Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 3

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II > Part 3

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Baltimore on the 7th day of June, 1864, repre- senting Jefferson, Clearfield, Cameron, War- ren and Erie counties. In this convention the delegates of every State but one cast their votes for Lincoln. The delegates from Mis- souri, where there had been a party split, had been instructed to vote for Grant and threw their twenty-two ballots for him. Lincoln had four hundred and eighty-four votes. On mo- tion of a delegate from Missouri the vote was made unanimous. The choice of the vice presidential candidate was not so easily accom- plished. The resolution that Lincoln and Hamlin be renominated by acclamation, pre- viously made by Simon Cameron of Pennsyl- vania, had been voted down. The politicians apparently wanted the old ticket nominated and were in favor of Hannibal Hamlin as vice president. Many of the delegates believed that a candidate from a border State and a Demo- crat would draw more votes than a Republican candidate from a Northern State, and seemed to favor Andrew Johnson, whom Lincoln had appointed military governor of Tennessee in 1862, and whose political activity had made him well known to the administration. As the ballots were being taken, when Pennsyl- vania was called Simon Cameron, being chair- man of the delegation, voted the solid delega- tion for Hannibal Hamlin. On his taking his seat Mr. Henderson arose and requested nine or ten of Pennsylvania's votes withdrawn from Hannibal Hamlin and recorded for Andrew Johnson. Immediately Simon Cam- cron withdrew the other Pennsylvania votes cast for Hannibal Hamlin and had them re- corded for Andrew Johnson. The change of Pennsylvania's votes indicating that Andrew Johnson would be nominated, the other States which had voted withdrew their votes from the other candidates, and before the result was announced Johnson was unanimously nomi- nated. Thus Mr. Henderson was perhaps in- strumental in nominating Andrew Johnson vice president. His political influence was not confined to Jefferson county. Ile was a mem- ber of the State Central committee of the National Union of Pennsylvania in 1863-1868. and was frequently chosen as delegate to the State conventions and alternate to the National conventions of the Republican party, and was vigorous in politics, an active partisan and firm in the faith of the G. O. P. His influ- ence was solicited by many politicians. and among his papers we find letters from Gov. Andrew G. Curtin, United States Senator Simon Cameron. Gov. John W. Geary and Wayne McVeagh, chairman of the Union

State Central committee; through him Mr. Henderson succeeded in securing Andrew G. Curtin to speak in Brookville in 1863 from the balcony on the east end of the "American House."

Four of Mr. Henderson's sons participated in the war of the Rebellion, viz .. J W .. J. B., D. A. and E. B.

On Feb. 17. 1840, Joseph W. Henderson was married to Nancy Wilson, who was born Dec. 25, 1819, daughter of Robert and Sarah ( McConnell ) Wilson, and survived him, con- tinuing to make her home at Brookville, cele- brating her ninety-seventh birthday Dec. 25, 1916. She died at noon, Feb. 28, 1917. Mr. Henderson died in his eighty-second year, Feb. 25, 1896. He was a man of very generous nature, never refusing alms to anyone, saying he would rather give to nine unworthy ones rather than to refuse one worthy person. Honorable to the highest de- gree himself, he appreciated this quality in others above everything. Mr. Henderson, like his wife, was a lifelong member of the Pres- byterian Church of Brookville, P'a. They had a family of eleven children, as follows: John Wilson, born Dec. 18, 1840 ; Joseph Buffington, born Sept. 14, 1842; David Albert, born Sept. 27, 1844 : Edward Benton, born Nov. 29, 1846 ; Anna, born Feb. 4, 1849; Leander, born July 2. 1851, who died in infancy; Robert Leroy. born July 4. 1852, who died March 23, 1914: Samuel Stewart, born March 8, 1855: Sarah, born Feb. 19. 1858; Nancy, born Dec. 21, 1861 ; and William Wirt, born Ang. 14, 1864. As will be seen nine of the family still survive.

Joseph Washington llenderson was a de- scendant of sturdy Scotch-Irish ancestry, three of whom participated in the Revolutionary War, viz., John Henderson, James Henderson and Patrick Jack.

Three brothers, Alexander, William and John Henderson, of Fordell, Scotland, emi- grated to the Colonies previous to 1740, locat- ing on Owl creek, near Alexandria, Va., where they soon separated. John, locating in Frank- lin county, Pa., within twenty miles of Cham- bersburg, nine miles of Shippensburg and three miles of Upper Strausburg, married

, and from this union the fol- lowing children were born: James, born Oct. 17. 1744; Agnes, born Sept. 17. 1746; John, born Dec. 9. 1748, Mary, born Dec. 19, 1750; and Joseph Washington, born April 16, 1753. a Presbyterian minister who graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1776, and died Sept. 9. 1836.

James Henderson, son of John, married

.:- X

John Jameson

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Sarah Hindman June 19. 1770. From this union the following children were born : Martha, born June 12, 1771 ; Sarah, born Sept. 6. 1773: James, born Nov. 17, 1775 ; Mary, born Sept. 24, 1777 ; John, born May 25, 1780 (died Sept. 15, 1847) ; Agnes, born March 18, 1782; Samuel, born June 25, 1784: Nancy, born Sept. 11, 1787; Joseph, born Jan. 17, 1791: -, born Jan. 14, 1794.

John Henderson, son of James. married Oct. 25, 1804. Anna Jack, daughter of Patrick and Anna Storey (Watson) Jack ; the latter first married Watson. Anna Jack was born March 7. 1786, and died Oct. 2, 1869. From this union the following children were born: Margaret Holmes, born Dec. 21, 1805. died Sept. 10. 1865 : James, born Sept. 29, 1807. died Nov. 19, 1828; John Jack, born Sept. 17. 1809, died July 21, 1877; Sarah Ann, born Aug. 17, ISIE, died Aug. 27, 1818; George Washington, born in August, 1813, died in August, 1813, when three weeks old; Joseph Washington, born Aug. 27, 1814, died Feb. 27, 1896; Jane McCombs, born May 13, 1816, died Feb. 18, 1916, in her one hundredth year; Samuel Hindman, born Sept. 24, 1818, died Oct. 16, 1883 ; Lavina, born Nov. 8, 1820, died in February, 1897; David Watson, born Oct. 4, 1823, died July 23. 1909; William Clark, born Oct. 28, 1825, died in March, 1898; Mary Elizabeth, born Sept. 18, 1828, is living.

JOHN J. Y. THOMPSON, well remem- bered by the older generation in Jefferson county as Judge Thompson, was born in 1805 on a farm near Lewisville, Indiana Co., Pa., where his parents, William and Agnes ( Jamie- son ) Thompson, had settled. This farm was deeded by Rev. John Jamieson and Agnes, his wife, to William Thompson and Agnes ( Jamie- son ) Thompson, his wife, the deed being dated March 26, 1817, and was afterwards known as the "John Gallagher Farm."

Of Judge Thompson's paternal ancestors little is known. The family were Scotch, and had settled in Ireland, whence they emigrated to America in 1716. They located in Franklin county, Pa. In 1790 the Thompson family with about twelve cousins or relatives crossed the Allegheny mountains with packhorses, settling in the wilderness near Altman's Run, Indiana county. Robert Thompson died in 1802, aged seventy years. Mary ( Gordon), his wife, died in 1846, aged ninety-five years. These were John J. Y. Thompson's grand- parents. The family of Robert Thompson consisted of one daughter, Ruth, and four sons. Alexander. Moses, Adam and William. The

daughter, Ruth, married James Lattimer, who died in 1824, aged forty-five years, and she died in 1871, aged ninety-three years. They lived and died in Young township, Indiana Co., Pa. She was survived by children and grand- children : [ane, who married Tobias Brinker ; William, who married Catharine Rhees and ( second) Julia A. Barnes; and Robert, who married Margaret Marshall. In 1816 Alexan- der Thompson migrated to llanover, in the State of Indiana, where he lived and died. The other three brothers lived and died in Indiana county, Pa. ' Adam and Moses were slave owners. Moses married ( first ) Jane Jamieson, who died in 1801, leaving one child. John G. Thompson, and (second) Nancy Coleman, who died in 1855: the son, John G. Thompson, born in 1798, married Eliza Kin- caid in 1822 and ( second) Jane E. Jamieson in 1831, and died in Indiana ; he was an acting justice of the peace for fifteen years, a captain in the 99th Regiment of Pennsylvania militia for seven years, a major for seven years, and a colonel for two years. William Thompson was a man of some wealth, and ran a distillery. He married Agnes Jamieson, daughter of Rev. John Jamieson, and had three sons and two daughters, to wit: John Jamieson Ypsilanti ; Rev. Robert ; William Gordon, who lived and died in Jefferson county, Pa .; Nancy, who married Washington Craig, of Clarion county, Pa. (Calvin A. Craig, second colonel of the 105th Pennsylvania Regiment, who was killed at Deep Bottom, Va., was of this family) ; and Mary, who married Alexander McKnight and left two sons, Col. Amor A. McKnight, of the 105th Pennsylvania Volunteers, who was killed while leading a charge at Chancellors- ville, and Dr. W. J. McKnight, the author of this work. The second son of William Thomp- son, Rev. Robert Thompson, was an educated Presbyterian divine and preached for a num- ber of years in Beloit, Wis., moving thence to Greeley, Colo., where he lived and died. He was married and left two sons, W. F., of Denver, Colo., and James K., of Grecley.

John Jamieson Thompson grew up on the home place, receiving his entire education in a little cabin schoolhouse on an adjoining farm owned by Adam Elliott. For seven years he went to Master Adam Elliott, who was the teacher. Master Elliott's school was a sub- scription one, and was conducted under the law of 1809. Mr. Elliott was a great mathe- matician and a fine penman, and taught young Thompson practical surveying. Of the Judge's early boyhood days we have little knowledge, save that he was an acknowledged leader

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

among his schoolmates, beloved by his asso- ciates and esteemed by his master. He ex- celled in civil engineering and surveying, and when such work was to be done was invariably selected as assistant. His father dying in 1817 of smallpox, at Altman's Run, he was thrown upon his own resources, and at an early age left the home roof and became a clerk in the store of Nathaniel Nesbitt, at Blairsville, Pa. In a short time after this he embarked in business for himself, but his venture not prov- ing successful he abandoned it, and in 1831 removed to the wilderness of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania.

In the year 1832 Mr. Thompson established in Brookville, Jefferson county, and issued the first number of the Brookville Gasette, in a little house on the lot (corner of Pickering and Jefferson streets) where F. C. Deemer now (1915) resides. Terms of the Gasette were as follows :

"To be published every Monday, at two dol- lars per annum, exclusive of postage ; and two dollars and fifty cents. including postage, pay- able half yearly in advance.

"No subscription taken for a shorter period than six months, and no withdrawal whilst in arrears.

"A failure to notify an intention to discon- tinue at the end of six months is considered a new engagement.

"Advertisements will be inserted at the rate of One Dollar per square inch for the three first insertions, and Twenty-five cents for every continuance : those of greater length in proportion.

"All orders directed to the Editor must be post paid or they cannot receive attention.

"Grain, rags, beeswax, tallow, furs or pelts, will be taken in payment of subscription, if paid within the current year."

This was the pioneer newspaper within the confines of the county. It was printed on coarse paper, thirteen inches wide and twenty inches long. In politics it was Democratic. In 1833 Thomas Reid purchased a half in- terest in it. The paper then became independ- ent in politics, and was called The Gasette. Thompson and Reid not agreeing, Reid re- tired, and Thompson and James P. Blair con- tinued the publication. In 1833 Thompson dis- posed of his interest to Dr. R. K. Scott, and the firm became Blair & Scott.

In the fall of 1834 John Jamieson Thomp- son added Ypsilanti to his name and moved to Dowlingville, Jefferson county, where he remained until the summer of 1837, when he returned to Brookville, and. in the ensuing

November, built a sawmill on Sandy Lick at the present site of Bell's Mills. Here he re- mained until the summer of 1840, when he sold his mill to Alpheus Shaw and returned to Brookville. He remained in Brookville three months, and then removed to Heathville, Jef- ferson county, returning to Brookville in 1841. He then moved to the farm in Union township now owned by Arthur Morrison, where he lived one year. In 1843 Mr. Thompson pur- chased a tract of land from Daniel Stannard, of Indiana, Pa., known as Warrant No. 681, where he erected a hotel and engaged in the hotel business and in merchandising. He se- cured a post office for the place, which he named Corsica, and was appointed postmaster in 1844. In 1847 he surveyed and laid out the town of Corsica. While living here his youngest son, Robert Means (now of New York City), was born in 1849.

J. J. Y. Thompson served as justice of the peace, was elected a number of times county surveyor, and was prothonotary, register. etc., from 1845 to 1848, when he again removed to Brookville. having purchased the "Arcade" and "American" buildings, at the price of twenty thousand dollars. These were then the largest and finest business blocks in the place. He occupied the "American," and continued in the hotel business until the two buildings, with all their contents, were destroyed by fire May 24, 1856. Having no insurance, this fire ieft Mr. Thompson without a dollar and financially embarrassed. Possessing a good name, and nothing daunted, the third day after the fire he and his boys commenced to clear away the debris and began preparation for re- building. Owing to his well-known business integrity and great energy, he surmounted every obstacle and completed and occupied what is now known as the "American." In 1865 he sold it and removed to Portsmouth, Ohio, and was engaged in the lumber business until he was suddenly removed by death, Aug. 19, 1865, in the sixtieth year of his age. He was buried in Portsmouth, Ohio, where he sleeps the dreamless sleep.

Judge Thompson was a man of fine pres- ence, pleasing address and popular manners. His name and face became familiar in every cabin, and the hand of friendship was uni- versally extended to him alike by young and old. For many years his services as surveyor were in requisition in all this region of the country. He was associate judge from 1861 to 1865. He was foremost in aiding and ad- vancing every public enterprise of his day. He was of a genial, social disposition, inspiring

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

all with whom he came in contact with the spirit of sociability. Kind and sympathetic by nature, he was ever ready to aid the poor and distressed, who were never turned away from his door. A strong Republican, he was an tin- compromising Union man during the war, and took the deepest interest in all that pertained to those times that tried men's souls. Out- spoken and bold in his utterances, he was nearly always found engaged in defending the principles for which three of his own boys were fighting. He was, during the war, the devoted friend of the soldier, and the families of those who were absent fighting in the bat- tles for freedom. He kept "open house" for the "boys." on their way to and from the front. One of the most vivid recollections of the writer's (Dr. W. J. MeKnight) departure for the army is the close handshake, and the fer- vent "God bless you," of Judge Thompson, as, bareheaded, and with tears running down his 'cheeks, he bade tts good-bye. Judge Thompson ever adhered to the faith of his fathers, and lived and died a member of the United Presbyterian Church.

Judge Thompson was a man of rare intelli- gence, charitable, kind, and bold, with a Scotch temper that would at times break out, when due provocation was given, with "I'll be dod danged to Harry," and "I'll be dod danged to dangnation." But with this explosion over, everything with him was just as tender and serene as if no thunderclap had jarred the atmosphere.

On July 25, 1833. John J. Y. Thompson was married to Agnes Susan Kennedy, and com- menced married life in Brookville. Agnes S. Thompson was a daughter of Rev. William and Mary Kennedy, and was born near Lewis- town, Mifflin county, in the year 1813, her father being the first Presbyterian minister to locate in Jefferson county. Her mother was Mary, daughter of Benjamin and Agnes ( Wal- lace) McClure, of Chester county, so that she was descended from one of the oldest and most noted families in eastern Pennsylvania. The family still holds lands in Chester county that were granted to their ancestor, John Mc- Clure, by the Penns in 1784. This John Mc- . Clure, who was Mrs. Thompson's great-grand- father, emigrated to the United States in 1730 from the North of Ireland, where he had gone from Scotland, and settled in North Carolina, afterwards removing to Chester county, where he died. The McClure family were stanch Presbyterians, and they left Ireland in order that they might worship God according to their own forms. From conviction they were "fed-

eralists," Mrs. Thompson's grandfather, Ben- jamin McClure, serving in the Revolutionary war, and with one or two exceptions they have held to the political faith of, their fathers and are to-day stanch Republicans. Mrs. Thomp- son was worthy of the good old Scotch-Irish ancestry from which she sprang, being a woman of sterling worth, possessing those qualities of mind that caused her to be beloved and respected by all who knew her. She spent the greater part of her life in Jefferson county with the exception of five years' residence in Portsmouth, Ohio, whence she returned to Brookville in 1870, and where she resided until June 27, 1877, when she exchanged her home for that "better one" to which her husband and some of her children had preceded her.

The children of John J. Y. and Agnes S. ( Kennedy) Thompson numbered ten, of whom two died early, James when about one year old, and Blanche aged about three years, the latter on March 2, 1849, at Corsica. The remaining children were William Kennedy, John Jamie- son, Annie M., Albert Clifton, Clarence Rus- sell, Robert Means, Ella Agnes and Laura Edith. The eldest son, William Kennedy Thompson, born June 25, 1834, at Dowling- ville, Pa., was married in Allegheny City, Jan. 14. 1858, to Jane C. Porterfield, of Butler county, Pa. John Jamieson, the second son, is mentioned at greater length elsewhere. Annie M. was married July 7, 1860, to John N. Garri- son, and resides in Florida. Albert Clifton. Clarence Russeli and Robert Means are also mentioned further on. Ella Agnes married John L. McNeil, and lives in Colorado. Laura Edith married George T. Rodgers, and died at the age of twenty-three years. But three are now living, viz .: Annie M., Ella Agnes and Col. Robert Means Thompson.

HON. GEORGE A. JENKS, late of Brook- ville, made a distinguished record at the bar and in public life which sheds permanent dis- tinction upon Jefferson county. The honors he won in the legal profession proclaimed him one of the leading lawyers in the country. During his service in Congress he was as- signed to the most important matters then up for discussion before that body, and in every capacity he attracted the favorable notice of competent judges. He was one of the ablest members of a family noted for intellectual strength and highly gifted mentally, whose nat- ural endowments and brilliant attainments have made them makers of history throughout their connection with the State of Pennsylvania, which dates from Provincial days. He was of

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Welsh descent. a great-grandson of Thomas Jenks, who was a follower of William Penn. Dr. John Wildman Jenks, the father of George A. Jenks, was brought up in the doc- trines of the Friends. He was born in Bucks county, Pa., and was brought up there, at Newtown, receiving unusual educational ad- vantages for the time. He was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania before the war of 1812, studied medicine and graduated front Jefferson Medical College, and in 1817 set- tled in Jefferson county, Pa. For many years afterwards he was a popular physician all over the southern part of the county, and his house was the center of a wide hospitality. He and his father-in-law, Rev. David Barclay, a Scotch Presbyterian minister, were two of the first settlers at what is now Punxsutawney, they purchasing the land on which that borough now stands. Dr. Jenks married Mary Dey Barclay, a native of New Jersey, who was of the fifth generation in descent from Col. David Barclay, the original of the "Barclay of Ury" of Whittier's poem. The Doctor died in 1850, his wife some time later. Their family con- sisted of ten children, eight sons and two daughters, one daughter and one son dying before reaching maturity. One son, Charles, died in young manhood, on his way to Cali- fornia, and was buried at sea. The others lived to marry and rear families. Phineas. the second son, was the first white male child born in Punxsutawney. William P., born in 1821, became the eminent and well known judge of this judicial district. John, the third son, was born at Punxsutawney, July 13, 1823. James attained distinction as an officer in the Civil war. George A. brought even greater honor to the family name. Mary Caroline was the wife of Isaac Grantham Gordon, chief jus- tice of Pennsylvania, and was the last survivor of the family. D. B. became an eminent law- yer.

George A. Jenks was born at Punxsutawney March 26, 1836, and was reared there. He settled on the legal profession as his life work when a mere boy, and never had any reason for wishing that he had swerved from his early decision. When he was fourteen years old he lost his father, and he began the serious busi- ness of life two years later, when he entered upon a two years'apprenticeship to the trade of carpenter and joiner. This calling he followed during his young manhood, meantime also teaching school and devoting some time to civil engineering work, in the latter connection as- sisting in the laying out of the city of Omaha, Nebr., in the spring of 1855. In the fall of

that year he became a member of the junior class at Jefferson College, having done his preparatory work by studying mornings and evenings out of business hours, under the able guidance of his guardian, Hon. W. P. Jenks (his brother), who had been his adviser in this respect from his early boyhood. With Mr. Jenks he had also studied law. So well had he utilized his spare time that he was graduated from Jefferson College in 1858, and during the next few months he completed the legal course under his brother, being admitted to the Jefferson county bar in February, 1859. He turned to practice at once, and had his first case in court the following September, success- fully defending his clients, a widow and her minor children endeavoring to save their home, though some of the best talent in this part of Pennsylvania worked against him. From that time on he was intrusted with the defense or prosecution of many of the most important cases fought in the local courts. not only in his own county but in other counties of western and central Pennsylvania, where his reputa- tion spread steadily.

From the time of his election to Congress, in the fall of 1874, Mr. Jenks was a national fig- ure. Though the Twenty-fifth Pennsylvania district was strongly Republican, and he was known as a firm Democrat, he was the suc- cessful candidate at the election that year, in spite of the fact that his opponent was so powerful and popular a man as Hon. Harry White, and he took his seat in the Forty-fourth Congress with "a large order" to fill in living up to the traditions of some of his predeces- sors. It was not long before it became appar- ent that he had nothing to lose by comparison. In a debate over the character of an invalid pension he not only made his point, but in so doing established the status of such a con- tract so securely that his opinion has stood as the standard ever since. This and other argu- ments coming up about the same time brought his ability before his colleagues and gained their respect for his talents and sincerity in espousing any cause which enlisted his sympa- thy. The speaker appointed him chairman of the committee on Invalid Pensions, and his report on the conditions and operations of the Pension bureau was a masterly document, sup- plemented by a bill designed to correct further abuses, including the protection of the rights of legal heirs and assigns in the case of bounty land warrants, which were changed from per- sonal to real property. By the time the pro- ceedings were instituted against Secretary of War Belknap, of Grant's cabinet, he was

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 3

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers Number of Pages: 972

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972