History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 109

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 109
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 109
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 109

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).

It was the custom of the proprietaries, and afterwards of the State, to allow all purchasers six acres for every one hundred purchased, as a compensation for roads. The Cochecton and Great Bend turnpike was incorporated in 1804, but was not completed until 1811. A large proportion of the houses on the road were taverns. The Bethany and Dingman's Clioice turnpike was incorporated in 1811. It was kept in repair by moneys received for tolls. The Belmont and Easton turnpike was chartered in 1812. It opened up a direct ronte to Easton and Philadelphia. The State gave ten thou- sand dollars to aid in its construction. The Belmont and Oghqnaga turnpike was chartered in 1817; the Lackawaxen turnpike in 1828. The road from Mount Pleasant to Stockport is an old one, and was laid ont abont 1799.

MANUFACTURING. - As has already been stated, Jirah Mmmford bnilt a saw-mill and grist-mill in .1795, where Fowler's mill lately stood. Benjamin King, Sr., had a saw-mill on Saw-Mill Creek, southwest of the present resi- dence of J. W. Moase. The second grist-mill

was built at what is now Stevenson's Mills. The first run of bnrr stones nsed in the town- ship were put in by Noah Hiscock and Abel Chittenden abont 1820. Elijah Dix, in speak- ing of the quality of work done at his mill, said : " Why, they make wheat flour out of rye down there."

About this time Eldad and Heaton Atwater erected a grist-mill, saw-mill and woolen-fac- tory where Kennedy's Mills now stand, and later Eldad Atwater put up a factory and dis- tillery near the home of the late Godfrey Ste- venson. Erastus Baker bnilt a woolen-factory on the Lackawaxen abont 1830, which he con- tinued to run until his death, which occurred in 1872. Shortly after it was bonght by K. P. Winner, formerly of Dnndaff, who has greatly enlarged it, and who continues to operate it.

Seth Kennedy built the saw-mill and grist- mill now known as Kennedy's Mills. He was caught in the machinery, while oiling, and kill- ed, May 13, 1865. He had also built a card- ing-machine, which was taken down soon after his death. The saw-mill and grist-mill are now owned and operated by his son, Alexander Kennedy.

Eldad Atwater, about 1840, built the mill on the Lackawaxen known as Fowler's Mill, which he operated for some time and then sold to E. M. Atwater, who later sold out to James Fow- ler. This mill was burned a few years since and has not been rebuilt.

The industry of tanning has been carried on to a greater or less extent from the early settle- ment of the township until within a very few years, but has now nearly, if not entirely, ceased, on account of the exhaustion of hemlock bark. Jirah Mumford was the pioneer tanner, having built a small tannery soon after he settled in the township. His son, Col. Harry Mumford, bnilt a tannery on the Lackawaxen, in which he and his son, Milo Mumford, carried on the bnsi- ness for years. About 1865 or 1866 this was bought and greatly enlarged and improved by H. W. & S. L. Brown, who commenced doing business on a much larger scale. They failed in business in 1868, and shortly after the tannery. was bought by Ira Nichols and operat- ed by himself and son for some years, when, on

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WAYNE COUNTY.

account of the scarcity of bark, it was discon- tinued.

In or about 1820 Asa Smith built a tannery and shoe shop one mile east of Pleasant Mount, which he kept in operation until his death, which occurred in 1862. His sous some time after discontinued the business and removed to Factoryville, Pa. James Plunket also had a small tannery.

Geo. Warner for many years had an exten-

John Perham, who, at an early period in our colonial liistory, emigrated to this country from England, and settled in Chelmsford, Mass., in 1664, since which time the Perhams have been numerously represented in various parts of New England. The intervening generations down to the subject of this memoir, in his line, have been John, (2nd) Benjamin, Moses, his grandfather, and Aaron G. Perham, his father.

The latter was born January 18, 1792, in

I. G. Serham

sive wagon factory on the Laekawaxen below Baker's woolen-factory. About 1837 Ezekiel White commenced manufacturing at White's Valley, where Philip White & Son now have a grist-mill, saw-mill, stick and bed-spring fac- tory.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

SYLVANUS G. PERHAM.

The family of which the subject of this sketch is a representative is descended from

Worcester County, Mass., and in 1815 re- moved from his native State to Mount Pleasant township, Wayne County, Pa., bringing with him his wife, Mary, daughter of Sylvanus Gates, of Worcester County, who also settled in Wayne County. He bought a small tract of land in Mount Pleasant, now included in the farm of his son Sylvanus, and went to work, with the other pioneer settlers of that locality, in elear- ing up land and subjecting to the uses of agri- culture what was then a heavily-timbered, wild section of country: His primitive log house

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

stood at the top of the hill, near the barn of Sylvanus G. Perham, and his later residence is still standing near by. He was an industrious and hard-working man ; so much so, that he seriously impaired his health by the severity of lis la- bors, and, during the latter years of his life was unable to do much work. He died Octo- ber 10, 1830, leaving a wife and seven chil- dren, namely,-Sylvanus G .; Lucinda, who married Hiram Tiffany, of Mount Pleasant township ; Philinda, who became the wife of George Tuttle, and now resides in Iowa ; Eliza- beth, who married Virgil Gaylord, of Clinton township ; Maria, who became the wife of Hi- ram Peck, of Mount Pleasant ; Chloe, who married Philip Cramer, of Carbondale, Pa .; and Horatio, a farmer in Clinton township, Wayne County.

Sylvanus G. Perham was the only son, save one, and oldest child of his parents. He was born in the original log house May 21, 1818, and his opportunities for securing an education were extremely meagre. Owing to the inca- pacity of his father, he was compelled to labor very hard when a mere boy, and at twelve years of age he found himself the chief support and assistant of his widowed mother. He re- mained upon the farm, working for her, until he arrived at his majority, when he took the place, encumbered by debt, and, by dint of hard work and the exercise of great persisteney and economy, cleared off the in- cumbrances. Later, he purchased other par- cels of land adjoining the original farm, and now owns about five hundred acres. He has erected all the buildings which are now on the place, and built his present tasteful and sub- stantial residence in 1862. For several years he worked as a carpenter and joiner. He bc- longs to that class of old, representative farm- ers, who were identified with the first settle- ment and development of Wayne County, and who are now, one by one, passing away, leaving their families comfortably provided for, as the result of their own self-sacrifice and devotion to the principles of industry, economy, frugal- ity, thrift and integrity. He has never as- pired to public place or position, but has al- ways led an upright and honorable life, con-

tributed freely to the church and other evan- gelical agencies, and endeavored to perform the duties of a good citizen. On December 24, 1843, he married Lucinda H., daughter of Daniel and Eliza (Jacks) Schoonover, of Texas township, and a member of another of the pioneer families of Wayne County. The chil- dren were Aaron G., who carries on the whole- sale coal business in New York City ; Mary E., died in infancy ; Annette O., wife of John Wesley Hull, of Mount Pleasant; Calvin P., engaged in the coal business in Hoboken ; Daniel W., a physician practicing in New York, who died April 27, 1882; Adelia M., wife of William H. Cawrse, of Mount Pleas- ant ; William H., a lawyer by profession, who died June 19, 1881 ; Carrie E .; Susan A., wife of G. Ellison Peck, of Mount Pleasant ; War- ren E., Hattie May and John Jacob Perham.

PAUL MCAVOY.

Paul McAvoy was the first of the Irish settlers to locate in Mount Pleasant township. He was a native of County Down, Ireland, where he was born in the year 1799. His father was William McAvoy, a farmer and weaver by occupation, who never emigrated to this country. His children were Richard, who emigrated about 1812, and settled in Philadel- phia; Elizabeth, who married and remained in Ireland ; Sarah, who became the wife of a Mr. Lavery ; and Nancy, who married Hugh Mc- Graw, and who closed her days in Mount Pleasant; William, who also died in Mount Pleasant ; and Paul, the subject of this memoir. Mrs. McAvoy, the mother, came to the United States after the death of her husband, and is buried in Mount Pleasant.

Paul McAvoy learned the trade of a weaver with his father, and followed that occupation for a number of years in Ireland. In April, 1819, he landed in this country at Penobscot, Maine, and having reached New York by steamer, walked from that city to Philadelphia.

In December, 1819, he came to Mount Pleas- ant township, and settled where his son Rich- ard now resides. He erected a small house near the present residence of his son, and in a

WAYNE COUNTY.

665

wild and desolate region. His nearest neigh- bors were three miles distant.

The original tract for which he contracted comprised one hundred acres, and he cleared up nearly the whole of it prior to his death. On February 9, 1847, he purchased of Paul O'Neill sixty-eight acres adjoining. He was a Protes- tant in religion, and a consistent and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was an ardent supporter of the principles of

lives in Geneseo, Illinois; Christopher, who re- sides at Pleasant Mount, Pa. ; Paul, who died in 1862; William Henry, a prosperous farmer in Mount Pleasant; and Fanny A., who died in infancy. Richard married Ellen, daughter of Andrew McDermott, of Mount Pleasant, and has had fifteen children, of whom eight are liv- ing, namely : Paul, Walter, Frederick, Thomas, Fanny, Kate, Emma and Mary. William Henry married Maria, daughter of Samuel B.

Jacek Mi Away

the Democratic party, one of the hard-working and industrious pioneers of Mount Pleasant township, and very generally respected for his integrity and uprightness of character. He en- gaged in farming and lumbering throughout his life, and built the homestead residence in 1835. He married Susan, daughter of Alexander Rut- ledge, of Damascus township, and had six chil- dren, viz. : Richard, who occupies the home residence in Mount Pleasant; Alexander, who

Williams, of Buckingham township, and“has had seven children, viz. : Susan (wife of Henry Ehlefeldt, of Mount Pleasant), Carrie, Hattie, Henry, Effie, Victoria and Cecil Vane Mc- Avoy.

ORRIN LESTER.

Orrin Lester is a descendant of Phineas Les- ter, who settled in the year 1786 in the Wallen- paupack settlement, Pike County, Pa., and

643

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

there passed his life engaged in arduous toil, and in the performance of those trying duties which fell to the lot of the early settlers of that wild region. Among his children who are best re- membered are Andrew Lester, father of the subject of this sketch ; Orrin, who resided in Susquehauna County, Pa., near Montrose ; John, who removed to the West ; aud a daugliter, who married Captain Arnold, an old resident of

time owned by Porter Kennedy, he exchanged for one now owned by liis son, Orriu Lester, situate two miles east of Pleasant Mount village, and there, with his faithful wife, he lived and " begat sons and daughters " as follows : Eunice, who married Josiah Goodsell, of Connecticut, and left descendants there ; Betsy, who became the wife of Elisha Tooker, and now resides in Iowa ; Anna W., who married Rufus Tuttle,

Orim Lester Lester

Wayne County, and father of the late Judge | of Connecticut ; Asa A .; David K., who re- Phineas Arnold.

Andrew Lester was born at Canterbury, Conn., May 29, 1778. In January, 1803, he married Sallie, daughter of David Kennedy, and the following month removed to Mount Pleasant township, Wayne County, Pa., where he purchased one hundred acres of land, on which he built a log house and barn. He. cleared about forty acres of this tract and plant- ed a small orchard. This farm, at the present

sides in Crawford County, Wis .; Sarah M., who married Merrels Stephens, of Lebanon township, and has resided in Illinois for fifty years past ; Orrin, the subject of this memoir ; and Emeline, wife of Dr. Rodney Harmes, of Pleasant Mount.

To provide for so large a family, Andrew Lester and his wife were under the necessity of exercising industry and economy. It was neces- sary to clear and cultivate his land and to sub-

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WAYNE COUNTY.

stitute a substantial farm-house and barn in the place of the original rude structures. But, while not neglecting these home duties, he paid much attention to hunting, fishing and trapping, and among the pioneers of his locality he was noted for the possession of great physical strength, unconquerable determination and for his prowess as a hunter. The forests and streams had an irresistible charm for him, and many are the stories of his adventures that have been landed down. Deer were plenty and he often supplied his family with venison, and his chil- dren can yet remember of his leading wolves home which had been caught in his traps, which lie accomplished by tying their jaws together before releasing them.

From such hardy parentage sprang Orrin Lester, who was born in an old log house that stood on top of the hill near where his son, Franklin P. Lester, resides, October 13, 1817. He was early inured to a life of toil and hard- ship, and found little opportunity to derive an education at the neighboring district school. At the age of eighteen he learned the trade of axe manufacturing with David Starks, of Pleas- ant Mount, and followed that business for nearly ten years. On November 18, 1841, he married Czrena, daughter of John and Lydia (Yale) Bigelow, and soon after bought a tract of land comprising seventy acres, now owned by Thomas O'Neill, in the eastern part of Mount Pleasant township. Having erected a log house thereon, and cleared off a portion of the land, he ex- changed it with his brother David for the old homestead property, upon which he located May 1, 1854, his father and mother living with him until their respective deaths. Upon this place Mr. Lester has spent the greater portion of his active life, engaged in farming and in the various speculations in wool and stock incident to his career. In 1877 he purchased the Jona- than Wilbur farm, adjoining his homestead farın, containing about one hundred and twenty- six acres, and he now resides in the mansion- house located thereon. He has always been ac- tive in politics, and ardently supported the principles and doctrines of the Democratic party. He has held all the important offices of his township, including supervisor, and in 1866 was

elected treasurer of Wayne County by a ma- jority of seven hundred and thirty-one votes over his opponent, Henry W. Igler. August 3, 1842, lie was commissioned by Governor David R. Porter captain of the Tenth Company, Seven- tieth Regiment in the Third Brigade and Eighth Division of the State Militia, em bracing the counties of Northumberland, Union, Colum- bia, Luzerne, Susquehanna and Wayne. He is one of the representative old residents of Mount Pleasant township, and, though now confined to a sedentary life by rheumatism, has been one of the most powerful and athletic men of his time, and, like his father, an ardent and success- ful hunter.

Of his four children, John died September 20, 1861, aged nineteen years ; Catharine Em- eline is the wife of Nathan R. Kennedy, of Pleasant Mount; Orrin P. died January 22, 1880, in his thirtieth year ; and Franklin P. is farming on the old homestead.

CHAPTER XXIV.

OREGON TOWNSHIP.

IN 1846 the inhabitants of the upper portion of Berlin township presented a petition to the Court of Quarter Sessions, setting forth that, because of the location of the election-house and the condition of the roads, they were subject to great incon- venience in the exercise of their rights of citi- zenship; they asked, therefore, that a new town- ship be erected. The court constituted Zara W. Arnold, Abiram Winton and Thomas I. Hub- bell a committee to examine the boundaries of the proposed township, and report at the next session. On February 10, 1847, this commit- tee filed a report, which was finally confirmed on the 12th day of the succeeding May. It divided the townships by a line beginning at the line of Dyberry and Texas townships, and extending along the line of lots Nos. 58, 59, 60 and 61 on the warrantce map of the county. Oregon is bounded north by Lebanon, east by Damascus, south by Berlin and west by Dy- berry.

The township thus erccted is one of the small-

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

est in the county, ranking in size witlı Palmyra, Texas and Cherry Ridge, and, compared with the others, its proportional increase in popula- tion has been small. The assessment list for 1847, the first taken after the erection of the township, contained seventy-seven taxables, while that for the year 1885 shows only one hundred and seventy-five.

The following were listed as taxables in Ore- gon in 1848 :

David Aigans.

Elijah Hooker.

Edward Aigans.

Zenas Hamlin.

James Arthur.

Charles Hole.

Daniel Brown.

Zenas Hole.

Cornelius Brünig.

Daniel Hole.

George Braning.

Jonas Kimbell.

John Bines.

James Lovelass.

Richard Brown.

Joseph May.

George W. Brown.

William Miller.

Lucis Brouton.

Stephen Marsh.

Thomas Boucher.

Edward Murray.

Edward Budd.

Hugh McCrunnels.

Almernor Beard.

James McCrunnels.

William Bryant.

Benj'n. McCrunnels.

James Bryant.

Thomas Harris.

Thomas Bryant.

Charles Nelson.

Thomas Challacomb.

Samuel Oliver.

Walker Chubb.

Cyrus Clark.

William Oliver. James Oliver. John Pulis.

Peter Davey.

John Davey.

Peter Pulis.

Joseph Doney.

Henry Pulis.

Samuel Dodge.

James Piper.

John Elison.

John Pride.

Hartland Fuller.

George D. Smith.

Trooman Goodenough.

Simon Schoonover.

Andrew Hicks.

Isaac Smith.

Charles Hicks.

John Saire.

John Hicks.

Thomas Shuman.

Robert Hicks.

William Scambler.

John Hartman.

Henry Scambler.

Charles Hartman.

John Smith.

Ferris Hartman.

Frederick Smith.

Thomas Holt.

Charles Smith.

William Hoyl.

John Sharp.

Joseph Honey.

Thomas Woodley.

Jacob Hole.

Richard Woodley.

Pry Hole.

Henry Watts.

James Youngs.

Immigration in Oregon has been very limited, and the present inhabitants are descended mainly from a few settlers who cleared homes for them- selves before the excision from Berlin took place. The surface of the township is a succes-

sion of undulating hills that roll upward to- ward the highlands to the north, but are broken by the wood-crowned ridges which limit the water-sheds of several picturesque brooks. Very little of the first growth timber remains, and the soil, though quite stony, is fertile for a wide range of products. A number of ponds dot the hills, and good water is everywhere abundant, so that the farms are well adapted to cattle-raising and wool-growing ; both occupa- tions are succeeding the lumbering, which was a prominent feature of the township's early his- tory.

Oregon is all within the drainage basin of the Lackawaxen, and its streams have their origin in the township limits. Carley Brook rises near the northern boundary, and flows southwest diagonally through to join the Lack- awaxen at Traceyville, in Texas. Big Brook rises in the northwestern corner and flows into Dyberry, and Holbert Brook waters the south- eastern corner before flowing into Texas. Day, Spruce, Huck, Mud, Lovelass, Smith, Upper and Lower Wilcox Ponds lie amid its hills.

EARLY SETTLERS .- The earliest settlers in what is now Oregon were pioneers from Dyberry and the mother township. Full of vigor and courage, they went into what was then a wilder- ness infested with bears and wolves, made little clearings, and attempted to wrest a living from the virgin soil. The absence of roads and the desolation of the country made the privations greater than those in the adjacent townships, and the earliest settlers returned from whence they came. The foremost pioneer of whom there remains a record was Lester Adams, who came from Berlin and made a clearing in what is known as Smith Hill. His log house stood near the road that passes the Smith Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of his younger children was born there. After a few years he went back to what remained Berlin, and a further account of him will be found in the history of that township.

Hugh McCrunnels, accompanied by his wife, nee Mary Williams, came from Ten Mile Run, on the Delaware, and settled on what was known as the "Gate Road," where he cleared three farms. Hehad two sons-Benjamin, who

Edward Boucher.

Thomas Marsh.

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WAYNE COUNTY.

lives at Forest City, Lackawanna County, and James. The latter lived on one of the farms for a number of years, and then removed with his family to Iowa, where he died a decade ago.

Louis Hoel was a near neighbor of Mr. MeCrunnels, and settled near the line of Dyberry, from which township he came. His father had been a pioneer, and Mr. Hoel, though without wife or companions, went into the woods with his axe and gun to make him- self a home. At that time deer were plenty, and an occasional elk lifted his spreading antlers over the laurel and rhododendron. Wolves barked through the forest and rain fell from the night clouds on his unsheltered head. He commenced his clearing late in the summer, but when the snow came he was ready for the tedious winter. His log hut bore testimony to the energy with which he had worked, though it lacked a chimney. On the clay floor of his cabin he improvised a fireplace of earth and stones, and the smoke from his primitive hearth passed out through a hole in the roof. During that and several succeeding winters he subsisted ou game, until the fields he had wrested from the forest brought him ease and plenty. Mr. Hocl is the oldest of the surviving early settlers, and lives with Mr. William Bait, in Dyberry township.

The farm now occupied by Frank Pulis was settled by his father, Henry Pulis, in the spring of 1828. Henry was a son of Conrad Pulis, one of the founders of Bethany, and had secured a tract of one hundred and fifty acres. He had previously married Caroline Whitmore, of Scott. They had nine children,- Margaret, wife of Lucian Goodenough; Calvin, who went South and died ; Harriet, wife of Frederick Smith ; Sarah, wife of George Chase; Samantha, wife of S. E. Bryant ; Olive, wife of Lucien Hauton ; Amanda, wife of Herman Faatz; Frank and Nellie.

countrymen followed his example. In a short time a small community, from which the de- scendants have gone out into the adjacent town- ships, was established in a radius of a mile or two. Mr. Piper left one son, Richard, who lo- cated on the road to Beach Pond, and afterward, in 1851, was drowned at White Mills. Mrs. Jonas Mills is a daughter of James Piper, and lives at the homestead, which is one of the old- est frame houses in the settlement.

Soon after this James Oliver, a Cornishman, came with his family and settled near the Piper place. He had several children, and two of his sons, George and William, reside on the tract which he cleared. Among those who were in- fluenced to leave " Merrie England " by the success that attended Mr. Piper's enterprise were Samuel Penwarden, James Challacomb and Thomas Woodley. Mr. Challacomb was the first to arrive, and remained in the settlement for some time, but finally went West. Few of his descendants remain in this section. Thomas Woodley, accompanied by his wife, his parents, Richard and Ann, a brother Richard, William Wicks and Edmund Budd, left Cornwall, Eng- land, and landed in Quebec in 1832. The party came to Oregon via Lake Champlain and the canal from Rondout. Thomas went first to Seelyville, where he remained a few months, and then built a cabin near the site of his pres- ent residence at Smith Hill. He had six sons and daughters, most of whom are married and reside near the homestead.

Samuel Penwarden first settled near the Wood- leys. Although the houses were but a few rods apart, dense forest intervened, and there was little companionship. The immigrants had little money and few possessions, and the winter was drawing near. By dint of much toil Mr. Penwarden succeeded in getting his cabin com- pleted before his funds ran low, but his chimney remained unfinished and he went to work on a neighboring farm. While he was gone, in addi- tion to attending to the duties of the household, Mrs. Penwarden collected the material for the fire-place, and, assisted by her younger children, laid the chimney with soft clay, so that on his return her husband might have still greater evi-

The " English settlement," as the territory along the southeastern part of the township is called, was made during the year 1832, when James Piper arrived from Devonshire, England, bringing a wife and three children. He located near the Berlin line, in the eastern corner of the township, and the next year a number of his [ dence of her sacrifice and devotion. Of such

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 109

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