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 55

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 55
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 55
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 55
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 55

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).

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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.

profession to which he belonged, never forgetting to hold aloft the high stand- ard of that profession. And so he lived as to make his memory revered, not only in the connty of McKean, which ought to be proud of his career, but in the counties surrounding wherever he was known; and wherever his character was known he will be regretted. And while his character may be held up as a model for the profession, it may also be alleged that he had a model charac- ter as a good citizen. And that is saying a great deal for the deceased. I have, in view of the character of Mr. Hamlin, and the occasion, drawn a reso- lution, asking for the appointment of a committee by this court to express the sentiments of this court and bar, in relation to the character of Orlo J. Hamlin. which i will now present to your honor."

Judge Williams said: "Yonr idea, Mr. Curtis, is that this committee should report at a subsequent sitting of the court upon its action."

Mr. Curtis: "Yes sir; and that the resolutions be filed among the records of the court."

Judge Williams: "Has any other gentleman, at this time, anything to urge upon this subject ?"

Mr. Backus: "Your Honor; I have been a member of the Mckean county bar some twenty eight or thirty years. I knew O. J. Hamlin for some time previous to his being confined in consequence of ill health, and his retirement from the bar -probably some two years. I have known of his reputation pretty thoroughly; I have known of the man. Although he has been, as it were, buried for the last twenty eight years, yet I have learned from the records of this county, from the transactions that have transpired in consequence of his connection with the growth and political existence of this county, sufficient to enable me to know that he was a man of extraordinary character; that he was a man of large ability. He was not only considered one of the first attorneys in Western Pennsylvania, but he was trusted also with the keeping and main- taining of the honors of the State. He was a member of the legislature; he was a member of the constitutional convention of 1838, and of whom it has been said by very able men that there were none more capable, or none who rendered more service in the formation of the constitution, than Orlo J. Ham. lin. In the constitutional convention of 1873, one of its most distinguished members, ex-Chief-Justice Woodward, in his address to this body on the prop- osition to give to each county at least one representative in the lower branch of the legislature, said of the deceased: 'Mr. President, in the convention of 1837, there was a young man by the name of Hamlin, who discussed this sub- ject in such a manner as to wring from Mr. Sergeant, the president of the con- vention, a very high compliment, and I undertake to say, that from the begin- ning to the end of the session of that body there was no subject so scientifically and thoroughly discussed as this subject of county representation by that young man. Since this debate has come np in this body, I have referred to the debates of the convention of 1837, and have read his speech, and I wish every gentleman here had done so.' The people who have known him for years have known him as a man of great ability. They have known him as a man of great honesty and integrity; one who was at any and at all times, not only when in full life, but often he was confined to his room, when he was unable to exercise his full powers of thought by reason of suffering and pain, ready to adjust differences and quiet law suits between neighbors, he was one who was looked up to. He was consulted as to the settlement of difficulties arising among neighbors. He was a man who did honors to the profession, who never nrged a law snit, but invariably took all trouble and pains possible to make neighbors respect each other as men. Therefore, he has stood high in the

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community. All who spoke of him gave him credit as being a man of worth, and a man, who, when he went out of society, was very much missed. His departure will be regretted so long as the old citizens of this county remain on this side of the dark and turbulent river over which Orlo J. Hamlin has tri- umphantly passed."

Judge Williams said: "It was not our good fortune to have a personal acquaintance with Mr. Hamlin. His active connection with the profession had closed before our connection with the courts of Mckean county began. But through all the years of our attendance upon these courts we have heard but one opinion expressed of him. Whether he was spoken of as a citizen or as a lawyer, it has uniformly been in terms of high praise. From those who knew him when in his full strength, and met him in the contests of the court-room, we have gotten the opinion that he was recognized as a lawyer of more than ordinary painstaking, and of more than ordinary attainments; while as an advocate he was earnest, eloquent, and, before a jury who knew his own char- acter, almost irresistible. During the long years of his retirement in a sick room he is reputed to have kept up his acquaintance with the literature of the age, to have been a careful student of the sciences, and indeed to have watched with interest even the recent changes and developments in progress about him. His long and successful professional career, his public services, his high personal character, and his recognized ability make this motion eminently proper, notwithstanding the fact that many years have elapsed since Mr. Ham- lin's professional career closed. We entertain it with pleasure, and in compli- ance with it appoint the following committee, viz .: Hons. C. B. Curtis, A. G. Olmsted, J. C. Backus, W. W. Brown and P. Ford, Esq. And it is further ordered that as a mark of respect for the memory of the deceased these courts do now adjourn, and that this order be entered at length upon the minutes."

The committee appointed by the court to prepare resolutions of the sense of this bar presents the following resolutions, February 18, 1880, in open court:

Resolved, That the Court and Bar of this County sincerely mourn the death of our esteemed deceased brother. O. J. Hamlin, a member of this bar for more than fifty years. Resolved, That we entertain the profoundest respect for the unsullied character of the deceased as a good citizen and a lawyer of sterling integrity, and of more than ordi- nary professional learning and ability.

Resolved, That we tender to the family of the deceased our sincerest condolence in their bereavement for their irreparable loss.

And now, February 19. 1880, it is ordered that the resolutions, reported by the com- mittee appointed on the 16th day of February inst., be entered at length upon the minutes of this Court as a part of the proceedings of the day, and that the prothonotary make and deliver to the committee a copy hereof certified under his official seal for presentation to the family of the said O. J. Hamlin, deceased.

The eulogies bestowed on the pioneer lawyer on that 18th day of February, 1880, only five days after he was called to the bar of the Supreme Court of the Universe, were not utterances of fashion or custom. The pioneer more than deserved this praise, for every act of his, during over half a century's residence in Mckean county, was one bringing benefits to the community, county or district.

Mr. Hamlin was the father of three children: Henry, John C. and Pauline (wife of Robert King), who all live in Smethport.

BYRON D. HAMLIN. When the average young man of the present day is disposed to grumble at the fate that compels him to earn his living, and to complain of his "luck," it may be profitable to him to study the lives of the older men around him who are enjoying wealth and honorable position. He will discover that almost without exception their earlier days were fraught with struggling toil, and that their success is the result of earnest and perse-

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vering application of the hand and brain, and the prompt improvement of every opportunity offered. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch holds a most enviable position socially and financially. In the declining years of his life he is surrounded with all the comforts of a competence and the as- surance of the respect and honor of his fellows, and the love of a large circle of friends and family connections. This is not the result of chance, but the reward of patient toil and persevering endeavor. Equal success is in the power of any young man. Hon. Byron D. Hamlin, the senior resident-member of the Mckean county bar, was born on May 7. 1824, at Sheshequin, Bradford Co .. Penn., the youngest of seven children. His father, Dr. Asa Hamlin, was of English descent, while his mother, whose maiden name was Delano, came of French ancestry. His parents and ancestors had resided for many generations in Litchfield county, Conn., his father removing to Pennsylvania in 1816. Dr. Asa Hamlin, who was one of a family of twenty-one children, was bred on a farm, and brought up under the old Puritanical regime as practiced by the New England Presbyterians. Amusements were rare, and Sunday was a day to be dreaded. He had scanty opportunities for education or culture in his youth, yet he improved them so well that he secured a profession in which he held a respectable rank. In those days, however, doctors' fees were small and hard to get. In June, 1833, he removed to Smethport with his wife and two younger children-the subject of this sketch and his sister, Jenette-and died in 1535, leaving his family without financial means for their support. In this condition of things young Byron, then but a slight lad of eleven years, set about to find some self-supporting employment. The first that offered was an opportunity to peel and gather bark from old hemlock trees that had fallen. This he sold for fuel at $1 per cord, payable in store trade. In this occupa- tion he succeeded in maintaining and clothing himself for some time, and even had sufficient surplus to purchase a handsome cream pitcher as a present to his mother. It cost 5 shillings and 6 pence, and is still preserved and highly prized as a relic of the struggles of his youth. After a time he was offered the position of mail-carrier between Smethport and Olean, N. Y., then the principal communication with the outside world, and he accepted it gratefully. He had to make two round trips a week, going to Olean and returning each Sunday, making a ride of fifty-six miles, and going Wednesday and returning on Thursday. The salary was 75 cents a trip, or $1.50 a week. The Sunday trip commenced at 4 A. M., and was generally concluded between S and 11 P. M., in all kinds of weather and at all seasons of the year. Young Byron began this occupation when thirteen years old, and continued it two years. during which time the mail rarely failed to be on time. His mode of convey- ance was on the back of a mule, and Mr. Hamlin enjoys nothing better than to relate the comical, though often unpleasant, experiences of those days. By the improvement of odd hours with his books at the fireside. and an occasional few weeks at school, he had gained sufficient education to undertake teaching school at the age of sixteen on Marvin creek, about four miles from home, at $10 a month and "board around." The term lasted three months, and from the proceeds he was able to purchase a suit of clothes and a few books.

His sister, Jenette, having married Rev. Moses Crow, a professor in Allegheny College, at Meadville. Penn., he accepted an invitation to make his home with them, and enter the college. After about a year and a half. his brother-in-law's health failing, so that he was obliged to resign his pro- fessorship, young Byron, having no means to pay his expenses and continue his studies, returned to Smethport. He then accepted an offer of partnership in a little store owned by his brother, Orlo J. Hamlin, the whole stock of which

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would not inventory over $500. After about a year thus engaged, his brother- in-law, who had in the meantime united with the Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and been stationed at Geneva. N. Y., again invited him to live with him, and attend the college in that beautiful town. The long hoped- for opportunity to complete a college course seemed to have arrived, and he hastily closed his interest in the store, and prepared to accept the offer. His profits in the year's business comprised a respectable wardrobe, and about $100 in bills receivable. He had in preparation for his trip a wooden trunk made by a carpenter and joiner (which is still preserved in the attic of his residence), in which all of his worldly wealth was stowed. when a few days before starting he received a letter stating that both Mr. and Mrs. Crow were lying at the point of death, from typhoid fever. He went there at once, on horse- back, but found that his sister was dead and buried, and his brother-in-law almost at the point of death, so he was obliged to return to Smethport with his hopes disappointed, and his spirits crushed. By the advice of his brother, Orlo J., who was then practicing law in Smethport, he gave up the idea of completing a collegiate education, and entered his office as a student and clerk. This was in 1843, and in 1846 he was admitted to the bar of Mckean county. His brother had the care of a number of landed estates, for various owners, and the attention to the details of this part of the business falling largely upon the young student, he early acquired a taste for it, and having given the subject his principal attention during his long professional career, he is an accepted authority upon legal as well as practical business questions relating to lands and land titles. In 1855 he accepted the agency of the lands of Keating & Co., then comprising nearly two hundred thousand acres of the two hundred and ninety-seven thousand they had purchased from William Bingham, in the year 1796, in McKean, Potter, Cameron, Clinton and Clear- field counties. He had their care and management to the year 1884, when he became the purchaser of what remained of this estate, and interested some of his family relatives with himself in its ownership-the business being conducted in the names of Byron D. Hamlin, Henry Hamlin and John Forrest.

In politics Mr. Hamlin is a Democrat. When a young man he was active and prominent as a local leader, and his party, then largely in the majority in the county and district, recognized his abilities and usefulness. In 1848, at the age of twenty-four, he was recommended by his county as a candidate for the legislature, but declined at the district convention in favor of G. W. Scofield, of Warren county, who was elected; in 1850 he was elected treasurer of Mckean county; in 1852 he was sent to the State senate, in which body, although one of the youngest members, he took a leading and prominent position, and was elected as its presiding officer at the close of the session of 1854. He was re-nominated by the convention of his district at the close of his term, in 1855, but was defeated by Henry Souther, of Elk county, the candidate of the American and Free-Soil parties. Having a good clientage and extensive land estates under his care, he considered it his duty to those interests, and to his family, to withdraw from active political life to more con- genial and profitable pursuits. He was tendered the nomination (which, in that district, was equivalent to an election) for president judge of the counties of Clearfield, Clinton and Centre, in 1868, but declined it. Since that time he has been urged by the people of his own district, without regard to party, to stand as a candidate for judicial honors in it, but adhered to his often expressed determination to spend his life in domestic pursuits, without the slavery of public office. In 1882, however, he was induced, after repeated

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solicitations, to allow his name to be presented as the candidate of his party for the legislature. Although the county was Republican by a considerable majority, and he was opposed by the strongest candidate who could at that time have been nominated against him, he was defeated by less than a score of votes. In the dark period of our Nation's history (1861-65) Mr. Hamlin stood on the ground that the only way to correct the fallacies of those who sought to break the bond of union of the States was the physical one; all arguments ap- pealing to the patriotism and reasoning faculties having failed. He was ex- amined, and pronounced physically unfit for service in the field, but, immediately following the news of the first shot on Sumter, he applied himself to the work of encouraging and aiding the valorous young men of his region to enlist, for the defense of their country and their homes. He rendered efficient aid to Gen. Thomas L. Kane, to whom he was much devoted, in selecting the valiant fellows who formed the famous Bucktail Regiment, and no compliment ever bestowed on him afforded him and his family more gratification than his election as an honorary comrade in that regiment, at the re-union of its survivors in 1888. Mr. Hamlin is now at the age of sixty-five years, a well- preserved gentleman, in the prime of his maturity and usefulness. Although his life has been full of toil and business cares, he has always been temperate in his habits, and has not wasted his energies or his health.

In 1846 he married Miss Harriet. daughter of John Holmes, of Smethport, who has by her faithful devotion, constant sympathy and good counsel, con- tributed largely to his success. They were blessed with children, one boy and two girls. The son, Delano R., died May 30, 1884, leaving a widow and two children. The eldest daughter, Jenette, married H. V. Redfield, the well-known Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, who died November 17, 1881, leaving his wife and three lovely children. Mrs. Redfield was next married September 24, 1889, to William E. McCoy, an en- terprising and substantial cotton manufacturer of Augusta, Ga., and with her children now resides in that healthful and attractive Southern city. The youngest daughter, Mary, married John Forrest, who is a lawyer and a part- ner with his father-in-law in the law and land business, and the main reliance for the details of the business of the firm. Mr. and Mrs. Forrest have two young daughters, who are the pride of their parents and grandparents. Mr. Hamlin is very domestic in his tastes, and is happiest when surrounded by his family, children and grandchildren. He lives in a comfortable mansion in Smethport, and enjoys with his family the competence and ease earned by his hand and brain throughout a busy and useful life.

HENRY HAMLIN, eldest son of Orlo J. and Orra L. (Cogswell) Hamlin, was born at Smethport, Mckean Co., Penn., April 9, 1830. At this time his father, Orlo J. Hamlin, a man of rare scholarly attainments, and, until obliged by physical weakness to give up his profession, the leader of the bar of his dis- triet, was an active practitioner, and his son, who had inherited in a marked de- gree his father's love of books and research, and whose mind fitted him to fol- low in his footsteps, naturally at an early age commenced the study of law. Finding, however, that his health demanded a more active life, he concluded to take up the mercantile business, and entered as a clerk the store of O. J. & B. D. Hamlin, of which firm, at the age of nineteen, he was admitted as a part- ner. From this time on until the year 1878, when he sold out his interest in the business to Mr. Haskill, he was successful in all his ventures; strict in- tegrity, close attention to business, and his wonderful faculty of acquiring a knowledge of the minutiæ of everything he undertook, being the secret of his success, and the latter trait has followed him through life, not only in busi-

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ness matters, but even in out-door and other amusements, in which he has always taken a lively interest, ever ready to take a hand in them during his leisure moments, and never satisfied until he has mastered every feature. As a financier Mr. Hamlin has been wonderfully successful, making invest- ments only after thorough investigation; and while he has been and is at pres- ent largely interested in timber lands in his own and other States, in the pro- duction of oil and in other commercial ventures, he rarely makes a mistake or suffers a loss, his present banking establishment, known as the banking house of Henry Hamlin, being one of the solid institutions of Western Pennsylvania. A marked characteristic of Mr. Hamlin's business life has been his leniency toward the deserving poor among his debtors, as many a man in Mckean county can attest. for while he has always worked under strict business rules and principles, he has never been an oppressor of the poor. Mr. Hamlin has done much for the prosperity of his native town: notably his connection with the present successful water-works system, the erection of his handsome bank building, which would be an ornament to a much larger place, his own hand- some grounds, and his interest in all matters of public improvement. In 1854 Mr. Hamlin married Hannah L., daughter of Dr. W. Y. McCoy, a lady who by reason of her many virtues has endeared herself to all classes of people. They have four children: Laena D. (now Mrs. Robert H. Rose), Emma M. (now Mrs. J. H. McCandless), Eugenie M. and Orlo. To Mrs. Henry Hamlin and her sister, Mrs. John C. Hamlin, Smethport mainly owes its present Epis- copal Church system. Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin and their children are all mem- bers of St. Luke's Church, Mr. Hamlin contributing largely toward the erection of the church edifice. In politics Mr. Hamlin was formerly identified with the Democratic party, but is at present an active Republican, coming into the Re- publican ranks by his support of Abraham Lincoln. In 1881 he was elected associate judge, and he performed the duties of that office with great credit to himself and in the interest of his constituents until the abolishment of the office by reason of the county becoming a separate judicial district, under the con- stitution of 1874, it then having a population of over 40,000. Mr. Hamlin is widely known and universally respected, and his career as a business man and as a citizen has been such as to be an example to young men, showing what can be done by application and a conscientious performance of business and other duties.

JOHN C. HAMLIN, hardware merchant, Smethport, son of Orlo J. Ham- lin, was born March 4, 1836, at Smethport, Mckean Co., Penn., where he was educated and where, in 1865, he opened the first store exclusively for hard- ware, a business he is still engaged in. In 1857 he married Charlotte M., daughter of Dr. W. Y. McCoy, one of the first practicing physicians of Smethport, which union was blessed with three children: William O., C. Aline (now Mrs. Dr. Lewis H. Robinson, of Brooklyn, N. Y.) and Mary E. (now Mrs. Charles Bosworth, also of Brooklyn, N. Y.). William O. married Miss Julia Lightbody, and is also a resident of Brooklyn. Mr. Hamlin is a member of Mckean Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 388; of Bradford Chapter, R. A. M., and Trinity Commandery, K. T. He is a Democrat, but not a politi- cian, devoting his time and energies to business cares. He and his family are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. The foundation and prosperity of the church afford an example of the reward of twenty years of untiring labor lw Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin, who maintained the Sunday school and church affairs in general, from 1857 to about 1880, when St. Luke's had grown to be a strong parish, and since then it has become one of the largest and most flour- ishing in the county.

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DELANO R. HAMLIN was born at Smethport, Mckean Co .; Penn., August 10, 1847. He was the only son of Byron D. and Harriet Hamlin, and was the eldest of their family of three children. After having attended the public schools of his native borough until he was thirteen years old, he was sent to a public school at Flushing, L. I., and two years later entered Flushing Institute, conducted by that prince of educators, Prof. E. A. Fair- child. The damp sea-air at that place disagreeing with his health, he was removed to Allegheny College, at Meadville, Penn., where he made excellent studies, and remained until 1868, when he returned to his home, and entered upon the study of law in his father's office. He was admitted to the bar, and on January 1, 1871, became a partner in his father's law and land business, under the firm name of Hamlin & Son, and continued as such until his death. In 1871 Mr. Hamlin married Miss Eugenia McCoy, a daughter of Dr. William Y. McCoy, of Smethport. This union was a happy one, the parties to it being congenial, each striving for the welfare and rational enjoyment of the other. They were blessed with two promising children: Paul and Jenette, the son being now a student in St. Paul's school at Concord, N. H., and the daughter at home with her mother, who keeps house in the beautiful family mansion erected for her by her husband a short time before his death. At an early age the subject of this sketch became a victim to attacks of inflammatory rheumatism, which continued at intervals, producing hypertrophy of the heart, and finally causing his death, which occurred May 30, 1884. His remains were buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, at Smethport, the funeral services being witnessed by a large concourse of sorrowing friends, assembled from all parts of the county. As a young man he started in life with bright prospects and high resolves, and. had his health and life been spared, no man in this region would have attained a higher station of honor and usefulness. His characteristics, habits and ambitions all tended toward the true and the right. He had not in his nature an impure, mean or ungenerous impulse. His sym- pathies were ever active, and his heart and purse always open to the demands of charity and the public good. He was eminently public spirited, and always ready to advance every enterprise for the benefit of the community. In poli- tics he was of the Democratic faith. ardent in the support of his views, labor- ing earnestly for the candidates of his political party, but never seeking office for himself. He was sincerely and actively interested in the prosperity of his native borough and county, and his loss was deeply felt and deplored by all. He was a faithful member of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church, was a member of Trinity Commandery, No. 58, K. T., of Bradford; Bradford Chapter, No. 260, R. A. M., and McKean Lodge, No. 388, A. Y. M., and an honorary member of the Smethport Hose Company, No. 1, many of the mem- bers of these organizations being present to sympathize with his bereaved family, and aid in the performance of the last sad rites. Following his death. action was taken as shown in the following resolutions of respect and condol- ence. At a meeting of the Mckean county bar, the following resolutions were adopted:

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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