History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 135

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 135
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 135
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 135

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).

George Westfall.

Siłas Wells.

Corn. Middaugh, Sr. Williamas Middaugh. Samuel Mateer.

Abraham Wells.

Abraham Westfall.

James McKeen.

Simeon Westfall.

Henry Mestaugh.

David Westfall.

Edward Mott, Jr.

Ephliet Wood.

James McCarthy.

Joshua Wering.

Corn. Middaugh, Jr.

Jacob Westbrook.

Phillip Mackly.

John Bogart.

James McCarty.

Creser Bull.

Wm. McCarty, Sr.

George Hector, Sr.

Wm. McCarty, Jr.

George Hector, Jr

John McKeen.

Anthony Hector.

Jesse Mckean.

Joseph Lord.

Joseph Middaugh.

David Mead.

Thomas Newman.

Ira Newman.

ERECTION OF THE COUNTY .- The causes which led to the erection of Pike County have already been set forth (in Chapter I. of Wayne County), and we therefore present here without comment, that it would otherwise need, the act of the Legislature, which brought the county into existence, approved March 26, 1814.

" An ACT erecting part of Wayne County into a Separate County.

"SEC. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylva- nia, in general Assembly met, and it is hereby en- acted by the authorities of the same. That all that part of Wayne County lying South and east of a di- rect line from the lower end of Big Eddy, on Delaware river, to the mouth of Wallenpaupack Creek and thence up the same to the main forks thereof, thence up the South branch to where the most Southern branch crosses the North and South road, from thence due west to the line of Luzerne County, be and the same is hereby declared to be erected into a county, henceforth to be called Pike.

"SEC. II. And be it further enacted by the author- ity aforesaid, That the inhabitants of the said county of Pike, from and after the first day of October next, shall be entitled to and at all times thereafter, shall have all and singular, the courts, jurisdictions, offices, rights and privileges to which the inhabitants of the counties of other States are entitled by the constitu- tion and laws of this commonwealth, excepting that there shall be but two Courts of Common Pleas and general quarter sessions held in and for said county of Pike in each year.

"SEC. III. And be it further enacted by the author- ity aforesaid, That from and after the first Monday of October next the Courts of Common Pleas and gen- eral quarter sessions in and for the said county of Pike shall be opened and held at such house as may be designated by the Commissioners of said county

to be elected at the next general election in the town of Milford, in the county of Pike, until a Court-House shall be erected in and for said county, as hereinafter directed, and shall then be held at said Court- House.

"SEC. IV. And be it further enacted by the author. ity aforesaid, That no suit or prosecution which has been heretofore commenced, or which shall be com- menced at the Courts of the County of Wayne before the first Monday of October next, shall be delayed, discontinued or affected by this act, but the same shall be completed and carried into execution by the Sher- iff and Coroner of Wayne County, as if this act had not been passed.

"SEC. V. And be it further enacted by the author- ity aforesaid, That all taxes or arrears of taxes laid, or which have become due within the said county of Pike, before the passing of this act, and all sums of money due to this commonwealth for militia fines in the said county of Pike, sliall be collected and re- corded as if this act had not been passed.

" SEC. VI. And be it further enacted by the author- ity aforesaid, That it shall be the duty of the Com- missioners of the county of Wayne, on the second Monday of November next, to make out a statement exhibiting the amount of taxes levied before the pas- sage of this act, and not paid in, and the monies in the treasury, collected for taxes levied as aforesaid, and shall deduct from said amount all debts due from said county at this time, and after ascertaining the surplus funds, shall direct their treasurer to pay over to the treasurer of the county of Pike, when appoint- ed, one-half thereof, deducting therefrom the lawful expense of collecting the same : provided always, that if the said surplus shall not all at that time have been received into the treasury, the said treasurer shall make payment as afor said, only on such part as has been received, and shall thereafter render to the treas- urer of the county of Pike, within one year, a regular statement of all expenses for collecting, and pay over the one-half thereof, as aforesaid.

"SEC. VII. And be it further enacted by the au- thority aforesaid, That the sheriff, coroner and other officers of the county of Wayne, shall continue to ex- ercise the duties of their respective offices within the county of Pike, until similar officers shall be ap- pointed agreeably to law, within said county.

"SEC. IX. And be it further enacted, etc., That John K. Woodward be, and he is hereby authorized and required, to run and mark the division line be- tween the counties of Wayne and Pike, and shall, on the second Monday in September next, commence the said line at the lower end of Big Eddy, on Delaware river, and run thence according to the true intent and meaning of this act, or iu case of the death, re- moval or inability of the said John K. Woodward, then and in such case the vacancy so caused shall be supplied by the Commissioners of the county of Wayne and Pike, for which service he shall be paid at the

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rate of three dollars per diem, with the necessary ex- penses, out of the treasury of the county of Wayne.

"SEC. X. And be it further enacted, etc., That when the division line shall divide a township, the part of the township thus divided which shall remain in Wayne county shall be a township, and the part of the township thus divided which shall be in the county of Pike shall be a township, and each part shall retain its original name until the same shall be altered by the courts of general quarter sessions of the said counties respectively.

"SEC. XI. And be it further enacted, etc., That the several election districts which shall be in the county of Pike, which were erected before the passage of this act, be and the same are hereby erected into election districts for the county of Pike, and that the townships of Salem, Palmyra and Lackawaxen be and they are hereby erected into a separate election district, and the electors thereof shall hold their clec- tions at the house of Ephraim Kimble, in Palmyra township.

"SEC. XII. And be it further enacted, etc., That the inhabitants of the county of Wayne, and of the coun- ty of Pike, shall elect members of Congress and mem- bers of the legislature of this common wealth, and shall hold their elections in the same mode, under the same legislations, and make return in the same manner as is directed by the laws of this commonwealth, for con- ducting and making returns of the elections of the county of Wayne; provided always, that the returns from the several election districts in the county of Wayne shall, instead of being transmitted directly to Easton, as heretofore, be, on the Saturday next after such election, forwarded to the Seat of Justice of the County of Pike, there to be received by a person ap- pointed in the same manner and for the same purposes as is at the time of passing this act provided by law for transmitting election returns for the county of Wayne to the Court-House in the borough of Easton.

"SEC. XIII. And be it further enacted, etc., That the governor be and he is hereby authorized and re- quired, after the first day of June next ensuing, to appoint three discreet and disinterested persons, not resident in the counties of Northampton, Wayne or Lehigh, whose duty it shall be to fix upon a proper and convenient site for a Court-House, prison and county offices, within the aforesaid county of Pike, as near the centre thereof as circumstances will admit, having regard to convenience of roads, territory, pop- ulation and the aeeommodation of the people of the said county generally, and said persons, or a majority of them, having viewed the relative advantages of the several situations contemplated by the people, shall, on or before the first day of August next, by a written report under their hands, or a majority of them, certify, describe and limit the site or lot of land which . they shall have chosen for the purpose aforesaid, and shall transmit the said report to the governor of this

commonwealth, and the persons so, as aforesaid, ap- pointed shall each receive three dollars per diem for their services, out of the treasury of the county of Wayne; provided always, that before the commis- sioners shall proceed to perform the duties enjoyned on them by this act, they shall take an oath or affir- mation, before some judge or justice of the peace, . provided also, that if the inhabitants of the town of Milford and others shall, before the first day of June next, subscribe or pay in, or give sufficient surety of the payment thereof to the commissioners of the county of Wayne, a sum not less than fifteen hundred dollars for the use of the county of Pike, in aid of funds for erecting public buildings for the said county, then the centre square in the town of Milford shall be the site for the seat of justice, and in that case tlie commissioners aforesaid shall not be ap- pointed.

"SEC. XIV. And be it further enacted, etc., That the commissioners of the county of Pike, who shall be elected at the next general election, shall, within thirty days from and after such election, meet and make the necessary arrangements preparatory to the erection of a court-house, and to accommodate the courts until the said court-house can conveniently be crected, the commissioners aforesaid shall immedi- ately provide for that purpose a suitable and conve- nient house in the said town of Milford, and shall immediately proceed to erect a good and sufficient jail in the said town of Milford, and also provide suitable officers for the safe keeping of the records.

"SEC. XV. And be it further enacted, etc., That in order that the county of Wayne shall, as nearly as may be, bear one-half of the expense of erecting pub- lic buildings in the county of Pike equal to those at Bethany, the commissioners of the county of Wayne shall direct their treasurer to pay over to the treas- urer of the county of Pike, in four equal quarterly payments, the sum of one thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars.

"SEC. XVI. And be it further enacted, ctc., That the judges of the Supreme Court shall have like pow- ers, jurisdictions and authorities within the said county of Pike as by law they are vested with and entitled to have and exercise in other counties of this State, and the said county is hereby annexed to the eastern district of the Supreme Court.

"SEC. XVII. And be it further enacted, etc., That the county of Pike, after the 1st of October next, shall be and is hereby attached to and made a part of the eleventh judicial district, and after the present year the courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas in said district shall be held as follows, to wit .: . . . in the county of Pike on the third Mondays of Jan- uary, April, August and November.1

"SEC. XVIII. And be it further enacted, etc.,

1 The other counties of the old eleventh district were Luzerne, Wayne, Susquehanna, Bradford and Tioga.

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

That all the certioraries directed to, and appcals from the judgment of any justice of the peace of the said county, and all criminal prosecutions which may originate in the said county before test day hereinafter mentioned, shall be proceeded in as heretoforc in the courts of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions of the county of Wayne, and all process to issue from the courts of the said county of Pike, returnable to the first term in said county, shall bear test as of the first Monday in October next.

"SEC. XIX. And be it further enacted, ctc., That in all cases when it would be lawful for the sheriff, jailor or prison-keeper of the county of Pike to hold in close custody the body of any person in the com- mon jail of the county of Pikc, if such jail were at this time erected in and for said county of Pike, all such persons shall be delivered to and kept in close confinement by the sheriff, jailor or prison-keeper of the county of Wayne, .

. and the sheriff of Pike County shall be allowed out of the county stock of said county eight cents per mile as a full compen- sation for every criminal he may deliver to the jail of Wayne County, by virtue of this act on orders drawn by the commissioners of Pike County on the treasurer thereof.

"SEC. XX. And be it further cnacted, etc., That the sheriff or jailor of the county of Wayne shall re- ceive all prisoners as aforcsaid, and shall provide for them according to law, and shall be entitled to the fees for keeping them, . . which allowance shall be defrayed and paid by the commissioners of the county of Pike and out of the county stock.

" SEC. XXI. provided that the nineteenth and twentieth sections of the act should be limited in their operation to three years, or until the commnis- sioners of Pike should certify to the sheriff that a jail was in readiness for the reception of prisoners and approved of by the court and grand jury.

"SEC. XXII. enacted that it should be the duty of the commissioners of the county of Wayne to deliver to the commissioners of the county of Pike, when elected, all maps, charts, records and papers which may of right belong to the county of Pike or any office therein."

THE COURTS .-- The first court " in and for the county of Pike " was held in the house lat- terly occupied by Mrs. Lee, in a room of good size up-stairs, and the county offices were crowded into the same house. The earliest en- try that can be found upon the oldest book of records in existence is that of a court December 6, 1814, Associate Judges John Coolbaugh aud Daniel W. Dingman "being present." The case entered was that of James Wallace against John Barnes. The action was made return- able January 16, 1815. A transcript from a

justice's docket was entered, showing judgment for the plaintiff of one hundred and ninety- eight dollars.

At the January Term (1815) the first suit en- tered upon the docket was that of Samuel B. Stickney against William Halbert. Edward Mott, destined to be for many years a practi- tioner at the courts of Pike (and of whom a bi- ography is given elsewhere), appcared for the plaintiff, and John Cross for the defendant. The case was continued.

A number of eminent lawyers practiced in the court in after-years, and sketches of them will be found in the succeeding chapter.

The Pike County Court was, in many respects a peculiar one. Judge Daniel W. Dingman sat upon the bench as associate judge for a per- iod of twenty-six years, dating from the erection of the county, and his confrere, Associate Judge John Coolbaugh, held his exalted position ncarly as long. The latter was commonly ad- dressed by Dingman, both in private aud offi- cial capacity, by the slightly undignified nick- name of " Bub." Dingman was a very eccen- trie man, of large native intellect and great force of character, but uneducated. Pike County will never sce his like again. Hc bc- longed to an era that has passed away. Judge Dingman did not hesitate to appear on the bench in thic august courts of Pike in his shirt- sleeves and with bare feet. A volume might be written upon his peculiarities, his humor, his whimsicalities and the exhibition of his strength and shrewdness. Some of his decisions and rulings were, to say the least, unique in the annals of American jurisprudence. His action in the celebrated Smithfield election board pros- ecution case, which arose in 1836 from the al- leged fraudulent return of the vote for the lo- cation of Monroe County's seat of justice, was one of the most peculiar and characteristic.1 An often-told story, illustrative of his judicial method, which, as it is true, will bear repeti- tion, is that of the sentence which he once im- posed upon a vagabond negro, who had been imprisoned in the jail for some time on a charge of petit larceny. When he was brought into

1 It will be found in the Monroe County division of this . work.

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PIKE COUNTY.

the presence of the judiciary, in the old stone temple of justice, the court and bar, after con- sultation, requested Judge Dingman to dispose of the prisoner. The judge thereupon, looking severely at the culprit, said,-

" Nigger, stand up. You are charged and are guilty of the crime of larceny. You are a bad nigger. I know all about niggers. You ought to be hung, but the sentence of this court is that you be banished from the face of the earth. Go get off the face of the earth."

" Why massa," said the darkey, " how ken I git off de face of dis yere eartlı ?"

" You can go," said Dingman, "to Jersey. The sentence of this court is that you have fifteen minutes to get out of the county of Pike and into the State of New Jersey, and if you ever come back we will hang you."

Thereupon, it is traditionally asserted the offender ran to the bank of the Delaware and swam to the Jersey shore.

EARLY AFFAIRS OF THE COMMISSIONERS .-- The county commissioners first elected- Hezekiah Bingham, Cornelius Case and John Lattimore-held their initial meeting November 2, 1814, and after producing and filing their certificates and qualifications according to law, elected John Cross their clerk, at a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars per year, and Francis A. L. Smith, treasurer.

When they came to the consideration of the probable expenses of thic county for the ensuing year, the board resolved to levy a tax of half a cent upon the dollar on all taxable property in the county. They then proceeded to the ap- pointment of assessors in those townships, in which none had been elected according to law, viz. : in Palmyra, Moses Killam, Jr., with Erastus Kimble and Simeon Chapman as assis- tants; in Lackawaxen, John Crissman, with Mordecai Roberts and Jeremiah Barnes, assist- ants ; in Upper Smithfield, Edward Mott, Jr., with Jacob Quick and George Westfall, assist- ants; in Delaware, Solomon Westbrook Jr., with Cooper Jagger and Everett Hornbcek, assistants ; Middle Smithfield, Alexander Biles, with Daniel Jaynes and Andrew Eighlenbergh, as assistants.

At their meeting of November 23, 1814,

the commissioners, with the assessors, under the provisions of the act passed by the Assembly April 11, 1799, made the following schedule of valuations for the purposes of taxation :

"First quality of improved land, per acre ... $20.00 Second quality of improved land, per acre 12.00

All other improved land, per acre 5.00

Unimproved land on seated tracts to be assessed, per acre, at the discretion of the assessors and assistants.

Unseated lands in the 'barrens ' to aver- age, per acre .. .50

Unseated lands in the 'beech' to average, per acre. 1.50

Houses, grist-mills, saw-mills, distilleries,

tan-yards, ferries, manufactories of all kinds to be assessed at the discretion of the respective assessors and assist- ants.

All negro and mulatto slaves, per head .... 40.00 All middling horses to be valued each one at .. 40.00

Oxen, per head, middling. 25.00

Cows of milking size, per head. 12.00

Judges of the court, each one. 100.00

Prothonotary, etc .. 200.00

Sheriff. 100.00

Attorneys-at-law. 100.00

Justices of the peace, cach one. 25.00

Treasurer of the county 100.00

Physicians and surgeons, cach one who practices. 100.00

Carpenters and joiners, shoemakers, ma- sons and bricklayers, tailors, black-

smiths, glass-blowers, coopers, gun- smiths, sawyers, weavers, each one at .. Tavern-keepers to be assessed at the dis- cretion of the assessors.

20.00

Single men above the age of twenty-one ycars, each one. 100.00

Deputy and other surveyors .. 100.00"

The first improvement which there is any record of the commissioners making or causing to be made was the building of a bridge over Vandermark Creek, the contract for which was let August 23, 1816, to Samuel Churchill.

On October 5, 1817, the commissioners-Cor- nelius Cox, Matthew Winans and William Nyce -- met and proceeded to Bethany-the county- scat of Wayne, where they remained until the 10th to settle with the commissioners of that county the affairs growing out of the division in 1814. They reported a balance due Pike by Wayne County of $640.61, " besides the equal

836

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

half of moneys which may hereafter be col- lected on what is termed doubtful debts." 1

It appears that the commissioner's office was for a period during the early days of Pike a resort for those who would indulge in wine and wassail and ungodly glee. In 1821 an attempt was made to correct this abuse, for on January 4th of that year, the same day that Jesse Olm- stead was appointed clerk, the commissioners deemed it necessary to pass the following reso- lution :

" Resolved, That the elerk, for the time being, shall prohibit all Gambling, Drinking (illegible- probably "earousing"), ete., in the commissioners' office, but in all respeets to keep the same in good order."

A second resolution gives a hint as to who were the persons in part responsible for the sin that had crept into the office. It reads :

" Resolved, That the said office shall not be kept as an attorney's office, excepting on business for the county."

PUBLIC BUILDINGS .-- As the act creating the county provided that Milford could only be the county-seat on condition of the payment of at least fifteen hundred dollars by her people towards the erection of public buildings, they went immediately to work and raised that sum. 2

The work of erecting the court-house was begun in 1814 and the stone building still standing and used as a jail was completed in 1815. It was substantially constructed of native boulders hewn square on the outer side, and the thoroughness with which its walls were laid puts to shame much more recent workman- ship. The contractors were Dan. Dimmick, Jacob Quick and Samuch Anderson. At first there was no bell upon the court-house, and when the judges and lawyers and persons in- terrested were to be summoned, the sheriff mounted the cupola and blew most piercing blasts upon a huge tin horn. This was super- seded by a huge triangle, upon which the sheriff or a tipstaff dealt resounding blows that were not unmusical, and this, in turn, gave way in

1844 or 1845 to the bell which for many years announced at proper seasons that justice was about to be judicially administered.

This building served as court-house and jail until 1873, when the present court-house was constructed, and the county offices were within its walls until 1851, when a small brick build- ing was erected in front of the site occupied by the present court-house. This was built under contract by George P. Heller. It served its purpose until after the completion of the court- house and was sold in 1874 to John Gaillard, who subsequently sold to H. B. Wells. It was then removed.

PIKE COUNTY COURT-HOUSE.

The present handsome brick court-house, con- taining all of the county offices and a commo- dious court-room, was built in the years 1872-73, the first action being taken at the February and September Sessions of court in 1871.

The contract for the foundations was let to S. S. Van Auken, but afterwards rescinded and the work was done by the commissioners and sub-contractors.

The contract for building was let March 2, 1872, to A. D. Brown, for $26,096. He was afterwards allowed considerable sums for extra work. The cost of this edifice as completed has been, after careful computation by compe- tent persons, fixed at about $45,000.

The people of Milford raised about $1000,

1 See the chapter on Civil History of Wayne County. 2For a fuller account of this matter and the part borne by Wayne, see chapter on Civil History of that county.

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PIKE COUNTY.

purchased two town lots adjoining the public square and donated them to the county as a proper site for the building.

EFFORT TO REMOVE COUNTY-SEAT .-- The building of the new court-house was violently opposed in various ways. The project afforded an opportunity for the friends of Blooming Grove to inaugurate a movement in favor of making that place the county-seat, and a bill authorizing an clection to be held relative to such a change and the erection of new county buildings was introduced in the Assembly in the session of 1871-72. A petition urging the passage of the act was signed by at least seven hundred residents of the county, though it was alleged many of the signers appended their names under the misapprehension that the purpose of the act was simply to put a stop to the erection of the new court-house. As a matter of general interest, the act is herc re- produced :

"AN ACT authorizing an election to be held in the County of Pike relative to a change of the County- seat of said County and the erection of new county buildings :

" Whereas, Great dissatisfaction exists in regard to the present location of the county-seat of Pike County, and

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 135

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