USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania > Part 99
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MINER BENJAMIN was born in 1814, in St. Lawrence county, New York, and came to Tioga county, Pennsylvania, in 1843. Here he married Sarah Wilson, of Liberty, Tioga county, in 1845. He followed lumbering as an occupation until 1868, when he was accidentally killed by being struck by a log. To Miner and Sarah Benjamin were born six children, viz: Frances, wife of the late Robert Quimby, of Lycoming county; William Q., who married Margaret Roland, of Wells- boro; Clara, wife of George Greene, of Wellsboro; Janette, wife of Charles Steele, of Delmar; Charles W., who died when he was fourteen months old, and Elmer E. The family is connected with the Baptist church.
ELMER E. BENJAMIN was born in 1863, in Tioga county. His father was killed when our subject was five years old, and since then he has lived with his mother on the homestead farm in Delmar township, Tioga county, Pennsylvania. In 1893 Mr. Benjamin was elected clerk and treasurer of Delmar township and served three years. In politics, he is a Republican. Mr. Benjamin was married June 22, 1893, to Nellie Wheeler, of Wellsboro, a daughter of the late J. C. Wheeler.
DARIUS C. ANDREWS was born near Burlington, Rutland county, Vermont, April 4, 1812. When he was about eighteen months old his parents started for Tioga county, New York, but before the journey was completed his mother died, and he was given to an aunt, Mrs. Thomas Caulkins, an early settler of Charleston township, Tioga county, Pennsylvania. Here he grew to manhood and married Jane Coombs, who was born in Steuben county, New York, October 10, 1815. She became the mother of seven children, as follows: Deborah D., widow of William Brockway, of Port Huron, Michigan; Anna, wife of Albert Brown, of Roaring Branch, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania; Thomas, a resident of Mason City, Iowa; Catherine, wife of Alexander Miller, of North Yakima, Washington; Harriet, wife of a Mr. Brown, of Salem, Oregon, and two that died in infancy. About 1837 Mr. Andrews removed to Sullivan county, Pennsylvania, where he lived five or six years and then returned to this county, locating in Chatham township. Here he re- mained about ten years, when he went to Steuben county, New York, but soon returned to Tioga county. About 1879 he settled on a farm on Marsh creek, in Delmar township, where he died September 3, 1893. Mrs. Andrews is living with her daughter, Mrs. Harriet Brown, in Salem, Oregon, at the ripe age of nearly eighty-two years. In 1857 an estrangement arose between Mr. Andrews and his wife, which resulted in a legal separation. In 1861 he married a Mrs. Potter, of Troupsburg, New York, who bore him two children, viz: Flora, wife of Walter French, of Mills, Potter county, and Abram D., of Marsh Creek.
FRANCIS M. ANDREWS, eldest child of Darius C. and Jane (Coombs) Andrews, was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, October 8, 1835. After receiving a common school education, he learned the millwright's trade, at which he worked in Middlebury and Elk townships. In the winter of 1854 he went to Canada and
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a year later to Wisconsin. He remained in the latter twenty-three years and became a prominent lumberman and mill operator, owning and operating mills at Merrill, Lincoln county, Wisconsin. About 1877 he removed to Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, where he followed agriculture until 1881 and then returned to Tioga county and took charge of his father's farm. To this he has since added until he now owns 285 acres. Mr. Andrews was married September 10, 1868, to Theresa J. Beeman, a daughter of Stephen Van Rensselaer and Lorena Beeman, of Middlebury town- ship. She bore him four children, viz: Frank M., Lulu, deceased; Fred B., and Raymond. Mrs. Andrews died February 22, 1879, and September 15, 1880, he married Ella Chamberlain, a daughter of Joel and Ellen (Wait) Chamberlain. Mr. Andrews is a Republican, and served as county supervisor of Lincoln county, Wisconsin, seven years, and also as a school director, and has filled the offices of assessor and auditor of Delmar township. He is a member of both lodge and chap- ter in the Masonic order, and also of the Grange. Mr. Andrews and wife are ad- herents of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JAMES HODDER, a native of South Wales, born May 20, 1841, is a son of Simeon and Anna (Watkins) Hodder, natives of the same country. His parents reared a family of eleven children, seven of whom came to the United States. James was the eldest, and worked with his father in the coal mines of his native land until 1869, when he immigrated to Pennsylvania and found employment in the mines at Fall Brook, Tioga county, where he worked until 1872. He then went to An- trim, and continued at the same business for ten years. In the meantime he had purchased fifty acres of land at Hoytville, in 1874, which he sold in 1880 to the Hoytville Tannery Company, upon which the tannery works were subsequently erected. He then bought his present farm of eighty-six acres in Delmar township, upon which he located in 1881, since which year he has devoted his attention to agriculture. Mr. Hodder was married December 24, 1861, in South Wales, to Mar- garet Davis, and they are the parents of eleven children, viz: Margaret A., wife of Elmer Emmick, of Morris; Florence, Benjamin Sidney, Simon James, Libbie, deceased; Elizabeth, Lillie, Katie, Emma, Mary and William C. Mr. and Mrs. Hodder are members of the First Baptist church of Delmar. In politics, he is a Re- publican, and is also a member of the I. O. O. F. and the P. of H. societies.
GEORGE F. RAISH, farmer and lumberman, was born in Lackawanna county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1859, a son of Godfrey and Jane (Olewine) Raish, natives of Lackawanna and Monroe counties, respectively. His father was a lumberman, and died in 1874, aged forty-three. His mother died in 1865, aged twenty-five years. They were the parents of four children, viz: George F., Charles A., a resident of Colorado; William, deceased, and Samuel, who resides in Snyder county. The subject of this sketch came to 'Tioga county in September, 1879, and found employ- ment in the Leetonia tannery for eight years. While there he bought thirty acres of land in Delmar township, upon which he settled after leaving the tannery. He fol- lowed teaming four years, and then took a large bark and lumber contract, and in the next three years got out 3,700 cords of bark, and 7,400,000 feet of lumber. He later took a large contract to supply a Penn Yan, New York, firm with bark and lumber, which proved a successful venture. He recently pur- chased a farm of 120 acres immediately west of Draper, and devotes his atten-
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tion to farming and lumbering. On July 4, 1879, Mr. Raish married Amelia George, a daughter of Levi George, of Luzerne county. They are the parents of the following children, viz: Charles, Edgar, Walter, Ivan C., Leonard, Freeman, Lee G., Violet A., and one that died in infancy. Mr. Raish and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics, he is a Republican. He is also connected with the P. of H., the K. of G. E., the I. O. O. F., and the F. & A. M., in all of which he takes a deep interest.
JOHN LAGERBOM was born in Sweden, March 1, 1839, a son of Carl Lagerbom. He worked as a farm hand and in the construction of railroads in his native land until 1871, when he immigrated to Pennsylvania and worked one year on the Fall Brook railroad. He then found employment at the Mansfield furnace, where he remained one year, and for the following eight years worked in the mines at Morris Run and Antrim. In 1881 he purchased ninety-four acres of timber land in Dun- can township, which he cleared up and improved. He resided upon it until the spring of 1892, when he bought his present farm of 156 acres in Delmar township, on which he has since resided. Mr. Lagerbom married Caroline Oleson, and has four children, viz: Mary H., who lives in Chicago; Jennie, wife of Lloyd Henry, of Delmar; Charles, and Eva, both of whom live with their parents. The family are members of the Lutheran church, and in politics, Mr. Lagerbom, is a Republi- can. He is also a member of the Patrons of Husbandry.
CHARLESTON TOWNSHIP.
PETER SHUMWAY, a native of Massachusetts, was one of the early settlers of Tioga county. He was a veteran of the Revolution, in which he served nearly seven years, and received a discharge signed by George Washington which is now in pos- session of his great-grandson, Peter E. Shumway, of Wellsboro. He located south of Mansfield about 1805, and a year later removed to Charleston township, settling on the place since known as the Shumway homestead, near the line of Delmar. Here Mr. Shumway and wife, Dolly (Nichol's) Shumway, passed the remaining years of their lives. Both died in the early thirties. They reared a family of six children, named as follows: Lydia, who married Joseph Wilson; Clarissa, who mar- ried Samuel Palmer; Jerusha, who married William Palmer; Zilpha, who married Luther Johnson; Lucretia, who married Alden Thompson, and Sleeman, all of whom are dead.
SLEEMAN SHUMWAY, only son of Peter Shumway, was born in Massachusetts, April 10, 1797, and was eight years old when his parents came to Tioga county. His subsequent life was spent on the old homestead on Shumway Hill, in Charles- ton. He married Desdemona Whitmore, of that township, and reared the follow- ing children: Joseph, deceased; Peter, a resident of Wisconsin; Luther, of Charles- ton township; William P., also a resident of Charleston, and Hiram, who lives in Wisconsin. Mr. Shumway died on his farm May 3, 1864, and his wife April 11, 1882, aged eighty-eight years and five months.
WILLIAM P. SHUMWAY was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, April 9, 1823, a son of Sleeman and grandson of Peter Shumway. He received a common school education; was reared on the homestead farm, and has made agriculture his life vocation, being to-day one of the successful farmers of his township. On April
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15, 1847, he married Mary Bacon, a daughter of Elmer and Mary Bacon, early set- tlers of Charleston. She was born November 3, 1828, and became the mother of seven children, viz: Ellen, wife of Elbert Johnson, of Corning; George, Arthur and Peter E., all residents of Wellsboro; Mary, who died April 23, 1877; Clarence and Clara, twins, the former a resident of Corning and the latter of Wellsboro. Mrs. Shumway died September 12, 1877. February 22, 1882, Mr. Shumway mar- ried Lucretia Austin, a daughter of Nelson and Lydia Austin, of Charleston. Po- litically, he is a Republican, and has served as treasurer and supervisor in his town- ship.
JOSEPH THOMPSON was born in Stonington, Connecticut, January 5, 1757, and was the youngest son of a family of eighteen children, consisting of twelve sons and six daughters. He was reared to manhood in his native State and served in the Revolutionary War. He later removed to Otsego county, New York, where he married Catherine Coates, who bore him five children, viz: Joseph, Alanson, Lucretia, who married James Kimball, an early hotel-keeper of Wellsboro; Cynthia, Lorinda, who became the wife of Col. Hiram Freeborn, for many years a prominent business man of Knoxville, and Alden, who settled in Charleston township. Mr. Thompson came to Tioga county before 1820 and made his home with his children, some of whom had preceded him, settling on Shumway Hill, in Charleston town- ship. He died November 23, 1842, aged eighty-five years, ten months and eighteen days, and was buried in the old cemetery at Wellsboro.
ALDEN THOMPSON, youngest son of Joseph Thompson, was born in Otsego county, New York, December 18, 1794. When about nineteen years of age he came to Tioga county, but did not locate permanently until after his majority, when he bought eighty-seven acres of land on Shumway Hill, in Charleston town- ship, containing a small clearing. This tract he afterwards added to until he was the owner of 200 acres. He passed through the experiences of pioneer life, and by rigid industry became a prosperous farmer. Mr. Thompson was married about 1820, to Lucretia Shumway, a daughter of Peter Shumway, a Revolutionary soldier and the first settler on Shumway Hill. Two children were born to them, viz: Charles K., for many years a well-known physician of Wellsboro, and Darwin, now a resident of the same place. Mr. Thompson died March 7, 1872, and his wife May 5, 1872.
DARWIN THOMPSON, youngest son of Alden Thompson, and grandson of Joseph Thompson, was born on the old homestead in Charleston township, August 28, 1829. He was educated in the common schools and at Wellsboro Academy, and made farming his life vocation. He resided in Charleston township until 1888, when he removed to Michigan, remaining there one year. Returning to Tioga. county, he located in Wellsboro, where he still resides, but continues to carry on his farm of 200 acres in Charleston. Mr. Thompson was married December 6, 1864, to Adeline Warner, a daughter of Bostwick and Priscilla Warner, of Chenango. county, New York. She died April 6, 1865. On January 21, 1874, he married Mrs. Ellen Kriner, widow of Darius Kriner, of Delmar, who has borne him two children, viz: Lucretia E. and Viola F. In politics, Mr. Thompson is a Republi- can, has filled the office of school director, and was for eight years clerk of Charles- ton township.
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JAMES GILLIS DARTT was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, Penn- sylvania, June 6, 1822, a son of James and Mary (Gillis) Dartt, pioneers of that township. He was educated in the public schools, and has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits. On March 23, 1843, he married Emily Tipple, of Verona, Oneida county, New York, who became the mother of ten children, as follows: Ella, wife of David Dockstetter, of Charleston township; David, deceased; Clarinda, deceased wife of James K. Austin; Robert, a physician of Bellefonte, recently deceased; Orville, a farmer of Charleston; Alice, wife of Edwin Winters, of the same township; Fannie, wife of James K. Austin, Charleston; Emily, wife of Vine. Losey, of Charleston; Effie, wife of Edward Fleitz, also of Charleston, and Sadie, who lives at home. Mrs. Dartt died August 25, 1893. In politics, Mr. Dartt is a Republican; has been a school director for several terms, and was appointed post- master at Charleston under President Lincoln's administration, which office he filled continuously up to 1894, receiving in his final settlement with the United States government a check for two cents, being the amount due him to balance his account. This is said to have been one of the smallest checks ever drawn in the United States.
CALEB AUSTIN, a native of New England, was one of the early settlers of Charleston township, Tioga county, locating on the land now occupied by the poor farm, about the beginning of the present century. He married Clarissa Peterson, who bore him nine children, named as follows: Caroline, deceased wife of James Kimball, of Wellsboro; Adeline, deceased wife of Rudolph Christenot; Emily, who married Luman Fenton, of Cherry Flats; Charles, a farmer in Charleston township; Nelson, deceased; Angeline, deceased wife of Col. Alanson E. Niles; Nathan, de- ceased; Ruth, wife of John Doumaux, and Benjamin, deceased. Mr. Austin and wife spent their declining years in Charleston township, and died upon the old homestead.
CHARLES AUSTIN was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, August 15, 1815, a son of Caleb Austin. He attended the subscription schools of pioneer days, and worked on the homestead farm for his parents until he reached the age of twenty-eight years. He then bought a farm in Charleston township, on a part of which he now resides, and has devoted his entire attention to agriculture. He married Sarah Losinger, of Wellsboro, wlio bore him seven children, viz: Dwight, deceased; Hiram J., S. C. and C. N., all of whom are farmers in Charleston town- ship; Clarissa, wife of Joshua Atherton; Mary Josephine, wife of George Wilkinson, and Sarah Angeline, deceased. Mrs. Austin died upon the homestead farm, where her husband now resides.
C. N. AUSTIN, youngest son of Charles Austin, and grandson of Caleb Austin, was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, December 25, 1855. He attended the common schools of his native township, and assisted his parents on the farm until twenty-four years of age, when he began life for himself. In 1881 he bought his present place of seventy-five acres, where he has since continued in agricultural pur- suits. November 21, 1879, Mr. Austin married Rosella Wilkinson, a daughter of William Wilkinson, of Charleston township, and has two children, Blaine Dwight and Mary A. In politics, a Republican, he has filled several local offices, and is also a member of the Patrons of Husbandry.
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NORMAN ROCKWELL, a native of Vermont, was an early settler of Tioga county, Pennsylvania. He located at Cherry Flats, where he operated a general store, and was made postmaster at that point when the office was established, which position he filled for twenty-five years. He died at his home in 1883, leaving three children, viz: Levi E., a farmer of Sullivan township; Silas S., of Charleston, and Amy E., wife of Jerome B. Potter, of Washington, D. C.
SILAS S. ROCKWELL was born at Cherry Flats, Tioga county, and is a son of Norman Rockwell. He was reared on a farm, and obtained his education in the common schools. In early manhood he engaged in stock dealing for several years, was later deputy sheriff under Jerome B. Potter, and has since devoted his atten- tion to farming in Charleston township. He married Alice Harkness, a native of New York state, to which union have been born the following children: May R., wife of F. A. Halstead, of Elizabeth, New Jersey; Frank H., a lawyer of Wellsboro; Rose S., wife of S. F. MeInroy, of Middlebury, Tioga county, and Minnie A., who lives at home.
ALBERT F. PACKARD, merchant, Cherry Flats, was born July 31, 1839, in Sulli- van township, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, a son of John and Rebecca (Rose) Packard, the former a native of Massachusetts, and the latter of Connecticut. He was educated in the common schools of Mainesburg, and at the age of eighteen com- menced teaching. At the end of one year he went to Ohio, where he remained two years, then returned to Tioga county and engaged in farming near Mainesburg. On August 2, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancel- lorsville, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, and several other minor engagements, and was honorably discharged from the service at Chambersburg Hospital, July 3, 1865. Returning to Tioga county, he engaged in various occupations up to 1892, when he opened a general store at Cherry Flats, in Charleston township, where he has since carried on a prosperous business. Mr. Packard was married April 15, 1861, to Miss Mary R. Hubbell, of Monroeville, Huron county, Ohio, to which union have been born six children, viz: Mattie, wife of George Hall, of Shippen township; Francis, of Delmar; Herbert A., of Elmira, New York; Cora, wife of John C. Secor, postmaster at Cherry Flats; Anna R., and Clara M. In politics, Mr. Packard is a Prohibitionist, and has filled the offices of township clerk and school director, also county auditor oue term. He is a member of the G. A. R., the I. O. O. F., and the Patrons of Husbandry, in all of which he takes an active interest.
JAMES H. SMITH was born in Delaware county, New York, April 15, 1801, a son of Peter and Abigail (Cleveland) Smith. Peter Smith was born December 25, 1743, and died January 15, 1843. He was the father of seventeen children, several of whom were soldiers in the War of 1812. James H. was educated in the common schools of his native county, and learned the trade of a cloth dresser. In 1827 he came to Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and after a short stay on Pine creek, located in Charleston township, but followed his trade in Wellsboro and Mansfield for years. He married Sallie Button, a native of Otsego county, New York, who bore him five children, viz: James E., deceased; John E., and Jason E., both farmers of Charleston township; Jane E., deceased, and Nancy L. Mr. Smith died June 9,
I Robb
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1878, and his wife, January 31, 1877. They were members of the Free Will Bap- tist church, and in politics he was a Republican.
JASON E. SMITH was born in Mansfield, Tioga county, July 3, 1831, a son of James H. and Sallie Smith. He obtained a common school education, and has followed farming since early manhood, now residing on a farm of 225 acres in Charleston township, a part of which was purchased by his father. Mr. Smith was married October 18, 1858, to Mary A. Wilbur, a daughter of David and Anna (Havens) Wilbur, and a native of Hector township, Potter county, Pennsylvania. They have two children living, Jennie A., and George C., a farmer of Charleston. Their oldest child, Charles H., born November 29, 1859, died May 10, 1864. In politics, a Republican, Mr. Smith has filled the office of township treasurer two terms. He is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, and is one of the most sub- stantial farmers in his section of the county.
ROBERT H. PRATT was born in Ninevah, Broome county, New York, September 14, 1791, and was there reared and educated. He came with his family to Tioga county, Pennsylvania, in February, 1833, and located on Marsh creek, in Shippen township, removing three years later to the vicinity of Whitneyville, Charleston township. He made farming his principal occupation, but was also a pilot on the Susquehanna river. He married Elmina Stowell, born in Broome county, New York, March 10, 1802, to which union were born the following children: Riley R., a resident of Iowa; Edwin, of Mansfield; Luman, deceased; Lura, deceased wife of John Jennings; Mary Ann, deceased wife of George Parker; Jerusha, deceased wife of Mr. Abrams; Lewis, a resident of Binghamton, New York; Sallie, deceased wife of Edgar 'Grinnell; Sarah, deceased wife of Maxwell Conable; Jane, wite of Andrew J. Patchen, of Lawrence township; Emily, deccased wife of Albert Avery; Olive A., deceased wife of Albert Dartt, and Robert Vine, a resident of Jefferson county. After residing near Whitneyville five years, Mr. Pratt removed into Rich- mond township, where he and wife spent the remaining years of their lives. She died on February 12, 1860, and her husband, July 23, 1884, in his ninety-third year.
EDWIN PRATT, second son of Robert H. Pratt, was born in Ninevah, New York, August 13, 1829, and was four years old when his parents came to Tioga county. Here he grew to manhood, and attended the common schools during his boyhood days. He was married November 20, 1851, to Martha Wilcox, a daughter of Joseph and Eunice (Douglass) Wilcox, of East Charleston, to which union have been born six children, viz: Carrie, widow of A. A. Perry; Emma A., wife of Otis Rice; Helen Maria, wife of Clark Kingsley; Arthur S., Fred. H. and Frank L. Mr. Pratt followed farming in Charleston township until 1860, when he removed to Rich- mond township, where he has since resided. In politics, a stanch Republican, he voted for John C. Fremont in 1856, and has since given his support to every presi- dential candidate of his party.
ARTHUR S. PRATT, son of Edwin Pratt, and grandson of Robert H. Pratt, was born in Richmond township, Tioga county, May 23, 1860. He was reared upon the homestead, and obtained his education in the common schools and at the State Normal, in Mansfield. He remained at home until his majority, and then went to Morris, where he was engaged in lumbering three years. Returning to Richmond, he worked on a farm for two years, and in 1885 purchased his present
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
farm of eighty-six acres in Charleston township. Mr. Pratt was married May 19, 1886, to Miss Clara Nickson, of Charleston. He is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, and in politics, a Republican.
DENISON A. LOCKWOOD was born in Greenwich, Fairfield county, Connecticut, February 8, 1811, a son of Denison and Sally (King) Lockwood, the former a native of Connecticut, and the latter of Rhode Island. He was reared in his native town, and at the age of seventeen went to New York City, where he clerked in a store one year. He then entered the employ of the North River Steamboat Company, as engi- neer on the steamers Constitution, Ohio and Swallow, plying the Hudson river, which business he followed nine years. At the end of this period he went to Buffalo and put in the propelling machinery for the Wisconsin, a lake boat, and continued on her as engineer from 1838 to 1842, when he returned to New York and entered the employ of the West Point Foundry Company as mechanical engineer. He filled this position five years, going to Detroit in 1847 with the Fashion engine from New York to superintend the construction of the machinery for the Fashion, then being built at Detroit. He next became engineer of the Sultana, plying between Buffalo and Chicago. In 1849 he went to California, via Cape Horn, where he was engaged in mining and in constructing mining machinery and putting up quicksilver machines for two years. He later accepted a position as engineer on the Panama, but when he reached the Isthmus of Panama, he resigned, and crossed the Isthmus on a mule to the mouth of Chagres river, whence he proceeded to New York, as assistant engineer of the Georgia. He was subsequently engineer on the following boats, all plying between New York and South America: Northern Light, Star of the West, Eldorado, and Empire City, and also on the Oregon, a river boat. In December, 1861, he enlisted at the Kittery Navy Yard, Maine, in the United States navy, as first assistant engineer on the United States man-of-war, Sacra- mento, which proceeded to Wilmington, North Carolina, as a part of the blockade fleet. Later he was sent on board the ironclad Sagus, operating on the James river. Having received a serious injury, from which he has never fully recovered, he was found unfit for duty and sent to Portsmouth Hospital, which closed his career in the navy. In the meantime Mr. Lockwood had purchased a farm in Charleston township, Tioga county, embracing 100 acres, in 1837, and lived upon it when not engaged on duty. On October 20, 1837, he married Margaret Berard, of New York City, who became the mother of one daughter, Amelia Gertrude, widow of Darius W. Smith, of Charleston township. Mrs. Lockwood died March 20, 1885. In politics, Mr. Lockwood is a Republican.
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