History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 98

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 98
USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 98
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania > Part 98

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).

BIOGRAPHICAL.

ERASTUS W. LOOMIS.

The Loomis family is of English origin, the paternal ancestor, Joseph Loomis, having emi- grated from Braintree, Essex County, England, in the ship "Susan and Ellen," which sailed from London April 11, 1638, and arrived in Boston July 17thi of the same year. In the following year he moved with his family, con- sisting of his wife and five sons and three daughters to Windsor, Litehfield County, Conn. Of his sons, Nathaniel was born in England, and married Elizabeth, daughter of John Moore, November 24, 1653. He died August 19, 1688. His children were Elizabeth, Na- tlianiel, Abigail, Josiah, Jonathau, David, Hezekiah, Moses, Mindwell, Ebenezer, Mary and Rebecca. Of these David was born Jan- uary 11, 1667; married, December 8, 1692, Lydia Marsh. He died January 9, 1751. His children were Lydia, David, Aaron, Heph- zibah, Eliakim, Elizabeth, Richard and Han- nah. Aaron was born September 5, 1686 ; married, February 5, 1718, Elizabeth Horman, who died April 15, 1783. He died September 13, 1773. Their children were Deborah, Grace, Aaron, Mindwell, Moses, Abner, Esther, Ephraim, Richard, Eli, Issachar, Naomi, Abiah and Lemuel.

Ephraim was born April 1, 1731 ; married, October 31, 1756, Ruth Hifford ; for his sec- ond wife he married, October 18, 1764, Jane

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Campbell. He died April 4, 1812. His children were Ephraim Ruth, Amy, Aaron, Solomon, Jane, Silas, Bildad, Rebecca and Elias. Of these Ephraim, Jr., was born July 12, 1758 ; married, October 30, 1784, Jane Fyler, who died March 30, 1789; married, second, July 20, 1789, Zervia Hill. He died in 1824. His children were Reuben, Oliver, Ephraim, Asahel, Zerviah, Ruth, Ephraim, Charles G., Roman and Caroline. Reuben

18, 1817, when he loaded all his houschold goods, his wife and three sons (the eldest but six years old) into a large covered wagon, and, with two yoke of oxen as motive power, started for Mt. Pleasant, in Wayne County, Pa., one hundred and fifty miles away. At Mt. Pleas- ant they had a distant relative, whom they called uncle Ichabod Demens, and at whose door the two yoke of oxen and wagon, with its cold and weary occupants, came to a halt in the

Loomis, or the father of our subject, was born in Torrington, Litchfield County, Conn., Octo- ber 9, 1785. At the age of seventeen he be- came a member of his uncle Stephen Fyler's family, with whom he resided until he reached his majority. He then spent some time in New Hampshire, working on a turnpike. After his marriage, in 1807, to Miss Saralı Westland, wlio was born in Windsor, Hartford County, Conn., November 25, 1787, he worked at farm- ing or anything which offered until January

night of January 27th, just nine days after starting. Erastus W., though but six years old at the time, well remembers that long ride in mid-winter, and the joy they experienced which, crying with cold and hunger, they reached Uncle Demeus' door. Mr. Loomis bought fifty-seven acres of wild land adjoining Uncle Demens' farm, and at once conimenccd the work of building a small log house and cutting away the timber around the same. During the winter the family lived with Daniel Roberts,

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who was a widower and was glad to have Mrs. Loomis look after his house and little ones.

On the 1st of June following their arrival the family moved into their own housc, which was of the most primitive make. The fire-place was but a few feet high, and, for want of a chimney, the smoke was allowed to escape the best way possible. To his farm there was only a lumberman's road, and the country for miles around was new and wild. Decr, wolves, pan- thers and bear were plenty, and Mr. Loomis kept his table well supplied with venison and other game. Erastus W., the eldest son, re- members well going to sleep many a night with the howling of wolves sounding in his ears, and that his father's and their neighbors' sheep were often killed by them. The family for years saw hard times and always hard work. One winter the steady cold weather froze the dams, and the mills stopped running, and the whole neighborhood was out of flour, and, with only potatoes to eat, the settlers saw hunger staring them in the face. Finally Uncle Demens, with oxen and an old sled, started for Mr. Keen's mill in Canaan township, and, with flour for the whole neighborhood, returned just at night of a winter's day. Mr. and Mrs. Loomis lived to see the wilderness changed into farms and the log houses replaced with more pretentious ones, and with prosperity came schools, churches and a better civilization. They cleared their farm, built farm-houses and barns, reared a family of children, and passed away mourned and regretted by those who knew them best. Mr. Loomis was for many years in the militia service, and was a lieutenant both in Connec- ticut and in Wayne County. He was a Demo- crat, but not an active politician. Mr. Loomis died November 10, 1849 ; his wife, August. 4, 1866. To them were born children as follows : Erastus W., Oliver H., born in 1812, Febril- ary 20; Daniel D., born November 27, 1814; Reuben F., born June 18, 1817 ; Hiram P., born December 9, 1819; Marietta, born Jan- uary 2, 1821, and Lucretia J., born December 25, 1823. Hiram P. married, May 20, 1846, Laura Griswold, who was born July 7, 1826. Their children are Theron O., born February 25, 1848 ; Oliver G., born August 16, 1857,

died April 21, 1851 ; Helen A., born February 21, 1860, died November 17, 1860; and Francis E., born December 17, 1862. Erastus W., the subject of this sketch, was born in Torrington, Conn., April 9, 1810. Until sev- enteen years of age he remained with his father, laboring as soon as old enough for the common good. He then went to live with Francis Griswold, with whom he remained, working by the year, until he was thirty-one years old. Part of the time he received ten dollars per month, and paid his wages until he was of age to his father. On the 20th day of May, 1841, he led to the altar Miss Mehitabel Muzzey, who was born February 22, 1819, and was daughter of Pliny and Mary (Draper) Muzzey. They were Massachusetts people and from a prominent family. They moved into Wayne County about 1825, and bought the farm now owned by Hiram Loomis. In August, 1841, Mr. Loomis bought of W. W. Norton the farm now owned by William Rood, and the newly-married couple commenced life thereon. It was in a bad condition, and Mr. Loomis at once commenced the work of improvement. The house and barns were repaired, fences built and fields cleared, thus doubling its value and making it a pleasant home. Mr. and Mrs. Loomis were for nearly half a century mem- bers of the Baptist Church, and for many years both sung in the choir, she as leading soprano, he as tenor. The land on which the church stands was donated by Mr. Loomis. For sev- eral years before her death Mrs. Loomis was an invalid and a great sufferer, which she bore with Christian fortitude. She passed away October 18, 1863, leaving a void in Mr. Loomis' home that could never be filled, and four years after he sold the farm, since which time he has lived with his relatives. Mr. Loomis is one of the few who has scen Wayne County a wilderness and now sces it a thickly settled country. The howl of the wolf he hears no more, but, instead, the whistle of the engine and the whir of the mowing machine and reaper ; and now, at a ripe old age, he is await- ing calmly and without fear the end of a long and well-spent life.

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WAYNE COUNTY.

ORSON CASE.

Among the self-made men of Wayne County, men who commenced in life without a dollar, and by energy, integrity and industry have made for themselves a position among their fellow men and a competency, we find the name of Orson Case, of Clinton township, Wayne County, Pa. He was born at what is now known as Hop Bottom Station, Susque- hanna County, Pa., on the 11th day of March,

became very skillful, and was sent for from far and near to repair old mills and build new ones. He built many of the mills still to be seen in Susquehanna and Wayne Counties, Pa., and in adjoining counties in New York. When the War of the Rebellion broke out he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry ; mustered October 6, 1862, and discharged Feb- ruary 26, 1863. He participated in several

Orson Case

1836. Bela Case, the grandfather of our sub- | battles, the most important one being the battle ject, was born in Lyme, Conn., where his ances- of Fredericksburg. He was discharged by a surgeon's certificate of disability, and came home sick with throat and lung troubles from which he never recovered. He died March 31, 1876. He married Miss Ann Eliza Smith, who came from Connecticut where her ancestors had resided for many years engaged in tilling the soil. To Orson Case, Sr., were born children as follows,-James G., Marcus now deceased, (who served in the Union army and was in tors settled when they came to this country. He, Bela, was among the early settlers of Sus- quehanna County, Pa., coming to it wlien it was an almost unbroken wilderness, when panthers, bear and deer were to be found iu great numbers. Orson Case, Sr., son of Bela Case, was also born in Connecticut, and came when small to Susquehanna County with his father. He learned the mill-wright trade, and

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

many skirmishes and battles), Jane E., George W. (who served three years in the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Calvary, and saw and took part in many a hard fought battle), Orson, Jr., Malvina, Lonisa, Jerome (who also served in the Union army a year and saw active service), Henry and Sarah.

Orson Case, Jr., of whom this sketch is written, commenced working with his father for wages when but fourteen years old, which may be said to have been his start in life. He learned the mill-wright trade and followed it several years. We next find him running saw- mills at different points in Pennsylvania and New York. When twenty-two years old, with the money he had saved he purchased forty acres of his father's farm near Hop Bottom which he kept until 1864, when he sold out, and with his family came to Wayne County and bought of Amos Denslo, the saw- mill and farm he now owns. He has rebuilt the house, built out-buildings and many rods of stone wall. The fine fruit his family now enjoy is the result of his skill and perseverance in budding, pruning and planting trees. When a small boy he many times escaped well-deserved punishment at his mother's hands by hiding under the bee-lives. He then learned that they would not sting him, and formed an attachment for the little workers which has grown stronger with advancing years. In 1866 he purchased a few swarms of bees in the old style hive and began raising them. For eight years he kept on in the old way of bee culture, and then commenced to make them and their habits and culture a study. He bought and studied works on bee culture, and found that the successful handling of bees was a science, and that the more he watched and studied, the more he admired them. He built a bee-house, and changed his old hives for the most improved make until he now has a hun- dred of the best pattern of hives, no two of which are painted alike. In addition to deriv- ing a vast amount of pleasure from the culture of honey bees, he has made it a financial suc- cess, and intends to keep his swarms up to an even hundred. Mr. Case has always been a Democrat, and has taken an active interest in

his party in Wayne County. He has been a delegate to the county conventions at different times, and has held minor township offices. He is now holding his second term as justice of the peace. He is and has been for eight years a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and has taken two degrees of the Star Lodge Chapter and Knights Templar. Mr. Case, his wife and daughters are members of the Baptist Church of which he is now trustee. On the 13th day of July, 1864, he was joined in marriage to Miss Orpha A. Alden, who was born in Windsor township, Broome County, N. Y., January 13, 1842. Mrs. Case is of English origin. Her grand- father, Benjamin F. Alden, came from Great Barrington, Mass., and settled in the wilderness in Windsor township. Benjamin F. married Hannah Graham, who bore him the following children,-Barnabas, Timothy, Benjamin F., Jr., Sophronia, Naomi, Saloma (twins) and Almida. Barnabas married Margaret Snyder, and their children were Eliza, Jane, Timothy P., Philip H., John C., Almaretta, Sophronia J., Hannah P., Lydia A. and Orpha A.

Mr. and Mrs Orson Case's children are Effie E. (born March 30, 1867), Sherman A. (Novem- ber 13, 1869, died March 30, 1873) and Bessie O. (September 1, 1873, died October 30, 1873).

HENRY GREINER

was born in Dyberry township, Wayne Coun- ty, Pa., on the 28th day of October, 1833. His ancestors came from Germany about 1820 and settled in Lackawanna County, Pa., at a place called Newton. The first to settle as above set forth was Paul. Greiner, Henry's grandfather. He lived for a time in Mount Pleasant township, Wayne County, then emi- grated to St. Clair County, Michigan, where he passed the remainder of his days. His chil- dren were Henry, William, Jackson, Christian, Hannah and Sophia. Of the sons Henry moved to Holmes County, Ohio, in 1845, where he died, leaving a family of children. Jack- son and Christian went with their father to Michigan where their descendants still reside. William, the father of our subject, was born in Germany and came with his father to this coun- try when but eight years of age. He learned

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WAYNE COUNTY.

the glass-blower's trade and worked in the Bethany Glass-Factory. He finally left the glass-works and moved on to a farm he pur- chased in Clinton township, in Wayne County. He lost a thousand dollars by the failure of the glass-works, which made paying for his farm a difficult task, and a task his children were, as soon as old enough, called upon to assist in. He died in Seelyville, Wayne County, in No-

He was an ardent Republican as were all his brothers, though the father was a Democrat. Fired with patriotism, Henry early in the sum- mer of 1861 joined with others in the attempt to raise a company in their vicinity, but failing in so doing and feeling that his country needed the services of her young men he enlisted about, October 15, 1861, in Company H, Fifty-second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

Henry Greiner

vember, 1881. He married Miss Charlotte Greiner, who bore him children as follows : Henry, William F., Abram, Jackson, Mary E. and Julia E. Henry grew to man's estate in Clinton township, receiving only such education as could be obtained by a few months' attend- ance at the winter schools of his neighbor- hood. The quiet life of a farmer which was being led by young Henry was ended, when, in 1861 the slaveholders' rebellion broke out.

The regiment was soon sent to the front and saw hard service. Among the many battles and skirmishes participated in by our subject were Lce's Mills, in April, 1862; Williamsburg, May 5, 1862; Chickahominy, May 19, 1862 ; Seven Pines, May 24 to 26 (inclusive), 1862; Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862; Bottom Bridge, June 27 and 28, 1862; White Oaks Swamp, June 30, 1862 ; Carter's Hill, July 2, 1862. Becoming completely disabled by sickness while

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

at Yorktown, he was discharged December 6, lowing children : Lottie I. (born March 15, 1869), Gracie M. (born May 1, 1870) and Charles F. (born December 9, 1871). 1862, and returned to his home in Wayne County where he remained till February 15, 1864, when, feeling that more men were needed to crush the rebellion, he enlisted in the Second Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, afterwards called a Provisional Regiment, and nearly cut to pieces CHAPTER XX. in the Wilderness Campaign. In this campaign Henry took part in the battles of the Wilder- DYBERRY TOWNSHIP. ness, Spottsylvania, Coal Harbor and in the THERE is nothing in the county records to show the exact time at which Dyberry was erected as a separate township, and the proceed- ings of the court, the names of the viewers and other details have been lost. It was probably erected in the spring or summer of 1804, since the first assessment was valued at a joint meet- ing of the assessors from the townships of Buck- ingham, Damascus, Dyberry and Mount Pleas- ant, held at the house of Elijah Dix, in the latter township, December 7, 1804. long and ardnous siege of Petersburg, Va. In making a charge at Petersburg his company lost all its commissioned officers and all its non- commissioned officers but one, and out of one hundred and fifteen men only forty were left for duty. His regiment was on the picket line the night Lee's army retreated from Petersburg and Henry and his comrades were the first to learn of the retreat. The regiment was one of those which took possession of the city, and here he remained until December 6, 1865, when Dyberry was the first township taken from tliose erected in the excision of Wayne from Northampton County, and there has always been some dispute as to the origin of its name. Tradition, as handed down through Mrs. Isaac Brush, has it that a man named Dyberry was one of the early settlers, and built a cabin on the east branch of the creek. His was the first death in the new township, and it was named in his honor. Another version of the story is that in Dey's clearing there grew some rare berries, of much the same variety as "the Bunt- ing Strawberry " mentioned in the chapter on Bethany Dey's berry patch, soon became a noted place, and when the township was erected, the name Dyberry was given to it. Both traditions have their supporters, and to one may be given as much credence as to the other. to save his life he was honorably discharged and reached his home a physical wreck. He has partly recovered his health but will never be a strong man again. In 1867 he purchased the farm on which he now resides. The house and part of the outbuildings he has built, and here he intends to spend his days. In politics he is an ardent Republican and one of whose Repub- licanism there is never any doubt. He has never cared for office and has held only minor township offices. In the month of February, 1867, he was joined in marriage to Miss Eliza- beth A. Giles, who was born in Clinton, March 21, 1846. She is the daughter of William and Grace (Matthews) Giles, both of whom were born in England. Mr. Giles came to this country in 1841 and worked on a farm near Honesdale by the month and thus obtained a Dyberry drew its original territory from the townships of Damascus, Palmyra and Canaan, but has been much reduced in area by the sub- sequent erection of Berlin and Texas from por- tions of it. It is at present bounded by Mount Pleasant and Lebanon on the north, eastwardly by Oregon, on the south by Texas and on the west by Canaan and Clinton. Its soil is varied and of good quality, and its beautiful hills roll gently to the northward, broken by many brook- start in life. He, in partnership with his brother James, bought the farm now owned by the lat- ter, his part of which he sold to his brother and then bought one on his own account. He died on the farm now owned by his wife, near Al- denville. His father and mother, Thomas and Elizabeth Giles, came from England after Wil- liam did and settled in Wayne County, where they passed the remainder of their days. To Henry Greiner and wife have been born the fol- I lets and several ponds. It combines scenery

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WAYNE COUNTY.

to be found in few townships, with a wonder- fully salubrious atmosphere, and is traversed by good roads. The main streams are the Dy- berry and its tributaries, which drain the east- ern portion, and Jennings' Brook, that lies in the western section. In the northwest the hills slope away to Long Pond, and Third, Second and First, or Jennings' Ponds are in the west- ern portion. From the latter most of the Honesdale water supply is derived.

EARLY SETTLEMENT .- Those who first set- tled in the present limits of the township were doubtless led there by the fertility of the soil and beauty of the country, but after Bethany had been selected as the county-seat, the settle- ment became, in a measure, perripheral and progressed rapidly. Hence it is that there seems to have been a constant and unceasing tide of immigration during the first two decades of the present century. After that, Honesdale at first divided and then usurped the new comers.

A man named John Kizer seems to have been the first settler, but where he came, or whither he went is not now known. In 1797 he com- pleted a hut on the place where John Nelson now lives, and into this Thomas Spangenburg moved in 1798. He had moved from Sussex County, New Jersey, bringing his wife and household goods in a rude vehicle, to which he had a single ox harnesscd like a horse. He had made two trips to this section before, the first being in 1794. His memory of the early days was very vigorous, and a short time before his death, in 1864, he dictated his history to Phineas G. Goodrich, Esq., through whose courtesy the original manuscript has been placed in the writer's hands. As portions of it have never been used, the narrative is given alinost entire :

" I was born in Sussex County, New Jersey. When I came into Wayne County-or what is now Wayne County-for the first time, in 1794, I crossed at Mon- roe ferry, two miles below Milford. At the latter place there were but two or three houses. The first house west of Milford was an old stone tavern, built by Andrew Bray; next the old Lot tavern, then seven miles to Shohola farms ; next Blooming Grove, there Uriah Chapman, Esq., lived ; there I stopped a weck to hunt ; then I came to the Narrows, where Ephraim Kimble, Sr., the father of Asa Kimble, lived. There I found William Schoonover, the

father of Daniel, Levi, Jacob and Simon Schoonover. Levi Schoonover, born that year, was the first white child born on the Dyberry. I then came on to Wil- sonville. Several men lived there who were at work on a factory at the mouth of Paupack. The next place was Paupack Eddy ; there lived Ruben Jones, an enormously large tall white man, and his brother, Alpheus, and their sister, Widow Cook. Elisha Ames lived on the David Bishop farm. I next came to the Benjamin Haines place, since known as the Jonathan Brink place ; then to the Walter Kimble farm, now owned by Bulkley Beardslee; from there I came to Tracyville. There was an old tub mill to grind corn, built by Israel Kelley, which had been deserted. Any one who had anything to grind went and ground it. Then I followed a path over the east side of Irving Cliff and came down to where Daniel Schoonover lives.

"This, as I said, was in 1794, and in October of 1795, Walter Kimble sent for me to score square tim- ber. I came up and worked till about Christmas, when I went back to New Jersey. I came back again in 1706, and helped to get out the timber for the saw mill, in which Jacob Kimble was the principal owner, remaining until they put up the peat-stack. The water wheel was made by a Mr. Manning. We had a hard job to raise the mill, which was the first built above Wilsonville. At this we had no courts, and the nearest justice was John Brink, Esq., afterwards As- sociate Judge. The next winter I went back to New Jersey. In the spring of 1797 I came back and worked for Walter and Benjamin Kimble for twelve dollars a montlı, doing allkinds of work, and returned again in the fall to New Jersey. I was married to Susan Headley, January 2, 1798, and on the 9th of February, the same year, came up with an ox team and moved into a hut that one Keizer had built in 1797, on the place now occupied by John Nelson. Samuel Smith built on the other side of the Van Dusen Place, and Conrad Pulis built on the old Pulis place. Richard Nelson built against the Big Eddy. They came the same night I did. That was the year Wayne County was set off, and the first court was held at Milford. The sheriff took for jurors whom he pleased, and they received no pay. That year the county was organized into eight mili- tia companies, and an election was held at Watson- ville to choose officers. Jolin H. Schenck was elected Lieut .- Colonel ; Ephraim Killam, major of the first batalion ; Samuel Stanton, major of the second batalion ; William Chapman, captain of Pal- myra ; Ephraim Kimble, captain of Lackawaxen ; Jesse Drabe, captain of Buckingham ; John Tiffany, captain of Mount Pleasant; Asa Stanton, captain of Canaan ; Edward Doyle, of Buckingham; Silas Woodward, of Dyberry ; I was elected ensign under Woodward. There was another election in 1800, at which I was elected captain of the Dyberry Com- pany. I was re-elected several times.

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WAYNE, PIKE AND MONROE COUNTIES, PENNSYLVANIA.

"In 1798 there was only one election district in Wayne County, and that was at Elijah Dix's, in Mount Pleasant. There was no road at this time ex- cept by a trail marked by topped bushes and barked trees. I went there in 1799 to vote for governor. Two went from Cherry Ridge and three from Dyber- ry. Only forty-five votes were cast in the whole county. The next election district was at Wilson- ville.

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History of Wayne, Pike, and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania, Part 98

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