USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 30
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The object of the organization is mutual aid. The meetings are held semi-monthly, in Baker's Hall, on Saturday evenings at 7 o'clock.
" BROM " ROHRABACHER.
At Sabinsville resides Abram Rohrabacher, familiarly known as " Brom Rohrabacher." He was born in Virgil, Cortland county, N. Y., in 1819, of German descent, and learned the trade of a blacksmith at Marathon in that county. He came to Pennsylvania about 35 years ago and settled in Pike township, just over the Tioga county line in Potter county, and since that time, par- ticularly on the waters of the upper Susquehanna, he has been widely known. A man of huge proportions, giant strength and infinite good nature, he became a conspicu- ous character among the lumbermen and the raftsmen. He has alternately resided in Potter, Tioga, Cameron and MeKean counties, but principally in Tioga county, and has held civil positions in the various localties where he lived. During the war he was a deputy U. S. marshal, and made arrests where danger lurked. It is said of him that, notwithstanding he possessed such herculean strength, he never first insulted a man; that the various melees and battles in which he has been en- gaged he has been drawn into by his sympathy for the weak when they were insulted and abused by the strong. He was for many years a pilot on Pine Creek and the Susquehanna, and to go with "Brom Rohrabacher" down the river was a guarantee of protection. He never countenanced rowdyism among his crew, charging them to keep within due bounds and if assailed to be like Davy Crockett-to be sure they were right, and then go ahead. If he had followed the impulses of his nature no fight or disturbance would be recorded against him, for he is the embodiment of good humor and fun; but he was so sympathetic that no insult could be offered to his friend, or even a stranger, without arousing all the lion in his nature. The anecdotes that might be told of his adven- tures would fill a volume, and no history of the lumber regions of the upper waters of the Susquehanna would be complete without a mention of " Brom Rohrabacher."
PATRIOTISM OF CLYMER.
Many of the citizens of Clymer responded to the call of their country during the late Rebellion, and went to the front in the 17ist and 207th regiments. Com- pany A in the 171st regiment was commanded by Cap- tain A. A. Amsbry, and was recruited largely in town- ships along the head waters of the Cowanesque. Com- pany D of the 207th was also recruited in Clymer and other townships in western Tioga county. A number in northern and western Tioga also went over the line and
Equitable Aid Union No. 253 was organized March 5th 1881, with the following officers: Chancellor, V. R. joined regiments in the State of New York.
COVINGTON TOWNSHIP.
BY JOHN L. SEXTON JR.
OVINGTON township is one of the oldest in the first one returned to the county commissioners in the the county. Its original territory comprised what is now the townships of Richmond, Sullivan, Ward, Union, Liberty and Bloss, and Fall Brook and Blossburg boroughs, em- bracing a great portion of the mineral lands and some of the best agricultural lands in the
county. It was formed from Tioga, February 15th 1815. At the first assessment, made by Ichabod Rowley ( John Knox, Asa Mann and Elijah Depuy county commis- sioners), the taxable inhabitants were as follows:
David Austin, Samuel Aldrich, Ebenezer Burley, Da- vid Burley, Alpheus Button, Joseph Bunn, Rufus Butler, Aaron Bloss, Gideon Briggs, Abner Cochran, Henry Campbell, John Cochran, Elijah Clark, Seth Clark, David Clemmons, Stilman Cannon, Samuel Campbell, Levi Elliott, Eli Gitchell, Aaron Gillett, Charles Gillett, Asahel Graves, Josiah Graves, Levi Gifford, Noah Gif- ford, Samuel Higley, George Higley, Timothy Higley, Christopher Huntington, Shubb Huntington, John Keltz, Peter Keltz, Henry Knowlton, Absalom Kingsbury, Daniel Lamb, Henry Lamb, Gad Lamb, Minard Law- rence, John Levegood, Silas Lamphere, Erastus Lilli- bridge, Jacob Miller, George Matteer, Richard Miller, John Marvin, Asa Mann, Samuel Negley, Thomas Over-
ton, Elias Pratt, Rufus Pratt, William Patton, Levi fine alluvial soil, while on the rolling lands east and west Prentice, Thomas Putnam, Elijah Putnam, Nathan Row- ley, Nehemiah H. Ripley, Ichabod Rowley, Cephas Stratton, Thomas Sampson, Joshua Shaw, Amos Spencer, L. H. Spencer, Ichabod Smith, John Shaffer, Jonathan Sebring, Nathan Whitman, Isaac Walker, Archelias Wilkins, Daniel Wilkins, Tilley Marvin, David Harkness, David Harkness jr., Royal Walker, Lorain Lamb, Seneca Stratton, William Merritt.
There were at that time large tracts of land owned by non-residents. On the county commissioners' book is this record: "Ichabod Rowley, as assessor for the town- ship of Covington, presented his bill for assessing said township, 17 days at one dollar per day-$17.00. Extravagant charge; deduct $5; which was accordingly done." It will thus be seen that the office of assessor at that time was no sinecure, nor one in which the incum- bent could become a millionaire. Twelve dollars for the assessment of what is now eight townships and two boroughs!
As soon as Covington became prosperous she began to lose her territory. Covington township was organized February 15th 1815. Before an assessment was made, or rather before one was returned to the county commis- sioners' office, the township of Sullivan was organized from Covington, February 1816, and the assessment which we have given of the township of Covington was
year 1817; and, although the township of Sullivan was formed one year later than that of Covington, yet Sul- livan returned her assessment, through James Gray jr., assessor, at the same time that the assessor of Covington did his, viz. in December 1817, as shown by records at Wellsboro. The township of Liberty was formed from Covington and Delmar in 1823; the township of Rich- mond from Covington in February 1824; Rutland from Sullivan in 1828; Union from Sullivan in 1830-the second granddaughter of Covington; Bloss from Coving- ton in June 1841; Ward from Union and Sullivan in February 1852, and Hamilton from Bloss in 1872. The borough of Fall Brook was organized from Ward town- ship in August 1864, and Blossburg from Bloss in August 1871. Thus has the original territory of Covington been from time to time taken from her. The township is now bounded on the north by Richmond, on the east by Sul- livan and Ward, on the south by Hamilton township, the borough of Blossburg, and Bloss township, and on the west by Charleston township.
The Tioga River passes north nearly through the center of the township, and along its banks is some very
of the river is some very excellent grazing land, together with soil admirably adapted to oats, potatoes, corn, buck- wheat and the orchard fruits. The farms as a general rule are well cultivated, and the farmers prosperous and " forehanded." The Tioga and Elmira State Line Rail- road passes through the township, keeping a course near the banks of the Tioga River. Originally the land in the township was covered with an exceedingly heavy growth of timber, consisting of white pine, hemlock, hard maple, beech, birch, hickory, walnut and cherry. The pioneer who early invaded the forest to hew him out a home had a great work before him; and when we at this time look over the well cultivated farms, free from trees, stumps and stones, and view the fields of waving grain, the neat and well constructed farm-houses, the great barns, the herds of cattle and sheep, and orchards loaded with ripe and luscious fruit, we little realize the years of toil that it has taken to change the wilderness into a fruitful and productive country.
OLD SETTLERS.
The earliest settler within the present limits of Coving- ton that we can discover was Aaron Bloss, who located near Covington village in 1801. He was followed by David Clemmons, Messrs. Hovey, Mallory, Washburne
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PIONEERS OF COVINGTON TOWNSHIP.
and Sackett, Levi Prentiss, John Patten, Tilley Marvin, J. horses attached. His family then consisted of a wife Coonrod Youngman, Asahel Graves, Absalom Kingsbury, and four children, Alpheus, Sumner, Olive and Daniel. Isaac Walker, Peter Keltz, Sumner Wilson, Robert Four children were born to them in Covington-Mary, John, Thomas and William. Mr. Wilson purchased a farm of James Negley and cleared it up, residing on it until his death, about twelve years ago. The farni still remains in the possession of his descendants. Searles, Samuel Negley, Christopher Huntington, Na- thaniel Elliott, Elijah Putnam, Thomas Dyer, Nathan Rowley, Ichabod Rowley, David Harkness, Elijah Gay- lord, E. B. Gerould, and Thomas Putnam.
Among the very earliest settlers in Covington township was David Clemmons, a native of Hampshire county, Mass. His residence before locating in Covington was Jay, Essex county, N. Y. In 1806 he located about two and a half miles south of the present borough of Covington, near the Tioga River, on the Williamson road. He was a widower at the time, with three children-named Ca- milla, Colborn and Alanson. He subsequently married Ruth Reynolds, a native of Vermont, and their children were William, Cuyler, Susan, Roxanna and James. The children surviving are: Susan, a maiden lady; Roxanna, widow of Horatio W. Ames, who died at Fortress Mon- roe in December 1861; and James. David Clemmons opened the coal at Blossburg on Bear Run at a very early period, where, after the construction of the railroad in 1840, it was extensively mined by the Arbon Coal Com- pany, William M. Mallory and Duncan S. Magee. Aaron Bloss owned the mines at the southern portion of the borough of Blossburg, and gave the name to the town- ship and borough; but it was upon the "Clemmons open- ing " that the coal was mined for shipment. There are several of his descendants, in addition to those we have named, living in the township of Covington and at Bloss- burg, and a portion of the "old Clemmons homestead " is in their possession.
Asahel Graves with his wife and three children came from Peru, Bennington county, Vt., to Covington in 1811. He left three children in the east, one of whoni came to Covington and was known as Mrs. Goodenow. Mr. Graves lived to a very advanced age, and was one of the pioneers who could in a very intelligent manner relate the incidents connected with the early settlement of Cov- ington.
Tilley Marvin, another of the old settlers, was born in New Hampshire, in March 1793, and settled on the west side of the river in Covington in 1817. He cleared up a large farm, and was one of the most energetic and indus- trious men of this section of the county. He was four times married, and was the father of twenty-four chil- dren. His first wife, Hannah, died March 23d 1823. aged 35 years; his second wife, Gamilla, died March 2nd 1837, aged 40 years; his third wife, Eliza, died October 28th 1862. He was married again, but died soon after, May 25th 1865, aged 72 years, 2 months and 21 days. His widow married his brother John, then a man over eighty. He died and she married again.
Sumner Wilson came to Covington from Belchertown, Hampshire county, Mass., in March 1818. and located near the present township line between Covington and Richmond. His route from the east was via the Cherry Valley turnpike to Ithaca and Newtown (now Elmira), and the journey was made in a covered sleigh with four
Another old settler and prominent business man was Ephraim B. Gerould, who came to Covington about the year 1822. His ancestors were of French origin and originally spelled their name Gerauld. At the time of locating in Covington Mr. Gerould was a widower, and he subsequently married Miss Christiana Putnam, daugh- ter of Elijah Putnam. Mr. Gerould was a farmer and merchant, and one of the most enterprising men of his day. He was county commissioner in 1830. He owned a farm in the southern-central portion of Covington, and at his death, which occurred April 22nd 1845, was en- gaged in farming and mercantile pursuits. He was then 57 years of age. He was a brigade inspector of militia, and his son H. M. Gerould was a brigadier general. A military company was organized in Covington in 1840, and maintained its organization until about 1855. Dur- ing that period the captains of the company were A. L. Johnson, H. M. Gerould and O. G. Gerould.
One of the most sterling citizens of Covington was Richard Videan, or Uncle Dick, as he was familiarly called. He was a native of England, and came to Cov- ington about the year 1831. He cleared up a large farm near Covington borough, on the west side of the Tioga River near the Copp Hollow road. He was a great hunt- er and took delight in the chase, and many were the trophies of his skill with the rifle, among them a huge set of elk horns, which hung in the hall of his dwelling and served as a hat rack. His early struggles in clearing up a new farm, like those of all other pioneers, were hard in the extreme; yet he enjoyed life and the companion- ship of friends, and his old age was crowned with a com- petence that strongly contrasted with the days when he first attempted to hew out a home from the forest. His home was always the scene of hospitality and good cheer. He died April 6th 1873, aged 74 years, 6 months and 12 days.
David Caldwell, a prominent citizen of Covington for many years, was born in Lycoming county, November 10th 1804. He was son of James Caldwell, who lost his life in the defense of his country in the war of 1812, and a grandson of Brattan Caldwell, one of the " Fair Play " men of the Revolutionary war, particularly distinguished on the west branch of the Susquehanna, and who was the first white man married on the west branch. David Caldwell was married at Jersey Shore, December 27th 1827, by the Rev. John Grier, to Miss Mary A. Bodine, by whom he had ten children, five boys and five girls, viz .: Frederic, deceased; I. O .; Margaret, wife of John Taylor; Sarah, wife of J. L. Miller; John B .; Anna, wife of Burr H. Hendricks; Mary, wife of W. H. Fonda; Ella, wife of George Wilkins; David, and Ellis H., de- ceased. Mr. Caldwell settled in Covington in 1840 and
16
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
soon became one of its leading citizens. He held various township offices, and in 1852 was elected county com- missioner. He was postmaster at Covington from 1857 to 1861. He has been a lifelong Democrat. He is now in the 78th year of his age, and well preserved mentally and physically.
Until about 1840 settlements in Covington township were confined chiefly to the banks of the Tioga River. A few settlers however had located on the State road on the east and west sides of the valley. John Copp, a na- tive of Rhode Island, settled west of Tilley Marvin's, in what is now known as " Copp Hollow." It was then a wilderness. His children were James, Richard, Lorenzo, William, Reuben, Harrison, Hannah, wife of - Hud- dington; Luthania, wife of Alanson Clemmons; Lois, wife of Alvin Gaylord; Lucy, wife of Curtis Cole; Re- becca, wife of - King; and a son named John, who died young. Mr. Copp resided in Copp Hollow many years. His wife died and he removed to Minnesota. His son James cleared up a farm of 106 acres, and at the age of 64 died, leaving a wife and ten children. Richard is in Chippewa Falls, Wis .; Lorenzo in Minnesota; William died on the journey west, in 1860; Reuben and Harrison live in Covington township; Hannah went to Ohio with her husband in 1859; Luthania, wife of Alanson Clem- mons, resided in Copp Hollow; Lois, wife of Alvin Gay- lord, in Mansfield; Lucy in Ohio, and Rebecca in Utah.
Among settlers who located soon after Mr. Copp were the Zimmers and Mudges, and off from the Copp Hollow road were the Hutchinsons and Camerons.
The early settlers on the Elk Run road were Alonzo Reddington, James Pettis, Asahel Graves, Deacon Jona- than Jennings, Isaac Bliss (father of the celebrated evangelist P. P. Bliss, who met such a tragic death at Ashtabula, December 30th 1876), and Abram Johnson, who erected a saw mill and employed at one time quite a number of men. It was on this road that P. P. Bliss spent several years of his young life, working on the farm, in the lumber woods, and at such service as he could ob- tain. It was there that he was baptized and became a member of the church. The citizens of Covington dur- ing the later years of Mr. Bliss's life took a deep interest in the success and popularity of one who had lived among them, attended their schools, sung in their midst, and made the first effort of his life in that locality; and when the sad tidings of his untimely death were an- nounced by telegraph none were more sad than the citi- zens of Elk Run in Covington.
never lost courage, and the result has been the well cul- tivated farms of the present.
James T. Frost was twenty years a justice of the peace, and his decisions were respected and concurred in. During his life many difficulties and differences were set- tled without the forms of law by his kindly advice and intervention. He ever acted as if his duty as a magis- trate consisted in preventing lawsuits, instead of foment- ing and fostering them; and many of his old neighbors of to-day look back with pleasure to the difficulties that his good advice removed, preventing them from dashing headlong into the labyrinth of the law, which their own impetuous temper prompted them to do. He still lives to enjoy their confidence and respect.
Thus were the hillsides and rolling lands of Covington settled, and every year for many years were new settlers added. Hospitality, friendship and neighborly love as a rule prevailed. Every new settler was welcomed, and made to feel that he was no intruder; and, however hum- ble his circumstances, the right hand of the pioneer was extended to him and his family in token of friendship and brotherly love, and he was encouraged in all his laudable undertakings.
The Walkers, Samuel and Lewis, who settled in Frost Settlement, were sons of Isaac Walker who settled in Covington July 4th 1813. They have gone to rest, and of the numerous family (seven sons and three daughters) of the old pioneer only three survive. Asahel resides in Illinois; Lydia, wife of Everett Bloss, resides in Coving- ton, and James in Blossburg. James was only four years of age when his father located in Covington. Seventy years he has resided in the original township of Coving- ton. He was married September Ist 1833 to Miss Eliza Hazleton, of Covington, by whom he had three children -Delos H., late sheriff of Tioga county; Roswell A., who died in the service of his country December 9th 1862 at Belle Plain, Va., while a member of the 132nd regiment Pennsylvania volunteers; and Mary A., wife of Alfred T. James. James Walker is still hale and hearty, and possesses the integrity of character characteristic of the sons of the "old Granite State; " and, although he is possessed of a competence, his industrious habits will not permit him to rest from his labors. He is in his 74th year, strong and vigorous, an honored citizen and a member of the Baptist church.
COVINGTON TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS.
Township schools commenced about the year 1830, in rude log-houses, which in time have been supplemented by the neat framed and painted school-house of the present. Before the passage of the free school law of 1834, and its supplements of 1838, neighborhood or pri- vate schools were maintained. These were generally held in the dwelling of a settler. After the free school law went into operation school-houses were erected, and schools established with stated teachers, and progress these nurseries of intelligence and freedom, and in the
Settlers also located on the State road, and near it on cross roads, among whom were Norman Rockwell, Avery Gillett, Nathaniel Elliott and Levi Elliott, the latter on the Charleston line at Cherry Flats. Matthew Skelley settled on the west side of the river about a mile and a half west of Covington; and on the east, at a point now known as Frost Settlement, were Lyman Frost, James T. Frost, Samuel and Lewis Walker, Joseph Jacques (father of Charles Jacques), Peter Whittaker, Silas Lamphere | has been made from time to time in the architecture of and John Cleveland. These sturdy pioneers encountered hardships and privations, but during all their trials they | appliances for aiding the teachers in their work. There
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BEGINNINGS AT COVINGTON BOROUGH.
are now ten schools in the township, where nine male and eleven female teachers were employed in the two school terms for the year ending June 6th 1881. Three hundred and twenty-six pupils received instruction. Among the teachers who were employed for the year ending June 1882 were F. H. Marvin, Lizzie Lewis, Car- rie Rockwell, Mrs. O. Barnes, Dora James, Miss Knowl- ton, Jennie Welch, W. O. Lewis, Miss Sarah Harvey, Miss Rockwell, Miss Edith Mannigan, Miss O. E. Hor- ton and Rev. G. W. Headley.
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
The vote for township officers in Covington for the present term was as follows;
Supervisors-James Dewey, 93; D. O. Ford, 59; H. Copp, 78.
Constable-Nelson Clemmons, 60; C. D. Frost, 13; L. B. Whitney, 56; A. F. Packard, I.
School directors-C. F. King, 87; S. T. Marvin, 74; D. F. Marvin, 17.
Assessor-G. W. Johnson, 117.
Assistant assessors-L. R. Walker, 107; D. H. Walker, IIO.
Treasurer- A. W. Mudge, 67; John Blair, 40.
Town clerk-G. M. Butler, 37; J. B. Ford, 74.
Judge of election-G. S. Harding, 89.
Inspectors of election-Eli Jelliff, 35; John Pattison, 25; A. H. Ingalls, 21.
Auditor-W. O. Lewis, 60.
COVINGTON BOROUGH.
BY JOHN L. SEXTON JR.
M
OST of the early settlers at Covington were not organized until the year 1841, Blossburg only being from New England and possessed the intel- a small hamlet until that time, and Covington the center ligence and vigor which have so uniformly of trade and population from which radiated the enter- distinguished her sons and daughters. They prises which ultimately resulted in the development of commenced in earnest to reclaim the wilder- the mines at Blossburg. Covington can therefore be ness and bring under cultivation the virgin justly called the mother of Blossburg, or the hive from soil. The Williamson road was cut out which to a marked degree emanated the prosperity of north and south through the Tioga Valley in 1792, and the latter town. Probably no borough in the county has the east and west State road from Towanda, Bradford had so many stages of prosperity and depression as Cov- county, west to Wellsboro via Covington in 1808. These ington. From 1820 to 1840 great improvements were highways afforded the early settlers a mode of ingress made. During that period streets were opened upon and egress, and it was near or at their intersection that both sides of the river, running north and south, and a general impetus was given to business by the erection of mills, factories, stores, hotels, churches, school-houses, and all the requisites of a flourishing country town.
the earliest settlers located, where the present borough of Covington is situated, 35 miles south of Corning, 12 miles east of Wellsboro, five miles south of Mansfield and five miles north of Blossburg, on the line of the Tioga Great projects were conceived and carried into execution. and Elmira State Line Railroad.
Blossburg was then in Covington township, and many of the leading men who were prominent in the building of the 1840, made Covington their temporary or permanent
For the very earliest settlers at Covington the nearest trading points were Athens, at the junction of the Corning and Blossburg railroad, which was completed in
Chemung and Susquehanna Rivers (then known as "Tioga Point "); Painted Post, at the junction of the home. Conhocton River with the Chemung; and Williamsport, Covington remained a borough a number of years, on the west branch of the Susquehanna River at the when its charter lapsed. In 1851 it was made a borough mouth of Lycoming Creek. It was not long, however, again, with the following officers: George Knox, burgess; that the settlers of Covington were dependent upon the John Lang 'now treasurer of the Fall Brook Coal Com- towns mentioned for their supplies or trading posts. At pany, clerk; Martin Gerould street commissioner on the east side of the river, and Elijah Gaylord on the west "Covington Four Corners" a little village grew up, supplied with stores, shops, mills, hotels, and all the side; O. F. Taylor, treasurer; Ira Patchen, collector;
necessary institutions of a thriving and prosperous com- munity. The citizens were generally public spirited, and for a quarter of a century Covington was the most favored
A. L. Johnson, poormaster.
The chief burgesses of the borough since have been George Knox, W. C. Webb, T. Putnam (twice), J. C. and prosperous village in the county of Tioga; and as Bennett (twice), Edwin Dyer, H. M. Gerould, Ira early as 1831 the borough of Covington was organized, Patchen, Leonard Palmer (twice) Perley P. Putnam, O. G. being preceded only one year by the county seat, Wells- Gerould twice), A. M. Bennett 3 terms), Jacob Hart- boro. man, E. B. Decker, Charles Howland, T. B. Putnam,
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