USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne County [Pa.] > Part 24
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CHAPTER XXXII.
PALMYRA TOWNSHIP, PIKE COUNTY.
P AUPACK Settlement, as it was always known in former times, was situated on the eastern and south-eastern side of the Wallenpaupack. A man by the name of Carter and his family were the first
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
whites that ever lived on the Paupack. He built a house on the Pellet Flats, in 1758. During the French and Indian war the family were all murdered and the house burned by the Indians. The names of the first emigrants were Uriah Chapman, Esq., Capt. Zebulon Parrish, Capt. Eliab Varnum, Nathaniel Gates, Zadock Killam, Ephraim Killam, Jacob Kimble, Enos Wood- ward, Isaac Parrish, John Killam, Hezekiah Bingham, John Ansley, Elijah Winters, John Pellet, Sr., John Pellet, Jr., Abel Kimble, and Walter Kimble, all of whom returned to the settlement after the Revolution. But there were others who never returned. Joshua Varnum was killed during the war. Silas Parks, Jr., was in Capt. Dethic Hewitt's company and was killed in the battle of Wyoming. There was a number of others, who, after the Wyoming massacre, never re- turned to Paupack.
These settlers laid off two townships; the one in which they were all included, was named Lackaway, and one further up the Paupack named Bozrah. When this people started from Connecticut they ex- pected to go on to Wyoming, but finding good land and fine timber on the Paupack, they stopped there, as they expected to hold the lands under Connecticut. They had friends in Wyoming with whom they were in perfect accord. They built a palisaded fort enclos- ing an acre of land on which was a good spring. Within the fort was built a block-house, on the top of which was a bullet-proof sentry-box. When trouble was anticipated with the Indians, the people with
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PALMYRA TOWNSHIP, PIKE COUNTY.
their families spent their nights in the fort. The men went in gangs to plant, hoe, and cultivate each other's fields, with their guns slung over their backs. Bands of vagabond scamps and outcasts of the Indian tribes, led on by Tories, often molested the settlers in 1777 and 1778, with whom they had frequent skirmishes. The main object of the marauders was to steal the cat- tle of the settlers. Brandt, a half-blood chief with great authority, had given orders that the Paupack people, having been kind to the Indians, should not be disturbed. But Brandt could not control the Tories.
A saw-mill was built about where Burnham Kimble afterwards lived, and was burnt down by the Indians in 1779. Capt. Eliab Varnum had command of the troops of the colony ; Jonathan Haskell was lieutenant, and Elijah Winters, ensign. In 1777 a body of eight- een men was discovered by a daughter of Nathaniel Gates, (afterwards Mrs. Stephen Bennett.) She in- formed Lieut. Haskell of the fact who captured the whole body. They proved to be Tories and were con- veyed to Hartford, Conn., where they were punished. Some Tories disturbed the settlers on the 3d of July, 1778, but were driven away, and in their retreat burn- ed a grist-mill at Wilsonville which was built by Joseph Washburn. Among these Tories was one Bryant McKean, who was afterwards arrested upon suspicion of conveying intelligence to the Indians, but he was not convicted. One of his neighbors who had been instrumental in his (McKean's) arrest, he never
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
forgave, and, as a means of satisfying his revengeful spirit, he agreed with the Indians to murder his neigh- bor. But the Indians mistook MeKean's description of the house and murdered McKean's own family and burnt the house. This story is well authenticated.
On the third of July, 1778, was the massacre at Wy- oming. The next day John Hammond or Jacob Stan- ton carried the news to Paupack. Upon learning this, the inhabitants, taking their women, children, and sick, and driving their cattle before them, after hiding some of their goods in the woods, fled to Orange county, N. Y. Near the mouth of the Wallenpaupack, Zebulon and Jasper Parrish, Stephen Kimble, (who died a prisoner among the Indians,) Stephen Parrish and Reuben Jones were taken prisoners by the In- dians. In August, 1778, and in the spring of 1779, parties of young men ventured to return, but they barely escaped with their lives. All the property which the settlers left behind them, with their houses, had been destroyed. In 1783, after the close of the Revolution, the most of the original settlers returned. They suffered much as the season was unfavorable and the crops were poor. As they had no mill with which to grind their corn, they were obliged to pound it in mortars, and in some cases went to Milford on snow- shoes and brought home flour on their backs. But they withstood all hardships and afterwards became prosperous and happy. The original inhabitants were principally Presbyterians. They were industrious. hospitable, and honest. They were remarkable for
PALMYRA TOWNSHIP, PIKE COUNTY. 385
their longevity. Hence Jacob Kimble died in 1826, aged ninety-one; Hezekiah Bingham in 1811, aged seventy-four; Moses Killam, Sen., in 1831, aged seven- ty-two; John Pellett, Jr., in 1838, aged ninety; and Ephraim Killam in 1836, aged eighty-seven.
The following were some of the settlers that return- ed after the close of the Revolutionary war, and others of their children and grandchildren :
Hezekiah Bingham, Sen., had three sons: Hezekiah Bingham, Jr., a man of worth and intelligence; Ro- dolphns Bingham, a noted innkeeper and lumberman ; and Soloman Bingham. Moses Bingham, Esq., was a justice of the peace. The descendants and children of the Bingham family, although numerous and highly respected, have all removed from the place.
Uriah Chapman settled at Blooming Grove and kept tavern. He had a numerous family, all of whom are gone.
Ephraim Killam married a daughter of John Ans- ley. His family were very intelligent. He had but one son, Ira, who married a daughter of Roswell Chapman. Ephraim Killam was a man of reading and observation, and was well acquainted with the Indian character. He scouted the idea of civilizing them. "Why," he used to say, "an Indian is just as much a wild man as a wolf is a wild dog; you cannot tame him." His brother, Moses Killam, Sen., was in the battle at the mouth of the Lackawaxen, and was slightly wounded. He had two sons, Moses Killam, Esq., a very noted man as a farmer, lumberman, and
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
citizen, and Benjamin Killam, a local Methodist min- ister, whose handwriting was a model of excellence. He married a daughter of Elijah Winters. She was the first child born in Panpack and died a few years ago, aged one hundred years. Marcus Killam, their son, lives upon the old homestead.
Jacob Kimble, Sen., was a miller, farmer, and lum- berman. His sons were Abel, Jacob, Walter, Daniel, and Benjamin. Judge Abisha Woodward married a daughter of Jacob Kimble, Sen. She was the mother of G. W. Woodward. They have all passed away.
John Pellet, Jr., was in most of the conflicts with the Indians on the Paupack. He married a noble woman, Nancy Bingham, a daughter of Hezekiah Bingham, Sen. They had eight sons and two danghters. Asa Kimble married Abigail, the oldest daughter.
John Ansley, Sen., who was born in England, was a blacksmith, as was his son, John, Jr. Joseph Ans- ley, innkeeper, was one of his sons, and Simeon Ans- ley, another. David Lester and Orrin Lester, who were Revolutionary soldiers, lived some years in Pau- pack.
Upon the return of the settlers Stephen Bennett, then a young man from Massachusetts, a soldier under "Old Put," located and married a daughter of Nathan- iel Gates. He first lived back of Walter Kimble's. His sons were Rufus, Stephen, and Lebbeus. Stephen Bennett died at a very advanced age. Some of the children of Rufus Bennett are yet living in Wayne county.
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MISCELLANEOUS.
In doing justice to the memory of those old settlers we could write scores of pages. They and their chil- dren have passed over the river, and we, standing on its brink, aged seventy-six years, cannot but look back with admiration of that noble people.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
MISCELLANEOUS.
TT is no easy task, even for one who in early life was intimately acquainted with the hardships and struggles of the early settlers, to portray them fully and justly. Their necessities were alike in all parts of the county, and all were obliged to put up log- houses with large stone chimneys, and roofed at first with bark, and having floors and doors made of boards split from logs. The spaces between the logs were filled up with moss and clay, to repel the winter's flaw. Log-barns were made for cattle and horses, when the settler had any, and almost every settler had one cow or more; in 1806, for instance, Canaan, including Salem, Sterling, and most of Cherry Ridge, then had ninety-one taxables, ninety-six cows, and thirty-five horses. Some of the settlers brought with them feather-beds, but the most slept well on straw.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
The lightest part of the forest was cut down and cleared up and sown with rye and wheat, or planted with potatoes and corn. After the grain was raised, by some it was carried to Wilsonville, to Damascus, or to Slocum Hollow, (now Seranton,) to be ground. The thoughtful Germans of Canaan, brought with them hand-mills and ground the grain themselves; others pounded or boiled it, and, in cases of, extremity, lived on milk and boiled potatoes, which is not an un- savory dish to a hungry laboring man. The land yielded abundantly, and, after a few years, enough grain was raised to support the people. The woods were full of wild game, and the streams alive with fish. But there were many things which they had not and could not do without. They needed axes, scythes, plows, chains, harrows, hoes, salt, (which was five dol- lars a bushel,) leather, and clothing for themselves and their children. How were these indispensables to be obtained, and where was the money to come from wherewith to purchase them? Some of these things they went without. The skins of their domestic ani- mals they exchanged for salt and leather, often dis- pensing with dressed leather by wearing moccasins made of deer-skin, and sometimes they sold grain to the lumbermen for cash. The lumbermen along the Delaware and Lackawaxen did not have it quite so hard as the settlers who were remote from the rivers. But most of the latter sowed flax and dressed it, and the women (blessed be their memory,) carded, spun, and wove it into a variety of most excellent cloths.
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MISCELLANEOUS.
Then necessity required almost every farmer to keep sheep, the wool from which was carded, spun, and woven by the women into all needful fabrics.
In a few years saw-mills were erected in all the new settlements, so that the log-cabins could be made more and more comfortable. Go to a log-cabin in those days, and outside would be found two, three, or four shoats that lived mostly upon the mast found in the woods, and that had come home to see how the folks were. "Old Brindle" would be standing, reaching through the rails which enclosed a stack of wild hay. There was a wooden-shod sled made mostly for win- ter use, but used, nevertheless, at all seasons, as carts and wagons were scarce. It was not in the likeness of anything in the earth beneath, or in the water un- der the earth. There was a harrow made of a branch- ing tree which made one letter of the alphabet in the shape of a V, with five iron teeth on a side and one in front. The plow was not at home, having been lent to a near neighbor only two miles distant. Two or three acres had been cleared and planted, and a quarter of an acre sown with flax. Near by the cabin was a covered enclosure in which four or five sheep were nightly folded. The dog, "Tiger," glad to see any kind of a duplicate of his master, would laugh all over to see you. Dogs were not then taught to con- sider men as thieves or tramps. Knocking, you were bid to come in, and, upon lifting the wooden latch, were cheerily and sincerely greeted and offered the best bench for a seat. The furniture in said cabin
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
was rough and simple, and there were no carpets, table-cloths, or napkins. There was but one room in the cabin with but one bed and a trundle-bed. A bed- room was then made by hanging up two blankets. A stranger who staid over night had to go up a ladder and sleep on a straw bed overhead. The most pleas- ing of all was that there in that cabin were three or four cherubs, called children, bounding and playing in circles around that unadorned room, and who were like those of whom Christ said, "Of such is the king- dom of heaven."
You would perhaps stay to dinner, where everything would be sweet and savory, and it would consist of good johnny-cake and delicious fried trout, one or two of which would make a meal, and your neighbor would tell you that he had caught sixty of the like that day. You would have no tea, but good, unadul- terated coffee, made of burnt peas or browned rye flour, and sweetened with maple sugar. In those days
a fox met a man and wondered if he was a new kind of Indian or something worse, and the owl hooted at him as an unnaturalized intruder. In such log-cab- ins lived, sixty, seventy, or eighty years ago, the first settlers of Wayne county, whether Yankees, Dutch, Irish, or English. In those log-huts might perhaps have been found some of the following books: The Bible, Watts' inimitable Psalins and Hymns, The Pil- grim's Progress, an Episcopal Prayer-book, a Catho- lie Catechism, or a New England Primer. There was an almanac found in every cabin. It told much of
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MISCELLANEOUS.
the past and foretold coming eclipses with certainty, and coming storms and calms with occasional uncer- tainty. It often quieted the fears of such as were disturbed by strange and unaccountable phenomena. Some sons of Belial one night, out of pure wicked- ness, pushed some squibs under the door of an old couple's cabin. The squibs of wild-fire went whizzing and circling around their room to their great dismay and affright. The old man, at the suggestion of his wife, got up and looking in the almanac, he found against that day the strange word " apogee," which he spelled out, a-po, a-po, gee, a-po-gee, sounding the g hard, and accenting the last syllable. "There," said he, "it's 'apogee' come, and if it had not been for the almanac I should never have found out what it meant, for it is not in the Bible. Probably it means a little devil just hatched out."* High up in the primitive chimneys, above the reach of fire, was a cross-pole from which descended trammels upon which were hung as needed, a pot, a dish-kettle, or tea-kettle; these, with a frying-pan and griddle, made up all the culinary vessels used in preparing or cooking food, excepting that an oven was built in the stone chim- ney or out of doors for the baking of bread. After- wards came the tin oven which was open towards the fire; the reflection of the heat from the shining tin assisted in baking the cakes, pies, or bread in the oven.
The word "apogee " has reference to the moon when it is at its greatest distance from the earth.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Stoves were not in use until after 1820, and were not in general use until 1840. The blacksmith in those early days was, as he always will be, the most useful artisan. He made hoes, upset axes, made plowshares, and all the nails then used, also all the chains and hooks, drew teeth with an iron hawk's bill, and in his leisure time made musical instruments for the boys, called jews-harps. One old blacksmith made fish- hooks and the fish bit at them just to find out what they were; but they were not very dangerous to the fish. The roads were then merely cleared of the logs and bushes. Most of the transportation was made on horseback or manback. The latter mode of re- moving a thing from one place to another was called "soul carting." Shoemakers went from house to house and made up the shoes that would be worn in a fam- ily for a year. Happy was the lad or the lass that could rely upon having one pair of shoes in a year. The most of the men, women, and children thought it no great hardship to go barefoot six months in the year. Most of the people were then poor, but pover- ty was not then considered a crime or a disgrace, but merely a discomfort. Because a man had naught, he was not called "naughty." As an example of the poverty of many people, it is a fact that the house of a certain man in Salem with all its contents burned up and he claimed that his loss was forty dollars ; but it is probable that there was as much happiness to be found in those lodges in the wilderness as can be found anywhere in this world.
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MISCELLANEOUS.
"Contented toil and hospitable care, And kind connubial tenderness were there ; And piety, with wishes fixed above, And steady loyalty and faithful love."
Few of the pioneers had the money to pay down for their lands, and it took them many years before they were able to make their payments.
After providing shelter, food, and raiment for them- selves and families, and making necessary roads and bridges, the next great anxiety of the settlers was to establish schools for the education of their children. The great mass of the original inhabitants of Wayne county were from New England, a people who were never forgetful of the cause of education, but whether they were Yankee or Dutch, English or Irish, native or foreign, in this anxiety they were unanimous. School-houses were built more comfortable than the common dwelling-houses, and the best teachers that could be found were employed. Some of them had made but little progress in ascending the hill of sci- ence, while other young men, educated in the acade- mies and high schools of the Eastern States, came hither in search of employment. The principal branch- es taught were orthography, reading, writing, arith- metic, English grammar, and geography. The first books were as follows: Dilworth's and Webster's spelling-books ; for reading books, Webster's Elements of Useful Knowledge, the Second and Third Part, The American Preceptor, and the Columbian Orator, by Caleb Bingham, the English Reader with its Intro- duction and Sequel; arithmetic- boll's and Pike's
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
-Murray's English Grammar-Davies', Cummings' Morse's or Woodbridge's Geography ; Johnson's or Walker's Dictionary; and Robert Gibson's Treatise on Surveying. Hale's History of the United States had been introduced into some schools. These books, if not equal to those used at the present day, possess- ed many excellencies and were abreast of the times. It is not pretended that those teachers in olden days were equal in qualifications to the teachers of the present day. The most of them never had access to academies and high schools, but they taught orthogra- phy, reading, and writing, well. The first schools were started by a few persons who generally hired a teacher, fixed his salary, requiring him to board round and collect his own school-bills, each patron of the school to pay pro rata. Tradition declares that there were good schools in the county seventy or eighty years ago, but it has preserved very little concerning them. A law of 1809 required the county to pay for the schooling of the children of indigent persons. The law of 1834, authorizing the levy of taxes for the support of common schools, was amended in 1836, and by another amendment, in 1854, provided for the election of county superintendents triennially, by the school directors. The office was held as follows: By John F. Stoddard, one year; S. A. Terrel, five years ; E. O. Ward, seven years; J. E. Hawker, three years; D. G. Allen, nine years; H. B. Larrabee was elected in May, 1878, for three years.
The schools which were in their day chartered, and
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MISCELLANEOUS.
the academies and high schools now sustained in dif- ferent parts of the county have been mentioned, ex- cepting the select school at Hollisterville, under the charge of Prof. M. H. Race.
There is a graded school at Honesdale, one at See- lyville, and another at Hawley. By the School Re- port of 1878 there are two hundred and thirteen schools in the county; the number of male teachers, eighty-two; females, one hundred and eighty-three; whole number of scholars, 8,939; total amount of tax levied for school and building purposes, $36,948.95.
The Baptists, it appears, organized the first Church in the county in Paupack. Elder William Purdy was its pastor. One was organized in Mount Pleasant in 1796, and Epaphras Thompson was its first minis- ter, and was succeeded by Elder Elijah Peck. The next Baptist Church was started in Damascus, then one in Salem, and afterwards one in Bethany and Clinton. There are ten churches or houses of public worship belonging to the Baptists in the county.
The pioneer Presbyterian Church in the county was that of Salem and Palmyra, which was organized in August, 1805, by Rev. David Harrowar. Rev. Worth- ington Wright, from Massachusetts, was installed its pastor in 1813. A Congregational Church was also organized in Mount Pleasant, in January, 1814, by Rev. E. Kingsbury and Rev. W. Wright. A Pres- byterian Church was organized by the Rev. Phineas Camp, in Bethany, in 1818; the house was begun in 1822, and finished in 1835. The Presbyterian Church
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
in Honesdale was organized in 1829; the cost of the present building was $44,000. The Church in Way- mart was organized in 1835, and the house built in 1846. Lebanon society or Church was organized in 1848, and the house erected the same year. The so- ciety or Church of Prompton was organized in 1842, and the house built in 1849. The society or Church of Hawley was organized in 1849, and the house was built in 1851. There may be other societies which have no buildings erected for public worship. The Presbyterians were the descendants of the old Puri- tans, were generally well educated, and were rigid in the enforcement of the strictest morality. They wish- ed and meant to be right.
The Episcopal Methodists were among the first in the missionary field. Their preachers went every- where that a soul could be found. They had all the zeal of Ignatius Loyola. They generally held their meetings in the log school-houses, or in private dwell- ings, and in summer in barns or in the woods. They insisted upon great simplicity of dress, and in that re- spect were as rigid as the Quakers. No woman could then obtain admittance to their love-feasts whose dress abounded with flounees and furbelows, and even a rib- bon gathered up into a bow upon her bonnet would not be overlooked. A few old people may be found who remember some of their original preachers, such as Isaac Grant, Joshua Bibbins, and George Peck, Sen. We heard the latter preach his first sermon in Salem in the West school-house. In or about the year 1825
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MISCELLANEOUS.
the first Methodist Episcopal church was commenced west of Salem Corners, and in 1832 one was built at Mount Pleasant. The progress of the Church in the county has been uniform, until at the present time there are twenty-six churches or houses of public wor- ship, which may not include some societies that are without a church edifice. There are two camp-meet- ing groves used annually by the church, one at Salem and one at Tallmanville.
There are in the county ten Roman Catholic churches which are all noticed under the several local- ities where they are situated, besides which there are several places which are visited that have no church edifices. The first of those churches was established in Honesdale in 1834, and the next in Mount Pleasant in 1835.
There are four Episcopal, four Union, two Free Methodist, two Lutheran churches, and one German Reform church.
It has been shown that the attempt of Judge James Wilson to commence the manufacture of flax and hemp at the mouth of the Paupack, even before the organization of the county, proved abortive. Saw- mills were early established along the Delaware and Lackawaxen for the manufacture of timber into boards, etc., thereby adding perhaps one-fourth to its market value. This kind of manufacturing has been carried on more or less for the past ninety years, and, since the establishment of tanneries in the county, has been a very large and extensive business.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
The first carding-machine was set up on Johnson's creek, below the Seth Kennedy mill, in Mount Pleas- ant, by Jacob Plum, in 1813. These machines, al- though they did not manufacture, prepared the wool for spinning, and saved the women much hard work. Capt. Keen started one below Keen's pond, in Canaan, in 1820. Samuel Hartford, assisted by H. G. Chase, put up one east of Hamlinton in 1825, and Alpheus Hollister one at Hollisterville in 1827. Hiram G. Chase aforesaid moved into Dyberry township in 1826. His father was from Taunton, Mass., but Hiram G. was from Delaware county, N. Y. He married a daughter of Ira Hurlburt, who was a brother of the remarkable twin sisters, of whom Pope Bushnell's wife was one. Mrs. Chase was a sister of Ezra Hurl- burt, of Honesdale, and of Frederick Hurlburt, of Canaan. Mr. Chase began with Wmn. B. Ogden, in 1826, and started works for the fulling of cloth at the outlet of Jennings pond, in Dyberry, and the next year bought the carding-machine of Hartford. Ogden sold out to Wm. N. Fisher. Mr. Chase continued in the business ten years and then sold out to Henry Jen- nings. Fisher continued in business most of his life. Mr. Chase and his wife are still living, and should have been noticed under Dyberry township.
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