History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 142

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 142
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 142
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 142

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).

In 1876 started the Honesdale Morning Chronicle. Discontinued it to devote his time to other literary work, chiefly for the Erie Rail- way Company. Remained in the company's employ for seven years, during which time he also occupied a confidential position in the office of John D. Rockafellow, president of the Standard Oil Company, and continued his gen- eral newspaper work. In 1881 he resigned his position with the Standard Oil Company to take the general management of the Erie Rail- way Company's advertising and literary bureau, which place he left in 1883 to give all his time to more eongenial work as a writer. In 1879 he had hit on the idea of Coekwood's dialect { stories and carried it out in the New York Sun

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by the " Tales of the Old Settler." The large circulation with which they met gave to Pike County and Milford a wide reputation. Some of these sketches were published in book-form in 1883. The book was republished in Eng- land, under the title of " Cream of American Humor." His drunken dialect stories, "His name was Johnson" and " He wanted a Web- ster Punch," convulsed the town. Dialect is natural to him. His education is desultory, being self-acquired. In his field he is a genius. He has done all kinds of writing for the Sun, besides much important special work by assign- ment for the World, Times and Herald.

Colonel Charles Newbold Pine, the present editor of the Dispatch, was born in Camden, N. J., November 5, 1822, but his family be- longed to Evesham, Burlington County. He was connected with the 'Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post, when published by Deacon & Peterson, 1850-51. He served three years in the post-office at Philadelphia and in 1854 started the Jersey Blue, at Camden. In September, 1855, he removed to Illinois, and on the 28th of March, 1856, issued the first num- ber of the Bureau County Democrat, at Prince- ton. He was appointed postmaster at that place by President Pierce in June, 1856. In August, 1858, he started the Chicago Daily Herald in the interest of Buchanan's adminis- tration, and in September, 1858, was appointed United States marshal of the Northern District of Illinois, his commission dating just three years from the day of his arrival in that State. He returned to Philadelphia in spring of 1862, edited the Democratic Leader, a campaign paper for that year, Honorable Francis W. Hughes being chairman of the Democratic State Com- mittee. Edited also the Philadelphia Evening Journal, owned by Albert D. Boileau and wrote Boileau into Fort McHenry in February 1863. Boileau recanted, repented and capitu- lated to the enemy, came home and resumed publication of the Journal with another edition, eating dirt for some six weeks, at the end of which time " the subject of this sketch " bought the establishment and ran it as long as pecuni- ary circumstances would permit-about a year. He then wrote for the Sunday Dispatch, Sun-

day Mercury, and during the gubernatorial campaign of 1865 edited the Camden Democrat. In November, 1869, he was chosen editor-in- chief of The Day, a new morning paper pub- lished by a company of gentlemen, Alexander Cummings (who established the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin and the New York World) Benj. Harris Brewster, James L. Freeman, Thomas L. Scott, Lewis C. Cassidy and others, until it was bought by Mr. Cassidy and changed to an evening paper, and for several years after was editor-in-chief of the Philadelphia Record. In a year or two after, Mr. Swain sold it to Singerly, Cassidy and others, editing The Evening Day for some time also. He left Philadelphia in June, 1881, and had nothing to do with newspapers till October, 1883, when he was induced to go to East Stroudsburg on an unwise venture. Then Mr. Mott, of the Mil- ford Dispatch, having been elected to the Leg- islature, wrote Colonel Rine, asking him to edit his paper during his absence. He has remained in Milford aud continued to edit the Dispatch, believing Milford to be the most healthful and charming spot in America.

CHURCHES OF MILFORD.

Bartholomew Weed, a blacksmith, was the first praying mau in Milford. He lived below the court-house, on the opposite side of the street, in a house with two rooms. He estab- lished a family altar and kept sacred the Sab- bath day, much to the astonishment of his neighbors, occasionally holding services at his house, where he talked to the people as best lie could, which provoked derision manifested by hurling missiles at his house and singing songs. He lived here about 1813, and three or four years later moved to Philadelphia, where he was licensed to preach by the Methodists, which calling he pursued for sixty-two years, until his death in 1879, at Newark, N. J., aged eighty-six. Milford, in Weed's time and for a number of years afterward, was a godless, prayerless, Sabbath-breaking village.

The Dutch Reformed Church of Minisink, established in 1773, was just across the Dela- ware, in what is now Montague, N. J., but there was an illiberal jealousy existing between

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

the comparatively new settlement of Yankees, as they called them at Milford, and the old Dutch settlers, who were strongly entrenched in the Minisink, and who looked upon this new town, peopled by Philadelphians, Yankees, etc., as an invasion of their ancient rights. These invaders did not take pains to allay the feeling of disquiet produced by their presence ; on the contrary, they lured the negro slaves across the river, gave them liquor and induced them to run away from their masters. With such a feeling engendered between the communities there could be no religious communion among them, and to this day there is but one living member of the Dutch Reformed Church on this side the river at Milford,-Mrs. Caroline Wells, now aged cighty-four, who was converted, how- ever, under the preaching of Rev. Phineas Camp, a Congregationalist, who passed through about 1814, and preached among the Dutch Reformed Churches. Mrs. Wells united with the Dutch Reformed Church when Rev. C. C. Elting was pastor, and it is proper here to state that, as the result of the labors commenced by Rev. Phineas Camp,1 and carried on by Elting, there were one hundred and seventeen members gathered into the Reformed Churches along the Delaware. Twenty members were received into the Minisink Church, just across the river, the first communion after Mr. Elting came to the place, and among these converts was Moses Bross, who moved to Milford in 1823, and became one of the founders of the Presby- terian Church at Milford. In 1823 Moses Bross established a prayer-meeting in the court-house by permission of the authorities, and out of this movement a Sunday-school was started.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .- On September 1,

1825, so the church records runs, the citizens of the town of Milford, desirous of having the gospel statedly administered, assembled accord- ing to previous notice. Of this meeting James Wallace was chairman and Moses Bross secre- tary. It was resolved to apply to the Presby- tery of Hudson for the organization of a Chris- tian Church. Moses Bross was appointed to make the application. Sept. 16th the Presby- tery of Hudson appointed one of their number, Rev. Thomas Grier, to organize a church in Milford, Pike County, Pa. In compliance with the request, on September 23, 1825, the congregation was assembled in the old stone court-house and proceeded to organize. The original members were eight in number, viz .: Moses Bross and his wife Jean, Samuel Depuy and his wife Eliza, Mitty Watkins, Elizabeth Westfall and Jacob Quick; James Wallace united with them also on profession of faith.

The name by which the members wished the organization to be known was the "Church and Congregation of Milford." September 24th the first ruling orders were elected, and on the 25th ordained. The elders were James Hal- lace, Moses Brossand Jacob Quick. Decem- ber 26, 1825, Daniel Judson, John Cox, Silas Aber, Roger Allen, Thomas Hagger, Mary Watson, William Cox, Huldah Cox, Dr. Francis, Al. Smith and Margaret Smith were received into the church. April 8, 1826, Samuel De- puy, Daniel Judson and Roger Allen were chosen additional elders. The first had been a ruling elder at Middle Smithfield. The others were ordained April 9th. November 3, 1826, there were admitted to the church on profession of faith, Olive Rockwell, Ann Cole, Jane Freele, Jacob Van Auken, Daniel M. Brod- head, Oliver S. Dimmick, Solomon Newman, John Aber, Lewis Cornelius, Jonas Cart- wright, John Heller, Thomas Newman, Sarah Barton, Sarah Decker, Samuel Cox, Elizabeth Shower, John B. Rockwell, Maria Quick, Han- nah Crawford, Nancy Newman, Maria Mc- Carty, William McCarty, Elenor Brink, Eme- line Cole, Sarah Barns, Katy I. Brink, Harriet Smith, Jas. Newman, Abraham Van Auken, Margaret Winfield, Samuel Duterow, Sarah Newman, Jas. P. Barrett, Hannah Bull, Julia

1 Rev. Phineas Camp was born at Durham, Conn., Feb- ruary 18, 1788. He graduated from Union College in 1811, and studied theology at Princeton. After complet- ing his studies he taught a classical school in Orange County. July 15, 1817, he was ordained as an evangelist by the Presbytery of North River, and was sent into Wayne County about 1818, where he labored for a time at Bethany and Salem. He labored within the bounds of the Presbytery of Erie part of the time as an evangelist and part of the time as settled pastor ; then he moved to Dixon, Ill., where he died January 30, 1868, aged eighty.

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Winfield, Sarah Beecher, John I. Smith, Elenor Wainwright, Joseph A. Bonnel.

After the close of Rev. Thomas Grier's pas- torate a considerable interval elapsed before the church was supplied with a minister. In the month of April, 1832, arrangements were made by the congregation with the Rev. Ed- ward Allen, recently pastor of the Presbyterian congregation of Wantage, New Jersey, to sup- ply them for the space of one year. He com- menced his labors, the 1st of May following.

July 7, 1832, Stephen Rose, Eliphalet Rose and Catharine A. Watson were received into the church. "In view of the low state of re- ligion in this congregation and vicinity, it was resolved that a protracted meeting be held in this place. For this important meeting the ne- cessary arrangements were made. A day of fasting and prayer was solemnly observed and God was pleased in a remarkable manner to own His word by a most copious effusion of the Holy Spirit. The meeting was continued for nearly two weeks, in which three services were attended daily in the church, besides frequent prayer-mectings and meetings for anxious sin- ners. Business in the village was nearly sus- pended, and every day appeared as a Sabbath of the Lord. The church became humbled. Backsliders were reclaimed, and many were hopefully brought to submit to Christ."1

As a result of these meetings, most of the leading business men of the village were brought into the church. August 28, 1832, twenty members were added, among them Abram T. Seely, Lucius D. Baldwin, Richard Eldred, Ducian Roys, John H. Westfall, Cyrill C. D. Pinchot, Samuel Dimmick and wife, Wealthy Dimmick. August 29, 1832, twelve persons were admitted to membership, among them William Bross, Josiah H. Foster and John P. Darling. During the whole of the year 1832 additions were made to the church until thie principal men of the village were members. Then followed a number of years in which the session had considerable work, in enforcing church discipline. Several members were cited to answer for unchristian conduct, such as

hunting and fishing on the Sabbath, profane swearing, becoming intoxicated, etc. A com- mittee was also appointed to look after menibers who had engaged in dancing at a public ball. It would appear, however, that a large part of the members walked uprightly ; otherwise they would not have escaped the vigilance of this faithful session. January 3, 1847, Theophilus H. Smith was ordained an elder. On Novem- ber 20, 1854, three additional elders were elected, and on the 23d ordained, viz. : Samuel Thrall, John H. Wallace and Stephen Rose. On March 4, 1872, Samuel Detrick, Ebenezer Warner, John C. Wallace and William Mit- chell were elected and ordained elders. On January 27, 1884, George Mitchell and Dr. I. S. Vreeland were added to the eldership. John H. Wallace died January 1, 1872, Samuel Detrick died May 14, 1876, and Theophilus H. Smith died July 6, 1881.

Rev. Edward Allen supplied the pulpit from 1832 to 1834 and again from 1841 to 1843. He was at the same time principal of the Milford Academy. After Mr. Allen, Rev. Peter Kanouse was an occasional supply. Mr. Kanouse was a man six feet tall, and of commanding appearance. He afterward preach- ed in the West. Rev. William Townley was stated supply from August, 1834, to August, 1835. From 1836 to 1840 Rev. Ralph Bull was stated supply. Mr. Bull went from this place to Weston, Orange County, where he died. He was very popular. Next to Mr. Bull was Rev. E. Allen. stated supply in 1841- 42. Rev. William Beldin preached as supply in 1843-44. From 1844 to 1846 there is no record. Rev. Charles Miln preached as supply 1846-47. No record from 1847 to 1849. In 1849, Rev. T. S. Bradner was called as pastor and continued till 1852. From May, 1853, Rev. Isaac Todd occupied the pulpit until 1861.

Rev. Isaac Todd was born near Morristown December 2, 1797. He united with the Pres- byterian Church of Morristown in 1818, was prepared for college by James Johnson and Rev. Asa Lyman, while Dr. Barnes was his pastor, and although he never indorsed Dr. Barnes' theological views, he always bore testi- mony to his Christian character and ability. He

1 Copied from the session book.

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

graduated from Hamilton College in the class of 1827, and at Princeton Seminary in 1830. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Sus- quehanna, at Athens, Pa., September 19, 1833. He labored at Gibson, Pa., Tunkhannock, Pa., Orwell and Troy, Pa., until 1853, when he came to Milford, where he acted as stated supply and filled the pulpit till 1861, when he took charge of a church in Hollmanville, Occan County, N. J., where he labored until the very day of his death, which occurred April 12, 1885, when eighty-seven years of age. His last words were, " Tell my people,-In Christ is our everlasting portion ; without Christ, eternal death."

In July 1861 Rev. R. R. Kellog was in- stalled pastor and so continued till September, 1866. On the 25th of that month he died suddenly at his residence. His funeral sermon was preached on the 27th by Rev. S. W. Mills, of Port Jervis. In January, 1867, Rev. Robert N. Beattie commenced his labors as stated supply and continued until June, 1870, when he accepted a call from the Reformed Church of Bloomingburg. Rev. Cyrus Offer next became stated supply for one year, 1870- 71. In March, 1872, Rev. Mr. Johnson preached. In April arrangements were made with Rev. John Reid, of Princeton Theological Seminary, to supply the pulpit during the sum- mer months. He has since been pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Yonkers, N. Y. In December, 1873, Rev. L. C. Lockwood was engaged as a supply for four months. In Jan- uary, 1874, Rev. E. H. Mateer was ordained and installed pastor. Rev. E. H. Matecr was born near Altoona, Blair County, Pa., August 24, 1844. On his paternal side he is of Scotch- Irish and on his maternal of pure Scotch de- scent. He entered Washington and Jefferson College in 1867, remained there to the end of the sophomore year, when he entered Princeton at the beginning of the second term of the jun- ior year and graduated in 1871. The same fall he entered Princeton Theological Seminary and graduated in April, 1874. Having received and accepted a call to Milford Presbyterian Church before graduating, he was ordained and installed pastor by the Hudson Presbytery June

25, 1874. Having received and accepted a call to Mc Veytown Presbyterian congregation, he resigned, in February, 1884, the charge at Milford, after a pastorate of nine years and nine months, the longest in the history of the Mil- ford Presbyterian Church. In the summer of 1884 Rev. Abraham Sylvester Gardiner re- ceived the unanimous call of the Milford Pres- byterian Church and is the present pastor. He was born at Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, N. Y., July 19, 1824. His father was Rev. John D. Gardiner, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Sag Harbor from 1812 to 1832. His mother, Mary L'Hommedieu, was a daughter of Hon. Samuel L'Hommedieu, of Sag Harbor, who was a grandson on his mother's side of Nathan- iel Sylvester, proprietor of the Manor of Shelter Island, N. Y., under whose hand the perse- cuted Quakers of Massachusetts found protection, and on his father's side of Benjamin L'Hom- medieu, one of two brothers who were driven from France on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, October 18, 1685. They first found refuge in Holland, then in America. The first ancestor of the subject of this sketch on his father's side was Lion Gardiner, who came from England to Boston, Mass., and afterward to Saybrook, Conn., in 1634-35. He was a sol- dier, civil engineer and a lieutenant in the British service in Holland. At the request of Lords Say and Seal and Brook and others, he built the fort at Saybrook, Conn., for the protection of their interests and took a prominent part in the Pe- quot War. Lion Gardiner's son Ward was the first white child born in the colony of Connect- icut, and his daughter Elizabeth, born on Gardiner's Island, the first white child of Eng- lish parents born in the colony of New York. This island contains thirty-four hundred acres and was purchased by Gardiner of the Mon- tauk Indians in 1639. Rev. A. S. Gardiner attended Clinton Academy in 1842-43, and the University of New York 1843-47, was admit- ted to the bar of the Supreme Court of New York in 1848, having read law in the office of George Wood, Esq. He practiced law at East Hampton, L. I., and Fond du Lac, Wis. During the spring and autumn of 1850-51 he was licensed to preach and ordained by the

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Presbytery of Milwaukee, since which time he has ministered at Greenpoint a short time and at Cold Springs twelve years. He removed to the West, settled in Rockford, Ill., in 1867, and preached at Prospect (now Dunlass), Peoria County, Ill. In 1871, returning to the East, he accepted a call to Jamaica Plains, Boston, where he was installed pastor of a church of which, under direction of Presbytery, he was founder. After preaching three years he minis- tered two years for the Congregational Church at Essex, Coun .; from thence, in 1877, he re- turued West and took charge of Lena and Win- slow Churches, Stephenson County, Ill., for three years. Educational considerations led him East again, to the Litchfield (N. H.) Presbyter- ian Church, but the loss of his daughter Julia Evangeline so disarranged his plans that he remained but a short time. He is now preach- ing at Milford and also supplying the old Dutch Reformed Church across the river. His wife was Caroline P. Williams. Their children were Maria, Charles H. and Julia Evangeline.

The first Presbyterian house of worship was begun during the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Grier, and stood where the present Presbyterian parsonage now stands. The first parsonage, on Ann Street, was built in the time of Rev. Mr. Bradner, about 1850, and the present one during the pastorate of Rev. E. H. Mateer, the corner-stone of the building being laid Sep- tember 18, 1874. The church is of brick, manufactured by John C. Wallace, and measures over all .forty-four by eighty feet. Symme- trical towers rise from the four corners, and the main tower, when completed, will be one hundred and twenty-five feet high. For several years the congregation have worshipped in the basement, a room capable of seating two hun- dred and fifty persons, adjoining which are two smaller rooms, used for the infant class and Sunday-school library.

The first religious service held in the building was a prayer-meeting, held on the evening of December 30, 1875, and the first Suuday service was held Sunday moruing, January, 2, 1876. Mr. Barton was architect, Edwin McWilliams carpenter and John Armstrong mason.

Rev. Benjamin Collins was senior preacher

and Rev. John K. Shaw assistant on Hamburg Circuit, which theu included the western part of Sussex County from Newton to the Delaware. They crossed the river and preached at Milford occasionally. On one of these occasions Rev. John K. Shaw organized the first Methodist class in 1827-28, at the court-house probably, and, according to the recollectiou of old people now living, it consisted of six members, viz.,- Mrs. Mary Olmsted, Mrs. John Brodhead, Mrs. Eliza Mott, Mr. and Mrs. Hand and Mrs. Sutor. David Hand was the first class-leader. Shortly after, Johu Brink and wife, Benjamin Drake and wife, Jonathan Doolittle and wife, Mrs. Guild and Hugh Ross (who preached occasionally and could be heard one-half mile) joined the church. The first authentic records commenced August 12, 1849. Henry Bean is mentioned as leader of the Sunday class, and among the members are Ellen Bean, Matilda Bowhannan, James Bostler, Louisa Brodhead, Emeline Briuk, Marietta Burrell, Emily Blizzard, Andrew, Adrian, William and Pru- dence Christiana, Webb Courtright, Julia A. Crawford. Silas H. De Witt, Jonathau Weeks and James Honeywell were also class-leaders. The McCartys and Newmans, Mary and Nancy Olmsted are mentioued. Henry Wells John Dietrick, William Angle and John Aldrich are among the prominent workers at present. They have had many Methodist preachers in Milford since the days of Bartholo- mew Weed, who upheld the standard of the cross alone in 1813-15. Doubtless other zealous and worthy men have ministered to this people, but their stay was so transient, and the records so imperfect that we are unable to notice many of them. Rev. Manning Force was presiding elder of this district for four terms of four years each. He traveled down the river on one side and up on the other. Mrs. Sophia Sutor is worthy of mention. She lived across the river ou the Jersey shore, and was a mother in Israel in the Milford Method- ist Church. She had been a school-teacher, was an intelligent woman, and took an active part in church work. Her house was the home of the preachers in the early days of the church.

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

Rev. George Winsor married Harriet Olm- stead, of Milford, where he preached in 1841- 43. During his time over one hundred persons professed conversion and many were added to the church. Rev. George Winsor was born in Devonshire, England, November 13, 1813, and died in Milford, Sunday, December 28, 1884, in the seventy-second year of his age. Descend- ing from a pious ancestry, he was early trained in the principles of the Christian religion ; and learned to prize in future years the holy shrine of a mother's knee. Two years subsequent to his birth his parents moved to Bound Brook, N. J., where he toiled on the homestead with his brother and attended the village school and academy. Supplementing this instruction with private tuition he obtained some knowledge of the Classis. In 1839 he was converted at Somer- ville, under the preaching of Rev. George Hitchens. The same year, with much fear and trembling, he gave his name to the New Jersey Conference, and commenced his life-long work. For forty unbroken and successive years he responded to the Conference roll. He was sel- dom depressed to an eclipse of faith or over- joyed by outbursts of transitory feeling. Digni- fied without austerity, sociable without levity, he mingled with his brethren, giving lustre to his calling, and was never known to lower the dignity of the pulpit by unseemly remarks, but on every occasion was the affable, courtcous, Christian gentleman. As a result of his earnest ministrations, one thousand nine hundred souls were hopefully converted. In 1882 he asked for supernumerary relations, returned to Mil- ford and built a residence, now occupied by his widow. There is one son living, an attorney- at-law in New York.

There are about one hundred and thirteen members in the Methodist Church. The first church edifice was erected near the Delaware River, about one mile from Milford, at a point sometimes called Bridgeport. Jolin Brink and some others thought it the probable site of a village, and it was through his and Mrs. Sutor's influence that the building was thus placed. It was erected about 1827-28, and moved up to the present site about 1836. Since then the present church has been erected.

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH .- The Church of the Good Shepherd was organized April 3, 1871. The corner-stone of the edifice was laid in June, 1871, and the church consecrated Sep- tember 14, 1877. It was organized by the election of Edgar Pinchot, senior warden ; Ed- gar Brodhead, junior warden ; and John C. Mott, D. M. Van Auken, W. C. Broome, C. W. Dimmick, Sidney A. Hanes and M. M. Dimmick, vestrymen. The church has had the following rectors : Rev. W. B. Hooper, Novem- ber 25, 1872, served three and one-half years ; Rev. A. H. Gersner, about three years ; Rev. Samuel Edwards, between two and three years, and Rev. D'Estang Jennings, two years. There is a Sunday-school in connection with the or- ganization.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 142

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