History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 107

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 107
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 107
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 107

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).

About 1809 John Cox settled on the farm now owned by his son Alonzo. He died in 1857. His son Jonathan died on the old place. Dovey, one of his daughters, married Levi Horton ; another married Benjamin Dix. About this time or before Oliver Granger pur- chased, of Joseph Tanner, nearly all his land including that on which most of Pleasant Mount Village stands. He built the Upper Hotel, which is the oldest building now standing in the village. His store was near where John Riley's barn now stands.

Silas Freeman settled where Henry McAvoy now lives. He died in 1845. The following are his children : Col. Calvely Freeman, sur-

veyor, in 1850 represented the county in the State Legislature. He married a daughter of Ezra Bartholomew ; Sally, wife of the late Alvah W. Norton, Esq .; Silas, Jr., who mar- ried Lucretia Spencer; Sidney, who married Talitha Doty ; Palina, wife of Warren Norton ; Pamelia, wife of Franklin Wheeler; Fanny, wife of Earl Wheeler, Esq .; Rodney, who moved to Connecticut : and Margaret, wife of John B. Taylor.

About 1811 William Fletcher, from Sullivan County, N. Y., originally from Connecticut, purchased and cleared the farm now owned by Hugh Lestrange, on the Stockport road. His sons were Charles and Chauncy. One of his daughters married William Haines, and another Joseph Simpson. About seven years later, John Fletcher, brother of William, settled further south on the same road on the farm now owned by James Cooley. He was killed by the kick of a horse. His sons are Philander, prominent as a fruit grower ; Solon and Joseph. One of his daughters is the wife of B. M. Wil- cox, and another married Benjamin Wilcox. Benjamin Fletcher, brother of William, settled on the corner south of the present residence of N. A. Monroe. Daniel and James are sons of Benjamin Fletcher. His daughter, Silvina, married Baruch Bunting, a Baptist minister.

In the fall of 1812, Anson Chittenden, from Clinton, Connecticut, bought of Joseph Tanner, the farm now owned by Salvator O'Neill, about one and one-half miles north of this village. He died in 1849. His children are Josiah, who lived in Connecticut ; William Harvey, who married Belinda, daughter of Benjamin Wheeler, and settled north of his father on the same road ; Abel, who married Eliza, daughter of Noah Hiscock, and settled on the place now owned by his son Noah Chittenden. He re- moved to Connecticut in 1837, where he re- sided until within a few years when he returned to this town. He is now living, at an advanced age, with his daughter, Mrs. Henry Spencer ; Zenas married Elmira Roberts and settled west of the village on the place now owned by his son Samuel, of New York; Marietta, wife of Herman Wheeler ; Rachel, wife of Joseph Peck; Anson, Jr., now living in Peckville, Pa .; Anna,

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WAYNE COUNTY.

wife of Henry Bass, Esq .; and Aaron Dutton, who married Eliza Abbott, and lived south of the present residence of B. M. Dix. His widow still occupies the place.

About this time William Bigelow, brother of James Bigelow, settled north of the lake, which now bears his name, on the farm now owned by his son Alonzo. Channcy and Briggs were also his sons. His daughter Dolly married Spencer Niles, and lived on the place lately owned by their son, Stephen V. Niles. William, Betsy, Jane and Julia were children of Spencer and Dolly Niles.

In 1813 or 1814 Jonathan Miller came from Clifford, Susquehanna County. He was a blacksmith and for some years worked for Jo- seph Tanner. He married Tryphena Bigelow, and lived in the house now owned and occupied by George Soper. He died in 1863. He was a justice of the peace. Of his children, Mary T. was the first wife of Colonel Rodney Harmes; Hervey, an engineer, was killed on the railroad ; James, photographer, lives in Pittston ; and Jonathan, Jr., blacksmith, married Polly Stone and lives in this village.

About 1812 Ichabod Demming settled on the place since known as the Chiauncy Dem- ming farm. His sons were Jonathan, Chauncy and Frederick. Of his daughters, Lois mar- ried Orrin Griswold ; Adelia married Captain Levi Bennett ; Sevilla was the first wife of Abram Bonham ; and Mary married Andrew Williams. Many of Ichabod Demming's de- scendants live in the township.

About this time Wakeman Hull settled nortlı of the Red School House, on the farm since owned by his son, William Hull, and now owned and occupied by his grandson, Wesley Hull. John B. Sherwood's wife is a daughter of William Hull.

In 1812 Peter Spencer, a soldier of the Rev- olution, came from Guilford, Conn., and located on the Stockport road, where N. A. Monroe now resides. He was a blacksmith, and had built for the Government the second lamp of the first lighthouse on Faulkner's Island. He died in 1842. About 1819 Russell Spencer, liis son, came to Pleasant Mount, and located where " Spencer and Sons " now carry on the

business of blacksmithing. He married Lucy, daughter of Benjamin Wheeler, and died in 1864. Among his children are Henry Spen- cer, Esq., Charles W. Spencer, of Honesdale, and E. Mallory Spencer, ex-sheriff of Wayne County. The Spencers are a race of black- smiths, and among the most enterprising people of the country.

David Horton bought the place originally owned by Eliphalct Kellogg. He married a daughter of Solomon Sherwood. Gilbert Horton, his son, lived on the Bethany turnpike, where John W. Howell now resides. He was accidentally shot while hunting. His widow, Cornelia Horton, kept a public house.

Benjamin Pallett occupied the farm known as the Chalker Farm, in the south part of the township. Christian Bennett located at an early date, north of James Bigelow's residence. Henry Lemon lived north of White's Valley. Solomon Sherwood lived on the farm now owned by David E. Peck. Ebenezer Slayton lived on the farm well known as the "Slayton Place," where his son Thomas Slayton after- ward kept a public house. The farm is now owned and occupied by Orlando Kelly. Asa Smith, shoemaker, lived east of the village. He built a tannery and for many years carried on the business of tanning. About 1814 John Fulkerson came into the township. Silas Stevens and Nathan Stevens were taxed in the township in 1813. John Sherwood loeated where his son John B. Sherwood now resides. There were one hundred and forty-four taxables in the township in 1813. Benjamin Wheeler, a soldier of the Revolution, from Winstead, Com., located where Wm P. Kennedy now resides. He came about 1815. He died in 1830. His children were Benjamin Jr., who lived on the old farm ; Nathan, now living in Clinton ; Heman, whose place was where Richard Mills now lives ; Loly, Ambrose, who lived in Honesdale; and Lucy wife of Russell Spencer. About 1814 Aaron Loomis bought the property known as the Loomis Place of Zalmon Rouse. He married Sophia, daughter of Daniel Roberts, and died in 1875. About 1816 Ezra Spencer settled on a farm now owned by his son Ezra. All the Spencers in Mount Pleasant.

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

or Preston are descendants of either Peter or Ezra Spencer. Philo and Orson are sons of Ezra Spencer.

Captain Levi Bennett located on the place now owned by his son, Malden Bennett. He was a prominent man. Samuel Bennett, broth- er of Levi, settled on the mountain in the southwestern part of the township. In 1815 Aaron G. Perham bought and located on sixty acres of land where his son, Sylvanus Perham, now resides. This land is the nu- cleus around which the "Perham property" has been gathered. (An extended sketch of the Perham family has been furnished). About the same time Sylvanus Gates settled north of Ezra Spencer, on the farm long owned by his son, Alpheus W. Gates. Nelson Gates, Esq., of Brooklyn, and Rev. David Gates are grandsons of Sylvanus Gates.

Eldad Atwater, a prominent business man of the township, came here from New Haven in 1815. He kept a store in the house now owned by Franklin Dix until 1818, when he and his brother, Heaton Atwater, purchased the prop- erty known as the Godfrey Stevenson place, and built a saw-mill and grist-mill where " Ken- nedy's Mills " now stand. He built the house now standing on the place and near it a woolen factory and distillery. In 1837 he sold ont and engaged in business on Long Island. In 1839 he returned and bought of Henry Stone and Abel Chittenden the " Fowler Mill Site." Here he built a saw-mill, grist-mill and foundry, at the same time had a store where H. T. Wright now does business, until he sold to his son, E. M. Atwater, and bought what is now the "Lake Store," where he kept until 1857, when he went back to the old place where he kept until 1867, when he again sold to his son and engaged in business in Peckville, Pa. He now lives here with his son, E. M. Atwater, at the advanced age of ninety-three years.

Ezekiel White, from Massachusetts, a lineal descendant of Peregrine White, who was the first white child born at Plymouth Rock, came to Damascus township in 1819, and to Mount Pleasant in 1820. He lived in the village three years, kept a hotel part of the time. In 1837 he removed to the valley which now bears his

name. He made the first axes in Pleasant Mount. The whole family of Whites were noted for their skill in working iron and steel. Ezekiel White had eight sons-Horace White, gunsmith; Ephraim V.White, axe-maker; Malt- by White, farmer ; Leonard White, mill-wright ; Philip White, mechanic; Gerrison White, axe- manufacturer ; Ezekiel B. White, mechanic and farmer. Of his daughters Clarinda married William Wilder, Mary married Hawkins King, Caroline married Calvin Tracey, Malintha married Samuel Hawkins. Philip White & Son now run a saw-mill, stick-factory, grist- mill and bed-spring-factory at White's Valley.

Buckley Beardslec at one time owned the " Torrey place " in the east part of the township. Hon. H. B. Beardslee was born here.

In 1815 the taxables numbered one hundred and thirty-nine. In 1820 two hundred and nine. In 1825 two hundred and thirty-one. In 1830 two hundred and fifty-two.

About 1819 Paul McAvoy settled in the eastern part of the township, on the farm now owned by his son Richard McAvoy. His brother William came soon afterward and located further north, on property now owned by his son William McAvoy, Jr. Many de- scendants of Paul and William McAvoy are found in the county. Patrick Connor came soon after Paul McAvoy, and cleared the farm now owned by his son, Arthur Connor. A few years later John and Paul O'Neill located in the vicinity. John northeast of Paul McAvoy. He died recently at an advanced age. Paul O'Neill later bought the John I. Rodgers place on the Cochecton and the Great Bend turnpike. All of the above were worthy citizens, and their many descendants are among the most en- terprising and prosperous farmers of the town- ship. John Miller cleared the farm now owned by Hugh McGranaghan. James Murray was also one of the early settlers in this part of the township. It is said that Joseph Bass, in admiring the thrift and progress of these settlers, said, "They bang all," whence the name Bangall. Andrew McDermott was one of the early Irish settlers. Later the Megiverns settled south of the Cochecton and Great Bend turnpike. The Fiveses, Haggertys and others

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settled in what is called Egypt, and have now a flourishing settlement. The Hanenstiens, Wildenstines, Keglars, Schusters and other Germans settled along the Clinton line and are among our best citizens. At different times within the last fifty years the Pages, Abbotts, Fitzes, Jays, Brookings, Moases and many other English cmigrants settled in different places and have, by their industry, become the owners of some of the best farms in the town- ship.

Joseph Monroe settled near where the Stockport road crosses the Johnson Creek where Mrs. Jay now lives. N. A. Monroe, Miller Monroe and Joseph Monroe, Jr., were his sons. Joseph Monroe, Sr., died in 1862.

About 1816 Deacon Esaias Wilcox and Ab- ner Stone settled on or near the Preston line. Mr. Stone settled where his son H. K. Stone, now resides, and Deacon Wilcox settled west of him, on land now owned by his son, B. M. Wilcox. Deacon Wilcox came from Killing- worth, Middlesex County, Conn. His children were Ambrose W., who lived on the Stockport road ; B. M. Wilcox, who owns the Wilcox homestead ; Achsah M., who married Joseph Stout ; Lucy Jane, who married Stephen Clemo ; Benjamin E., who married Amanda Fletcher. Abner Stone's family : Albert, har- ness-maker, lives at Equinunk ; Polly, wife of Jonathan Miller ; Betsy, married Daniel Fletcher; Sybil, wife of Thomas Tyner, of Equinnnk ; Osmer lives in Illinois; Clarissa married John Shaw ; Henry K. lives on the old homestead ; Lucy married Byron Freeman.

Thomas H. Brown came to Mount Pleasant from Stonington, Conn., in 1821, and com- menced business as a saddler and harness-maker. In 1822 he married Lucy Howe. They reared a family of three sons, viz. : Henry W., born September 14, 1824; William Wallace, born July 21, 1830 ; and Samuel Leroy, born Febru- ary 5, 1833. Mr. Brown eventually purchased one hundred and seventy acres of land, and during the latter part of his life was engaged in farming. He died March 23, 1878, aged seventy-nine years. His widow died January 23, 1886, at the age of eighty-three years.

Mrs. Saralı Benjamin was born in Goshen,

Orange County, N. Y., November 17, 1745, and died at Pleasant Mount, in the year 1859, aged over one hundred and thirteen years. On account of the remarkable age to which she lived and the stirring scenes in which a part of her youth was spent, she deserves more than a passing notice. Her maiden name was Sarah Mathews, and she was married three times. Her first husband, William Read, was a soldier of the Revolution and died of a wound which he received while serving in Virginia. Her second husband, Aaron Osborne, of Goshen, N. Y., was also a soldier in the same war, and was accompanied a part of the time by his wife. Once when he was standing on guard she took a gun and an overcoat and stood sentinel at his post, that he might help load the heavy artillery into boats. Washington inspecting the outposts observed her; "Who placed you here," he asked. She promptly replied in her characteris- tic way, "Them that had a right to, Sir." He understood the situation and passed on. She was at the siege of Yorktown passing to and fro like an angel of mercy, carrying water to the thirsty and relieving the suffering. While pass- ing where the bullets of the enemy were flying she met Washington, who said, " Young woman, are you not afraid of the bullets ?" She

promptly and pleasantly replied, " The bullets will never cheat the gallows." The general smiled and passed on. Some time after the war her second husband died, and she was married to her third husband, John Benjamin, who came with her to Mount Pleasant in 1822, and died in 1826. She was the mother of five chil- dren, all of whom are dead. Some of her de- scendants are living in various parts of the country. She was amply pensioncd by the government, but nevertheless was very indus- trious, carding, spinning and making the finest of triple threaded yarn and knitting it into hose.

Some of her work was on exhibition at the World's Fair in New York, and a specimen of work done when she was one hundred years old was on exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London. She is said to have possessed many amiable traits of character and to have been especially brilliant as a conversationalist, and

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

noted for her untiring industry, doing her " day's work " at spinning even after her locks had been silvered by the frosts of one hundred and ten winters.

PRIVATIONS OF THE SETTLERS .- A just de- scription of the privations of the early settlers can never be written. Those, only, who saw them were fully qualified to relate the story of their sufferings. All of these are gone, and the greater part of the history of that conflict which they waged so nobly with the terrors of the wilderness has gone with them. It required their strongest endeavors to procure the necessaries of life. Shelter, food and raiment must be had, and to procure these, they over- came obstacles almost insurmountable, and forced the untamed forests to yield them a sub- sistence. As another has well said, "There were no pigmies among them. The taper fingers of modern effeminacy could not perform the won- ders which they wrought."1 We, who in pleasant homes, enjoy the fruits of their labors, should cherish the most profound respect for their memory.

The present number of taxables in this town- ship is four hundred and thirty-five.

MURDER OF COLONEL BROOKS BY MAR- THERS-EXECUTION OF THE MURDERER.2 --

Colonel Jonathan Brooks, who was mur- dered by Frecman Marthers on the 24th day of June A. D. 1828, in the town of Mt. Pleasant, was a resident of Blooming Grove (now Wash- ingtonville), Orange County, N. Y., where worthy relatives now live. By Thomas L. Brooks, of Washingtonville, we are informed that he was a colonel in the United States army, having been commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson on the 23d day of February, A. D. 1809, and served (his relative says fought) during the war of 1812 and 1814, and after the war had command at Governor's Island, in New York harbor, and at the time of his death, which occurred in the fifty-seventh year of his age, was on an extended furlongh on account of poor healtlı. He was known by

many in the northern part of Wayne County a few years previous to his death as a drover. We have learned from the wife of John Page, Mrs. Eliza Page (now deceased), who was living in Orange County at the time of his death, that it was a common report in the neighborhood where she resided, immediately after Colonel Brooks was murdered, that be- fore he left home, being in the store of Samuel Moffatt, merchant, and in conversation with him, he said he should go in a few days through Wayne County, Pa., as that would be his most direct route to Broome County, N. Y.

Upon being asked if he intended to buy cat- tle, his answer was that he did not know; that it depended upon circumstances. A roving stranger (Marthers) was present and listening to the conversation, whom it was believed Brooks did not notice at thic time. The next knowl- edge obtained about this wandering sharper was at Rileysville, in this county, where he was spending his time in the style of a small pack peddler, selling cheap jewelry, trying to win small sums by juggling and petty gambling. Judging by events which soon after occurred, he was, as some people believed, and some still believe, staying at Rileysville, waiting for the arrival of Brooks, and had disposed of all of his trinkets and spent nearly all of his money when Colonel Brooks arrived there. The Rileysville tavern, nine miles west of the Dela- ware River, was a stage-house, and consequently at least two or more of the stage drivers, having the opportunity, learned and knew the condi- tion and habits of Marthers and something of his character.

On the 24th day of June, 1828, Brooks had . probably driven from the Delaware River to Rileysville, where, or a little west of that place, Marthers was invited to ride with him. Mr. Eldad Atwater (still living) has, years ago, . repeatedly said that not far from the middle of the day, which was a very hot day, he noticed a horse and wagon before his brother Heaton Atwater's taven, where the family of Godfrey Stevenson (deceased) now lives, and where he and his brother then lived. He asserts that the traveler tarried a long time, at least two or three hours (and here he probably dined and

1 Goodrich.

2 By Dr. Rodney Harmes. This is the first accurate and full account of the tragedy which has ever appeared in print.

-- - ----

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had his horse fed), and when he came out and started away Atwater readily recognized him as Colonel Brooks. He likewise noticed that there was a stranger with him.

From Atwater's tavern Brooks drove to Belmont, a distance of four miles. From Bel- mont he was going to travel north on the Bel- mont and Ochquaga (now Lanesborough) road, this being his most direct route through Broome County to Norwich, Cayuga County, where he expected to get money, it is said, from the bank at that place. Thomas L. Mumford, then a young man, who was hoeing in a garden on the south side of the road, saw the two men, and heard one of them, who was sitting in the wagon, ask the other, who was on the ground, if he was going any farther with him. The re- ply was, " I do not know; I will go in and inquire." He went into the bar room, and soon came out and said, " Yes, about a mile or two." The two men went on north and Mr. Mumford continued his labor.

About one mile from Belmont, at the edge of, at that time, heavily-timbered land, it was four miles to the next clearing and a tavern. At this place Marthers got out, ostensibly to look for a path leading west over the mountain. He looked under the wagon and named some injury or defect of it which induced Brooks to get out, and when he stooped down to examine Mar- thers struck him on his head with a stone, and repeated his blows, and finally finished his dia- bolical job by cutting his throat with a pocket- knife; and then, by some strange fatality, turned the horse suddenly around, and in less than one hour from the time of leaving was back again in Belmont. When Mr. Mumford saw him hitching the horse, not realizing that it was a man, horse and wagon which he had pre- viously seen going north, he left the garden and went into the bar room. The tavern was owned by Thomas Mumford, the father of Thomas L. The traveler remarked that it was a very hot day, and procceded to wash himself, and while using the towel said, " I have dirtied your tow- el." Mumford replied by saying, " It was made for that purpose." Marthers then called for brandy, which was produced, and of which he took a liberal drink.

He asked Mumford if there were any fast . horses in the place, and if there were, to tell them (the owners) to bring them out. He said he had a fast horse which he had bought in Virginia.

From Belmont he drove rapidly west, and soon arrived at the next stage-house (now Her- rick Centre, Susquehanna County), which was kept by Sylvanus Mott. When he drove up opposite to the tavern he was recognized by a stage-driver who had learned what kind of a man he was while he was at Rileysville.

The driver (whose name is forgotten), seeing him in his new and unexpected guise, hailed him, and invited him to go in and take a drink. Marthers, after a little hesitation, went in, and the two indulged themselves with their po- tations. After drinking, Marthers took his watch from his pocket to ascertain the time. The driver noticed that it was a gold watch, and asked him how he had obtained it. Mar- thers replied by saying that it was not his watch, but that the watch, horse and wagon belonged to Colonel Brooks, who was to come in the stage the next day, or take some other route west, and that Brooks had given him the watch to time his speed so as not to overdrive the horse. He seemed to be in a hurry, and went out, mounted into the wagon, and drove rapidly west. As soon as he had started the driver told the land- lord, Mott, that he believed the man had ob- tained possession of the horse, wagon and watch by some criminal transaction. Mott being of the same opinion, they led out two horses and immediately mounted and rode in pursuit of him and overtook him beyond Low Lake, about one mile and a half beyond Mott's. They rode rapidly up to, and Mott passed by him, when . he leaped from the wagon and ran into the woods, but immediately returned and accused them of robbery. Both Mott and the driver were now on the ground, and while Mott was holding the stolen horse, it has been asserted by some, the driver and Marthers had a clinch, and for a brief time were maintaining their claims to the disputed property by the rude logic of muscular power, in which contest the driver resolutely maintained his claim, but told Mar- thers that if he would go back to the tavern and

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

stay until they were satisfied that he had ob- tained the property honestly, he could then go, and do so without paying anything. To this offer Marthers turned a deaf ear and sought for safety in the wilderness.

Mott and the driver not being certain that they were right, and not certain but that Martliers might yet return to the turnpike, concluded that Mott should go on with the horse and wagon about one half of a mile fur- ther to the tavern at Dimock Corners, while the driver, with all the speed he could make, should ride to Belmont and inform Mr. Mumford of the suspicions of Mott and himself, and of what they had done. When he arrived there the towel was examined and found to be bloody. Mr. Mumford said they could soon settle all doubts, for a slight shower had moistened the dust before the horse and wagon went north, which would make the wagon track plainly appear. They soon passed over the road and just at the edge of the woods, at which place the wagon had been turned shortly around, they found the body of Colonel Brooks lying in the bushes on the east side of the road where Marthers had dragged it. A pile of stones still marks the place.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 107

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