USA > Pennsylvania > Warren County > History of Warren County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 66
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Daniel Nesmith settled about the time of the formation of the township, in the upper part of Hooktown, where he lived long and acquired a good prop- erty. He was a brother of Benjamin Nesmith, of Warren. Two sons, John and Homer, and one daughter, Rose, wife of Richard Orr, now live in Warren. Daniel Nesmith was well deemed a valuable citizen of Glade, and was to the Methodist persuasion what William Snyder was to the Baptist.
Samuel Storam, a mulatto, cleared a part of a hundred-acre tract, now in- cluded in the farm of Guy C. Irvine, as early as 1834. He came to this farm from Pine Grove. He and his wife died of small-pox in 1854, on the farm owned by their son Samuel. Another son in Glade is Nelson, while a third, Henry, is in Pittsfield.
James Shipman, one of the three sons of James Shipman, sr., who has re- ceived mention, lived at Shipman's Eddy, and as early as 1840 erected a hotel there for the accommodation of raftsmen. This he kept until his death, a few years later, when he was succeeded by Charles W. H. Verbeack, who married his widow. Shipman was extremely fond of hunting, and was a good "shot."
Charles Whitcomb came as early as 1838 to the place just below Glade Run, now occupied by Jacob Baldensperger. He went to Kinzua about 1853 or 1854, where he is yet living. His father, Paul, lived with him in Glade.
Joseph Dunn was a settler of about 1836 on the farm now occupied by his widow and two daughters, next south of Barney Owen. He was a good farmer, and died there about five years ago. His sons, Samuel, Daniel, and John, now live in Warren.
Rhodolphus Arnold had a log shoe-shop a short time near William Culbert- son's, and afterward near Hook's mill in Mead township.
William Zeigler, a Pennsylvania Dutchman, cleared the farm now owned by Frederick Wentz, and lived thereon from 1838 or 1839 until about 1880, when he removed to Warren. 36
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Cobham Park and its Authors .- As yet the family, which by peculiar dis- tinction, is in some respects most worthy of mention, has not been named. George Ashworth Cobham, sr., was born at St. Asaph, in Wales, on the 20th of January, 1803, and was the third son of Elijah Cobham, one of the merchant princes of Liverpool, England. Mr. Cobham practiced law for some years at Liverpool, and afterward removed to Fearns Hall, at Rosendale, near Man- chester, which he rebuilt and occupied. In 1828 he married Catherine Cob- ham, the widow of his eldest brother, Henry Cobham, and daughter of John Gilmore Curry, M. D., of the same place. Henry Cobham had been accident- ally killed by a gun-shot wound in July, 1825. The young couple continued to reside at Fearns Hall until 1832, when they went to France and resided at Paris and Havre. In the autumn of 1834 they emigrated to this country, and in the summer of 1835 settled on tract 5536 (1,000 acres) in Elk, afterward Glade township. Here he built a fine residence, which he called Cobham Park, and on which he continued to reside until his death, on the 6th of October, 1870. His wife preceded him, dying on the 27th of July, 1867, and he was buried beside her on the ground surrounding the residence. They had four children, Frederick Fearns Cobham, born at Fearns Hall, September 7th, 1831, died at Jamestown, Chautauqua county, N. Y., on the 21st of May, 1835 ; Georgina Catherine Cobham, born at Havre, France, on the 20th of March, 1834, and died at Cobham Park, August 7, 1882; Elizabeth Cobham, born at Cobham Park, April 11, 1837, and now residing on a part of the old farm ; and Alice Cobham, born at Cobham Park, June 19, 1839, and now residing at Cob- ham Park.
Henry Cobham, born on the 24th of January, 1824, at London, England, was the eldest son of llenry Cobham, a barrister of Liverpool, who was de- scended in direct line from Lord Cobham, the martyr who was burned at the stake at Smithfield, in the reign of Henry V, at the instigation of Thomas Ar- undel, Archbishop of Canterbury, because he was one of the followers of Wic- liffe, and assisted him in the publication of his translation of the Bible. The subject of this paragraph came to this country in 1834, with his step-father, George A. Cobham, and lived with him until 1866, aiding him with his labor and money (the rents of property he inherited from his father and other members of the family, and which he still owns) to purchase and improve the property in Glade township and to build Cobham Park. In 1860 he married Ann l lodges, eldest daughter of W. W. Hodges, but continued to live at Cobham Park until the residence was finished, when he removed to Warren and built the house which he now occupies. Soon after he was elected county surveyor and served two terms. lle has two children, Kate C. Cobham, M. D., the eld- est, now practicing medicine at Dayton, Ohio, and Ilenry, who is still living with his parents at Warren.
Brigadier-General George Ashworth Cobham .- George A. Cobham was
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the second son of Henry Cobham, the barrister of Liverpool mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and was born at Liverpool, December 5, 1825. He came to this country with his step-father, George A. Cobham, in 1834, and lived with him, helping to improve the farm and build the residence now known as Cobham Park, until a short time before the outbreak of the Rebel- lion. In 1861, in response to the president's call for troops, he, in connection with Dr. E. M. Pierce, W. J. Alexander and others, raised a body of five hun- dred men, which, with a similar force from Erie county, constituted the One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. Cobham was appointed lieutenant-colonel, and Pierce captain of Company D, and Alexan- der, first lieutenant. Their first service was at Harper's Ferry, where the One Hundred and Eleventh was posted on the Heights, and held them against the Confederates in pursuit of Banks. They distinguished themselves at Chancel- lorsville, and at Gettysburg, also. At the latter engagement Cobham com- manded General Kane's brigade, and from that time to the close of the war retained the command of a brigade, leading it at Resaca, Mission Ridge, Wau- hatchie, Lookout Mountain, and what the boys called the grand skirmish, until he fell on the field of Peach Tree Creek, on the 20th of August, 1864. Soon after, he was breveted by the War Department brigadier-general, to date from his death. When his remains were brought home, the citizens of Warren, in honor of his memory, gave him a public burial.
Early Mills, etc .- One of the earliest mills in the township of Glade was built by Robert Valentine at a very early date, and was purchased by Dorastus Hatch, at the time of that person's settlement in town. Mr. Hatch kept the mill in operation while he lived, and his sons owned it until within a few years. Several years ago, while owned by William and Joseph Hatch, it ceased run- ning.
The next mill was built by Andrew Merritt, on Allegheny River, about a mile above Big Bend, about 1840. Previous to 1850 it came into the hands of Orris Hall and Mr. Flagg, who kept it in operation for a number of years. It went down about thirty years ago, while in the possession of Stephen Mor- rison.
James Eddy and Francis Hook built a saw-mill in Glade City on Cone- wango Creek about 1845. Orris Hall afterward owned it for many years. I. B. Hoffman now owns the property, though the mill fell into decay and disuse eight or ten years ago. The first tannery built in the township stood near this mill and was operated by the same power. It was built by John Reig about 1858, and ceased in 1876, though Mr. Reig still owns the site.
George A. Cobham and his two step-sons, Henry and George A. 2d, built a saw-mill on Hemlock Run in 1847, and operated it for ten years, when they sold it to Peter M. Smith. He owned it when it burned, about 1880, and rebuilt it. It is now silent from lack of timber.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
About a mile above the Cobham Mill was a saw-mill, erected in 1855 by John Eaton, and afterward owned and operated by C. W. H. Verbeack and James Roy. It went down a number of years ago.
A Mr. McFarland built a saw-mill about 1857 some three miles above the Cobham Mill, which afterward came to the hands of James Roy, and was until ecen tly operated.
The tannery of L. A. Robinson, which the present owner acquired in 1875, was built by - Newkirk at the mouth of Glade Run, its present site, about thirty years ago. Mr. Robinson has developed the business with most com- mendable enterprise, and made it one of the largest tanneries in Warren county. It is stated on good authority that Mr. Robinson pays $100,000 annually for hemlock bark, and that his weekly pay roll ranges from $1,200 to $1,500, inside the building.
There was no store in Glade township until long after the construction of the tannery by Newkirk. From 1852 or 1853, for a few years, Myron Waters and O. H. Hunter sold goods to the raftsmen during the seasons, but the near proximity of Warren has been a hindrance to the opening of a successful store in Glade until recently. There are now a number. Among them are the fol- lowing: N. C. Allen, groceries and general merchandise; Jacob Balden- sperger, groceries, provisions, flour and feed, and meat market ; J. W. Geer, general merchandise; Frank D. Jones, news-room, tobacco and cigars; S. S. Jordan, general merchandise; J. R. Mitchell, groceries, boots and shoes; and J. P. Trushel & Son, groceries.
Post-office .- There has never been a post-office in Glade. The mail is obtained at Warren.
Hotels .- The first tavern in town was the little concern of William Cul- bertson, already mentioned. The next one was that of James Shipman, jr., at Shipman's Eddy, who kept it for years and afterward was succeeded by Ben- jamin Nesmith. It was open as long as the raftsmen went down the river from that point in numbers sufficient to make it pay to accommodate them.
From about 1844 to about 1850 Solomon Hudson entertained guests in a slab shanty at Glade Run. At this time Orren Hook built a hotel of more dignity at Glade Run and named it the Glade Run Hotel. Jacob McCall, the first landlord, kept it two or three years. It burned ten or twelve years ago, and C. B. Willy built on the same site the present hotel two or three years ago. George Hertzel keeps it.
Schools and Churches .- The first school kept in the present limits of Glade township was built on Quaker Hill, of logs, about 1836. About that time, too, there was built a log school-house in the Hatch settlement. The Glade Run school-house was built about the year 1852 by subscription, Andrew Irvine, Orren Hook, John and Alexander McWilliams and others subscribing for the purpose. There are now seven schools in the township, including the Union
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Graded School in Glade City, which was built in 1877 and has four depart- ments, and the school in Glade Run which has two departments. Thomas W. Arird is at present the principal of the Union School at Glade City.
As in all business respects, lumber and oil excepted, the proximity of so large a village as Warren has ever operated to prevent a large independent growth of business in Glade, so the same cause has prevented the formation of large churches here. Everybody who attended church in other days was content to go Warren, where a more numerous congregation could pay for better preaching. And thus the need of church work did not press itself upon the people of Glade in early days. About 1870 the United Brethren built a church in Hatchtown, in which they hold services at regular intervals. At Glade Run is a hall built by temperance reformers, which is used by all denom- inations at times for purposes of religious worship.
CHAPTER XLIX.
HISTORY OF CORYDON TOWNSHIP.
C ORYDON township was erected by order of the court on the 20th of March, 1846, from territory then recently set off from Mckean county. It con- sists of a long narrow strip of land occupying the extreme northeastern corner of the county, and is bounded north by Cattaraugus county, N. Y., east by McKean county, south by Mckean county, and west by Kinzua and the Alle- gheny River, separating it from Elk township. The drainage is furnished en- tirely by Allegheny River and its numerous tributary streams, such as Corn- planter Run, Whisky Run, Tracy Run, Willow Creek, and Sugar Creek.
There was no settlement in the present limits of the township until as late as 1827. In 1817 James Richards passed through the land on his way to Cincinnati, and his daughter, Mrs. Lucinda Morrison, is now a resident of Corydon, and will be mentioned in this chapter in connection with the early settlers. The first settler in town was undoubtedly Philip Tome. He was born on the 22d of March, 1782, in Dauphin county, Pa., near the site of Harrisburg. His parents were of German extraction. They moved up the Susquehanna River about ninety miles, in 1786, in a keel boat, landing at Farris Creek, in what was then Northumberland county. The country was then troubled by the enmity of the Six Nations of Indians, and this family soon thought it prudent to move back to Cumberland county. In two or three years they went to Warry Run, about two miles above the junction of the east branch of the Susquehanna. In 1791 they again moved, this time some
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
seventy miles up the west branch of that river. As early as 1816 Philip Tome was living near the present site of Kinzua, but he soon went away and did not return to this part of the State until 1827, when he came to the territory now in Corydon from Lycoming county, and built a rude shanty for a tem- porary dwelling place, on ground now in the center of the road which termi- nates 'between the store on the village corner and Hale's Hotel. He came down the river in a canoe, striking across from Canoe Place to the river. He died on the 30th of April, 1855. A year previous to his death he wrote and published an interesting book entitled "Pioneer Life; or Thirty years a Hunter," which is filled with his own adventures, some of them of the most thrilling description. He was a great hunter, and was for fifteen years interpreter for Cornplanter and Governor Blacksnake, Indian chiefs on the Allegheny River, and familiar characters to the students of the early history of Pennsylvania. Philip Tome's eldest son and. second child, John C., was the first male white child born in town. The first female child born in town was Martha Forbes, daughter of Abel Morrison. The descendants of Philip Tome in Corydon and other parts of the county and State are very numerous.
From Mrs. Lucinda Morrison, wife of Abel Morrison, now living in Cory- don, the writer obtained the following description of the country in 1827, when she was brought hither. Her maiden name was Lucinda Richards. She was born in Lisle, Broome county, N. Y., and passed through Corydon in 1817, on the way to Cincinnati with her father, James Richards. In 1818 she was married to Abel Morrison, who was a native of Lycoming county. In 1827 they settled on the very place now occupied by Mrs. Morrison. At first they lived in a plank house. There were then in the whole town but three other houses, two of logs, and one shanty. Russell Freeman lived a short distance south of the Morrison settlement in a log house. In another log house, farther north, had recently settled Dr. Benjamin Blodgett, the first physician, the first postmaster, the first merchant, and the second settler in town. Still farther north, in the shanty already mentioned, lived Philip Tome. Very soon after the arrival of Abel Morrison came William Case. At that time the face of the township as it is now constituted was a trackless wilderness, unrelieved by a clearing, and inhabited by the brutal denizens-bears, deer, wolves, and occa- sionally a panther. Immediately after the settlement of these few families here, however, improvements began to make their inroads on the forests. Mills were at once erected-partly for the profit expected from their operation, but more immediately because of the necessity of boards for building. Abel Morrison's mill stood where it still stands (although of course it has been many times repaired), and is now owned by Flavius Josephus Morrison. . \ short time before this was erected Enoch Gilman built a mill, the first one in town, on the site of the large mill now in Corydon village. It was put up in the summer of 1827, while Abel Morrison's was delayed until the following year.
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Previous to 1830 one Wheeler built a mill between the other two, the same frame standing there now and at present used by Sunderland & Payne for a handle factory. In the winter of 1827-28 there was a school-house built of planks, a little way northeast from the dwelling house of Abel Morrison. It was first taught by Sabra Blodgett, a relative of Dr. Blodgett, for six months, and under her administration it was a very efficient school. There was an attendance of about fifteen or twenty pupils. Religious meetings were held almost from the beginning in. this school-house, and a little later ; also in the one farther down the river, and on the site of the present school-house. The first tavern was kept by Jacob McCall, on the site of the present hotel, a num- ber of years previous to 1853. He also had the post-office in his tavern for a time. The first store was kept by John Converse, a little way south of the tavern, from the time of his arrival in 1830 until his death a number of years thereafter. George and Augustus Wetmore and L. D. Wetmore, brothers, at a more recent time had a saw-mill on the site of the present large mill, previous to the erection of the pulp-mill. There has never been a grist-mill in town, though for a brief period Alanson G., son of Abel Morrison, ground feed and made staves and shingles on the east side of the mill now operated by his brother.
The population of the neighborhood did not increase very rapidly for a number of years after 1827. Several families moved in and, after a short ex- perience of the hardships necessarily incident to pioneer life in this wild country, moved away. Lumbering used to be the principal business of the town, though of late years it has greatly declined from scarcity of timber. There is now not a tithe sawn annually as there was thirty and forty years ago.
William Case, father of Squire Case, immigrated to this town very soon after the settlement of Philip Tome, and built his house about ten rods north of the hotel. He married a daughter of Philip Tome, and is now living, hav- ing survived his wife. Contemporary with Abel Morrison were his brother, Rice Morrison, who settled about sixty rods below where the ferry now crosses the river, where he died only a few years ago, and Russell M. Freeman, al- ready mentioned, who built his house on the east side of the street, near the present ferry, and about on the site of Flavius Morrison's house. After a num- ber of years he moved away. Several years after this early settlement, Ira Butler and George Smith lived on Butler's Run in the wood on the eastern part of the present farm of George W. Tome, and there they undertook to make brick, without very flattering success, however, and after the lapse of a few unpropitious years they emigrated.
One of the most prominent families ever in Corydon, that of Rev. Asher Bliss, deserves special mention, though they may not be denominated early settlers. Rev. Asher Bliss was born on the 20th day of February, 1801, and on the 2d of September, 1832, married Miss Cassandra Hooper, of Boylston,
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Mass. In November of the same year he began his labors as a missionary of the A. B. C. F. M. to the Seneca Indians on the Cattaraugus Reservation. At that time there was, it is said, but two or three framed buildings on the entire reservation. The Indians lived in log or bark huts with no floor, and only a hole in the roof for the exit of the smoke. Their cattle and horses had to look out for themselves through the long winters, digging through the snow to get a little frozen grass, and a good many of them died every winter. Mr. Bliss early perceived the importance of raising their temporal condition as well as their spiritual, and urged them to build comfortable houses and barns, fence and cultivate their land, set out fruit trees, etc., and in the nineteen years during which he prolonged his stay among them, he effected a wonder- ful improvement among them in these respects. In 1851 he came to Corydon, remaining here until 1864, when he removed to an adjoining town, South Val- ley, N. Y. While in this township he organized a small church, and during his residence here frequently preached here and in this vicinity. He also labored among the Indians on the Allegheny Reservation, and at Cornplanter's one or two years while in Corydon. Four sons lived to manhood, Asher, jr., Samuel Munson, Porter Cornelius, and David G., of whom three served in the War of the Rebellion, and are now living in Cattaraugus county, N. Y., and the other resides in Corydon. Rev. Asher Bliss died on the 23d of March, 1881.
Mrs. Cassandra Hooper Bliss was born at New Braintree, Mass., on the 14th of February, 1802, and died April 21st, 1878. She was descended from the Hooper and Washburn families, of Bridgewater, Mass., from Isaac Allerton, of Mayflower celebrity, from Robert Cushman, who preached at Plymouth the first sermon in New England that was printed, and from Secretary Nathaniel Morton, the first historian of New England. She received her education at Ipswich and Amherst Academies, partly under the direction of Mary Lyon. She was engaged for several years by Samuel Slater, the founder of the man- ufacture of cotton in this country, to teach the school connected with his es- tablishment. Mrs. Bliss was a lady of fine personal traits of character, deeply beloved by her associates, and by the Indians to whom she was so long a ben- efactress.
The most distinguished son of Rev. and Mrs. Bliss, and probably the most distinguished person who ever resided in Corydon, was Porter Cornelius Bliss, who is mentioned at some length in " Appleton's Annual Encyclopedia " for 1885. He was born in Erie county, N. Y., on the 28th day of December, 1838, and died in New York city on the 2d of February, 1885. He studied at Hamilton and Yale Colleges, and in 1860 traveled through Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia to investigate the condition of the remnants of Indian tribes. In 1861 he went to Washington to apply for a place in the In- terior Department that would give him an opportunity to make similar inves-
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tigations beyond the Mississippi; but as he was disappointed in this, he accepted the post of private secretary to Hon. James Watson Webb, who had just been appointed minister to Brazil. In 1862, when Mr. Webb returned home, Mr. Bliss went to Buenos Ayres, and was commissioned by the Argentine govern- ment to explore the Gran Chaco, where he spent eight months in learning the Indian dialects and investigating the antiquities. The result was published by the government. He edited for a short time, at Buenos Ayres, the River Platte Magazine, and then went to Paraguay, where he became private secre- tary of the United States minister, Hon. C. A. Washburne, in 1866. President Lopez commissioned him to write a history of Paraguay; but while he was engaged in this work the war between that country and Brazil broke out, and he fell under suspicion from the fact that he had formerly been in Brazil. The government archives were closed to him, detectives watched him, and finally, as he was trying to leave the country, he was thrown into prison, where he was subjected to the most inhuman tortures to compel him to confess that he had been a Brazilian spy. At the end of three months (December, 1868) he was released on the demand of the United States government, backed by the presence of a squadron of the United States navy. He went to Washington, was a translater in the War Department for about a year, and edited the Wash- ington Chronicle for about a year and a half, and was then (July, 1870) ap- pointed secretary of legation in Mexico, which office he held for four years. During that time he was an active member of the Mexican Geographical So- ciety, made archæological explorations, and wrote much on the condition of Mexico and its opportunities for American enterprise. By his sole personal exertions he saved from execution three American officers in the army of Diaz, who had been captured by the forces of Juarez, and condemned by court-mar- tial. In the summer of 1874 Mr. Bliss went to New York, and for the next three years he was at work on " Johnson's Cyclopedia." After that he edited a short-lived weekly called The Literary Table, wrote a history of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, and in 1879 went to South America as a corres- pondent of the New York Herald. From the time of his return, a year or two later, until his death he was in feeble health and did but little work, though he edited the New Haven News for a part of the year 1883. He was for two years president of the Philological Society, and was an enthusi- astic student of Oriental antiquities.
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