History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 103

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 1438

USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 103
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 103
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 103

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).

625

WAYNE COUNTY.

which is one hundred acres of the original Stevens purchase in Mount Pleasant township, to which he has added other real estate. Be- sides carrying on his farm, he has engaged largely in lumbering and marketing bark for the past twenty years, reaching annually some five hundred cords of bark, which he markets at Tanner's Falls at a price ranging from five to six dollars and a half per cord. He is a thorough-going and thrifty farmer and busi- ness man, and has served his township as supervisor and school director. He married, in 1861, Catherine Rutledge, who was born September 7, 1841. Their children are, Cora Edith (wife of Fletcher Coons, of Mount Pleasant), Warren Edmund, Alonzo R. (died young), Mary Catherine and Stella Blanche, who also died in infancy. Alexander Rutledge, the grandfather of Catherine Rutledge, came from Ireland in 1803, and first settled near Co- checton, and soon after settled in Damascus, where he reared a family of five sons and four daughters, and then died. Her parents, Alex- ander Rutledge (1799-1865) and Mary Ann Latourette (born in 1809) resided in Damascus, where her mother now survives in 1886. Mary Ann Latourette, was the daughter of Peter and Rebecca (Moore) Latourette, the former a blacksmith by trade, who came from New York, where he was born, to Orange County, and thence, in 1822, to Lebanon, where he was a farmer and where both himself and wife died at the age of eighty-five years, and were buried at Rileysville. The Douglasses are of Scotch origin and the Latourettes of French extraction.

SETH YALE.

Seth Yale (1786-1856), a native of Hartford, Litchfield County, Conn., and his brother Nor- inan, sons of Lieutenant Ezra Yalc, of the Revolutionary war, came from that State on foot to Mount Pleasant township, Wayne County, Pa., in 1806, where they remained several years. Another brother, Elijah, came to Penn- sylvania in 1811, and both himself and Norman enlisted for seven years to serve in the war of 1812, and both died in the service soon after its close. Their only sister, Lydia, married John

Bigelow. Seth made the acquaintance of Betsy Bigelow (1787-1862), a daughter of James and Mary Bigelow, of that township, whom he mar- ried in 1808, and in 1812 bought some two hundred and sixty acres of land in Lebanon township, situate on the Great Bend and New- burgh turnpike, about one mile east of Cold Spring, for which he agreed to pay five dollars per acre, upon which was a two-story frame house and two acres of cleared land. This place was their future home, and is, in 1866, the property of their sons, Clayton and Ezra E., it having remained in the family since Seth Yale and his wife met the obstacles incident to pioneer life with resolution and patient industry, and carved out a pleasant home for themselves front this wilderness tract of land. In due time the original forest gave way to the relentless wood- man's axe. Broad fields of grain and grass showed the result of their well-merited efforts, and they were known by all who formed their acquaintance and enjoyed their society as a couple well calculated to fight the battle of life together. In 1832 he erected the present resi- dence of Clayton Yale, which, for the time it was built, will vie with any homestead residence in the township ; and as his crops demanded, and his means were sufficiently adequate, he erected also from time to time commodious barns and outbuildings. Seth Yale grew into good favor with his fellow-townsmen for his in- tegrity of purpose in life's pursuits, and he was accounted a man of sterling qualities, who honored only justice and right. He possessed a mild disposition, a fixed purpose, and a dis- criminating intellect. He was conservative in his opinions, and guarded carefully the princi- ples of morality and paternal affection. For thirty years he served as justice of the peace in Lebanon township, was a Whig in politics, and died about the time of the birth of the Re- publican party. Both himself and wife were buried in the Presbyterian cemetery at Pleasant Mount. She was a devoted Christian mother and wife, and did her part well in rearing their large family of children. James and Mary Bigelow were natives of the town of Spencer, Worcester, Mass., the latter born on the 6th and the former born on the 7th of June, 1762.

626

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

They lived together fifty-nine years, and were wife of Benjamin Fletcher, a farmer near by ; and Thursa was the wife of Richard Delong, of Bradford County, Pa. The children of Seth and Betsey (Bigelow) Yale are :- Seth, born in 1811, a farmer in Lebanon township, has two children ; James F., born in 1812, a farmer in Susquehanna County, Pa., has three children ; Eliza J., born in 1815, is the wife of Gilbert P. Bass, of Lebanon, and has two children ; Lydia separated by death only a few hours, reaching the age of a little upwards of four-score years, and being buried together at Pleasant Mount, Wayne County, to which township they removed in 1808, where they spent their lives as farmers. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and entering the army at the age of fifteen, he served in a regiment of Massachusetts militia, under Colonel Michael Jackson, until its close. One | T. (1816-1856) was the wife of Philo Sher-

Norman yale

son, John Bigelow, a farmer, died in Mount Pleasant township in 1884. Another son, James H., married Mary Ann Muzzey, and died only a few years since. His daughters were :- Sally was the wife of John Tiffany, of the same place ; Tryphena was the wife of Jonathan Miller, a blacksmith, of the same place ; Tryphosa was the wife of Clayton Rogers, who resided in the same township until his children grew up, and then removed to Wisconsin; Patty was the

wood, a miller on the Wyalusing, and at her death left nine children ; Norman, born May 3, 1818, never married ; John E. (1819-1885) was a farmer in Lebanon, and died, leaving five children; Patty J. (1822-1828); Mary M. (1824-1873) never married ; Ezra E., born in 1827, and Clayton Yale, born in 1832, both farmers, and each owning a part of the home- stead property. Ezra has no children, and Clayton has five children.

627

WAYNE COUNTY.

All these sons and daughters in early life learned the useful lessons of industry and economy, and themselves and families may be safely ranked among the substantial and highly respected families of Wayne County. The sons have borne their share of the public bur- dens of their township, and several of them have held the highest places of trust within the gift of their fellow-townsmen. Norman, third son, herein noticed, has always resided on the

Through reverses in business his father met with loss, and his family was obliged to meet the obstacles incident to straitened circumstances, and get a livelihood as best they could. Thus at the tender age of thirteen years, Jehiel began learning the trade of a blacksmith, which not suiting his taste, he at the age of fourteen years abandoned to learn shoemaking, which formed his main business for many years thereafter, especially during the winter months. With a

Selid Justin

homestead, although he has owned real estate adjoining. He has served two terms as justice of the peace, and held other official places in the township. The family has not departed from the political faith of their father, and have been members of the Whig and Repub- lican parties.

JEHIEL JUSTIN.

Jehiel Justin was born in Canterbury, Windsor County, Conn., March 3, 1803.

view to better wages and a more active employ- ment, he learned the trade of a mason with his brother-in-law, Havilah Taylor, and following three years service, worked one year as a journeyman, and one year afterwards on the Hudson, in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. On Novem- ber 27, 1828, he married Caroline Jane, a daughter of William Taylor (1774-1811) and Berthier Handell (1776-1840), of Brooklyn, in the same county in which he was born. She I was born October 8, 1809. After his marriage

628

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

he bought two hundred and thirty-six acres of land in Oregon township, Wayne County, Pa., for three hundred and fourteen dollars ; built a log house for himself, and one also for Ezra Baker, father of George E. Baker, of Dyberry township. The next year, February 14, 1830, he settled on this property with his wife, and thus transported from New England to this wilderness, the new couple were really settled to carve out a home and competency for them- selves. It may here be said to the credit of Mrs. Justin, that from that day until the writ- ing of this sketch-fifty-six years afterwards, she has been a help-mneet indeed, and done her part well in rearing her family and staying up the hands of her husband when dark days and depression hovered around their early home, and in after years when she saw her husband, four sons and son-in-law, all leave their homes to fight for the preservation of the Union in the late Civil War. After two years residence on this land, he sold it to his brother, Nathan, and bought a tract at Seclyville, which, however, he did not move on to. About this time he purchased from the State and obtained a patent deed through the late Hon. E. W. Hamlin, some four hundred acres of land at twenty- eiglit cents per acre, in Dyberry township, a part of which he sold to Captain Homer Brooks and a part to Joseph A. Hubbard, and another part to Harry Brown. Mr. Justin only owned this land some four years, and during this time carried on the lumber business. After a residence in Honesdale for some three years, where he worked at his trade as a mason, lie, in 1840, bought his present farm of one hundred and thirty-six acres in Lebanon township, then a wilderness tract. This land he mostly cleared many years ago, planted apple orchards, and in 1853 completed his present residence, which supplanted the old log house. During his entire business life, he has in connection with his farming, worked at his trade-extending through a period of nearly half a century. He was one of the early members of the Masonic fraternity in Wayne County, and connected with the lodge at Honesdale, of which he is still a member. Filled with that loyalty and love of country, for which his New England fore-

fathers shed their blood to save and make inde- pendent, Mr. Justin, upon the breaking out of the late Civil War, was ready to give his ser- vices to restore the Union, although then nearly sixty years of age. He enlisted in the fall of 1861 in the Second Pennsylvania Heavy Ar- tillery, and served as cook for nine months, when he was honorably discharged and advised to return home on account of his age. His eldest son, William E. Justin, enlisted in 1862, and served in the Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company M, under Captain Ham, who was killed at Dinwiddie Court-House. He afterwards served under General Sheridan, and was in the battles of Beverly Ford, Chancellors- ville and Cedar Creek. During their skir- mishes with guerrillas he was taken prisoner near Lovettsville, but after two days released and rejoined the ranks, but never did active service in battle again. He remained until honorably discharged at Clouds Mills, at the close of the war. A second son, Howard Tracy Justin, enlisted in 1862, and served in the Sixth Pennsylvania Reserves, Company C. He was wounded at the battle of Fredericks- burg in the leg, which destroyed his foot, and was the cause of his death in 1886, at the age of forty-seven years. Havilah T. Justin, another son, served throughout the war in the Fiftieth New York Engineer Corps, and in 1886 resides at Lake Como, Wayne County. A fourth son, Edwin G. Justin, enlisted toward the close of the war for one year, was at the battle of Petersburg and saw the surrender of General Lee to General Grant. He resides at Warren, Pa. Other children are,-Charles Ferdinand, George Emmons, Susan (1830-1856) married David Lacey ; Phebe Taylor is the wife of Abial Brown, of Rileysville; Hannah Delilah, wife of George Hamlin, of Indiana ; Emily T. married Professor Bruce Jones, of Jamestown, N. Y., who served throughout the late war in the One Hundred and Forty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, was wounded at Chancellorsville. William and Berthier Taylor's other children are, -Havilah, who married a sister of Jehiel Justin, subject of this sketch ; Oliver Putnam, of Scituate, R. I .; Phebe, Lydia, wife of Leonard Cady ; Mary, wife of

629

WAYNE COUNTY.

Moses Waldo ; Olive, wife of Amasa Steer, of Brooklyn ; one son, William, died in the army ; Hannah, wife of William Carver, of the same place, who lost a son in the late war.

His father, Nathau Justin, a native of Canter- bury, Conn., married Susan Brainard (1781- 1844), and resided on Sterling Hill, Conn., until Jehiel came to Pennsylvania, where the mother removed with him and resided here until her death. She was buried at Rileysville. The father followed the family after many years, and died in Lebanon, October 16, 1856, aged eighty-five years, and was buried by the side of his wife. Their other children were,- Lura Louisa was married to Stephen Piper, and died in Tompkins County, N. Y .; Nathan took up his home in Kansas, and Lydia died young. Mr. Justin's paternal grandfather was of French origin, and his paternal grandmother of English birth. For nearly three-score years, Jehiel Justin and wife have lived together, and are in 1886 numbered among the esteemed old people of Wayne County. She has been a very active woman, and spent much of her spare time from household duties at the arduous work of weav- ing different kinds of wearing material. She has some years woven some eight hundred yards of cloth, and averaged six hundred yards an- nually, and even at her advanced age, during the past five months she has woven by hand three hundred and twenty-five yards of flannel and one hundred and four yards of carpet.

CHAPTER XXII.

MANCHESTER.1

THIS township, originally a portion of Buck- ingham, was created a separate township in 1826. Its boundaries on the north and east, are the State of New York. On the south and west, Damascus and Lebanon townships. Its extreme length on the Delaware River (which divides it from the State of New York), is four- teen miles, with an average width of six miles. The Equinunk Creek divides it from Bucking-

ham, to Crooked Creek, that stream then divid- ing to Lebanon. On the south a small stream known as Rock Run divides it from Damascus for a short distance, then arbitrary lines from Damascus and Lebanon. Its streams are the Equinunk and Little Equinunk Creeks, and Cooley Brook with their tributaries, one of which is Salt River. The description of the surface of Buckingham will apply without change to this township. It has a like stretch of forbidding river hill, with somewhat less bot- tom lands. It contains more of what may be termed barrens ; noticeably in the southern part, and on Cooley Brook. Like Buckingham, its hills and valleys were originally densely cov- ered with timber. It has, however, been more thoroughly stripped of its hemlock, and hence has a greater area of valueless lands. The qualities of the land are much the same.

The first white man of whom we have au- thentic records as dwelling in the township was Josiah Parks, of whom particular mention is made in the sketch of Equinunk. A tradition exists to the effect, that a man named Cooley dwelt on the Delaware at the mouth of the little stream known as "Cooley Brook," prior to and during the Revolution, and that he was a malignant tory. At the close of the war some of the Whigs in the vicinity, to whom Cooley was especially obnoxious, made him a neighborly call, reminded him of his villainies, and with swift retributive justice and swifter bullet took his life, and buried him upon a small island in the Delaware, known since as "Cooley." This comes down though the fami- lies of the Mitchells and Tylers who dwelt on the Delaware contemporaneously with Cooley.

THE UNION SUGAR COMPANY .- It is cer- tain that an abortive attempt to settle upon and improve a portion of the lands of Manchester, was made not later than 1793, under the auspices of the "Union Sugar Company," an association composed of prominent citizens of Philadelphia. The objects and aims of the association are best set forth in the " Plan," or document drawn up for the purpose of procuring subscribers to the enterprise. This "Plan " (a copy of which made by Judge Samuel Preston in 1792 is before the writer), very specifically gives the

1 By George W. Wood.

630

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

objects of the association, and the motives influ- encing the originators of the scheme. The substance of the " Plan," is as follows : First, " To establishi the credit, and profit of certain lands in Pennsylvania, so as to render them beneficial to the State and inhabitants." Second, " These lands are of a rich quality, and abound in that species of maple which affords sugar, and with many others which afford potash in large quantities." Third, It is hinted that there are already " settlers on these lands, who are either ignorant, or destitute of the means of cultivating them, or of extracting sugar from the maple, or salt (potash) from other trees, to the best ad- vantage." Fourthı, "To spread the necessary knowledge on these important articles of agri- culture and manufactures through the State, subscribers agree to purchase three thousand one hundred and twenty acres of land of superior quality, situate on the waters of the Little Equinunk Creek, about three miles from the Delaware, and one hundred and sixty miles from Philadelphia. The capital to be divided into sixty shares, the price of eachi share to be fifty pounds, one-half to be paid within one month after the subscription is full, and a treasurer appointed, and the remainder within one year. The lands thus purchased to be known as the Union Farm." Fifth, "The im- provement of it by clearing fields and meadow grounds, planting orchards, purchasing and raising stock, and erecting suitable buildings, as also the manufacturing of sugar1 and potash, are to be committed to an agent to be appointed by the managers, who are to be chosen by the stockholders." Lastly, "The profits which arise from the cultivation of the soil, as well as from the manufacture of sugar and potash, are to be divided among the stockholders." The instrument bears date " Phila., 8 month (Aug.) 23, 1792." Among the stockholders, the heaviest subscribers were Henry Drinker and Samuel Simpson, eight shares ; Jeremialı War- der, Parker & Co., six shares; John Fields,

1 Judging from the prominence given to "sugar" mak- ing, the founders of the association no doubt had views similar to those held by a canny Scot, who settled in the State of New York. " If," said he, " I find it profitable, I shall follow it the year round."

Thomas Stewardson, Samuel Pleasants and Samuel M. Fox, each four shares. Then fol- low the names of twenty-six gentlemen, who are subscribers for one and two shares each. Among them appear names which Americans hold in reverent regard. Notably Samuel Meredith, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush and others. The total subscribed was three thous- and pounds (computed by Pennsylvania cur- rency, eight thousand dollars). The first board of managers consisted of Timothy Pick- ering, Henry Drinker, Samuel Pleasants, Samuel Hogdon and Samuel M. Fox. Henry Drinker was made treasurer. The lands the association arranged to purchase consisted of eight tracts and contained collectively three thousand one hundred and thirty-three acres. They lie on both sides of the Little Equinunk Creek.

It appears, from papers found, that one John Kinsey was appointed agent and that he resided on the property, but there is no data to establish the exact time when the improvements were commenced, nor by what route the first supplies and implements were brought to the land.

An Act of Assembly, passed April 10, 1792, had appropriated one thousand pounds sterling to open a road from Fort Penn (Stroudsburg) to the Narrows of Lackawaxen, and tlience be- tween the Delaware and Lackawaxen to the " Portage " (road from Stockport to Harmony). At the next session a further appropriation of four hundred pounds sterling was made to improve the road. No doubt the road was opened in 1792, thus affording, when there was snow, a route by which the supplies could have been transported. Another, and much used route was by nature's highway, the Delaware River. It is certain that at an early day con- siderable quantities of merchandise, machinery, implements, etc., to meet the wants of the peo- ple who were dropping into forest homes on the upper Delaware, was brought up the river in "Durham Boats." Mr. Goodrich, in his " His- tory of Wayne County," says the kettles, etc., for use of the " Union Sugar Company," were brought in this way. This is by no means un- likely. It would have been no formidable undertaking to have made a passable road from

631

WAYNE COUNTY.

the mouth of the Little Equinunk Creek, for a distance of three or four miles, to where im- provements were begun. No memoranda exists to show what success attended the manufacture . of sugar and potash in 1793 and 1794. But on the first of Jannary, 1795, the agent, Kin- sey, made an inventory which shows the follow- ing improvements made on the land, viz. : twenty-eight to thirty acres cleared, eight acres ready to log, seven acres girdled, and that fifty- six apple trees had been set out. Also, that a saw-mill had been erected, with dam and race complete ; further, three dwellings, two stables, a smith shop, corn-crib and other out-buildings. Of personal property, the inventory gives one horse, four pair of oxen, one cow, tools, farm- ing implements. It also mentions forty sugar kettles, stone-troughs, casks, sap-troughs, etc., for sugar making. In May, of 1795, Kinsey as "present agent, by and with the consent of Samuel Preston for the owners," entered into contract for the clearing of from ten to twenty- five acres of land during the ensuing summer at thirteen dollars and thirty-three and one-third cents per acre. This seems to end Kinsey's agency. Benjamin Willets seems to have had temporary charge, under Samuel Preston, after Kinsey. In November, 1795, the managers laid before the stockholders a paper declaring " it inexpedient to further prosecute the work," and stating that the amount already expended exceeded the capital by about fourteen hundred pounds sterling, which sum had been advanced by the treasurer, Henry Drinker, and they recommended a sale of the property and a dis- solution of the association. In March, of 1796, Willets notified Mr. Preston that he must soon leave unless supplied with food. Two months later the personal property (except the kettles) were sold by vendue, there being some thirty purchasers. The sum realized from the sale was two hundred and eight pounds seven shil- lings and six pence. The premises were soon left without any responsible person in charge. The improvements rapidly depreciated. The buildings rotted away, and nature asserted her sovereignty, covering the fields again with forest. The early settlers in that portion of Manchester lying near, long knew the place as

the " Union Meadows." But meadow, orchard and buildings finally altogether disappeared, and at this writing scarcely a person in the re- gion could tell where the buildings were. The site of the fields was indicated by the dense growth of young and thrifty timber covering them. To resume, since writing the sketch of the Union Sugar Company, the writer has been over a portion of the site on which the improve- ments were made. There are a few acres of alluvial on the creek which was cleared by the company, now owned and worked by John G. Bloom, an honest German. On this land stands. two or three patriarchal apple trees. A little further np the stream indications of the dam built, and of the race-way which brought the water to the mill, are easily traced. The stock- holders lost the entire eight thousand dollars of capital paid in, the assets not being sufficient to pay one-third of the liabilities in excess of the capital.

Henry Drinker held the title for the lands in trust for the Union Company, but could not sell them without consent of the stockholders. After Mr. Drinker's death, an act of Assembly, passed March 8, 1833, authorized the sale of the land by the executors of Henry Drinker, the proceeds of such sale to be applied first, to pay the debt due the Drinker estate, and the balance, if any, to be distributed among the shareholders. The lands were sold at auction in November, 1833, and were bid in by James L. Biddle for eleven hundred and twenty-five dollars. Mr. Biddle at once reconveyed the property to the executors of Henry Drinker. The lands were afterwards sold by the heirs of Mr. Drinker for a much larger sum, yet thie proceeds would not cover one-third of the bal- ance due from the Company to him (Drinker), including taxes and interest to time of sale. Thus it will be seen that the experiment was unprofitable to all concerned. The stockhold- ers lost all invested. Mr. Henry Drinker and his heirs more heavily than any other. Nor can it be claimed that thic experiment tended to the advantage of this region by directing cmi- gration thereto. No doubt the stockholders looked to their own personal advantage and profit, yet the motives actuating them were cer-

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.

History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 103

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co. Number of Pages: 1438

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904. 4n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 1438