USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne County [Pa.] > Part 22
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works of Mr. Brookfield into the river. In 1873, the Honesdale Glass Company started a factory for the making of hollow glass-ware, and their yearly manu- facture now amounts to about $100,000, and employs nearly one hundred men, women, and boys. An ax factory was started in the place by E. V. White, in 1842, and by him continued until his death in 1866, since which time his son, Gilbert White, has continued the business, and he now makes fifty dozen axes per week. B. F. Frailey, also, has been for some years engaged there in manufacturing hay-rakes. The steam grist-mill of John P. Kimble is between Tracyville and Honesdale. Benj. F. Kimble built the old mill near by.
SEELYVILLE. It is claimed that the first white man known to have set foot on the soil about Seelyville was the Rev. Jonathan Seely, a Methodist clergyman, who was led, in 1760, through the almost impenetra- ble forests to the place by a friendly Indian, and by him was shown the falls at Seelyville, also those on the Middle creek, Dyberry, and Jennings brook. The warrant, by which this tract was held, was dated 6th of August, 1769, was surveyed the 23d of October, 1790, and patented to Sylvanus Seely, November 7th, 1820. Col. Sylvanus Seely first commenced improving the mill-site in 1802 by building a small saw-mill at the falls, and in putting up a small house, to which he moved his family in 1805, cutting his road all the way through the woods from Cherry Ridge settlement. At that time the getting of hemlock would not pay,
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nor would it a long time afterwards, so that lumbering was confined to getting a few scattered pines, with curled maple and cherry, which was rafted in small rafts of seven or eight thousand feet each, and was rafted on the ground where Birdsalls' factory now stands. In the year 1808, Col. Sylvanus Seely built a small grist-mill immediately down stream from the saw-mill, and used one pair of mill-stones obtained on the top of Moosic mountain, which stones were used about twenty-five years. During the life-time of Col. S. Seely, who died in the year 1819, he lived by lum- bering and by his grist-mill, paying little attention to farming. In his latter days he became involved by endorsing for others, so that after his decease his whole real estate, including "Seely's mills," was sold.
In 1824, Richard S. Seely came to this county on a visit, and, in 1825, returned with his father, John W. Seely, from Trumbull Co., Ohio, who then pur- chased the property, consisting of three hundred and thirty-six acres, for $900. On the 16th of March, 1826, R. S. Seely arrived at Seelyville, on horseback, by the way of Cherry Ridge, with leather saddle-bags containing all his goods and money. A more forlorn, desolate, and uninviting place could not have been conceived. The only road was from Cherry Ridge to Bethany, and the only one to where Honesdale is was the bed of the creek. The woods hung all around the place. Having no knowledge of sawing or grinding, he took off his coat, put on a tow-frock, and went merrily to work, having for his aid and general ad-
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viser Jonathan D. Simpson. A new saw-mill was built and the house and grist-mill repaired. Col. See- ly, by running from one mill to the other, kept them in operation, thus performing the work of two men under disadvantages that would have crushed the con- stitution of almost any man of the present day. In 1827, the canal and railroad were located, infusing new life into business. In February, 1830, Baldwin & Co. began the making of axes and edge-tools; their shop was afterwards torn down, rebuilt, and enlarged. In the same year a small foundry was started by Cas- per Hollenback, and John H. Bowers commenced building a small turning-shop. This was subsegently occupied by Gilbert and Robert Knapp, then enlarged and used by John H. Gill as a machine-shop, and subsequently, by James Birdsall, as a woolen factory, until it was burned down, in 1849. In 1831, a facto- ry for manufacturing scoop-shovels was built and car- ried on business in the name of R. S. Seely & Co. It resulted in loss to the parties, three in number, of $1,000 each. This shop, after standing idle a year or two, was occupied by Burbank & Burk as an edge- tool shop, into which R. S. Seely was drawn and, up- on its failure, he was obliged to foot bills amounting to $2,000, which left him not worth a cent. Still re- taining a strong arm and a strong resolution, he per- severed and finally retrieved his fortune. In 1832, Col. Seely was made superintendent for building the turnpike from Honesdale to Waymart. Seelyville never witnessed a sight so grand as the first four-horse
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stage which was driven through the village. In 1834, D. C. & B. Payne commenced the manufacture of lead pipe, in the loft over the scoop-shovel shop, and closed in 1837. Ephraim V. White afterwards made axes and edge-tools in the place. In 1850, Col. Seely built the woolen factory, now conducted by the Bird- sall Brothers. Their father rented it until his de- cease, in 1857. He used three thousand pounds of wool per year. They, from time to time, have en- larged and improved the premises. Last year they used one hundred thousand pounds of wool, one-half
of which was raised in the county. They contem- plate using one hundred and fifty thousand pounds the present year, (1880) as the business is remunerative. Birdsall Brothers manufacture cassimeres, flannel of various descriptions, and stocking-yarn. They will em-
ploy fifty hands this year. Christian Erk manufac- tures umbrella and parasol sticks and makes some doors, &c. He employs about twenty-five hands. Seelyville has one licensed tavern, a store, and a grad- ed school of a superior order. The village is one mile and a half west of Honesdale.
In the spring of 1849, a large dwelling-house, built in the village by Col. Seely, and then occupied by Ezekiel G. Wood, was consumed by fire, of which lightning was supposed to be the cause. Col. Seely removed to Honesdale in 1848, and erected that fine mansion, now the residence of Hon. Coe F. Young, where he died, Nov. 8, 1863. Upon the organization of the Honesdale Bank, in 1836, he was elected the
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
President thereof, which post he occupied while he lived. He was, in all respects, a good and useful man. He left three sons, Col. Franklin A. Seely, of the United States Army; Henry M. Seely, Esq., attor- ney-at-law, in Honesdale; and George D. Seely, of Washington, D. C.
The lands now occupied by Daniel M. Eno, and the lands adjacent, of one hundred and twenty acres, were, in 1805, assessed to Isaac Seaman, the father of Chas. W. Seaman. Isaac Seaman sold out to Peter Smith, who sold the same to Deming & Eno.
All the lands which the late Daniel Schoonover owned were taken up and patented to his father, Wm. Schoonover. The tract included all the upper part of Honesdale. Wm. Schoonover was one of the earliest settlers on the Dyberry. He was where Daniel Schoonover lived as early as 1794. He was the father of Daniel, Levi, (who was the first white child born on the Dyberry) Jacob, and Simon Schoonover.
Peter Cole, and his son, Josiah Cole, came into Dyberry township (now Texas) in the spring of 1813, and settled in the woods, on Cole's hill, one mile north- west of Honesdale, which was then, like the place at which they began, a dense wilderness. Josiah was then sixteen years of age. They built a log-cabin without windows, and hung up a bed-quilt for a door. Then Mr. Cole and his son went back to New Jersey, to assist in harvesting, and left Mrs. Cole alone in that cabin, around which the wolves prowled and howled. She had no company or defense except a faithful dog.
TOWNSHIPS-TEXAS. , 353
Peter Cole bought his land of Charles Kimble, who married a daughter of his. Benjamin Kimble, Sen., married Betsey, a sister of Peter Cole. She was the mother of widow Fanny Atkinson, of Paupack Eddy. Josiah Cole succeeded to the estate of his father. He had two sons; one of them, Lewis R. Cole, was wound- ed at Fort Fisher, and died in a hospital, in 1865. His other son, P. J. Cole, rents and conducts the Honesdale Mill. He had two daughters; one was the wife of Reynolds Case, and is not living; and the other, named Eleanor, now living, is the wife of Charles H. Peck, of Preston.
Robert Beardslee began adjoining Peter Cole, about 1812. He married a sister of Charles Kimble. Buck- ley was his brother. Lewis and David were Robert Beardslee's sons. The Beardslee family were from Litchfield Co., Conn.
Texas township is divided into three election dis- tricts, and has fourteen common schools, besides the graded school, at Seelyville. The number of taxables, in 1878, was 1,083.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXXI.
BOROUGH OF HONESDALE.
NIFTY-FIVE years ago the borough of Honesdale, now so beautiful and prosperous, was covered with hemlocks and laurels. The wolf and the fox roamed there unmolested and unhunted. "The thistle shook there its lonely head and the wild moss whistled to the wind." A small opening at the lower end of the boat-yard was made at an early day by one Andrew Showers, and the improvement was transferred from one to another until it was purchased by Samuel Kim- ble, now deceased. The density of the forest, and other considerations, prevented the lands from being tilled for agricultural purposes. The town owes its consequence to other eanses. In 1769, Obadiah Gore, a blacksmith of Wilkesbarre, discovered that stone- coal, as it was then called, was a good substitute for charcoal in the working of iron, and, in 1808, the greater discovery was made that it produced an excel- lent fire when burned in a grate. After long and varied experiments its value was generally conceded.
Inexhanstible mines of this coal had been discover- ed in the valleys of the Lackawanna and Wyoming; but it was valueless unless it could be conveyed to market where it would be purchased and used. Many
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attempts were made to take coal to Philadelphia by drawing it across the mountain to the Lackawaxen and running it on rafts of lumber to the city, but the scheme was found to be impracticable and profitless.
Maurice and William Wurtz, Quakers of Philadel- phia, men with far-seeing and prophetic vision, devised the plan of constructing a canal from the Lackawaxen, the site of Honesdale, to the Hudson river at Kings- ton, a distance of one hundred and eight miles; and of making a railroad with inclined planes from the Lackawanna to the Lackawaxen, a distance of sixteen miles, which railroad would ascend the Moosic moun- tain at an elevation of two thousand feet above tide- water. With a determination and perseverance equaled only by that of Field in the laying down of the Atlan- tic cables, Maurice and William Wurtz carried out their plans, being aided by many enterprising capital- ists.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company was or- ganized and the proposed canal and railroad made and put in operation in the year 1829. By way of experi- ment one or two boats were run up the canal in the autumn of 1828. Many difficulties, almost insur- mountable, were encountered in building the canal. At a point between Paupack Eddy and the Narrows was a sharp bend in the Lackawaxen called "the pul- pit," where it was found indispensable to use the river for the canal, consequently a new channel was dug around "the pulpit" for the river to run in. A great flood in the spring of 1829 broke away the embank-
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
ments between "the pulpit" and the new channel, and part of the river resumed its old course. The repairs were very costly and were not completed until mid- summer, and heavy damages were paid to lumbermen. This misfortune happening in the very commencement of the enterprise was very disheartening, and this was the most critical period in the existence of the Com- pany. James Archibald, then its general superinten- dent, counseled perseverance, and his salutary advice was heeded. When the canal was repaired there was but little coal to be found at Honesdale; none had been brought over by the railroad. Men had been employed the previous winter to haul coal from Car- bondale to Honesdale, but there was but little snow that season, and consequently but little coal was drawn, so that the Company delivered only seven hundred tons at Rondout in 1829. Since that time its advance has been steadily progressive with constant rapidity of advancing step until, wonderful to tell, in 1879, by said Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, there were mined and sold of coal shipped from Honesdale via canal and railroad one million, nine hundred and thirty- three thousand, eight hundred and seventy-four tons. The upper part of Honesdale was owned by Jason Torrey, and the lower part was bought by the Dela- ware and Hudson Canal Company of Samuel Kimble for a slight consideration. One of its chief patrons was Philip Hone, a wealthy merchant of the city of New York, and, out of respect to him, the place at the head of canal navigation was named Honesdale. It
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BOROUGH OF HONESDALE.
was first laid out in 1826, and was incorporated as a borough January 26th, 1831.
In the winter of 1841, through the active exertions of Ebenezer Kingsbury, Jr., of Honesdale, then State Senator, an act for the removal of the county seat from Bethany to Honesdale, was passed. A court- house was commenced in 1841, the public papers were removed from Bethany, and the first court held in Honesdale at August sessions, 1843. The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company were invested with bank- ing powers, and established a bank in the city of New York, called "The Bank of the Delaware and Hud- son Canal Company," which issued bills for a number of years. The money was always at par and furnished a most convenient and reliable currency.
The Honesdale Bank was incorporated in 1836. Richard L. Seely was its president during his life, and John Neal was its first cashier. In 1864 it came un- der the banking law of the United States as a national bank. Then Zenas W. Russell was president, Stephen D. Ward cashier, Horace C. Hand teller, and Warren K. Dimock clerk. Coe F. Young is now president of the National Bank, and Edwin F. Torrey cashier. The Wayne County Savings Bank was chartered in 1870 under the laws of Pennsylvania. W. W. Weston is now president, and H. C. Hand cashier. The nearest depot to Honesdale before 1865 was at Narrowsburg upon the New York and Lake Erie Railroad, sixteen miles distant. In that year a branch of said road was built from Lackawaxen to Hawley and in 1868 the
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Branch was extended to Honesdale, thereby affording direct railroad communication with the city of New York, distant one hundred and thirty-five miles.
John Torrey, Stephen Torrey, John F. Roe, Alan- son Blood, Charles P. Clark, and Elkanah Patmor were among the first beginners in Honesdale, and are yet, as such, the only surviving residents. Jason Tor- rey, owning the lands upon which the upper part of the town is situated, erected, upon the north side of the Lackawaxen, a short distance above its junction with the Dyberry, the first dwelling-house, and, as it was afterwards used as a place of public worship, it was called the "Tabernacle." Isaac P. Foster and Jason Torrey built the first store, and that was on the west bank of the Dyberry, near the Goodman bridge. Jason Torrey, having made the first improvements, it is to be presumed that his sons, John and Stephen, were among the primitive settlers. John F. Roe came from Long Island, N. Y., in 1827. He has been engaged, during his sojourn in the place, until a year or two ago, in the mercantile business. Mr. Roe's recollections of past events are very vivid and correct. According to him, Isaac P. Foster and him- self kept the second store in a house built by Mr. Fos- ter, on a corner opposite the Wayne County House, removing the goods from the first store thereto, which first store is yet standing, it having been moved up to and adjoining the house of Dr. E. T. Losey. That store-house now belongs to B. B. Smith, Esq. The second store-house was, not long afterwards, rented by
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BOROUGH OF HONESDALE.
Foster to Humphrey & Coe, as a tavern, but they did not run it long. Foster & Roe, in 1831, built a store down town, where W. W. Weston is now located. The place has been burned over once or twice, and the street and the land since that time have been so much raised and filled up, that what was the top of the ground, in 1831, is now the bottom of the cellars.
The "Stourbridge Lion," the first locomotive ever run in America, was placed upon the D. & H. Canal Company's Railroad, near where the old M. E. church now stands, on the 9th of August, 1829. The engine was built in England. It was run two or three miles, when it was found to be too heavy for the sleu- der trestle-work upon which the rails of the road were laid. Its use was abandoned and stationary engines and inclined planes were substituted in its stead.
Charles P. Clark, now a carpenter, was an early comer, and was one of the first school-teachers in Honesdale.
Elkanah Patmor, Esq., came from Orange county, N. Y., in 1830. He has been, and is yet, a manufac- turer of and a dealer in all kinds of carriages and wagons. He has held the office of coroner of the county time out of mind. He also held the office of justice of the peace for many years.
David Tarbox was the first justice of the peace. Then succeeded Stephen D. Brush, Ebenezer Kings- bury, Jr., Thomas J. Hubbell, John Scott, A. B. Bid- well, Simon G. Throop, and others. The present jus- tices of the peace are John Mc Intosh, and James B.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Eldred. Mr. Mc Intosh was once an efficient sheriff of the county, and for six years held the office of clerk of the several courts thereof; and Mr. Eldred was once a popular sheriff, which is proof positive that the Honesdale people have a due appreciation of the abilities of those that they choose for magistrates.
Charles Forbes built and kept the first public house, which was erected in 1827. Divers persons kept it af- terwards, among whom was Henry Dart. The house, now the Wayne County Hotel, is owned, and is neat- ly and quietly kept by Henry Ball.
The next public house in Honesdale was built near the present store of Charles Petersen. It was kept by divers persons until it fell into the hands of Elia- kim Field, the prince of hotel keepers, who obtained license at January sessions, 1839. By his delicate, gossamer net of flattery, he entangled his customers. It was his to make the lean appear the fatter morsel: to make pork and beans superior to the delicious vi- ands which Dyonisins sat before the infatuated Dam- ocles, and to make his guests believe that his vile corn- whiskey exceeded the nectar which Jupiter sipped on Mount Olympus. When a passenger alighted from the stage, he was gaily greeted by the complaisant host, who, rubbing his hands as if he were washing them with invisible soap in imperceptible water, would exclaim, "I was afraid I should never see you again : walk right in. My wife was speaking about you last night; John, go and tell Mrs. Field that Mr. Brown has come. Oh ! how rejoiced she will be to see you."
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Public houses are now kept by Mrs. Betsey Allen, widow of Samuel Allen, deceased, R. W. Kiple, Mi- chael Coyne, A. F. Voigt, and Henry Ball, already named.
The first merchants or retailers of foreign merchan- dise, in Honesdale, according to the court records, Nov. 1, 1828, were Foster & Roe, Zenas H. Russell, Northrup & Hayes. In April, 1830, there were Nor- thrup, Hayes & Co .; Russell & Wilcox; Isaac P. Fos- ter; and Edward Mills. In 1831, there were Foster & Roe; Thomas T. Hayes & Co .; Edward Mills ; Russell Bronson ; Hastings Frisbie ; Russell & Wilcox ; P. S. Tyler; Charles Kent ; and Humphrey & Co. In 1833, Edward Mills; Thomas T. Hayes & Co .; Hastings Frisbie; Russell, Wilcox & Co .; Hand & Kirtland; Roe & Co .; Phineas S. Tyler. In 1834, Hayes & Williams; Edward Mills; Hand & Kirtland; John F. Roe; Hastings Frisbie; Russell, Wilcox & Co .; N. M. Bartlett; Delezenne & Beach; Isaac P. Foster; St. John & Perkins; Murray & Madigan ; E. T. Losey; Snyder & Stryker. Soon after this James Bassett and Cornelius Hornbeck bought out the firm of Hayes & Williams. John D. Delezenne, the father of Joseph Delezenne, of Honesdale, afterwards traded independently of Beach. The most of the aforesaid merchants must be well remembered throughout the county for their fair and honorable dealing. John F. Roe, and Isaiah Snyder, of Honesdale, and A. J. Stryker, of Damascus, are the only survivors of the merchants above named. How true it is that " life is
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
but a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
The Honesdale Mill was completed in 1840, and was built by John Torrey, Richard L. Seely, and Jer- emiah C. Gunn. Mr. Gunn came from or near the city of Geneva, N. Y. He was an experienced miller when he came into the county, and the business of the mill was conducted under his direction for many years. Afterwards the mill was run for some years by Chas. T. Weston and Jas. R. Dickson. It now belongs wholly to Hon. John Torrey, and is rented by Peter J. Cole, an experienced miller.
The first physician was Samuel G. Dimmick, of Sullivan Co., N. Y., a brother of the first wife of Hon. Nathaniel B. Eldred, deceased, and a cousin of Hon. Wm. H. Dimmick, Sen. Almost coeval with him, in 1830, was Ebenezer T. Losey. Dr. Dimmick removed; Dr. Losey remained during his life-time. Dr. Adonijah Strong first located in Bethany, and, about 1838, removed to Honesdale. He was a clas- sical scholar and a most learned physician. In his latter days he compounded a medicine for the cure of diphtheria, and another as a curative for many diseas- es, which medicines are highly extolled by those who have tested their virtues. Dr. Edwin Graves came from Delaware Co., N. Y., to Bethany, then removed to Honesdale, where he died in 1849. Dr. W. F. Denton, from Orange Co., N. Y., of the botanical school, a very successful physician, practiced in the days of Dr. Graves, and survived him many years.
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BOROUGH OF HONESDALE.
Next came Dr. W. W. Sanger, from New York city, whose stay was transient. Dr. C. King, from Otsego Co., N. Y., succeeded him and remained all his life. About this time Dr. Dwight Reed, a son of Charles G. Reed, of Dyberry, and Dr. Wm. Reed, a son of the same, began their practice. Dr. Joseph Jones, homeopathist, who married a daughter of John A. Gustin, when he first came to Honesdale gave his at- tention to his profession. The present physicians and surgeons are Dr. C. M. Dusinberre, Dr. Dwight Reed, Dr. Wm. Reed, Dr. Reed Burns, Dr. H. G. Keefer, Dr. W. H. Cummings, Dr. R. W. Brady, who has been as much a druggist as a physician, and has com- pounded a medicine called "Dr. Brady's Mandrake Bitters," which is highly extolled for its medicinal vir- tues, and Dr. Fr. A. Friedman, (graduate of Vienna). We have not forgotten, nor would we fail to men- tion, Dr. Ralph L. Briggs, from Massachusetts, who practiced medicine some years in Honesdale. He was skillful in his profession, widely known, and highly esteemed throughout the county. He married Mary, the only daughter of Thomas Fuller. She is yet liv- ing in the borough. Upon the incoming of the ad- ministration of Abraham Lincoln, he was appointed postmaster. He died Dec. 4, 1863, aged thirty-seven years.
Of the earlier postmasters were Thos. H. R. Tracy, John Scott, John A. Gustin, and John Y. Sherwood. Robert A. Smith succeeded Dr. Briggs, has since held the office, and will probably continue to hold it
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until we have a change of administration in the gen- eral government.
Russell F. Lord was one of the original engineers and managers of the Canal Company. His brother, Solomon Z. Lord, at Hawley, now in the Company's employ, was coeval with him. Thomas H. R. Tracy came to Honesdale in 1829. He was born in Frank- lin, Connecticut, in 1806, and was appointed superin- tendent of the Pennsylvania section of the D. & H. Canal Company, which position he held until his death. He was elected an associate judge of the county in 1851, and died in the office. Miles L. Tracy, his son, is pay-master in the service of the Company. Hon. H. M. Seely married a daughter of Judge Tracy.
John Kelly was one of the earliest comers to Hones- dale, where he arrived from Ireland, in 1828. He was in the service of the Canal Company for thir- ty-two years, and died March 28, 1880, aged eighty- two years.
There are six different Christian denominations in Honesdale, whose places of public worship are distin- guished as follows : First Presbyterian church, Chas. S. Dunning, D. D., pastor; First Methodist Episcopal. church, Rev. Thos. Harroun, pastor, and Rev. H. Fox, assistant pastor; Grace Episcopal church, Rev. T. E. Caskey, rector; German Lutheran church, Rev. F. A. Hertzberger, pastor; St. John's Catholic church, Rev. J. J. Doherty, pastor; St. Magdalena Catholic church, Rev. G. Dassel, pastor. The Baptist church has no pastor at present. A new, massive structure of
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