History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 183

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 183
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 183
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 183

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).

settled in Plainfield township, Northampton County, Pa., and soon the bottom land on which he located was transformed to beautiful meadows. Six sons and one daughter were meanwhile born to Joseph Keller. Soon, how- ever, a dark cloud gathered over the heads of this happy family. The French and Indian War was inaugurated, and on the 15th of Sep- tember, 1757, the unsuspecting Keller family was suddenly overwhelmed. Joseph Keller was in a distant field plowing, while the mother and two small children were left at home, the former engaged in her household duties. Mr. Keller continued his work on this eventful day much later than was usual for him and return- ed home tired and hungry. Arriving at the house an unusual silence prevailed. He missed the voices of the children and the evidence of the evening meal that usually awaited him. Fear and dread overwhelmed him. He hastens to the barn, but an empty eeho answers his call. He leaves the children that returned from the field with him in the house, with the infant in the cradle and seeks the nearest neighbor. On searching the fields they find the bloody corpse of his son Christian, the eldest boy, pierced through as with a spear and with his scalp torn from his head. No tidings of the mother and remaining children reached him until a later date, when Mr. Keller discovered that his wife and two sons, Joseph and Jacob, aged respect- ively three and six years, had been made cap- tives and taken to Montreal, Canada. The first night of their flight a halt was made at Cherry Valley, twelve miles distant, and the following morning a weary mareh of four hun- dred miles was begun, the mother often being so exhausted that it was necessary to urge hier on with a weapon at the back. On arriving she was sold to a French officer and the boys taken from lier. Joseph was adopted by the sister of a young Indian who had re- cently died and thus his life was saved. Nothing was heard of the other son. Joseph was treated with great kindness by the savages and soon became accustomed to their barbarous life.

In 1760 Montreal fell into the hands of the British and all prisoners were released. In

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Joseph Keller's family Bible is written in a tremulons hand the following : " My wife came back anno 1760, on the 20th of October, but of my boys I have as yet hcard nothing." A few years later the parents had the great joy of wel- coming Joseph after his seven years of cap- tivity in Canada. He became very skillful with the bow and arrow and had been promised a gun should he remain another year with his captors. Gradually he accustomed himself to a civilized life, but to the last retained his early fondness for wild sports. Some years later the War of the Revolution was inaugurated, in which he served as a soldier. The parents lived to a venerable age and were well and widely known for their piety. As long as she lived the mother kept the day of her deliverance from captivity as a day of prayer and thanks- giving. Joseph Keller, as has been previously stated, settled on the tract in Stroud township cleared by Peter Sly, having married Margaret Andre, to whom were born ten children. Two of the sons located in the township,-Peter on the homestead and John on the land now owned by Charles Keller. The wife of Peter, for- merly Elizabeth Heller, still resides in the township. Her children are Charles, Daniel, Lewis, Theodore, William, Jolin, Mary Ann (Mrs. Dennis), Catherine (Mrs. Rhodes), Louisa and Sarah. John Keller finally re- moved to the West and none of his children remained in the township. To Charles L. Kel- ler the writer is indebted for the foregoing facts.

Major Jos. Drake died in the ninety-first year of his age. He came from Esopus soon after the advent of the Sly brothers and settled on the farm now owned by Joseph Swink, which he cleared and on which he built a log house. He married a Miss Houser and had ehildren- Henry, Sarah, Amos, Adonijah, Joseph, Charles, Eliza and Margaret, all of whom with two ex- ceptions settled in the township. Eliza (Mrs. Brotzman) still resides in the township ; Ed- ward, a son of Charles, occupies part of the homestead ; and Margaret (Mrs. Joseph Swink) is also a resident of Stroud township.

James Brewer came to the township when eighteen years of age and found employment in

the neighborhood. He married Margaret, daughter of George Felker, of the same town- ship, and had ten children who grew to matnre years. Of these, George resides in Poplar Val- ley ; Mary, (Mrs. Jacob Heller), on Fox Hill; and Hannah (Mrs. Edinger), in Poplar Valley.

George Felker came to the township prior to the Revolutionary War, in which he was a soldier, and settled on the farm afterwards the property of John Shook. He married Barbara . Metler, whose children were John, Joseph, George, Christopher and several daughters. The sons finally removed to other localities, leaving none of the name in the township. A danghter of Jolin Felker (Mrs. Charles L. Kel- ler) resides in Strond.

Peter Frederick resided in Cherry Valley, where he was the owner of an extensive tract of land. His two surviving children were Peter and George, both of whom settled on the home- stead. The children of Peter, who are Jacob, John, Susan, Ann and Sally, have all removed from the township. The children of George Felker are Jacob, John, Peter, Anthony and three daughters,- Christianna, Peggy and Bet- sey. Anthony and Betsey (Mrs. William Mos- tiller) are still residents of the township.

Charles Miller located at an early date upon the farm now owned by Lewis Drakc. His children were Thomas, Abel, Amos, James and two daughters,-Nancy (Mrs. La Bar) and Katy (Mrs. Conrad Evans). The name of Miller is extinct in the township, the property being now owned by Lewis Drake, the great-grandson of Mr. Miller.

Benjamin Decker emigrated from Holland and subsequently became a Revolutionary sol- dier. On his discharge and removal to the State of Pennsylvania he settled in Stroud township, where he readily found employment. His children were a son James and four daughters,-Sally (Mrs. Pugh), Lydia (Mrs. Jolın De Long), Anne (Mrs. George White) and Susan. James Decker married Sally James, of Smithfield township, and had children -Rachel, Lydia, Rebecca, Mary Ann, Benja- min, John, Charles and De Pue, of whom De- Pue and Mary Ann (Mrs. Gordon) are the only members of the family residing in the township.

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Thomas Gordon lived in the vicinity of Fox- town. He left sons-Abner, Samuel, George, William-and one daughter, all of whom are deceased. William, who was twice married, had children-Ollis, Jarvis, Albert, Elizabeth, Lew- is, Garbert and Biedleman. Ollis married Mary Ann Decker and had children,-Luther, Lueezy and Martha, of whom Luther resides in Stroudsburg.

CHARLES M. FOULKE is a lineal descendant

surviving him a large family of children and grandchildren. His second son, John Foulke, was born in 1722 and died in the year 1787. He married Mary, daughter of Edward Rob- erts, and left seven children. He was from 1769 to 1775 a member of the Provisional As- sembly and a citizen of much influence. Evan Foulke, the third son of Jolin and Mary Foulke, was born at Quakertown in 1771, and married Sarah, daughter of William Nixon, a descend-

CHARLES M. FOULKE.

of Edward Foulke, who emigrated from Wales in the year 1698 and settled in Gwynedd town- ship, Montgomery County, Pa., then a part of Philadelphia. The station Penllyn, on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, is located on the property then purchased, and was named after an ancestral house of the family in Wales. Hugh, the second son of Edward Foulke, was born in Wales in 1685, and accompanied his parents to America. He married Ann Wil- liams and removed from Gwynedd township to Bucks County, where he died in 1760. He was a minister of the Society of Friends, and left

ant of Morris and Susanna Morris, early settlers of Abington and Richland, the latter being a minister of the Society of Friends and highly esteemed. Evan Foulke, who owned large tracts of land near Quakertown, Bucks County, sub- sequently removed to Doylestown, Pa., and from thence, in 1817, to Cherry Valley, in Stroud township, Monroe (then Northampton) County. At a later date he made Zanesville, Ohio, his home, where his death occurred.

The children of Evan and Sarah Foulke are Olivia, Samuel, Charles M., Margaret (wife of James Michner), Susan (Mrs. George Linton),

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Tacy, Morris (who married Mary Edkin), Ed- ward (whose wife was Miss Vicker) and Asenetlı, (wife of Samuel Foulke). Of this number, Ed- ward and Susan are the only survivors.

Charles M. was born February 26, 1801, in Quakertown, Bucks County, from wlicncc, after a period of early youth spent at this point, he removed with his parents to Doylestown. At the age of sixteen he became a resident of Stroud township, Monroe County, Pa. Here his father had purchased extensive tracts of land and was materially aided by his sons in his farming en- terprises. On the removal of Evan Foulke to Ohio, his son, Charles M., purchased the prop- erty in Cherry Valley and continued the pur- suit of agriculture until his death.

He was married, in 1832, to Catherine, eldest danghter of Francis Elkin, who emigrated from England before the Revolution. Their children are Francis A., Sarah Jane (deceased), Susan L., Joseph F. (married to Caroline, daughter of Alfred McCully, of Camden, N. J.), Hannah M. (Mrs. Sydenham H. Rhodes), Samuel L. (married to Mary B. Wolf), Martha E. (Mrs. Joseph Primrose), Elizabeth E. (Mrs. Theodore G. Wolf). The grandchildren of Charles Foulke are Maria, Charles M. and Helen, children of Joseph F. and Caroline Foulke; Joseph, Annie, Arthur and Edna, children of Sydenham H. and Hannah M. Rhodes ; Benjamin, Samuel, Lev- ick and Bessie, children of Samuel L. and Mary B. Foulke; Theodore W., Elizabeth, Walter, Joseph and William, children of Joseph and Martha E. Primrose ; and William Scranton, son of Theodore G. and Elizabeth E. Wolf. Mr. Foulke, after a residence of several years in Cherry Valley, removed to the farm now owned by Joseph F., his son, which he assisted in clearing.

The healthful air and many natural beauties of Monroe County have rendered it a very pop- ular summer resort. Mr. and Mrs. Foulke en- joyed the distinction of being the first to open their homes to summer guests. Beginning with two young ladies, the eapacity of their house was gradually increased until the spaeious and attractive resort of Mr. Joseph F. Foulke was crected, with comfortable accommodations for one hundred guests. This, with the varicd em-

ployments of a farmer, occupied Charles M. Foulke's attention during his active life. His religion was that of the Society of Friends, to which faith he zealously adhered, being an es- teemed elder of that society. His life was char- acterized by the strictest integrity, a rigid sense of honor governing all the transactions of a life- time. Kindly in his nature, and ever ready by word or deed to benefit his neighbor, he was nuniversally csteemcd and loved. Formerly a Whig and later a Republican in politics, lie cared more for the attractions of the fireside than for the excitements of public life. His death occurred at his home in Stroud township on the 1st of March, 1883.

Aaron Cramer removed from Bethany to Stroud township about the year 1812, and set- tled one-half mile from Spragueville, where much of his time was spent hunting, fishing and rafting. He died in 1831, leaving nine children, of whom the survivors are Nelson, of Pocono township; George, residing in Cincinnati, Ohio; William, in Price township; and Mary, in Centre County, Pa.

The children of Michael Ransberry werc John, Michael, Henry and two daughters, Maria and Elizabeth. Henry, of this number, resided near Spragueville, where he was a farmer. His chil- dren were Jesse B., John, George, Michael, Sally Ann, Susan B. and Eleanor. Henry Rans- berry died in his ninety-eighth year. The widow of Michael resides in East Stroudsburg.

Manuel Salladay, the earliest representative of the family in Stroud township, owned prop- erty on the line between Stroud and Smithfield townships. His son George was the maternal grandfather of Henry Ransberry.

Joseph Hilbrun located near Spragueville before the Revolution. He was an industrious farmer. Hc died at the advanced age of ninety- eight years.

Jasper Cotant lived in Stroud township at an early date, as did also John Lee, who was first a laborer and later purchased a farm, hav- ing married Ann Bush.

Peter and James Hollinshead, both physi- eians, came from North Carolina, and settled in Stroud township. James married Saralı, dangl- ter of Jacob Stroud, and had seven children

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who grew to mature years,-Sally ( Mrs. An- thony McCoy), Edwin A., Strond J., Daniel, Elizabeth, James and Ann. Strond J. married Jeannette La Bar, who now resides in Strouds- burg. Dr. Peter married Ann, another daugh- ter of Jacob Stroud, and settled at Stroudsburg. His only living descendant in the county is Peter Robinson, now residing in Stroudsburg.

JOSEPHUS JACOBUS AERTS came with Lafay- ette from France and joined the patriots of the Revolution, changing his name for prudential reasons to Francis Joseph Smith. He after- ward settled in Stroud township as a phy- sician, and married Elizabeth Brodhead, of the same county. Their children are Jane (Mrs. Dim- mock), Elizabeth (Mrs. Wallace), Sally (Mrs. Shoemaker), Rachel (Mrs. La Bar), Julia Ann (Mrs. Cross) and a son, Francis Joseph. The latter settled in East Stroudsburg, in the resi- dence now occupied by his son Jesse. Mrs. Stroud Hollinshead, the daughter of Mr. La Bar, resides in Strondsburg.

Derrick Van Vliet, born in Amsterdam, Holland, in September, 1699, emigrated to Esopus in 1728. He, with other emigrants, removed to Pennsylvania, cutting a road from Esopus via the Mine Hole to the Water Gap, and in 1734 located at the head of Rock Rift, in the Minisink country. He built a log house and resided for forty years in Stroudsburg, his deatlı occurring September 4, 1774. His son, Charrick Van Vliet, located on Sambo Creek, where he followed farming pursuits during the Revolution. He married Barbara La Bar, and had one son, Derrick (who resided on an adjoining farm) and several daughters. Derrick married Rachel Staples, who was of English descent, and daughter of John Staples, who emigrated from England, and served seven years in the Revolutionary War under General Washington. Their children are Charrick, Richard, John S., and daughters,-Myra, Ann, Amanda and Rebecca, all of whom are de- ceased with the exception of John S., who re- sides in Spragueville.

David Smiley settled on Brodhead Creek, below Spragueville, as a farmer. His children were David, Thomas and several daughters. Both sons settled in the township. David mar-

ried Mary Staples, and Thomas a Miss Boys. None of their children are now in the township.

James Bush resided on the farm now occu- pied by James Fisher. He had four sons, all of whom are deceased.

Matthias Shafer, doubtless, emigrated from Heidelberg, Germany, and settled in Lehigh County, from whence, at a later date, he removed to a farm situated on the line between Hamilton and Stroud townships. His children were a son Philip, and a daughter Catherine (Mrs. Adam Shafer). Philip, who settled in Stroud town- ship, married Mary Loar, of the same town- ship, whose children were two sons-Adam and Philip-and four daughters,-Susan (Mrs. Rouse), Mary (Mrs. William Mosteller), Anne (Mrs. John Huston) and Eve (Mrs. John Ever- hart). Philip, who is the only survivor of this number, and was born in 1801, still resides upon the homestead. He married Phebe, daughter of Jacob Phillips, of Hamilton town- ship. Their children are four sons-Charles Scranton ; Matthias, of Strond township ; John Davis, of Kansas ; and Allen, of Hamilton township-and four daughters,-Sarah Ann (Mrs. Lewis Myers, of Stroudsburg), Maria (Mrs. Jeremiah Shiffer, of Scranton), Ellen S. (Mrs. Morris Decker, of Jersey City) and Har- riet (Mrs. James Palmer, of Stroud township.)

JOHN DAVIS SHAFER, whose portrait we give, was born April 29, 1843, at Sunnyside, in Strond township, two and one-half miles west of Stroudsburg, the county-seat of Monroe County. He is the seventh of eight children in the order of their ages, namely,-Charles, the eldest ; Sarah Ann, now the wife of Lewis Meyers ; Maria, widow of Jeremiah Shiffer; Ellen S., wife of Morris H. Decker; Harriet, wife of James Palmer ; Mathias, John Davis and Allen, the offspring of Philip Shafer and Phobe, his wife.

The subject of this sketch passed his boyhood at Sunnyside, tilling the soil in summer and attending the public school at Shafer's school- house in winter, until he arrived at the age of seventeen years. He then commenced teaching school in the winter in the public schools of Monroe County, and to attend private seliool in summer, thus preparing himself for college.

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He entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1865, but quit college in his sophomore year, and started for the Mis- souri Valley. After visiting St. Joseph, Mis- souri, and Omaha, Nebraska, he landed at Leavenworth, Kansas, April 2, 1867. The fol- lowing week he engaged as a teacher in a private school, and read law during spare hours. In November of that year he entered the law-office of Thomas P. Fenlon, and, June 24, 1868, was admitted to practice at the bar of Leavenworth as an attorney and counselor-at-law. Here he lias since resided and practiced his profession, having built up a large and lucrative practice, both in the State and the United States courts, and taken rank among the leading lawyers of Kansas.

Mr. Shafer comes from a long-lived people. His father was born April 22, 1801, and is still living at Sunnyside. Philip Shafer, the grand- father of John, was one of the first settlers in Monroe County. The stone mansion erected by the grandfather in his youth at Sunnyside, in which John and his father were born, is still standing, and, like the castles on the Rhine and at Heidelberg, whence he came, will, unless destroyed by fire, doubtless stand for agcs. There the grandfather died at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Phoebe, the mother of John, also died there, August 2, 1874, aged sixty-eight years. Both lie buried in the ne- cropolis on the west end of the old homestead.

John Brown resided on a farm near East Stroudsburg. He had sons,-John and Jacob. The children of Jacob are Daniel, Robert and Edward, the latter being the only survivor. John's family have all removed from the town- ship.

Isaac Burson removed from Bucks County to Smithfield township before the War of the Revolution. Becoming alarmed at the frequency of Indian massacres, he returned again to his native county, where the remainder of his life was spent. He married a Miss Blacklidge and had children-James, William, Rachel, Jane, John and Eliza. James Burson was born in 1777, in Smithfield township, and removed with his parents to Bucks County. Returning again to Monroe (then Northampton) County,

he married Deborah, daughter of Colonel Jacob Stroud, and had children-Danelia, Caroline (Mrs. William Hollinshead), Jacob, Elizabeth, Isaac, Emily, Stroud and Lewis. But three of this number survive-Caroline, who resides in Wisconsin, and Stroud and Lewis, who are resi- dents of Stroudsburg.

Jacob Postens, on his removal from Bucks County, settled on a farm in Stroud township, now owned by Jabez Angle. He married Nancy Burson, whose children were James, Sally (Mrs. Arthur), Henry, Charles, Edward, William and Jane (Mrs. John Brown). James, of this num- ber, settled on the homestead, married Mary Dean, and lias children-Jacob, of East Strouds- burg; Emily, who removed to Illinois ; Eliza- beth, who resides in Middle Smithfield ; Hetty, of Lackawanna County, Pa .; and James, Sally, Martha and Willis, of Stroudsburg. James, a son of Charles Postens, resides on his father's property, in Smithfield township. Two chil- dren of Edward, Philip Shroder and a daugh- ter (Mrs. Robert Huston), are residents of Stroudsburg.

Leonard, son of Adam Andre, removed from Plainfield, Northampton County, to Stroud township in 1808, and settled on a farm now owned by the widow of James Andre. With farming he combined the trade of a blacksmith. He married Sarah, daughter of John Kem- merer, of Hamilton township. Their children are Adam, who married Blandina Jayne ; James, married to Sarah Kemmerer, who has four children ; Charles R., married to Hannah Van Buskirk, of Union County, who has two chil- dren ; Mary Ann, deceased (Mrs. Philip S. Brown) ; Catherine (Mrs. Samuel Boys) ; Caro- line (Mrs. Dauiel Boys) ; and Ellen (Mrs. E. T. Croasdale). Charles R. is a resident of Strouds- burg, and Ellen of the Water Gap.

John Huston came from Trenton, N. J., to Stroud township in 1772, and settled on a farm now owned by Robert Huston. He married Catherine, daughter of Eliakim Anderson, and sister of Lieutenant-Governor George Anderson, of Trenton. Their children are William, George, John, James, and three daughters,-Elizabeth, Rebecca and Mary. John married Ann Cath- crine Shafer and reared thirteen children. Those

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still living are Lavinia (Mrs. Walter), Elizabeth (Mrs. Frantz) and Robert, of Monroe County ; Samuel, Joseph, Nathan and Taey Ann, of lowa ; and Frank, of Montana.

Joseph Kerr, who was of Seoteh-Irish de- scent, removed, when a lad of three years, to Ireland, and emigrated to America during the War of 1812. He engaged in the flour and feed business in Philadelphia, and later became su- perintendent of slate quarries at Slatington,

Independence and settled, it is believed, in Pennsylvania. . The great-grandfather of Thomas W. was killed at the battle of Brandy- wine, which is all that is known of him. His son, Jacob Rhodes, was born near Bethlehem, Pa., where he grew to man's estate, married and raised a family of children and where he died. Adam, the second son of Jacob, was born on the homestead farm, near Bethlehem, i in 1797. He remained at home until his

2.W.Rhodes

Northampton County, Pa. He was twiee mar- . ried and had eleven children, among whom was James H. Kerr, born in Stroudsburg, who re- sides on the homestead, in Stroud township. He married Catherine M., daughter of Judge Moses Coolbaugh, and has two sons, Frank C. and Josephi M., both druggists in Stroudsburg.

THOMAS W. RHODES .- The Rhodes family, who were among the early settlers of Monroe County, are of German origin. Their ancesters emigrated to America prior to the War for

marriage to Catherine Beaseeker, who was also born near Bethlehem, when he removed to Hamilton township, Monroe County, which was then in Northampton County, where he bought the farm now known as the old Wil- lianis farm. It was only partly eleared, and of it Mr. Rhodes made a pleasant home, where he resided many years. He finally sold it and purchased a small place and retired from farm- ing. He died at the home of his son Jacob, in Stroud township, in 1846. His wife survived

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MONROE COUNTY.

him until February, 1864, when she passed away at the ripe age of eighty-six years. They were both members of the Lutheran Church for many years. Their children were Adam, Nancy, Abraham, John and Leah (all deceased), Thomas W., Rachel, Jacob and Eliza.

Thomas W. Rhodes was born in Hamilton township August 10, 1811, where he remained until seventeen years of age, obtaining such limited education only as a few months' attend- ance at the winter schools in his vicinity afforded. At that age he became an apprentice to George Keller, a carpenter, who resided on tlie farm now owned by Mr. Rhodes. With him Mr. Rhodes made his home during and after his apprenticeship of three years. After his trade (that of a carpenter) was learned he went to work at the millwright business, which le follow- ed many years. For nine years he worked for Mr. George Linton, three years of the time as foreman. He then commenced business on his own account and kept several companies at work building mills in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In 1849 he took charge of the lumber business of Williams Brothers and John Com- fort, and remained with them six years. In 1833 he bought the home where lie now resides, wliere he has ever since remained and where he intends to spend the remainder of a long and well-spent life. In 1853 he gave up the building of mills and lumbering and remained at home, but has ever since been in active business. In 1858 he built the Stroudsburg Bank building, and in 1865 the Stroudsburg Woolen-Mills. Four years later he built the Lutheran Church of Stroudsburg. In 1856 lie helped organize the Stroudsburg Bank, of which he lias been for twenty-nine years a director. In 1865 he became a director in the Strondsburg Woolen- Mills Company, and three years later its presi- dent, which position he has ever since held. Since 1845 he has been a director in, and manager and surveyor of, the Monroe Mutual Fire Insurance Company. With his whole family, Mr. Rhodes is a member of the Lutheran Church, in which he has been elder, deacon and trustee. In politics he is an ardent Republican, and has hield various township offices.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 183

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