USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 43
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FIRST ROADS.
It is impossible to give accurate dates as to the first roads, but the two principal thoroughfares of the town- ship were in the early days (and still are) the Millerton and the Daggett's Mills roads; the former leading from the New York State line up Hammond's Creek, through Millerton to Tioga, and the latter from the same place up Seely Creek, through the village of Daggett's Mills to Roseville and Mansfield. It is probable that the Dag- gett's Mills road was located and used first, as the greater part of the early travel from the State of New York to the eastern part of Tioga county was over this ronte. Major Seth Daggett drove over this road the first wagon brought into this township.
DAGGETT'S MILLS.
The first school-house was at Daggett's Mills, near the present residence of Dr. Charles Voorhess. It was built of logs. Among the early teachers were Daniel Leon- ard, Bethuel Goff and Jane Buchanan. The records of the early schools and educational matters are very mea- ger, being mostly traditional and lodged in the memory of the very oldest men and women in the township.
Daggett's Mills was the locality not only first in schools, but also in churches and other pioneer work in the line of improvements. At this place the first hotel was built, by Joshua G. Spencer. About a mile south of this village the Baptists erected the first church, in the year 1842. In fact Daggett's Mills was the business cen- ter of the township and the leading village until about 1860, when Millerton began to grow and soon led in population and commercial importance. The former now has about 150 inhabitants, and the latter twice as many.
In 1854-5 a Methodist Episcopal church was erected at Daggett's Mills. Among the leaders in this enterprise were William B. Sturdevant, L. B. Sheive and Dr. Charles Voorhess. The first pastor of this church was the Rev. Mr. Sweet.
Seely Creek Lodge I. O. O. F., No. 641, at Daggett's Mills, was organized October 9th 1868, with fifteen mem- bers. The first officers were: H. R. Bryan, N. G .; Al- bert Judson, V. G .; D. E. Ayres, secretary; H. G. Grin- nell, assistant secretary; C. M. Wylie, treasurer.
The following are the names of the successive presid- ing officers of the lodge: Albert Judson, D. B. Lain, J.
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VILLAGES OF JACKSON TOWNSHIP-DR. NATHANIEL SMITH.
J. Garrison, C. M. Wylie, H. G. Grinnell, J. A. Searles, of the Millerton charge and are presided over by Rev. Paul Smith. A. J. Rhodes, D. H. McIntyre, John W. Garrison, F. L. Miller, J. H. Owen, H. T. Sturdevant, O. J. Wylie, Wil- The Baptists have recently built a church on Alder Run and have a good working society. The present liam Smith, William E. Compton, D. H. Scott, J. A. Doty, Alvah Youngs, Charles Quick. T. B. Taber, N. Hilfiger, pastor is Rev. 1 .. D. Ayres, who has preached to the J. P. Slocum, and Philip Petty, who is the present incum- bent.
This lodge meets on Saturday evening of every week. It is in good working order and prosperous.
MILLERTON.
The growth of this village to a leading position in the township has been mentioned.
In 1852-3 the second church of the township was erected at Millerton by the Methodist Espicopal denom- ination. The pastor in charge at that time was Rev. William H. Knapp, and Hector L. Miller, Wright Dun- ham and Charles Wilson were among the principal con- tributors to the means of its erection. This edifice is still standing and in good repair. Rev. Messrs. Knapp, Wooden, Coolbaugh, Ford and John Alabaster were the first regular pastors after the church was built. Later came Revs. A. I. Blanchard, A. Ensign, N. B. Congdon, H. B. Troxel, and Paul Smith, the present incumbent. Services are held regularly every Sabbath, and a flourish- ing Sunday-school is kept up the year round.
The first and only newspaper published in the town- ship is the Millerton Advocate. This paper was estab- lished April 26th 1877, by A. C. Lumbard and son. It was purchased by Harry T. Graves, the present editor and publisher, in October of the same year. It has a circulation of about Soo, and a large advertising patron- age, mostly from the city of Elmira.
There are four practicing physicians in the township, viz .: Drs. Nathaniel Smith, Frank Smith and T. B. Buck of Millerton, and Dr. Charles Voorhess, of Daggett's Mills. There is but one lawyer, S. E. Kirkendall, at Millerton.
Millerton Lodge, No. 935, I. O. O. F. was organized July 19th 1876, with twenty charter members, viz. Wil- liam B. Sturdevant, Edgar Kinner, A. A. Kinner, N. F. Kinner, S. E. Kirkendall, Benjamin M. Sturdevant, Wil- liam Tillinghast, F. G. Davis, J. E. Barnes, Elisha Ames, Wilton Ashdown, O. D. Bly, L. H. Smith, Hiram Wilbur, William Miller, F. L. Miller, Samuel Seely, Guy Strock, A. J. Corwin and A. B. Hazen.
The successive presiding officers have been William B. Sturdevant, Edgar Kinner, F. L. Miller, J. E. Barnes, N. F. Kinner, A. A. Kinner, John B. Woodhouse, Seth Corwin, T. B. Buck, and Uriah Kelly, the present in- cumbent.
This lodge meets on Saturday evenings and has a good working membership.
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.
There are two church edifices in the township built by the Methodists besides the one at Millerton, viz., one at Mitchell's Mills, built in 1867, and one at Jackson Centre, built in 187 !. These two last named churches are a part
society once in two weeks for two years past. The lead- ing members of this church are B. Bernent, S. R. Friends, W. J. Hazen, J. E. Hudson, Daniel Friends, Lyman Bernent, Ira Bernent, George W. Friends and Alexander Smith.
At a small village of perhaps a hundred inhabitants, called Jackson Summit, on the line of the Tioga and El- mira State Line Railroad, there is a flourishing lodge of Good Templars, with nearly one hundred members. It is probably the strongest temperance organization in the county. I .. W. Morrell is the leader of this society and has probably done more for the temperance cause in the township in the last five or six years than any other man. He is also the treasurer of the new county organization which has for its object an amendment to the constitu- tion of the State prohibiting the importation, manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors within the limits of the commonwealth.
NATHANIEL. SMITH, M. D.
Dr. Nathaniel Smith was born at Halifax, Windham county, Vt., on the 13th of January 1823. His great- grandfather, Hezekiah Smith, came from England and settled in Connecticut at a very early day, and was con- nected with the commissary department of the Revolu- tionary army, as was also his son Hezekiah, grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His father's name was also Hezekiah, and he held the rank of colonel in the Vermont State forces.
Colonel Smith died when Nathaniel was only five years old, thus leaving him to the tender mercies of the world in infancy. He lived with a paternal uncle until he was nine years old and then went to Colerain, Franklin county, Mass., staying one year and attending a private school taught by a daughter of Governor Strong of that State. He then returned to his native town and spent five years, most of the time attending school at an academy; but worked on a farm during vacations. Fifty years ago the schools were the pride of the eastern States-as much so as they are now, and perhaps more. The academies were only a little lower than the colleges, and contributed much more largely to the education of the people. An academic education then took higher rank and was worth more to a young man than the train- ing now received at the average college of the country. .A rigid discipline both in and out of school was stead- fastly maintained. Mental culture went hand-in-hand with moral and physical development. Politeness and good breeding had always a place in the curriculum of the school of the olden time.
In these schools Dr. Smith received his first impres- sions of the possibilities of the human mind; and his
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
progress during the five years of his school life was such that at the age of 15 he was deemed qualified to enter upon a profession. He accordingly entered the law of- fice of Hon. A. P. Lyman, at Bennington, Vt., and staid there one year in close study of Blackstone. During the year he was in Mr. Lyman's office he was a fellow stu- dent with Trenor W. Park, of Mariposa notoriety, and president of the Panama Railroad. He then went to Wilmington, Vt., and entered the law office of Hon. O. L. Shafter, where he remained two years and fully prepared himself for admission to the bar; but, not yet rules, and he turned his active mind in another direc- tion.
His uncle, Dr. N. Smith, father of Hon. H. Boardman Smith, of Elmira, then lived in South Creek township, Bradford county, Pa. This uncle was a noted physician while in Vermont, and while he lived in Bradford county he had more than a merely local reputation. He had a
being of full age, he could not be admitted under the actively as formerly. Hard work and incessant study
Dr. Smith has resided in Jackson township about 38 years, during which time his practice has extended over portions of the four counties of Tioga, Bradford, Che- mung and Steuben; and hundreds of families, scattered over this large area of country, are as familiar with his face as they are with those of the members of their own households. His life has been one of constant labor and hard study. While he made medicine the profession of his choice, he was at the same time a close student of the principles of civil jurisprudence. He probably has to- day a better idea of fundamental law principles than most lawyers in active practice; and, although he gave his time and energies to the practice of medicine, no man has a higher appreciation of the dignity of the legal pro- fession than he. A man who never allows himself to be idle will sometimes wonder himself at his rapid progress in the pursuit of knowledge. In addition to his arduous duties as a physician, Dr. Smith has, by a strict economy of time, added largely to his fund of general information. Political economy, science of government, and even Scriptural exegesis are subjects as familiar to him as to those who have given them special study. We think we are within the strict boundaries of truth when we say that it is scarcely possible to approach the discussion of any of the popular questions of the day of which he has not more or less knowledge.
Dr. Smith was married in 1848 to Mary S. Voorhess, sister of Dr. Charles Voorhess, of Daggett's Mills, at which place he located to pursue the practice of his pro-
fession. Of the fruits of this marriage there remain two sons, viz. Dr. Frank Smith, of Millerton, now in active practice, and Dix W. Smith, practicing law in the city of Elmira, N. Y.
At the outbreak of the Rebellion Dr. Smith gave no- tice that he would attend the families of volunteers dur- ing their absence free of charge; and, as postmaster, frank all letters to soldiers in the army. This was faith- fully and conscientiously performed.
He changed his residence from Daggett's Mills to Millerton in 1868, and is still in practice, though not as are telling somewhat upon his physical system. He will probably soon be compelled to retire altogether from the profession; but he has a vigorous constitution, and with proper care he has a fair promise of many years of life.
The doctor is in good circumstances, but not rich. His earnings for fifteen years past probably exceed $3,000 a year; but, like most men of sympathetic im- large and lucrative practice, and was called in counsel, pulses, he has been a poor collector, and it is quite likely in complicated cases, by physicians all over the country. He was the legal guardian of his young namesake, the subject of this sketch, and with him the law student im- mediately began the study of medicine. After three years of rigid discipline, both in precept and practice, he began business in partnership with Rev. Samuel Bul- lock, M. D., at Middlebury, in this county. He remained with Dr. Bullock two years, after which he finished his medical education at the old Philadelphia Medical Col- lege. that more of his claims are barred by the statute of limitations every year than enough to support him and his family comfortably. He has accumulated enough, however, to make him independent for life if he were compelled to stop work at once. It is believed by those who have known him most intimately in the past that he never intended to get rich. His own financial affairs seem to have had a secondary place in his mind. Pride of profession more than love of gain has been the motor of his life. The pyramid of his success may not glitter with a golden apex; but above and around the acme will shine a mellow halo of " God bless you " from the hun- dreds of sufferers to whom he has ministered "without money and without price."
Inasmuch as the doctor is still living, this may seem to him, and possibly to those who do not know him, as fulsome flattery; but the picture is not overdrawn. Its outlines are familiar to all who have had the honor of his acquaintance in years of his business activity. It is but an abbreviated and condensed sketch of a life which has been abundant in labors and is fraught with the fruits of success.
Dr. Smith never made any pretensions in the line of experimental Christianity, but his admiration of true Christian worth, as shown by his daily life, is unbounded. He places more emphasis upon example than precept, and measures the Christian character more by its works than by its faith. Yet, with his peculiar religious views, and his criticisms, often too harsh but generally just, there is an under-current of deep reverence for God and the Bible. Whether he has ever made the effort or not is not known; but he has never been able to escape from the early religious training which he received from his uncle and guardian, Dr. N. Smith sen., with whom his young manhood was passed. We think we are safe in saying that he has a settled conviction of the truth of Scripture. He is especially outspoken in his belief in the genuineness of the New Testament history of Christ and the divine institution of Christianity.
NATHANIEL SMITH M.D. MILLERTON PA.
RESIDENCE OF A.M. GAIGE, MAPLE RIDGE, JACKSON TWP., TIOGA CO.,PA.
THE SETTLEMENT OF LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP.
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In politics Dr. Smith was never a partisan. He was an ardent Free Soiler in the incipient days of slavery agitation, and held to this political faith as long as there was a negro in bondage. In politics as in everything else he was conscientious, and never hesitated to rebuke the wrong or applaud the right wherever they were found.
It is proper to say, in conclusion, that the materials of this sketch have been gathered from reliable sources, and have been put together without the knowledge, consent or concurrence of Dr. Smith himself.
A. M. GAIGE.
Mr. Gaige may fairly claim to rank as a self-made man, for he began life with only twenty-five cents in his pocket, locating at the age of 21 on the farm where he now resides, successfully engaged in general agriculture. He is a son of Perry and Elizabeth Gaige, and was born in Schohaire county, N. Y., January 7th 1834. October 29th 1859 he married Phoebe A. Briggs, daughter of Ja- cob and Hester A. Briggs, of Schoharie, N. Y. His children are Frederick J., Flora E., Edson B., Mark A. and Herman H.
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP .- LAWRENCEVILLE.
BY REV. B. F. TAYLOR.
N
O place in Tioga county is better laid out or better calculated for a beautiful and flourish- ing town than Lawrenceville. It was once a center of much business. Merchants have become rich here and left for the more promising fields of the far west. Gradually out, and the spot which nature designated for manufac- tories, mills and the hum of all kinds of trade was left to waste its sweetness on the desert air. It is a marvel that the hand of enterprise has not long since spoiled its silent beauties, and occupied its fields of living green. Like old Rip Van Winkle the town slept for over twenty years, but now has roused itself, and is preparing for work and progress. We shall speak of some of the old things and then of the new.
Prior to 1849 very little settlement had been made east of the row of farms along the Tioga River. After passing over the first line of hills, which were covered with scrub oak openings interspersed thickly with yellow pine, and commencing at a distance of about a mile from the river, began a heavy forest growth, composed princi- from various causes the spirit of enterprise died |pally of pine and hemlock, mixed with maple, beech, birch and whitewood, extending far into Jackson. Into these forest wilds the permanent settler had scarcely pen- etrated. The old Elmira road traversed it between the southern creek, then known as Holliday Run, and the next one north, then and still known as Hart's Creek. Another road ran, as it still does, through the town near the last named creek. George and John Middaugh and Solrine Keltz had taken up farms here and commenced making improvements, as had also Elder Caleb Sweet.
THE PERIOD OF SETTLEMENT.
In 1816 James Ford, the father of Charles Ford, built a frame house in what was then almost a wilderness. When the frame was raised an enthusiastic company of pioneers gathered together to name the spot chosen for the future town. After some consultation, Mr. Ford, acting as sponsor for the company, raised a bottle of whiskey, smashed it upon the timbers of the house, and cried aloud, " This place is hereby named and shall be forever called LAWRENCEVILLE, after the brave Captain' James Lawrence." The reader will recollect that in the battle between the "Chesapeake " and the "Shannon," in the war of 1812, Lawrence, commanding the former, was mortally wounded, and his last words before he was carried below were " Don't give up the ship."
Charles Ford is now living in the fine brick mansion which superseded the old frame building. Attached to it is a large farm, He has several sons grown up, some married; but the death of his daughter Fanny, who mar- ried Mr. Brawley, of Meadville, was an irreparable loss. She was to her parents what Theodosia was to Aaron Burr.
The territory north and east of the Middaugh settle- ment was famous hunting grounds, and truly heroic were some of the exploits in killing the bear and the panther, whose growls often frightened women and children. Near the State line, on the farm of Samuel Rockwell, one of whose sons is now an eminent lawyer in Elmira, was a noted deer lick, known as "Painter lick." Its name was derived from the fact that Isaac Inscho, a noted bunter, went there one night to watch the "lick," and, as he claimed, "saw a painter [panther] as large as a yearling calf," which so frightened him that he dare not shoot at it, but for safety climbed a tree, staid till day- light and then hurried home. This story told of himself by so famous a hunter created much amusement and ex- cited general ridicule among his old friends, and from that time on the lick was known as "Painter lick." The story was repeated by "Uncle Daniel Seeley," another noted hunter of Lawrenceville, who had a fund of similar anecdotes, which never failed to hold the breathless attention of the children where he was accus- tomed to visit. He was an old bachelor and lived a lonely life, but was a welcome guest in most of the fam- ilies of that period, where his entertaining stories and his
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
great love of children made him the most generally loved is still owned by their children. He was a leading man of his day. He was in the first company of settlers member of the church and an exhorter. He was a man that came to Lawrence and Lindley, coming up the river of energy and industry and did much to improve the in a flat boat with his mother, a daughter of old Colonel country. Lindley, when he was but two years old, and he always claimed to have a distinct remembrance of the journey.
Another story of his was that when twelve years farm. old he went for the cows, taking, as was usual, his gun. About dusk, as he was going through the woods, following a cow path, he saw a small cub. He picked it up and started home, but was soon followed by the mother. Dropping the cub he turned and shot the old bear, but did not kill her. He then rushed up to her and beat her brains out with his gun, after which he se- cured the cub and went home.
His explanation of the origin of the name "Holliday Run " involves what was probably the first murder in the county of Tioga. It occurred at a deer lick on the creek, a few rods above the old Bacon saw mill, and on the farm now owned by Mr. Califf. It seems that the murderer had an old grudge against Holliday, and while hunting in company with a friend came in sight of him somewhere near the present residence of Reamer Burley. It was very long rifle range, but he took a sharp look and said to his friend, " I see a big buck," drew up his gun, fired, and killed Holliday. He was arrested and tried for murder, and acquitted on the ground that it was an ac- cident, and that he mistook his victim for a deer. But there was a very strong current of public opinion that it was a case of deliberate murder.
In 1846 Caleb Sweet, a millwright by trade, built the mill above mentioned. While working at his dam and race he contracted inflammatory rheumatism, which made him a cripple for life. He sold his mill, went a mile farther up the creek, took up a farm, built a double log house with a huge old fashioned stone fire place, and with the help of his boys commenced clearing the land. The house stood on the spot where E. E. Rockwell's house now stands, and this is one of the most memorable places within the recollection of the old men of the township. In 1850 John T. Rockwell, an old Yankee schoolmaster of more than usual culture and intellectual ability, removed to this house, and there he spent the re- mainder of his life. "By the light of a hard wood fire with the addition of pitch pine knots," says H. H. Rockwell, the able lawyer elsewhere alluded to, " in company with him and my grandmother I spent many an evening after the close of a hard day's work at chopping or logging, dis- cussing questions of arithmetic, grammar or history, and often delving into metaphysics and mental philosophy, of which he was extremely fond." Elder Sweet only re- mained. here a year or two, when he sold out and removed to the Middaugh settlement. Among his children, who were then young women, were Mrs. John Middaugh and Mrs. Joshua Dickinson of Jackson.
In the fall of 1849 Charles Tilford, with his family, moved into the township, and located a farm adjoining that of Elder Sweet, now owned by E. E. Rockwell. He and his wife spent the rest of their lives there, and the farni
Henry Morris came at the same time He married one of Mr. Tilford's daughters, and still lives on an adjoining E. E. Rockwell married another daughter, and lives on the Elder Sweet farm.
In the spring of 1850 Jonn T. and Samuel Rockwell moved into "the hollow," as it was then called, the latter taking up the farm on the creek next east of those already mentioned. All these farms were then off the main road, and the place to which Samuel Rockwell moved was at the end of a log road.
All the land in East Lawrence was a part of the Bing- ham lands. It had been lumbered over two or three times, and the pine timber, which alone had a com- mercial value, was regarded as practically exhausted. But there was still left much " down " timber, and many trees were standing of smaller growth than the lumber- men had regarded as practicable. The settlers, having no cleared land from which to raise their living, gen- erally engaged in making shaved shingles as a means of livelihood, devoting part of their time to clearing their farms. They held these by contract, and were obliged to let the interest accumulate, and in some instances finally lost their farms from this cause.
Ezekiel Campbell was a disciple of Joe Smith, and in 1854 started with his family for Salt Lake, the home of the Latter-day Saints. It is not certain that he was ever heard from directly by his old neighbors; but in the summer of 1881 H. H. Rockwell, being in Salt Lake, went to the " record house " of the church and made in- quiries, from which he learned that Ralph and Adam, the eldest sons of Ezekiel and Richard, are still living in a Mormon town in southern Utah.
H. H. Rockwell, of Elmira, is an honored son of Sam- uel Rockwell. He is an ornament to the bar, of much moral and intellectual culture, and loved and respected wherever he is known. He left East Lawrence in 1860, about the time of the breaking out of the Rebellion. This child of the forest now lives to see smiling fields where once were dense woods, and herds of cattle now wandering where Uncle Daniel and others pursued the wild game. Large and comfortable farm houses and well filled barns dot the landscape. The people ride to church and market in spring wagons and covered buggies; they sit in church pews, instead of on benches made of slabs in a log school-house; they have a cabinet organ, with " note books; " they wear better clothes than formerly, and have more polished manners. In a word, we have progressed. But just listen to the spirit of the song of the "Old Arm Chair," as it bursts out in the following words from Mr. Rockwell: " I would rather," he says, " if it were possible, go once more on foot or in an ox- cart to the old log school-house, and hear Elder Sweet preach and Brother Middaugh lead the singing, and Brothers Tilford and Calhoun and others 'add their tes- timony,' than to go in a satin-lined carriage behind four
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