; Ellis, Wesley, Oscar, Clarence, Elmer, Daniel, Alice, Emma and Cora. Mr. Louden- slager resided on his farm in Liberty township up to his death, in 1888. His widow is living on the old homestead.

BENJAMIN IRVIN was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, in 1801, a son of David and Mary (Sechler) Irvin. His father was born in the North of Ireland in 1774, came to the United States when about twenty-five years old, and located in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. He was married in that county to Mary Sechler, operated a distillery for several years, and finally removed to the far west, where he died. Benjamin was educated in the common schools, and followed the manufacture of charcoal. He married Prudence Dunbar, and reared the following children: John, of Lawrenceville; Samuel, deceased; Martha, deceased wife of Leroy Gleason; William, a resident of Big Run, Jefferson county; David, a merchant of Union town- ship, Tioga county; Elizabeth, wife of Augustus Veil, of Jefferson county; Alex- ander, who died in youth; Charles, who enlisted in the Twelfth Illinois Volunteers and was killed at Fort Donelson; Emeline, who died in youth; James, who enlisted in the Eighth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and died while in the service, and Benjamin F., postmaster of Scranton, Kansas. Benjamin Irvin and family removed from Lehigh to Lycoming county in 1849-50, where they lived a few years. He then purchased a farm in Union township, Tioga county, and resided there until his death in March, 1891. In religion, he was a member of the Disciples church, and in politics, a Republican.

JOHN IRVIN was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1830, grew to manhood in Lehigh and Lycoming counties, and obtained a common school edu- cation. When twenty-one years of age he engaged as foreman in a lumber contract

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on Pine creek, which position he filled for six years. He next spent three years as a charcoal contractor for an iron factory in Lycoming county. Later he opened a store in Ogdensburg, Union township, Tioga county, and operated the same until the fall of 1861. On August 27, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, in which he was commissioned second lieu- tenant. His brothers, Samuel, William and David, were in the same company. Mr. Irvin participated in all the engagements in which his regiment took part, was pro- moted to first lieutenant of Company D, and later to captain of Company B, and finally commissioned major. He was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, and was mustered out in October, 1864, but was retained to take command of the One Hundred and Sixth Battalion. After three months he was discharged by a general order, affecting all officers who had served three years. Returning to Tioga county, he resumed merchandising at Ogdensburg, where he also built and operated a steam saw-mill until the fall of 1891, when he was elected sheriff of Tioga county, a position he filled for three years. He then located in Lawrenceville, where he has since lived. On January 1, 1855, Mr. Irvin was married to Betsey A. Barker, a daughter of Ambrose and Mary Barker, of Union township. Five children were born to this marriage, viz: Martha, deceased wife of V. W. Sheffer; Mary, wife of Henry Veil, of Williamsport; Emma, who died in infancy; Myrtie, wife of Curtis Treat, of Elmira, and Minnie, wife of Eli Roberts, of Lawrence township. Mrs. Irvin died in Lawrenceville, December 6, 1896, a consistent member of the Church of Christ. Mr. Irvin is a member of the F. & A. M., the I. O. O. F., and the K. of P., and is also connected with the Union Veteran Legion and the G. A. R. In politics, he is a Republican, and has always taken an active interest in public affairs.

JOHN GREEN was one of the lumber operators in this section of Pennsylvania forty years ago. He was a native of Westchester county, New York, born in 1785, a son of Isaiah and Elizabeth (Furman) Green, natives of the same State. His father was a farmer near the famous "Sleepy Hollow," in Westchester county, and reared a family of seven children, viz: William, John, Fannie, Amy, Rhoda, Jacob and Samuel. The subject of this sketch received a good education, and subsequently secured a position as clerk in a wholesale house in New York City. After a short time he became proprietor of a large store in that city, which he afterward sold and opened stores at New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Poughkeepsie, New York, where he carried on business successfully up to 1836. In that year he sold his business interests and purchased a farm near Poughkeepsie, on which he lived five years. In 1841 he disposed of this property and came to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He had purchased 20,000 acres of timber lands in Lycoming county in 1828, 15,000 of which he had sold prior to his settlement in Williamsport. He was the incorporator of and a large stockholder in the Red Run Coal Company at Roaring Branch, and also owned and operated a saw-mill at that point. He finally removed from Wil- liamsport to Roaring Branch, where the remaining years of his life were passed. Mr. Green married Eliza Shearman, a daughter of David Shearman, who bore him a family of nine children, as follows: Ann and Elizabeth, both of whom died in youth; David, a prominent surveyor and later in the employ of the United States treasury department, who died in 1878; Mary, who lives with her brother, Charles S .; John R., who died in childhood; Charles S., a resident of Roaring Branch;

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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

John B., who lives in the same village; Montgomery, deceased; Hannah T., who makes her home with Charles S., and Henry C., superintendent of the lumber de- partment of the Red Run Coal Company, at Ralston. Mr. Green died at Roaring Branch, in December, 1866, and his wife in Williamsport, in March, 1861.

CHARLES S. GREEN is the second oldest living child of John and Eliza Green, and one of the prominent and successful lumber dealers in northern Pennsylvania. He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, July 6, 1829, there attended the public schools in boyhood, and completed his education at what is now Dickinson Semi- nary, in Williamsport, then a private school for boys. Soon after leaving school he began clerking in a drug store in Williamsport, going one year later to New York City, where for two years he continued the same occupation. Removing to New Bedford, Massachusetts, he clerked in a book store for eleven years, thus ob- taining a thorough knowledge of the mercantile business. In June, 1855, he came to Roaring Branch, where he erected a mill for the manufacture of shingles, barrel staves and heading, and two years later opened a general store, which he carried on up to 1883. In 1891 he re-opened the Red Run Coal Company's mines, at Ralston, of which he is general manager, and where the company also carry on an extensive lumber business. Soon afterwards the Ralston Brick Company was organized for the manufacture of dry pressed brick from clay found in the Red Run mines, in which Mr. Green is largely interested and treasurer of the company. His lumber business at Roaring Branch consists in the manufacture and sale of all kinds of hem- lock and hard wood lumber. In 1871 he built his handsome residence on the hill overlooking the beautiful valley of Roaring Branch, and it is a model of comfort and convenience. The family are members of the Society of Friends, and in poli- tics, Mr. Green is a Republican. He is one of the wealthy and substantial citizens of Tioga county, in which he has lived for more than forty years.

GEORGE E. TRIPP was born in Washington county, New York, July 12, 1825, obtained a common school education, and subsequently engaged in farming and lumbering. On February 11, 1855, he married Mahala Austin, of New York state, who bore him one daughter, Alice, now the wife of William Dann, of Ogdensburg, Tioga county. Mr. Tripp came to Tioga county in 1858, and in 1861 enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers. At the end of one year he was discharged on account of disability, but in 1864 he again enlisted, this time in Company G, Two Hundred and Third Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was wounded at Fort Fisher and sent to Mercy Hospital, in New York City, where he remained for one year, and was finally discharged in May, 1865. He has never fully recovered from the effects of the wound, being almost as helpless as a child, but is still proud of the fact that it was received while fighting for his country. In politics, he is a stanch Republican, and in religion, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Tripp is also connected with Ingram Post, No. 91, G. A. R., of Canton.

MORRIS TOWNSHIP.

ENOCH BLACKWELL, SR., was born and reared in Haven Parish, Gloucestershire, England. In 1805 he came to the United States as one of a colony of settlers organ- ized by Rev. John Hey, of Philadelphia, for the purpose of settling on certain lands in Pine township, Lycoming county, the lands located upon being still known as

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the "English Settlement." He died at Jersey Shore in 1816, while on a business trip. He was twice married, his first wife being Mary Perrine, of Haven Parish, who bore him the following children: John, who came to America with his parents and died in Bradford county, Pennsylvania; William, the founder of Blackwells, Tioga county; Enoch, who died in England; Nancy, who married Henry Tomb; Sarah, who married John Gamble; Phoebe, who married Joel Shearer and settled in Rock county, Illinois, and Hannah, who became the wife of Eben Haydock, of New Jersey. Mr. Blackwell's second wife survived him and became the wife of John Campbell, a pioneer of Nelson township, Tioga county. The children of the second marriage were Enoch, afterwards a prominent citizen of Nelson, and Mary, who married Robert Campbell, of the same township.

WILLIAM BLACKWELL, second son of Enoch and Mary Blackwell, was born in Haven Parish, Gloucestershire, England, June 21, 1790. He came to the United States in 1804, preceding his parents one year. He rejoined them on their arrival at Philadelphia, and settled in Pine township, Lycoming county. In 1811 he pur- chased from his father 120 acres of land on Pine creek, in Tioga county, both above and below the mouth of Babb's creek, on which he located in 1817, and became the founder of the village of Blackwells. He engaged in cutting and rafting square timber down Pine creek and the Susquehanna, which business he followed many years. In 1815 he married Sarah Morrison, of Lycoming county, who became the mother of seven children, viz: Mary Ann, who married Robert Steele, of Delmar; George and Enoch, residents of Blackwells; John, deceased; William, a physician of Blackwells; James, of Morris township, and Sarah, widow of Gurdon Steele, of Delmar. Mr. Blackwell died December 6, 1859, and his wife, in January, 1881, aged eighty-six years.

ENOCH BLACKWELL, second son of William Blackwell, and grandson of Enoch Blackwell, Sr., was born at Blackwells, Tioga county, January 29, 1824. He ob- tained a common school education, and since arriving at manhood has been exten- sively engaged in lumbering, merchandising and farming. He is still in the lumber business, and pursues a busy life. Mr. Blackwell was married October 3, 1847, to Mary E. Webster, a daughter of Sylvester and Tamar Webster, of Liberty township, to which union were born the following children: Horace W., a resident of Morris township; Clara Ann, wife of William H. Walters, of Pine township, Lycoming county; Thomas, a resident of Blackwells; Addie, wife of Henry Tidd, of Pine township; Eugene and Sylvester, of Blackwells; Harriet, wife of William Plank, of Morris township, and Miles, a merchant of Morris. Mrs. Blackwell died March 23, 1894, and he was again married, June 26, 1895, to Matilda Callahan, widow of Perry Callahan, of Delmar township. Mr. Blackwell has devoted most of his life to lumbering, and has followed every department of that business, from scaler of logs to mill owner and operator. He was also engaged in merchandising at Black- wells for a number of years. Politically, a stanch Republican, he has filled various township offices, and was postmaster at Blackwells from 1862 to 1886. He is recognized as one of the representative citizens of his native county.

AUGUSTUS G. SEAMAN was born near Unadilla, Otsego county, New York, April 26, 1821, a son of William and Mary Seaman. His father was a native of England and his mother of Connecticut, and pioneer settlers of Otsego county.

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Their children were named as follows: Benjamin S., deceased; Mary Ann, de- ceased wife of William Baisley; Mrs. Sarah Davis, deceased; William, who resides. in Otsego county; Augustus G., of Morris township; Serena M., deceased wife of Joseph Hopkins; Marietta, wife of Edward Bowen; James, a resident of Chenango county, New York; Catherine L., wife of Francis Walker; Cyrus, a resident of Unadilla, and Adeline, wife of Edward Granger. The parents died on the home- stead in Otsego county, the father at the age of seventy-seven, and the mother at the age of sixty-six. The subject of this sketch was reared in his native county and came to Tioga county, Pennsylvania, in 1844, settling on fifty acres of land in Morris township, near the Lycoming county line, to which he has since added a tract of fifty acres. He has devoted his attention to farming and lumbering. On De- cember 24, 1846, he married Louisa Childs, a daughter of Richard and Margaret. Childs, and has one son, William W. In politics, Mr. Seaman is a Republican, and has filled the offices of supervisor, collector and school director in Morris township. He is a well known and highly esteemed citizen of Morris and one of its oldest living residents.

WILLIAM W. SEAMAN, only child of Augustus G. and Louisa Seaman, was born on the homestead farm in Morris township, Tioga county, April 9, 1848. He at- tended the common schools of his district and devoted himself to farming and lum- bering until 1880, when he engaged in exploring for coal in Clearfield, Jefferson and Centre counties, for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, achieving marked success and earning a well-deserved reputation in that line. Mr. Seaman also purchased the option on 60,000 acres of coal lands near Clearfield, and later associated with him Hon. William A. Wallace, of Clearfield, and Hon. S. R. Peale, of Lock Haven, and they organized the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company, which owned 35,000 acres of land and had a capital stock of $5,000,000, upon which at present the Beech Creek and New York Central railroads carry on their soft coal operations, in Clearfield and Centre counties. In 1895 he returned to his farm in Morris town- ship and has since been engaged in farming and lumbering. Mr. Seaman was mar- ried September 17, 1865, to Annie Irwin, a daughter of Henry Irwin. She died in 1881. In 1883 he married Lillie Boyer, a daughter of Samuel and Angeline Boyer, of Centre county. To this union have been born eight children, all of whom are living, viz: Louisa, W. A., Angeline, Samuel, Florence, Lillie, Richard and Landrus. Mr. Seaman is one of the largest land owners in Tioga county, his lands lying in both Tioga and Lycoming. Much of it is covered with hemlock, pine and hard-wood timber and is very valuable. His lumbering operations are extensive and he ranks among the substantial business men and leading farmers of the county. On October 5, 1894, his fine residence, which cost $12,000, was destroyed by fire. In the summer of 1896 he erected his present residence at a cost of $14,000. In politics, Mr. Seaman is a Republican, and in 1896 was one of the conferees of Tioga county that met at Williamsport and nominated Hon. Horace B. Packer for Con- gress. He has also filled the offices of school director, supervisor and justice of the peace, and is a citizen of commendable enterprise and public spirit.

SYLVESTER WEBSTER was born at Athens, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, in 1804, a son of Aaron and Mary Elizabeth (Campbell) Webster. His parents re- moved from Bradford county to the Cowanesque valley, Tioga county, a few years

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after his birth, where his father operated a tannery until his death, in 1812. Aaron Webster was the father of three children, viz: Maria, who married William Em- mick; Lyman, who settled in one of the western States, and Sylvester. His widow married William Babb, a son of Samson Babb, the pioneer settler of Morris town- ship. The subject of this sketch learned the carpenter's trade and became a miller. He erected a saw-mill and a grist-mill at Nauvoo, Tioga county, for Jeremiah Black at an early day. In 1824 he married Tamar Emmick, to whom were born six chil- dren, viz: J. E., of Morris township; Mary Elizabeth, deceased wife of Enoch Blackwell, of Blackwells; Lydia Jane, deceased wife of George Clark, of Brown township, Lycoming county; Arminta, wife of James Morrison, of Cedar Run; Harriet, deceased wife of Bethuel Diggen, of Muncy, and Anna. Mr. Webster died September 22, 1889, and his wife, July 23, 1840.

J. E. WEBSTER, eldest son of Sylvester and Tamar Webster, was born in Liberty township, Tioga county, September 9, 1827, and was reared upon a farm. In 1860 he removed to Morris, residing there until 1871, when he located on his present farm in Morris township. July 4, 1850, he married Alsina Steele, a daughter of James and Hannah Steele, to which union have been reared the following children: Wil- liam J., deceased; Walter, a resident of Morris; Martha, wife of William O'Connor, of Wellsboro; Orrin, a resident of Potter county; Daniel, of Morris; Robert, who lives in West Virginia; Homer G., a resident of Morris township; Sylvester J. and Lowell E., both residing in Potter county. Mr. Webster is a Republican, in politics; has been township supervisor during 1862-63; a school director for fifteen years; census enumerator in 1890, and is now township assessor. During the Civil War he served in Company F, Thirty-fifth Pennsylvania Militia, known as Emergency Men. In religion, he is a member of the Baptist church.

ANDREW DINNISON was born in Scotland, March 4, 1804, and grew to man- hood in his native land. His wife, Mary, was born December 28, 1814. In 1849 they immigrated to Pennsylvania and settled in Jackson township, Lycoming county, where he died April 4, 1865. His wife died April 26, 1888. They were the parents of the following children: Mary, wife of James McNeil, of Saginaw county, Michi- gan; Jane, wife of Charles Naylor, of Lycoming county; James, of Morris town- ship; John, who died June 11, 1888; Sarah, wife of Andrew Wylie, of Liberty town- ship, and William, a resident of the same township.

JAMES DINNISON was born in Scotland, June 15, 1839, a son of Andrew and Mary Dinnison, and was ten years old when his parents settled in Lycoming county. He grew to manhood on the old homestead, and came to Tioga county in 1866, locat- ing immediately west of Nauvoo, in Morris township. He became a partner with Robert Custard in the old Nelson Root saw-mill property. In 1869 he bought his partner's interest in the mill and has since carried on the enterprise alone. The mill was destroyed by fire and re-built, and was washed out by the flood of 1889, and again re-built. Since 1893 Mr. Dinnison has also operated a roller buckwheat. mill and a buhr feed mill in the building formerly used as a woolen factory. Both mills are run by water power. Mr. Dinnison was married November 7, 1871, to Har- riet Plank, a daughter of John Plank, to which union have been born eight children, viz: Mary M., who died September 21, 1877; Sarah J., John F., James A., Ada Elizabeth, Adam B., who died December 15, 1895; William and Ruth. In politics,

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History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 153

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