History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics, Part 53

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) comp. cn; J.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1320

USA > Pennsylvania > McKean County > History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics > Part 53
USA > Pennsylvania > Potter County > History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics > Part 53
USA > Pennsylvania > Elk County > History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics > Part 53
USA > Pennsylvania > Cameron County > History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics > Part 53

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J. R. CHADWICK, Smethport, son of Richard Chadwick, was born at Williamsport, Penn., in 1825. His father, who was a native of Monmouth county, N. J., came, with his parents, to what is now Cameron county, and in 1811 settled at the mouth of North creek. Richard Chadwick there married Prudence Freeman and reared a family of three children: Freeman and Tem- perance (both deceased) and J. R. March 9, 1826, his wife died, and the fol- lowing year he removed to Smethport, entered the prothonotary office as deputy, and afterward taught school; eventually he returned to Cameron county and made his home with his daughter, Temperance, until his death in 1866. J. R. Chadwick was his father's assistant in the various positions he held. In 1846 he married Miss Nettie Wright (now deceased), by whom he had two sons. In politics he is a Republican, and in 1887 he was elected superintendent of poor.

HOMER M. CHOATE, deputy register, recorder and clerk of the court of McKean county, with residence at Smethport, was born August 22, 1843, at Portage, Genesee Co., N. Y., where his father carried on a lumbering busi- ness, saw-mills, etc. The record of the ancestry of Homer M. Choate in America is as follows: John Choate, born in 1624, in Groton, Suffolk, England, came to Ipswich, Mass., about 1645, and settled in that part of Ipswich which is now the town of Essex; Thomas Choate was born in 1670; Francis Choate was born in 1701; Isaac Choate was born in 1733; Joshua Choate was born in 1768; Isaac W. Choate, the father of Homer M. Choate, was born in 1794 at Lansingburgh, N. Y. About 1690 John Choate gave his son, Thomas, all his land on an island on the coast of Massachusetts, known as "Hog Island," and the house that was built there by Francis, son of Thomas, about 1725, is still occupied by his descendants. In this house Isaac Choate, Sr., was born, also Isaac's son Joshua. The farm is still in possession of the descendants of John Choate, and has never been out of the family, a period of more than 200 years. Rufus Choate, the lawyer and orator, was born in this house about thirty years after Joshua Choate was born. William Choate, who bought from Isaac Choate (his brother) his half of the farm in 1770, was the grand- father of Rufus, the lawyer. While yet young Homer M. Choate was brought by his parents from Portage to Clarence, Erie county, same State, and there he attended the common schools and the academy until the outbreak of the Re- bellion, when, in 1861, at the age of eighteen years, he enlisted in the Twenty- first New York Volunteers for two years, served out his term and was honorably discharged. He was then appointed a United States inspector in the custom- house at Buffalo, N. Y., which office he relinquished in the fall of 1865 to accept the position of book keeper in the First National Bank of Oil City, Penn. Here he remained, part of the time as cashier, till the fall of 1875, when he resigned in order to go into business in the Oil Exchange, same city. Mr. Choate continued in this and in the brokerage business until 1883, in which year he accepted the position of paying teller in the Seaboard Bank,

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New York, but having the misfortune to shoot and kill a burglar in his wife's room at Newark, N. J., on November 10, 1883, the shock to her, which no doubt precipitated her early death, was so great that he had to resign his position and move his wife and family back to her home in the oil country, where he received the appointment to his present position. Mr. Choate was married September 11, 1867, to Helen E., daughter of Stephen McCoy. of Ellicottsville, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., and niece of Dr. William Y. McCoy, of Smethport, Penn. She died January 22, 1886, from cancer of the stomach. Mr. Choate is commander of the G. A. R. Post at Smethport, and is a member of the F. & A. M. and of the I. O. O. F.

WILLIAM B. CLARKE, sheriff of Mckean county, Smethport, was born in Westbrook, Conn .. in 1845, and when he was two years of age his father moved to New York City. He was educated in the high schools of that city, from which he subsequently graduated. When about eighteen years of age he entered the employ of Jacob Lorillard, the celebrated tobac- conist, for whom he worked for four years. The Lorillard establishment employed over 600 men at that time, and Mr. Clarke was the principal book- keeper, having also entire charge of the internal revenue branch of the busi- ness. There was a heavy tax on tobacco in those war times, and thousands of dollars of internal revenue tax was paid monthly by this one establishment. Mr. Clarke had the confidence of his employer to such an extent that very few men possess before the age of twenty-one years, and he has in his pos- session a letter of recommendation from Jacob Lorillard which he values very highly. In 1866, at the instance of a brother-in-law, who owned a majority of the stock of the Home Petroleum Company, he visited Oil creek, the valley of which was then booming as an oil territory. This company owned the Blood farm, which was then a fine producing territory, and Mr. Clarke was induced to take the position of assistant superintendent, and was given considerable charge of the property. He remained in the employ of the company nearly nine years, during five of which he lived at Titusville. He came to McKean county in 1875, locating at Tarport, and for four years had charge of the oil properties of Col. A. I. Wilcox. For a long time he was in the employ of his father in- law, Frederick Crocker, whose producing interests were very large, and dur- ing a portion of the time he superintended the extensive coal business of Sheriff Bannon. In January, 1884, he was appointed the principal deputy sheriff under Sheriff Bannon, and in 1887 was elected to the office of sheriff, proving himself one of the most popular officials of the county. He was married in 1876 to Edna Crocker, daughter of Frederick Crocker, and they have one son. Mr. Clarke has taken the thirty-second degree in Freemasonry and is a member of the consistory at Bloomsburg; is also a member of the Knights of Pythias.

W. J. COLEGROVE, Smethport, was born in what is now Norwich town- ship, Mckean Co., Penn. His father, Jonathan Colegrove, late of Mckean county, was one of the pioneers of said county, having removed hither from Chenango county, N. Y., in 1815, and was one of three brothers (the others being Park and Benjamin), all of whom resided for many years in what was then Sergeant township, but is now Norwich township. They were born in the town of Sterling, Windham Co., Conn. Jonathan Colegrove was educated at the district school of his native town, and at Plainfield Academy, Windham county, after which he taught at the Catskill Academy. He was married to Miss Eliza Gallup, a native of Griswold, Conn., and removed to Chenango county. After serving in the army at Sackett's Harbor in the war of 1812, he lived on a farm which he worked summers, and taught school, winters, for some years,

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after which they came to McKean county, where he followed farming and teach- ing, also had charge of the large Ridgway landed property until 1852. He was twice county commissioner, being the first at its organization, and when it was connected with Potter county; he was also treasurer one term; served one term as representative of his district in 1824-25; was the first postmaster of Norwich when the mail was carried from Smethport to Lock Haven once in two weeks on horseback, the rider carrying a " tin horn " to give warning of his approach. The children born of this union were Eliza F. (the late Mrs. Daniel Rifle), William W. (who died when five years old), Horace (who married Emily Burlingame, and whose death occurred in Norwich township in 1888), William J., Laura Ann and Laura Ette (twins). The only survivors of these children are William J. and Laura Ann. Mrs. Colegrove died in 1859 in her seventy-fourth year. Jonathan Colegrove was respected by all who knew him for his sterling integrity and his business qualifications. He was an old- line Whig from their organization, and on the dissolution of that party became a zealous Republican, and so continued to his death. Through his influence, while in the legislature, he obtained an appropriation from the State for the Smethport Academy, which was subsequently built and opened to the public. He died in 1872 in his ninetieth year. W. J. Colegrove, the subject proper of this sketch, was born in 1821, and was educated at the common schools of Norwich township, and Smethport Academy, after which he married, in 1841. Miss Eunice H. Wright, of Kanona, Steuben Co., N. Y., and they began their married life on the old homestead farm in Norwich township, Mckean Co., Penn., he teaching school, winters, for some years. There they remained until 1880, when they removed to Smethport, he having since 1852 had charge of the Ridgway estates, which were located in Mckean and Elk counties, embracing two tracts of land, each containing 40,000 acres, situated in said counties, and of which he had exclusive control, being authorized to sell, collect and make titles without restriction. This continued until the decease of the principal, when the executor wished Mr. Colegrove to continue as before, which position he still occupies. A portion of the estate had been sold when Mr. Colegrove as- sumed its management, but he has now disposed of all, except about 16,430 acres in MeKean county. Mr. Colegrove was elected justice of the peace, in 1842, while residing in Norwich township; has also served two terms as com- missioner of Mckean county, and was a member of the board during the erec- tion of the present fine court house, which was begun and completed during his term from 1879 to 1881, inclusive. Mr. Colegrove was instrumental in the creating of a new post-office at Colegrove, of which he was postmaster until 1880; he was also appointed by Gov. W. F. Johnston as sheriff of Mckean county, in 1851, to fill the unexpired term of E. Bard. He is a prominent and active worker in the Republican party, his first vote, however, having been cast for Clay and Frelinghuysen, Whigs; but he has voted for every Republi- can candidate since the organization of the party, and he was the elector of his district at Grant's last election. He is a Prohibitionist in principle, but not a third-party man. Mr. and Mrs. Colegrove have four children: Harriet Amelia, who married Thomas Saunders, of Westfield, Tioga Co., Penn. ; Alpha William, now on the old homestead; Lydia Sophia, widow of the late John S. Ross, of Coudersport, Penn., and Clarence Melville.

DAVID D. COMES, farmer and lumberman, P. O. Smethport, is a son of David and Hannah (Marvin) Comes, and was born in Norwich township, McKean Co., Penn., in 1824. His mother was a daughter of Seth Marvin, one of the first settlers of Mckean county, from whom Marvin creek derived its name. David Comes, the father of our subject, was a native of Cheshire

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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.

county, N. H., and Hannah, his wife, was a native of New York State. David removed to Mckean county in 1810, locating at what is now Clermont, Ser- geant township, where he purchased and partially cleared a farm, and then removed to near the head of Potato creek. They reared a family of nine children, viz: Calvin S., who bore the proud distinction of being the first white child born in Mckean county; Roxy, the late Mrs. Edward H. Dickinson, of Norwich township, same county; David D. ; Lucy, now Mrs. Chauncey Holden, of Liberty township, same county; Florilla and Floretta (twins), the former Mrs. William Rumsey, of New York, and the latter Mrs. Orlando Gallup, of Norwich, Mckean county; Jane, the late Mrs. Bishop Lucas; Herrick T., and Mary, the late Mrs. Daniel Forsyth. David D. Comes early purchased the farm he now owns in Keating township, and has since been extensively en- gaged in the lumber business. He built a steam saw-mill on Red Mill brook, Norwich township, having a capacity of 30,000 feet of lumber daily. He is one of the prominent and self-made men of Mckean county, and by good financiering and increasing effort, has secured a handsome competency. He was married March 11, 1847, to Miss Polly V. Smith, and they have had ten children, viz. : Jane, wife of J. B. Kelly; Almina, wife of D. M. Wright; Clin- ton D .; Charles; M. S .; Hattie: Millie, wife of Amos Smith; Eseck D .; Har- riet and Benjamin F. Mr. Comes is identified with the Democratic party, though not an active politician, as he wisely devotes his entire time and energy to the supervision of his large business interests.

ASA H. CORY, farmer and postmaster at Coryville, is a son of Thomas R. and Litta (Howe) Cory, and was born in Sullivan, Tioga Co., Penn., in 1814. His father died when he was a boy, and he began his business life at Wellsboro, Tioga county, where he published the Phoenix for a period of two years, and September 13, 1837, he purchased the Mckean county Journal, changing its name to the Beacon. He remained its publisher nearly three years, and was identified with the Mckean county press for many years. He eventually removed to his present residence at Coryville, where he purchased a farm, and is recognized as one of its most enterprising men. In 1861 he raised Company H, Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and became its captain, but, becoming disabled through exposure, he returned home in 1862. Mr. Cory was married in 1838 to Lucy, daughter of the Hon. John Holmes, and their children are A. Orson and Ella C., now Mrs. F. S. Holmes, of Keating township. Mr. Cory is a member of the Sons of Temperance. He and his wife are members of the United Brethren Church. He has been post- master at Coryville since 1872. Politically he is a Prohibitionist.

ASA R. CORY, lumberman and proprietor of saw-mill, P. O. Farmers Valley, is a son of A. B. Cory, and was born in Smethport, Mckean Co., Penn., in 1845. His father was a native of Tioga county, Penn., and came to Mc- Kean county at an early time, locating at Smethport, but soon removed to Potter county, where he married Hannah Maria Rees, and finally removed to Arkansas, where he now lives. Their children were Asa R., Lytta E. (the late Mrs. Lyman Clinton), Benjamin F. and Mary A. (wife of Frank Caldwell). The mother died in 1879, and in Missouri the father married, for his second wife, a Miss West, and to them have been born four children: Lillian (wife of J. J. Johnson), Lucy (wife of Alexander Hull), Thomas M. and Azro. Asa R. Cory lived with his mother until her death, and he then became associated with the Messrs. Pelton in the lumber trade and in operating a steam saw-mill; also operated a mill in Keating township, which was burned in 1888, but was rebuilt the same year, and he is now quite heavily engaged in the lumber trade. In 1872 he married Emogene Smith, and they have had three children: Ella M.,

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Orlo D. (yet living) and Lytta A. (deceased). Mrs. Cory was the daughter of Riley A. and Eliza J. Smith, both of Smethport. Penn. Mr. Smith served in the Union army during the Civil war, and died from disease contracted while in the army about two years after the close of the war. Mrs. Smith still lives in Smethport. Mr. Cory is a member of the I. O. O. F., lodge and encamp- ment, and of the A. O. U. W. He has been supervisor and school director, and in polities is a Democrat.

ERASTUS CURTIS, farmer, P. O. East Smethport, was born in Plain- field. Mass., in 1809. His parents removed from Massachusetts to Tioga county, Penn., where they remained until 1814, and then migrated to Madison county. N. Y., where he grew to manhood. He remained there until 1847, when he removed to Keating township, Mckean Co., Penn., where he cleared a farm. He is still leading an active life, engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was married in 1834 to Miss Mary Ette Starr, and they have had four children, of whom but one is living, Mary E., now Mrs. Frank Richmond, of Smethport. Mr. Curtis is identified with the Republican party, and has filled most of the township offices.

JOHN O. DODGE, Iumberman, East Smethport, was born in Kennebec county, Me., January 14, 1846, a son of John P. and Rosannah (Richardson) Dodge, natives of Maine. He received his education in the common schools. and his early boyhood days werespent with his father upon the home farm. He enlisted in the United States service in September, 1864, and was assigned to Company K, Ninth Maine Regiment of Infantry, but his service was compara- tively brief, being discharged the following May on account of disability. Returning home, he purchased a farm in Kennebec county, Me., and was mar- ried in May, 1868, to Miss Miranda, a daughter of J. M. and Olive Seammon Lane, of Penobscot county, Me., and they are the parents of one child, Jennie, wife of F. L. Sherburn, of Mount Alton, Penn. Mr. Dodge sold his farm in 1869, and went to Old Town, Me., where he began lumbering, remaining there two years. He followed the same business in Bartlett, N. H., until 1879; then came to MeKean county, Penn., where he is still engaged in the lumber busi- ness. In 1888 he purchased the farm where he now resides. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., No. 182. In politics he is a Republican, and in religion is a Methodist.

MICHAEL DUNN, lumberman, Smethport, son of Thomas and Mary (Phalin) Dunn, was born in Cuba, Allegany Co., N. Y., in 1849. When he was three years of age his parents removed to Ceres township, MeKean Co., Penn., where they engaged in farming. They had a family of six chil- dren. viz .: Michael, John, Mary (Mrs. Henry MeMann), James, Anna and Patrick, all in this county but John, who lives at Austin, Potter Co., Penn. The parents are still living on the old homestead. Michael received his educa- tion in the old log schoolhouse, on Newell creek, and afterward engaged in farming and Iumbering. In 1882 he married Flora A., daughter of Capt. Chauncey and Lucy (Comes) Holden, of Port Allegany, Mckean county, after which they located at Larrabee, remaining until 1888, when they removed to Smethport. He is, and has been for the last eight years, engaged in the lum- ber trade. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., lodge and encampment, at Smethport. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party.

JOHN FORREST. attorney at law, Smethport, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., February 8, 1851, a son of John and Ann (Wright) Forrest, natives of Scotland, who came to Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1845. They reared a family of six children, John being the eldest son. He received a practical business education in the schools of Brooklyn, and when sixteen years of age entered

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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.

the law office of Edwin C. Delevan, where he remained until 1868. He then went to Fall Brook, Penn., where he was employed as clerk in the office of the Fall Brook Coal Company, until 1875; then he went to Clermont. Mckean county, as paymaster for the Buffalo Coal Company; after remaining there about one year he went to Buffalo, N. Y., as book-keeper for the same com- pany. In January, 1877, he came to Smethport, Mckean county, and entered the law and land office of B. D. Hamlin. Mr. Forrest married in August. 1878, Miss Mary, daughter of B. D. and Harriet (Holmes) Hamlin, and to them have been born two children: Helen and Ruth. Mr. and Mrs. Forrest are members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Forrest has always been a Demo- crat in politics.

DR. S. D. FREEMAN, Smethport, son of Edmund and Elizabeth (Chad- wick) Freeman, natives, respectively, of Connecticut and New Jersey, was born in Potter county, Penn., January 29, 1829; his ancestors came over in the " Mayflower" in 1620 and 1623, his father having been a lineal descendant of Elder William Brewster, of "Mayflower" fame, and the name Edmund has been given to the eldest son from generations back. His parents after marriage re- moved to Potter county, thence to Mckean county in 1832. To them nine chil- dren were born, five now living and four deceased. The deceased are Edmund Allen (named after Ethan Allen. his grandmother being a niece of the general), Sabra Calista, Mary Jeffery, and a son still-born. Those living are William Chadwick, Sylvanus Dwelley, Malinda Corbett, Francis Halleck and Mary Elizabeth. The subject of this biography received his early education in Mc- Kean county, eventually graduating from the University of Buffalo in 1856, and first began the practice of medicine at Smethport. In this he continued until the beginning of the Civil war, when he was made surgeon of the Penn. sylvania Bucktails, and in October, 1862, he was promoted to surgeon of the United States Volunteers, a position he retained until after the close of the war, when he was breveted lieutenant colonel and resumed his professional practice, continuing therein until the Mexican disturbance of 1876, when he proceeded to that country as correspondent for the committee on foreign rela- tions. On his return home he again commenced active practice at Smethport. On June I, 1855, the Doctor married Lucretia A. Reisdorph, the union being blessed with three children, of whom two are yet living: Kate (now Mrs. F. N. Taylor) and Ella (now Mrs. H. C. Wells); their second daughter, Bessie Kane, is deceased. Dr. Freeman is a prominent member of the G. A. R., a thirty-second degree Freemason, and a member of the consistory at Blooming- ton; ex-president of the Mckean County Medical Society, member of the State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association.

MRS. L. A. FREEMAN, Smethport, is a daughter of John G. and Marilla (Johns) Reisdorph, and was born at Java, Livingston Co., N. Y., in 1836. Her parents removed to Ischna, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., and thence to Minne- sota. Her mother died in 1838, and her father afterward married Mrs. Mabel Adams, widow of a Dr. Adams, and this lady also died, when the subject of our sketch was quite young. The father of Mrs. Freeman died in 1886, aged eighty-eight years. Her mother was a lineal descendant of a family in England named Johns, of which family two bachelor brothers, very wealthy, at one time presented the Quaker Society at Philadelphia with $40,000, and died leaving an immense estate in Europe to be divided among the heirs.

P. M. FULLER, commissioner of MeKean county. P. O. Smethport, was born in Erie county, N. Y., May 4, 1823, a son of Chase and Nancy (Kenyon) Fuller. In 1840 his father moved to Cattaraugus county, N. Y., and the young man completed his school days in the common schools of that section and in

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the seminary at Arcade, Wyoming county. In 1843 he left the seminary and traveled on foot to the Tuna valley for the purpose of teaching school, where the town of Limestone now stands. In 1845 he married Cornelia Kinsman, and in 1850, with his family of wife and three children, moved to MeKean county, where he has since resided. In October, 1861. he enlisted in Company E, Fifty- eighth P. V. I., under Capt. John C. Backus, and in 1863 re-enlisted, serving until January, 1865, when he was honorably mustered ont of the service. He was promoted from time to time until he was, in October, 1864, made captain of his company, and at one time he was the ranking officer, and for six weeks had command of the regiment. He was in several engagements and battles in which the regiment participated, commencing with the driving of the forces of the rebel Gen. Magruder out of Norfolk, Va. He participated in the battles at Blackwater and Suffolk, Va., Sandy Ridge, Gum Swamp and Batchelder's creek, N. C., where Col. Jones of the Fifty-eighth was killed. He was with the reg- iment while it lay for a long time in front of Petersburg, and participated in the battles of Cold Harbor, Chapin's Farm and in the capture of Fort Har- rison, south of Richmond. He had command of the regiment when it marched into Richmond, which was the day Jefferson Davis vacated his premises in that city. After Capt. Fuller's return from the army he was elected to several local offices in Bradford township, McKean county, including that of justice of the peace, and was subsequently elected an alderman of Bradford. He has served five years as associate judge of Mckean county, has twice been elected county commissioner, the last time in 1887, and is now serving in that position. Capt. Fuller has a very extensive acquaintance in Mckean county, and his popu- Iarity is co-extensive with his acquaintance. He is a member of Post No. 141, G. A. R., of Bradford, and of the Masonic fraternity, lodge, chapter and com- mandery. His first wife died in 1868, and he was again married this time, in 1870. to Mrs. Elizabeth A. (Heyter) Drake, widow of Joshua J. Drake. She died in October, 1881, and in 1883 Capt. Fuller was married to his present wife, whose maiden name was Anna Sparks. He has three children: Ophelia (wife of William Monroe), Emma E. (wife of Webster K. Knye), and Royd E. (in Nebraska.)

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Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) comp. cn; J.H. Beers & Co., pub Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1320

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) comp. cn; J.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1320