USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 31
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It will be borne in mind that the township of Bloss was William Lamkin, Edwin Klock, J. M. Hoagland.
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
The present borough officers are: Burgess, J. M. Hoag- land; clerk, S. A. Gaskill; councilmen, Harry Kendrick, Michael Dailey, William Holman, John W. Horton, F. P. Copp, S. A. Gaskill; assessor, Charles Howland; assistant assessors, T. P. Putnam, George Keltz; judge of election, Henry Levalley; inspectors of election, Samuel Putnamn, E. Howland; auditors, W. S. Farrer, W. H. Lamkin, G. A. Spring; high constable, Frank Ferguson; consta- ble, Thomas W. Patchen; justices of the peace, O. G. Gerould, L. B. Smith.
Covington borough now contains four churches (Pres- byterian, Baptist, Methodist and "Christian "), a graded school, two general stores, two drug stores, a hardware and tin store, a hotel, two blacksmith shops, a glass fac- tory, a saw-mill, a grist-mill, a shingle-mill, a wagon shop, two shoe shops, three groceries, a furniture store, a soda and mineral water bottling establishment, a clothespin manufactory, two gun shops, two watchmakers' shops, a barber shop, a news room, a harness shop, a fruit drying establishment, a tannery, a driving park, three physicians, three resident ministers and about 800 inhabitants. There has been a marked improvement in the business of the borough within the last two years. The glass manufactory of Messrs. Hirsch & Ely has been within that time steadily running, giving employment directly and indirectly to about one hundred men; a number of new dwellings and business places have been erected, and nearly four hundred inhabitants added to the popu- lation since 1880, which has given new life to every de- partment of business. Located in the center of a good agricultural country, its continued prosperity is now as- sured, with the aid which local manufactories are giving it.
The glass manufactory was erected about thirty years ago by David Hurlbut, and has had many owners and les- sees. About two years ago Hirsch, Ely & Co. of Blossburg purchased it and placed it in repair, and this firm has since been running it with profit. John B. Hirsch is the manager, Michael Ely the store agent, and the concern is under the general superintendence of B. N. McCoy of Blossburg, who also looks after the general interests of the glass manufactory owned by the same firm at the latter place. The factory has been the means of stimu- lating business to a large extent in Covington, giving em- ployment for ten months in the year to a large number of men, and adding materially to population and business.
Among the industries at Covington which bid fair to result in an extensive business is the evaporator or fruit drying establishment of Messrs. A. M. Bennett and G. A. Spring. In 1881, when it was established, it gave employment to ten persons, and handled many thousand pounds of fruit, which met a ready cash sale in the mar- community for the development of a very extensive trade.
EARLY AND PROMINENT RESIDENTS.
Elijah Putnam was an early settler. He came from Langdon, Cheshire county, N. H., and located within what is now the borough of Covington in the year 1809.
He was born in Worcester, Mass., June Ist 1761. His father was a cousin of the celebrated General Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame. Elijah Putnam went into New Hampshire soon after the close of the Revo- lutionary war, and remained there till 1809, when he took his family in a sleigh and came to Covington by the way of White Hall, Saratoga, Utica, Ithaca, Horse Heads and Painted Post. His family consisted of a wife and four children-three daughters and one son, Lucy, Christiana, Sally and Thomas. Mr. Putnam was a man of great energy, enterprise and industry, and did much toward the developing of the new home in the wilderness of Tioga. He died August 11th 1825, aged 64 years, 2 months and 11 days. His wife, Lucy, survived him nearly nine years. She died May 23d 1834, aged 76 years, 3 months and 12 days. They were pioneers both in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and were distin- guished and notable persons of those early days. Their daughter Christiana married Ephraim B. Gerould. Sally married Peter Keltz, and has continuously resided in Covington 74 years. Lucy remained unmarried. Thomas became a distinguished citizen of the county. He was born in Massachusetts, June 14th 1790, and was about 18 years of age when he came with his parents to Cov- ington. For many years he was an active business man, highly respected by his fellow citizens; was county treasurer in 1824, and subsequently largely engaged in farming. He died July 12th 1870, aged 80 years and 28 days.
Isaac Walker came from New Hampshire and located at Covington, on the west side of the Tioga River, within the present limits of the borough, July 4th 1813. His family consisted of a wife, and seven sons and three daughters-Royal, Isaac, Asahel, Samuel, Roswell, Lewis, James, Polly, Lydia and Cynthia. At that early day Mr. Walker and family were quite an addition to the little hamlet. He died July 25th 1839, aged 72 years, 4 months and 5 days. Many of the descendants of this worthy pioneer are in Covington, Blossburg and vicinity. His eldest son, Royal, was for many years one of the leading carpenters in this section of the county, and the re- mainder of the family became highly respected members of society.
Peter Keltz preceded Isaac Walker in his residence in Covington by about five years, having located there as early as 1808. He was also a carpenter. He came from the valley of the Mohawk, and was of German descent. On the first of January 1818 he was married to Miss Sally Putnam, daughter of Major Elijah Putnam, and for nearly sixty years they lived happily together.
Major Thomas Dyer in the year 1820 came from Am- formerly resided in Rhode Island and had been a manu- facturer of cotton goods. He came prepared to open a store, and by the aid of two yoke of oxen and a horse, attached to a ponderous New England wagon, he made the journey with his goods and family from Massachu- setts. They crossed the Hudson at Catskill, ascended the mountains, and passed through the counties of
ket. Bright hopes are entained by its projectors and the herst, Hampshire county, Mass., to Covington. He had
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PROMINENT RESIDENTS OF COVINGTON BOROUGH.
Greene, Delaware, Broome and Tioga to Newtown now Elmira), and thence via Troy and Columbia Flats to Covington. When near Columbia Flats, Bradford county, Major Dyer stopped at a settler's by the name of Mudge, but the latter could not entertain him and his family over night, and the major pressed on through the darkness and had the misfortune to drive off from a pole bridge into a stream, and nearly wrecked his cargo. He finally staid all night with a settler named Briggs, and in the morning "righted up " his load and that day arrived at his destination. Among the wares which the major had purchased for the trade at Covington were axes, scythes (bush and grass , cow bells and straw and cotton goods. For these he found a ready sale, and his fame as a mer- chant was established. Major Dyer became one of the most prominent citizens of the county and held a num- ber of important trusts, among them being county treas- urer in 1834-5. It was during the year 1834 that as county treasurer he went to Philadelphia and negotiated a loan for the county commissioners from the Mechanics and Manufacturers' Bank, to erect the present Tioga county court-house at Wellsboro. He was a good financier and was vice-president of the Bank of To- wanda. Major Dyer had done service in the war of 1812 as a marine. He died June 30th 1850, aged 68 years and 19 days. He left a good record and did much toward developing the business interests in the com- munity in which he lived.
and public spirited, as a citizen a polished and wfable gentleman. He died at his residence in Covington, Sat- urday August 23d 1879, aged 72 years. His funeral was largely attended on Tuesday August 26th, Rev. G. D. Meigs officiating. Basiness places were closed during the services, and every mark of respect was shown his memory. The union Sunday-school and Odd Fellows' lodge attended in a body, and at the grave the services were conducted by the latter. He left five daughters- Mrs. Esther A. McGrath, Miss Fannie A., Miss Belle, Mrs. Katharine D). Keene, and Mrs. Ellen D. King-to mourn his loss.
Dr. Henry Kilbourne, a physician widely known in northern Pennsylvania, was born in Shrewsbury, Rutland county, Vt., in 1802; studied medicine, and received his diploma in 1828; married Fanny Briggs, of his native town, the same year, and removed to Covington. He was one of the first regular physicians in this section of the county. He is now in his Soth year.
Elijah Gaylord, a native of Orange county, Vt., settled in Sullivan township in 1818, and in Covington in 1820, locating near the sash factory. At that time there was no highway on the east side of the river, from where Charles F. King's mill is now located down to the State road at the "Corners." Mr. Gaylord was a house car- penter, bridge builder and general mechanic. He was a man of sterling integrity. He died in Blossburg at an advanced age.
Edwin Dyer, subsequently known as Judge Dyer, was Otis G. Gerould was born in Covington, December 17th 1830, and is a son of Ephraim B. and Christiana Gerould, the last named of whom was the daughter of Elijah Putnam and sister of General Thomas Putnam. He was educated principally at a private school under the instruction of Miss Lucy Putnam, January 13th 1855 he was married to Mary Seaman, of Ithaca, Tomp- kins county, N. Y. When the war of the Rebellion broke out he enlisted as a private in Company L 7th Pennsyl- vania cavalry, and served under Colonel C. C. McCor- mick and Colonel George E. Wynkoop nearly four years, having re-enlisted as a veteran. The regiment in which he served belonged to the army of the Cumberland. .While leading a cavalry charge near Rome, Georgia, October 13th 1864, he was wounded in the hip and arm, which permanently crippled him. In September 1865 he was mustered out of the service. He was a brave sol- dier, and his social record is good. He served eight years as D. D. G. M. of Odd Fellows for this dis- trict, and has filled places of trust and honor in his native borough. He is now secretary of the I. O. O. F. lodge and acting justice of the peace. born near Providence, R. 1., in 1807, and accompanied his father, Major Thomas Dyer, to Covington in 1820 He became one of the most prominent citizens of the place. He was largely interested in coal and other lands in Covington and Blossburg, and directly and indirectly aided much in the building of the first railroad in the county, the Corning and Blossburg, now the Tioga and Elmira State Line Railroad. During the early history of the railroad he accompanied Hon. Samuel W. Morris of Wellsboro to New York and Philadelphia and assisted him in selling the stock, in order to raise money for the construction of the road. He was largely engaged in mercantile pursuits, and from 1839 to 1842 his sales were from sixty to eighty thousand dollars per an- num. He spent large sums in improving the borough of Covington, erecting dwellings, stores, hotels, mills, shops, churches, foundries, depots, etc. He erected the build- ing now occupied as a depot and post-office, and for 32 years from 1840 held the position of station agent, a greater portion of the time giving his personal attention to the business connected therewith. In 1851 he was elected associate judge of Tioga county, and served with Victor Gray, one of the oldest living locomotive en- honor and credit five years. In 1867 his fine residence gineers in this section of the country, resides at Coving- was burned, which proved a great loss to him. Most of his valuable household goods and keepsakes and his fine library were destroyed. He served several terms as chief burgess of Covington; was presiding officer in the Odd Fellows' lodge and an elder in the Presbyterian church. As a father he was kind and affectionate, as a mechanism had much to do with his rapid advancement. neighbor accommodating, as a business man energetic ton. He was first employed in the construction of the Corning and Blossburg Railroad, in the year 1838, and in 1839, when it was partially completed, was employed as a brakeman, then as fireman and next as engineer. His readiness to acquire a knowledge of steam and Usually the steps are slow from the brakeman's position
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
to that of engineer. Mr. Gray says the first engine on the Corning and Blossburg Railroad was the "Chemung." This engine commenced working on the Corning portion of the road in 1839, and came up with a U. S. mail car as far as President James R. Wilson's residence, a short distance below the village of Covington. Then followed, as soon as the road was completed, in 1840, engines "Tioga " and "Conhocton." The latter made its first trip June 12th 1841. The " Tuscarora " made an ex- cursion trip July 4th 1841. In 1841 Mr. Gray managed a stationary engine, and in 1842 ran the "Canisteo," a Baldwin engine, and afterward the "Tioga " and other locomotives up to 1847. Samuel Moor, an old mariner, came with the engine from Paterson, N. J., in 1841, and while at Blossburg determined the latitude and longitude of that place. The same year George Peterman came with the " Conhocton." The first locomotive engineer on the Corning and Blossburg Railroad was John Gra- ham. He ran in 1839. Mr. Gray thinks he was among the first engineers, if not the first, to determine that the Blossburg coal would keep up steam in a locomotive. In the early history of the road wood was used exclusively for fuel, and it was a great saving when the fact was de- veloped that coal could be used in its place.
Anson L. Johnson, a master mechanic of acknowledged skill, settled in Covington about the year 1837, and first engaged in the manufacture of sash and blinds and gen- eral carpentry work. Subsequently he kept the Putnam Hotel, and then again resumed his trade. He was one of the leading builders in the country, erecting stores, dwellings, hotels, schutes etc. He was captain of a military company at Covington, and held many offices in the borough. He died a few years since at Covington.
John Calvin Bennett was born in Sherman, Conn., in 1812, and removed with his parents into the Canisteo Valley, near Hornellsville, N. Y., about the year 1824. For several years he was connected with a stage line from Centerville, near Painted Post, to Covington, which was owned by the late Hon. John Magee and T. Jeffer- son Magee. During this time he became acquainted with Miss Olive Wilson, daughter of the late Sumner Wilson, one of the early pioneers, and they were married in 1830. Mr. Bennett thereafter lived at Covington, en- gaged in mercantile pursuits, for nearly forty years, a portion of the time having as his partner his son A. M. Bennett. Mr. Bennett has been for many years a worthy member of the Presbyterian church; has frequently been burgess of the borough, and enjoys the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens. By his industry, economy and business habits he has accumulated a competency, and now in the evening of his life he and his good wife are enjoying the fruits of their labors. Kind, generous, hospitable and cheerful, their home is bright, and its sur- roundings bespeak comfort and serenity. Mr. Bennett has witnessed many changes in the social, industrial and agricultural development of Covington and its vicinity, having located there before the Corning and Blossburg opened for anything more than a local trade.
Stephen S. Packard came to Covington in 1839 from Bainbridge, Chenango county, N. Y., and engaged in lumbering and mercantile pursuits. He was for twenty successive years a justice of the peace. His wife was a daughter of Sumner Wilson and sister to Mrs. J. C. Ben- nett.
In 1837 O. F. Taylor came from Troy, Pa., and located at Covington, and engaged as a clerk in a store estab- lished by his brother B. H. Taylor. He was subsequently a clerk for Judge Dyer and later a partner. In 1847 he commenced business for himself. In 1859 he was elected county treasurer. Subsequently he removed to Bloss- burg and engaged in the manufacture of glass and in mercantile pursuits.
In the year 1837 Ira Patchen, who had learned the trade of a gunsmith with E. S. Dykens and Lewis B. Biles of Bath, N. Y., located at Covington and opened a gun shop. The hills surrounding Covington then were covered with a dense forest abounding with game, and the demand for first-class rifles was good. He was an ex- pert workman, and his rifles gained a great reputation and became one of the necessities of the early settler in that region. For many years he combined the business of farming with his gunsmithing. Mr. Patchen was a prominent Odd Fellow; for fourteen years he was secre- tary of the Covington Lodge, No. 274, and on his retire- ment from that office was presented with a handsome and valuable testimonial by the lodge, in the shape of an ebony cane elegantly mounted and inscribed. His wife was a daughter of General Thomas Putnam.
ยท John S. Hoagland was born in Ovid, Seneca county, N. Y., October 2nd 1800. He learned the carpenter's trade in the State of New Jersey, and came to Covington in 1836. He was a master workman; among other work built the addition to the Bloss House at Blossburg; re- modeled the Dyer Hotel at Covington; built the old machine shop at Blossburg, a store for Franklin Smith, the rolling mill, and a number of dwellings in Blossburg, and erected the drum house at the head of the plane. Mr. Hoagland is now $2 years of age, but sound pysi- cally and mentally. Mr. and Mrs. Hoagland have been married 60 years; they have had nine children.
John G. Boyd was a very enterprising and public spir- ited gentleman, who did much from 1839 to 1842 to de- velop the mineral and other resources of this section of the county. He was largely interested in mining and lumbering; built the large and commodious house now known as the Seymour House at Blossburg, and was as- sociated with P. P. Cleaver in a large lumber establish- ment at Covington. He also had charge of the blast furnace at Blossburg. The financial crisis in 1842 ruined him, but the results of his enterprise and skill yet remain.
One of the earliest tanneries in Covington was erected by Isaac Berry.
Christopher Huntington was the first blacksmith in Covington. His shop stood on the Williamson road, op- Railroad was completed, or the mines at Blossburg posite the residence of S. S. Packard.
J. Coonrod Youngman kept the first hotel in Coving-
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CHURCHES OF COVINGTON BOROUGIL.
ton. Subsequently, in 1819, another was built, which was called "the Salt Box," on account of its peculiar shape. It was kept many years by J. O. Pine.
Butler Smith was for many years a prominent citizen. He was a native of the State of New York. He died about $2.000. A Sunday-school is conducted by mem- December 10th 1870, aged 73 years, 11 months and 7 days.
Samuel Barber, father of Lorenzo and Alonzo Barber, was an early settler at Covington. He had three children -Lorenzo, Alonzo, and Minerva, wife of George Baker.
William Farrer, father of Thomas and William Farrer, two well krown citizens, is a native of Westmoreland county, England; is in his 94th year, but is able to walk ten miles in a day with ease. He came to this county in 1837 and located at Blossburg. He has alternately lived in Blossburg, Liberty and Covington, He was a stone mason and a miner.
CHURCHES AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.
Meetings were held in Covington as early as 1809, by a Methodist minister named Caleb Boyer, and soon after- ward Rev. Hiram G. Warner held periodical services. He was succeeded by Rev. Caleb Kendall. Covington was in the old Tioga circuit, which embraced all the present territory of the Troy district and something more. Various denominations had their missionaries, who ministered in Covington and vicinity. It was not however until about the year 1840 that churches were or- ganized and buildings erected for public worship.
The M. E. Church .- Services were held by Methodist clergymen in Covington as early as 1809, but the records of the church are very meagre and incomplete. From Mrs. Joseph Hubbell, a devoted member of the society, we learn that the present church edifice was erected about the year 1848. About that time Rev. Mr. Cramer and Rev. Ira Smith officiated, with Mr. Compton as class leader, succeeded by Joseph Hubbell, who was steward and class leader for many years, and was suc- ceeded by Alonzo Barber. In 1848 there were about 15 members of the church. A revival that year added many more, and for a number of years the church was in a very prosperous state; but by removals from the borough great loss of membership took place. Among the minis- ters officiating here have been Rev. Messrs. Cramer, Ira Smith, Ira Stillwell, Beach, Samuel Nichols, Park- hurst, Taylor, Moyer, Charles Wright, R. N. Leake and Harvey Lamkin. The children have attended the union Sunday-school.
Church of Christ .- This church was at first known as the " Christian " church, but since 1840 its title in law has been "Church of Christ." It was organized by Elder Whitehead, and the later ministers have been James Welton, Hiram Pratt, Buzzle, Theobald Miller, B. R. Hurd, C. D. Kinney, A. G. Hammond, J. G. Encell, J. W. R. Stewart, I. R. Spencer, G. W. Head- ley and J. (). Cutts. The present membership is about 100. The members partake of the Lord's Supper every Sunday, support regular preaching and maintain a weekly prayer meeting. The elders of the church are Joseph
Hagenbaugh and Abel W. Rockwell alegrons, Tilley Marvin and Philander Rockwell. "The leongregation owns a comfortable house of worship, forted on the west side of Tioga River, and, with the ground, worth
bers of the church. The first superintendent was A. G. Hammond. The present superintendent is Mrs. Albert Marvin.
There are six other "Christian " churches in the county, viz .: One at Canoe Camp, with about 75 mem- bers, owning a new house of worship, and maintaining regular preaching and a Sunday-school; one at Mains- burg, maintaining regular service and Sunday-school, and possessed of a neat and commodious church edifice, Rev. A. D. Finch pastor; an organization at Hollidays- burg. Middlebury township; one at Charleston, owning a good house; one at Arnot, with a church edifice; and one in North Union, where a church is being con- structed. Rev. J. B. Daisley preaches at the last named place. The whole number of "Christians " or Dis- ciples in Tioga county is between five and six hundred. The entire brotherhood of which these form a part has no creed but the Bible, and believes profoundly in the divinity and atonement of Christ and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of Christians. They are con- gregational in church government, but unite generally in voluntary co-operation for carrying on missionary work.
First Baptist Church .- The First Baptist Church of Covington is located in the borough of Covington, the "meeting-house " being pleasantly situated on Main street, near the center of the village. This church origi- nated from what was known as " The Particular Baptist Church of Covington," which society after many vicissi- tudes and trials as a church organization finally adopted the rules of faith and practice of the regular Baptist de- nomination, and commenced its career about the year 1861. The original society known as the Covington Particular Baptist Church derived its origin from the Particular Baptist Church of Sullivan, a society which, without any regular house of worship, was maintained a long period in Sullivan township by meeting for worship and business in the dwellings of its members.
In the spring of 1839 Elder George Spratt, a native of England and an educated and talented minister, re- moved from the Shamokin church, Northumberland county, Pa., of which society he was a member, united with the Sullivan church and became its pastor, finally settling with his family in Covington as a permanent place of residence, preaching there in the morning and meeting with the Sullivan brethren in the afternoon of the same day. When Elder Spratt commenced his min- istry in Covington there were but three members of the Sullivan Baptist church residing in Covington, viz .: Ephraim B. Gerould, Mrs. Sarah P. Keltz and Margaret Williams, who were also the only Baptists in the township of Covington. In the course of a few years, by conver- sions and by arrivals from Philadelphia, Shamokin and other places, there were added to the branch church in Covington about a dozen members, when steps were
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
taken to form an independent organization in Covington by separation from the parent society of Sullivan. In
pursuance of this resolve letters of dismission from the Sullivan church were granted to Elder Spratt and others, and a church was formed at Covington September 19th 1840. The first regular business meeting of the new church took place on the same day, at the district school- house in Covington, at which time a committee was ap- pointed to draft an expression of church doctrine and a covenant, which were accepted as the basis of a church polity on the 24th of October 1840.
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