History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 31

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

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The following named citizens of Tioga county served in the Eleventh Penn- sylvania Cavalry: Lorimus B. Ackley, of Clymer, and Lafayette Farr, of Middlebury, Company D; Benjamin J. Mann, of Tioga, Company E; Noah H. Marvin, corporal, Company H; Andrew J. Dickersont, Company M, and William Shellman, of Tioga.

Dewey Whitmarsh and James H. Metcalf, of Westfield, and Franklin B. Scudder, of Covington, served in Battery F, Second Pennsylvania Artillery.

Tracey O. Hollis served as second lieutenant of Company E, Twelfth Pennsyl- vania Cavalry, from October, 1862, to March, 1863. He subsequently served in the Second Artillery and in the United States secret service.

Dr. William B. Hartman served as assistant surgeon of the One Hundred and Sixteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers from March, 1863, to July 4, 1864, when he was promoted to surgeon. He was discharged June 3, 1865.

Tioga county was represented in Company G, Nineteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, as follows: William Zinck and Isaac F. Wheeland, corporals, and the following privates: David A. Cochran, Charles Foulkrod, Warren Phelps, Alfred Phelps, Daniel Smith and Samuel Weast, all from Liberty borough.

Roswell A. Walker, of Covington township, who died at Belle Plain, Virginia, December 7, 1862, and Chauncey W. Wheeler, of Liberty, served in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers.

James Labar and Benjamin F. Mulford, of Westfield, served in Company I, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers.

Tioga county was represented in the Third Artillery as follows: Richard W. Jackson and George W. Kelts, sergeants, and John Blair, Charles E. Hall, William J. Hall and A. T. Goodrich, privates, of Battery F; W. C. Marvin and H. T. Graves, Battery G, and Charles S. Kingsley, Battery L.

Charles K. Thompson served as assistant surgeon of the One Hundred and Fifty- fifth regiment from March until June, 1865.

Tioga county was represented as follows in the Sixteenth Cavalry: Thomas Bowell, corporal, and Thomas J. Archer, Charles G. Campbell, James L. Cook, Isaac P. Foster and Leroy V. Kelts, Company B; William H. Beardsley, first lieutenant, Andrew Cady, corporal, and W. J. Beecroft, William H. Garison, H. G. Smith, Ezekiel Thomas and James Walter, privates, Company D; George H. Smith and Sovrine Rumsey, Company H; George D. Beecher, second lieutenant, Company I, and M, Buchanan, Company K.

Vincent F. Sly served as a private in Company G, One Hundred and Seventy- first Drafted Militia.

Frank H. Purhen served as a private in Company H, One Hundred and Seventy- third Pennsylvania Volunteers.

Harry T. Graves, now the editor of the Millerton Advocate, served in Company E, One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers.

* Killed or mortally wounded. # Wounded. t Died.

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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

Dr. George D. Maine, of Mainesburg, served as surgeon of the One Hundred and Ninety-second Pennsylvania Volunteers.

Rufus G. Treat, of Chatham township, served as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Ninty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers.

George E. Tripp, of Union township, served in Company G, Two Hundred and Third regiment.

Joseph F. Ripley, Volney Ripley, M. H. Fralic and Hollister Leach, of Richmond township, served in Company K, Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania Volunteers.

IN NEW YORK REGIMENTS.

As Tioga county borders on the State of New York, some of her sons joined regiments in that State. But owing to the difficulty of locating them it is almost impossible to secure the names of all.

Edward E. Rockwell served in Company K, Twenty-third regiment.

W. H. Leisenring, of Nauvoo, was color-bearer of the Thirty-third regiment. He also served in the Third and in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth regiments ..

Leverne Kimball, of Osceola, and James Taft, of Knoxville, served in Company E, Thirty-fourth regiment.

Floyd Ashley, Charles Rozelle, Philo Tuller, of Tioga, and Samuel Welch, served in the Fiftieth regiment.

Seeley D. Greent, of Osceola, served in Company G, Sixty-fourth regiment.

Richard Smith, of Osceola, served in Company E, Seventy-seventh regiment.

In the Eighty-sixth regiment were the following: Amos F. Hawkins, Company A; Asaph Johnson, of Osceola, Company B; George Vastbinder, of Osceola, Company C; William E. Seely, of Osceola, and John Cornell, of Jackson, Company E; A. N. Dunham, of Knoxville, Company F; Stephen P. Chase, of Brookfield, color-bearer, and Sylvester Hunt, of Brookfield, Company H, and Edwin B. Bulkley, of Westfield, Company K.

Orville S. Kimball, of Westfield, and Harlan P. Kimball, served in Company I, One Hundred and Third regiment.

William H. Lemger, of Osceola, served in Company K, One Hundred and Sev- enth regiment.

Augustus Cadugant, of Osceola, served in Company I, One Hundred and Six- teenth regiment.

In the One Hundred and Forty-first regiment were the following: Gilbert H. Tremain, of Westfield, Company D; John W. Hammond, captain, and Truman B. Foote and Sylvester Tinney, all of Osceola, Company G.

David Sherman served in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-ninth regiment.

Dr. Lewis Darling, of Lawrenceville, served as surgeon of the One Hundred and Sixty-first regiment; and Legrand G. Brant, of Lawrence township, in Company G; James Freeland, of Osceola, in Company H, and Clark K. Cameron, of Osceola, in Company I, of this regiment.

John L. Robb, of Farmington, now a resident of Wellsboro, served in Company D, One Hundred and Ninety-fourth regiment.

* Killed or morrtally wounded. # Wounded. t Died.

247

WAR OF THE REBELLION.

Thomas C. Knapp, of Lawrence township, enlisted in the First Cavalry, but was afterward transferred to the Second Cavalry.

Leroy Hoaglin, lieutenant, George Mack and Andrew Sutton, all of Osceola, served in Company G, Second Veteran Cavalry. Delos Kelts, of Lawrence township, served in Company B, and Luman M. Smith, of Lawrence township, in Company E of this regiment. Anderson Bunn served in the Twelfth Cavalry, and J. J. Brady in the Mounted Rifles. Seeley D. Green, of Osceola, after re-enlistment, served in Com- pany G, Twenty-second Cavalry.

Rev. Stephen M. Dayton, of Osceola, served in Battery D, Thirteenth Heavy Artillery.

IN OTHER STATES.

Daniel Butler, of Charleston, served in the First Minnesota regiment.

Lott M. Webb served on the United States gunboat Kinea, in the Gulf squadron.

C. M. Prutsman, of Tioga, was an orderly sergeant in the Seventh Wisconsin Volunteers. Horace Johnson, of Tioga, served in the same command.

George E. Stauffer, of Sullivan, served in Company C, Second Maryland Cavalry. John Lynch, of Osceola, served in Company F, First Connecticut Cavalry.

Dr. Lewis Darling, Jr., of Lawrenceville, served as assistant surgeon at Washing- ton, D. C., one year, was then assigned to the Western army, and in 1864 was the operating surgeon of the Twenty-third Army Corps, and later served as surgeon in the navy.

Thomas V. Darling, a brother of Lewis, served four years in the United States Marine Corps.

Dr. Milton P. Orton, of Lawrenceville, served as surgeon from 1862 until his death at Hatteras Inlet, February 2, 1864.

Capt. H. S. Green, formerly of Wellsboro, served from Kansas, in "Jim Lane's Brigade."

Capt. A. M. Pitts, who died in Mansfield, October 2, 1891, enlisted as a private in Company A, Seventh Kansas Cavalry, August 10, 1862, and was successively pro- moted until he became captain of Company D, the same year. He was honorably discharged in September, 1865.

Charles Irvin, of Union township, a brother of ex-Sheriff John Irvin, served in the Twelfth Illinois Volunteers, and was killed at Fort Donelson.

FOURTEENTH UNITED STATES INFANTRY.

Company C, of the First battalion, of the above regiment, had the following Tioga county men, mustered August 27, 1862, for three years:

Homer J. Ripley, commissioned first lieutenant June 3, 1865; captain September 15, 1867; resigned January 1, 1871. James B. Rumsey, hospital steward; William H. Rumsey, sergeant; Abijah S. Reynolds, corporal. Privates: Henry Slingerland, L. F. Doud, Melville L. Maine, George Clark, Charles Clarke, Charles A. Jones, B. F. Ford, Harvey Peters, Willard Compton, James Vanzile, Truman Mudge. They were mustered out in August, 1865.

Captain Ripley was mustered as captain of Company D, Thirty-second regiment,

* Killed or mortally wounded. # Wounded. t Died.

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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

United States army, which was the Third battalion of the Fourteenth infantry, and served in Arizona and other parts of the west until his resignation in 1871. He closed his third consecutive term as register and recorder of Tioga county, January 4,1897.

SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.

West of the pagoda, on "The Green," facing the court house, is the monument erected to the memory of the soldiers and sailors of Tioga county, who gave their lives for the defense of the Union during the War of the Rebellion. This monument was unveiled and dedicated November 18, 1886, with appropriate ceremonies. It is of Green Mountain granite, which has a soft gray tinge when unpolished, very hard and enduring, and which takes a fine and lasting polish. The only polished portions are the tablets. The one facing Main street bears the following inscription:

In Memory of the Soldiers and Sailors of Tioga County who died That the Nation Might Live. 1861-1865.

The tablet on the opposite side of the monument contains the single line: It is noble to die for one's country.

The base and shaft of the monument is twenty-five feet high, and the base stone is eight feet square. The figure of the infantry soldier, that fittingly crowns the work, is a very finely-cut and life-like statue, seven feet six inches high. It weighs nearly a ton and cost $2,000. The cost of the whole work, including incidentals, was about $4,600. This amount was raised by voluntary contributions throughout the county.

The occasion of unveiling the monument was a memorable one. Despite the inclement weather, there was a large attendance. The opening address was by M. H. Cobb, followed by General Gobin, orator of the day. The monument was pre- sented to George Cook Post, G. A. R., by Hon. Henry W. Williams, who referred to the fact that Tioga county contributed nearly 3,000 men to suppress the Rebellion. This, out of a population of about 31,000, was a large number-almost one in ten -- and of this number probably one-fourth lost their lives, on the field of battle, in the hospital or in the prison pens of the South.

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat The soldier's last tattoo; No more on life's parade shall meet That brave and fallen few. On fame's eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread, But glory guards, with solemn round, The bivouac of the dead. LOSSES IN THE WAR.

Maj. George W. Merrick, in an address made a few years ago on Decoration Day, said:

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LITERATURE OF TIOGA.

At the breaking out of the Civil War the adult male population of the county was about six thousand. Of this number two thousand enlisted in the Federal armies. The spirit of the fathers lived in the sons. Of this number, there were lost in battle: At Fredericksburg, 19; South Mountain, 16; Antietam, 6; Gettysburg, 15; Wilderness, 18; Cold Harbor, 15; Petersburg, 47; and in thirty-five other battles of the war, 182; acci- dentally killed, 3; died in Union hospitals, 62; died while prisoners of war, 56. Total loss during the continuance of the war, 445. Twenty-two per cent. of the whole number en- listed laid down their lives for their country! These simple figures speak volumes for the loyalty of Tioga county in the War of the Rebellion.

CHAPTER XVI.

LITERATURE OF TIOGA.

JOSIAH EMERY'S ENGLISH GRAMMAR-LYDIA JANE PIERSON, THE FOREST MINSTREL -MARY EMILY JACKSON, A NATIVE POETESS-M. H. COBB, PRINTER AND POET- "NESSMUK," THE LOVER AND POET OF NATURE-HIS RAMBLES, TRAVELS, AND WRITINGS.

IT is scarcely known that Tioga has a literature of which any county might feel proud. The first publication was an English Grammar, made as early as 1829. It was by Josiah Emery, a teacher in the old Academy at that time. The grammar, which was a small work, was "designed as a first book for children commencing the study." It was copyrighted March 9, 1829, and was entitled "An Abridgment of English Grammar, by J. Emery, A. B." The certificate of copyright is signed by James Armstrong, clerk of the Western District of Pennsylvania, at Williamsport. The little grammar has long since passed out of print and it is almost impossible at this day to find a copy. In fact there are few living who have any knowledge of it.

LYDIA JANE PIERSON.

Mrs. Lydia Jane Pierson, for many years a resident of Tioga county, attained great distinction as a poetess, and for years ranked with the best female poets of America. Her maiden name was Wheeler, and she was born in Middletown, Connec- ticut, in 1802. When sixteen years of age her parents removed to Madison county, New York, where she was employed in teaching school until 1821, when she married Oliver Pierson, a widower, of Cazenovia, twenty-four years her senior, and the father of five children. Her biographer, Mr. Goodrich, says that about the time of their marriage Mr. Pierson traded a farm for one thousand acres of wild land lying in the western part of Liberty and the eastern part of Morris townships, Tioga county, and in the following year he moved with his young wife, accompanied by two of his married daughters and their husbands, to this land. The country was then (1822) in such a wilderness condition that they were obliged to cut a road nearly the whole

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distance from the Block House settlement (five miles) to his land, and then make an old log cabin their temporary abode until lumber could be hauled a long distance to construct a better dwelling.

It was here, under these adverse and trying circumstances-so unlike what she had been used to-contending with stern fate, yet holding "sweet converse with nature and with nature's charms," that she began to write poetry. To a spirit like hers, in a wilderness home, surrounded by so many sore trials-both domestic and pecuniary-life would have been a great burden had she not been inspired by an intense religious zeal, which not only found expression in her daily work and life, but was also the chief theme of her songs, which bear a strong resemblance to the poems of Mrs. Hemans.

Soon after the establishment of The Pioneer, at Wellsboro, she began writing for that paper, and many fine pieces not found in her published volumes, appeared in its columns.

Some time in 1833, Mr. Pierson, who had by that time cleared a farm, rented it and removed with his family to Jersey Shore, when his wife became a contributor to the Lycoming Gazette, then a weekly paper of some prominence, published at Will- iamsport. At the end of two years Mr. Pierson purchased a bill of merchandise on credit, returned with his family to his old home, and attempted to carry on a mer- cantile business, but disastrously failed, and his farm of 400 acres was sold by the sheriff to satisfy his creditors. The property was bid off by Judge Ellis Lewis and A. V. Parsons, and deeded to Thaddeus Stevens in trust for Mrs. Pierson during her life, and at her death to be divided among her children.

Her good luck came about in this wise. At the time Mr. Stevens, as a member of the legislature, was advocating the free school system, she wrote a poem compli- mentary of both him and the system, which pleased him so much that he sent her fifty dollars, subsequently made her acquaintance, became the trustee of the property of herself and children, and educated one of her sons. And through his aid, and some kind friends in Philadelphia, she had her first volume of poems-Forest Leaves-published in 1845. The following year her second volume-The Forest Minstrel-was published. Each of these volumes comprise 264 pages, and they in- clude from seventy-five to eighty poems each. Of the longest and best sustained poems of a high order of merit, may be mentioned "The Wandering Spirit," "Changes," "A Moonlight Dream," "Sunrise in the Forest," "Sunset in the Forest," "The White Thorn and Lennorah," and "Elijah on Mount Horeb," all contained in Forest Leaves; and in The Forest Minstrel such as "The Three Marys," "Old Letters," "The Shipwreck," "The Battle Field," etc., may be found.

There is high authority for saying that some of the compositions here mentioned, and many others of less extent contained in these two volumes, "will bear com- parison with the productions of the most popular and gifted American poets." N. P. Willis, a high and recognized authority in literature, once said of Mrs. Pierson that in sacred and Christian themes she bore away from him the palm.

During a part of 1849 and 1850 Mrs. Pierson edited the Lancaster Intelligencer. In 1853 she and her husband, with two daughters and five sons of the second mar- riage, went to Adrian, Michigan, leaving one daughter, Mrs. Emmick, on the old homestead. In this latter place she died in 1862, aged sixty years, and is there

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buried. Her widowed husband returned to Liberty, and died at Mrs. Emmick's house in 1865, aged eighty-seven years. Of this large family not more than one or two are now living.

Her trials and tribulations were great, but in the midst of her sorrows her genius shown resplendant and made her name immortal. One of the most pathetic of her poems, not usually found in her published collections, is on the departure from her forest home in Tioga county. It is as follows:

THE LONG FAREWELL. Farewell ! ye woody wilds, a long farewell, With aching heart I bid this fond adieu; Ye verdant hills and every lonely dell, And silver streams that glide the forest thro'; Ye bowers of ever verdant laurel wreathes, And shades where florid health forever breathes, Perhaps the last gaze now rests on you.

I saw ye first with agonizing breast, And tear drops from the heart's recesses wrung, And friendships severed bonds my soul distrest, And every hand that late to mine had clung, And every eye illum'd with light divine,

Whose tearful lingering gaze was fix'd on mine, Seemed present to my heart by absence stung.

Yet soon I found in the unbroken calm Of nature's uninvaded deep repose, A sacred rest, a tranquilizing balm, A half oblivion of the keenest woes- I found a solemn joy amid the gloom, As mourners find o'er virtue's grass-grown tomb, And saw "the desert blossom like the rose."

I've seen industry fill the forest's pride, And cultivation bring her magic wand, And holy friendship near to bliss allied, Presented me again her faithful hand- Contentment beamed upon the calm retreat, And peace and half blown joys with incense sweet, Combined to chain my heart with firmest band.

Yet now I go-perhaps no more to trace The foot path winding thro' the dewy glade, Or gaze with rapture on the beaming face Of lov'd companion thro' the chequer'd shade, Or sit and rest upon the fallen tree, While nature's truth in open converse free, Unveiled the heart and flitting time betray'd,

Farewell ye woods-farewell ye cultur'd fields, Ye infant fruit trees and ye cherish'd flowers, Some other shall enjoy your ripen'd yields, And ye shall soothe some other's twilight hours; Will friendship sometimes as it passes by, Bend on your early buds a tearful eye, And think of her who lov'd your balmy bowers ?

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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

Farewell my friends-heaven wills that we shall part, But absence cannot break affection's chain, And while remembrance clings around my heart, Your idea ever cherish'd shall remain- Oft shall I weep amid the bustling scene, For those with whom I rov'd the wild wood green, Or live by memory's light with them again.

O ! can I say we shall not meet again- No, hope forbids that fear to be exprest ; Yet, ah ! what bitter days, what months of pain, What cruel pangs may wring each absent breast; What tears may fall above affection's tomb;

What cherish'd hopes may wither in their bloom, Before these hands in mine again are prest.

O ! hide my errors in oblivion's wave, And twine my friendship with the laurel wreath.

I have no foes-that name I never gave To erring mortal on this world beneath- Remember me, and while heaven's light I view,

In sacred truth I'll breathe a prayer for you, 'Till this warm heart is cold and still in death. -LYDIA JANE.

MARY EMILY JACKSON.

Mary Emily Jackson early in life evinced a talent for writing verse of a high order, and became distinguished for her talent. She was born in 1821, in Wells- boro, and was reared by her grandfather, Ebenezer Jackson. Her mother was one of his (Ebenezer's) daughters. Miss Jackson was a pupil in the "Old Academy," and it was while attending school that her poetic genius began to develop, and between 1830 and 1840 she was at the height of her fame.

Mr. Henry H. Goodrich, in a brief sketch of her, published several years ago, says that she contributed poems to the Wellsboro Phoenix, and subsequently to the Saturday Evening Post, and the New Yorker, obtaining from them such a high appreciation of her talent that Horace Greeley, the principal editor of the latter paper, invited her to become a member of his household and write regularly for his paper. This flattering offer she declined.

It is regretted that her poems were not collected and published in a volume. All were fugitive pieces, and few can be found at this day. Her poetry was marked by much harmony of expression, versatility of thought, and delicacy of sentiment, combined with a calm, gentle and appreciative love of nature; but imbued with that spirit of sadness instinctive in and characteristic of the true poet. She was possessed of more than ordinary personal charm and beauty, which joined to her amiable disposition and adorned by her literary talent, made her society esteemed, and won for her many admiring friends. She was of medium height, with hair and eyes dark, complexion pale and delicate, and manner of exceeding grace. In 1842 she married Isaac Cleaver, of Covington, and went there to reside, when she discontinued her contributions to the press. She died at the residence of her son Isaac, at Troy, Bradford county, in 1869, and is buried by the side of her husband at Covington, who preceded her to the grave. They had two sons and one daughter. The latter, named for her mother, married H. F. Long.

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LITERATURE OF TIOGA.

Tradition says that her finest poem was entitled "My Mountain Home," but diligent search has failed to develop a copy. The only poem that could be found at the present time was discovered in a stray copy of the Phoenix, printed many years ago. It is entitled "The Parting," and from the tone of sadness which seems to crop out in every stanza, it is inferred that it was written about the time she became a bride and left the home of her childhood at Wellsboro. It is as follows:

THE PARTING.

One look, one passionate parting word, And the pang of the heart is o'er; One tear for the yearning which grief hath stirred, For the deep, low tones of the farewell heard, And we shall meet no more.

And yet as the lingering ray of eve Fades over the distant sea- As twilight's shadows the wild flowers leave,

And the winds thro' the leaves of the lotus grieve, Will ye have no thought for me?

I am leaving the whispers of bud and bough, Ere the summer's wild flowers fade; Yet a furrow is deep on my darkened brow, That has worn in its sorrowless pride till now, The garland ye have made.

And as the winds of the cold north come With a tone more sad and deep ;

Will ye not meet at our childhood's home For the weary feet that are doomed to roam In their fragile strength, to weep?

Ye have been the fountain in life's young hour, Of affection's wealth to me ;

And now when the tempests of noonday lower And fate frowns dark with a fiendish power, Will ye not think of me?

Ye will think of me, ye will think of me As ye think of the soulless dead; Ye will meet at the haunts of our childish glee, Where all bright things of the earth are free, But not as in days now fled.

Ye will know that a shadow has passed away, That broken is love's deep spell;

That hushed are the breathings of Love's young lay, And dark is the close of its summer day- Home, friends of my youth, farewell! -MARY EMILY JACKSON.

M. H. COBB, PRINTER AND POET.

One of the sweetest singers of Tioga's poets was M. H. Cobb, for some time editor and publisher of the Wellsboro Agitator. So highly appreciated were his poetic effusions, that on the eve of his departure for another field of labor, his friends collected a "small number of the many excellent fruits of his own genius," printed

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them in a beautiful little volume and presented it to him as "a memento of friend- ship."

Mr. Cobb was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, April 20, 1828, and became a printer and editor in early life. His connection with the Agitator will be found described in the chapter on the press of Wellsboro.

Harpel's elegant volume, entitled "Poets and Poetry of Printerdom," refers to that exquisite gem, "The World Would Be the Better for It," in these words: "It took form in his mind almost unbidden early one December morning in 1854, and rising he transcribed it, and sent it to the New York Tribune, and it has been every- where read since. He obeyed the poetic impulse then, under the influence of love for humanity." Here is the poem:

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History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 31

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