History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 78

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 78
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 78
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 78

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).

John Land remained behind and settled on the homestead, taking out a patent for four hundred and thirty acres. He married Lily, the oldest daughter of Danicl Skinner, and had eleven children. They were Phoebe, who mar- ried Dr. Luther Appley ; Lily, the wife of Dr. Freeman Allen ; Mcrey, the wife of William Appley, of Connecticut ; Marilla, who married Jesse Calkins, and settled on the Narrowsburg turnpike ; Maxamila, the wife of John Burcher, near Eldred ; Polly, who married a Stuttenburg, and moved to Wisconsin ; Rebecca, the wife of James Louden, of Honesdale ; Robert, who married a daughter of Jesse Welles, and settled at Beaver Brook ; William and John, who went to Canada ; Mascal, who went to Wiscon- sin, and afterwards to California, where he died.

Joseph Brown emigrated from New Jersey about 1790, and was for many years a well- known farmer. He had one son, Joel, who was the father of Rev. Isaac Brown, a Baptist clergy- man ; Joseph ; Enoch ; Esther, who married a Ketchum; Fannie (Mrs. G. Lord); and Eleanor.

Daniel Bush came from Stroudsburg about 1795, to make his home with Captain Jesse Drake for a time. Young Bush was a sur- veyor and millwright, and was also more than ordinarily handsome and attractive. Across the Delaware lived Nathan Mitchell, and Bush saw and loved his oldest daughter, Hannah. He married her and settled on the Wayne County side, though he afterward moved to New York, and was the first justice of the peace at Cochecton. His children were Thomas A., Joseph, Jolin, Amos, Sarah (Mrs. Cotton) and Jane.

Rev. Enoch Owens came to Damascus about off Abel Land. A short time previous to this, | 1790, and settled above Cochecton. He mar-

ried a daughter of Silas Tyler, and afterward located on land belonging to Stephen Mitchell. His children were Netus, James, Silas, David, Israel, Sylvan, Abigail (Mrs. Mertha Massey), Polly and Heziah.

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Captain Jesse Drake moved from Wilkes- Barre about 1790, and settled on the Delaware, in the place above referred to. Hc had married the widow Chapman, reliet of Moses Thomas, killed at the battle of Lackawaxen, and had four children,-Christina, who married Jona- than Lillie ; Martha, the wife of James Mitch- ell; Charles and Jesse.

Thomas Shields, to whose enterprise and generosity the village of Damascus owes mnch of its prosperity, was a son of James Shields, and was born in Newlin township, Chester County, in June, 1743. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to John Bayly, a goldsmith of Philadelphia, to learn that trade, and it was stipulated in the indenture that the term of his apprenticeship should not eease until nine months after he had beeome of age. After completing his term Mr. Shields carried on business on his own aceount for a number of years, and aeeumulated considerable money. About 1785 he commeneed to invest in wild lands in the northern part of Northampton County. He soon owned between thirty and forty thousand aeres, most of his tracts lying between Dyberry Creek and the Delaware River, in Lebanon, Damascus, Oregon and Berlin town- ships. Among the lands he thus acquired was the old Damascus Manor, which he purchased from John and Riehard Penn, on the 6th of Febru- ary, 1795. The tract contained four thousand three hundred and ninety acres, and gave him the ownership of all the land fronting on the Delaware, between the old Skinner plaee (late George Bush's) and the Judge Thomas home- stead, a distance of five miles.

Immediately after purehasing this manor he selected as a site for his residence a spot where the village of Damaseus now stands, and soon afterward removed his family from Philadelphia. A saw and grist-mill were completed on Cash's Creek, near its month, as early as 1796, and other buildings soon fol- lowed. Here it was that Moses Calkins brought over the ice, from Philadelphia, the first burr- stones used in the county. The place was known as Shields' Mills for a while, though the owner always called it by the name given by the pro- prietaries twenty years before. Mr. Shields was

aetive in devising plans, and liberal in assisting in anything that would lead to the settlement of the country, and his poliey promoted rapid growth.

He was made president of the Coehecton and Great Bend turnpike, and when the eastern end of the road was construeted, in 1806, he laid off a range of village lots fronting on it, and extending back some two hundred feet to other streets. During the year following Mr. Shields executed two deeds, one for a Baptist Church lot and the other for a school, and there are other substan- tial tokens of his enterprise in the village. His residence at Damascus eeased about 1811, when he moved back to Philadelphia, where he died in 1820. He left four children,-Robert, Thomas, John and David, most of whom lived and died in Philadelphia.

Derrick Lukens emigrated from Bueks County about 1796, being one of those who came with Thomas Shields. Mr. Lukens had married Polly North, and brought one child with him. His children were John N .; Titus D. ; Betsy, who married Dr. Allen, and after- wards R. Hankins; Polly, the wife of Rev. Isaac Brown ; Margaret, the wife of Colonel O. B. Brush, at one time the sheriff of Wayne County ; Sally, who married Joseph L. Par- sons ; Hannalı, the wife of John F. Avery ; and Nancy, the wife of Tunis Willsey.

William Monnington eame from Philadel- phia, about the same time that Lukens did, and settled on a four hundred acre traet, now occu- pied by Stephen Yerkes. Aided by his son John, of Philadelphia, Mr. Monnington built the saw-mill at Damaseus, and his other sons, James and Nathan, worked there. Besides these children he had a son Israel, who died without issue, and four daughters,-Mrs. Souders and Mrs. Vandergrif, who remained in Phila- delphia, and Polly, who married William Tyler, of Tyler Hill, and Becky, the wife of Judge Thomas.

George Brown came from Haverstraw Bay about 1800, and after the death of his first wife, who was a Lassley, married Eleanor Decker. His eldest daughter was the wife of Jeremiah Lillie; Sabra, the second daughter, married Joseph Holbert; Mahalia was the wife

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of William Owens. The sons were George W. and Daniel, the latter afterwards lived at Bay- ard's Pond. Daniel Brown, a brother of George, lived at Hog Island, in the Delaware, and is remembered as the man who brought the first wagons to Milanville.

Jonathan Yerkes brought his family from Willow Grove, Bucks County, about 1800, and took up a four hundred acre tract which he bought of Thomas Shields. He built both a grist and a saw-mill on Calkins' Creek about 1810. His sons were Joseph, Titus, Jacob P., Nathan L., Sebastian J. and David. He had three daughters,-Mary A., who married E. B. Clark; Margaret ; and Hannah, the wife of Ira Sherwood.

Michael Brannan came from Newburgh, prob- ably about 1809 or 1810, and settled below the Cochecton Falls. He married Hannah An- derson, a granddaughter of Aaron Thomas, and had nine children,-Oliver ; Polly, who mar- ried Stephen Youngs ; Lydia, the wife of Ste- phen Wright; Lorette, the wife of Charles D. Lovis ; Hannah J., who married Lemuel Brown; Charity (Mrs. Budd); and John, Moses and Lot.

Archbald McCollam was an Irish patriot, who settled near Benjamin Conklin, on the Cocbecton and Great Bend turnpike. He had one son, Neal, who settled at Galilee, and a daughter, who married William McAvery, of Mount Pleasant.

Samuel Bennett came from New Jersey about 1812, married Sally Layton, and settled near Belmont. He served as constable in 1825, and was otherwise prominent in the township. Samuel and Enos Headen came from the same State about the same time, and Samuel remained to become a valued citizen. He married Olive Hurd. Enos married Phoebe, a daughter of Silas Tyler, and moved to Ohio several years afterward.

Oliver B. Brush, who was sheriff in 1822, emigrated from Connecticut in 1810. For two years he taught school in Damascus, making his home with Nathan Skinner. When the War of 1812 broke out, he volunteered, and served with great credit. After he returned he married Margaret, a daughter of Derrick

Lukers, by whom he had three sons,-Elipha- let, Oliver B., Jr., and Joseph L., all of whom live at Tyler Hill. After the death of Sheriff Brush his wife married Stephen Mitchell, and one daughter, the wife of Warren Yerkes, was born of this union.

James Boyd came from Frankford, near Philadelphia, about 1808, being brought by the Duffields, and settled on Damascus Manor, near Thomas Youngs. He volunteered in the same company with Sheriff Brush, and served until 1814, when he returned to his adopted residence. He had seven children, two of whom lived in Warren County and two in Wayne. Hon. Thomas Y. Boyd, one of the latter, bought the Tymerson Mills, near Eldred, many years ago, and has since been largely in- terested in the lumber business. He is a man of much enterprise and public spirit, and has twice represented the county in the Legisla- ture.

Alexander Rutledge, a native of Ireland, moved into Damascus and settled on the Hun- ter lands, on the road leading from the Union settlement to the " old Gate house," as the Ben- jamin Conklin place was called, abont 1812. His children were Ann (the wife of James Monnington), Alexander, Edward, Christo- pher, John and William.

William Keesler came from Haverstraw Bay about this time, and settled on the bank of the Delaware, near Skinner's Eddy. He had mar- ried a daughter of Cornelius Bolts, and had three sons,-Jolin, Jacob and Jesse. He was also the father of several daughters, who all married early settlers. The family is widely connected.

Elijah Clark, who appears on some of the early assessment lists, came from Connecticut about 1814, and resided in the township for about fifteen years. He married Mary Ann, the daughter of Jonathan Yerkes, and had several children, among whom were Romaine, Dorinda, Lorette and Sidney. The family moved to Michigan in 1829.

William Burcher came from England about 1815, and settled at first in Mount Pleasant, where he remained for two years. He then re- turned to Damascus, where he has since resided.

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His children were John ; Samuel ; Sarah, the wife of Warren Dimmick, of Mount Pleasant ; Betsy, the wife of Joseph Yerkes ; Helen, the wife of Titus Yerkes; and a daughter who married a Kramer.

Horace Belknap moved from Shehawken about 1820, and married Susan, a daughter of Joseph Skinner. Belknap located at the Bal- com settlement, and had six children,-Joseph, Kinney ; Charles Callista ; wife of Caleb Schenck, of Cherry Ridge; Mary, (Mrs. French): and Laura, the wife of William Quick, of Port Jervis.

William Bonesteel came from Greene County, New York, but moved to Damascus from Sul- livan County in 1850, and bought the Manor Mill. He married Rachel Rouse. Leander and Leroy were his only children that lived to manhood. Leander married Mrs. Ennis, of Damascus ; Leroy married Mary E., a daughter of S. K. Vail. William Bonesteel died in 1869, aged sixty-two.

Eli Beach was born in Cairo, Greene County, New York, and after reaching his majority en- tered the employ of Captain Edwards, the first tanner in the United States under the present system, at Hunter, New York. After engag- ing in the tanning business on his own account in several places, in connection with Loren An- drews, he bought Rock Glen Tannery, at Mi- lanville. Mr. Andrews' interest was subse- quently bought by J. Howard Beach, a son of Eli, and the establishment was run for many years under the name of E. Beach & Son. Mr. Beach was a man of much enterprise and pub- lic spirit, and occupied a prominent place in the community. He was a justice of the peace, and filled other township offices to the satisfaction of all. While a resident of New York State he was the captain of a militia company, and was always known as " Captain." His wife was Miss Mary A. Gay, and their children were Hon. J. Howard Beach, Watson E. Beach, Mrs. H. L. Nichols and Mrs. Conner. Captain Beach died in 1877, aged seventy- two.

James Smith, who settled at Eldred in 1821, and was the first postmaster there, was from New York State. He married Eunice, a daugh-

ter of Deacon Loring Parsons, and had only two children who grew to manhood. They were E. H. Smith, of Bethany, and L. P. Smitlı, of Damascus.

MILANVILLE is the name now given to the hamlet that has grown up partly on the track first settled by Robert Land and others, men- tioned in the foregoing history. At the time Land was living there Joseph Skinner had set- tled at " Ackhake," and during the same year that he is recorded as living there Timothy Skinner and Simeon Calkins built a saw-mill, and " a sort of a grist-mill " on Calkins' Creek, nearly opposite the north end of the Beach tannery. They at first intended to locate the saw-mill on the river-bank, and with this in- tention dug a race from the old dam just above the tannery nearly to the spot now occupied by Skinner Brothers' saw-mill. It was a consider- able undertaking for those days, and great was their disappointment, when, after some months' labor, it was completed and the water let in, to find that the light, sandy soil, through which it passed a portion of the way, would not stand the pressure of the water, and the race was use- less. After several vain attempts to patch it up, the first selected location of the mill was abandoned, and the site referred to adopted. Both of these mills, though small, and fitted with very primitive machinery, answered the purposes of the pioneers until burned in the In- dian raid of 1777. Several decades afterward another attempt was made to use the old race and this was partially successful. The portion of the excavation between the dam, and a few rods below Volney Skinner's residence, was through firm soil, and it was decided to locate a saw-mill there. This was done, and the mill was used until the present mill near the tannery was built. Portions of this second mill stood until a few years ago, and the foundation walls are still standing. The course of the old race can be easily traced at present, though a road passes through its lower end.

On the flat above Colonel Calvin Skinner's is the site of the old fort, or block-house, built by Simeon Calkin and Moses Thomas, in 1755, a short time after the mills were built. During the past century the waters of the Delaware

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have made very perceptible inroads on the flat, and the place where the block-house stood is now but a few feet from the water's edge. Half concealed in the low bushes that overrun the spot is a well that was once inside the stockade, and served to slake the thirst of the brave little band, composed chiefly of women and children, that held the savages at bay on that autumn day when Thomas and Willis were surprised and killed.

The house where Brant Kane's family were murdered in the following year stood on the New York side of the river, about midway between the site of the block-house and Colonel Skinner's residence. No trace of it now re- mains, nor, indeed, is the precise spot where it stood perfectly certain.

The tannery, which of late years has given an impetus to Milanville, was started in 1849 by David Clemments, James Horton and - Robinson. After a very short time Clemments succeeded to the business, and ran it until 1854, when he sold out to Captain Eli Beach and Loring Andrews. Mr. Beach was a tanner of wide experience and much enterprise, and he at once made changes that greatly improved the quality of the product, and the business began to improve from the time he took hold of it. Changes were made in the method, and addi- tions to the plant erected, so that its capacity was greatly increased. Subsequently Mr. An- drews' interest was bought out by Hon. J. How- ard Beach, and the firm became Eli Beach & Son. The senior member of the firm died in July, 1877, and was succeeded by his sons, who still conduct the establishment.

A store was opened in connection with the tannery and has been maintained by the firms ever since. Until 1861 Damascus was the nearest post-office, but in that year an office was established at Milanville, with J. Howard Beachı as the postmaster, an office which he still holds.

In 1832 Alonzo Bently and Jacob Burger, of Philadelphia, built a saw-mill just below the Cochecton Falls, and secured lumber rights over a large tract of land adjacent. Three years afterward the mill was carried away by the high water. Subsequently the timber rights

were leased to Nathan Skinner, and the tract is now controlled by the Skinners, who have large lumbering interests in the vicinity.

The Skinner Brothers' mill was built in 1882, with W. W. Williams as millwright, and has a capacity of ten thousand feet of boards per day. Its saws and other machinery are driven by a thirty horse-power engine, and the boilers, by recent improvements, are heated by burning saw-dust. The builders and present owners are Volney and Milton L. Skinner, sons of Colonel Calvin Skinner, both of whom have been prominently identified with the lumber inter- est of the Delaware for many years.

Milanville is delightfully situated and abounds in picturesque scenery, so that it is already gaining popularity as a summer resort. The hamlet has several stores, blacksmith and wagon-shops and a school-house in which there is a Sabbath-school held. Regular service is sometimes conducted there from the Damascus charges.

DAMASCUS VILLAGE .- In the foregoing his- tory of the township the story of the village has been nearly all related. The early settlers of this portion of the Delaware Valley located on both sides of the river, and, as will be seen hereafter, the enterprises and interests of Da- mascus and Cochecton were nearly identical, and the leading spirits were men from both sides of the river. Prior to the advent of Thomas Shields the old manor property was unbroken forest, except, possibly, some unim- portant clearings made by one or two " squat- ters," of whom no record but dim tradition re- mains. The Cushutunk settlement, extending for a number of miles up and down the river, must have had its centre of population about Milanville, where all the small interests of the weak colony centred. Here the earliest mill was located, and here the settlers came to have their coarse grists ground, to get advances of ammunition and provisions on skins they were curing or lumber they had ready to raft, and transact such other small business as their sim- ple pioneer life made necessary. Reuben Skin- ner had the first tavern, and if strangers had penetrated the forests, and come to the frontier for adventure and speculation, they stopped

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with him, and if mail left at Easton, " to be called for," was for any of the settlers, the fact would be there reported by the returning rafts- men and Durham boaters. This old tavern was built on the site of the building burned by Captain Tyler, and was opened to the public soon after the Revolution.

The purchase of the manor, in 1795, brought about a change in the state of affairs. Thomas Shields, the new proprietor, was a man of much energy and enterprise. He had come into the wilds of Northampton County to develop a new country, induce settlers to locate, appreci- ate the valueof his recent acquisition in land and dispose of the property at a good profit. While a shrewd business man, who had built up a fortune from small beginnings, he was not with- out public spirit, and took immediate steps to promote the general welfare of the settlement. He brought with him from Philadelphia a number of skilled mechanics, and within two years after he had selected his place of resi- dence a saw and a grist-mill were running merrily near the mouth of Cash's Creek.

In connection with these, he bought lumber and such little grain as there was over the needs of actual consumption, and gave in exchange staple goods from Easton and Philadelphia. Several years before this Ebenezer Taylor had located on the other side of the river, and com- menced mercantile business, and thus Damascus became the centre of supplies. During the next ten years it shared with Cochecton the interests of the settlement. Charles Irvine, a native of Ireland, who had fled from the oppression of the English government under the younger Pitt, had come to the latter town as a school- master, and having organized a stock company, built the first frame house in the town for a school-room. It was there that many of the earlier settlers of the second generation made their first timid steps in the rugged path of knowledge. So, too, there were religious meet- ings there, and other adjuncts of prosperity, and the establishments of one village or the other sup- plied the wants of the people for miles around.

After the completion of the Cochecton and Great Bend turnpike Mr. Shields laid out the village plot, and a year afterward, in 1807, by Frank Baker was erected on its site.

deeded lots for church and school. Three years later John Duffle started the first hotel in Da- mascus village. Soon afterward William Tyler opened a hotel in the building now occupied by Warren Tyler, and after running it for a few years, moved to Tyler Hill. In 1815 the building occupied by Duffle was burned, and a year later Charles Drake opencd his house that ran for many years.

The first temperance tavern in Wayne County was that kept by George Bush, who married Ann Skinner. He was the son of Simeon Bush, and was born in Damascus in 1791. His par- ents were among the pioneers, and his early advantages were small. He was trained as a river steersman, and after following this for a number of years he bought the Lush farm, af- terwards occupied by liis son, and married Annie Skinner. In 1818 he bought a property on Skinner's Eddy, which he opened as a hotel, creating no little excitement among the rafts- men by announcing that no intoxicants would be sold on the place. In that day liquor was sold everywhere, and its use to excess was not considered more than a slight impropriety. Mr. Bush thought differently, however, and, what was a still greater surprise, his tavern be- came one of the most popular on the river. He took a prominent position in the public affairs of his time, and represented Wayne and Pike Counties in the Legislature in 1842-44. He died in 1873.

When Thomas Shields gave up his residence in Damascus he sold his mills and what re- mained of his land to an association or partner- ship known as " the Manor Company." It was composed of Moses Thomas, Charles and Jesse Drake, Moses and Bezaleel Tyler and Simeon and George Bush. The mill dam was located on the site of the one now used by Leroy Bonesteel, but the mill itself was farther down the stream. Charles Drake, who lived where W. W. Tyler now has a store, rented the mill of the Manor Company, and operated it for many ycars. Finally, in 1841, the tract on which it was situated was sold to Walter S. Vail, and the mill, which had become old and worthless, was torn down, and the dwelling now occupied

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The need of a grist-mill was soon felt, and in 1850 William Bonesteel and the Manor Com- pany, or what remained of it, built a new mill just below the dam. About the time it was completed a fire broke out and destroyed every- thing except the wheel and mlll-stones, but it was soon rebuilt. Subsequently it passed into the hands of William Bonesteel, who bought out the other partners, and after his death, into the hands of his son, Leroy Bonesteel, the present proprietor. The mill has three run of stone, and is driven by both steam and water-power.

In 1825 Loring Parsons and Henry Dibble erected a carding-machine, fulling-mill and cloth-dyeing establishment at Damascus. It was about a mile west of Cochecton, on the property now occupied by Mr. Cromwell. Although small, and designed for custom-work only, it did a thriving business, for in those days the spinning-wheel was a familiar object in every farmer's kitchen. In abont 1832 it passed into the hands of R. T. Parsons, who subsequently disposed of it to J. T. Bush. The business was abandoned about 1865.

The first store in Damascus was opened by Walter S. Vail about 1826, and was located on the Cochecton and Great Bend turnpike, quite near the river. In 1831 Hiram Bennett and Hon. D. B. St. John were taken into partner- ship, and the firm-name was Walter S. Vail & Co. This was kept up for three years, and then Bennett sold out, the other partners carry- ing on the business in their own name for a year .. Then Charles Irvine bought out St. John's in- terest, and afterwards Vail sold his to W. W. Tyler. The firm then became W. W. Tyler & Co., and remained so nntil 1856, when Irvine sold to James S. Vail, and Tyler & Vail was the style adopted. In 1858 Vail retired, and after Tyler had conducted the business alone for a year he disposed of it to Philip O'Riley, of Oregon, with whom Charles Irvine was asso- ciated for a year and a half, under the style of Charles Irvine & Co. This was succeeded by T. & P. O'Riley, which lasted until 1881, when A. J. Cuddeback became proprietor, and re- mained so until 1884, when the business was abandoned.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 78

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