History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 138

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 138
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 138
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 138


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).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182 | Part 183 | Part 184 | Part 185 | Part 186 | Part 187 | Part 188 | Part 189 | Part 190 | Part 191 | Part 192 | Part 193 | Part 194 | Part 195 | Part 196 | Part 197 | Part 198 | Part 199 | Part 200 | Part 201 | Part 202 | Part 203 | Part 204 | Part 205 | Part 206 | Part 207 | Part 208


David Canfield.


Janson Cole.


John Cortright, Jr.


Wesley C. Cron.


Peter Cron, wounded and captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


James P. Crone.


Cornelius Case, disch. on surg. certif. April 13, 1863. Isaac S. Decker.


849


PIKE COUNTY.


George M. Decker. Benjamin Degroat.


D. W. J. Dingman, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863. Adonijah B. Drake. Seley S. Drake.


William F. Fulkerson, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Charles L. Frank, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1,1863. Nelson Garris. ~ Christian Grim.


Conrad Happ. Edward R. Hazen.


John Henry.


Nicholas Hess.


Valentine Hipsman, wounded, with loss of arm, at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Michael Hissam, wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863.


Rush K. Kellam, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Robert A. Kayser, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Jonas Kettle. John Kleinstuber.


Levi Labar.


Levi Losey, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863. Casper Madden.


Enos B. Mapes.


Peter Mager.


Abraham Masker, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Warren Masker, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Mordecai M. Mott.


James W. Morrison, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Samuel McCormick, died at Philadelphia, Pa., August 3, 1863.


Charles M. Carter, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


James Nyce, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863. John L. Pearson, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863. Burnham K. Pellet. Josiah Perry.


Michael B. Pitney.


George W. Parr, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Nelson Reaser, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863.


Francis Rolle. Silas Rosencrance. Randall D. Sayre. Charles D. Schmalzler. Reuben Scig. Gilbert Shaffer. Edward Stidd.


84


Isaac Shearer.


Jacob C. Van Gorden, disch. on surg. certif. Feb. 25, 1863.


Amos Van Gorden. William M. Watson.


Patrick White.


Ziba B. Williams.


George G. Worzle.


Henry P. Worzle.


Joseph Zeimer, died at Belle Plain, Va., April 1, 1863.


In addition to this company, many men went from Pike County in small squads, some in Pennsylvania regiments, others in those organ- ized in New Jersey, and still others in New York organizations. Of many of them it is impossible to trace or obtain any information. The names of a considerable number of these scattering men, however, in the Thirty-fifth, Forty-fifth, Sixty-seventh, One Hundred and Forty-second and One Hundred and Seventy- ninth Pennsylvania Regiments have been pro- cured and are here given :


THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT (SIXTH RESERVES).


Company C.


John S. Reed, private, must. in May 13, 1861 ; killed at South Mountain Sept. 14, 1862.


FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT. Company A.


Peter Roach, drafted; must. in Nov. 12, 1864; must. out with company July 17, 1865.


Company D.


Daniel V. Drake, drafted; must. in Nov. 12, 1864 ; disch. March 27, 1865, by order of War Dept.


Conrad Gumble, drafted; must. in Sept. 22, 1864; disch. by S. O. June 7, 1865.


Josiah Hinzey, substitute, must. in Dec. 15, 1864; must. out with company July 17, 1865.


Milo S. Hobbs, drafted; must. in Nov. 11, 1864; must. out with company July 17, 1865.


Daniel W. King, drafted; must. in Nov. 11, 1864; must. out with company July 17, 1865.


Orlando Kindred, substitute, must. in Dec. 16, 1864 ; must. out with company July 17, 1865.


William L. Marcy, drafted ; must. in Nov. 11, 1864; must. out with company July 11, 1865.


Robert M. Martin, drafted ; must. in Nov. 12, 1864; died June 16, 1865; buried at Alexandria, Va .; grave 3235.


William M. Watson, drafted ; must. in Nov. 12, 1864; must. out with company July 17, 1865.


Company I.


Dwight Blackmore, drafted ; must. in Sept. 22, 1864; disch. by S. O. June 7, 1865.


850


WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.


Theodore Halter, drafted; must. in Sept. 22, 1864; disch. by S. O. June 7, 1865.


SIXTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.


Company C. (Mustered out July 14, 1865.)


James E. Eldred, 2d lieut., must. in Nov. 15, 1861 ; pro. from sergt. Co. I Jan. 4, 1862; died at Annapolis, Md., June 17, 1862.


Morris B. Van Auken, 2d lieut., must. in Nov. 23, 1861 ; pro. from 1st sergt. June 28, 1865 ; must. out with company ; vet.


Francis R. Kellam, sergt., must. in Nov. 25, 1861; died at Annapolis, Md., Sept. 10, 1862.


A. C. Rosencrance, sergt., must. in Nov. 4, 1861. Francis S. Roys, sergt., must. in Nov. 25, 1861 ; must. out Nov. 24, 1864, exp. of term.


David B. Swezey, corp., must. in Nov. 14, 1861; disch. on surg. certif. Dec. 28, 1864; vet.


Privates.


David Kelly, must. in Nov. 29, 1861; must. out Dec. 2, 1864, exp. of term.


Dese Knapp, must. in Nov. 14, 1861 ; must. out Nov. 24, 1864, exp. of term.


Francis R. Killam, must. in Nov. 25, 1861; not on muster-out roll.


Isaac Puderbaugh, must. in Nov. 4, 1861.


George M. Roys, must. in Jan. 4, 1862; died Dec. 2, 1863, of wounds received in action. William H. Russell, must. in Nov. 15, 1861; killed by guerrillas May 25, 1863, near Winchester, Va. John C. Thomas, must. in Nov. 25, 1861; must. out Nov. 24, 1864, exp. of term.


Bratton B. West, must. in Nov. 4, 1861; killed at Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864; vet.


George Canfield, must. in Nov. 14, 1861; killed at Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864.


Charles W. Canfield, must. in Nov. 14, 1861; died at Annapolis, Md., Sept. 11, 1862.


Edward R. Campfield, must. in Dec. 12, 1861 ; must. out Dec. 31, 1864.


William T. L. Houtig, must. in March 2, 1862 ; must. out with company July 14, 1865.


John J. Quick, must. in Nov. 4, 1861. John Kilsby.


ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SECOND REGIMENT. Company G.


George Le Bar, 2d lieut., must. in Aug. 31, 1862; disch. by S. O. Oct. 24, 1862.


Amzi Le Bar, 1st lieut. must. in Aug. 31, 1862; disch. on surg. certif. July 1, 1863.


Peter F. Wagner, corp., must. in Aug. 31, 1862; pro. to corp. Oct. 31, 1864; must. out with company May 29, 1865.


Henry Palmer, corp., must. in Aug. 31, 1862 ; pro. to corp. May 25, 1863; wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863; trans. to 3d Co., 2d Bat., V. R. C., date unknown; disch. Aug. 16, 1865.


Matthew G. Allegar, corp., must. in Ang. 31, 1862 ; pro. to corp. May 25, 1863; died Aug. 6th, of wounds rec'd at Gettysburg July 1, 1863.


James Ferguson, corp., must. in Ang. 31, 1862; died at Washington, D. C., June 23, 1863, of wounds rec'd at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862.


N. S. Van Auken, corp., must. in Aug. 31, 1862; died at Brook's Station, Va., Nov. 25, 1862.


Oliver Pitney, corp., must. in Aug. 31, 1862.


Privates.


Charles Bensley, must. in Aug. 31, 1862; died at Washington, D. C., Jan. 12, 1863; buried in Mil. Asy. Cem.


Daniel Countryman, must. in Aug. 31, 1862; trans. to 75th 2d Bat. V. R. C., Sept. 23, 1864 ; disch. by G. O. June 28, 1865.


Morris H. Layton, must. in Aug. 31, 1862; trans. to Vet. Res. Corps, date unknown.


Levi La Bar, must. in March 16, 1864; trans. to 190th Regt. P. V. May 29, 1865.


Linford La Bar, must. in Aug. 31, 1862; killed at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862.


Joseph Nuttall, must. in Aug. 31, 1862; captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1, 1863 ; wounded at Five Forks, Va., April 1, 1865 ; must. out with com- pany May 29, 1865.


Moscs D. Van Auken, must. in Aug. 31, 1862 ; must. out with company May 29, 1865.


ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-NINTH REGIMENT, COMPANY B .- A portion of this company was from Pike County. The regi- ment was drafted militia, and served nine months. The men were mustered in Novem- ber 5, 1862, and, except where otherwise indi- cated, were mustered out at the expiration of their term of service, July 27, 1863.


Officers.


John B. Frazier, captain.


Alfred S. Dingman, 1st lieut.


Charles L. Heller, 2d lieut.


Thomas A. Heller, 1st sergt., disch. on surg. certif. Nov. 17, 1862.


H. L. Swartwood, sergt.


John Lattimore, sergt.


John J. Depue, sergt.


William E. Sigler, sergt.


D. D. Rosencrans, sergt., trans. to Co. M, 163d Regt. P. V., Nov. 15, 1862.


Palmer Depue, corp.


John Armstrong, corp. John McCarty, corp., disch. Nov. 24, 1862.


Lawrence Andrews, musician. Privates.


George W. Benson.


Darin Blackmore, trans. to Co. M, 163d Regt. P. V., Nov. 20, 1862.


851


PIKE COUNTY.


Jesse Crane.


Moses R. Carlton, disch. by S. O. Nov. 20, 1862. Samuel J. Carhuff.


James M. Depue.


James H. Depue, trans. to Co. M, 163d Regt. P. V., Nov. 23, 1862.


Samuel E. Filley.


Jacob Finger, disch. by S. O. Nov. 27, 1862. William Gannon.


Wesley Greening.


John Greening.


Jesse E. Gunn. Isaac Heater.


George Heater.


Anthony Heater, trans. to Co. M, 163d Regt. P. V., Nov. 17, 1862.


Joseph Holbert, died at Yorktown, Va., April 27, 1863.


David S. Jagger. John Klear. Solomon S. Labar. Levi Lord.


Samuel Lambert. Edward Loreaux.


John W. Litts, trans. to Co. M, 163d Regt. P. V., Nov. 13, 1862.


.


Josiah McKane.


James H. McCarty, disch. by S. O. Nov. 19, 1862. Benjamin Posteus.


John Puderbaugh, trans. Nov. 19, 1862, organiza- tion unknown.


George W. Quick. Charles Quinn. Aaron Runion. Charles Titman.


A. J. Vaninwegen. Isaac Watson. James Walker.


CHAPTER IV.


RAILROADS- . EFFORTS TO CONSTRUCT THEM -ADVANTAGES OFFERED.


IT was a writer on the natural history of Ire- land who, under the conspicuous caption Snakes of Ireland, wrote a chapter consisting solely of the declaration "There are no snakes in Ireland." So it may be said of the railroads of Pike County -there are no railroads in Pike County-ex- cepting, of course, the Honesdale Branch of the Erie, which cuts off a northern corner, but in no adequate manner serves the people of the coun- ty.


Nevertheless, it will prove interesting to ex- amine briefly the advantages which the county offers for the building of a railroad and to re- view the several projects for providing one which have proved futile, it is true, but may at least afford some suggestion of the final solution of the problem.


The valley of the Delaware River from the Water Gap to Port Jervis affords to the en- gineering eye a plane upon which some day, sooner or later, the iron horse will draw with- out breakage of bulk the wealth of the coal fields of Central Pennsylvania to the manufac- tories of the New England States ; returning with the products of the loom, it will distribute the same on their way to the far West. First, because it is the most direct and therefore short- est air line between the East and West, and secondly because the descent from Port Jer- vis, Orange County, New York, on the east, to Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pa., on the west, is only one hundred and twenty-seven feet, or three feet per mile of the forty-three miles to be traversed in closing the gap between the New York, Lake Erie and Western Rail- road, with its eastern connections, and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and other coal roads running into Stroudsburg.


Again, the wealth of " blue-stone," as it is now known in the market, of which there is an inexhaustible supply in Pike County along the Delaware River, will be a further source of profit to the carrying trade of such a railroad.


Professor J. P. Lesley, State geologist, in his report of 1881, says : " The whole Catskill formation measures 3430 feet in northern and eastern Pike as exposed in the cliffs and slopes of the long canal-like gorges of the Paupack and Delaware." "The flagstone belt is very broad and crosses the county."


Where accessible to the Erie Railroad, quar- ries have been operated and on an average fifty car-loads are shipped weekly to New York City alone. Should a railroad be opened up the length of the Delaware River from Strouds- burg to Port Jervis, immense quarrying interests would start into being and the traffic in blue stone become a matter of much moment to the railroads.


852


WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.


Blue-stone flagging, worth to-day in Phila- delphia from thirty-five to fifty cents per square foot, is worth, on the banks of the Delaware River at Milford ten cents per square foot. All the way up the Delaware River, on the Jersey side, smoke can be seen day and night issuing from the many lime-kilns dotting the hillsides, hardly a farm being without its own kiln, lime- stone of excellent quality cropping out all along the river.


The abutments of the wagon and foot-bridge crossing the Delaware River a mile below Mil- ford, quarried on the Jersey bank, are a witness to the quality of the stone.


The many mountain streams emptying into the Delaware River for the whole length of these forty miles will afford in the future most valuable water-power for manufactories when once a railroad opens up this county to marts of commerce.


The Paupack stream, on the northern border of Pike County, has already been utilized by the Lambert Silk Company, who have impos- ing mills and a water-power of the greatest advantage.


This stream is only a sample of the many in the county plunging over cascades from five to sixty feet high, until they accomplish a descent of two hundred and sixty feet in a distance of only one mile.


The next stream flowing into the Delaware, the Blooming Grove, rushes along, making fre- quent cascades over its rocky bed, falling at the rate of one hundred feet per mile. The Shohola descends at a very rapid rate, falling five hun- dred and fifty feet in five miles.


Next, the Sawkill enters the Delaware at Milford, rising in the Sawkill Pond, some ten miles back, with a fall of one hundred and fifty fcet to the mile. From a score of others on down the valley, which we will not minutely describe, unlimited power can be obtained, and in the near future will be utilized for manufac- turing purposes.


The passenger traffic of our ideal railroad will include, beside those who will travel on it as a through line, the many summer tourists who now visit this wild and rugged county in search of health and recreation.


Under the influence of these many advan- ages by the lumber interest and others, as far back as the year 1848 a charter was sought and obtained from the Legislature of Pennsylvania to build a railroad from Milford to Port Jervis.


The breaking of ground for this early enter- prise has been followed up to the present time by plots and counter-plots, by efforts of igno- rant and shrewd railroad builders and specu- lators and by internal dissensions of the boards of directors of the various companies chartered, etc., until it would seem almost a miracle to the inhabitants of Pike County were the project to be taken hold of in earnest by honest men and the gap between the railroads, east and west, now existing, be filled up by the extension of some one of the present lines so as to reach the head- waters of the Delaware River.


By the original route of the New York and Erie Railway, that road was to cross the Dela- ware into Pennsylvania by a bridge opposite Port Jervis to a little hamlet on the Pennsyl- vania side known as Matamoras, a town now of some fifteen hundred inhabitants.


In consideration of an annual payment of ten thousand dollars to the State of Pennsyl- vania, the right to enter the State at that point was granted the company by the Legislature. Finding their proposed route was im practicable, the New York and Eric applied to the Legisla- ture of Pennsylvania for the privilege of chang- ing the place of entrance of the road into the State from Matamoras to Sawmill Rift, farther up the river. This change was disastrous to the projected Milford and Port Jervis Railroad, as it depended upon the bridge to be built by the Erie to cross the Delaware River. But the Erie, in consideration of the change, agreed to construct a wagon and railroad bridge across the Delaware at Matamoras and to maintain the same forever. Failure to keep a bridge across the river at the point named rendered the company liable to a forfeiture of all its rights in Pennsylvania.


The bridge was built in the year 1852. Con- flicting interests and jarring directors delayed the building of the Milford and Port Jervis Railroad, the charter allowing twenty-five years for building, etc.


853


PIKE COUNTY.


Early in 1870, however, measures were taken looking to an early completion of the road, but in March the bridge was wrecked and destroyed in a terrible gale.


As under the act allowing the Erie Railroad a change of entrance to the State, that company was bound to maintain this bridge, it was supposed it would be speedily rebuilt.


Precious time was lost, and when at last an effort was made to compel the Erie to rebuild the bridge it was found that a company, called the Lamonte Mining and Railroad Company, had been incorporated by an act of the Legis- lature of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of mining in Pike County, and was authorized to purchase all the right, title and franchise of any other company in all bridges, etc., in the county. To this company the Erie Railroad had sold all its rights pertaining to the bridge in question, and claimed that the responsibility of maintaining it hereafter lay with the Lamonte Mining Company.


It was found that the names of the incorpor- ators of the Lamonte Mining and Railroad Company were fictitious, and no information could be obtained of who introduced the bill or anything in regard to it.


In the same year the Legislature of Penn- sylvania appropriated to the Milford and Mata- moras and Port Jervis Railroad for ninety-nine years the ten thousand dollar annual payment made to the State by the Erie Railroad.


At last another effort was made to build the long-talked-of first ten miles of the railroad which would in the future open up the valley, trusting that time, etc., would remedy the lost bridge, etc.


But internal dissensions in the board of directors, and plots of scheming men, rendered all efforts futile. The original stock- holders of the road were pushed aside, and the brother of the member of Assembly from this district, when all the nefarious legislative work was accomplished, was elected president of the road, and was henceforth to look after the State appropriation. The matter was laid before the State authorities by the original stockholders, and before long the act of appro- priation was repealed.


Unfortunately, this had its bad effect upon the genuine and honest promoters of the rail- road, and the bridge matter had in the mean- time undergone further changes.


An incorporated company of New York State, entitled the Barret Bridge Company, had purchased of the Lamonte Mining Com- pany, and a bridge was speedily promised.


Work was immediately begun, and travelers up the Delaware River Valley and inhabitants of the county were gladdened by the sight of the actual work being prosecuted. But lo ! in the kaleidoscopic changes which had occurred one could hardly recognize any trace of the former valuable bridge liabilities and fran- chises. In this instance the soul and living spirit of the matter had departed ; nothing was left but what was of value to a "soulless corporation."


The Barret Bridge Company, under its New York charter, built only a wagon bridge, and has since levied a heavy toll upon all passen- gers. Stock of this bridge is all in the hands of a few Port Jervis capitalists, and pays an enormous dividend.


In the year 1873, the advantages of the plane of the Delaware River for a railroad bed again aroused attention, and a company, known as the Lehigh and Eastern Railroad Company, having a charter for a railroad from Hazelton, Pa., to the Delaware River, at Port Jervis, began operations.


Again a survey was made, ground was broken, fences torn down, etc., and a railroad up the valley was an assured fact; but when the matter of the old bridge at Matamoras, which the Erie should have kept and main- tained, was examined, and it was discovered that Credit Mobilier methods were to be used in the construction of the road, the whole matter assumed a new aspect, and the work was abandoned in the hopeless depths of rascality.


Legislative enactments and inquiries, Erie opposition, local dissensions and rascality, etc., wore out the patience of stockholders, and all that remains of the much-talked-of project is, here and there along the line, surveyors' stakes, a culvert or two and graded stretches.


Some three or four years later an abortive


854


WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.


attempt was made to carry out the project by the .chartering of the Delaware Valley Rail- road, but this effort, too, came to naught. It followed in the old ruts and no mind con- nected with it seemed to have the ability to straighten its affairs out.


Products of the county in this year of grace 1886 are carted fifteen and twenty miles, as in "ye olden time." The Erie at Port Jervis receives the heavier freight of blue-stone, lumber, ties, hoop-poles, etc., whilst farm- ing products are carted to the Delaware, Lacka- wanna and Western Railroad, at Stroudsburg, or cross the Delaware River, either at Milford or Dingman's, to reach the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad, at Branchville, Decker- town or Newton, fifteen and more miles away.


In the past ten years large hotels have been built in Milford, Dingman's, etc., and the neces- sity of rapid communication with New York and Philadelphia is much more urgent than when, in 1848, the original projectors of a railroad laid their plans, which have been so violently distorted and set at naught.


CHAPTER V.


BOROUGH OF MILFORD.


PIONEER HISTORY AND TRADITIONAL MAT- TER .--- About the year 1733 a Hollander named Thomas Quick emigrated from the Fatherland to the colony of New York, and not long after- wards located on the Delaware, in what after- wards became known as Upper Smithfield, and still later as Milford, Pennsylvania. His cir- cumstances were equal to those of thic affluent Dutch immigrants of that period. He pitchicd his tent considerably in advance of his prede- cessors, and, according to the testimony of his descendants, was the pioneer settler of Milford. Quick erected a log cabin, cleared land and built a barn, which he stored with wheat and maize, the fruits of his industry. In 1734, Thomas Quick, the Indian killer, was born. He was the pet of the household, and the In- dians who frequented Quick's house, where they found a friendly shelter whenever they de- I plundering an opulent man like Quick was


sired, admired the fine, healthy boy, and often made him presents of plumes of feathers and other articles. As he grew up among the In- dians he learned to speak their language, and was also taught how to take the otter, beaver, etc. He thus imbibed a liking for the savage life of a hunter, trapper and fisherman, and could not be induced to follow regularly any other occupation. He had two brothers, James and Cornelius, and two sisters who became the wives of Solomon Decker and Francis Magee. A Dutch school was established in the neigh- borhood, to which the children were sent, but Thomas had become so much of an Indian in his instincts and habits, that he could with dif- ficulty be induced to attend school, and thus learned but little.


Meanwhile, Thomas Quick, Sr., continued to prosper and erected a saw-mill and grist-mill on a stream entering the Delaware near Mil- ford, probably the Vandemark.


While Tom's brothers were poring over the Dutch alphabet, he was shooting, trapping, wrestling and jumping with the young Indian braves. During these years he roamed over all the region of country in the vicinity of his father's cabin, and made himself familiar with the hunting-grounds and rivers in Minisink, Mamecotink, the Shawangunk, the Wawasink, the Mahackamack or Neversink, the Mangaw- ping or Mingwing, etc. This knowledge after- wards became of great service-to him in way- laying and murdering Indians. The Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians, who inhabited the Minisink, through which ran the Lenape Wihittuck or Delaware River, looked with aların on the increasing number of white men who invaded their favorite hunting-grounds, and took possession of the ancient home of the Lenni Lenape or original people, by an over- reaching policy. During the French and In- dian War these jealousies were easily kindled into a flame by French emissaries, who induced the Six Nations and other powerful tribes to make common cause with them against the English. The Quicks had been kind to the Indians, but they were the first to encroach upon them at Milford, and the prospect of


855


PIKE COUNTY.


sufficient to weaken any ties of gratitude that might linger in the savage breast. When hos- tilities commenced, the Quicks and their friends became uneasy. The natives were less sociable and finally withdrew from the Delaware Valley altogether. Each party distrusted the other; the Indians, feeling they had been wronged, dc- termined to drive every Englishman off of their lands. Quiet reigned after the Indians departed until the Quicks and their neighbors became careless. One day the old man crossed the Delaware to procure hoop-poles, others say to grind a grist, Tom and his brother-in-law accompanying him, all unarmed. As they were proceeding leisurely round a point or ridge near the river, they were fired upon by ambushed Indians and the old man fell, mor- tally wounded. The young men, who were un- hurt, endeavored to drag him after them as they fled.


The savages did not make immediate pursnit, probably waiting for the main body to come up. They soon arrived, however, and the young men, who were bearing their father to a place of safety, abandoned him when he could go no farther, even with their assistance, as he ex- claimed, "I am dying ; leave me and run for your lives !" After much urging they finally left him and on the way across the Delaware, which was then frozen, they were fired upon and young Tom was thrown down by a ball which took the heel off his boot, and the Indians shouted, " There lies Tom Quick," but he was soon up and out of danger, as the savages did not dare to pursue across the Delaware. Tom and his brother-in-law finding that they were not pursued, crept back near enough to hear the scalp-whoop of the Indians. Young Tom was frantic with grief and rage, and swore that he would never make peace with the Indians as long as one could be found upon the banks of the Delaware. From this time forth the demon of unrelenting savage hatred took possession of Tom Quick, and he became more like the sav- ages he hunted thau like a civilized man. He did not enter the army, but waged ceaseless warfare upou the Indians wherever he found them, both in times of profound peace and war. He regarded neither age nor sex in his relent-




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.