History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 152

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 152
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 152
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 152

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" In Remembrance of Mrs. Anna Symmnes,

who was born October, 1741, married to Honble Jno. C. Symmes 30th Oct., 1760, and died 25 July, 1776, leaving two danghters, Maria and Anna."

Maria married Major Peyton Short, of Ken- tucky, and Anna married William Henry Har- rison, afterwards President of the United States. The following letter explains itself :

" BETHLEHEM, Pa., Aug. 14th, 1871.

"MY DEAR SIR :- Circumstances, partly beyond my control, have prevented an earlier reply to your letter relative to the graves of Mrs. John Cleves Sym- mes, in Shapanack, Sussex County, N. J., and I now have the pleasure to say that about 1851 my son Charles had his attention called to the unprotected condition of the grave by Miss Dinah Wynkoop, then a resident on the Dewitt farm. My son wrote to

Mrs. Annie Harrison, one of the daughters of Mrs. Symmes, and widow of President Harrison, residing at Cleves, Ohio, who immediately authorized him to secure the title to the property and have a wall erected around the grave. My son, who resided at Easton, Pa., immediately communicated Mrs. Harrison's wishes to me and I had them carried out, except the purchase of title. About the same time Mrs. Harrison had Gustav Greenewold, an artist of Bethlehem, Pa., to visit the spot and make a painting of the place, which was done in a very handsome manner, and to the sat- isfaction of Mrs. Harrison. The painting was sent to her at her residence in Cleves, a short distance below Cincinnati, Ohio.

"Truly Yours, &c., " A. G. BRODHEAD. " To Thomas G. Bunnell, Esq., Newton, N. J."

Jolin Cleves Symmes died February 26, 1814, in the seventy-third year of his age, and was buried at North Bend. The Symmes family trace their descent from Rev. Zachariah Symmes, who was born at Canterbury, England, April 5, 1599, and came to New England in 1634, in the same ship with Ann Hutchinson and John Lathrop.

He became pastor of the church at Charlestown, Mass., which position he held until his death, February 4, 1671. His son William came with him to this country. He was a sea-cap- tain, and died September 22, 1691, leaving a son Timothy, who was born in 1683. He was a farmer, and lived ncar Scituate, Mass. His son Timothy was edueated for the ministry, having graduated at Harvard College in 1733. His first wife was Mary Cleves. In 1742 he went to River Head, Long Island, where his two sons,-John Cleves Symmes, the subject of the above sketch, and Timothy Symmes, who was an active man during the Revolution, and a judge, -were born. Timothy's son, John Cleves Symmes (2d), gained considerable noto- riety by advaneing the novel theory that the earth, like an eviscerated pumpkin, was hol- low, that its interior was habitable, and that an orifice to enter this terrestrial ball would un- doubtedly be found at the North Pole. This theory attraeted great attention throughout the United States some forty years ago, more espe- cially as a very eloquent lawyer, named Rey- nold, became a convert to Symmes' views, and made addresses in support of their soundness in

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all of the principal cities. Poor Symmes wearicd out his existence in a vain effort to procure means for fitting an expedition to ex- plore the under shell of the earth. He gained, however, more kicks than coppers, and only succeeded in furnishing the wags and wits of the land a theme to exercise their waggery upon. "Symmes' Hole " not only figured in the news- papers, but grog-shops bore it npon their signs, with various devices to illustrate it. One was the representation of a hollow watermelon with a tiny mouse peeping out of the orifice at its polar extremity to see if Symmes' expedition had come in sight.

William Custard settled on the river road, two miles north of Bushkill, in or about the year 1790, and bought of Ezekiel Schoonover and others. He was a farmer, his wife being Elizabeth Van Campen, a daughter of John Van Campen. His children were Benjamin, who lived in Smithfield ; William, who lived on part of the homestead ; Susanna, the wife of William Place, who built a hotel at Mellener's Cove, in 1838. It was formerly a great stop- ping-place for raftmen, as there is a wide eddy at this place. Mason Dimmick had a hotel here years ago. He was one of the first school- teachers at Milford and Dingman's Ferry. He was also associate judge, county commissioner and justice of the peace for a number of years. He finally moved to Smithfield, and died there. His only daughter married Thomas Newman. The other children of William Custard were John V. Custard ; Elizabeth, wife of John Hannas ; Mason D. and Cyrus, twins, all of whom located in the vicinity of the homestead.

Jacobus Van Gordon owned land on the Pennsylvania side of the river during the In- dian troubles, kept stock there and cultivated the farm. There was a fort on the Jersey side, opposite Van Camp's Mill Creek. We have documentary evidence as to the ownership of this land since 1742, which is as early as any of Allen's deeds to the settlers. William F. Al- len patented all the Minisink lands in 1727, after it was known that they were settled ; hence no documentary evidence in the form of deeds can give a clue as to the period when this region was first settled. It, however, indicates

the owners at the times named in the deed. From parchment deeds in possession of Randall Van Gordon, we find that Daniel Van Campen and Aunchy, his wife, of Upper Smithfield, Northampton County, for five hundred pounds proclamation moncy of the State of Pennsylva- nia, sold to Cobus or James Van Gordon, of Delaware township, a piece of land containing "34 and 2 acres and 36 square rods," being one- third of land sold by Jan Van Campen and Lena, his wife, deceased, to Abraham Van Campen, also deceased, lying between lands of Garrett Brink, now Isaac Van Campen and Houser Brink, except ten acres, reserved to Abraham Van Campen, the said grantor, said deed from Jan Van Campen and his wife, Lena, being confirmed to Abraham Van Campen in 1742. Jacobus Van Gordon purchased " one- fourth of an acre and twenty-one rods and a half of land," of Daniel Van Campen in 1775, and paid him seven pounds therefor. On a survey of lands to Jacobus Van Gordon in 1784, Van Camp's Mill Creek is mentioned, which indicates that the Van Campens were among the pioneer settlers in Lehman, and that they probably had mills and farms. A number of stories are told about the adventures of the Van Campens and Van Gordons with the In- dians. One of the Van Campen boys was taken prisoner by the Indians, and a party started in pursuit. They overtook the savages one and a half miles beyond Porter's Lake, at a place called the "Indian Cabins," which are holes or caves under the rocks. There the Indians halted, camped all night and built a fire, making it a very comfortable placc. About sunrise, when the pursning party arrived at the foot log across the Bushkill, they saw a smoke at this camping-place. Soon they saw an Indian stir the fire, and shortly after an- other Indian came ont, young Van Campen following, with his hands tied behind him. Two of the pursuing party fired, and the two Indians dropped dead. Young Van Campen ran in the direction of the smoke of the guns, while the rest of the Indians fled behind the hills. Old Jacobus Van Gordon had cattle and raised crops on the Pennsylvania side. He was the hero of many narrow escapes from

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

Indians, and on one occasion was rescued while protecting the milk-maids after a fierce strug- glc.

In those troublesome times the garrisons were on the alert and casily aroused. Once the Indians captured Van Gordon's servant girl, but a pursuing party retook her. The tradition about a boat-load of laborers being shot, with the exception of one child, who was not killed, exists among the families herc, the child having escaped by lying flat on its face. The boat floated over to the Jersey shore. 1 There is also the same tradition about several of the Deckers being killed, which doubtless refers to the battle of Conashaugh. Thus did the settlers from Cave Bank to Bushkill live in constant alarm when they cultivated their land or gathered their crops. Trne, there was Fort Hyndshaw on the Bushkill, and the forts across the Dela- warc, but it was comparatively safe for the Indians to carry off a defenseless milk-maid or shoot a reaper from some hiding-place in the rocks, an opportunity exercised so frequently that the inhabitants on the Pennsylvania side were nearly all driven across to New Jersey for security.

Jacobus Van Gordon's sons were Moses, Isaac, Abraham and David. His daughters were Susanna, wife of John Van Campen ; Mary, wife of Peregrine Jones ; Elizabeth, wife of John Henry. Solomon Rosecranse also mar- ried one of the daughters. Of these sons, Moses was the only one who remained in Lehman (then Delaware). He married Elizabeth Van Etten, and was a farmer. His children were John, who lived north of the homestead on the river road ; James who settled south of the homestead in the old stone house, built by his grandfather. He was for many years justice of the peace. His son Randall had the place a number of years, but finally sold it to Henry C. Bowen and purchased the Delaware House, at Dingman's Ferry, of John Lattimore, where he now lives.

Elizabeth Van Gordon is the wife of James Brisco, who keeps the Half-Way House between Dingman's Ferry and Bushkill. Of James

Van Gordon's children, Moses and John settled in Lchman.

Alexander Van Gordon lived in Lchman, where Dr. Linderman afterward resided, before 1800. His children were Benjamin, Joseph, Isaac P. Simcon and Mary. These children all moved to Butler County, Ohio, excepting Isaac P. and Mary. Isaac P. Van Gordon bought the Abram Stecle property, in Delaware township, back of Dingman's Ferry, where he lived the life of a farmer. J. Wilson Van Gordon, one of his sons, was sheriff of Pike County onc term. Hannah J. is the wife of Jacob Hornbeck, and Isaac W. Van Gordon is a farmer.

GENEALOGY OF THE BRODHEAD FAMILY. -Daniel Brodhead, of Yorkshire, England, was the ancestor of the Brodheads of Pennsyl- vania. He was captain of grenadiers which were part of the forces which Colonel Richard Nicolls brought over in 1664 by authority of Charles II., King of England, against the Dutch.

After the capture of New Amsterdam (now New York), from the Dutch, in 1664, all the dependencies of the Dutch government, on the Hudson River, also surrendered to Colonel Nicolls. Captain Brodhead was commissioned September 14, 1665, "Chief Officer of the Militia in the Esopus," in Ulster County, where he settled with his wife, Ann Tye, also of Yorkshire. He died at Esopus, July 14, 1667, leaving three sons,-Daniel, Charles and Richard.

The son, Richard Brodhead, born in 1666, married a Miss Jansen, and settled at Marble- town, Ulster County, N. Y., about seven miles west of Esopus. His son Daniel, born April 20, 1693, and named after his grandfather, married Hester, Wyngart, of Albany, and, about the year 1738, moved to Pennsylvania and pur- chased a farm on Brodhead's Creek (named for him), and on which is now located the borough of East Stroudsburg. Hc called his settlement Dansbury, and as such, it was known for many years. He was one of the first justices for Northampton County, established in 1752, and a son, Charles Brodhead, was on the first grand jury called for the new county. He and his

1 See history of Westfall township.

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sons were famous in their day as Indian fighters. He died at Bethlehem, Pa., July 22, 1755.

His son Daniel was a surveyor, was colonel of the Eiglith Pennsylvania Regiment, on Continental Establishment, from the commence- ment of the War of Independence until 1781, when he was made colonel of the First Penn- sylvania Regiment. From 1778 to 1781 he was, by appointment of General Washington, made commander of the Western Department, withi headquarters at Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh), and was honored by Congress with a vote of thanks for the skill and ability with which he managed his department. After the war he followed his profession as surveyor, and was also one of the State justices. Upon the adoption of the Con- stitution of Pennsylvania of 1789 and the es- tablishment of the office of surveyor-general, he was made the first surveyor-general of the State, which office he held for several years. He died at Milford, Pa., in 1809, and is buried in the beantiful cemetery at that place, where a handsome monument details his services.

He had only one son, also named Daniel (by his first wife, Elizabeth De Pue), who was also an officer during the Revolution. He was seut to Virginia in 1779, in charge of the prisoners of General Burgoyne's army. He subsequently settled in Virginia and raised a family. Colo- nel James O. Brodhead, of St. Louis, Mo., who lias achieved a national reputation, is a grandson of his.

Garret Brodhead, also a son of Daniel Brod- head, the first settler of the family in Pennsyl- vania, and a brother of General Brodhead, was a lieutenant in a New Jersey regiment, al- thoughi a Pennsylvanian, during the Revolution. He married Jane Davis, of New York State, and settled on his father's farm (now East Strouds- burg), where he raised a large family, and died at Stroudsburg in 1804. His children were John, Daniel, Richard, George, Elizabeth (who married Dr. Franeis J. Smith), Rachel (who married David Dills) and Samuel. One of his sons, Rieliard, who was born at Stroudsburg, July 26, 1771, and subsequently married Han- nah Drake, of Stroudsburg, was the person who figured conspicuously during his life in the

history of Wayne and Pike Counties. He was a man of splendid physique, over six feet high and of stern and serions character.

He took great interest in State affairs, regard- ing it as a conscientious duty, and he looked upon the civil and political duties of man as matters of serious obligation. When Wayne County was organized, in 1799, although not thirty years of age, he was appointed first sheriff of the county by the Governor of Peun- sylvania. In a paper written by himself in November, 1842, he thus enumerates the offices he has held as follows :

1. Sheriff of Wayne. 2. Two years in the Legis- laturc (1802 and 1803). 3. Eleven years associate judge. 4. Collector of United States revenue for Wayne County and Pike during the War of 1812. 5. Appointed State commissioner by Governor MeKcan, in connection with General Horn, of Easton, to in- vestigate the expeditures of five thousand pounds, granted by the State to David Rittenhouse, to im- prove the navigation of the Delaware River from Trenton to Stockport. 6. Postmaster seven years. 7. Major of the Second Battalion, One Hundred and Third Regiment Militia. 8. Prothonotary for Pike County. 9. County commissioner. 10. All the township offices, of all kinds, except constable. 11. County auditor. 12. Executor of five estates. And I now, hereby, bid defiance to all heirs, legatces, creditors and others to prove that I have ever wronged any man.

Judge Brodhead, during the greater part of his life, resided on his farm, on the Delaware River, then called Wheat Plains, fourteen miles below Milford, (now owned by Charles Swart- out), where he moved about 1791. He had a post-office established at his house called Delaware, which was kept on that spot for nearly half a century. A few years before his death Judge Brodhead moved to Milford, where he died November 11, 1843.

He left quite a large family, and all the sous became quite prominent citizens.

One son, Wm. Brodhead, who recently died in Milford, married Susan Coolbaugh, and was one of the best business men ever produced in Pike County. He was several years commis- sioner and judge of the courts, and as a land lawyer was probably equal to any lawyer in the State, although not a lawyer by profession. He was a man of sterling integrity, and lived

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late enough to be yet remembered by the peo- ple of the county, whose interests, when entrust- ed to him, he guarded so well.

Another son, Garret Brodhead, married Cor- nelia Dingman, daughter of Judge Dingman, and resided in Pike County on a farm near his father's, where he aeted well his part as citizen and neighbor. He subsequently moved to Mauch Chunk, where he died.

He left four sons, all living in the Lehigh Valley and eomiceted with the different eoal and railroad interests.

One sou, Albert G. Brodhead, Jr., is at present superintendent of the Beaver Meadow Division of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and has also been judge of the courts of Carbon County and State Senator from that conty.

Another son of Judge Richard Brodhead, Charles Brodhead, married Mary Brown, of Stroudsburg, and located in the mercantile business at what is now called Brodheadsville, on the Easton and Wilkes Barre turnpike. He died young, but his establishment becamethe nu- cleus of a thriving and lovely little village. His son, Charles D. Brodhead, remained there in the mercantile business for many years, but later re- moved to Stroudsburg, where he is still actively engaged in business. He has been Representa- tive, Senator, and is now one of the judges of Monroe County, elected without opposition, and highly esteemed by all.

Albert G. Brodhead, another son of Judge Richard Brodhead, was born at the old home- stead, Wheat Plains, Lehman township, Pike County, (then Wayne), August 16, 1799. In 1823 he married Ellen Middagh, and removed to the village of Conyngham, in Luzerne Coun- ty, Pa. He engaged largely in the mercantile and lumbering business, was elected four terms to the Legislature from Luzerne County, and during his residence there was probably as popular and respected a man as lived in the eonnty. In 1838 he purchased the " Brodhead Homestead," at Wheat Plains, from his father, where he resided, universally respected, until 1865, when he removed to Bethlehem, Pa., where his only son, Charles Brodhead, resided, and still lives, a popular, representative eitizen of character and influence. He is the owner of

the Moravian Sun Inn, which was established in Bethlehem in 1758, the walls of which he has adorned with old and rare paintings.

Here he resided until July 18, 1880, when lie peacefully passed away, and is buried in the Moravian Cemetery in that place.

Richard Brodhead, the youngest son of Judge Richard Brodhead, left Pike County in 1830, to study law with Hon. James M. Por- ter, then the leading lawyer of Eastern Penn- sylvania. After he was admitted to the bar he entered actively in polities.

He was elected three successive terms to the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania by Northampton County. He was elected three sueeessive terms to Congress, by the old Tenth District,-Northampton, Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne, --- and in 1850 was nominated and elceted by the Democrats of the Pennsylvania Legislature to the United States Senate. He served six years with great aeeeptability to the business men of Pennsylvania, and with great eredit to himself. He entered Congress poor ; he served there for twelve years, and return- ed poor, but with a character for integrity, honesty and purity of purpose second to none. He was succeeded in the Senate by Gen. Simon Cameron.

In 1849 he married Jane Bradford, of Mis- sissippi, a nieee of Jefferson Davis. In 1856, after his retirement from the United States Senate, he lived a retired life at Easton, where he died in September 1863.

He left two children, -- Richard, who is a lawyer in New York, and David, who studied law with the Hon. John B. Storm, of Strouds- burg, and is now located in South Bethlehem, Pa., where he is achieving an honorable and desirable reputation as an attorney and politieian.

Of the other children of Judge Richard Brodhead, Sarah (the eldest), born 1791, mar- ried Col. John Westbrook, a member of Con- gress from Pennsylvania in 1841-43, and an influential eitizen of Pike County, whose ehar- aeter and life-work are fully set forth else- where ; Jane married Moses S. Brundage ; Anna Maria married John Seaman ; and Rachel mar- ried Dr. John J. Linderman, and became the

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mother of Dr. Henry R. Linderman, late di- rector of the Philadelphia Mint, and of Dr. Garret B. Linderman, of Bethlehem, Pa.

Dr. John J. Linderman purchased the Alex- ander Van Gordon property shortly after he obtained his license to practice medicine, in 1817, built a house on the place which Father Stack, of the celebrated Stack vs. O'Hara case, now occupies, and practiced medicine for fifty years, being the first resident physician of Lehman township, and one of the best known physicians in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He was a great- grandson of Jacob Von Linderman, who settled in Orange County, N. Y., where he purchased a tract of land and a number of slaves, and built a substantial house after the manner of the German country houses of the time. His son Henry kept the homestead, and of his children, Oliver and Willet were lawyers, who both became judges, and Dr. John Jordan Linderman, who lived in Pike County as a neighbor to Judge Richard Brodhead, whose daughter Rachel he married. He was the only man who voted for Clay's election in Lehnian township during the Polk and Clay Presidential contest, for which the Whigs of Easton pre- sented him with a valuable double-barreled rifle, doubtless feeling that one who was able to stand alone in such a contest merited some kind of recognition.

Dr. Linderman had two sons,-Henry Rich- ard Linderman and Garret Brodhead Linder- man, who attended school at Dingman's Acad- emy, near their home, from which they entered the New York College of Physicians and Sur- geons, where they both obtained their degree ; there their father had studied before them. Dr. Henry R. Linderman returned to Lehman township, where he practiced medicine for a while, but his surroundings were not congenial, and in 1853 he wrote to a friend saying, "He was sick and tired of the vexations and toils of the medical profession." He was at this time in the mining region, being the only physician to a thousand miners and their families. His uncle, Richard Brodhead, who was then in the United States Senate, secured his appointment as chief clerk of the Mint at Philadelphia in 1855. While in this position, in 1856, he

married the granddaughter of Samuel Holland, of Wilkes-Barre. In 1864 he resigned and entered a banking-firm as partner. April 1, 1867, he was commissioned director of the Mint by President Johnson. He was an active Dem- ocrat, and attended the convention that nomi- nated Seymour and Blair, which led President Grant to request his resignation, in May, 1869. But it was found that he had made himself indispensable. Having been a devoted student, he had mastered the scientific and financial knowledge relating to his office, and was one of the best authorities in this country on coinage and kindred subjects ; consequently, in 1870, he was sent as a commissioner to the Pacific Coast, and in 1871 to Europe as a commissioner to observe the methods of coinage at the different mints. In 1872 he wrote a treatise on the con- dition of the gold and silver markets of the world, and in it predicted the decline in the value of silver as compared to gold, which pre- dictions have been fulfilled. He called attention to the disadvantages arising from the com- putation and quotation of exchange with Great Britain on the old complicated colonial basis, and from the undervaluation of foreign coins in computing the value of foreign invoices and laying and collecting duties at the United States Custom-House. He also recommended the adoption of a system of redemption for in- ferior coins. He was the author of the Coinage Act of 1873, and was again made director of the mints and Assay Office, with his office in Washington. After organizing the new bureau under the act, he projected the trade dollar, which was intended for circulation in China, in order to find an outlet for our large production of silver. In 1877 he published a book entitled " Money and Legal Tender in the United States." In his report of 1877 he presented an exhaustive review of the metallic standard, and of the capacity and production of the mines of the world. The Japanese offered him fifty thousand dollars for one year's services in or- ganizing their mint, but owing to the climate and for other reasons, he refused it. Dr. Linder- man's published opinions were received with favor in Europe, as well as in America. His desks were constantly covered with a mass of

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correspondence from all parts of the world ask- ing for advice, information and instruction from him as a great authority. In person, Dr. Linderman was nearly six feet tall, of fine pro- portions and scholarly appearance, and possessed of a genial and polished address. He died in Washington in 1879, and is buried in Bethle- hem. Dr. Garret B. Linderman removed to Betlilehem and married Lucy Evelyn, daughter of Asa Packer. He became wealthy and was interested in the development of the iron in- dustry there, being one of the owners of the large blast furnaces at Bethlehem. A large and beautiful stone library building has been erect- ed to the memory of Lucy Evelyn Packer Linderman, his wife, in connection with Lehigh University, which was founded by her father. Garret Linderman's sons are among the wealthy iron operators of Bethlehem.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 152

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