USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 69
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As a renowned hunter the subject of this sketch rivaled Richard Copp and Aaron Bloss. He was the Nimrod of fifty years ago, when the forest abounded with fallow deer, the wolf and the bear. A few of his many adven- tures we will let him tell in his own way:
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" I set a trap for a bear, went to it and it was gone; followed the trail down to a little creek, where stood a leaning hemlock, and there on a limb sat the bear. I thought I would have some fun with him, so I got a pole and pried the trap off, when the bear fell to the ground; but, instead of running off as I expected, he took after me, snapping and growling at every jump. I didn't like the looks of his big sharp teeth, so I ran the fastest I ever did, and all the time I could hear the trap rattling at my heels. But after a while I couldn't hear it any longer, and so I stopped and looked back over a log and I could see the bear. The trap had got tangled in the brush and stopped him, but I made up my mind I had had all the fun with the bear that I wanted, so I got my gun and shot him."
" Deer were plenty in those days; used to kill some- times two and sometimes five in a day. One time I saw a big buck and cracked away at his head, but hit his ear, when my little dog put after him. The old buck did not run, but pitched at the dog. I ran up to see if he was like to kill the dog, when he left the dog and pitched at me. I had no other way but to grab him by the horns. We took it rough and tumble; sometimes he was down and sometimes I was down. Finally he made a terrible spring at me. I thrust his head down to the ground and he came with such force as to end completely over, when I clapped my foot on his horns, grabbed my hunting knife and cut his throat-but not until I had lost my pants and one shoe, and was covered with blood. The horns of this deer are now on my barn."
" There was a man by the name of Copp, and he and I started to go to a 'deer lick' back of Pickel Hill. On the way we came to a piece of ground trodden very smooth, as though a good many wild beasts came in there. Near by I saw a big hollow basswood tree that had fallen down, and I went and looked in, when I could see a great many eyes glistening, but I could not tell what kind of heads they belonged to. So I fired both Copp's rifle and mine into the log, and then tried to have my hunting dog go in, but he would go no farther than I pushed him. I thought I ought to have more courage than the dog, so I got a club and started into the den and commenced driving them back. They kept retreating and I kept crawling in. At the other end of the tree there was a hole just big enough for them to back out of, so I would drive them up and Copp would shoot them. The first I knew what they were I came to a dead wolf. When we got the log clear we had seven wolves."
REV. NEHEMIAH HOBART RIPLEY was born May 5th 1771, and died September 16th 1847. He married Lucy Ball, by whom he had eleven children, of whom Philip is one. He afterward married Sally, daughter of Joshua Shaw. He came from Albany, N. Y., in 1815, and built a saw-mill in 1836, where the Pinchen Clark mill afterward stood, which was burned down and rebuilt. Elder Rip- ley was ordained an old school Baptist minister, and preached for that denomination ten or fifteen years, after which he was known as a Universalist preacher. This is recorded of a man who is credited with being the first minister of the gospel who resided here.
Philip S. Ripley was born in 1812, and was married in 1837 to Lorena Webster, a most estimable woman, by whom he has had ten children, of whom Homer Ripley is one. The family cemetery, delightfully situated on a pleasant knoll, was opened in 1844.
MAJOR EBENEZER RIPLEY was born March 26th 1766, and died at Lamb's Creek, April 30th 1849. He was a brother of Jerusha, wife of Gad Lamb. He married Sally Flower, by whom he had ten children, including William C., Lucy (Mrs. Spear), Samuel and Dwight; and by a second wife, Charles and Sally. Major Ripley came from Cooperstown, N. Y., in February 1817. and was af- terward appointed a justice of the peace. He was a major in the war of the Revolution, and one of six Revolutionary soldiers who have lived in this township. His children have been persons of marked individuality and more than ordinary intelligence.
WILLIAM C. RIPLEY was born in Cooperstown, N. Y., October 13th 1797, and is now living at Lamb's Creek, hale and hearty, at the advanced age of 85 years. He came here in a sleigh with his father, when he was in his twentieth year. Rather a large boy to cry, and yet he says he cried while passing his first night in the loft of Gad Lamb's log house, through the cracks of which blew the wintry winds, sifting the snow upon William as he lay shivering in that garret. His first wife (whom he married in 1828) was Anna Goddard, of Troy, Pa., by whom he had two children; she died in 1838. His sec- ond wife was Eleanor Flower, of Springfield, Mass., by whom he also had two children. It hardly seems possible that this man could have helped to clear the ground now occupied by the Mansfield cemetery and already crowded with its hundreds of graves, yet such is the fact.
In 1827 and 1828 Mr. Ripley taught school in Mans- field, in a plank school-house which stood just south of the bridge over the railroad on Wellsboro street, where the railroad now runs. This building was erected in 1826, and was used at times for religions purposes. He had 76 pupils, and his wages were $to per month the first year and Sir the second. Among his pupils were Fordyce A. Allen, Clark W. and Robert Bailey, and Phineas and Pinchen Clark. At a public gathering in connection with the normal school some years since, Mr. Ripley, as one of the board of trustees, was called upon to make some remarks, in the course of which he alluded to this school and its pupils in his own happy manner by saying: "Among them was a little sunburnt boy, who has grown and developed, and aimed higher and higher, until he stands among the foremost educators of this and other States. We know him as Professor F. A. Allen, princi- pal of the State Normal and Soldiers' Orphan School." He fitly closed by holding up this remarkable man as an ex- ample worthy the imitation of every young, aspiring mind. Mr. Ripley has always been prominent in educational matters, especially in connection with the normal school, . where he has been a leading spirit ever since its organiza- tion, holding important offices in the board of trustees. It is said that on the night of the 22nd of April 1857 he marked out in the snow the plan of a new building
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EARLY RESIDENTS OF RICHMOND.
while the old one was still burning. Such facts speak well for any man, and it is with pleasure that we make honorable mention of Mr. Ripley's name in connection with the cause of education, and as one of our foremost citizens. He has been justice of the peace 25 years, and received many other tokens of confidence and esteem from his neighbors. We are under many obligations to him for much valuable information concerning the early days.
JOHN AND ABNER COCHRAN came in 1816 from Cam- bridge, Vt. John was born in Bennington, Vt., and died at Lamb's Creek in 1877, aged 98 years, 7 months and 14 days-lacking but little more than a year and a quarter of being 100 years old. He was probably the oldest man ever residing here. He is buried in the family cemetery back of the old home, where was for- merly a delightful grove, to which he often resorted for meditation and reading of the Scriptures. He married Betsey Otis, by whom he had ten children.
Abner, John's brother, came with him, and lived in the house now occupied by William E. Clark. He was born in 1789, and died in 1877. He married Olive Bick- ford, by whom he had three children, of whom Stephen B. is one.
John was a great hunter. One moonlight night he killed a bear in the road in front of his barn; he also killed a wolf, but he hunted for deer principally, and is
said to have killed eighteen deer out of nineteen, wound- ing the nineteenth.
DEACON ISAAC LOUNSBERRY, son of John Lounsberry, was born December 21st 1757, and came to Canoe Camp in 1818. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and died April 4th 1851, aged 94 years. He married Susanna Wright, by whom he had fourteen children, of whom Let- son, Ira and Isaac now live at Canoe Camp.
Letson Lounsberry was born September 4th 1804; married Cynthia Huntington, daughter of Christopher Huntington, and has four children living.
Ira Lounsberry was born August 8th 1808; married Sophia Prentice, and has four children living, of whom Isaac, one of our leading citizens, is one.
Isaac Lounsberry was born February 9th 1811; mar- ried Laura Ann Gillett, and has three children living.
PETER WHITTAKER came here with his father-in-law, Isaac Lounsberry, from Schoharie county, N. Y., in the year 1818. He was born in Canada, in 1797, and died on his farm east of Canoe Camp in 1877. Silas Lampheer and a man by the name of Burke had preceded him into that neighborhood, which otherwise was an unbroken forest. Mr. Whittaker was one of our most substantial citizens, and left a large family of the same character. He married Ruth Lounsberry, by whom he had fourteen children, eleven of whom are living, including Seth, Pliny, and Barney, who still reside on or near the old home- stead.
Seth Whittaker was born in 1818, and married Ruha- mah Robinson, by whom he has had ten children.
Pliny Whittaker was born in 1820, and married Hattie Robinson.
Barney Whittaker was born in 1827, and married Jul- iette Phelps, by whom he has had eight children.
THE HOLDEN FAMILY .- Daniel Holden was born in Barre, Massachusetts, September ist 1784, and came to Canoe Camp from Albany, N. Y., in 1819, with two yoke of oxen and two horse teams. In 1820 he located on what has since been known as the Clint. Holden place, and in 1826 he built a store across the road from his house, in which he carried on the mercantile business until his death. He died on the 4th of September 1830, at the age of 46 years. His store stood about a quarter of a mile above what is now the business center of the vil- lage. He was the first merchant within the corporate limits of Mansfield, having begun in a small way as early as 1822, He was the pioneer merchant in Mansfield, a man of wonderful energy, and has left a large and in- fluential family, several of whom have likewise been given to mercantile pursuits. As an active business man per- haps few if any have excelled him; at the time of his death he owned a store at Sylvania, and an interest in
one at Mitchell's Creek. In 1809 he married Lydia Lounsberry, daughter of Deacon Isaac Lounsberry (who died November 10th 1874, aged 81 years). By her he had nine children, viz. Eiiza (Mrs. Martin Stratton), Lucy (Mrs. Robert Bailey, deceased), Daniel L., Isaac, De Witt Clinton (deceased), John A., George R., Horace W., and Reuben N.
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
Daniel L. Holden was born February 10th 1814, and | had many teachers since, he has had none for whom he married Betsey Mudge, by whom he has had nine chil- dren.
Isaac Holden was born August 13th 1816, and married Lydia Phelps, by whom he has had six children.
De Witt Clinton Holden was born October 14th 1818, and married Sarah Fuller, by whom he had six children. He commenced keeping store in 1855, and continued to sell goods almost without interruption up to 1871, when he died. He was undoubtedly one of the most success- ful merchants Mansfield ever had, and as such deserves more than a passing notice.
John A. Holden was born December 20th 1821, and married Betsey Davis, by whom he has had four chil- dren.
George R. was born June 26th 1824; Horace W. April 25th 1827; and Reuben N. August 16th 1829. The last two are merchants.
LIEUTENANT JACOB ALLEN was born in 1763, and died in Mansfield December 11th 1836, aged 73 years. He came from Massachusetts in 1818, and located on the place previously owned by Elijah Clark, and since by Rev. Asa Donaldson and Albert Sherwood. He built the house there-the writer's birthplace-in which he and his wife afterward died, and which was torn down a few years since; and he planted the old apple orchard, whose great trees and luscious fruit were dear alike to more than one we might nanie. Before settling here Lieutenant Allen had been through these parts as a ped- dler of woolen goods, axes, etc. He was the father of Jacob jr., Almon, Alden, Philena, Susannah, Miranda and Mollie Allen, and grandfather of Professor F. A. Allen. He was a lieutenant in the war of the Revolution, and an aide-de-camp to his father, who was killed in the early part of the war, while the son remained in the service to its close.
ALMON ALLEN was born in Massachusetts, and died at Mansfield in 1871, aged 73 years. He was a son of Lieutenant Jacob Allen. He married Polly Bates, by whom he had seven children, viz. Prof. Fordyce Almon, Darwin D., Philena, Charles, Almon, Loren Fenton, and George R. He came to Mansfield in 1822, from Cum- mington, Mass., and went to live with his father. In 1824 he with his brother-in-law, Solon Richards, erected a woolen factory near the northwest corner of Smythe Park, which he sold to John and Peter Drake. The factory was a bold enterprise for those days. It was burned, and rebuilt by the Drakes, and this last building, having been removed a few years since, is now occupied by Edward Doane & Co., as a sash and blind factory. Mr. Allen left Mansfield for Ohio, returned to Massa- chusetts, and afterward lived in Chautauqua county, N. Y., but came here to end his days, as already stated. He was a man of considerable physical and intellectual vigor, and was at one time a captain of militia.
PROFESSOR FORDYCE ALMON ALLEN .- The writer keenly feels his inability to write the biography of this distinguished man. "Tis true he knew him intimately, and was long under his tutorship; and, though he has
felt the love that he had for him, and none whose de- parture could have touched his heart with a deeper sor- row. But for all this there is something in the life of this man which claims the master hand of a master his- torian. Doubtless he had his faults; but, now that nearly three years have elapsed since his death, people are be- ginning to make up his estimate, and what is the verdict? That there is a residuum of greatness-a remainder, if you please, more durable than the granite shaft which marks his resting place. Truly good and truly great, it is not enough to say that he was Mansfield's most dis- tinguished citizen; for his reputation was wide as the State, and is seen to have rested on nothing less than the good he had done. There may be those-base, ignoble souls !- who would detract from his well-earned fame; who will find fault and criticise because they can do nothing else; but over and above all who have ever come and gone in Mansfield towers Professor Allen. Purer man, grander man than he never walked our streets. Think not that this is excessive praise; it is but the just commendation due to great excellence and worth; a valnation which time will show to have been the true one. For his loss becomes apparent day by day. When he was alive the bats and owls of our com- munity were content to stay in their dens. But now that he is dead they have the courage to venture forth. The men who put the bottle to their neighbors' lips are emboldened to carry on their vile, nefarious traffic in open defiance of the law. It was up-hill business when he was alive, but it is easy enough now, even though the parties may be well known. In a public assembly re- cently, while speaking of this clandestine liquor trade, a gentleman said he wished he had the power of that man they called Allen. And should you ask why this iniquity runs riot, the reply would be: Professor Allen is dead. It was an unfortunate day for Mansfield the day he died. It marked a perceptible lapse, as his coming had marked an advance.
There are three events in our history, of which this is one, his coming another, and the building of the seminary. The seminary had dragged out a miserable existence until after it was constituted a State normal school, when he did more than any other man to place it upon a solid basis, and it was he who inaugurated and made possible the era of prosperity which has since attended it. He did more than any other man to build up the school. He did more than any other man to build up the town. And finally, of the many good and excellent men who have resided at one time or another in Mansfield, be this his tribute-he was the greatest and best of all. He is going down in history as such, and the writer would not take one star from his crown.
Professor Allen was born at Cuminington, Mass., July Ioth 1820, and died at Mansfield, February 11th 1880. When he was two years old his father removed to this place, bringing little Fordyce all the way in a wagon. They went to live in a house built by his grandfather, Jacob Allen-dear to the writer as the place where he was
P. J. Alter
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PROF. FORDYCE A ALLEN.
born. When a lad of some nine or ten summers he went to school in the old plank school house near the railroad bridge on Wellsboro street. It was there he spoke his first piece, taken from the "Columbian Orator," and there are those who well remember his appearance on the stage while repeating the following lines, which contained a prophecy:
" You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public ou the stage, And if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero- Don't view me with a critic's eye, But pass my imperfections by.
" Large streams from little fountains How, Tall oaks from little acorns grow, And though I now am small and young, With judgment weak and feeble tongue, Yet all great learned men, like me Once learned to read their A, B, C."
A few years later Fordyce, with his father, went to Ohio, and from there they returned to Massachusetts, whence, after remaining for a time, they went to Chau- tauqua county, N. Y. He then launched out for himself, at nineteen years of age, beginning in the world as a clerk at Coudersport, Pa., in 1839; though prior to this he had served in the same capacity for a short time at Hudson, N. Y. We soon hear of him, however, as a pupil at school in Coudersport, and then as teacher; and there-sometimes teacher and sometimes pupil-he re- mained until 1844, when he attended a school at Alex- andria, N. Y., for one year, which he often spoke of as his " high school." Returning to Coudersport at the age of 25 he married Sarah Colwell, by whom he had one child. Upon getting married he went to James- town, N. Y., where he taught in the public school three years, or until 1848, when his wife died, on the third an- niversary of their marriage. Leaving Jamestown he be- came principal of the high school at Fredonia, N. Y., where he remained about two years and a half, when his health obliged him to resign. Regaining his health he accepted the principalship of the academy at Smethport, Pa., and in December 1852 was married to Miss Jane Martin, a most amiable and intelligent lady, who sur- vives him. Their four children are all living, except a little boy buried at West Chester, Pa. In 1853 he became editor of the McKean Citizen, and in 1854 was elected county superintendent of Mckean county, which posi- tion he occupied up to the spring of 1857, when he es- tablished a normal school at West Chester, Pa., of which he was principal for six years. During his stay in West Chester he wrote and published a text-book on geog- raphy. At the time of the invasion of Pennsylvania by Robert E. Lee he marched at the head of his school and a body of citizens to resist the invaders. In July 1864 he came to Mansfield as principal of the State normal school, which position he held for five years, when he re- signed. In the fall of 1867 he started the soldiers' or- phan school, which he managed with peculiar success up to the time of his death. In the fall of 1877 he again became principal of the normal school for a term of five years, and was serving his third year when he died.
It should have been said that in the fall of 1854 he began his institutes, which were ever after a prominent feature of his work. He was almost constantly engaged in this direction, and his labors were not confined to this State. He spent a winter on institutes in Wisconsin, and in the autumns of 1869 and 1870 he held institutes in Maine, sixteen weeks each year, one week for each county in the State. The spring of 1871 was given to Vermont, New Orleans and Mississippi, and a few weeks in 1876 were devoted to institutes in Virginia. Toward the close of the summer of 1879 he made his memorable trip to California, and on his return held institutes in Kansas. So successful was he in this work, and in all matters pertaining to education, that he became one of the most prominent educational workers in the country.
Professor Allen died as he had lived, with unshaken confidence in God. A little while before his decease he requested his friends to sing Charles Wesley's master- piece, "Jesus, lover of my soul"-the finest heart-hymn in the English tongue. He joined in this lay of holy love. Shortly afterward he passed away, at 8 o'clock on Wednesday evening, after an illness of only one week. The funeral was attended on Friday afternoon, February 13th, at 2 o'clock. Business was entirely suspended throughout the day; and although in the midst of a continuous rain, which deterred hundreds in the country from coming, the whole town turned out. During the services his favorite hymns, "Asleep in Jesus," and " Jesus, lover of my soul," were sung. Despite the in- clemency of the weather the procession of people on foot was the largest ever seen here, reaching all the way from the village to the cemetery on the hill, nearly half a mile away. Such an outpouring in the midst of a storm plainly attested the hold of the deceased upon the hearts and affections of the people.
It is impossible in so short space to give a proper esti- mate of the life and character of Professor Allen. And indeed it is not necessary that we should enlarge upon his zeal in the causes of education, religion, agriculture, and temperance, for all of which he had an abiding love; nor upon the improvements which have added so much to the growth and prosperity of our town. These are things which are known and read of all men, and which will cause his memory to be cherished long after our eu- logies are forgotten.
He was not a bookish man, nor was he college bred; but he had what is far better-a wide general informa- tion. Man rather than books, and God rather than man, had been his study, which conspired to make his life in- tensely individual and one which constantly increased in good works. He was in easy circumstances, but he val- ued money only as a means to an end; while his liberal- ity to the suffering poor was proverbial, giving as he did employment to a large number of this class.
As to personal appearance he was tall and well de- veloped in his physical frame, with a fair coronet of hair like sifted snow, pleasant eyes under arching eyebrows, and a handsome face; possessing easy and polished man- ners and a very joyous temperament, together with a
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wealth of sympathy. Perhaps the most notable traits in his character were his untiring energy, his cheerful self- sacrifice and his " rock-firm God-trust." It may safely be said that he was the most active man in the county, perhaps in the State, and he exemplified in his daily life the motto which he urged on the minds of his pupils- " It is better to wear out than to rust out." He was eminently unselfish; he lived for others and the world is the better for his words and deeds.
His faith in his fellow man was only surpassed by his unbounded faith in God. He knew in whom he had trusted; and his beaming face was a silent psalm assur- ing the beholder , "Happy is the man that hath the God of Jacob for his help." In the triumph of this faith he fell asleep-put off this earthly tabernacle-broke loose from the bonds of the flesh, as one loosens a vessel from detaining shores to be wafted away upon peaceful waters toward a safe and pleasant haven: The peerless man has gone to "that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns;" but the whole town is filled with the fragrance of his life.
AARON GILLETT was born in Connecticut, in 1788, and died at Canoe Camp in 1860, aged 72 years. He came with his parents from Towanda, Pa., to the mouth of Mill Creek, above Tioga, in 1797, when he was nine years old. All the family except him came around and up the river in a canoe, while he with his father's hired man came across through the woods with an ox team and sled, with which they conveyed the household goods. They also brought some cattle and hogs, but getting out of provisions while on the way they were obliged to kill one of the hogs. They were nine days on the way, feed- ing their cattle on tree tops and their hogs on beech-nuts. At the mouth of Mill Creek they built a log house, which one week later was burned down and a little girl six years old burnt up in it. They also built a small dis tillery and grist-mill at this place, which is in Tioga township. The grist-mill was the first in the county, and was destroyed by a flood shortly afterward, when they moved to Cherry Flats. In 1810 Aaron married Ziba Rowley, by whom he had eleven children, including Russel, Dwight, Samuel and Morris. In 1811 he moved on to what is now the Vedder place, above Canoe Camp, and during the war of 1812 he carried the mail between Tioga and Williamsport, on horseback, going at full speed. At each station a fresh horse, saddled and bridled, was always in waiting. In 1816 Mr. Gillett's house was burned, with all its contents, and he shortly afterward bought the place now owned by Isaac Lounsberry. In 1832 he built a saw-mill where the paint mill now stands.
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