History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 92

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 92
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 92
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 92

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).

1877 .- Burgess, John S. Bartron; Clerk, William Karslake; Treasurer, L. E. Richardson ; Council, L. E. Richardson, N. C. Alvord, R. B. Spencer, Robert Thompson and R. H. Pearce.

1878 .- Burgess, R. W. Carr; Clerk, C. H. Sears ; Treasurer, W. W. Snow ; Council, William Hoyle, Robert Bellamy, W. W. Snow, D. G. Allen and John Short.

1879 .- Burgess, R. W. Carr; Clerk, C. H. Sears ; Treasurer, W. W. Snow; Council, William Hoyle, D. G. Allen, W. W. Snow, Robert Bellamy and John Short.

1880 .- Burgess, W. G. Jenkins; Clerk, W. R. Long- street ; Treasurer, W. W. Snow; Council, L. E. Richardson, F. P. Kimble, N. C. Alvord and W. W. Snow.

1881 .- Burgess, W. G. Jenkins ; Clerk, W. R. Longstreet ; Treasurer, W. W. Snow ; Council, F. P. Jenkins, W. W. Snow, Thomas Moore, N. C. Alvord and L. E. Richardson.

1882 .- Burgess, Thomas Moore; Clerk, W. G. Jen- kins; Treasurer, W. W. Snow ; Council, L. E. Rich- ardson, W. W. Snow, N. C. Alvord, W. G. Jenkins and James Burnes.

1883 .- Burgess, George Alvord ; Clerk, W. G. Jen- kins; Treasurer, Thomas Moore; Council, J. D. Burnes, Thomas Moore, John Clift, B. F. Miller, and W. G. Jenkins.

1884 .- Burgess, Thomas Moore ; Clerk, W. G. Jen- kins ; Treasurer, L. E. Richardson ; Council, J. W. Burnes, L. E. Richardson, R. B. Spencer and W. G. Jenkins.

1885 .- Burgess, W. W. Snow ; Clerk, W. G. Jen- kins; Treasurer, Thomas Moore; Council, R. W. Carr, Thomas Moore, N. C. Alvord and W. G. Jen- kins.

EARLY SETTLEMENT .- When what is now the pretty village of Prompton was an unbroken for- est, and deer came unmolested down the run-

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ways beside Van Auken Creek, Benjamin Jen- kins, Sr., took up a large tract of land in the warrantee name of James Chapman, and cut his way from Bethany to his new home. He was from Winstead, Conn., where he had been en- gaged in the manufacture of scythes and other agricultural implements, and lic brought with him some of the necessary machinery to fit up a new forge on the banks of the West Branch. He was accompanied by his son, Edward, and together they felled the trees and made a little clearing near where the Jenkins homestead now stands. In 1818 the first dwelling, a small log house went up on the site now occupied by the residence of W. W. Snow. Subsequently he built a large and substantial log structure to be used as both dwelling and hotel. This is still standing and in a good state of preservation, exhibiting the honest joinery and mason work of fifty years ago. During the past few months, one of the old chimneys has been taken down to make room for more modern flues, and it was found to contain over seven thousand brick, all of which were made at Bethany. The large frame house now occupied by W. G. Jenkins, was built at a much later period, and was the dwelling in which Benjamin Jenkins, Sr., died, in 1853. He had married Elizabeth Boyd, while living in Connecticut, and had several children before coming to Wayne County. One who was born afterward, was the first white child to see the light in what is now the borough of Prompton. The descendants of Benjamin Jen- kins, Sr., were as follows : Elizabeth (the wife of James Boutell), Susan (who married a Noble), Benjamin, Samuel, Louisa (the wife of Ara Bartlett, and afterwards that of - Jacobs), Maria (who married Ralph Case), Edward, John, Henrietta (the wife of James Hubbell), and Marietta (who married Benjamin Jenkins, 3d).

Asa Jenkins, a brother of Benjamin, emigra- ted from Connecticut about 1825, and left many descendants in this vicinity.

Hon. Phineas Arnold was the son of Jona- than Arnold, who came from Connecticut in 1810, and located in Dyberry. Phineas married Jane, a daughter of Eliphalet Wood, and they had twelve children. David Arnold, once treas-

urer of the county, was a brother of Hon. Pliin- eas Arnold. The writer was unable to obtain . from any of their descendants fuller facts con- cerning the family.

Edwin Foot, who made the assessment quoted above, came from Susquehanna County in 1822, or 1823, and was for many years a prominent and valued citizen. He married a Miss Lyon, also of Susquehanna County, and had but one child, a daughter, who is now dead.

Levi Bronson, another early settler, was also from Connecticut, and located in 1825, building a dwelling just beyond where the Presbyterian Church now stands. His stick- factory was at one time a prominent industry of the village. He had two children, a son and a daughter, the latter becoming the wife of G. W. Hall. Mr. Bronson left Prompton twenty years ago. A. H. Bronson, a brother of Levi, who came a few years later, has also left the place.

Henry and David Edgett, who were for many years public officers of the borough, came from Connecticut about 1830. Henry first settled in Berlin township, and, after a few years, joined his brother at Prompton, where they had a general store. Henry Bronson's children were Alva, George and Francis, who married Emmons Eaton and moved west. David left but two descendants-Mary, who married and moved away, and Jewett, who is now living at Scranton.

G. W. Hall came from Elmira in 1838, and located at No. 2, on the Gravity Road, where, for two years, he had a small bedstead-factory. In August, 1840, he moved to Prompton, and commenced the business which he still carries on. Mr. Hall married Ann Tuthill, by whom he had one son, Charles, a resident of Ithaca, and afterwards led to the altar Abigail Reeve, of Orange County, who is the mother of Ar- thur, the son associated in business with him.

Benjamin Dimmick came from the Eastern States and located in Bethany, about 1840, and after a few years became a resident of Promp- ton, where he was interested in the mercantile business. His sons were Asa and George, and he also left several daughters, all of whom have

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married and removed. None of his descend- ants now live in the village. Some have moved west and some to Lackawanna County.

George Alvord, a son of Enos Alvord, of Dyberry, located in Prompton in the latter part of 1839, and, after a residence of six or seven years, went elsewhere. After an absence of nearly twenty years he returned, and is still a useful citizen of the borough. He married Lucy Burns and is the father of two children, -N. C. Alvord and Augusta.

Eber Walter settled on the Bethany road, about a mile from Prompton, in 1817, and his family have been closely identified with the interests of the village. His wife was a Miss Tuthill, and they had six children,-Lucius, of Prompton ; Sarepta, who married a man named Pinley ; Ruth, the wife of Richard Mathews ; Luther, who lives at the homestead ; and Tuthill, of Pittston.

James Haydn, a son of Moses Haydn, of Dyberry, is now located in Prompton. He is familiar with the history of the place from a very early date, and was frequently there in his boyhood. Soon after the forge was erected, accompanied by one of the hired men on his father's farm, he went through the woods to Prompton to get some new tools. It was in the dead of winter, and the snow lay several feet deep in the woods, so they found a path on the frozen bed of the West Branch. It was late in the afternoon when their business was finished, and the sun had gone behind the hills before they had come to the "still water" of the creek, where the stream widened and the ice was smooth and free from snow. Little Haydn had noticed, as he now remembers, that his companion was unusually talkative, and that for several minutes he had not been si- lent for a second. As they reached the smooth ice the man proposed that they run a race, and off they started like arrows across the frozen patlı. A sound that had been faint until then now grew louder, and even the boy distinguished the sharp bark of the pack of wolves that liad scented the fresh meat that had been a part of their purchases. Fear lent wings to their flight, but every minute the wolves gained on them, and soon terrified

glances over their shoulders revealed a dark line of tossing heads only a few hundred yards in the rear. They had no weapons except the new scythe and some smaller garden tools, and these offered them but little advantage in the hand to hand combat that was but a matter of a few minutes. The ice was slippery and the boy's small legs began to give out; his com- panion found him momentarily harder to drag along. Death threatened them both, when an idea struck him. Whipping out his knife, lie cut open the sack in which he had put the fresh meat, and, without stopping, dropped it on the ice. A minute afterward the hungry wolves were upon it, snarling and fighting for the food, and before they were once more in pursuit of young Haydn and his companion, the latter had reached a place of safety. No sooner had the adventure been hurricdly told at the farm-house, than several men snatched up their guns and went in search of the sheep- stealing marauders. They encountered the pack on the banks of the West Branch, and had five wolf-pelts to commemorate the run for life.

Jacob Plum came from New York State at the beginning of the present century, and set- tled in Mount Pleasant, where he set up the first carding-machine, in 1813. Although he did no spinning his plant prepared the wool for that process and saved the women much hard work. Subsequently Mr. Plum moved to Prompton to spend his last days with his son, Simon H., who was a prominent borough of- ficer for many years. Jacob Plum married Rhoda Plum, a cousin, and had nine children, -Maria, the wife of Ira Stearns, who lived in Susquehanna County, and is now ninety years old ; Harriet, the wife of William Joseph ; Clarissa, who married George Joseph ; Charles, Simon, Elvira, the wife of William Morey ; Louisa, the wife of James Madison ; Lavinia, the wife of Rockwell Bunnell, and Hiram.

Captain - Arnold, though a settler in Dyberry township at a point now outside the borough limits of Prompton, was so closely as- sociated with the growth and prosperity of the village that it will not be out of place to men- tion him here.

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INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL LIFE .- Benjamin Jenkins, Sr., cut his way through the woods from Bethany to Prompton, in 1813. It was, as has already been stated, for the purpose of starting an axe and scytlie-factory. He had left a moderately successful business at Win- stead, Litchfield County, Conn., and the nia- chinery for his new plant was brought witlı him. His land purchase included about four hundred acres, and as soon as his dwelling was completed he set about the erection of the forge. It was located near where Hall's furniture- factory now stands, and was a small log build- ing, containing a couple heating-furnaces, a small hand trip-hammer, and some hand-rolls. Benjamin Jenkins and his son, Edward, were the chief operators, though they employed other men, and some boys occasionally. The factory ran for three or four years, but the absence of ship- ping facilities limited the out-put to neighbor- hood consumption, and there was so little de- mand in the sparsely populated vicinity that it was found unprofitable to run the business. After the forge was abandoned, Mr. Jenkins erected a saw-mill about a quarter of a mile above his first location. There was plenty of timber in the hills about, and it proved a profit- able investment, increasing in business each ycar, so that about 1846 a new mill was built just above the first one.

Levi Bronson started a shovel-handle factory near the saw-mill, about 1834, and the business soon increased so that ten or twelve men were employed-a large quota for those days. This establishment ran for over twenty years, but finally succumbed to the depressing influences above referred to. In 1833-34 Simon and Hiram Plum started a factory for the manu- facture of umbrella handles, an industry which has since flourished in other parts of the county. After running it for several years they sold to Graves & Jenkins, and they iu turn were suc- ceeded by Graves, Lamb & Jenkius, in 1846. The latter firm gave place to Hiram Plum and Solomon West, who discontinued the business in 1862. During the palmy days of Prompton's industrial history, no less than seven saw-mills were in operation, the anvils rang busily at three blacksmith-shops, and two tailors, harness-

maker and several other skilled artisans plied their trades. The village was on a great highway, and large droves of sheep and cattle had to be cared for during the night, and teamsters with teams laden with grain and pro- visions added to the business brought by the regular stages.

In 1840 G. W. Hall moved from Plane No. 2, of the Delaware and Hudson Gravity road, and erected a small shop for the manufacture of bedsteads, near the site of the present factory. The business increased, and in 1852 the present building was erected, and fitted with improved machinery for the manufacture of furniture. It is located on Van Auken Creek, and is also supplied with steam, so as to be unaffected by the droughts that are quite frequent, now that the timber has been cut down on the head waters of the stream.

The first hotel kept in the place was that of Benjamin Jenkins, Sr., which answered all the requirements of a public-house until the build- ing of the old hotel, which stood on the river, near where Carr's store now is. This was erected about 1839, and Hon. Phineas Arnold was the first landlord, and a very popular one for many years. He was succeeded by Messrs. Coleman, Cox and others, and the house was kept open until its destruction by fire a few years ago.

A post-office was first established in Promp- ton in 1834, Edward Jenkins being the first postmaster. He served for about ten years, and was succeeded by Edwin Foot. The other postmasters hield office in the following order : Jolin Jenkins, Sanford Robinson, Henry Ed- gett, Harrison Dimock, Erastus Skeels, L. E. Richardson, William Karslake, L. E. Richard- sou, F. B. Kimble, L. E. Richardson and N. C. Alvord.

CHURCH HISTORY .- The earliest settlers of Prompton were Universalists, and the first re- ligious organization in the village was of that denomination. The congregation has been dis- banded many years, and the records are scattered and lost, so that little of its history now remains. The congregation was organized about 1838 or 1839, and during the latter year secured a lot from Benjamin Jenkins, Sr., on which to erect

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a meeting-house. He donated the site, but neglected to give a deed for it, and the property is now part of the Jenkins' estate, although still used as a church property. The church edifice was completed in the latter part of 1839, or early in 1840, and Rev. S. P. Landers was the first pastor. Some of the constituent members of the congregation were the families of Benja- min and Edward Jenkins, Jacob S. Keen and wife, Phineas Arnold and wife, George Alvord and wife, James Robinson and wife, David Arnold and wife, and Levi Ketchum, of Beth- any. The latter took a very active part in the building of the church. The congregation existed for about twenty years, though during the latter part of the time its meetings were irregular and spasmodic. The subsequent pas- tors were Revs. C. S. Brown, E. E. Guild, William De Long and A. D. Warren. In 1859 the church had become completely disorganized and the building was converted into an academy by making the auditorium into two stories. Here, on November 1st, a Normal School was opened. Subsequently the building was secured by the Methodist Congregation as a place of worship, and is so occupied at present.

A Presbyterial Committee, consisting of Revs. J. B. Graves and Jeremiah Miller and Elders E. Kingsbury and George Goodrich, organized the Presbyterian Church of Promp- ton on Sunday, September 4, 1842, at which time the following persons presented letters which were approved by the committee: Asa Jenkins, Ann Jenkins, Hubbard L. Hadsall, Julianna Hadsall, Hiram Dibble, Naoma Dib- ble, Isaialı D. Conyne, Eva Conyne, Levi Bronson, Elizabeth C. Kcen, Sarah Anne Keen and Phobe E. Hall, all of the Presby- terian Church at Honesdale, and F. Davis Thayer from the church at Harford. Levi Bronson and F. Davis Thayer, having been elected ruling elders, were ordained. The in- fant church had no pastor nor any place of wor- ship. Its meetings were held in the school- house, and the pulpit was supplied by such ministers as Providence brought to the congre- gation. Soon, however, an arrangement was made with Rev. Jeremialı Miller, then pastor at Honesdale, to preach every other week, and

the church commenced to grow in interest and numbers. Mr. Miller was succeeded by Rev. Henry J. Rowland, and it was not until 1853 that the congregation had a pastor of its ownl. In that year Rev. J. O. Boswell was stated supply. He remained for about three years, and then, at a joint meeting of the congrega- tions of Waymart and Prompton, Rev. Israel Brundage, a licentiate from the Third Presby- tery of New York, was ordained and installed as pastor. The question of a church edifice had been agitated in the congregation for some time, and the building was commenced in the summer of 1859. The dedicatory services took place on September 16 of that year, being con- ducted by Revs. T. S. Ward, of Carbondale, and E. O. Ward, of Bethany. In 1864 Rev. J. Best was engaged as stated supply, and re- mained until 1875. Rev. George Guild, E. E. Northup and others then supplied the pulpit until Rev. W. H. Swift, the present pastor, was secured. The following have been ruling elders since the church was organized: Levi Bronson, J. Davis Thayer, Jonas Stanton, Seth C. Benedict, G. W. Hall, Nathaniel Spear, Abraham Eade and Robert J. Knapp.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

HENRY C. AMES.

Henry C. Ames was born in Canaan town- ship, Wayne County, Pa., October 28, 1828. His early life was not like the boyhood days of the present generation. He was early taught that in the struggle of life in a new country every one must do his or her share. His edu- cation was limited to a few months' attendance at the common schools of his day, and educa- tion that has been added to by a long and active business life. When twenty years old he bought the farm of liis father in which he was born and which he now owns. He has added to the improvements by erecting new buildings and making new clearings. In 1866 he bought of Edward Carr one hundred and fifty acres of land, part of which was cleared. This farm he has also improved and built upon and still owns. In 1871 lie again added

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to his real estate by purchasing forty-one acres of new land, which he has cleared and ini- proved. In all this Mr. Ames has labored for his own and the general good, and has done his share towards making Wayne County what it now is. He carried on mercantile business in Waymart for four years, when his store burned and he returned to his farm. In 1879 he built the store at Waymart, conducted in 1886 by his son, Ellsworth F. Ames. Young

September, 1848, he married Miss Julia Ann, daughter of Frederick and Nancy (Quick) Enslin, who was born in South Canaan, Pa., June 31, 1826. She died October :21, 1881. Their children were Orrin E., born? May 4, 1849, died September 28, 1854; Hannah, born November 25, 1850, married Orrin Shaeffer ; Ann Eliza, born January 17, 1853, married . William Pentecost. Children : Rena | May, Archie H., Edna P. and Earl T. Gertrude,

26. 6. Ames

Ames took full charge of the business when [ born October 27, 1855, married Warren S. but eighteen years old, and has managed it Bryant ; Sarah H., born October 21, 1857, died June 25, 1858 ; Earl T., born May 16, 1859, and Ellsworth F., born June 29, 1863. Earl T. was born and reared on the home farm in Canaan township, and was taught that labor was both necessary and honorable, and he did the work set for him to do on the farm during vacation with skill and willingness. When sixteen he was sent to the Franklin Institute, at Franklin, N. Y., where he remained two successfully. For forty years Mr. Ames has dealt in cattle, and has found a market for them in Kentucky, New York and other States. In politics he is a strong Republican, and by his fellow-townsmen has been elected justice of the peace and to other township of- fices. He has been a member of the Methodist Church twenty-five years, and one of its trustees and class leaders. On the 5th day of

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terms. Prior to that he had attended the high school in Prompton. In 1877 he went to Hawley, where he taught school three terms, and, as a teacher, was very successful, and, after leaving school on account of ill health, received many letters to return to Hawley and resume his school. In 1880 he took charge of his father's store in Waymart, and a year thereafter took the store off his father's hands and did bus- iness under the firm name of E. T. Ames. For two years he remained in the store, doing a nice business and adding daily to his popularity as a model and successful young business man. Then consumption, which had driven him from his school, fastened its relentless grasp upon him, and he was obliged to give up his business life. He went first to Minneapolis, Minn, but could not stand the cold winter, and he then went to Kansas, but came home the next spring without any improvement in health. The next winter he went to Denver, but grew worse, and his father went after him and brought him home. Hc bore his illness with heroism and passed away February 7, 1885. Of him, it is said, that he was one of Wayne County's most promising young business men, that his walk in life was a worthy example to his young associates, and his untimely death an almost irreparable loss. Joseph Ames, grand- father of Henry C., was born in Stonington, Conn., where he grew to manhood and married Hannah Tyler, in 1777, who bore him children as follows : William, Erastus, Hannah, Elijah and Joseph, Jr. He was a farmer, as were his ancestors, and owned a farm near Stonington, where he died. He was a soldier during the Revolutionary War, and died a pensioner. In politics he was a Whig, and held minor town- ship offices. He came to Wayne County after the death of his wife, and remained for a time with his son Joseph, but returned to Stonington to end his days. Of his children Joseph, Jr., was born in Stonington, October 28, 1790. When twenty years old he came to Wayne County, Pa., on horseback, the horse being the property he then owned. During the following three years he taught school in the Wallen- paupack, where he became acquainted with and married Miss Gertrude Schenck, who was born

in Huntingdon County, N. J. She was a daughter of Colonel John H. Schenck, a patriot of the Revolution. He was born in Monmouth County, N. J., and was a man of large wealth and influence, and raised and equipped, at his own expense, a regiment which he commanded in person. After the war he filled political offices of trust and importance. Soon after his marriage, Joseph, Jr., bought at what is now Canaan Corners, one hundred and twenty-five acres of wild land, part of which he cleared and improved, and made his home for many years. He subsequently sold the farm to Mr. Stark- weather, and then bought another piece of wild land, of one hundred and fifty acres, which is now owned by his son, Henry C. At his time of life, to clear and improve another new farm would seem like a great undertaking, but noth- ing daunted, he commenced work and lived to see one hundred acres under improvement, and a good house and out-buildings erected. He made it his final home and died therein.

He was a member of the Masonic order and belonged to the Waymart Lodge. Like his father, he was a Whig in politics and held township offices. To Mr. and Mrs. Ames were born children as follows: Erasmus D., who married Jane Clawson ; children, Agnes, Tyler, Katie, Mary and Harriet. Nelson M., who married Nancy Hoadley ; children were Oliver, George and Rutter. He married for his second wife Miss Susan Crammer ; chil- dren, Louisa, Susan, Newton and Fred. Eliza, married Alexander Anderson ; children, Alex- ander, Jr., Mary, Charles and William ; Eliza's second husband was William Annan ; one child, Gertrude. Tyler, died in boyhood. George R .; married Catherine McClain ; children, Joseph, John and George; married second time; one child. Clarissa, married John Clawson; chil- dren, Agnes, Jerome and Louise. Haner A .; Jacob, married Harriet Woodman; children, Helen, Gaston and Hattie. John H., mar- ried Melissa Woodard ; children, William, Haner and Erasmus. Reuben T., married Ellen Thorpe ; children, Sarah, Howard, James, Eliza (died) and Lucy. Sarah D., married John Stryker ; children, Mary, William and John.

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JACOB L. KEEN.

The Keen family, of Wayne County, Penn- sylvania, are, it is thought, of Swedish origin, their ancester having emigrated from there two centuries ago. Jacob Keen, the grandfather of Jacob L., was a Virginian, or at least resided there, and Captain Mathias, Jacob L.'s father, it is believed was born there, and from thence went to Orange County, N. Y., where, at Dol- sontown, he met and married Miss Muzzey. | the fall of 1814 he had, with the help of a hired

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 92

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