History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 94

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 94
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 94
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 94

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).

AN ADVENTURE WITH A WOLF .- In this, like other townships, the early settlers were constantly annoyed by the wolves, which often grew bold enough to come right up to the cabin doors in search of food. Mr. Moses Swingle tells this story of an instance of this kind that came under his own observation. " When I was quite a small boy," he says, "my eldest sister, Polly, who was then married, and lived on the place now owned by Asa Cobb, killed a wolf right on the road before her door. Her husband had gone to Wilkesbarre to attend to some legal business, and my little brother, Is- rael, was staying with her. She was mixing bread, when the boy, who had been looking out the window, asked what kind of a thing that was smelling about the sheep-fold. She looked out the door, and there was a full grown wolf, within a few feet of the house. Her husband's flint locked musket was above the door, and she snatched it down and hurried out. As soon as the wolf saw her he growled and came nearer, and she took a deliberate aim and pulled the trigger, but the gun missed fire. Not daunted, she took a firm grasp of the barrel and dealt thie gray varmint a good blow over the head, shiver- ing the stock and onlystunning the wolf. She then called to Israel to bring the axe, but before he could comply, as his wolfship began to show signs of life again, she finished him with a picket. I have forgotten what he measured, but he was quite a large wolf, even for those days."

ROADS AND TURNPIKES .- Early in the history of the township, there were few roads in the true sense of the word. The clearings were connected with one another by trails cut through the woods, and here and there by rude paths from which the underbrush had been cut away, so as to make them passable for sleds and drags. These improved somewhat, as the settlers be- came more numerous, but there was nothing worthy the name until the first turnpike was constructed. This was the old Easton and Bel- . mont, better known as the " North and South,"

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which was finished in 1819-20, and passed through the centre of the township. Mail and passenger coaches ran daily upon it, and large numbers of cattle and sheep were driven by this route from Western New York to Easton and Philadelphia. It furnished too, what was then considered a rapid and and convenient commu- nication with Easton, then the source of most mercantile supplies, and the freightage by wagons amounted to a large traffic. This pros- perity lasted for twenty-five or thirty years, and did much to open up the township, and improve the farms that lay along the great highway. In 1815 the Milford and Owego turnpike was completed, making another route that greatly benefited the section, and still later, in 1831, the Honesdale and Clarksville turnpike gave the township easy communication with the county seat. Although these turnpikes have given up their franchises, and are now county roads, they are in fair condition, and are kept at comparatively little expense.

SCHOOL AND CHURCHES .- It is probable that the first school regularly maintained in the township was that started by Jonathan Nickerson in a portion of Hans Ulrich Swin- gle's house, in 1812. Prior to that time, there had been several classes tanght by any of the pioneers who could find time to instruct the three or four neighbors children who came when weather, roads and household duties per- mitted. The Nickerson school was kept up for several months, and had an attendance of about twenty pupils. Soon after this there was a school near Shaffertown, in an old log-house which stood about three-quarters of a mile above the Shaffer mill. Miss Lucy Goodrich afterwards taught in this same place. There was also a school on the John Swingle farm, now occupied by Harrison McMin, which was first taught by Miss Polly Potter. Capt. Abel H. Fish, who came from Connecticut, was the second male teacher, and is remembered by his former pupils as having been an excellent scholar, enthusiastic in his work, and with a rare faculty for imparting knowledge. Miss Abigail Fris- bie was also one of the prominent teachers in the first quarter of the present century.

The first religious meetings in the township

were held at the house of Hans Swingle, who was a Lutheran, and conducted the services himself. Afterwards meetings were held at John Swingle's and others of the neighbors. In 1810, Father Owens, a Methodist preacher used to visit the locality about once a month during the season; and afterwards Elder Fry came oftener. The Swingle family were all religiously inclined, and praycr-meetings were quite regularly kept up, until the first church, a German Reformed congregation, was formed. The first members of this were Joseph, Daniel, Mary and John Swingle, and a few others. Afterwards, as it grew in strength, its denominational preferences changed, and it was finally merged into the Methodist Protestant Church. This was organized about 1823, under the preaching of Rev. Joseph Barlow, and had a large membership from the start. It at first worshipped in the school-house, but, in 1831, erected its present house of worship at a cost of one thousand dollars. It was at first used by both the Methodist Protestant and Methodist Episcopal denominations. The church at Learch's Corners was started in about 1855, by the efforts of Rev. Elias B. Adair. It is now in a flourishing condition. About 1865, a Free Methodist class was formed, the constitu- ent members being, G. W. Swingle and wife, S. Hines and wife, M. Reed and wife, A. Reed and Mrs. E. Spangenberg. This continued to grow in strength until, in 1871, a church edifice was erected about a mile west of the Corners. The congregation is now in a flourishing condi- tion, and numbers about one hundred members. It has recently bought a parsonage and two acres of ground. At South Canaan Corners there is a lodge of Good Templars, No. 213, organized by E. E. Weed, November 11, 1884. It has sixty-seven members.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

SIMON SWINGLE.

The first settler in what is now South Canaan was Hans Ulrich Swingle, who emi- grated from Germany prior to the Revolution- ary War, and settled in Orange County, N. Y.

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

The name as pronounced in German was " 'Zwingle," but was Americanized, and in the days of Hans Ulrich was pronounced and spelled Swingle. Hans Ulrich Swingle was drafted into the Colonial army, but did not serve as he was not a naturalized citizen. In 1783 he came to Wayne County, Pa., and in what is now South Canaan, bought four hun- dred acres of land in the midst of an unbroken wilderness. Not a tree had been cut, neither

the father of twenty-four children. Frederick, born in 1781, died May 10, 1861, married Susannah Enslin, born in 1780, died August 15, 1856; Jacob married Eva Shaffer, Jacob died July 23, 1870, his wife died June 23, 1862; Henry married Elizabeth Enslin, and Mary married Moses Shaffer. Mary died July 20, 1839. Both Mr. and Mrs. Swingle were for many years members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Swingle died in

Simon Sevinate

were there any roads to or from his possessions. He at once erected a log-house and began the work of improvement which he continued until his death which occurred March 28, 1809. His wife, Mary Shaffer, bore him children as fol- lows,-Christina, who married Silas Wood- ward ; Elizabeth, married Heny Curtis, who served all through the Revolutionary War; Jeremiah ; John, married three times and was

March, 1816. The site of the original home- stead and part of the farm is now owned by Hans Ulrich's great-great-grandson, Eugene Swingle. Henry the fifth son of Hans was born in Orange County, N. Y., and came with his father to Canaan where he grew to man- hood, and married November 12, 1806, Miss Elizabeth Enslin. He purchased fifty-three acres of unimproved land on which he built a

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house in which he resided nearly half a cen- tury. His education was in German, but his children were sent to the English schools of that day. He died September 13, 1851, his wife, January 14, 1850. Their children were George, born March 1, 1808, married Lucy Swingle, who bore him the following named children,- Washington, Sarah, Lydia, Lucy, Henry, Fin- ley and Eleanora. Clarissa, born August 2, 1811, married Owen Bronson, who was born May 8, 1805, and died April 27, 1881. Their children were Simon, Elizabeth, Michael, Harvey, Leonard, Rowena, Annie and Joseph. Mrs. Bronson died May 19, 1884. Simon, born December 14, 1814, and Sallie Ann, born August 28, 1817, died in May, 1885, as did her husband William Baton, who was born 1813. Their children were Robert, Elizabeth and Mary.

Simon Swingle, the subject of this sketch was born on the home farm of his father, December 14, 1814, and grew to man's estate thereon. The country was then new and times were hard and Mr. Swingle was early taught that one of God's mandates was that man should get his bread by the sweat of his brow. And he was also instructed, that honesty and integrity was to be desired before riches. His chances for an education were limited to a few months atten- dance in winter, at the schools of his native township. An education which has been added to by a long and active business life. Arriving at his majority he commenced life on his own account by renting his father's farm for a few years and then buying it. In 1842 he ex- changed it with his brother-in-law David Swingle for two hundred acres of land near where he now resides. This farm he improved and lived upon until 1861, when he moved into the large and comfortable house in which he now resides with his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin. All the buildings where he now resides were built by him as also many others on the five farms he has owned. In politics, Mr. Swingle has been for many years a staunch Republican, but now belongs to the Prohibition party. He has never sought or cared for office and has held only township offices. Both himself and wife have been for

nearly half a century consistent members of the Protestant Methodist Church in which he has been class-leader, steward and trustee. In May 1877, he was sent as a delegate to the General Convention of the Protestant Methodist Church of the United States which was held in Balti- more, Md. Mr. Swingle has been an industrious, enterprising business man, managing his farms with judgment and skill, and has proven by his example that a comfortable fortune can be made by farming and by honest upright deal- ing. He has retired from active business and is now in the seventy-second year of his age, in the full possession of all his faculties, sur- rounded by children and friends, passing away the even tide of a long and well spent life. On the 9th day of October 1835, he was joined in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Swingle, who was born December 20th, 1817. Her father Conrad Swingle was born in 1769 and died April 24, 1849. His wife Miss Lucy Bunton was born in 1774 and died 1850. Their chil- dren were John, born December 14, 1794; died March 9, 1879 ; he was twice married his wives being Sarah Cobb and Polly Quick. Mary, born September 13, 1796 ; died December 13, 1874; she married John Cobb. Daniel, born June 12, 1798 ; died December 21, 1878 ; married Eunice Buckingham. Joseph, born April 16, 1800; his wives were Hannah Cobb, Orrilla Parish and Elizabeth Shunard. Samuel, born March 13, 1802 ; married Catherine Cobb. Moses, born April 2, 1804 ; married Elizabeth Cobb. Isaac, born October 17, 1807 ; married Polly Croop. Michael, born April 26, 1811, his wife was Margaret Croop. Jonathan, born February 1, 1813 ; married Phebe Coss. David, now deceased born February 1, 1813 ; married Eliza Croop. Lucy, born July 26, 1815; marricd George Swingle and Elizabeth, born December 20, 1817. Simon Swingle and wife have been blessed with the following named children,-Zachariah, born April 22, 1837; married Emma Jane Swingle; children Lucina, (adopted) Edwin, Emma, Ida, Ellen, Evelena, Viola, Celesta, Norman and Mark. Ellen, born August 10, 1844; married to S. L. Dart ; children are Ernest C., Della I., Elizabeth, Jennie, Minnie and Frances L. Orrilla R.,

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

born April 4, 1846 ; married December 25, 1864 ; Irwin Benjamin, who enlisted August 6, 1862 in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Penna. Volunteer Infantry and was discharged June 1, 1863 ; two children, Jennie M., and Adelbert W., died in infancy. Adelbert M., born February 4, 1851 ; married Tillie Compton ; children Mamie deceased, Myrtle, Pauline and Charlie. Angeline A., born November 12, 1853; married Charles Mckinney ; children Alice deceased, Genevieve, Garfield, Adelbert and Martha. Della Ann, born in 1856, died April 12, 1860.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CHERRY RIDGE TOWNSHIP.

A PETITION to erect a new township from portions of Texas, Canaan and Palmyra, was laid before the Court of General Sessions on December 6th, 1843, and John McIntosh, Ralph Case and Phineas G. Goodrich were ap- pointed viewers. On the following day, they came into court and made a favorable report, recommending the creation of a new township by a line beginning at the southeast corner of Canaan township and extending to the mouth of Wampum or Sand Pond Creek, and from thence along the line between Texas and Pal- myra five hundred and forty perches, thence to the mouth of Cajaw Pond, thence due west to the east line of Canaan, thence south to the north line of Salem, thence to the place of beginning. This report was confirmed nisi, and continued to the April term, before which time several remonstrances were filed. They did not avail, however, and the final confirma- tion took place on April 30, 1844. Subse- quently it was discovered that a mistake had been made in running the township lines, and the boundaries were changed to their present courses.

The township thus erected is bounded on the north and northeast by Texas, on the south- west by Palmyra and Paupack, on the south by Lake, and west by South Canaan and Canaan.

The surface includes much of a high undulating plateau, that is free from the abrupt hills that are characteristic of the country to the south and west of it, and a large part of the land is cultivatable, though south of Middle Creek, the surface is rougher and less inviting. Sand and Cajaw Ponds, both of them picturesque sheets of water are in the township, and Middle Creek and Collins, Stryker and Pond Brooks drain the hills and afford several good water- powers. Originally the hills were covered with a fine growth of hard wood, and the township takes its name from the abundance of cherry lumber that was felled in it.

EARLY SETTLEMENT .- An opening in the woods seems to have been made in the Cherry Ridge some time before the organization of the county, but the exact date at which the first settlers commenced their clearings can not be ascertained. It was probably but a few years after the close of the Revolution, for a number of the pioneers of the township are known to have been soldiers in both that and the Indian War which followed. About 1794, Benjamin King went from the Paupack settlement and located on the Schenck farm, remaining there for two years, after which time he went to Mount Pleasant. It is supposed that at this time Enos Woodward, with his sons, and Colo- nel H. Schenck commenced permanent im- provements, though the date of their first loca- tion must have been before this. The first assessment for Canaan township was made out by John Bunting, in 1799, and this shows that the Woodwards had made a good-sized opening in the woods. Enos is set down as having fifty acres of improved land and one hundred and seventy-five acres that were unimproved ; John had seventeen acres that were cleared and three hundred and eighty-three that remained in forest ; Silas and Asahel had each twenty acres of improved and three hundred and eighty acres unimproved, while the farm of Colonel John H. Schenck was made up of forty acres of cleared and four hundred of uncleared land. It is probable that prior to the date of this assess- ment, the settlers had been joined by Daniel Davis and Abraham Stryker. The former located on the place now occupied by H. L.

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Philips, on the Milford and Owego turnpike, where he kept a taveru for many years.

All of these settlers took up their lands under the impression that the legal title to them was vested in Connecticut, and they were not apprised of their mistake until several years after. Dr. Collins was one of the first to learn of it. He had bought ont Enos Woodward's improvement for a few dollars, and gone on clearing the land. Under the Pennsylvania proprietorship the lands were warranted by Edward Tilghman, and the latter put them in the hands of Jason Torrey, who was his agent. As soon as Dr. Collins became aware that he was only a " squatter," he saddled his horse and rode to Philadelphia, where Mr. Tilghman then lived, and made a payment of three hundred dollars on the tract that he liad se- cured from Woodward. He had one of the first legal titles in Cherry Ridge.

The fact that Enos Woodward was the first settler is proven by no less competent a witness than his brother-in-law, Benjamin King. The possession taken of these tracts under the do- main of Connecticut, led to considerable litiga- tion in after years, and in one of the cases, King was called as a witness relative to some early event. It is a matter of record that he then stated, that they had better ask Enos Woodward, because the latter came into the country six months before he did. Mr. Wood- ward was a conspicuous figure in the early history of this township, but left it about the beginning of the present century, and became more closely identified with the Wallenpaupack settlement, to which he returned. He was a native of Massachusetts, and was one of the company of New Englanders that went to Wallenpaupack in 1774. He was also a soldier in the revolution, and afterwards participated in several fights with the Indians. He is de- scribed as having been a man of tall stature and fine bearing, strict in his views, kindly in man- ner, and straightforward in all his dealings. His sons were William and Ansil, who went south, and settled near Lexington, Ky., and were the ancestors of the Woodward family in that state, Abisha, who married a daughter of Jacob Kimble, and located at Bethany, John,

who located on the Jordan place, adjoining Dr. Collin's farm, and Ebenezer, who lived where Perry Clark now resides. The history of Abisha will be found in the chapter of Bethany. John was a quiet and unobtrusive man who ended his days in Cherry Ridge. He married. Sarah Caywood, and had eight children, Elam,, Asher, Enos, Amasa L., Keziah C., Daniel D., Sarah C., and John. Ebenezer married Sabra Chapman, and their children were Arthur, Benjamin, Joseph, Phœbe, Polly, Oliver, most of whom accompanied their parents to Michi- gan in 1849. Daniel D. Woodward is now one of the oldest living settlers in the township. He married Sarah Ann Rogers, and by her had Mary Ann, Francis and Thomas. By his second wife Francis D. Stanton were born, Sarah E., Harlan B., Alice L. and Franklin P.

Colonel John H. Schenck was a native of Sussex County, N. J., and had inherited con- siderable property in Orange County N. Y., through his wife. Shortly after the breaking out of the Revolution he mortgaged his farm to equip a regiment, which he led to the front. Although he was made a colonel, he was so poorly remunerated for his services that he was not able to redeem his property, and, in 1795, or 1796, he removed to Cherry Ridge and bought out the improvement of Benjamin King. Colonel Schenck married a Miss Benton, and his children were Magdalene (wife of Apol- los Davis), Abigail and Gertrude (wife of Jo- seph Ames, of Canaan). About the commence- ment of the present century, Colonel Schenck moved to New Jersey and Jacob took the home- stead. He married Sallie Davis, and their children were Phobe, John J., Margaret, Henry V., Caleb B., Harriet (wife of Judge Giles Green, of Ariel), and Sarah (wife of Perry Brown. After the death of his father, Henry inherited the homestead and married Jane C. Taylor, by whom he had five children, and, after her death was united to Laura D. Smith, of New York State.

Abraham I. Stryker, who is mentioned as one of the early settlers, moved from the neighborhood of Easton, about 1801. He bought a large tract of land south of the Enos Woodward farm, which is now occupied by

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Isaac and Francis Bonear, and lived there for many years, late in life moving to Honesdale, where he dicd in 1846, aged seventy-four years. His children were Betsy (Mrs. Martin Kellogg), Lydia (Mrs. Dr. Stearns), and Abra- ham A., a resident of Damascus.

Dr. Lewis Collins, who is noted quite fully in the medical chapter, bought out the Wood- ward improvement. He was born at Litchfield, Conn., and married a daughter of Oliver Hunt- ington, of Lebanon. Their children were Au- gustus, who located on the Charles Reed place, in Dyberry ; Oristus, who was a practising attorney at Wilkesbarre, and afterwards presi- dent judge of Lancaster County ; Lorenzo, who owned a farm in Cherry Ridge ; Abner, who settled in Salem ; Alonzo, of Jefferson, Lacka- wanna County ; ¿ Philea, wife of Virgil Dibol, of Ohio; Lucius, twice sheriff of Wayne County, and for many years justice of the peace, in both Bethany and Cherry Ridge townships ; Decius, who died in Salem ; Huntington, who was a mill-wright, and built half of the mills in this section, and is still living with Lewis S. Collins, Esq., Theron and Aretius.

Augustus married Fannie Webster, of Man- chester. His children were Claudius and Ann J., wife of Professor D. G. Eaton, of Packer Institute. Nancy Jewett, of Wilkes-Barre, was the wife of Oristus and his son is Rev. Charles J. Collins, of New York City. Wallace Col- lins, of Cherry Ridge, is the son of Lorenzo Collins and Sarah Sassman. Abner married Hannalı Jones, and his children were Philander W., of Salem ; Lysander, of California ; Eliza- beth, wife of Alfred Harding, of Salem ; Julia A., wife of Thomas Cook, of the same place ; and Hannah, Mrs. Warren Slocum, of Scran- ton.

Lucius married Sophia Sassman, and their children were Lewis S., Franklin and Worth- ington. The former is the owner of the home- stead, and had been a valued citizen of the township ; the others are dead. Decius married Elizabeth Sassman and was the father of Mrs. N. A. Hilbert and Miss Sophia Collins, both of Scranton.

In 1828, John Kirby came from Orange County, N. Y., and settled on the old Babylon

pike, where he bought a tract of land. His children were Silas H., William, Charity, Jane (Mrs. David Whitney), Martha (Mrs. Henry Baker), Susan (Mrs. Clarence Reynolds), Mary, Robert P., John and Parmelia. Robert P. lives on the homestead, and has three children. John Kirby was in the War of 1812, and died in 1865.

Francis, Thomas and Isaac Bonear were from England, and settled on some of the Stryker property about 1835. Francis married Cynthia Kirby, and had eight children. Thomas mar- ried Sophia Taylor and had seven children, and Isaac was wedded to Cordelia Roberts, and his three children live near the old place.

Joseph Varcoe came from Cornwall, England, in 1835, and settled adjoining the Bonears. He married Elizabeth Doney, and left two sons, Davis, who lives in Lackawanna county, and William H., who lives at the homestead. The latter married Elsie Bonear.

John R. Hoadley, who has a fine farm at Hoadley's Crossing, was a son of John P. Hoadley, of Canaan. He located in Cherry Ridge in 1839, having been united in marriage to Laura Hoadley, a grand-daughter of Silas Hoadley, of Connecticut. They have no children.

In 1848 J. S. Kimble, a grandson of Walter Kimble, of Indian Orchard, located on Collins Brook, where he built a saw-mill which is still in operation. He has five children most of whom are married and live in the vicinity.

Henry Ilof, who is one of the commissioners of Wayne County, came from New York City with his family in 1849 and settled on the Milford and Owego pike. He has three grown children who have marrried and settled near him.

There was quite a little settlement of Eng- lish people at the upper end of the township, and among the first to arrive was George San- dercock, who came from Cornwall, England, in 1849, and, after living a year or two on Smith Hill, located on the South road. He had five sons and two daughters. The latter are mar- ricd and live West. Of the sons, William is a resident of Honesdale and Jack carries on a store at Arial.

John Male located on the farm adjoining Mr.

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Sandercock in 1851. He also came from Corn- wall, and has prospered. His two sons, Isaac and John, live with him at the homestead. The latter is town clerk. John Toms, who occupies a farm near by, is also a Cornishman, having come to this country in 1856. He married Martha A. Swingle, of Cherry Ridge, and has two sons and a daughter, all of whom live at the homestead. A year after Mr. Toms came John Richart, a native of Germany, settled near the Robinson tannery, where he remained until a few years ago, when he moved to his present location on the old South road.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 94

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