History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 84

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 84
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 84
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 84

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).

It was in this old hotel that the Bethany Masonie Lodge was instituted about August, 1816. It was known to the craft as " Freedom Lodge, No. 147." Its membership was large and persons came from places as remote as Mil- ford to attend the meetings. These were held on Tuesday evening, " from five till nine o'clock from September ye 25th to March ye 25th ; aud from six o'clock to ten o'clock from March

ye 25th till September ye 25th." The initia- tion fee was sixteen dollars, and from a receipt for dues dated October 16, 1826, it seems that at that time Abisha Woodward was treasurer.

In 1819 (Anno Lueis 5819) a Masonic work gives some of the officers as follows : Benjamin Raymond, W. M. ; George Spangenberg, S. W .; Jacob S. Davis, Secretary ; Robert Beardslee, Treasurer. The members mentioned were Thomas Spangenberg, Eliphalet Kellogg, Mat- thias Keen, William R. Walker, Abisha Wood- ward, Charles Stanton, Benjamin King and Jeremiah Bennett. After Honesdale had grown up and the courts been established there, the membership of this lodge, like that of St. Tammany's, became so reduced that it was given up, and the records and jewels were removed to the new lodge at the county-scat, where they were destroyed in the great fire.

SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES .- It has already been noted that in 1803 the first school was started in Bethany. This venture was made by Esquire John Bunting and Jason Torrey, who engaged a teacher on their own responsibility. Otber parents were charged a tuition fec of two dollars a quarter for each child sent, and the deficiency, if there was one, in the teacher's sala- ry was paid by the originator of the plan. It was thus by private effort that a school was maintained, for a part of each year at least, in the old log school-house, until 1809, when a substantial frame building was erected by pri- vate subscription, and the work continued much as before. Among the teachers who served in the frame school-house-were Ephraim Dimmick and Ephraim Torrey.

The act of the Legislature incorporating Beech Woods Academy, and appropriating one thousand dollars on the condition that a like sum was raised by the people, was passed in 1813, but it was several years before the conditions were complied with and the people availed them- selves of the gift. Meanwhile Amzi Fuller, who afterwards became a man of much distinction, come to Bethany and taught in the frame school- house. In 1816 the State appropriation was secured, and the Beech Woods Academy was erected on the school-lots that had been set apart for the purpose by the county trustees, and

499

WAYNE COUNTY.

transferred to Jason Torrey, Abisha Woodward and Isaac Dimmick. The walls of a brick building were erected to the height of the first story that year, but the academy was not ready for occupancy until the winter of 1820, when Ephraim Torrey was selected as the first princi- pal. The academy was a substantial briek build- ing, two stories high, and accommodated two grades of pupils. Although the course of study was not extended, it was thorough and practical, and a number of men who afterwards rose to distinction were among the pupils of the next few years. Thomas Fuller, a brother of Amzi, before mentioned, taught it about 1824; and in 1826 or 1827 L. C. Judson, the father of " Ned Buntline," the well-known writer of adventur- ons tales, was principal.

After the removal of the county-seat to Honesdale, in 1841, the court-house was used as an academy until 1848, when the Legisla- ture chartered the University of North Penn- sylvania. An immediate enlargement of the building followed. It was ready for ocenpancy on the 2d of December, 1850, at which time an advertisement of the trustees announced that the main building would accommodate from one hundred and fifty to two hundred students. It comprised two large study-rooms, three recita- tion-rooms and a handsome recess for library and apparatus. The sleeping-rooms accommodated eight students each, and the entire building was heated by Culver's patent hot-air furnaces. Four teachers were employed, and there were eighty pupils the first term. E. Curtis, a graduate of the State Normal School at Albany, N. Y., was the first principal in the new building, and J. F. Stoddard, professor of mathematics and nat- ural and moral science at Liberty Normal School, was announced to deliver a course of lectures during the term. The trustees of the university at this time were as follows : Hon. N. B. Eldred, chairman ; P. G. Goodrich, sec- retary ; Dr. Otis Avery, Hon. Pope Bushnell, Hon. James Manning, Hon. Paul S. Preston, Rev. E. O. Ward, Dr. Urial Wright, John M. McIntosh, Earl Wheeler, Esq., Phincas Arnold, Dr. Harrison Gregory, Armoy Prescott, Orin Hall, Tra Vadakin, Osborn Olmstead, Henry Jennings, Richard Webb, Rev. Henry Curtis,

D. W. Church, William R. Stone, R. F. Lord, Rev. W. Richardson, John Sloan, R. L. Seely and D. S. West.

The next year Professor Stoddard was elected principal, and the institution was patronized by over two hundred students, giving a great im- petus to the cause of education in the entire vicinity. Then, for a time, the university was managed by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The institution got into debt, and on November 28,1856, all the real estate was sold by the sher- iff to E. W. Hamlin, who bought for Professor Stoddard. The latter put the buildings in ex- cellent repair, and reopened it as a private school in the following spring. On April 18, 1857, the building was burned to the ground, entail- ing a loss of six thousand dollars, only one-half of which was covered by insurance. Professor Stoddard reopened his school in the Baptist Church edifice, but soon after abandoned the enterprise and generously gave the fire-proof building to the borough, to be used as a public school.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.1-On the town plot of Bethany three lots were set aside and designated as "the church lots." They were not sold by the trustees in whom the title to the Drinker grant was vested, but by them were conveyed to the county commissioners, together with the county property and the un- sold residue of the nine hundred and ninety- nine acres donated for the town of Bethany. On the 10th day of September, 1810, the county commissioners conveyed these three lots to Jason Torrey, Abisha Woodward and Isaac Dimmick as trustees, "To be held by said trustees as a site for crecting thereon a house for divine worship, for the use of the inhabitants of the Town of Bethany, or such of said in- habitants who, together with other inhabitants in the vicinity, shall associate for the purpose of erecting, and shall erect thercon, a church or meeting-house for publick Divine Worship, and a burying-ground for the use of the inhabitants aforesaid." Thus, coeval with the organization of the town, was provision made for the spiritual welfare of its people, and there was then due

1 From a sermon by Rev. Elias O. Ward.

500

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

recognition of the necessity for more than tem- poral prosperity.

The ground thus set apart as " God's Aere " was soon hallowed by human clay, but beyond the interment elsewhere referred to, the purpose for which it was set aside was not achieved until some years afterwards.

During the same year the first religious meet- ing was held in the town, and the first sermon was preached.

Early in 1805 the inhabitants were favored with occasional preaching by missionaries and other ministers of the Methodist, Baptist, Pres- byterian and Congregational Churches, and the seed was sown that afterward bore much fruit ; but few seemed interested, the Sabbath was openly disregarded and profaned, and vice pre- vailed to an alarming extent. In 1806 and 1807 Elder Peck, of Mount Pleasant, visited Bethany regularly once a month, and in Janu- ary, 1809, under his ministration, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered for the first time in the town. This service was held at the house of Jason Torrey. Other services, the details of which are given in the history of the churches under whose auspices they took place, followed, and there was a better religious atmosphere in the town.

In May, 1812, Rev. Worthington Wright, a Congregational missionary from Connecticut, came into Wayne County and preached at differ- ent settlements. After he had labored for a few months, it was proposed that he become settled as pastor of the Congregational Societies of Salem, Palmyra, Dyberry and Canaan, for a period of four years, dividing at least one-half his time be- tween these towns, and devoting the other half to labors in destitute portions of the county. Subscriptions were accordingly circulated for Mr. Wright's support, and the result was communi- cated to a meeting of the subscribers on Decem- ber 22, 1812.

Residents of Dyberry had subscribed $162; of Salem, $42.50; of Palmyra, $25; of Ca- naan, $27.50,-in all, $257, a fund ample for the purpose.

The sums which were variously subscribed by residents of Bethany and vicinity were as fol- lows :

Jason Torrey $20

R. Beardslee 2

E. Kellogg. 15

Jolin Woodward. 5

Isaac Dimmick 10 Abm. Stryker. 5

Solomon Moore. 8 Jacob Schenk. 2

Randall Wilmot 2

Enos Woodward. 2

Benj. Douglity

Timothy Gustin 4

Ephraim Dimmick 5 Thomas Lindsay 2

Charles Hole.

5 Lewis Collins. 10

Caleb Hole ..

2 Isaac Brink.

Amos Polly.

2 Aaron French.

Peter Smith. 2

Moses Sampson

David Wilder 4 Stephen Kimble. 2

Ephraim Torrey 5 Walter Kimble ..

Abisha Woodward 10

Isaac Seaman.

Charles Kimble. 2

Sylvanus Seely.

Isaac Oakly

Total $162

Cooper Osborn. 2

Those in Palmyra were,-

Hez. Bingham

Jos. Atkinson. 2

John Pellet. 4

Jonathan Brink. 1

Eph. Kimble .. 4

Simeon Ansley. 3

Leonard Labar

George Labar

Total $25

Robert Rupett. 2

In Canaan,-

Thos. Starkweather ... 5.00

George Morgan. 1:00

Asa Stanton. 3.00

John Folis. 5.00

Charles Stanton

1.00

George Rix 3.00

James Carr

1.00

Silas Woodward.

1.00

Jesse Morgan.

2.00

Conrad Swingle 4.00

Total $27.50

In Salem,-

Jos. Woodbridge ... $10.00

Wm. Hollister. 3.00

Ashbel Miller. 2.50

A. Woodbridge. ..... 6.00

Henry Stevens 3 00

Jesse Miller 3.00

Henry Harmen 1.00

Wmn. Woodbridge ... 5.00

Elijah Weston .. 3.00

Total $42.50

In these subscriptions it was conditional that Mr. Wright should reside in Bethany or Dy- berry township, and the Salem subscribers ex- pressed a willingness to double their subscrip- tions of $42.50 if he would make that township his home. The following resolution was passed by the meeting :

" Whereas, It appears from the subscriptions pro- duced that a sum has been pledged adequate to the object of procuring the settlement of Mr. Wright; therefore be it

" Resolved, that a committee of five be appointed to address the Connecticut Missionary Society on the

George Seely & Bro .. 8

Aug. Collins

Benj. Kimble. 2

Samuel Davis. .50

Fred. Swingle. 1.00

Seth Goodrich ... 6.00

501

WAYNE COUNTY.

subject, and to negotiate with Mr. Wright in relation of his proposed settlement."

The committee consisted of Jason Torrey, of Bethany ; Dr. Lewis Collins, of Cherry Ridge ; Joseph Woodbridge, of Salem ; and Asa Stanton, of Canaan. On the following day Mr. Wright accepted the invitation conditionally to the con- sent of the Missionary Society, and this was given. His installation took place May 26, 1813, the services being held in the court-house at Bethany, in the presence of a large assemblage. He took up his residence in Bethany and served the congregations in his charge for two years, during which time he purchased lot No. 141, where Mrs. Groff afterward lived, and erected a dwelling. He also contracted for sixty-four acres of land, now included in the Charles G. Reed farm, and commenced an improvement. In 1815 his wife died, and as his eye-sight had begun to fail, he resigned his charge, relin- quished the ministry and left the county.

During the three years following, the church was without a pastor, and the services were de- sultory, depending upon the advent of some missionary from adjacent stations. The desire for regular services did not die out, how- ever, and in 1817 two hundred and eighty-eight dollars was subscribed as an annual contribu- tion to secure the services of Rev. Gresham Williams, then of Springfield, N. J. The negotiations fell through, notwithstanding the anxiety of the people for a settled minister. In 1818 the Sabbath-school, elsewhere spoken of, was established, and a week later, on the 26th of July, Rev. Thomas Camp, a missionary of the Presbyterian General Assembly, commenced preaching at Bethany and holding social meet- ings during the week. His labors brought about a religious revival, and Rev. Gideon N. Judd came to assist him. The people became much attached to Mr. Camp, and in September a sub- scription was circulated and pledges to the amount of four hundred dollars were secured for two-thirds of his time. This subseription was so worded that it seemed to imply an in- dependence from all ecclesiastical control, and was declined by Mr. Camp, as injudicious for both people and pastor. He strongly advised the Christians to connect themselves with some

recognized church organization. This sugges- tion was acted upon, and after a free discussion of the form of church government most desired, it was concluded to organize a Presbyteriau Church. On Tuesday, September 22, 1818, Rev. Phineas Camp, assisted by Deacon John Tyler, of the Congregational Church of Ararat, organized the First Presbyterian Church of Bethany, with the following constitutional mem- bers:

Jolın Bunnel. Delia Gleason.

Gideon Langdon. Naney Bunnel.

Erastus Gleason. Mary Day.

Virgil M. Dibold. Asuba Langdon.

Aehsah Torrey. Betsy Hole.

Sally Bushnell.

In all, eleven members,-four male and seven female.

Virgil M. Dibold was chosen ruling elder, and, the next day after the sermon, was set apart by prayer to the duties of his office.

On the Thursday and Friday following still greater fruit was born of Mr. Camp's labors, and the following persons were received on pro- fession of faith :

Mrs. R. Sehoonover.

Louisa Collins.

Philena Collins. Elias Day.

Mary Day. Pope Bushnell.

Abigail Day.

Nancy Blandin.

Polly Wilmot.

Jason Torrey.

Lidia Mussey. Spencer Blandin.

Ephraim Torrey, Jr. James Houghton.

Christianna G. Faatz.

William Torrey.

Betsy S. Raymond.

Mrs. Irene Gleason was admitted to fellow- ship by a letter from Harmon, N. J., making in all twenty-nine members, to whom the Lord's Supper was administered on the follow- ing Sabbath, in the court-house, in the presence of a large audience. Mr. Camp departed the next day, and for nearly a year the infant church was left without other ministrations than those of an occasional visiting preacher.

On the 5th of June, 1819, Messrs. Loring Parsons, Jason Torrey and Pope Bushnell were chosen as ruling elders, and ou the following Sabbatlı, Loring Parsons and Betsy, his wife, Thomas S. MeLaughy and Margaret, his wife, Lorenzo Collins, Olive Woodward, Mary Kel- logg, Frelena Brooks, Eli Henshaw and Abi-

502

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

gail, his wife, and Lucy Ross were admitted on profession of faith. Thus, without a settled minister, this church in the wilderness gradually increased in numbers and gained the confidence of the community. At this time it had forty members.

As yet the church had not been formally or- ganized and placed in the care of any Presby- tery, and at a meeting on the 4th of September, 1819, a few days short of one year after the organization of the church, a committee, com- posed of Gideon Langdon, Pope Bushnell and Erastus Gleason, was appointed at a congrega- tional meeting to prosecute a call to Rev. Gres- ham Williams and Jason Torrey, Virgil M. Dibold, Pope Bushnell, Jacob S. Davis and Amzi Fuller were selected to prepare articles of association.

On the 10th of September in the same year the session, with the moderator of the Hudson Presbytery, presented an application to place the church under the care of that body, and it was duly received. Mr. Williams accepted the call and was installed as pastor on the 26th of February, 1820. His salary was six hundred -dollars per annum and two-thirds of his time was to be devoted to the Bethany Church, and the remaining third to that of Mt. Pleasant. In May following the first trustees of the Bethany Church were chosen. They were Ben- jamin Jenkins, Solomon Moore, Jason Torrey, Pope Bushnell and Stephen Day. Mr. Wil- liams remained pastor a year and a half, during which time the membership of the church in- creased to sixty-one. At the expiration of this period the relations were dissolved and the church was once more without a minister until 1824.

Up to this time the desire for a church edifice had been freely expressed, though it had not been deemed advisable to attempt to realize it. During the next two years the subject was more fully agitated, and in 1822 a meeting was called to take definite steps in the matter. Committees to confer for the site of the church-lots, to circu- late subscriptions and to obtain plans for the proposed edifice were appointed, and subsequent- ly reported favorably. In January, 1823, it was reported that the subscriptions amounted to

two thousand one hundred and ninety-six dol- lars, principally in labor and materials, and that more could be relied on when the paper had been more completely circulated ; that a conference had been held with the leading spir- its of the Baptist and Methodist Churches, and that those congregations were willing to relin- quish their claim to the church lots for a price to be fixed by arbitration. Subsequently Amzi Fuller, James Manning and Jacob S. Davis, none of them members of any of the denomina- tions concerned, fixed the value of the lots at fifty dollars each, and this arbitrament was ac- cepted, it being stipulated that the Presbyterian Church organization should pay to cach of the other congregations fifty dollars when the latter desired to build a church edifice. Thus the front part of the church lots came into the pos- session of the Presbyterian Church while the rear half was leased as a public burying- ground. The amount due the Methodist soci- ety was paid by Jason Torrey, individually, in November, 1836, and that duc the Baptists raised by subscriptions in 1841.

The framing of the church was raised on the 19th and 20th of August, 1823, but the exte- rior of the edifice was not completed for several years.

In the spring of 1824, aided by the Domestic Missionary Society of New York, the congrega- tion engaged Rev. Daniel Young to preach one year. His health failed and he was not able to remain but a few months, so that in October Rev. E. W. Goodman was secured. As Bap- tists and Methodists cach had preaching regu- larly once in two weeks, it was difficult to ar- range the hours of service, and in 1825 a ten- porary floor and seats were put in the meeting- house, so that it could be used in warm weather, and the second story of the academy building was fitted for occupation in the winter. Subse- quently the second story of the fire-proof build- ing was similarly arranged. During the pas- torate of Mr. Goodman the church was sadly distracted by internal feuds and cases of discip- line, although some additions were made to its membership. During his term the charter of the church was granted, the articles of asso- ciation having remained for nearly five years in

503

WAYNE COUNTY.

Philadelphia awaiting the approval of the Su- preme Court, after they had been adopted by the congregation. Mr. Goodman's term ex- pired in May, 1827, and his engagement was not renewed. Soon after his removal Mr. Joel Campbell, a theologieal student at Auburn, vis- ited the church and remained four weeks, and in October following, when he had been lieensed, he was engaged as stated supply. He was in- stalled as pastor in December. In February, 1829, the Presbyterian Church of Honesdale was organized, and he divided his labors be- tween the two charges until 1830, when he was installed as pastor of the latter ehureh. In 1831 Rev. Lyman Rieliardson eommeneed labors in Bethany as a stated supply and continued a year. The church was then without a minister until July, 1835, when Rev. Alfred Ketehum was engaged. He was stated supply until Septem- ber, when his installation took place.

The first effort to raise funds to complete the ehureh edifiee had failed, and a congregational meeting was ealled to consider the matter. A subseription that should be obligatory when the sum amounted to one thousand dollars was cir- eulated and, at a meeting in Deeember, 1835, the deficiency of sixty-four dollars was made up by additional contributions. The building was at once completed and the dedieation took place December 27, 1836. The cost up to this time was $3560.61. The first pew-rental took place February 11, 1839, and the amount realized was two hundred and thirty-six dollars. Mr. Ketehum's pastorate ended in September, 1838, and in February, 1849, Rev. William Toby be- came stated supply, remaining until 1840. Rev. Jeremiah Miller was then ealled, but was never installed as pastor. He remained supply uutil 1844. Rev. Seth Williston next supplied the pulpit, until June, 1845, and was succeeded by Rev. J. J. Slocum, who remained until January 1, 1847. Rev. John Male then filled the pulpit for three mouths, after which it was vacant until Rev. Albert Worthington commenced his labors, in 1850. Rev. William S. Smith succeeded him in 1852, and was stated supply for three months. On October 1, 1853, the present pas- tor, Rev. Elias O. Ward, was called, and under his ministrations the church has grown both in

strength and graee. In 1854, and again in 1872, the ehureh edifiee was repaired and reno- vated. Fine trees have been set out and the property enelosed. The number on the church rolls is over three hundred and fifty names, and the present membership is about eighty. The following persons have been ruling elders since the organization of the church :

Virgil M. Dibol.

Jason Torrey.

Pope Bushnell. Loring Parsons.

Thos. S. McLaughy. Augustus Collins.

Eli Henshaw. Ephraim Dimmick.

Samuel Bartlett. Solomon Langdon.

Nathan Kellogg. Elijah D. Bunnell.

Ethel Reed. Edwin S. Day.

Joseph Bodie. James B. Ward.

Luther C. Fuller. Sumner R. Isham.

John Sipperl.

Dinglet Henshaw.

Theodore Day.

REV. ELIAS O. WARD, who, for nearly a half century has been a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and for the past thirty-three years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Bethany, Pa., was born at Chatham, Morris County, N. J., February 5, 1810. He removed with his parents from Chatham to Bethany in 1825, and for a few years worked there at the trade of a hatter. Early religious influences iul- pressed him, and in 1832 he began studying for the ministry with Rev. Preston Richardson, of Harford, Susquehanna County, Pa., under whose tutorship he was prepared for college, and entered the second term of the Freshmen Class at Hamilton, in 1834. He was graduated from this institution in the Class of 1838, and in September of the same year entered the The- ological Seminary at Auburn, N. Y., from which he was graduated after the usual eourse of three years study. On September 16, 1841, he was licensed to preach at Great Bend, and four days thereafter preached his first sermon at Harford, where he had begun his studies nine years before. On October 4th following he preached as a candidate in the Presbyterian Church at Dundaff, was accepted, and remained as pastor of that church for twelve years. During his ineumbeney as pastor le labored faithfully in every good work in the interest of the church, and sought to promote and foster Christian unity. He saw his labors success-

504

WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

fully crowned by many and frequent accessions to the church rolls, together with a general reli- gious sentiment in the community.

With the beginning of his ministry began also his married life, for, on October.14th of the same year he married Emcline Amy, daughter of Eliab and Jemima Farrar, of Har- ford, whose parents were from Massachusetts, and both died at Harford.

For forty-five years Mrs. Ward has shared

head of the Sunday-school, and as its superin- tendent, has so led the youth of the vieinity in Bible instruction, as to make the school the true feeder of the church. Nor have his labors been confined to the ehurel and Sunday-sehool at Bethany, for he has, through a long series of years been active in establishing and keeping up Sunday-schools in neighborhoods outside of Bethany, where his labors have also been largely successful. For many years he has been

Elias V.Ward

with him the loyalty and devotion of the church, and bore up his hands in time of depression. She is a woman of high Christian character, in full sympathy with all religious work, and the helps and hospitality requisite to make a pastor's home the welcome place for all.

In 1853, having closed his labors with the church at Dundaff, he was settled with the church at Bethany, where he has remained faithful to his trust until the present time (1886.) During this long period as pastor he has been at the

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 84

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