Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, Part 87

Author: Chapman Publishing Company (NY)
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1068

USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties > Part 87
USA > Pennsylvania > Wyoming County > Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties > Part 87

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The birth of Barckley Hight occurred March 7, 1832, in Tunkhannock. He became familiar with the routine of farm life when a mere boy. His mother having died, he was the more ready to leave home, as he found it best to do, when he was only twelve years old. From that time, he was mainly dependent upon his own resources, but though so young, he had the right metal in his composition, and was not one to be discour- aged permanently at any overthrow of his plans and hopes. At the age of twenty, or in 1852, he became imbued with the gold fever, which had been prevalent for several years, and sailed from New York City for the far away Pacific Slope. Upon his arrival there, after a tedious journey by way of Panama, he settled in Hangtown, and engaged in mining and prospecting. Seven years were thus passed by him, during which time he paid all his expenses and came out with a fair sum to show for his hardships and toil. In 1859 he returned to the familiar scenes of his youth, and soon decided to invest his savings in a good piece of farm land. Having investigated the mat- ter thoroughly, he settled upon a valuable place comprising some one hundred and forty acres, and here he dwelt over thirty years. He was a very successful farmer, and enjoyed the feeling of security and independence which is the lot of the agriculturist alone. 1

March 21, 1861, Mr. Hight and Miss Harriet Van Scoy were married in this city. The lady is a daughter of Cornelius and Cynthia (Webb) Van Scoy, who removed to this locality from Orange County, N. Y., many years ago, and here passed the rest of their lives, the father dying at the ripe age of eighty-five years and the mother when in

her eighty-third year. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Barckley Hight. Frank R. graduated from the Bloomsburg Normal, taught for awhile, and then went to California, where he represents the Hartford Insurance Company. Edgar V., who was educated at Factoryville, Pa., and is now running the old homestead, is married and has three children. John, who also received a good education, died in California when about thirty years of age, leaving a wife. James J. is attending the Tunkhannock schools.

The first vote cast by Mr. Hight was for J. C. Fremont, and ever since that time he has been a loyal supporter of the tenets of the Republican party. He has been called upon at times to act as a member of the school board, and has also served in the capacity of supervisor. As a citizen, neighbor and friend, he has always been recog- nized to be a man of sterling worth and upright- ness, and the history of the leading settlers of this county would be sadly lacking should his name not find a place among them. His wife is a lady well known for her kindliness of heart and for the active part which she takes in the various departments of church work, she having been a sincere member of the Baptist denomination many years.

G EORGE L. KENNARD, proprietor of the Kennard Hotel in Meshoppen, was born at Skinner's Eddy, Braintrim Township, Wyoming County, June II, 1842, and is the son of George D. and Abbie (Lane) Ken- nard. His father, a native of Bridgewater Town- ship, Susquehanna County, was reared upon a farm there, and after his marriage came to Wyo- ming County, beginning the practice of medicine at Skinner's Eddy about 1839. From this county, in 1848, he went to California, making the long voyage via Cape Horn, and on his arrival in the far west he practiced medicine and also had the contract for building a dam for a mining com- pany. Two years were spent in California, where he met with fair success. He started home on board a ship that was to round the horn, but off the coast of Chili the vessel was wrecked and he was drowned. He was then about forty-three

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years of age, having been born in 1808. The family of which he was a member was identified with the history of New England prior to its ad- vent into Pennsylvania. His wife, who was born in Susquehanna County, was a descendant of an old English family and the daughter of Martin Lane, in whose honor the village of Lanesboro was named. She died in 1893, leaving a son, George L., and a daughter, Jennie, who is a resi- dent of Wyoming County.

The early years in the life of George L. Ken- nard were uneventfully passed at Skinner's Eddy. For a time he attended the public schools of Wil- mington, Del., and later was employed on the Brooklyn water works for two years, under a contractor. October II, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company B, Fifty-second Pennsyl- vania Infantry, and was promoted to the rank of corporal January 19, 1864, serving until the close of the war, when he was mustered out, November 5, 1865. Among the battles in which he partici- pated were the following: Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, the siege of Charleston, bombarding of Ft. Sumter, and all the engagements of Mcclellan's campaign. After having been mustered out, he engaged in the mercantile business at Charles- ton, S. C., for two years, and then returned to Wyoming County, where he engaged in the hotel business in Braintrim Township. On his election to the office of county sheriff, he retired from the hotel business, December 11, 1878, and removed to the county-seat, Tunkhannock, where he en- gaged in the discharge of his official duties until the expiration of his term. In 1881 he returned to Laceyville, and again became proprietor of Kennard's Hotel, remaining there until October, 1883, when he purchased his hotel property in Meshoppen.

In 1868 occurred the marriage of Mr. Kennard to Mary F., daughter of Isaac J. and Mary Ann (Everett) LaBarre, natives respectively of Mon- roe County, Pa., and Sussex County, N. J. Her father came to Laceyville, Wyoming County, in 1837, and bought a tannery, which he operated for several years. His active life was terminated by an accident when he was forty-nine, the upset- ting of a stage coach breaking both of his limbs. He died in 1862. For some years he was engaged

in the hotel business in Laceyville, his hotel being the first opened in the village. In religious belief a Presbyterian, he served his church as a deacon. The family of which he was a member originated in France. His wife, who is still living and is physically and mentally strong, notwithstanding her ninety years, is a member of an old colonial family, that had representatives in the Revolu- tion. They were the parents of five children: Henry A., who died at the age of twenty-eight; John D., deceased, a soldier in the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Infantry; Isaac Everett, a private in Company D, One Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania Infantry, and now a resi- dent of Pittston, Pa .; Mary, Mrs. Kennard; and H. Jennie, who lives with her mother, for whom she affectionately cares in her old age. Mr. and Mrs. Kennard are the parents of one daughter, Frances Everett.

Interested in politics and strong in his allegi- ance to the Democratic party, Mr. Kennard has been elected on that ticket to the various town- ship offices and has also been a member of the town council. Fraternally he is connected with the blue lodge, chapter and commandery of the Masonic order. In addition to his hotel, he owns a farm in this township, and is in good circum- stances financially.

M ILLER PATTERSON, who has long followed the life of a farmer, is a resi- dent of Monroe Township, Wyoming County. He is a descendant of a pioneer fam- ily of this state. His grandfather, Henry Patter- son, was one of Pennsylvania's native sons, and during a part of the war of the Revolution, was in the colonial service, and drove one of the bag- gage wagons. The parents of our subject were Henry and Mary (Shaffer) Patterson, natives of Pennsylvania, as were their parents before them. Six children were born to them, viz .: Edward. William and Sarah, all deceased; Jane, Adeline and Miller. Henry Patterson was a practical farmer, and carried on a good homestead in Lu- zerne County for many years, where he died, as did also his wife. They reared their children in strict regard for truth, uprightness of character,

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and love toward their fellow-men, and their wise teaching was never disregarded.

The birth of Mr. Patterson occurred January 5, 1836, in Luzerne County. There he passed his boyhood in much the usual manner of farmer lads, his time being divided between work and play, and attendance at the district school a por- tion of the year. He remained at home in Kings- ton Township, Luzerne County, until he was in his eighteenth year, when he struck out for him- self, working for farmers by the month several years, which enabled him to earn money with which to purchase land. It was in 1861 that he came to this locality, and settled upon the pláce where he is now living. He has been quite a success as an agriculturist, and has filled about all of the local offices, including that of school di- rector. Politically he is a Democrat. A member of the Masonic Order, he is affiliated with George M. Dallas Lodge No. 531, of Dallas, Pa. In 1857 he was united in marriage with Sarah Frear of Eaton Township, and five children came to bless their union. They were named as follows: Elizabeth J., William N. (deceased), Delia M., John F., and Henry (deceased).

T HE STARK FAMILY. Soon after the Massachusetts Bay Company came into existence, about eight years after the "Mayflower" landed her Pilgrim band upon New England's rugged shores, she began her at- tempts to establish permanent settlements at various points within the bounds of her grant. There are many reasons that lead us to believe that among those who came at that time into what was then known as the Nameaug Country, which was a part of the territory belonging to the Pequod Indians, and embraced what is now New London County, Conn., with the first company under Governor Endicott, was one Aaron' Starke. This first attempt seems to have been a failure, for the white men were driven off by the Pequods after several of their number had been killed. The warlike spirit of this tribe and the many outrages that followed in their efforts to drive the hated intruders from their hunting grounds brought on, in 1637, what is known in

history as the Pequod War. This war was a ter- rible affair; a war of extermination, which could only be justified by the direst necessity, but the colonists felt that they were fighting for the se- curity of their homes and that they must either crush them or be exterminated themselves, as the cruel foe spared neither men, women nor chil- dren, and gave no quarter.

Under Capt. John Mason's command, in this famous expedition, Aaron Starke again appears, and in this sanguinary conflict he took a part in avenging the death of his earlier companions. He soon after came into possession of a tract of land in the eastern part of the township of New London, Conn. This was near the old Pequod Fort, and a part of their land. As early as 1653 he had joined the settlers on the Mystic. This was soon after the successful establishment of the settlement under the younger Winthrop. In 1669 he was accepted as a freeman of New Lon- don, having previously purchased the farm of William Thomson, the Pequod missionary, which was located near the head of the Mystic, and which brought him within the bounds of New London. In 1675, when King Philip's or the Narragansett War broke out, Aaron Starke and his son of the same name are found in the heat of the conflict, standing side by side with their fellow-colonists to repel their bloodthirsty foe.

Aaron, the father, was born between the years of 1602 and 1608, and died in New London in 1685. He had three sons: Aaron, who was born about 1654, and married Mehetable Shaw; John, who was born about 1656; and William, born in 1664; also two daughters: Margaret, who mar- ried John Fish; and Elizabeth, who became the wife of Josiah Haynes. Prior to the organiza- tion of the second church in the eastern part of New London Township, which was afterward the Stonington Congregational Church, Rev. Mr. Noyes, the preacher, often held meetings at the house of Aaron Starke. The children were brought up under the teachings of the Congre- gational Church, with which they were doubtless all connected. Those were days of great re- ligious intolerance, and to differ with the estab- lished church in matter of creed or form of wor-

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ship became a very serious offense in the eyes of those who had fled from their native land to escape its persecutions, and had come to the new world that they might worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience, to which declaration it has been added with too much truth, "And compel all others to do the same." The hard experiences that befell the Baptists, Quakers anu others in those days for holding religious views differing from these good people are matters of history.

William Stark and his wife, Elizabeth, were members of the First Congregational Church of Stonington, Conn .; but, when the Baptists began to preach in that section and became objects of persecution, his heart warmed toward them, and he soon cast in his lot with them, becoming their firm friend and ally. They called themselves "Dissenters," and held their meetings at the house of William Stark. In 1704 they petitioned the general court for a settlement of their meet- ing, saying that their society then comprised but six brethren and six sisters. These were the regular Baptists of New London, and this was the first church of the denomination in the state of Connecticut, and William Stark was their first deacon. The land upon which this first church was built was given by him, as well as what is known as the Wightman burying ground, at- tached thereto, together with twenty acres of land to be used as a homestead for their pastor, all of which was a portion of the land purchased by his father, Aaron, from Thomson, the Pequod missionary. Under the shadow of the walls of this church and in this burying ground, lie the remains of Deacon William Stark, he liaving died in 1730. John, the brother of Williamn, be- longed to Elder Gorton's Church, which was the second of the denomination in the state, and was located where the town of Waterford now stands. John was a deacon in this church, in the burying ground of which his remains are supposed to lie. The church was about twenty or thirty feet square, with a high, steep roof coming to a point in the center. It was never plastered and had a sounding board over the pulpit. During the war of the Revolution it became a target for the Brit- ish war ships which lay along the shore half a mile

away, and they so riddled the roof that it was ever afterward known as the "Old Pepper Box." About 1856 it was taken down.

William Stark had four children, all probably born in Groton, Conn., namely: William, born in 1687; Christopher, 1698; Daniel; and Phebe, who afterward became Mrs. Thomas Walworth. The second son, Christopher, settled at Groton, where he married Joanna Walworth, April I, 1722, and where all of his children were born. His wife was the daughter of William and Mary (Seaton) Walworth, who were the ancestors of Chancellor Walworth, of New York. Some time between the years 1754 and 1768 Christopher, ac- companied by his family, removed to Pawling, Dutchess County, N. Y. When the Connecticut Susquehanna Indian purchase was made at Al- bany in 1754, he became the owner of one full right therein, which in 1768 he transferred to his three sons, Aaron, James and William. Aaron was born in Groton, Conn., November 3, 1732; after his death his widow, Margaret, became the wife of Stephen Stocker, of Dutchess County, N. Y. James was born in Groton, February 22, 1740, and in 1758 married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Henry Carey, one of the earliest Baptist ministers of Dutchess County. William was born about 1747 and married Chloe Carey, of Dutchess County, possibly a sister of the wife of his broth- er James.

The Susquehanna Company having completed their purchase of the soil proceeded to make ar- rangements for establishing settlements at Wy- oming, and about 1769 the settlers began to come into the valley. It was not until the spring of 1772 or 1773 that Christopher Stark and his three sons found their way to the valley to possess themselves of their purchased rights. With them, or soon after, came Increase Billings, who had married their sister, Phebe, and settled on Tunk- hannock Creek, about five miles from Tunkhan- nock borough. Christopher, then an old man, died prior to 1773, and was buried in what was then known as Upper Wilkesbarre. Those were stormy times, the years following the settlement of the family in their new home. Between fierce contentions over land titles, the struggle with the mother country for the independence of the col-

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onies, and the disastrous conflict and massacre at Wyoming and the driving out of the survivors and the utter desolation of that fair valley, the settlers must have had wrought into their very being the genuine material from which heroes are made.

Aaron, the oldest son, on the day of the mas- sacre, July 3, 1778, was at the fort to protect his wife and children. He and his son, Aaron, Jr., fought side by side on that day, and when the troops under Colonel Butler broke and ran, they, with others, made for the river, where they hid themselves in a pile of drift wood. There they were found by the savages and taken out and slaughtered, with the exception of Aaron, Jr., and two others whom the Indians did not dis- cover. From his place of concealment Aaron saw them take his father out with others and tomahawk him. At the time of the massacre William was living just across the river from the fort, on what was known as Seatles Flats. That same night he and his family made their way to the Wilkesbarre fort, where about one hundred of them, men, women and children, started for the Delaware River, and after much privation and suffering, they found their way back to Dutchess County, N. Y. Another of the family, Daniel by name, was slain that day. James, the other brother, who had settled in Wilkesbarre and erected a log house near where the old Dr. Miner house stands, had died of small pox the year previous, leaving a widow and nine children, of whom five were under nine years of age at the time of the massacre. The oldest son, Captain James, had gone out under Washington to fight for his country two years before when but sixteen years of age, but the deadly peril surrounding his loved ones had brought him home to look after and protect them. He promptly joined Captain Spaulding's company and went forth in defense of their homes. During the battle he received a musket ball in one of his legs, but in the retreat he man- aged to get back to the fort in safety. The hard- ships and sufferings his brave widowed mother endured were almost beyond measure. When all seemed lost, she saved herself by hiding in a field of corn and, upon finding that all of their

buildings and contents were destroyed, she gath- ered what little she could and, taking her family of small children with her, she came all the way afoot back to her old home in Dutchess County. When she arrived at her sister's house, she was a picture of utter misery and despair. She never rallied from this terrible experience, and August 12, 1778, her life went out, and on the Ioth of the month following her boy, scarcely twelve years of age, who had accompanied her on that terrible journey, died from the effects of its ex- posure and suffering. Thus she was called to endure sorrows, privations and perils, such as seldom fall to the lot of mortals. All of life's heroes do not have their names emblazoned upon the scroll of fame. There are calls to duty that come to many a one within their limited sphere of action that involve as much courage, endur- ance and self-sacrifice as has come to many of those who have gone down into history as its great heroes. All honor to those noble women who through patience and suffering hesitated not to heroically lay down their lives in order that they might be faithful and true to the trust that was theirs. As we learn their pathetic story, we feel sure they have earned a place for themselves in our memory and in our hearts that is just as sacred and abiding as that for any of the heroes whose names are household words and whose fame is world-wide.

It was not until after Sullivan and his army had inflicted upon the Indians the severe chas- tisement they so richly deserved and the war of the Revolution had come to a close, and com- parative peace and quite reigned once more in the valley, that the surviving settlers, who had been driven back to their old homes in the east, began to come back in any considerable num- bers. Some of them never returned, but sought homes for themselves far from the scenes of their early sufferings. And so it happened that the families of the three sons of Christopher Stark (and all had large families), after they had been driven back to Dutchess County, in the years that followed, began to seek out new homes for themselves in many different localities. Of the children of Aaron, some returned to the valley of Wyoming again. Among these was Daniel,

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who had married Charlotte Worden, and who located on a farm adjoining that occupied by his cousin, James, in what was then known as Upper Wilkesbarre. Their children, John D., Olive, who became Mrs. James Worden, Sarah, who married Isaac Wilcox, and Hannah, wife of Jacob Miller, have many descendants in Pitts- ton, Wilkesbarre and on the Plains. Some mi- grated to what is now Wyoming County, Pa., others to Susquehanna County, same state, and still others to Tompkins County, N. Y., where their descendants may still be found.

William returned to the old farm in the valley, afterward removing, and died, he and his wife, at Goshen, N. Y., in 1795. His ten children ulti- mately found their way back to Pennsylvania, and settled upon Tunkhannock Creek. Begin- ning at a point about four miles above the town of Tunkhannock, their farms joined one to the other for a distance of several miles along the creek. Their descendants in this region are now very numerous. Upon their broad and well cul- tivated acres, snatched from the primitive forest by earnest toil and endeavor, they live in peace and comfort, enjoying the respect and confidence of the community in which they reside, because by their sterling worth of character they have well merited it. Three sisters and one brother of this family, after marriage, removed to Dela- ware County, Ohio.

The children of James were as widely sep- arated as these last. Five of them removed to Ohio. One, Henry, returned to the Wyoming Valley and settled upon a large tract of land, of which he had become the owner, in Upper Wilkesbarre, where was reared a good-sized fam- ily of children. Among his descendants, scat- tered all through the Wyoming Valley from Wilkesbarre to Scranton, are found those who are well known as successful business men, and occupying positions of honor and trust in the several fields of labor into which their life work has called them. Two of them remained in Dutchess County, N. Y. One of the latter was Samuel, who was born in the Wyoming Valley October 8, 1771. He was scarce seven years of age when the massacre of Wyoming took place, and he was one of the children his mother took

with her in that never-to-be-forgotten flight that followed, and which resulted in her death. He was of tender years, it is true, but events of that kind burn their way into the memory never to be effaced, even when all else of those years may have been forgotten. Doubtless he carried with him to his dying day a vivid recollection of the horrors of those days. He remained with his mother's people until he grew to manhood. August 10, 1793, he married Polly Birdsall, of Dutchess County. Of this union there were born thirteen children, nine girls and four boys.

Samuel, who was next to the youngest son, was born in Cherry Valley, N. Y., June 9, 1810. When seventeen years of age he lost his mother by death, and the home was broken up. With but twenty shillings in his pockets, all his earth- ly store, he bade adieu to old friends, old asso- ciations, to home forever, and started out upon his long journey to find a new home in a strange land and among a new people. With a brave heart and full of hope and courage, and fortified with an indomitable will, he set to work to meet manfully the great struggle ahead of him. In his early home training he had been taught those habits of industry and thrift that were character- istics of his after life, and that were the founda- tions of his success. In the fall of 1827 he reached the village of Tunkhannock, where his cousin, Henry Stark, gave him employment in his store. His energy, honesty and strict attention to work soon paved the way for his advancement, and in 1833 he became a partner in the business. In 1837 his partner, having been elected to the legis- lature, Samuel took upon himself the full con- trol of the business. In the same year he was appointed postmaster of the place. In 1852 fire destroyed the store with most of its contents. At the time of this fire, which broke out on the morn- ing of the 25th of June, there stood on the north- east corner of Main and Bridge Streets the three- story building, erected in 1846 by Henry Stark, which was then occupied by Mr. Mercereau, and which is now known as the Hotel Graham. The next building east, on the north side of Tioga Street, and about one hundred feet away, was the store of Samuel Stark, a two-story frame build- ing. Next to it stood a one-story wooden struc-

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Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, Part 87

Author: Chapman Publishing Company (NY) Publication date: 1897 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1068

Author: Chapman Publishing Company (NY)
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1068