USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne County [Pa.] > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
142
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
township, and a church, called the "Union church." In this store is kept the Rileyville post-office. Pass- ing onward sixty rods we come to the buildings erect- ed by John C. Riley, consisting of a large tavern house, and a store, now unused. Riley commenced here about sixty-five years ago and cleared up a large farm amd kept a licensed tavern from 1819 to 1836, and sometimes kept a store running. This is Riley-
ville. Riley was succeeded by William Handell. Then the whole place was purchased by Francis Blair, who sold it to Patrick Shanley, its present owner. The road from Dyberry intersects the turnpike at this place. A half mile onward is the Lebanon Presby- terian church. Next are the farm and premises for- merly occupied by John Lincoln, Esq., who was an early settler from New England. The premises are now owned by Hiram Wright, who married a daughter of John Lincoln. A house of entertainment and then a licensed tavern was kept by Mr. Lincoln or Wright for several years. It had the reputation of being the best-kept tavern on the road. Next is the farm taken up and improved by William Adams, who was orig- inally from Delaware county, N. Y. He was a supe- rior natural penman, and was the standing assessor of Lebanon, while he lived in the town. He was the first assessor in Manchester township, after its erec- tion in 1828, soon after which, he settled upon his Lebanon farm. Being engaged in lumbering, he lost largely by an unusual flood in the Delaware. George W. Adams and Henry Adams, of Dyberry, are his
143
TOWNSHIPS-LEBANON.
sons, and Clayton Yale married his daughter. The farm is now occupied by the widow of Patrick Mc Guire.
Seth Yale, a son of Esquire Yale, comes next. He married a daughter of John Douglas. All the im- provements on the farm were made by him.
Next comes Shieldsboro', now owned by Elias Stan- ton. Robert Shields, son of Thomas Shields, the great landholder in Wayne county and who in earlier days lived in Damascus, in or about 1835, (date un- certain) built a good dwelling-house and barn and erected a saw-mill at this place, and sent up his sons, Thomas M. and William J. Shields, from Philadel- phia to take charge of the premises, supplying them with costly musical instruments, a large library with globes and maps, and every needed convenience. But with all this they were not content. As desert-wan- dering Israel longed for the leeks, onions, and flesh- pots of Egypt, so did these men long for the crash, flash, and dash of the city from whence they came. After years of contention and discontent, they returned to their former home. Since that time the place has had a number of occupants. The next very old place was taken up by John Yale about 1810, but was paid for by his son, Seth Yale, who was always called Esquire Yale. His wife was a daughter of James Bigelow, who was one of the first settlers in Mount Pleasant. She was an excellent, resolute, industrious woman. They had to battle with all the difficulties and suffer all the perplexities
144
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
incident to pioneer life in an unbroken wilderness, but they unflinchingly withstood them all. Their works were herculean and amazing. He had to pro- vide for a large and increasing family, and she to card. spin, and weave the fabrics, or procure it to be done. wherewith to clothe her family. He, with his sons, cleared up a large farm and erected good buildings thereon. Prompted by necessity and a love of danger- ous and exciting adventures, he became a great hunter. Once, in early winter, upon a very cold day, he shot and killed an otter on the ice at the Lower Woods pond. Laying down his gun, he put on his mittens and went to get his game. Before reaching it he broke through the ice where the water was deep. He could not get upon the ice. Again and again his attempts were unavailing, as it would continue to break under him. He was so far from home that his calls for help could not be heard, and benumbed with cold his strength began to fail him. Finally he resolved to make his last final effort to escape. Throwing his wet mittens upon the glare ice as far off as he could reach them in that dreadful condition, he waited until they froze fast, then, having something to take hold of, he drew himself out upon the ice, and then rolled over and over until he reached the shore. But he would have that otter. He broke down small dead trees, made a bridge upon the ice, and went out and saved it. Once his faithful dog, which would have risked its life for the safety of its master, was missing, and the Esquire, mis- trusting that it had broken through the ice in that
145
TOWNSHIPS-LEBANON.
same pond, upon going thither found it to be a fact. With great difficulty he got the dog out, which was unable to go or stand. Though the day was cold, the Esquire took off his coat and wrapped it around the animal, which was a large one, and carried him home, a distance of a mile and a quarter, thus saving its life. He was once a commissioner of the county and for many years a justice of the peace. It was al- ways his aim to promote peace.
"Was there a variance? enter but his door,
Balked were the courts, and contest was no more."
Esquire Yale had six sons and three daughters. Norman and Clayton E. Yale lived in the homestead house on the north side of the road, and John E. and Ezra Yale in separate houses built by themselves on part of the old farm lying south of the road. Franklin removed to Susquehanna county. Seth has been inen- tioned. Eliza is the wife of Gilbert P. Bass. Try- phena married Fanton Sherwood, and Mary died un- married. Esquire Yale died in Honesdale some years ago, and his wife survived him but a few years.
On the west side of the road, on the hill above the Yale farm, lives Charles Bennett, son of Joseph Ben- nett, of New England descent. Originally Peter Latourette, a blacksmith, commenced on the place and then it fell into the hands of said Joseph Bennett, who lived and died there. On the north side of the road the land was taken up about 1817, by Hugh Gammell, the grandfather of Hon. A. B. Gammell, of Bethany. Hugh, for a second wife, married a woman by the name
19
146
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
of Gillett, and Gammell and her brother, named Elijah Gillett, owned the place together. Gammell died there and Mr. Gillett and Mrs. Gammell sold out their in- terest in the farm and she went and lived with Aaron Gillett, a relative of their's in Salem, and Elijah Gil- lett returned to Connectient. Most of the place is now owned by Horace W. Gager, who, being an enterpris- ing farmer, has much enhanced its value. Going on- ward on the south side of the road extending westward for eighty or ninety rods, lie the old farms of Edward Wheatcraft, Jr., and of Edward Wheatcraft, Sen. Now both are owned by Gates Douglas. Edward
Wheatcraft, Sen., was born in Frederick, Maryland. According to old records he was the first settler in West Lebanon, he having bought one hundred acres of land and built a cabin in 1803. His land, cabin, and four head of cattle, were valued that year at $95.00, and his tax was eighty-five and a half cents. He paid for his land in money realized mostly from the sale of maple sugar. His wife was a daughter of John S. Rogers. They had one son and three daughters. Mrs. John Latourette was one of the daughters. Then be- low and north of the old turnpike lies the George Parkinson farm, the front part of which is owned by C. H. Sendder. Parkinson was taxed as owning eleven hundred aeres of land. It is probable that he began in 1804. He was an Englishman, and by trade a wea- ver, but turned his attention to carpenter and mill- wright work. He is remembered as having been a very ingenious workman, and was the chief architect
147
TOWNSHIPS-LEBANON.
employed by Judge Wilson to build a linen factory at the mouth of the Paupack. Finding that Wilson was likely to fail, he took his pay for his work in land. In 1810 he was licensed to keep a public house, and he or his son continued in the business many years. This house was known from Newburg to Ithaca as the Cold Spring Tavern. Parkinson, finding the town to be settling up rapidly, built a saw-mill and grist-mill on the outlet of the Lower Woods pond, below a fall about eighty rods from it. In a year or two both mills burnt down. No grist-mill has since been built in the town.
Benajah Carr, in or about 1814, took up the farm south of the Parkinson place, cleared the same, and in 1845 sold it to Charles H. Scudder and removed to Indiana.
The next place westward on the north side of the road was taken up about 1814 by David Gager, who was a native of Windham county, Conn. His wife's name was Polina Bingham. They had children, of whom Rufus H. Gager, of Mount Pleasant, Horace W. Gager, of Lebanon, and E. B. Gager, of Tanners Falls, are now living in the county. Mr. Gager and his sons cleared up a good farm, and he died on the place. It is now owned by Robins Douglas. Mr. Gager used to tell of the hard times, before the war closed in 1815; how that leather was hardly to be had at any price; that pork was twenty-five cents a pound, and that he had given four dollars for half a bushel of salt.
148
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
The next settler on the west of David Gager was Joseph Bass, who came in with Gager from the same place. His wife was a sister of David Gager. There were four sons: Jason G., Thomas H., JJohn W., and Gilbert P. Bass. The latter, who lives upon and owns the old homestead, is the only surviving member of the family. There were three daughters, one the wife of Charles Kennedy, one the wife of John Graham, and another the wife of John Spafford.
The lands on the south side of the road opposite the said Gager and Bass farms were mostly taken up at an early day by John Lincoln and Elisha Lincoln, who sold them after a few years, since which time they have changed owners several times. Philo Bass, Esq., son of Gilbert P. Bass, and postmaster, now owns the front part of the Elisha Lincoln lot.
Silas Stevens, from Vermont, about 1810, took up the land north of the old turnpike, and in 1812 com- menced keeping tavern, which business he continued the most of his life. The said lands on the north side of said road and one hundred acres on the south side thereof were purchased by Robins Douglas. Stevens had a large family, some of whom are dead and the others non-residents.
John Douglas was a native of Vermont and settled on the south side of the road in or about 1810. He had one son, Robins Douglas, and three daughters ; one was married to JJacob Stalker, one to John Rutledge, and the other, who is the only surviving member of the family, is the wife of Seth Yale. Robins Douglas
149
TOWNSHIPS-LEBANON.
succeeded to the property of his father. He was an excellent farmer, and a man much esteemed by his neighbors. He left seven children, all residing in Lebanon excepting Mrs. Sally Holgate, of Damascus.
Peter Latourette, a blacksmith from Orange county, N. Y., first began in the town, on the turnpike oppo- site Hugh Gammell's, and about 1837 removed to the farm now occupied by his grandson, George La- tourette, where a small improvement had been made by one Perkins. Devoting the rest of his working days to farming, he cleared up much valuable land. He had three sons, Jacob, John, and Samuel : Jacob Latourette, a wealthy farmer in Orange county, N. Y., now deceased ; John Latourette, who took up land half a mile north of his father's, and, with his sons, cleared up a large and valuable farm, and built the best house in the town. Failing health induced him to sell his farm and buy a smaller place, and he and his wife now live in the house formerly occupied by James Bolkcom, deceased, in East Lebanon. They have four sons now living in the county, namely, Jackson, Nelson, Lorain, and Elijah. Samuel Latour- ette lives westward and adjoining the said John La- tourette's place, and has demonstrated that farming can be made remunerative in Wayne county by due tact and industry. For nearly one mile along and upon both sides of the road from Tanners Falls to Cold Springs, the lands were cleared up and cultivated by the Latourettes, excepting the farm of James Get- tings that lies westward and partly adjoining the farm
150
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
of Peter Latourette. It was known as the Latourette Settlement.
Galen Wilmarth began in early life upon lands sit- uated on the east side of the road leading from Cold Springs to Equinunk, about three-quarters of a mile north of Cold Springs, where he cleared a farm and raised a family. His wife was a daughter of Peter Latourette. Finally he sold out to Michael Moran, who, for several years, carried on his trade there, as a cooper. The farm now belongs to Patrick Lestrange. Some of the family of Galen Wilmarth may be living, but he and his son, John, have gone to a better land. On the same road northward, in 1842, Thomas Moran began in the woods upon a tract of good land, and cleared up a valuable farm. He was a strong, power- ful man, but he died when but little past the meridian of life. His son, Thomas, is now in possession of the farm. Patrick Rodgers and Patrick Me Kenny live northward on the same road. D. Murphy owns a good farm on the northern part of the old Parkinson Lot.
Going southward from the old turnpike, on the Middle Lebanon road, we come to the farm once the property of Josiah Belknap, who began there proba- bly forty-five years ago; the property is now owned by some of his family.
Jehiel Justin has occupied his farm, or a part of it, for forty years or more. When we first knew the place, a part of it was occupied by William Handell. Justin and his wife were from Connecticut. Their
151
TOWNSHIPS-LEBANON.
ingenuity in making and manufacturing for them- selves the chief necessities of life sufficiently attests their New England origin. Mrs. Justin is so skilled in the art of making sage cheeses that they are es- teemed as rare luxuries. Abiel Brown also owns a part of the old Handell farm. The excellent farm of Jackson Latourette was taken up by George Mitchell and his brother. When they owned the place it pro- duced the best oats that we ever saw. The farm is still in good hands.
James Robinson took up, probably forty years ago, the farm upon which his son, Franklin, now lives. He was an Englishman of learning and culture. John R. Robinson was his son, and Matthias Ogden mar- ried one of his daughters, Martin Kimble one, and Nelson Latourette, the youngest. John R. Robinson lives upon the farm first taken up by William Pulis, who made some improvement upon it and then sold it and removed to the West. Robinson has made many improvements upon every part of the place, erected a good house, and built one of the largest and best barns in the county. His orchard is large and contains a great variety of choice fruit. Henry Brown was probably the first settler in Middle Lebanon, be- tween fifty and sixty years ago. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. His first wife was a daughter of Rich- ard Nelson. He had three children, namely, Ezra, Sarah Ann, and Elizabeth. Ezra Brown lived near by and died many years before his father. Alonzo Hubbard married Sarah Ann, and Frederick Hubbard
152
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
married Elizabeth, who is now a widow and the only one of the family surviving. Henry Brown was a member of the Methodist Church, and during for- ty years of acquaintance we never heard any one speak disparagingly of him.
Abraham Bennett, a native of Orange county. N. Y., between fifty and sixty years ago, purchased and cleared up a farm on the south side of the road upon which the farms of Milton Bolkcom, H. E. Gager, and Brice Blair are located. Industry, economy, and fair dealing were the prevailing traits of his character. Brice Blair, of Irish descent, has a large farm lying east and northeast of the Bennett farm, and Henry E. Gager owns the farm formerly the property of James Blair. Milton Bolkcom lives upon and owns the farm on which he began when he was a young man.
Lewis Sears lived many years upon the farm now owned by Stewart Lincoln. Lewis Sears, JJr., was his son, and there are several of his children living in the county.
Virgil Brooks, who owns a large farm upon which he began when a young man, was a son of Capt. Homer Brooks, of Dyberry, in which town Virgil was born. His wife was a daughter of Abram Mitchell. Many years ago Mr. Brooks had the misfortune to lose his dwelling-house and all its contents by fire. At that time there were few if any fire insurance policies is- sued in the county, consequently his property was not insured.
The Bolkeom family. In or about 1815, William.
153
TOWNSHIPS-LEBANON.
James, and Daniel Bolkcom, brothers, from Massachu- setts, took up lands contiguous to each other. The vicinity in which they located has ever been known as the Bolkcom Settlement. Having an opportunity to select the best lands, they did not fail to do so. Wil- liam Bolkcom, who died many years ago, confined all his efforts to the clearing up and cultivation of his lands. One of his daughters married Stephen M. Pulis, who now owns the old homestead. Daniel W. Bolkcom, son of William Bolkcom, owns the old farm first taken up by Conrad Pulis, upon the Dy- berry. D. W. M. Bolkcom, son of Daniel Bolkcom, owns the farm cleared up by his father and the farm once owned by James Bolkcom, excepting a lot and house purchased by John Latourette. James D. Bolkcom and Lafayette Bolkcom, sons of James Bolkcom, are still living in the county. Robins Dong- las married for his first wife Hannah Bolkcom, a sis- ter of these brothers. James Bolkcom, many years before his death, lost his dwelling-house and its con- tents by fire, with no insurance. The loss bore heav- ily upon him, at his advanced stage of life. The Bolk- com brothers were successful farmers and most excel- lent citizens.
Ephraim Pulis, son of Conrad Pulis, of Dyberry, when a young man, took up the farm upon which his widow and son, Spencer, now live. He was a commissioner of the county, for many years a justice of the peace, and was active in promoting the cause of education and all projects which promised to bene-
20
154
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
fit the community. He died of consumption, leaving a widow and three children. A. R. Bishop lives upon an old farm, formerly owned by Aner R. Treat. Bishop married a daughter of Oliver White, who lived on the south-west side of the First Factory pond. After the death of White, Bishop lived for a while upon the place and, upon his removal to Lebanon, sold the premises to John Blake.
Osborn Mitchell lives upon a part of the property once owned by George W. Hamlin. Mitchell mar- ried Emily, the youngest daughter of Richard Nel- son, and was the son of Abram Mitchell.
Fifty years ago Lester Spafford was assessed as having fifty-three acres of land, John Spafford as hav- ing a like quantity, Seymour Spafford as owning one hundred and six acres, and David Spafford fifty. But they have all departed, there being not one of the name left in the town. At that time there were but forty-five resident taxables, as we learn from an as- sessment, made by Stephen J. Partridge, one of them being John D. Graham, who was assessed as having one hundred acres of land, being the Patrick Coffee place, east of Yale's.
In 1825 Lewis Payne was assessed as having two hundred and ninety acres of land. Had he taken up fifty acres he might have paid for them. It used to be his boast that he would die rich or very near it. William Ridd and others now own the lands, excel- lent in quality, upon which Payne failed to get rich, as he had promised to do.
155
TOWNSHIPS-PALMYRA.
Jacob Stalker, who was assessed in the same year as owning one hundred and twenty acres of land, mar- ried a daughter of John Douglas. His sons, Asa and David, and two daughters are still living. Jesse Bel- knap paid taxes on fifty-three acres of land; Horace Belknap, on thirty-three acres; and David Belknap, on thirty-seven acres. All had houses, neat cattle, and other taxable property. These individuals have all passed away.
Linus Hamlin, from New England, forty years ago began and cleared up a farm, which, upon his death, descended to his son, George W., who improved the land and erected new buildings and built a costly saw-mill upon Big brook and a circular saw-mill fur- ther up the stream. G. W. Hamlin finally failed and the most of his lands fell into the hands of Messrs. Weiss, Knapp, and Jenkins, of Honesdale.
There are many other worthy residents in the town who have not been mentioned, as the design was to notice only the old and original settlers. Girdland will be noticed under Oregon township.
For many long years the early settlers had to battle with difficulties and to submit to grievous pri- vations, a recital of which will be found in another part of this work. After the completion of the Co- checton and Great Bend turnpike road, in 1811, the Lebanon people had facilities for obtaining salt, leather, and other indispensable articles, which were not en- joyed by the people in other parts of the county.
Most of the original settlers were from New Eng-
156
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
land, and were a people who considered it their duty to educate their children to the best of their ability. When we take into consideration that they had no high schools in Lebanon, it must be conceded that the families of Yale, Douglas, Gager, Bass, Lincoln, and others were as well educated as are the children of the present day in our common schools. Lebanon now has four schools and supports a part of a school in Girdland. There are no manufacturing estab- lishments. Agriculture, that preservative art of all arts, is the sole dependence of the people. There is yet much good land unimproved in the township, the most of which belongs to Coe F. Young, Esq., of Honesdale.
CHAPTER XIII.
TOWNSHIPS-PALMYRA.
U PON the separation of Pike from Wayne county, Palmyra was divided into two parts, the Wallen- paupack being the dividing line. From the part of Palmyra left in Wayne county, Paupack has since been erected, leaving the township one of the smallest in the county. It is now bounded north-west by Cherry Ridge and Texas, north by Berlin, south-east by Pike
157
TOWNSHIPS-PALMYRA.
county, and south-west by Paupack or the old Milford and Owego turnpike road.
Reuben Jones, Jasper Parish, Stephen Parish, and a son of Jacob Kimble, Sen., were taken prisoners by the Mohawk Indians, near Paupack Eddy, after the battle of Wyoming. The young man named Stephen Kimble not being well was made to carry such heavy burdens by the Indians that he gave out and was tom- ahawked; so said Reuben Jones upon his return, but Stephen Parish said that he died a natural death. Jas- per Parish married an Indian wife, remained with the Indians, and made his fortune. Stephen Parish, after peace was declared, returned to Paupack and practiced as an Indian doctor, but finally went back and died among the Indians. Reuben Jones, being a very large and powerful man, was considered as a re- markable trophy by the Indians, who looked upon him as one of the dread sons of Anak, and treated him with the greatest respect, but watched him with the keenest vigilance. He was with them six or eight months. When a boy, about sixty-seven years ago, I heard him relate how he escaped from the Indians. The boastful young braves would challenge him to run with them, and he was shrewd enough to let them barely beat him. Repeated trials were made with like results. Having secretly filled his tattered pockets with dried venison, Jones challenged one of the swiftest of the young Indians to make one decisive race. The chal- lenge was accepted, and said Jones: "After we had run a mile or so I never saw anything more of that
158
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Indian. I struck for the head-waters of the Delaware and thence to Paupack Eddy by the way of Big Eddy, and on my way ate nothing but that venison." Jones said he was captured through the duplicity of an Indian called Canope, who professed to be friendly to the whites. After peace was concluded, Canope was se- cretly murdered, and the killing was charged upon Benjamin Haines, who always denied it. It was be- lieved up in Paupack that Jones killed Canope, as he had great provocation so to do. After Jones came home, he, with his brothers Alpheus and Alexander, and a sister called Widow Cook, built a small house above the mouth of Middle creek, and Jones Eddy was named after them. About the same time Elisha Ames built and began on the David Bishop farm. They were the first settlers in and about Hawley, and were natives of Connecticut. Thomas Spangenberg found they had been there some time when he came into the county in 1794.
Coeval with the settlement of Jones was that of Benjamin Haines upon the present premises of George S. Atkinson. Haines was the noted Indian killer whose exploits have been the text for many a sensa- tional article in our country newspapers, which articles were never monotonous, no two of them ever reading alike. Haines had one son named Roger who lived in the upper part of the county. Jonathan Brink suc- ceeded to the place of Benjamin Haines, and, after living there many years, sold it to Joseph Atkinson, who divided it between his sons, George S. and Asher
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.