USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne County [Pa.] > Part 8
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Samuel Meredith owned the Amsterdam and Rotter- dam Manor, in Lebanon, and many tracts in Mount Pleasant and Preston, which, upon his death, descend- ed to his heirs or devisees, and Thomas Meredith, his son, took charge of the lands. Calvely Freeman, Esq., was his surveyor. In 1830, Mr. Meredith mov- ed to Luzerne county, and Mr. Meylert, a French- man, took charge of the Meredith lands, and was suc- ceeded by Michael Meylert.
The Elk Forest Tract, in Old Canaan, became the property of Joseph Fellows, of Geneva, N. Y., who made Hon. N. B. Eldred his agent, who was suc- ceeded by Hon. Wm. H. Dimmick, Sen. Moses Kil- lam, Esq., divided the tract into one hundred or two hundred acre lots. In different parts of the county land lines were run without any general uniformity as to direction. In the greater part of Scott, North Lebanon, and Elk Forest, the lines were run upon a meridian assumed to be north and south; in Mount Pleasant, north five or ten degrees west, with corres- ponding right angles; in parts of Buckingham and
108
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Preston, north twenty-five degrees west. Sometimes warrants were issued which were never delivered to the deputy county-surveyor. In other cases war- rants were laid, but the warrantees, failing to pay the costs of surveying, no returns of the surveys were made to the land-office. Sometimes the surveyors made re- turns of surveys without going upon the land, by naming some well-known starting point and giving courses and distances. These were called "chamber surveys," which often interfered with former or subse- quent actual surveys. Where the title to lands was in the Commonwealth, the sale of the lands for taxes of any kind gave the purchaser no title. The titles to the lands sold by the aforesaid land-holders or their agents, have never been successfully disturbed.
CHAPTER X.
JUDICIARY.
PON the erection of Wayne county, Thomas Mif- flin, governor of Pennsylvania, under the provisions of the Constitution of 1790, appointed four judges, viz : Samuel Preston, first associate judge; John Ryerson, second associate; Samuel C. Seely, third associate ; and John Biddis, fourth associate judge. These held the
109
JUDICIARY.
first court at Milford, in the house of George Buchan- an, September 10th, 1798. At September sessions, 1803, Richard Brodhead took the place of Samuel Preston, resigned. At May sessions, 1804, the judges presiding were Richard Brodhead, John Biddis, and John Brink. The latter had been appointed to supply the place of Samuel C. Seely, resigned. At May ses- sions, 1806, John Spayd, the first president judge, of- ficiated, assisted by Richard Brodhead and John Brink, his associates. At April sessions, 1810, Robert Porter, president judge, took his seat upon the bench and pre- sided until and including August sessions, 1813. John B. Gibson, as president judge, first presided at Novem- ber sessions, 1813, and continued until and including April sessions, 1816, and resigned. Thomas Burnside took his seat as president judge at August sessions, 1816, and continued until April sessions, 1818, and resigned. The said John B. Gibson and Thomas Burn- side were subsequently judges of the Supreme Court of the State.
David Scott, as president judge, first presided at August sessions, 1818, and continued to officiate until February sessions, 1838, when, in consequence of ap- proaching deafness, he resigned. His decisions were held in high respect by the people and the Bar, as be- ing the calm and honest convictions of a jurist who always intended to dispense impartial justice to all.
William Jessup took his seat as president judge at April sessions, 1838, and continued as such until Feb- ruary sessions, 1849, when his commission expired un-
110
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
der the Constitution adopted in 1838. He was a man of ability and discharged his duties to the satisfaction of the public.
Nathaniel B. Eldred, as president judge, commenc- ed his first judicial labors in Wayne county, at May sessions, 1849, and officiated until and including May sessions, 1853, when he resigned, having received the appointment of naval collector of Philadelphia under President Pierce. Geo. R. Barrett was appointed in his place, and officiated as president judge, at Septem- ber sessions, 1853. James M. Porter was elected presi- dent judge in 1853, took his seat at December ses- sions, and served until and including February ses- sions, 1855, when, having been struck with paral- ysis, he resigned. His legal knowledge challenged the admiration of all jurists. His decisions and rulings were submitted to without cavil, dispute, or exceptions. Thomas S. Bell was appointed to supply the place of Judge Porter, and presided at May and September sessions, 1855.
In 1855, George R. Barrett was elected president judge, and after a term of ten years' service was re- elected in 1865, and officiated until September ses- sions, 1871, having resigned in time to have a successor elected in that year.
Samuel S. Dreher was elected president judge in 1871, first presiding at December sessions, 1871, and continuing until and including December sessions, 1874, when the district having been divided by an act of Legislature, he remained as president judge in
111
JUDICIARY.
that district in which he resided. His commission ex- pired under the provisions of the Constitution of 1874, so far as this county was concerned.
C. P. Waller was elected in 1874, and was inducted into office as president judge of Wayne and Pike counties, January 1st, 1875, to serve for ten years.
Under the Constitution of 1790, the judges of all the courts were appointed by the governor, which of- fices they could hold during good behavior, and from which they could be removed only by impeachment or by the governor, on the address of two-thirds of each branch of the Legislature. Justices of the peace were in like manner appointed to hold their offices during good behavior.
The amended Constitution of 1838 continued the ap- pointing power of the governor, subject to the consent of the Senate, and as to the Judiciary, providing that judges of the Supreme Court should hold their offices for the term of fifteen years. The president judges of the several courts were to hold their offices for the term of ten years, and the associate judges to hold theirs for five years, upon condition that all of said judges should, during their respective terms, behave them- selves well, though subject to removal by impeachment or by the governor as aforesaid. In 1850, the Consti- tution was amended, and provided for the election of the judges by the people.
Nathaniel B. Eldred was the first president judge elected by the people, 1851, and James Mumford and
112
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Thomas H. R. Tracy were the first associate judges then elected.
ASSOCIATE JUDGES.
John Brodhead served from May, 1810, to Ang., 1814. John Brink
May, 1810, to Aug., 1814.
Samuel Stanton Dec., 1814, to Ang., 1815.
Abisha Woodward Dec., 1814, to Jan., 1829.
Moses Thomas 66 Nov., 1815, to Jan., 1840.
Isaac Dimmick 66 Jan., 1830, to Ang., 1833.
James Manning
Nov., 1833, to Aug., 1841.
Moses Tyler 66 Sept., 1840, to Sept., 1845.
Virgil Grenell
Nov., 1841, to Sept., 1846.
Oliver Hamlin
Nov., 1846, to May, 1850.
James Mumford
Dec., 1846, to Sept., 1856.
Paul S. Preston
May, 1850, to Feb., 1851. May, 1851, to Sept., 1851.
John Torrey
Thos. H. R. Tracy 66 Dec., 1851, to Sept., 1856.
Phineas Howe
Dec., 1856, to Sept., 1861.
James R. Dickson
Dec., 1856, to Dec., 1860.
Rodney Harmes
Feb., 1861, to Sept., 1861.
Butler Hamlin 66 Dec., 1861, to Sept., 1866.
Wm. R. McLaury
Dec., 1861, to Sept., 1866.
Isaiah Snyder
Dec., 1866, to Sept., 1871.
Phineas Arnold
Dec., 1866, to Sept., 1871.
F. W. Farnham
Feb., 1872, to Sept., 1872. Dec., 1872, to Sept., 1877.
John O'Neill
Henry Wilson
Dec., 1872, to Dec., 1875. Feb., 1876, to Sept., 1876.
Giles Green Feb., 1876, now serving.
Otis Avery re-elected
Dec., 1877, "
Otis Avery
113
COUNTY OFFICERS.
SHERIFFS.
The Constitution of Pennsylvania, adopted in 1790, provided that sheriffs and coroners, at the time of the election of Representatives, should be chosen by the citizens of each county, and that two persons should be chosen for each office, one of whom for each re- spectively should be appointed by the governor, they to hold their offices for three years and until a suc- cessor should be duly qualified, if they should so long behave themselves; but no person was to be twice chosen or appointed sheriff in any term of six years. The election of two persons for the office of sheriff was made void by the Constitution of 1838.
Thomas Mifflin, governor, in 1798, appointed Rich- ard Brodhead sheriff, who served to 1801, after which time, the following-named persons were chosen:
Daniel W. Dingman,
in 1801,
served 3 years.
Abraham Mulford,
1804,
66
3
Abisha Woodward,
1807,
3
66
Matthew Ridgway,
1810,
3
66
Silas Kellogg,
1813,
Salmon Jones,
1816,
Solomon Moore,
1819,
Oliver B. Brush,
1822,
3
66
Joseph Miller,
1825,
3
66
Paul S. Preston,
66 1828,
3
Lucius Collins,
1831,
3
66
Joseph Miller,
1834,
3
Lucius Collins,
1837,
3
15
3
3
3
114
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Richard Lancaster, in 1840,
served
3 years.
John McIntosh,
1843,
B
William F. Wood.
1846,
.6
3
Oliver Stevenson
1849,
Thomas E. Grier,
1852.
James B. Eldred.
1855,
66
3
Wm. Turner,
1858,
Robert S. Dorin,
1861,
3
..
Jeremiah F. Barnes
66
1864,
66
3
66
Robert S. Dorin,
1867,
John R. Ross,
1870.
66
3
66
E. Mallory Spencer,
1873,
3
Perry A. Clark,
1876,
Joseph Atkinson,
1879,
now serving.
..
3
3
..
3
66
3
PROTHONOTARIES AND CLERKS OF THE SEVERAL COURTS.
These officers, under the Constitution of 1790, were appointed by the governors to hold their offices for three years, but there was no constitutional restraint. preventing their reappointment. Generally one and the same person held all the offices, but that was op- tional with the governor. Under the Constitution of 1838, the said officers were elected by the people. Whenever vacancies should occur they were to be filled by the governor, until another general election. John Brodhead was appointed prothonotary, clerk of the courts, and register and recorder, who, with John Coolbaugh, held the said offices until 1808, ten years. Eliphalet Kellogg, held said offices from 1808 to 1817. Thomas Meredith, 1817 to 1820.
115
COUNTY OFFICERS.
Sheldon Norton, held said offices from 1820 to 1823.
John K. Woodward, 66
‹‹ 1823 to 1827.
Solomon Moore,
1827 to 1831.
George B. Wescott, 66
66 1831 to 1835.
Paul S. Preston,
66
66 1835 to 1838.
Leonard Graves,
66 1838 to 1841.
Abram Swart, 66
1841 to 1845.
P. G. Goodrich,
1845 to 1848.
Rufus M. Grenell,
1848 to 1851.
John McIntosh, 66
1851 to 1857.
William F. Wood,
1857 to 1860.
John K. Jenkins,
1860 to 1863.
J. W. Brown,
66 1863 to 1866.
William H. Ham,
1866 to 1869.
J. J. Curtis,
66 1869 to 1875.
Charles Menner,
1875 to 1878.
Charles Menner, re-elected in 1878 for three years.
REGISTERS AND RECORDERS.
Under the Constitution of 1790, the governors of the State saw fit to appoint and commission one per- son clerk of the several courts and register and recor- der, but some of them deviated from the practice. Hence Governor Shulze, in February, 1824, commis- sioned James Manning register of wills, and, in 1827, recommissioned him register and added thereto the office of recorder of deeds, etc., and, in 1830, Governor Wolf commissioned him as recorder. In January, 1833, the last named governor commissioned Isaac P. Olmstead recorder, who held said office until
116
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
the fall of 1835, when Governor Ritner con- ferred all of said offices upon Paul S. Preston, who held the same until 1838, when a new Con- stitution was adopted and David R. Porter elected governor. The amended Constitution provided for the triennial election, by the people, of prothonotaries, ete., and registers and recorders. By an act of Assem- bly, passed under the requirements of said Constitution, in October, 1839, one person was to be elected clerk of the several courts, and one person register and re- corder, for and in Wayne county. John Belknap was appointed register and recorder by Governor Porter, for one year, after which the following named persons were elected to hold said offices of register and recor- der for three years each :
John Belknap in 1839. Thos. R. Mumford in 1842.
H. B. Beardslee in 1845.
James R. Keen in 1848. Curtis S. Stoddard in 1851.
in 1854.
Wm. G. Arnold in 1857.
Wm. G. Arnold in 1860. Michael Regan in 1863.
Thos. Hawkey in 1866.
A. R. Howe in 1869.
Charles Menner in 1872.
Peter S. Barnes in 1875. Francis West in 1878.
117
TOWNSHIPS-DAMASCUS.
CHAPTER XI.
TOWNSHIPS-DAMASCUS.
THIS was one of the original townships established in 1798. It then included all of Lebanon, Oregon, and a part of both Dyberry and Berlin. It still re- mains the largest township in the county. Its history is interesting, for there the first settlement was made. It is bounded north by Manchester, east by the Dela- ware river, west by Berlin, Oregon, and Lebanon, and south by Berlin. It is as large as Dyberry, Lebanon, and Oregon townships combined. The main streams are Calkin's creek, which discharges into the Delaware, at Milanville; Cash's creek, which empties into said river, at Damascus village; and Hollister's creek in the north-eastern part of the township. The natural ponds are the Duck Harbor, (partly in Lebanon,) Laurel Lake, Cline, Swago, and Goram ponds, with some others of less size. The most of the land has a south-eastern declivity, is not broken by high hills, to any great ex- tent, and is of a good quality, excepting a part in the north-eastern portion called Conklin hill, and a strip commencing below Milanville and extending down- ward back of the Delaware to Big Eddy.
The information which can, at present, be obtained, relative to the first settlements made by the whites up-
118
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
on the Delaware river, in Wayne county, the exact date of their settlement, their conflicts with the In- dians, the time when their battles were fought, and the causes that occasioned the same, is limited and obscure, all the actors in these scenes having been dead many years. It is, therefore, impossible to make statements wholly free from errors, as history, tradition, and frag- mentary family-records are not without their contra- dietions. Chapman, in his "History of Wyoming," says: "In the summer of 1757, the Delaware Com- pany commenced a settlement at Cushetunk, on the Delaware river, which appears to have been the first settlement established within the limits of the Con- necticut charter, west of the province of New York; for, although there appears to have been a small fort built at the Minisinks on the same river, in 1670, that same fort was soon afterwards abandoned, in conse- quence of some difficulties with the Indians who refused to sell the lands." The Minisinks was the Indian name applied to all the river lands between the Water Gap and Port Jervis, if not to the mouth of the Lackawax- en ; and the said abandoned fort was built near Strouds- burg, and subsequently called Fort Penn.
By a manuscript written by Nathan Skinner, giving in part a history of the Skinner family, it appears that Joseph Skinner, (grandfather of Nathan Skinner,) came from Connecticut to Damascus in 1755. He had eight sons, viz : Daniel, Benjamin, Timothy, John, Abner, Haggai, Calvin, and Joseph; and two dangh- ters, Martha and Huldah. Daniel Skinner was the
119
TOWNSHIPS-DAMASCUS.
father of the said Nathan Skinner, who proceeds with his narrative as follows: "At what exact time father came to Damascus, we are not at present able to say; but we find by a certain writing, that he was at the place where the late George Bush lived, on the 4th of September, 1755, which place was called "Ack- hake." Joseph Skinner, Sen., was one of the twelve hundred Yankees that made the great Indian purchase, July 11th, 1754, under which purchase and another under a section of the colony of East New Jersey, the Skinner family came into the county to seek their fortunes and make settlements. Daniel Skinner, Sen., purchased of his father, twenty-five acres of the Ack- hake place, for five pounds, New York currency. He assisted in laying out a town, the centre of which was about six miles from the river, near the Conklin place, now owned by Stephen Pethick; and in selecting a location for a meeting-house and parsonage, William Reese was, I presume, the surveyor." From said man- uscript and other records, it appears that the other set- tlers, locating, about the same time, in the vicinity, were Simeon Calkin, Moses Thomas, Sen., Bezaleel Tyler, Robert Land, an Englishman, Nathan Mitchell, John Ross, John Smith, Irwin Evans, James Adams, Jesse Drake, and Nicholas Conklin, a German from Orange county, N. Y. The following named persons are mentioned in old records as having lived at an early day at Cushetunk, or Damascus, viz: F. Clark, Abra- ham Russ, Francis Little, Brandt Kane, an Irishman, Josiah Parks, William Monnington, Derrick Lukens,
120
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Jonathan Lillie, and others. The most of the fore- going located on the west side of the Delaware. The narrative continues: "Timothy Skinner and Simeon Calkin built a saw-mill and grist-mill on Calkin's creek, nearly opposite the north end of Beach's tannery, at Milanville. Said Calkin and Moses Thomas, Sen., and their sons built a fort, or block-house, at the mouth of the creek," in 1755. In or about the year 1759, as nearly as can be ascertained, Joseph Skinner, Sen., was shot in the head and killed at Taylor's Eddy, about one mile above Cochecton bridge. It was sup- posed that he was killed by some lurking savage of the northern tribes, who were jealous of the encroach- ing whites. The murder was not charged to the Cushe- tunk Indians, who seemed to be well disposed toward the whites. Chapman says, page 69: "The settlement at Cushetunk continued to progress. In 1760, it con- tained thirty dwelling-houses, three large log-houses. one grist-mill, one saw-mill, and one block-house." The extent of Cushetunk has not been very well defined. If it contained thirty dwelling-houses, it must have in- cluded all the settlers on both sides of the Delaware from Big Island to and near Calkin's creek. But to resume the history of Daniel Skinner: "After settling at Ackhake, he went as a sailor to the West Indies and learned the value of pine timber for masts and spars for ships. Having a quantity of good pine on his land, he put several sticks into the Delaware river to make a trial of floating them down to Philadelphia. He followed them with a canoe, but they soon ran
121
TOWNSHIPS-DAMASCUS.
aground on islands or stuck on rocks. He abandoned this method and tried a different one. He next put into the river six large ship-masts of equal length, through each end of which he cut a mortise of about four inches square, and into this he put what he called a spindle of white oak, to fit the mortise. In the ends of this he inserted a pin to keep them from slipping. The lumber thus put together he called a raft, and to each end of it he pinned a small log crosswise, and in the middle of this he fastened a pin, standing perpen- dicular, about ten inches above the cross-log, on which he hung an oar fore and aft. It being thus rigged, he hired a very tall Dutchman to go on the fore end, and with this raft arrived safely in Philadelphia, where he sold it at a good round price. This was the first raft ever constructed and run down the Delaware, which occurred in 1764. Shortly after he made a larg- er raft on which Josiah Parks went as fore hand. Being allured by Skinner's success, others soon em- barked in the same business, and, after a time, rafting became general on the Delaware from the Cook House, (Deposit,) to Philadelphia. Daniel Skinner, having constructed and navigated the first raft, was styled " Lord High Admiral" of all the raftsmen on the Dela- ware, and Josiah Parks was named " Boatswain." These honorary titles they retained during their lives."
It seems to have been well known to the Pennsyl- vania Proprietary claimants that Cushetunk lay in the territory, in dispute between Connecticut and Pennsyl- vania, for we are assured by history, that William
16
122
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Allen, chief-justice of the province, by warrant dated June 4th, 1761, commanded the sheriff of Northamp- ton county, to arrest Daniel Skinner, Timothy Skinner, Simeon Calkin, John Smith, Jedediah Willis, James Adams, Ervin Evans, and others, for intruding upon the Indian lands about Cushetunk without leave. None of said intruders, however, were ever disturbed or ap- prehended. The lands in said warrant called Indian lands had been purchased July 11th, 1754, of the Six Nations, with the consent of the Cushetunks, by the Delaware Company.
In the fall of 1763, after the Delaware Indians had broken up the settlement of the whites in the Wyom- ing Valley, uneasy, straggling bands of savages, con- ceived the plan of driving away the settlers about Cushetunk. The people along the Delaware learned of the sad fate of their brethren from some of the fugi- tives, and were warned to prepare for an attack. Be- ing thus forewarned, the women and children were placed in the block-house or fort, and the men made preparations to defend their fort and sustain a siege. The Indians delayed making an attack, but were seen skulking about in the woods. Suddenly appearing before the fort, they surprised and killed Moses Thomas, Sen., and Hilkiah Willis, who were outside of the fort. The daughters of said Thomas, one of which was only seven years old, took the places of the fallen men, and held their muskets in the loop-holes. The beseiged taunted the savages, telling them to do their worst, which they did by several attempts to burn
123
TOWNSHIPS-DAMASCUS.
the fort. The whites fought with such resolution that they repulsed their invaders and left many of them dead in sight of the besieged. The Indians killed some cattle, burned the grist-mill, the saw-mill, and some dwelling-houses. The Cushetunk Indians con- demned this unprovoked attack upon the whites, and promised, in case of another invasion, to assist the set- tlers. Gleaning from Skinner's notes, we learn that Daniel Skinner, doubting the probability of holding land under the Connecticut title, in May, 1775, ob- tained a patent of Richard Penn for 140 acres, on which he built a house; and he and Bezeleel Ross bought the Hollister place and built a saw-mill on Hol- lister creek. This creek was so named because two brothers by the name of Hollister settled in early days at or near the mouth of the stream. Having friends among the Wyoming settlers, they left and took an active part in the bloody struggles enacted in that Val- ley, and both found an early grave.
In the spring of 1777, Mrs. Land, the wife of Robert Land, an Englishman, who was a justice of the peace under the colonial government, learn- ing that a scouting party was to come up the river, her husband being from home, took her infant child, then three months old, and, in company with her oldest son, aged nineteen, drove their cattle into the woods to keep them out of the way. She and her son did not return that night. The Indians came up on the east side of the Delaware in the night, crossed over and came to the house of Land early in the morning
124
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
while the children, Abel, aged seventeen, Rebecca, aged about fifteen, Phebe, thirteen, and Robert, ten, were asleep. An Indian went to the bed where the girls slept and awoke them by tickling their feet with the point of a spear. A certain chief of the Tusca- roras, known by the name of Captain John, had often been at their house, and seemed to be very friendly; the elder girl, Rebecca, supposing him
to be the Captain, held out her hand and said, "How do you do, Captain John ?" The Indian asked her if she knew Captain John. She told him she did, but that she saw she was mistaken. The in- genuous innocence of the girl touched the heart of the savage. He told her that they were Mohawks, and had come to drive her people from the country, and that she might put on her clothes and go as soon as possible and warn the people so that they might es- cape before they were all killed. She crossed the river in a canoe, went to Kane's, where she found them all dead, except one little girl, who was alive in a bunch of bushes, wallowing in her blood, she having been scalped. Seeing this she ran up the river to Nathan Mitchell's and gave the alarm, and then returned home. In the mean time the Indians had bound her brother Abel and taken him with them without doing any other mischief. They went up Calkin's creek and were met by a body of Cushetunk Indians, who were friends to the whites and to the cause of liberty. They used all their endeavors to bring Abel back with them, but not succeeding they left them, after learning that they
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