History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 31

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 31
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 31
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 31

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his, but there was a dircetness, an earnestness, a depth of conviction in his talk that was most persuasive and convincing. Clear, patient, la- borious, he made a large reputation, and for many years was at the head of the legal profes- sion in this county.

But he had still higher claims than these upon public confidence and esteem. He was a profonudly truthful and honest man. There was no alloy of falschood, deceit, hypocrisy or fraud in him. In business, in politics, in reli- gion, in social and domestic life, there was no guile found in him. He wore no masks. He said precisely what he meant, and squared his actions by his professions. He was never even suspected of an untruth or a dishonesty. Am- bitious of wealth, he coveted no man's silver or gold. Emulous of honors, he refused distinc- tions at the sacrifice of principle. He was as true to his conscience as the needle is to the pole.

In private life his nature was child-like, simple-hearted, transparent. His domestic vir- tues were without a blemish. There was no mixture of contradictions in his composition. The image was not part gold and part clay. If there was lacking that stateliness of manners and courtliness of phrase which are prized in fashionable circles, there was a depth of sincer- ity, of generosity, of charitableness, that threw over his life a charm of greater value than any meretricious adornments.

Resolute in following his judgment when it was once matured, he was slow and cantious in reaching conclusions. He took nothing on trust ; yielded nothing to authority. He chal- lenged everything. He demanded proofs. He judged solely by what he knew. This in- stinct of timidity, of doubt, of scrutiny, ran into every department of his life, and was as observable when he committed himself to a wagon or a bridge as to a new point in law or theology. If he rejected what other men re- ceived and cherished, he did not do so cap- tiously, or because it was pleasant for him to differ from other people. There was no obtru- sion of differences in his intercourse.

If godliness really means to be godlike-if re- ligion consists in the exemplification of Truth and Justice, Love and Mercy, Purity and Rev-

erence, not for their uses, as profitable to one's self, but because they are supremely good and beautiful in themselves-then Mr. Wheeler was an eminently religious man and has undoubt- edly passed to the glorification of the just made perfect. He left behind him the odor of a well- spent life, a moral character without a blemish, and a cherished rccollection of true manliness and worth in the hearts of thousands who sur- vive him.

CHARLES K. ROBINSON was born in Wind- ham Centre, N. Y., in 1802. He was an uncle of ex-Governor Lucius Robinson, of New York. He studied law with Erastus Barnes in New York City, and was there admitted to the bar. He subsequently practiced in Kortright, Delaware County, N. Y., and there, in 1826, was married to Laura Stewart. He came to Honesdale a few years later. The date of his admission to the bar of Wayne is not shown by the record, but his earliest recorded appear- ance as an attorney was at November term, 1833. In 1840 he was appointed deputy attor- ney-general, and held the office for five years. He died in November, 1849.

EBENEZER KINGSBURY came to Wayne from Susquehanna County. He studied law with William Jessup in Montrose, and was ad- mitted to the bar of Susquehanna September 2, 1828. The date of his admission to the bar of Wayne is not shown by the record, but his earliest recorded appearance as an attorney was at November Term, 1833. He came to Wayne County to take editorial charge of the Wayne. County Herald and Bethany Inquirer, the Dem- ocratie organ of the county, published at Hones- dale, and devoted himself mainly to politics. In 1835 he was appointed deputy attorney-gen- eral for the county, and held the office until January, 1838. In 1837 he was elected to the State Senate, and in April, 1840, was chosen Speaker for the remainder of the year. He died about the middle of April, 1844.

HON. WILLIAM H. DIMMICK (1st) .- Elder Thomas Dimmock, the earliest American an- cestor of this gentleman, came to Dorchester, Mass., before 1635, possibly in the company led by John Winthrop, Jr., in 1630. He was a selectman of that town. May 25, 1636, he

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was made a freeman of the colony of Massachu- setts Bay. He removed to Hingham in 1638, to Scituate the next year, and to Barnstable in 1640, where he became locally prominent. He was a son of Edward Dimmock, of Barnstable, England, the family having been conspicuous in the mother country for five hundred years. His wife was probably Ann Hammond, widow of William Hammond, of Watertown, Mass.

The name is Welch, and was originally written David ap Madoc-David, son of Madoc. Then it took the form of Daimock, Dai being a contraction of David. Afterwards, and down to the present time, various orthographical forms were and are employed, as Dymock, Dim- mock, Dimmuck, Dimuck and Dimock. In- deed, no two of Mr. Dimmick's immediate pro- genitors spelled the name in the same way. Diversities in spelling proper names are com- mon enough in all old books and documents, but so great a diversity as is manifest in the spelling of this name is quite uncommon. The existing differences do not seem likely to be ob- literated. Each has abundant examples to sup- port it, and neither party is inclined to yield. In 1703 a man of this name was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature from Bucks County. That year his name was spelled on the official minutes Tobias Dymmoke. In 1705 he was again in the Legislature, and his name was then officially written Tobias Dymock. There is no evidence attainable that he was closely related to Thomas Dimmock, of Barn- stable, Mass.

Deacon Shubal Dimmuck was the second son and third child of Thomas Dimmock, and was born in Barnstable and baptized there Septem- ber 15, 1644. He was selectman in 1685-86 and member of General Court, as the Colonial Legislature was designated, at different sessions. About 1693 he removed to Mansfield, Conn., where he died, October 29, 1732, at the ad- vanced age of ninety-one years. He married Joanna Bursley in April, 1663.

His son, John Dimuck, was born in Barnstable in January, 1666, and lived there until 1709, when he removed to Falmouth. He married Elizabeth Lumbert in November, 1689.

Timothy Dimock was the fifth child and 19

second son of John Dimuck. He was born in Barnstable in July, 1698, and finally located in Mansfield. He married Ann Bradford, a de- scendant of Governor Bradford, of the " May- flower " company, April 15, 1723.

Deacon Oliver Dimock, eighth child and sixth son of Timothy Dimock, lived in Mansfield, about half a mile east of the present Mansfield depot. He was a deacon of the North Mans- field Church. He married Sarah Gurley, daughter of Samuel, in April, 1764. She died in 1799 and he February 10, 1823.

Dan Dimmick, second son and fifth child of Oliver Dimock, was born March 1, 1775, in Mansfield. He came to Pennsylvania in 1800, and studied law in Milford, and followed his profession in that village until February, 1825, when he died. He married Jane, daughter of J. J. Aerts, better known as Dr. Francis Smith, of Stroudsburg, Pa. Mr. Aerts was born in Brussels, when it was the capital of the Austrian Netherlands. He was a son of Z. B. Aerts, Lord of Opdorp and Immerscele, and was named Josephus Jacobus Aerts. In 1771 he started for America, to join the colonists against Great Britain, and to facilitate travel through France, took the name of Francis Smith.

William H. Dimmick, seventh child and fifth son of Dan, was born in Milford, January 25, 1813. He was educated at Wendham, and at an early age entered the law-office of Hon. N. B. Eldred, at Bethany, Wayne County, Pa., and in 1835 was admitted to the bar, and began practice with Mr. Eldred, whose first wife was his sister, and whose second wife was his cousin. Soon afterwards Mr. Eldred was appointed to a president judgeship, which he accepted, leav- ing Mr. Dimmick to profit by the large and lucrative practice left to him. In 1842 the county-seat was removed from Bethany to Honesdale, when, in common with other mem- bers of the legal profession, he removed to the latter place, and at once was conceded high rank.

In 1844 he was elected, by the Democrats, State Senator from the district composed of the counties of Susquehanna, Wyoming and Wayne. He speedily acquired influence in the Senate through his industry and abilities. The point

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in his legislative carcer, however, which excited most attention and comment was his refusal to sustain the Democratic caucus nomination of James Buchanan for United States Senator, who was a candidate for re-election. The Demo- crats had a majority of only one on joint ballot, so that the selection of his successor was vir- tually in the power of Mr. Dimmick. Simon Cameron, up to that occasion, had steadily been a Democrat, and even then avowed himself to be such ; but he affirmed that Mr. Buchanan was not sound on the tariff question, and, per-

We It Dimmick

haps, on some other points. The Whig mem- youngest sister.

bers of the Legislature took that view of the contention, or, at least, professed to take it. Mr. Cameron gave them in writing all the assur- ances they desired, and they gave him their votes for Senator. The vote of Mr. Dimmick, superadded thereto, made Mr. Cameron Sena- tor for the full term of six years, and soon lie commenced a long career at Washington, which was certainly conspicuous, if not illus- trious.

In 1856 Mr. Dimmick was elected represen- tative in Congress from the Thirteenth District,

composed of the counties of Wayne, Pike, Monroe, Carbon and Northampton. In 1858 he was again elected representative from the same district. This must be said, that his Congres- sional service did not satisfy the expectation created by liis record in the State Senate. But, then, it must be borne in mind that his health had become prematurely broken, and the final end for him was not far off.

On August 3, 1861, he died at his residence in Honesdale, after a protracted illness, proxi- mately of dropsy, caused remotely, perhaps, by what was known at the time as the National Hotel poisoning. That was his conception of his malady. He believed and often asserted that the poisoning was an attempt by Southern radicals to remove Mr. Buchanan from the Presidency, and that he and a number of other persons incidentally became victims of the criminal endeavor, while the President fortu- nately escaped. Of course, he could not demon- strate the accuracy of his conception of the matter, for the actual facts were never authori- tatively developed ; but he adhered tenaciously to the last to that idea.

Mr. Dimmick's physical frame surpassed ordinary dimensions, massive rather than corpul- lent. His head was large and his countenance open and pleasant. To outward appearances it seemed, when he came to the bar, likely to endure to extreme old age. But those bodily indications were unrcal and deceptive. In the meridian of his years, he withered gradually and passed away. He never mar- ricd, but left the handsome con- petency he had acquired to his

He was a man of excellent understanding. His education, while not liberal, was sufficient for his purposes. He was proficient in his native language, using it ordinarily with con- siderable exactness and often with conspicuous force. He was not ignorant of general English literature, having a familiar acquaintance with many authors whose works have attained the rank of classics. He was a diligent student along the line of his profession, well grounded alike in elementary principles, in statutory en- actments and in the decisions of the higher

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tribunals. He had a blending of capacities which made him strong with both the bench and the jury.

During his life an impression prevailed, somewhat widely, that he was specially absent- minded. Stories were told illustrating his alleged forgetfulness,-one to the effect that, having occasion while at a hotel in the city of New York, to send out a garment to be repaired, he thoughtlessly left in one of the pockets a large sum of money, the discovery whereof greatly frightened the messenger, who saw in it an artifice to accomplish his ruin. Another, that while preparing to quit a Harrisburg hotel, he fastened his trunk, leaving two or three suits of clothes in a wardrobe in the room he occupied, and was oblivious to what had become of them until they were forwarded to him. And yet a third, to the effect that he was once engaged to marry a lady ; that the day of the wedding was fixed by mutual agreement be- tween her and him ; and that, forgetting the engagement, he failed to appear at the appointed time. These and other reports of similar nature were told in a tone sometimes of banter and sometimes of complaint. But how much fiction or how much faet entered into the com- position of them was never apparent. It was, however, palpable that he did not forget his own business welfare or the rights and in- terests which clients committed to his care. Therein he was prompt, intelligent and effi- cient.

In social life he was attractive and large- hearted, full of kindly and generous impulses, with heart ever open to the appeals of the suf- fering and needy, and hand ever ready to min- ister to their necessities. There was no trace of malice in him, even towards his enemies, and his forgiveness of injuries to himself was swift and certain. His friendships once established were not lightly broken.

He had scarcely reached the summit of life and the best and fullest development of liis powers when the summons for his final depart- ure came. What possibilities lay in the future may readily be conjectured ; but he left behind, in the recollection of friends and in the appre- ciation of the public, enough accomplished to

ensure a kindly remembrance on the part of the generation to which he belonged.

HON. F. M. CRANE .- For many years this man was a conspicuous, unique and interest- ing figure in the professional, political and so- cial life of Honesdale and of Wayne County. Nature was not kind to him in respect to form and bearing. Short, thick, dark-visaged, hair long, coarse and shaggy, with eyes black, pene- trating and lustrous, and lips that smiled dis- mally, if at all, and in manner to leave a stran- ger in doubt whether the intent behind was hostile or friendly, he was decidedly repellent and forbidding in appearance and bearing. Yet, he was kind-hearted, sympathetic, generous, honest and truthful. All there was bad in him, was the appearance nature had foreed upon him, and which he could neither cast off, nor quite counterbalance by the genuine and lovable qual- ities abounding in him.

He had excellent intellectual endowments ; was eminently studious and reflective in his habits ; well-read in the law, and capable of instituting and carrying forward the closest scrutiny. Perhaps he was inclined to be tech- nical, instead of resting mainly on fundamental principles and the applications thereof to cases in hand. But he was always efficient, and often exceedingly powerful.

His educational advantages were not liberal ; only such as the common schools and academies of New England furnished in his youthful days ; but by industry and application he made up for the deficiencies to which he was subject, even in early manhood was proficient and exact in the use of his native language.

He was born in Salisbury, Conn., May 12, 1815, and was nearly sixty-two years old when he died.

In 1834 he went from Connecticut to Mid- dlebury, Vt. The proelivity to politics was so strong in him that the next year he was a dele- gate to the Democratic State Convention. He had then scarcely reached his majority ; but, unquestionably, he served with zeal, if not with the knowledge he evinced in his maturer years.

In 1836 he came to Mount Pleasant, this county, to teach a school, for which employment he was well qualified. He was not content,

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and felt a desire to go West. That same year he journeyed as far as Cincinnati, sceking a place to locate permanently, but did not find it, and retraced his way as far as Carbondale. In 1837 he again went to Cincinnati, but returned as far as Pittsburgh, where he spent the autumn of that year. Unsatisfied, he returned to Car- bondale, determined to remain, and became a student-at-law, in the office of Lewis Jones, Esq. In 1838 he was admitted to the bar of Luzerne County, and was soon regarded as one of the most promising young members of the profes- sion.

In 1840 he entered actively into the Presi- dential canvass, on the Democratic side, and soon acquired popularity as a political speaker. And this Icads necessarily to statement and comment upon the sources of his power as a speaker, whether at the bar or before assemblies of the people. He was certainly not an orator. Neither in voice nor action was he eloquent. But he was exceedingly effective. He did not allow himself to speak until he was fully pre- pared, and then only in the line of his convic- tions. He was fluent, earnest, pointed, impas- sioned. What he lacked in grace he made up by intensity of matter and method.

From 1840 up to his decease he was always active in politics, but was not personally a favorite with the masses. He did not know how to win by dissimulation.

In 1843 he was appointed post-master at Carbondale, which office he resigned in 1844, upon his removal to Honesdale. At once he took high rank at the Wayne County bar, and gained an enviable reputation, not only for learning in his calling, but for professional and personal integrity, which was never sullied by a questionable transaction.

Nevertheless, while zealous and influential in advancing the political interests of friends, he largely lacked the qualities requisite to secure his own promotion. He could neither fawn nor flatter. He was as decidedly lacking in self-assertion as he was in personal magnetism ; but, invited to accept position, no matter what, he was equal to almost any requirement or ob- ligation.

In 1853 he was elected to the popular branch

of the General Assembly, and served with abil- ity. He was ready, independent, forcible. He made himself conspicuous and powerful in op- posing the enforced break in the gange of rail- roads at Erie or elsewhere. This break was insisted on, because changing freight from one set of cars to another, at particular points, fur- nished employment to considerable numbers of laborers, and so was esteemed a local benefit. Now, it seems almost impossible to comprehend that views so narrow and unworthy could have been seriously entertained, and could have found prominent and efficient advocates. But so it was. Mr. Crane's hostility to the scheme was spontaneous and irresistible. It exposed him to the senseless imputation of being subsi- dized by railway corporations, but after his cx- position of the matter the accusation was inef- fectual.

In 1861 he was again elected to the General Assembly by the Republicans, as a war Dem- ocrat. His speeches in the canvass were among the ablest made in Pennsylvania during the Rebellion.

In 1874 an extraordinary complication oc- curred, touching the president judgeship of Wayne and Pike Counties, and at the solicita- tion of hundreds of personal and party friends, he was induced to let his name go to the people as an independent Democratic candidate for the position. His competitors were Charles P. Waller, of Wayne County, as the Republican nominee, and D. M. Van Auken, of Pike County, as the regular Democratic candidate. The contest was a bitter and exciting one. Mr. Waller received 2588 votes, Mr. Van Auken 1257 and Mr. Crane 2176 votes. Consider- ing that Mr. Crane did not have the support of either party organization, but was sustained on- ly by his individual merits, the result was de- cidedly complimentary to him.

This was the last time he was a candidate for public office ; while he evinced his old-time in- terest in political concerns, and acted with the Democrats, it was manifest le regarded his period of individual activity as closed.

In social life he remained what he had always been to his intimate friends. What an amplitude of sympathy, generosity and good fellowship lay

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concealed behind the reserve which was habit- ual to him before the public ! While on the street lie appeared to be haughty, taciturn and unapproachable ; in his own home, or in the homes of his familiars, few persons contrived to be so winsome and agreeable.

Mr. Crane, in 1844, married Miss Olivia Sims, of Philadelphia. The union was a happy one but was childless. A few years before he died the deep shadow of insanity fell upon his companion, and she was removed to the Phila- delphia Asylum, where she remains. There was a touch of almost infinite care and tender- ness in his treatment of her until her absolute seclusion became imperative, and then a deep, impenetrable sorrow settled upon his life. His home was, indeed, desolate; with no child to bear him company, with no near kindred, ex- cept a young nephew, whose tenderness was loyal and complete, his life became parched and withered. One evening a friend called at his dwelling and spent an hour with him. His mind, subdued and mellowed by affliction, stored inexhaustibly by reminiscence and en- riched by abundant reading and cogitation, made him especially attractive ; at the moment of parting he grasped his neighbor's hand, tears came into his eyes and he scemed the embodi- ment of desolation. The heartfelt thanks he expressed for the recognition accorded has lasted until now as a most cherished recollec- tion.

On Saturday, the 6th of January, 1877, he suffered from severe pains near or in the heart. He had before experienced like attacks, which lie attributed to indigestion, so that he felt no alarm at that illness. On Sunday he was still unwell, but was up and about his dwelling and went over to the Allen House. On Monday his sufferings increased insomuch that he went to bed and sent for his physician. The examina- tion convinced the doctor that there was serious trouble, but he hoped the disease might yield to treatment, for a time at least. During the day some improvement in the case was manifest, but it proved to be temporary. At seven o'clock in the evening a paroxysm of agony seized him. His nephew folded him in his arms and in a few moments all was over. Soon the traces of

agony faded from his countenance, and only the repose of death remained.

CHARLES SHERMAN MINOR, son of Sher- man and Jerusha E. Minor, was born in Washington, Connecticut, January 11, 1817. He soon afterward removed to Roxbury, Con- necticut. He there fitted for college, attending the academy in that place for six months, but for the most part pursuing his studies alone. He entered Yale College in 1837, and was graduated from that institution in 1841. He soon afterward went to Wellsboro', Tioga County, Pa., and for two years taught in the academy at that place, meantime studying law under the direction of James Lowrey. He then attended the New Haven Law School for one year and was admitted to the bar in New Haven. In 1844 he came to Honesdale, and December 3,. 1844, was admitted to the bar of Wayne County. In 1845 he formed a partnership with Earl Wheeler, which continued for one year, and thereafter he practiced alone. In the summer of 1862 he was appointed by Governor Curtin a commissioner to make the first draft for troops to fill the quota of the State for service in the Union army, and was occupied for sev- eral months with the duties of this position. Soon afterward his health became so much impaired that he was obliged to suspend all professional labors for some time. In the fall of 1863, hoping for benefit from a change of climate, he accepted a position in the Treasury Department at Washington. He was soon afterward sent to California on important business of the department. In July, 1864, his health being restored, he returned to Hones- dale and resumed the duties of his profession. Since 1869 he has been a trustee of the State Hospital for the Insane.

Mr. Minor has been twice married. His first . wife was Miss Harriet I. Bache, of Wellsboro', to whom he was married May 19, 1846. She was attacked by a malignant fever a few months later, and died October 19, 1846. He, also, was attacked by the same malady, but recovered after a protracted sickness. March 30, 1848, he was married to Miss Nancy P. Brown, of Utica, N. Y. They have had one son-Charles Fletcher, who was drowned May 31, 1853,

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when a little more than four years old-and two daughters : Harriet E. and Catherine B., both of whom reside in Honesdale.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 31

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