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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
WELLSBORO—DELMAR AND CHARLESTON TOWNSHIPS.
BENJAMIN WISTAR MORRIS, the founder of Wellsboro, was born in the City of Philadelphia, in August, 1762, a son of Samuel Morris, a prominent merchant of that city. He was a member of the Society of Friends, then very numerous in Philadelphia. When the project of founding an English colony on Pine creek was started, he became a member of that company and the owner of a large body of land. Having met with financial reverses in his native city, through becoming security for a friend, he turned over his available property in Philadelphia to his creditors, reserving only the tract of wild land in Tioga township, Lycoming county, a part of which is now the site of Wellsboro, and smarting under the disgrace, as he regarded it, resolved to bury himself in the wilderness of the Pine creek region and try to retrieve his fortune. He was then past middle life, but he brought with him his wife, Mary (Wells) Morris, born in Philadelphia, September 16, 1761; one unmarried daughter, Rebecca, and his son, Samuel W., and settled in the wilderness in 1799, soon after building a log cabin on the site of W. D. Van Horn’s residence. It was dreary and lonely, after the life they had been used to, but they resolutely braved the trials and tribulations which fell to their lot and succeeded in founding a new home. In July, 1810, his daughter, Rebecca, married William Cox Ellis, of Muncy. Mr. Ellis was a representative man of Lycoming county, a member of the bar, and served in the legislature and in Congress. Mr. Morris held several offices of trust at an early day, among them postmaster of Wellsboro nearly ten years, and was prominent in the pioneer life of the community. His wife died in Wellsboro, which was named in her honor, November 6, 1819; he survived her until April 24, 1825, and died at his home in the same village. They are buried in the northeastern part of Wellsboro Cemetery, where plain marble slabs mark their graves.
SAMUEL WELLS MORRIS was born in Philadelphia, September 1, 1786, and came with his parents to what is now Tioga county in 1799. He was educated at Princeton College, and subsequently became one of the leading, progressive and distinguished citizens of northern Pennsylvania. He was the first treasurer of the county, serving from 1808 to 1809, and the first postmaster of Wellsboro, which office he filled from January 1, 1808, to December 31, 1812, and was succeeded by his father. In 1811 he was elected a county commissioner, which office he resigned to go upon the bench. In July, 1812, he was appointed an associate judge, and sat upon the bench with Judge Gibson at the opening of the first court in Wellsboro, in January, 1813. He was then twenty-six years old, and it is doubtful if a younger man ever served in that capacity in Pennsylvania. He filled the office until January, 1833. In 1832 he was elected to the legislature, in which body he served four years, and was a member of Congress from 1837 to 1841. In 1807 Mr. Morris married Miss Anna Ellis, daughter of William Ellis, of Muncy, Lycoming county, and sister of William Cox Ellis, who married his sister, Rebecca. Their children were as follows: William E., a civil engineer, who died in Philadelphia, in September, 1875; Mary Wells, who married Hon. James Lowrey; Sarah Ellis, who married Dr. Joseph P. Morris; Susan Marriott, who married Hon. John W. Guernsey; Benjamin Wistar, Protestant Episcopal bishop of Oregon; Rachel Wells, a resident of Portland, Oregon; Ellen, who married Judge Henry Booth, of Chicago; Charles Ellis, who died in 1887; Anna E., widow of George R. Barker, of Germantown, and mother of William Morris Barker, Protestant Episcopal bishop of Olympia, Washington; Louisa, who died in Philadelphia, in August, 1864, and Samuel Wells, a resident of Madison, New Jersey.
Judge Morris was a man of great activity and enterprise. at an early day he built a grist and saw-mill on his property near Stokesdale Junction, which proved a great convenience to the pioneers. At that time the place was known as "the Marsh," and is referred to by that name in the early records. His mill dam in more modern years has been designated as the "Beaver Dam," but it was built by him for supplying his mills with water power. It was afterwards torn away by a party of indignant settlers who believed that the stagnant water was the cause of fever and ague. Judge Morris was foremost in every improvement which he though would advance the interest of the country. He was a strong advocate for making the Tioga river navigable, and he succeeded in organizing the Tioga Navigation Company, of which he was the first president. The last public enterprise in which he was engaged was the construction of the Tioga railroad, to which he devoted ten of the best years of his life, laboring incessantly from the incorporation of the company in 1826 until he resigned on account of his election to Congress. "For the accomplishment of this undertaking," remarks a local writer, "and the development of the coal lands at Blossburg, he obtained the services of Richard C. Taylor, an eminent English engineer and geologist, who not only made a survey of the river for the navigation company and afterward for the railroad company, but also made a geological survey and examination of the minerals of the Blossburg coal region. Taylor’s geological report was published chiefly at the expense of Judge Morris. It was a work much sought after, but has long since been out of print and hard to obtain." There was no local enterprise which had for its object the advancement of the public welfare that did not have the earnest and substantial support of Judge Morris. He was one of the of the founders of the Wellsboro Academy, the first president of the board of trustees, to which he was elected again and again, serving as president, treasurer, etc., and remaining a firm friend of that institution up to the time of his death. He died at his home in Wellsboro, May 25, 1847, in the sixty-first year of his age. His wife, born near Muncy, Lycoming county, May 7, 1791, died at Germantown, January 26, 1858. Both are buried in the Wellsboro Cemetery, adjoining the graves of his parents.
JOHN NORRIS, whose name occurs frequently in the early records of Tioga county, was born in England in 1768, and was educated at Oxford University. He came to this country towards the close of the Eighteenth century, and early in 1799 removed from Philadelphia, as the agent of Benjamin Wistar Morris, to the headwaters of the first fork of Pine creek, near the site of the present village of Texas, Lycoming county. Here he soon afterwards built a rude grist and saw-mill, which became known as "Morris’ Mills." A year or two later Norris leased a building which had been erected by Phillip Moore, and opened a school, which was taught by himself and his wife, and pupils were received from as far away as Jersey Shore and the settlements along the river. As an educational enterprise it was considered wonderful for the time and attracted wide attention. When Benjamin Wistar Morris became interested in founding Wellsboro, he seems to have secured the assistance of Norris in the furtherance of his scheme, and the latter soon afterwards abandoned his school and settled at the Big March, from which he subsequently moved to the vicinity of the village, where he remained the balance of his days.
According to a deed on record at Williamsport (Deed Book F, p. 97) an insight is had of the causes which led to Norris’ removal, and the part he afterwards bore in promoting the interests of Morris and the Pine Creek Land Company. This deed which bears date of April 23, 1804, conveys a tract of 200 acres of land from Benjamin Wistar Morris to John Norris, and recites that:
In consideration of the services to be done and performed by the said John Norris in promoting and advancing the settlement and improvement of the lands held by the said Morris and others on and adjacent to Pine Creek, he, the said, B. W. Morris, conveyed in fee simple to the said John Norris, clear of all incumbrance, all that tract of land, &c. And the said Norris having fully complied with his part of the said agreement to this time and given satisfactory assurance to the said B. W. Morris, expedient and conducive to the interest and advancement of the settlement aforesaid, to convey at this time to the said John Norris the premises aforesaid, and in consideration of one dollar doth convey all that tract situated in Lycoming county, beginning at corner of General Brodhead’s, at a sugar maple, containing about 200 acres, adjoined on south by lands reserved for Morris’ Mills."
In the same Deed Book F, page 100, is another deed by Morris conveying a tract of 100 acres, in consideration of $400, to John Norris, called the "Marsh Tract." From the foregoing we see why Norris became interested with the founder of Wellsboro. And as a land agent he proved himself active, vigilant and trustworthy, and became one of the leading men of his time in the settlement.
When Tioga county was organized for judicial purposes, he was appointed the first prothonotary and register and recorder, and served until 1818. He also appears to have had some knowledge of surveying—probably acquired in connection with his land agency—for he served as county surveyor from 1814 to 1827, a period of thirteen years. And when Wellsboro was made a borough, in 1830, he was honored by being elected the first burgess. It should also be mentioned that he was a charter member when the act incorporating the Academy was passed, and was elected a trustee several times afterwards. By virtue of his position and social relations, John Norris was recognized as one of the leading citizens of Wellsboro, and was greatly esteemed and respected by the people.
Mr. Norris and his wife, Beulah (Jackson) Norris, had no issue. He left a will in which he made ample provision for his wife, giving her all his household furniture, books, maps and papers—also the rents and proceeds of his real estate, together with certain mortgages. To Lucy Kelsey, whose maiden name was Moore, he gave $500, to be paid after the death of his wife; to Elizabeth Niles, then under the charge of Mrs. John Dickinson, $500; to Mary P. Dickinson, who lived in his family when she was single and served as his secretary, $400; to Deborah Ann Archer, $400; to his brother-in-law, Mordecai M. Jackson and his wife, $450. The remainder of his estate he divided among the sons and daughters of William Bache. John Norris Bache was constituted his sole executor and trustee; and it was provided that in the event of his death before business was settled up, his brother, William Bache, was to succeed him. The latter lived for years in the Norris family, but was never legally adopted. The will was dated at "Dickinson’s Mill," September 16, 1848. And here Mr. Norris died, February 10, 1849, aged eight years, ten months and eleven days. Mrs. Norris also died here, April 12, 1853, aged seventy-five years.
WILLIAM BACHE, SR., was one of the prominent early settlers of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. He was born in Bromsgrove, England, December 22, 1771, and immigrated to America in 1793. For a short time after his arrival he resided in Philadelphia, where he engaged in the business of cutting profiles. He then made a tour of the United States and the West Indies, following the same art. Returning to Philadelphia, he was married there November 28, 1811, to Miss Anna Page, and soon after they made a journey to Wellsboro to visit John Norris, who was an old acquaintance of Mr. Bache. Norris at that time was deeply interested with Benjamin Wistar Morris in founding the town, and as they were offering strong inducements to settlers, Mr. Bache, in 1812, decided to take up his residence there. He immediately purchased town lots, and lands in Delmar, under the easy terms which were offered, and prepared to engage in business. There being no store in the village, he put up a building and became one of the first merchants in Wellsboro. His store and dwelling stood on the southwest side of the present public square. Dealing in mercantile goods was attended with many difficulties at that time. Mr. Bache purchased his goods in Philadelphia, and they were hauled to Wellsboro in wagons overland. Uncle Eben Murry, one of the slaves of William Hill Wells, whom he had manumitted when he (Wells) left the county, was one of the teamsters.
Shrewd, sagacious, industrious and energetic, Mr. Bache prospered as a business man and steadily accumulated property. While doing a kind act in assisting a neighbor to cut a supply of fuel, a tree fell on him, whereby he lost his right arm. Through care he recovered from the accident, learned to write with his left hand, and successfully continued his business. April 10, 1822, he was appointed postmaster of Wellsboro, and held the office for over twenty-three years. He was one of the original trustees mentioned in the act incorporating the Wellsboro Academy, and was a member of the committee selected to prepare a plan for the building, and for many years was identified with, and took an active interest in, the success and prosperity of the institution.
Mr. Bache and wife had six children, three sons and three daughters, viz: William, Laugher, Sarah, who married Judge Robert G. White; John N., Harriet, who married Charles Minor, of Honesdale, and Anna, who became the wife of A. P. Cone. They gave their children the advantages of education, which were liberal for the times, and they became men and women of character and position in life. Mr. Bache died July 9, 1845, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. His wife, who was born at Burlington, New Jersey, November 6, 1783, died December 1, 1856.
WILLIAM BACHE, JR., was born in Wellsboro, October 26, 1812. He received his education in the schools of his native town and learned the profession of land surveying, in which he became quite proficient. When about the age of twenty-six years he became the agent of several large landed estates, which enabled him to acquire a vast fund of information relating to land surveys. For many years he was engaged as an active surveyor in the field, and as a dealer in farming and timbered lands.
Mr. Bache was first married December 25, 1839, to Mary Elizabeth Nichols, daughter of Archibald Nichols, and sister of the late Judge Nichols. By her he had one daughter, Sarah, who became the wife of Alfred Nichols. His wife, Mary Elizabeth, died January 28, 1845, and in 1849 he married Adeline Robinson, sister of the late Chester and John L. Robinson. Of his two children by the second marriage but one is living, Mary Adeline, widow of William C. Kress. Mr. Bache’s second wife died October 11, 1852, and he was subsequently married the third time, to Mrs. Lydia Maria Davison, daughter of Palmer Nichols. She died July 2, 1885. There was no issue by this marriage.
In looking back over his long and busy life, Mr. Bache has the proud satisfaction of realizing that he has ever been an energetic, progressive business man. From the beginning of his career of activity he has filled many minor offices of trust, and has always manifested the most generous liberality in whatever was calculated to develop the resources of his native town and county, and therefore promote their success and prosperity. He was treasurer of the Wellsboro Academy for many years; was borough treasurer; manager of the Lawrenceville and Wellsboro Plank Road Company, and the first president of the First National Bank of Wellsboro. For fully fifty years he has been a vestryman in St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal church, and one of its most liberal supporters. He also took an active part in securing the building of the Lawrenceville and Wellsboro railroad, and all other public enterprises calculated to build up the social and material interests of Wellsboro and the surrounding country. The project to supply the town with the best water that could be secured was originated by him and received his strong financial support. The Willow Hall School project also found in him its most liberal friend; while the substantial Bache Auditorium, erected in 1894, at a cost of $16,000, is a grand monument to his enterprise and public spirit.
It is also a noteworthy fact that Mr. Bache has continuously resided in Wellsboro since his birth, a period of over eighty-four years, and is the oldest living citizen of the town who was born within its limits. When he first saw the light of day Wellsboro was a mere hamlet composed of rude log dwellings, while Tioga county was a comparative wilderness. His boyhood and early manhood were spent among the stirring scenes of pioneer life, and in his profession he has traversed the hills and valleys of Tioga county many times. Fortune has smiled upon him and rewarded him for his toil and industry, and he is now in the evening of his well spent life enjoying all the comforts which an abundance of this world’s goods can procure. He is still active for one who has passed the four score milestone, and save some imperfection in his hearing, is in possession of his mental faculties, and enjoys the relation of reminiscences of bygone days. He is a thorough type of the honest, hardy, industrious and intelligent pioneers of Tioga county, and he views with delight the progress that has been made in every department of individual effort since he was a boy.
ISRAEL MERRICK, JR., was one of the prosperous and progressive pioneers of Tioga county. Of New England ancestry, he was born in the state of Delaware in 1790, whither his parents, Israel Merrick, Sr., and his wife, had removed in search of a home. Not liking the place, and having their attention called to the inducements Morris was holding out for settlers in Wellsboro, they came here about 1805. Israel Merrick, Sr., was a tall, venerable looking man. He was married twice, and died April 30, 1844, aged seventy-eight years. He was buried in Ansonia cemetery. His second wife was a sister-in-law of Justus Dartt, of Charleston township. Israel Merrick, Jr., had three full sisters—Margaret, who married Mordecai Moore; Mary, who married Elmer Bacon, Sr., and Rebecca, who married Daniel Kelsey. Merrick and Charles Moore took their parents to Arkansas over forty years ago, where they died. Charles Moore at one time represented a district of Arkansas in Congress. He died of cholera many years ago. His brother, Merrick Moore, was a quarter-master general in the Confederate service.
Israel Merrick, Jr., was about fifteen years of age when the family came to this county. At that time Wellsboro was mostly dense woods and a part of it a swamp. There was, however, a small clearing of about an acre in the region where John L. Robinson’s house was afterwards built. An incident in the life of Mr. Merrick at that early day is worth relating. At one time he was going from the mill at the Marsh to his home in Delmar, where they first settled, driving a yoke of oxen. Getting belated he took refuge in an abandoned corn-crib which stood near where Mr. Robinson afterwards built his house. The only habitation near this was a rude log cabin on the side of the hill where Judge Morris afterwards built a large farm house. Before going into the crib for the night he chained his oxen outside and built a fire. During the night he, as well as the cattle, were very frightened by the screams of a panther on what is now known as Bache’s hill. The fierce animal scented game in the log hut, but the presence of fire, which was kept brightly burning by the young man, probably deterred it from making the attack. The night thus passed by our young pioneer was a long and dreary one and the "break ‘o day" was gladly welcomed. This incident will serve to show the primitive conditions which existed at that time, as well as illustrate the progress that has been made in less than ninety years.
There were no schools in the county when Israel Merrick, Jr. came here. He had, however, attained the first rudiments of an education before he left his native State; but not content with that, he used to spend long hours after the family had retired for the night in reading and studying, by the light of pine knots, such books as he could obtain. He must have been a very industrious student, for he became a man of much general information, such as is derived from books; was an excellent penman, a keen observer of human action, and was naturally a man of good, sound common sense. He never failed in meeting public expectations in whatever station he was placed. As commissioners’ clerk for over nineteen years, he became widely known, and he commanded the respect of all with whom he came in contact. His clerical career commenced in 1828, and extended to 1847, when he was elected a county commissioner, which office he held three years. Mr. Merrick married Julia A. Erway, who was born December 10, 1808. Their children were: Charles, George W., and Ellis; Maria, wife of Deroy Herrington; Mary, wife of William Mathers; Anna, who married Washington Larrison; Sarah, wife of Hon. Mortimer F. Elliott, and Ellen. George W. is a prominent lawyer of Wellsboro, and a sketch of his life will be found in the chapter devoted to the "Bench and Bar." Mr. Merrick died March 7, 1855, aged sixty-five years, one month and ten days; his wife survived him about thirty-one years, dying March 25, 1886.
MORDECAI M. JACKSON was born at Montgomery Square, near Philadelphia, July 15, 1784. He came with his brother-in-law, John Norris, to the settlement established near the site of Texas, Lycoming county, in 1799, and known as "Morris’ Mills," and in 1804 removed with his parents to Wellsboro. They became discouraged and soon returned to the vicinity of Philadelphia. Young Jackson, however, remained here with friends, grew to manhood, and became a prominent citizen of Wellsboro, where he died September 29, 1861. He married Hannah Iddings, and they had issue: Richard, who was among the first male children born in the settlement; James, Mary P., born June 25, 1814. She lived for several years in the family of John Norris and served as his amanuensis. She married John Dickinson, who was for many years one of the early merchants. He died August 25, 1873, aged fifty-eight, but his venerable widow, who has passed her four score years, still survives and is a charming and instructive conversationalist. She can relate many reminiscences of early days and distinctly remembers hearing the wolves howl at night on the hills surrounding Wellsboro. The other daughter, Deborah Ann, born in 1816, married Dr. Archer, of Maryland.
DANIEL KELSEY was one of the early representative men of Delmar township. He was a native of New Hampshire, born September 7, 1777, came to Tioga county in 1807 and settled on the old Kelsey homestead, now in the southern part of Wellsboro. He was four times married. His first wife was a daughter of John Mathers, a pioneer of Delmar. She bore him one son, John, who learned the printer’s trade in early life, and then went to Wilkes-Barre and studied law. He next removed to New Orleans, whence he wrote a few letters to friends in Wellsboro, but soon afterwards made a voyage up the Mississippi river and never wrote home again. It was learned, however, that between 1840 and 1850 there was a lawyer named John Kelsey in Moniteau county, Missouri, who then occupied a seat on the bench, and the belief gained ground that he was the lost John Kelsey of Wellsboro. This belief was further strengthened by the fact that he left home under the deep displeasure of his father, intending never to have any further communication with him or the family. In this declaration he exhibited the same unbending spirit that characterized his father. Daniel Kelsey’s second wife was Miss Kilburn, a sister of Judge Ira Kilburn, of Lawrenceville. His third wife was Rebecca Merrick, a daughter of Israel Merrick, Sr., whom he married January 2, 1825. She became the mother of six children, as follows: Letetia, wife of John English, of Delmar; Daniel, Benjamin F. and Israel M., all deceased; Robert, a resident of Wellsboro, and Anna R., teacher in a government school at Fort Wrangle, Alaska. Mrs. Kelsey died January 16, 1846, and he married for his fourth wife Dinah Ogden. Mr. Kelsey died April 17, 1863. He was a man of marked individuality and had his own way of doing things. On January 25, 1813, he was appointed a justice of the peace for Delmar township, and held the office nearly thirty years. Many interesting reminiscences of him have been preserved which show the character of the man. He lived on a farm not included within the original borough limits. In the course of time he came to be familiarly known as "Squire Kelsey," a title he bore until the close of his life. As early as 1817 he was elected one of the trustees of Wellsboro Academy, and was re-elected in 1819 and 1820. In 1821, when the number of trustees was reduced to one-half, he was dropped from the list, and he was not again elected until 1826. He was twice re-elected, in 1827 and 1828. It is said that he was liberal in his religious views, leaning towards a generous toleration and opposed to bigotry. He was an industrious, thrifty farmer, close and calculating, but just in his dealings. No man ever accused him of dishonesty or of attempting to wrong his fellow-man. He was very decided in his opinions, stern and unbending with his children, and believed that the true way to prepare them for the realities of life was to teach them morality, industry and economy. Another of his peculiarities was that he was a man of one price always. If wheat, corn, oats and potatoes were scarce and the price high, the poor man could buy of him at his own price, a happy medium between high and low. If it was a year of plenty, still he had his own price, and would not reduce it if he had to keep his hay and grain over and feed his potatoes to his stock. In times of high prices it was only the poor and needy who could buy of him. No one could buy for speculation. The home farm is now occupied by the widow of his son, Benjamin F.
ROBERT KELSEY, son of Daniel and Rebecca (Merrick) Kelsey, was born in Wellsboro, June 30, 1834, and was reared to manhood on the old homestead. In June, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, of the "Bucktail" regiment, served twenty months, and was then discharged on account of disability. He participated in the battles of Mechanicsville and Drainsville. In September, 1864, he re-enlisted in the Two Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, in which he served until the close of the war. Upon his return to Wellsboro he engaged in the hardware business with D. P. and William Roberts, for about a year and a half. He then settled upon a part of the homestead which he owned until 1892, when he sold it and has since been living retired. Mr. Kelsey was married November 13, 1866, to Mary E. Trull, a daughter of Robert and Sarah W. Trull. His wife died March 23, 1879, and on January 6, 1883, he married Mary Nancy Wilcox, a daughter of John H. and Sarah Wilcox. In politics, Mr. Kelsey is a Republican, and served as supervisor of Delmar in 1869. In religion, he inclines to the Adventist belief.
ALPHEUS CHENEY, one of the pioneers of Wellsboro, and the first sheriff of Tioga county, was born at Sturbridge, Massachusetts, April 27, 1769, a son of Joseph and Mercilva Cheney. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795, and served for a short time in the United States army. In 1803 we find him employed as a bookkeeper at Painted Post, New York, but in March, 1804, he removed to what is now Addison, where he was town clerk in 1805. He married Ann Eliza Bartill, and in 1808 sold his interests at Addison and removed to Wellsboro, where he purchased lots, 10, 12 and 18 on the original plot of that town. He was the first hotel-keeper within the village limits, the third county treasurer, and the first sheriff of the county. About 1825 he removed to Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
UNCLE EBEN AND AUNT HETTY MURRY.—In the sketch of William Bache, Sr., reference is made to Eben Murry, as one of the early teamsters who hauled goods from Philadelphia for him. Eben and his wife Hetty were slaves, brought here by William Hill Wells about the beginning of the century. When Mr. Wells and his family gave up the struggle to found a home in the wild region of Delmar, they manumitted their slaves and gave them their cleared land and log cabins as reward for their faithfulness. Regarding the story of the gift of a home to these faithful colored people, one authority says:
He not only gave them the farm, suitable farming implements and teams, but also the household furniture, which was very valuable for those times. Tradition says that their white neighbors never rested till the freedmen were disposed of everything and they were finally indebted to the kindness of John Norris for the little homes where they ended their days. They were a very superior class of colored people. Aunt Hetty, it was said, was a daughter of an African princess, and Uncle Eben was a born gentleman, most dinified and courteous in appearance and manners.
In the northeast corner of the Wellsboro Cemetery the tombstone of these two remarkable colored people may be seen. It bears the incriptions: "Eben Murry, died May 6, 1864, aged 96. Hetty, his wife, died July 4, 1868, aged 99. Colored people sixty-four years residents of Delmar and Wellsboro, and highly respected by all."
"Uncle Eben and Aunt Hetty" had six children, two sons and four daughters. The eldest, a daughter, was born May 4, 1804, probably in Delmar, soon after their parents came from Delaware. Of the six only one now survives—"Betty Murry," as she is familiarly called. She was born in Delmar township, in March, 1816, and from her appearance bids fair to live as long as her parents. She was trained as a house servant and cook by Mrs. James Lowrey, and became very proficient. She excels as a caterer and manager at weddings and social parties, and her services are in constant demand by the best classes. Betty was present at the wedding of Dr. Joseph P. Morris to Sarah E., daughter of Judge Samuel W. Morris, in 1836, and officiated in the same capacity at the wedding of their daughter, Catherine, many years afterwards. She is intelligent and ladylike in her manners, and is greatly respected. She cared for her aged parents thirteen years, and when they died she had a marble tablet erected to preserve their names and memories. Although eighty-one years old she does not show her age, and is, apparently, as active and able to pursue her calling as she was forty years ago.
JAMES LOCK, who was born in New Hampshire, may 18, 1790, came to Wellsboro in 1815, attracted there no doubt by the inducements held out to settlers. At that time there were but five frame buildings in the place, the balance being log structures of the most primitive character. Mr. Lock was a silversmith, but he did not long pursue his trade, for there was no demand for his skill in that line. He was a natural mechanic, however, and soon found other business. During the building of the second court house, in 1835, he made the doors and kept the tools of the stone cutters in order. He subsequently established a gun shop, the first of the kind in the village, and manufactured a very excellent rifle. He was a successful hunter and angler. On his eighty-third anniversary, and the sixtieth of his marriage, the citizens of Wellsboro made him a formal call and presented him and his estimable wife with a handsome Bible as a token of respect. Mr. Lock died March 14, 1874, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.
BENJAMIN B. SMITH was one of the pioneers of Wellsboro, Tioga county. He came here from New England in 1819, and taught in the Old Academy several years. We find him appointed a justice of the peace in June, 1822, which office he filled for a long period. In 1827 he founded the Phoenix, the second newspaper established in Wellsboro, the history of which is given in a previous chapter. He continued his connection with the Phoenix until 1834, when he sold his interest in the plant. From 1833 to 1836 he filled the office of register and recorder, was a prominent and enterprising man, and always took an active interest in public affairs. Finally engaging in the mercantile business, he became one of the leading merchants of Wellsboro. The firm of B. B. Smith & Son, which existed up to the beginning of the war, is well remembered by the people of the county. Mr. Smith was married in Wellsboro to Margaret Christenot, a native of Switzerland. They reared a family of eight children, named as follows: Ellen, deceased; George Dwight, who was killed in the battle of South Mountain; Frances A., wife of Edward Maynard, of Kansas; Samuel R., who died at Paola, Kansas, June 9, 1896; Henry B., a merchant of Osawatomie, Kansas; Lydia A., wife of Jeremiah Wood, of Tacoma, Washington; Charles B., a resident of Kansas, and Azubah R., deceased wife of Bliss Chapin, of Osawatomie. Mr. Smith spent the remaining years of his life in Wellsboro, dying October 21, 1868, in his seventy-eighth year. His widow removed to Osawatomie, Kansas, where she died some years later. Both are kindly remembered by a large circle of friends.
GEORGE DWIGHT SMITH was born in Wellsboro, Tioga county, July 26, 1825, a son of Benjamin B. and Margaret Smith. He obtained a good education, and later joined his father as a member of the firm of B. B. Smith & Son. When the war broke out he became active in support of the government and assisted in raising Company I, Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers. He went to the front as first lieutenant of that company, but soon after was appointed assistant adjutant general of the Second Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army Corps. Lieutenant Smith was killed at the battle of South Mountain September 14, 1862, and thus ended the promising career of a gallant soldier and patriot. On February 7, 1855, he married Miss N. Azubah Robinson, daughter of the late John L. Robinson. Mr. Smith was a member of the Presbyterian church of Wellsboro, was an active worker in that body, and was superintendent of the Sunday-school when he went to the front in defense of the flag. He was an upright, progressive and enterprising citizen, and always did his full share towards the social and material development of his native county. His widow is also a member of the Presbyterian church and one of the most liberal contributors towards the erection of the new church building in Wellsboro. She is an ardent supporter of all military society movements that have for their object the welfare of the old soldiers or their families.
THE NICHOLS FAMILY.—Archibald Nichols came to Wellsboro in 1829, from Chenango county, New York, whither his son, Levi I., had preceded him the year previous. Enos, another son, followed them in 1833. The father was a stout, heavy man, while Levi was the reverse. Enos resembled his father very much in general appearance. The mother, Mrs. Betsey Nichols, was a fine looking, well built woman, domestic and home-loving in her tastes and disposition and much respected by her acquaintances. There was one daughter in the family, Mary Elizabeth, who was the youngest. She was born in March, 1816, married William Bache, Jr., and died January 23, 1845. She was the second female school teacher under the common school system. Mr. Nichols and his son Levi bought timber lands on Pine creek when they first came to Wellsboro, and soon after property in the village. They also bought a stock of goods and opened a general store on the east corner of Main and Crafton streets. The building in which their store was kept was burned, and among other things destroyed was the old Ramage press on which the Phoenix newspaper was printed. In those early times it cost something to get goods into Wellsboro. Mr. Nichols used to haul all his goods from Utica by wagon, to which place they been brought from New York City by steamboat and canal. Of course the percentage above the selling price along the line of the Erie canal was considerable and the people of Wellsboro had to pay a high price for their store goods, although Mr. Nichols’ prices were a great improvement on those of his predecessors. Before the building of the Erie canal all mercantile goods were brought in wagons from Philadelphia to Williamsport and then hauled over the mountains to Wellsboro and sold at enormous prices. When the Academy was built, as high as twenty-five cents a pound was paid for nails, and other things in proportion, except lumber.
When Archibald Nichols came to Wellsboro he was only forty-three years old and his son Levi twenty. The father and son were much alike in one respect. They both loved amusement; but in the character of their amusement they differed very materially. The son loved music and was a natural musician, while the father loved the same only as it helped one to keep step in the dance. The son loved the quiet, still hunt in the forest and the gentle tread along the trout streams near Wellsboro. The father had little taste in that direction. In a word, Archibald Nichols was a very genial man, a pleasant companion, and a good member of society. He lived in Wellsboro only about nine years, dying in November, 1838, aged nearly fifty-three. His wife died April 21, 1854, in her sixtieth year.
ENOS NICHOLS, the youngest son, was born May 18, 1814, and died August 12, 1844. He was a very genial, whole-souled young man, full of mirth and frolic, and had he lived until he was fifty-three, as his father did, he would have been his very counterpart. When he died he had a host of friends to mourn his early taking off.
LEVI I. NICHOLS, who was the last of the original stock in the march to the grave, was best known of the family, and was in all respects a most worthy member of society. He was for many years one of the trustees of the Wellsboro Academy, and generally while on the board its secretary. He was also for some time its treasurer. He was on the common school board nearly all the time from its organization, September 17, 1834, until about 1850, acting either as secretary or treasurer most of this period. Mr. Nichols was appointed justice of the peace June 8, 1836. In March, 1850, he was appointed an associate judge and served until November, 1851.
Judge Nichols was married on January 4, 1832, to Sarah J. Brown, daughter of Thomas Brown, of Oxford, Chenango county, New York. She was born at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1814, while her parents were temporarily residing at that place, her father being associated with Theodore Burr, the famous bridge builder of early days, in the erection of bridges in New York and Pennsylvania. At the time of their marriage there was but one carriage in the Wellsboro region, and that was owned by William Eberenz, of Delmar, who kindly loaned it to Mr. Nichols to fetch his bride to Wellsboro. The distance was about 150 miles and it took the young couple several days to make the journey. In 1833 they commenced housekeeping in a modest home erected by Mr. Nichols on the lot now occupied by the residence of Judge Williams. Of thirteen children born to them, seven are living, viz: Mrs. Mary E. Lamb, Mrs. Henry W. Williams, Mrs. B. F. Clayton, Mrs. Walter Sherwood, Enos G., Chester and Henry. Judge Nichols died in Wellsboro, November 15, 1868, in his fifty-ninth year. His wife survived until May 7, 1896, dying at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Walter Sherwood, with whom she had lived for the past ten years. Both were adherents of the Protestant Episcopal church. Mrs. Nichols was a kind, charitable and benevolent woman, one of that noble band of pioneers to whose patience, courage and industry Tioga county largely owes its present prosperity.
JONAH BREWSTER, a son of Nathan Brewster, was born in Connecticut, and located in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1812, where he became quite prominent in political affairs. He was collector of taxes at Bridgewater, and subsequently clerk and commissioner of Susquehanna county, and served four years in the House and four years in the Senate. In 1829 he came to Tioga county and embarked in merchandising at Tioga, which he continued until 1831, when he was appointed prothonotary and register and recorder of the county. removing to Wellsboro he filled those offices for six years, and was in April, 1840, appointed associate judge, which office he filled two terms. He also served twice as Democratic presidential elector. In 1838 he purchased a farm in Delmar township, upon which he died in 1838. Judge Brewster was married five times and reared a family of eleven children, only three of whom survive, viz: George A., of Charleston township; Alexander S., of Wellsboro, and Jonas S., a resident of New Orleans.
CHESTER ROBINSON was for over half a century one of the most successful and best known merchants, lumbermen and bankers of northern Pennsylvania. Born in Hartwick, Otsego county, New York, August 14, 1807, a son of Jesse and Abiah Robinson, his youth was passed in his native place, where he assisted his father in operating a tannery. On the 6th of January, 1830, he married Lodoiska Bowen, and in the spring of 1835 came to Wellsboro, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and entered into partnership with his brother, John L. Robinson, who had purchased the store of Samuel Dickinson the preceding year. With the passing years the firm of C. & J. L. Robinson developed and enlarged the business, and carried on the most extensive mercantile trade in Tioga county up to 1863, when they gave up merchandising to embark in banking. Soon after their settlement in Wellsboro they purchased timber lands on Pine creek and engaged in lumbering. This branch of the business was under the personal supervision of Chester, to whose keen foresight, conservative management and unremitting industry was due much of the success attained. They continued the lumber business until 1862, and the following year abandoned merchandising and began the preliminary steps which resulted in the founding of the First National Bank of Wellsboro in 1864, to the upbuilding of which institution they afterwards devoted their entire attention. The larger part of the stock was taken by the Robinson brothers, who continued to control the bank’s policy as long as they lived. They were its guiding spirits, to whose sound judgment, strict financial integrity and watchful care was principally due its success. They were not only life-long business associates, but were also noted for their brotherly affection and loyalty toward each other. This sympathetic relation, of a quality above that usually implied by the fraternal tie, was marked by the strongest proofs of mutual confidence, and continued unbroken throughout the years of close companionship until finally severed by death. About 1880 Chester retired from active participation in business affairs, and devoted the remaining years of his life to the enjoyment of his home and ample fortune, though he was a daily visitor at the bank until failing health confined him to the house. Surrounded by every comfort that wealth could give, and solaced by the tender care and affection of his children, he passed the autumn of his life in quiet peace and happiness, dying on the 31st of December, 1890, at the ripe age of over eighty-three years.
Mr. Robinson’s first wife, Lodoiska, died March 16, 1843, leaving two children, George Chester, and Juliet, the recently deceased widow of the late M. M. Converse, of Wellsboro. The son, George Chester, was born in Hartwick, New York, August 9, 1833, and died at his father’s home in Wellsboro, September 21, 1863, while entering on a life of very bright promise. He graduated from Yale College in 1856, where he had given proof of marked ability in composition and oratory. On leaving Yale he studied in the New York Theological Seminary until the spring of 1857, when he became pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklyn. In August, 1858, he married Miss Mary Stevens, daughter of Dr. Abel Stevens, a prominent Methodist divine, and the following spring became pastor of Union Chapel, Cincinnati, Ohio. A year later his health, frail from boyhood, failed, and he went to Europe, where he spent two years in travel and judicious study. Returning to Cincinnati in June, 1862, with apparently restored health, he resumed his pastoral relations, but was soon again prostrated by his old malady, consumption, from which he never recovered. Mr. Robinson was endowed with a mental organization of unusual power and delicacy, and was a fine classical scholar and thoroughly conversant with the best literature of Europe and America.
On the 20th of June, 1848, Chester Robinson married Miss Mary E. Barber, a daughter of Robert Barber, of Columbia, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. She was born in Columbia, March 5, 1816, and died in Wellsboro May 14, 1878, leaving one daughter, Mary Barber Robinson, who still occupies the old family home. Mrs. Robinson was noted for her nobility of heart and true Christian character. In early life she united with the Methodist Episcopal church, and was ever after a faithful and helpful member and a liberal supporter of religious and charitable enterprises. A friend to the poor, no one applied to her in vain, and none left her without substantial assistance and encouragement. As a wife and mother she was a noble example of those womanly virtues which won her the love and respect of the community in which her entire married life was passed.
Mr. Robinson was an exceedingly modest man, and never sought or cared for public office, but he always took great interest in the growth and prosperity of Wellsboro. A Republican from the organization of that party, he ever manifested a deep interest in its principles and success, and was quite active in local politics. He possessed a kindly heart, a genial, companionable temperament, and many other estimable qualities as a citizen and neighbor. His venerable head, whitened by the snows of eighty-three winters, was laid low on the last day of the old year. So closed a long and prosperous career, marked by the strictest integrity and highest business honor.
JOHN L. ROBINSON, for nearly sixty years one of the prominent and enterprising citizens of Tioga county, was born at Hartwick, Otsego county, New York, January 6, 1813, a son of Jesse and Abiah Robinson, pioneers of that place. He obtained a good common school education and early developed those habits of industry upon which his subsequent successful business career was built up to its full fruition. At the age of fourteen he began clerking in one of the leading stores in Otego, New York, which vocation he continued for a few years and then opened a store at Ninevah, New York, where he carried on business up to his majority. Having in the meantime accumulated a small capital, he came to Wellsboro, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, in 1834, purchased the store of Samuel Dickinson, and embarked in general merchandising. At that time the village contained only about 500 inhabitants, while the surrounding country was very sparsely settled and just emerging from its primitive conditions. In the spring of 1835 his brother, Chester, joined him, and the firm of C. & J. L. Robinson came into existence. They soon began to realize the importance of the lumber interest, and securing timer lands engaged in lumbering. John L. attended to the financial part of the business, while Chester gave his personal supervision to the outside operations. With characteristic energy they continued developing this great industry, in connection with the mercantile business, until they became widely known as one of the most substantial and reliable firms in northern Pennsylvania.
Retiring from the lumber business in 1862, they continued merchandising for a period, but also turned their attention to the establishment and up-building of other enterprises. In May, 1864, John L. became the moving spirit in the organization of the First National Bank of Wellsboro, and its financial solidity and prominence was subsequently recognized by his election as the second president of that institution, a position he filled continuously for twenty-eight years. After the bank was founded he took full charge and acted as cashier for period, until the business was in proper running order. Under his energetic, careful and judicious guidance the First National grew in strength and popularity and won a high place among the solid financial institutions of the State. Mr. Robinson was a man of commendable public spirit and gave his support to every movement which he believed would advance the general welfare of the community. His conscientious devotion to duty, his sterling integrity, his high standing in business circles and his generous support of the church, won for him the confidence and respect of all classes.
In religion, Mr. Robinson was a member of St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal church from its organization up to the time of his death. He was one of the founders and organizers of that congregation, and for more than half a century a vestryman and senior warden. Josiah Emery, in his "Recollections of Early Life in Wellsboro," written in 1879, says: "John L. Robinson was the most efficient citizen in procuring the erection of the first church ever built in Wellsboro, St. Paul’s church, now standing. In the building of the church and the building and re-building of the rectory, no man has, I think, paid on the whole as much as Mr. Robinson." In early manhood he was a Democrat, later became a Whig, and on the formation of the Republican party he united with that organization and continued one of its most loyal supporters to the close of his life. He served as treasurer of Tioga county in 1844-45, but he cared little for public office, preferring to devote his energies and talents to the development of his adopted home and thus assist in the social and material prosperity of the county.
Mr. Robinson was married in 1832, to Miss Azubah Bowen, a daughter of Hezekiah Bowen, of Hartwick, New York, to which union was born seven children, four of whom grew to maturity as follows: J. Fred, who died April 28, 1885, aged fifty-one years; N. Azubah, widow of Lieut. George Dwight Smith, killed at the battle of South Mountain; Eugene H., who served as cashier of First National Bank for several years and died September 235, 1876, and James M., president of that institution from January, 1893, up to his death, August 6, 1896. Mrs. Robinson was a zealous Episcopalian from the organization of St. Paul’s church, with which she united at that time, and died June 20, 1888. Five years later, on January 11, 1893, her husband died, and was borne to the grave in Wellsboro Cemetery, where a substantial granite monument marks their last resting place.
JESSE MORSE ROBINSON, late president of the First National Bank of Wellsboro, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, was born in that borough May 17, 1853, and died August 6, 1896, having spent his entire life in his native town. He was the youngest son of John L. Robinson, inherited many of the strongest traits in his father’s character, and early developed an aptitude for business affairs not often found in so young a man. Educated in the Wellsboro High School, the Wesleyan Seminary and the Bryant and Stratton Business College, of New York City, he began clerking at the age of fifteen in the general store of C. & J. L. Robinson, and later entered a bookstore controlled by the same firm. In 1872 he became book-keeper in the First National Bank of Wellsboro, and after the death of his brother, Eugene H., in September, 1876, he was promoted to the position of cashier. This office he held until the death of his father in January, 1893, when he was elected president of that institution. During the latter years of his father’s life much of the responsibility in the general management of the bank devolved upon him, and upon his accession to the office of president he found very few duties with which he was not already familiar. In general business affairs he kept pace with the times, and conducted the business under his charge with more than ordinary breadth and liberality. While recognized as a careful and conservative investor, he never hesitated to follow his own judgment when once formed, and his timely assistance was appreciated by many a business man of Tioga county weighed down by financial troubles. Under the most trying circumstances he was cool and firm and it was seldom that he failed to untangle the most difficult financial matters.
Mr. Robinson was married October 15, 1873, to Ella Crowl, of Wellsboro, who died February 2, 1884, leaving two sons, Eugene H., and Frank C. On April 25, 1887, he was again united in marriage, with Hattie M. Willis, eldest daughter of Mrs. Caroline D. Willis, of Wellsboro, to which union were born two children, Dorothy and Jesse Morse. The widow and four children reside in Wellsboro. Mr. Robinson was a generous man and gave liberally of his means to charitable objects and business enterprises, besides giving his time and services as a director in many business undertakings. Upon the death of his father he came into the possession of a large estate, but this did not change his character. He was still the same plain, kind, modest and unobtrusive man as before. His daily life was pure, his conversation always chaste, and his inherent charity never permitted him to criticise his neighbor. In his home he was the ever kind, indulgent husband and loving father, while even the domestic pets of the family knew and welcomed him as their friend.
In politics, Mr. Robinson was a strong Republican, always took a deep interest in the success of his party, and served as treasurer of Wellsboro for about ten years preceding his death, and also filled the same office in the school board. He was a stockholder and director in the Wellsboro Water Company and a charter member of Alert Hose Company. He was a prominent member of the Masonic and I. O. O. F. societies, and a Knight Templar in Tyagaghton Commandery. In reliogion, he was a life-long adherent of St. Paul’s Protestant church of Wellsboro, and one of the largest contributors to its support, as well as to the building fund of the new church edifice now in course of erection. The vestry of St. Paul’s church adopted appropriate resolutions on his death, from which we copy the following tribute:
The death of Mr. Robinson has brought a deep sense of loss to a large circle of friends in Wellsboro and beyond, but especially to the parish to which he belonged and the vestry of which he was the efficient treasurer. We revere his memory for the interest he took in the welfare of the parish; for the careful attention he gave to the duties that devolved upon him as vestryman and treasurer; for his valuable advice and wise counsel; for the courtesy, cordiality and enthusiasm which he brought to bear upon every cause that he espoused, and for the upright character and unsullied name that he bore through life. We shall hold in grateful remembrance the financial aid which he gave to the parish and his bountiful contributions to the new church. We shall look back upon him as a Christian gentleman, an efficient parish officer, a trusted friend and brother, whose death we shall always mourn and wose memory we shall ever hold in affectionate esteem.
JOHN W. BAILEY was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, November 27, 1824, eldest son of Roswell and Julia A. (Rockwell) Bailey, pioneers of this county. His boyhood days were spent on his father’s farm and his primary education was obtained in the common schools of the district. But sixteen years old when his father died, he succeeded him in charge of the old homestead. In later years he purchased about 600 acres of land and engaged in cattle dealing, probably buying and shipping more stock than any other man in the northern tier during that period. In 1870 he removed to Wellsboro, where he soon became one of the prominent and enterprising citizens. He dealt extensively in agricultural implements and lumber for twenty years, and always gave the most liberal credits to his patrons. Mr. Bailey was a member of the firm that established the tannery at Stokesdale, and was an active agent in the building of the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim, and the Pine Creek railroads, being a director of the latter company. He was also a director in the United States Glass Company, and one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Wellsboro, in which institution he was an honored and trusted director until his death. Always ready and willing to take a leading part in every public enterprise which he believed would promote the interest of Wellsboro, and ever on the alert to encourage any project that might add to the general welfare of his native county, Mr. Bailey won the admiration, respect and confidence of the whole people. He was eminently adapted to command the co-operation and support of his fellowmen, as he always went into whatever he undertook with earnestness, enthusiasm and confidence, thus inspiring others with his own sentiments. Possessing unbounded public spirit, whole-souled generosity and broad charity, he never turned a deaf ear to the cry of suffering or distress. A warm, consistent friend of the working classes, he was honored and trusted by them to the close of his life. While accumulating a large estate, he gave liberally to religion, charity and education, and was one of the most generous citizens of Wellsboro throughout his long and active business career. Mr. Bailey wielded a wide influence in the local councils of the Democratic party, and was a stalwart in his fealty to its principles and candidates. He was chairman of the county committee a number of years, represented the county in several state conventions, and was a delegate to the national convention at Chicago in 1892. He served in the borough council several terms, and also filled the offices of burgess and school director, always taking a deep interest in the growth of the public school system.
On Christmas Day, 1843, Mr. Bailey married Margaret L. Lewis, a daughter of Thomas Lewis, of Charleston township. She was born October 17, 1827, and died November 19, 1883, after a happy companionship of nearly forty years. They became the parents of twelve children, ten of whom grew to an adult age as follows: Eva A., wife of Dr. M. L. Bacon, of Wellsboro; Edward, deceased; Llewellyn L., of Wellsboro; Ada B., deceased wife of Louis Doumaux; Morton S., a resident of Colorado; Lloyd J., of California; Leon O., who lives in Indiana; Lee M., deceased; Fred W., a resident of Denver, and Mildred L. On November 28, 1889, Mr. Bailey married Mrs. Julia McClelland, a daughter of Michael Dunkle, of Jersey Shore, who yet survives. He died July 12, 1892, soon after his return from the Democratic National Convention, and was buried with Masonic honors, as he was a member of Ossea Lodge, No. 317, F. & A. M. The whole community sincerely mourned the death of one whose place could not be easily filled—a man whose warm, friendly greeting and substantial assistance brought sunshine into many a weary and discouraged heart. On the day of his funeral the stores and shops in Wellsboro were closed and a large delegation of workingmen marched in the funeral procession as a mark of respect to his memory.
LLEWELLYN L. BAILEY was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, January 30, 1849, a son of John W. Bailey, and grandson of Roswell Bailey. He was educated in the public schools and at Mansfield State Normal, and when seventeen years of age entered a drug store in Blossburg, where he clerked three years. He then came to Wellsboro and worked for his father two years, at the end of which time he established a feed and supply store at Antrim. Two years later he sold out and entered the first National Bank of Wellsboro as a book-keeper, which position he filled from 1873 to 1882. In 1880 he was elected a director and served until July, 1896. He was made assistant cashier in 1882 and acted as such until January 1, 1893, when he became a cashier, and occupied that position until October, 1894, when he resigned to take charge of the estate of Philip Williams. In January, 1897, he was elected vice-president of the Wellsborough National Bank. Mr. Bailey married Elizabeth C. Hill, a daughter of Rev. H. F. Hill, of Lindley, New York. Seven children blessed this union, named as follows: Mabel E., deceased; Arthur L., book-keeper for Mathers, Graves & Company; Harry F., Margaret L., John W., Edith A. and Catherine E. Mrs. Bailey died June 11, 1888, and he was again married to Carrie J. Hastings, a daughter of E. H. Hastings, of Wellsboro. The family are adherents of the Baptist church, and in politics, Mr. Bailey is a Democrat. He has filled the offices of school director and councilman for two terms each, and is one of the enterprising and progressive citizens of his native county.
HON. MORTON S. BAILEY was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, July 2, 1855, a son of John W. Bailey, and was reared on the homestead farm. Removing to Wellsboro with his parents in 1870, he attended the Wellsboro High School and later followed teaching for a short period. He graduated at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1880, and soon after went to Colorado, where he began at once the study of law, and was admitted to practice in August, 1882. He soon developed into political prominence and was elected to the State Senate by the Democratic party in a district at that time largely Republican. After serving one session, he was elected in the autumn of 1891, judge of the Eleventh Judicial district and resigned his seat in the Senate to go upon the bench. Judge Bailey was re-elected in 1894, as the candidate of the Democrats and Populists. The Eleventh district had heretofore been Republican, and his election twice in succession was high tribute to his worth and popularity. Judge Bailey is recognized in his State as a lawyer of solid legal attainments and unquestioned integrity, and he has won a high reputation for the impartiality and fairness of his decisions. In the fall of 1896 he was the Democratic nominee for governor of Colorado, but failed of election.
LEON O. BAILEY was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, June 21, 1857, and was educated in the public schools of Wellsboro and at Cornell University. He later removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he studied law in the office of Baker, Hord & Hendricks, and was admitted to the bar of Marion county at the age of twenty-three. In 1886 he was elected to the State Senate, as a Democrat, and served one term as assistant to the attorney general of Indiana. He was subsequently the Democratic nominee for Congress in that district, and also served as city solicitor of Indianapolis, in which city he still resides.
JULIUS M. BAILEY, second son of Clark W. Bailey, was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, March 30, 1835, was educated in the common schools, and has followed agriculture the greater portion of his life. He also operated for a time a saw and grist-mill in his native township. On February 11, 1856, he married Eunice Benedict, a daughter of Marcus and Lucy (Jennings) Benedict, of Charleston township, to which union have been born five children, viz: Ransom W., Alice E., deceased wife of Garrett Campbell; Flora A., who died in infancy; Lucy B., wife of Frank Rockwell, and Lora V., wife of Peter L. Abrams. In January, 1893, Mr. Bailey and his son, ransom W., purchased their present business in Wellsboro, and in April, 1894, he removed his family to that borough, where he has since carried on the wagon, farm implement and harness business.
RANSOM W. BAILEY, eldest child of Julius M. Bailey, was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, October 24, 1857, and obtained his education in the public schools and the State Normal School of Mansfield. He afterwards taught school for two years, and for the following three years worked on his father’s farm, and then purchased a farm in Charleston township, upon which he lived seven years. Forming a partnership with his uncle, Clark B. Bailey, he went to Elkland and engaged in the foundry and agricultural implement business, which he followed three years. On January 1, 1893, he and his father purchased their present business in Wellsboro, where they have since been engaged as dealers in wagons, farm implements, harness, etc. Mr. Bailey was married June 23, 1879, to Lena Partridge, a daughter of Chester and Rachel Partridge, of Charleston township, and has four children, viz: Edith M., Eunice, Julius and Catherine. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Bailey is connected with the Knights of Honor.
ELLIS M. BODINE was born in Jersey Shore, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1801, a son of Isaac and Catherine (Casper) Bodine. His father came from New Jersey with the Mannings in the last decade of the Eighteenth century, and settled in Jersey Shore, Lycoming county, where both he and wife died. Ellis M. was the third in a family of seven children. He grew to manhood in his native town, where he attended the public schools in boyhood, and learned the tanner’s trade with Abram Lawshe, of that place. In 1827 he married Margaret Shearer, a daughter of James Shearer, an early settler of Lycoming county, and in 1828 came to Wellsboro and purchased the Joseph Fish tannery. He conducted this business until 1846, when he erected a larger building, in which he carried on the business up to 1848, when the plant was burned. He then became a farmer, and followed agriculture until five years before his death, when he sold the farm to his son, Abram L., and retired from active labor. Nine children were born of his marriage with Margaret Shearer, as follows: Sarah E., wife of Dr. H. S. Greeno, of Kansas City, Mo.; Isaac M. and Abram L., residents of Wellsboro; Ellis B., who died at the age of fifty-six; Ellen A., widow of Rev. M. F. DeWitt; Catherine A., wife of John W. Wright, of Washington, D. C.; Lewis T., a resident of Chicago; Robert W., of Wellsboro and Margaret A., wife of Charles M. Moore, of Williamsport. Mrs. Bodine died February 3, 1845, in her thirty-third year, having been born March 2, 1812. Mr. Bodine was again married to Aurilla H. Coolidge, a daughter of Amos Coolidge, who bore him two children: Henry F., of Billings, Montana, and Ida, who died at the age of twenty-five years. Mr. Bodine died in Wellsboro, August 14, 1889, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. His widow resides with Abram L. Bodine, of Wellsboro, and is in her eightieth year. Mr. Bodine was active in the cause of education, and the part he took in organizing the first common schools in the borough will be found related in the chapter on the schools of Wellsboro. He was also foremost in promoting the interests of his adopted home, and lived long enough to see it become a thrifty and prosperous town.
ISAAC M. BODINE, a son of Ellis M. and Margaret (Shearer) Bodine, was born in Wellsboro, Tioga county, February 4, 1830, and was educated in the common schools of the borough. From 1848 to 1850 he clerked in the store of C. & J. L. Robinson, and during the years 1850 and 1851 he traveled through the South. Upon his return to Wellsboro he accepted the position of superintendent of the mines at Blossburg, where he had charge of the company store and also acted as paymaster for eight years. In 1860 he returned to Wellsboro and built the saw-mill on Queen street, now operated by S. A. Hiltbold. The same year he also purchased the farm in the northwestern part of the borough upon which he now lives, and during recent years has devoted his attention to farming. Mr. Bodine was married September 9, 1863, to Mary E. Stowell, a daughter of Hezekiah and Anna Stowell, and has two children, viz: Anna, wife of Clarence E. Shumway, of Corning, and Mayne C., and employe of the Fall Brook Coal Company in the same city. Mrs. Bodine died January 26, 1976, aged thirty-five years. In politics, Mr. Bodine was an old line Whig until the organization of the Republican party, with which he has since affiliated. In religion he is an adherent of the Protestant Episcopal church. He has served a number of years as deputy sheriff, fifteen years as a justice of the peace, and has filled various borough offices.
ABRAM L. BODINE was born in Wellsboro, Tioga county, October 9, 1832, and is the second son of Ellis M. and Margaret Bodine. He attended the public schools of his native town, and when twenty-one years of age began clerking in a general store at Blossburg, where he later engaged in merchandising, which he followed about thirteen years. He was also in the hotel business at Blossburg and Morris for a period. In 1882 he purchased the homestead farm from his father, and two years later sold it and bought his present one in Delmar, now occupied by his son, William T., and finally took up his residence in Wellsboro, where he now lives. Mr. Bodine was married February 3, 1855, to Julia A. Tillotson, a daughter of Napoleon B. Tillotson, of Delaware county, New York, born February 3, 1839. Five children are the fruits of this union, viz: Ada M., William T., Frederick M., Catherine J. and Henry E. Mr. and Mrs. Bodine are members of the Presbyterian church. In politics, he is independent, and is connected with the Patrons of Husbandry.
WILLIAM T. BODINE, eldest son of Abram L. Bodine, was born in Wellsboro, Tioga county, August 15, 1861, and obtained a public school education. He has devoted his entire attention to farming, and has charge of his father’s farm in Delmar. On January 4, 1882, he married Ettie G. Wilkins, a daughter of Alva Wilkins, of Morris, and has three children: Alfred W., Josephine M., and Julia C. Mr. Bodine and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and also of the Patrons of Husbandry. In politics, he is a Democrat, and one of the enterprising farmers of Delmar.
FRED M. BODINE, D. D. S., was born in Wellsboro, Tioga county, September 23, 1867, a son of Abram L. Bodine, and grandson of Ellis M. Bodine. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and graduated in dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1892. He opened an office in Wellsboro, in June, 1892, where he has since devoted his attention to the duties of his profession, and has built up a good practice. Dr. Bodine was married on August 23, 1893, to Adelaide Shaw, a daughter of Rev. A. C. Shaw, of Wellsboro. He is a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the dental fraternity, Delta Sigma Delta, and Edwin T. Darby Dental Society of Philadelphia, and both he and wife are members of the Presbyterian church.
ERASTUS P. DEANE, a native of Petersham, Massachusetts, born November 26, 1809, was a son of Daniel and Jerusha (Houghton) Deane. His father was born in Petersham, in 1771, a son of Jeremiah Deane, a native of Dedham, Massachusetts, and spent about eighty years of his life on a farm in his native State. He died at the home of his son, Erastus P., in Delmar township, Tioga county, October 10, 1866, aged ninety-five years. Erastus P. was reared on a farm, and received an academic education, devoting particular attention to the acquisition of the knowledge of surveying, a business he followed throughout his whole life. In a letter written to a friend in 1879, Mr. Deane tells how he came to settle in Tioga county. He says:
I came to Wellsboro April 25, 1834, very much broken in health. I left Petersham, Worcester county, Massachusetts, with the design of spending the summer somewhere among the Allegheny hills, and fetched up at Wellsboro. As my health was somewhat improved, I agreed to take charge of the Academy three months, designing at that time to go south in the early autumn. The three months’ engagement having expired, and no teacher having been employed, I agreed to continue the school a month and a half longer. At the expiration of that time—October 12, 1834—I was so much mended up that I went into the woods with my compass, where I have been most of the time since.
He had received a fine education, which not only qualified him for teaching, but surveying also. He purchased a farm in Delmar, and June 29, 1837, he married Mary E. McEwen, a native of Philadelphia, eldest daughter of John McEwen, also of Delmar township. He went to work with a will and cleared a fine farm which he took great pleasure in cultivating, as his tastes ran largely to agriculture. His profession of land surveying led him into all the counties of northern and central Pennsylvania, and he acquired much knowledge regarding the location of surveys. One of his great natural gifts was his wonderfully retentive memory. It was in fact phenomenal, and was of invaluable service to him in his profession. His ability to recall dates and data, and to identify marks and localities in the woods, was remarkable; and then to make it doubly sure, his correctness was found to be so absolutely true, that no doubt was entertained when his statement was heard. Mr. Deane lived on his farm in Delmar until 1874, when he moved his family into Wellsboro, where he resided until his death, September 22, 1881, which was caused by injuries sustained by falling into a railroad culvert at Corning, New York, while on his way to Williamsport to attend court. His wife died April 30, 1879. When he came into the county his health was poor, but constant exercise in the pure mountain air, and on his farm, made him strong and vigorous. He was inclined to be reticent, and was somewhat retiring in his disposition, but he was possessed of extensive knowledge and his character was above reproach. He was appointed county surveyor in 1836 and served three years in that office. Mr. Deane and wife were the parents of the following named children: C. Augusta, wife of Henry Bacon, of Havanna, South Dakota; Darius L., of Wellsboro; Daniel A., deceased; Cecil A., a civil engineer of Denver, Colorado; Luella I., Caroline A., and Mary E., deceased wife of A. S. Cooper, of Black River Falls, Wisconsin.
DAVID STURROCK, one of the early and sturdy citizens of Wellsboro, was born in Forfarshire, Scotland, March 7, 1809. He learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner in his native country. When out of his apprenticeship he married Jane Sands, who was born in Scotland, August 25, 1811. She bore him eight children, as follows: A. G., a carpenter and builder of Wellsboro; Robert W., who enlisted in Company F, Fifth Reserve, was promoted to captain, and was killed at the battle of Gaines’ Mills, June 27, 1862, being then in his twenty-sixth year; Margaret, widow of William Roberts, of Wellsboro; Jane, a resident of Port Townsend, Washington; Barbara, wife of Darius L. Deane, of Wellsboro; William D., who enlisted February 24, 1864, in Company A, One Hundred and Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and who died at David’s Island Hospital, New York, August 20, 1864; Mary, deceased wife of W. J. Bowers, of Horseheads, New York, and George A., a resident of Port Townsend, Washington. In 1833 Mr. Sturrock came to America and in 1834 located in Wellsboro. He was recognized as one of the best practical builders of his time, and was respected for his honesty and integrity. Mrs. Sturrock died August 20, 1881, and he survived her until October 31, 1888.
SALMON SHERWOOD was born in Fairfield county, Connecticut, within the limits of the present city of Bridgeport, where his ancestors had lived continuously since 1645. Thomas Sherwood, founder of the family in America, was an Englishman who sailed from Ipswich, England, in 1634, landing at Plymouth the same year, whence he removed to Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1645, where he resided until his death. Salmon was of the sixth generation from Thomas Sherwood. He was a man of fair education, a surveyor, school teacher and farmer, and served in a Virginia regiment, with the rank of lieutenant, under Generals St. Clair and Wayne during the campaigns against the Indian tribes of Ohio. After the campaign of 1793, he was employed by the proprietors of the lands about the Boone settlement in Kentucky as a surveyor. While there he married a Miss Stanley, who was massacred by the Indians. They had one son, Stephen, who escaped. After a residence in Kentucky of some four years, he returned to Connecticut on horse-back, bringing his young son, then three years old, with him. On his way from the Susquehanna valley to the lake country in New York, he passed through Tioga county, over the Williamson road. His son, Stephen, was killed or died in the naval service during the War of 1812. Salmon Sherwood was again married in 1797, to Phoebe Burritt, and by this marriage reared a family of nine sons and two daughters. Farming and surveying were his principal occupations. He served several terms in the legislature and Senate of Connecticut, and was a captain in the War of 1812. The wants of a growing family induced him to seek a new country where land was cheaper, and he removed from Connecticut to Chemung (now Schuyler) county, New York, in 1817, where he bought a large tract of new land. He gave his family such advantages as the schools of the period and neighborhood afforded. His eldest son, Burritt, was a graduate of a medical college and practiced his profession in New York City until his death, in 1854, at which time he was surgeon of the ill-fated steamer, Arctic, which sunk off Cape Race in the fall of 1854. Dr. Sherwood was detained at home by sickness and died about the same time the vessel was lost. Three of his sons, Charles, Henry and Julius, became lawyers, the last two being well-known residents of Wellsboro, Tioga county, at their death. Charles died at Messina, Sicily, in 1846, where he was then serving as United States Consul. One son, Walter, was educated at West Point Military Academy, and was killed in Florida during the Seminole war. Another son, George, was an engineer and died in New Orleans, from sickness contracted during the Mexican War; while Stanley, Rollin and James were farmers, the first of whom died in Tioga county. Salmon Sherwood died in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, in 1853, aged eighty-four years. His wife, Phoebe, died in Schuyler county, New York, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Hinman, in 1872, aged ninety-six years. Four of their sons died in the service of the government, and during the Rebellion every one of their surviving sons and grandsons of military age were in the Union army or represented there. Two of their children still survive, viz: James, of Bradford county, aged eighty-six years, and Mrs. Phoebe Hinman, aged ninety years, who lives in Schuyler county, New York.
WILLIAM HARRISON was one of the pioneer carpenters of Wellsboro, Tioga county, coming here a single man in 1833, where he at once found employment on the stone court house, then in course of erection. He was a native of New Jersey, and soon after his advent in Wellsboro he married Catherine Meek, a daughter of Leonard and Mary Meek, natives of England, whence the family immigrated to Pennsylvania. Her father was one of the early tailors and merchants of Wellsboro, coming here in 1833, where he conducted business for many years. Mrs. Harrison was born in England, October 10, 1816. She became the mother of seven children, viz: Jefferson, a lawyer, of Wellsboro; Mary, Albert, deceased; Sarah, Leonard, president of the First National Bank of Wellsboro, and William and Catherine, both of whom died in childhood. Mr. Harrison continued the business of carpenter and builder for a number of years, but later purchased a farm in Delmar and lived in that township for quite a long period. Returning to Wellsboro, he spent his declining years in the family home on Main street, now occupied by his widow, where he died January 18, 1885, aged eighty-four years. Mr. Harrison was a life-long member of the Presbyterian church, to which denomination his widow belongs. He was a good neighbor and an honest man, and is kindly remembered by the community among whom the greater portion of his life was passed.
LEONARD HARRISON, president of the First National Bank of Wellsboro, was born in that borough, January 10, 1850, a son of William and Catherine Harrison, and has spent his entire life in his native county. He attended the public schools until the age of fifteen, and then began clerking in the postoffice under Hon. Hugh Young. He subsequently worked with his father at the carpenter business up to 1878, and the following six years was clerk in the commissioners’ office. In the meantime he had devoted some attention to lumbering, and in 1883 went into the coal business, with which he was connected over ten years. His principal success, however, has been attained in the lumber business, which he has prosecuted with energy and remarkable judgment for several years, being now recognized as one of the most successful lumbermen in Tioga county. As a tribute to his business and financial prominence and integrity, Mr. Harrison was chosen in August, 1896, president of the First National Bank, to succeed the late Jesse M. Robinson. On July 2, 1882, he married Miss Mary Green, a daughter of Peter and Agnes Green, of Delmar township, to which union have been born three children: Emily, deceased; Kate and George. The family are Presbyterians in religious belief. The handsome new church of that denomination in Wellsboro was erected under the personal supervision of Mr. Harrison, and owes much to his generous liberality and knowledge of the builder’s art. He is a member of the board of trustees, and takes a deep interest in the Sabbath-school, as well as in all else pertaining to the church. In politics, he has always been a Republican, and has filled the office of school director nine years, also that of burgess, collector and borough clerk.
ROBERT C. SIMPSON was born in the village of Moffat, Dumfrieshire, Scotland, Septemeber 27, 1823. His father was an Englishman and his mother a native of Scotland. In August, 1834, the family came to the United States and settled at Silver Lake, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, Robert being then about eleven years old. At the age of fourteen he began clerking in a general store at Montrose and he subsequently became a teacher in the Montrose Academy. Here he was married in his twenty-first year, and two years later the young couple came to Wellsboro, Tioga county, where Mr. Simpson found employment as a clerk in the office of the, he has always been a Republican, and has filled the office of school director nine years, also that of burgess, collector and borough clerk.
ROBERT C. SIMPSON was born in the village of Moffat, Dumfrieshire, Scotland, Septemeber 27, 1823. His father was an Englishman and his mother a native of Scotland. In August, 1834, the family came to the United States and settled at Silver Lake, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, Robert being then about eleven years old. At the age of fourteen he began clerking in a general store at Montrose and he subsequently became a teacher in the Montrose Academy. Here he was married in his twenty-first year, and two years later the young couple came to Wellsboro, Tioga county, where Mr. Simpson found employment as a clerk in the office of the Bingham estate, which position he filled one year. Returning to Montrose he engaged in merchandising. About 1850 he moved to Towanda, Bradford county, and became teller in the bank of LaPort, Mason & Company, and five years later went to Scranton to accept the cashiership in the bank of Mason, Meylert & Company, which he held three years. He then returned to Wellsboro and became chief clerk in the Bingham office. When William B. Clymer went to Europe, in 1869, Mr. Simpson had charge of the business, and after the death of Mr. Clymer he succeeded him as agent and attorney of the estate. From that time until his death he discharged the duties of this responsible position with characteristic zeal, unflagging industry, sound judgment and strict integrity, winning not only a well-earned competence, but the confidence and esteem of those for whom he acted. He was a proficient accountant and an accurate and methodical business man. Having a great deal of land business to transact, in the matter of titles and conveyances, he was admitted to the bar of Tioga county, ex gratia, in 1880, a compliment he highly esteemed. He also took a deep interest in the bar association and was one of its most liberal and useful members. Prior to the Rebellion Mr. Simpson was a Democrat, but at that time he became a Republican. He remained a faithful supporter of the Republican party the balance of his life, and was chairman of the county committee in 1874. In early manhood he was an Odd Fellow, and in later years became a Mason. He was a member of the committee that revised the constitution of the Grand Lodge, at which period he was one of the leading members of the Masonic order in northern Pennsylvania.
Mr. Simpson’s hearty and enduring love of Nature, animate and inanimate, was one of the dominant traits of his character. He was a sympathetic friend of the birds and animals of every kind, and could not brook the least cruelty to even the humbler members of Nature’s family. Such a man was naturally a generous friend of poor, suffering humanity, quick to discern and prompt to relieve distress. He gave without ostentation and as secretly as possible, and any reference to his benefactions was sure to be rebuked. Frank, outspoken, honest and truthful, he could not tolerate any attempt at deception or trickery on the part of others. Mr. Simpson was a well-informed man, a close observer of men and events, and possessed a sound and cultivated taste for good literature. A discriminating buyer of choice books, he accumulated through the passing years a fine library and was thoroughly familiar with its contents. His old home, standing in a dense grove of pines, has been long regarded as one of the landmarks of Wellsboro. Here he passed to eternal rest, April 15, 1893, leaving a widow and three daughters, his only son having died several years before.
COL. ALANSON E. NILES, a son of Nathan Niles, Jr., was born October 5, 1816, and grew to manhood in this county, where his father settled in 1796. He was among the first to respond to his country’s call, and was early in the field as captain of Company E, of the "Bucktails." At Drainsville he was severely wounded by being shot through the lungs. After recovering he hastened back to his regiment. At Gaines Hill he was taken prisoner with Companies D and E, and spent forty-nine days in Libby Prison, when they were exchanged. He was promoted to the rank of major, March 1, 1863, and on the fifteenth of May following he was made lieutenant colonel of the regiment. It was while with the "Bucktails" in their charge on Little Round Top, Gettysburg, that he was wounded in the left thigh. He was afterward transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps and promoted to the rank of colonel. On the night President Lincoln was assassinated, he was in Ford’s Theater and heard the pistol shot. Colonel Niles participated in many battles and was recognized as one of the "bravest of the brave." During the Grand Review in Washington he was officer of the day and had full military charge of the city on that memorable occasion. He was commissioned a captain in the regular army and for three years was stationed at Plattsburg, New York, as commandant of the military barracks. In 1869 he was retired on account of disability, by reason of his wounds, with the rank and pay of a captain, and he took up his residence in Wellsboro, where he died October 8, 1891.
GEN. ROBERT CORSON COX is one of the oldest, most respected and best known citizens of Wellsboro. He is a native of Fairfield township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, where he was born November 18, 1833, a son of William and Hannah (Corson) Cox, the former a native of Montour county, of Irish ancestry, and the latter of Lycoming county, of German-Quaker stock. His parents removed to Delmar township, Tioga county, when Robert C. was about two months old, where they lived some twelve years and then returned to their former home in Lycoming county. In April, 1841, the family again came to this county and settled near the site of Liberty borough. Here the mother died in May, 1842, and the father in February, 1856. Robert c. was in his eighteenth year when his parents located in Liberty township, and had spent his boyhood assisting them on the farm, attending the common schools during the winter seasons and enduring the trials and hardships of those early days. On April 7, 1846, he married Lydia Ann Wheeland, a daughter of George and Mary K. Wheeland, of Liberty, whose ancestors were pioneers of Loyalsock township, Lycoming county, whence her parents removed to Liberty township, Tioga county, in 1827. Three children blessed this union, as follows: Henry C., cashier of the First National Bank of Wellsboro; Mary E., deceased wife of Jacob K. Richards, and Carrie M., deceased wife of Alfred P. Dartt. After his marriage Mr. Cox took charge of the homestead farm, on which his father had paid $500, but on account of a defective title our subject was compelled to repurchase the property. Here he lived, clearing the land and tilling the soil, until 1854, when he sold the farm and embarked in merchandising and lumbering at Liberty, which business he followed until entering the army in 1862. In the meantime he had served six years as orderly sergeant of a volunteer cavalry company, and was brigade inspector of militia, with the rank of major, from 1854 up to the first year of the war.
On the breaking out of the Rebellion he at once took an active and prominent part in raising troops to defend the flag, some of which were not accepted, Pennsylvania’s quota being full. But in August, 1862, he went to Harrisburg with the drafted men from Tioga county, and on the organization of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Pennsylvania Volunteers he was elected major of the regiment, his commission dating November 18, 1862. This regiment served about one year, principally on garrison duty in North Carolina, and was mustered out at Harrisburg in August, 1863. In the summer of 1864 General Cox was authorized by Adjutant General Russell to raise a regiment, and the result of his efforts in that direction was the gallant Two Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, of which command he was commissioned colonel September 28, 1864. The regiment participated in the closing scenes of the war, including Hatcher’s Run, Fort Steadman, the assault on and capture of Petersburg, and the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. In March, 1865, while in front of Petersburg, the regiment presented General Cox with a horse and complete outfit, valued at $550, as a token of their appreciation of his soldierly qualities and the warm place he had in their affections. Its brave and efficient commander was brevetted brigadier general April 9, 1865, participated with his regiment in the grand review at Washington, D. C., was mustered out with his command at Alexandria, Virginia, may 31, 1865, and was discharged at Harrisburg on June 5 following. Returning to his home in Liberty, General Cox resumed the peaceful pursuits of merchandising and lumbering, and again became a plain American citizen.
In politics, General Cox was originally a Whig, casting his first vote for Henry Clay for president, and has been a consistent Republican since the organization of that party. He served as justice of the peace in Liberty from 1862 to 1867, and was postmaster of the borough from April, 1869, until the autumn of the same year, when he was elected treasurer of Tioga county, which office he filled one term. While still treasurer he was elected prothonotary and clerk of the court, November 13, 1872, and was re-elected six successive terms, serving in that office a period of twenty-one consecutive years. He has been a permanent resident of Wellsboro since the fall of 1872, and is widely known in northern Pennsylvania.
General Cox and wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal church for nearly half a century, and have lived to celebrate the golden anniversary of their marriage. Few men are more favorably known in this section of the State than this old veteran, whose unsullied integrity and clean military and official record have endeared him to the people of Tioga county. at his last election as prothonotary he received 9,302 votes, or fifty-eight more than the combined vote cast for Pattison and Delamater, and during the closing year of that term he was frequently urged by many leading men in different parts of the county to again be a candidate for the office which he had filled so long and faithfully, but he firmly declined, and retired to private life. Here in the happy companionship of his affectionate wife, his faithful helpmate through both sunshine and shadow, he is spending the sunset of a successful and honorable career in the enjoyment of the esteem and confidence of the entire community.
HON. HUGH YOUNG, the veteran bank examiner, has had a long and varied public career as correspondent, editor, legislator, bank examiner and president of the Wellsborough National Bank. He is a native of Killyleagh, County down, Ireland, born on the 14th of December, 1832, a twin brother of the late Thomas L. Young, ex-governor of Ohio. Their parentage, on both sides of the parental tree, were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, the Youngs and Kennedys having emigrated from Ayrshire, Scotland, to Ulster, Ireland in the Seventeenth century. When the twins were together, even in manhood, it was impossible for a stranger to distinguish them apart, so closely did they resemble each other.
Hugh immigrated to this county in 1850, and lived with his brother, the late Robert Kennedy Young, a prosperous farmer of Potter county, who sent him to the Coudersport Academy. Here we find him as clerk in a store for a year, and for three years afterwards as a law student with the late Hon. John S. Mann, supporting himself by teaching and surveying. Not having much fancy for the practice of law he never asked for admission to the bar, but turned his attention to journalism, writing his first letters to the New York Herald in 1855, describing the Norwegian colony on Kettle creek, the grand opening celebration of Oleona, and Ole Bull’s castle, topics which attracted much attention at that time.
In 1856 Mr. Young went with the congressional investigating committee to Kansas, of which Hon. John Sherman was chairman, as correspondent of the New York Tribune, and was an eye witness of many of the guerrilla fights between the Free State forces under John Brown and Gen. Jim Lane, and the Border Ruffians under Stringfellow, Richardson and others; and his letters signed "Potter" were quoted by every newspaper and every orator either in denunciation or approval during the heated presidential campaign of that year.
In April, 1856, George W. Brown, the editor of the Herald of Freedom, at Lawrence, the first Republican newspaper published in the territory of Kansas, was arrested for treason, with four others, and confined at Lecompton. At Brown’s request Mr. Young took charge of the paper as associate editor and continued its publication until it was destroyed by a mob, May 21, and continued as associate editor for a year after the paper was re-established. His health failing through malaria, Mr. Young returned to his old home in Pennsylvania, and became book-keeper in the office of the Bingham estate at Coudersport, where he remained until December, 1859, when he purchased the Agitator at Wellsboro. During the war for the Union Mr. Young made his newspaper a household necessity in nearly every Tioga county family, by engaging a correspondent in every regiment and in nearly every company in which Tioga county soldiers were enlisted.
In 1862 he sold the Agitator to the founder, M. H. Cobb, and went into business as a bookseller and insurance agent. In 1876 he was elected to the legislature, but resigned in May, 1877, to accept the office of national bank examiner. He was removed for political reasons in February, 1888, and in the fall of that year he founded the Wellsborough National Bank. In 1889 he was a candidate for comptroller of the currency, but failed to get the appointment. In November, 1891, he was called into the public service again as special bank examiner, and by unanimous petition of the bankers of Pittsburg he was assigned for duty in that city by the comptroller of the currency.
Mr. Young has always taken a lively interest in the social, moral, industrial, civic, and literary life of the people of the borough in which he has resided for so many years. He has been honored by his fellow citizens in being chosen to many local positions of responsibility and trust.
In politics Mr. Young has always been a Republican, and cast his first vote (1854) for Gov. James Pollock, who appointed him on his military staff as an aid-de-camp with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was a delegate from the territory of Kansas to the first Republican National Convention at Philadelphia in 1856, which nominated General Fremont, and he was also a delegate from the Sixteenth Congressional district of Pennsylvania to the Republican National Convention at Chicago, in 1888, which nominated Harrison and Reid. In 1861 he was appointed postmaster at Wellsboro and served five years, and in 1862 he was appointed consul to Santa Cruz, which honor he declined.
Although slightly lame by reason of an accident in early youth, Mr. Young volunteered as an Emergency Man in 1863, when Lee’s forces invaded the State, and was accepted as a private in Company F, Thirty-fifth Volunteer Militia; was sworn into the United States service; was promoted to the staff as first lieutenant and quartermaster, and served until the regiment was mustered out.
In 1884, on motion of Hon. M. F. Elliott, Mr. Young was admitted to the bar of Tioga county, ex gratia, on the unanimous petition of the members as a mark of their esteem. Mr. Young was married September 22, 1859, to Lois Ann, second daughter of A. H. Butterworth, of Coudersport, Pennsylvania, and they have three sons, Robert Kennedy, Hugh Carlisle, and Thomas Lowry. Mrs. Young is a niece of the late Hon. David Wilmot, of Towanda, Pennsylvania.
EDWARD G. SCHIEFFELIN, superintendent of the Stokesdale tannery, was born in Charleston township, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, March 26, 1836, and is a son of Dr. Jacob Schieffelin, a pioneer settler and lumberman of that township, and later a resident of Tioga borough. He was educated in the public schools and at Alfred Academy, Allegany county, New York, and at the age of twenty began merchandising in Tioga, as a member of the firm of Baldwin, Lowell & Company, continuing from December, 1856, to March, 1861. In September, 1861, he raised Company H, Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served as its captain until after the battle of South Mountain, when he was promoted to major for meritorious service. He also participated in the battles of James Island, Antietam and Fredericksburg, besides numerous skirmishes. Owing to ill health, he resigned January 10, 1863, and returned home. When Lee invaded Pennsylvania he went out as lieutenant colonel of the Thirty-fifth regiment, Emergency Men, and served six weeks. He was subsequently appointed a deputy provost marshal for Tioga county, which office he filled until the close of the war. After his return to Tioga he engaged in the lumber business, but soon went to New York, where he filled the position of salesman in a wholesale dry-goods house for three years. In 1871 he became a member of the firm of Bailey, Lowell & Company, his partners being John W. Bailey, F. K. Wright and O. B. Lowell, founders of the Stokesdale tannery, Mr. Wright and himself being the managers. In 1880 Bailey and Wright sold out to William H. Humphrey, and the firm became Schieffelin & Company. In October, 1883, the Wellsboro Leather Company (Limited) was organized, with a capital of $200,000, and the plant and grounds became its property. In May, 1893, the control was transferred to the Union Tanning Company, in which Mr. Schieffelin is a stockholder and director. He has filled the position of superintendent since 1891, and is the only one of the original founders now connected with the enterprise. On April 8, 1878, Mr. Schieffelin married Barbara Duttenhaffer, of Wellsboro, who died in July of the same year. On June 15, 1881, he married Elizabeth M. Schmitt, of Elmira. To this union was born one son, George Girard, June 3, 1884. The mother died July 15, 1884. He was married to his present wife October 17, 1894. She was a Miss Mary Sommerville, and is the mother of one daughter, Mary S., born in October, 1895. Mr. Schieffelin is a thorough business man and possesses high executive ability. His successful career has been due to close attention to business details and an accurate knowledge of all the minutiae of the enterprise with which his name has been so closely associated for more than a quarter of a century. In politics, he has been a life-long Republican; was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1881, and is recognized as a man of marked influence in the party councils of this congressional district.
HENRY JACKSON LANDRUS was born in Blossburg, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, September 16, 1839, a son of Washington and Lucinda (Granger) Landrus, and was reared in his native town. He attended the public schools of Blossburg in boyhood, and began his business career by assisting his father in supplying prop timber for the mines in the vicinity of his home. At the age of sixteen we find him engaged in clerking and weighing coal at the Morris Run mines, thus assisting his parents in the support of a large family. Here he was married to Mary E. Evans, a daughter of John Evans, of Blossburg, June 16, 1862. Believing that his country needed his services, he enlisted August 30, 1862, in Company G, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and leaving his young wife went to the front in defense of the flag. On April 3, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant-major and served with his regiment until May 5, 1864, when he was shot through the right arm at the battle of the Wilderness and captured by the rebels. For about nine months he suffered all the horrors of imprisonment at Andersonville, and was then exchanged and rejoined his regiment, with which he served until honorably discharged May 31, 1865. Returning to Blossburg he resumed the duties of civil life. His executive ability and sound business judgment finally attracted the attention of F. N. Drake, then the leading spirit in the development of the mines at Arnot, who in march, 1868, appointed Mr. Landrus book-keeper and paymaster for the Blossburg Coal Company at that place, and in 1872 general superintendent, which position he filled until May 1, 1876, when he resigned. In 1879 he was elected on the Republican ticket sheriff of Tioga county, but in 1881 he virtually resigned the office and again assumed the responsibilities of general manager at Arnot. When the Arnot mines became the property of the Erie Railway Company, Mr. Landrus resigned the superintendency and engaged in the lumber business, as a member of the firm of Drake, Landrus & Drake, with which he was connected up to his death. He removed from Arnot to Antrim in the spring of 1885, and in 1891 took up his residence in Wellsboro, where he died October 16, 1896, leaving a widow and nine children to mourn his loss. His children are as follows: Mary, wife of Frank H. Dartt; Flora, wife of W. L. Beverson; John L., Harry J., George, Nellie, Lou, Bessie and Paul.
Mr. Landrus was a prominent factor in the development of his native county, and his busy, successful career is a bright example to his fellowmen. A respected and honored citizen, he enjoyed the confidence of the whole community, as exemplified by the many positions of trust and responsibility which he so creditably filled at different periods in his life. In January, 1893, he was chosen president of the Wellsborough National Bank and served in that capacity up to December, 1895, when he resigned. He was quite prominent in the councils of the Republican party and was a delegate from this district to the National Convention at St. Louis, which nominated McKinley and Hobart as the Republican standard bearers. In politics, as well as in business, he was plain, outspoken and fearless, yet charitable and always tolerant of the opinions of others. As a son, he watched over the declining years of his aged parents with the greatest solicitude, and as a husband and father he was kind, loving and generous. His unostentatious charity, genial manner and warm-hearted friendship won him the respect of the community. He was a member of the school board and board of health in Wellsboro, and secretary of the board of trustees of Cottage State Hospital, all of which passed warm resolutions at his death, extolling his high character and clean record as a public official and private citizen.
ANTON HARDT, general superintendent of the Fall Brook Coal Company, was born in Vienna, Austria, march 27, 1839, a son of Anton and Elizabeth (Jacobi) Hardt. He was educated in his native city; graduated from the I. R. Polytechnic Institute, of Vienna, and the I. R. School of Mines, at Leoben, Styria, and in 1860 was appointed by the Austrian government assistant teacher in the latter institution, where he remained two years. He then resigned to accept the more practical position of mining engineer at the coal mines of Prevali, Carinthia. In 1863 he accepted the position of mining engineer and superintendent at the extensive coal mines of Sagor, Carniola. This he resigned in June, 1865, and in September of that year he came to the United States and found employment as a civil engineer on the Philadelphia and Erie railroad, with headquarters at Williampsort, Pennsylvania, where he remained up to 1867. He then resigned to take charge of the survey of the Wellsboro and Lawrenceville railroad, and on the death of Mr. Brewer he was made mining engineer at Fall Brook, Tioga county, also serving as chief engineer of the Wellsboro and Lawrenceville railroad up to 1873. On January 1, 1873, Mr. Hardt was appointed superintendent of the mine at Fall Brook and Antrim, and in the fall of 1875, he was elected chief engineer of the Syracuse, Geneva and Corning railroad, which was completed under his supervision in November, 1877. In January, 1882, he was elected chief engineer of the Jersey Shore, Pine creek and Buffalo railroad, now the Pine creek railroad, but at his own request he was released from railroad work in March, 1890. Mr. Hardt is a stockholder and director in the Pine Creek Railroad Company; a director in the Tioga Improvement Company, and a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He has written and published numerous articles on geology and civil engineering in German and American journals, among them in the Scientific American, and the Railroad Gazette. Mr. Hardt was married December 2, 1866, to Miss Alvina Koch, a daughter of Augustus Koch, a well-remembered business man of South Williamsport. Six children bless this union, viz: Alice W., deceased; Minnie E., Edmond A., a clerk in the office of the Fall Brook Coal Company, at Antrim; Charles W., a student at the Pennsylvania State College; Annie B., and Albert F. Mrs. Hardt died September 3, 1890, aged forty-eight years. On Mary 22, 1894, he married for his second wife, in St. Peter’s church, Augustus Maine, Mrs. Florence Augusta Thurber, daughter of David Turk, of Addison, New York. She is the mother of two children, William H. and Emma Lilian, the former a telegraph operator at Wellsboro and the latter a musician of promise. Mr. Hardt is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and has been an active worker in the Wellsboro organization. He has been a member of the school board since 1887; president of the board of education for three years; is secretary of the board of health, and also a director in the First National Bank of Wellsboro. Mr. Hardt is one of the prominent and substantial citizens of Tioga county, a gentleman of broad, progressive and liberal ideas, and is held in high esteem by the community in which he has lived for more than a quarter of a century.
JOHN R. BOWEN was born in Owego, Tioga county, New York, December 15, 1818, a son of James and Jane (Westfall) Bowen. His father was a native of New England, but was reared in Warren township, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where the family settled before 1800. James Bowen married Jane Westfall, who became the mother of nine children. He followed the sea for a number of years, but later became a farmer and lumberman, and died in Owego, New York, in August, 1847. His widow died in 1885, aged eighty-nine years. When John R. was five months old his parents removed to Warren township, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, his father’s former home, and when he was nineteen they returned to Owego, New York. In 1851 he came to Cedar Run, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, where he embarked in merchandising and lumbering. In 1853 Mr. Bowen located in Wellsboro, but for thirteen years afterward retained his interest in the store in Cedar Run. After coming to Wellsboro he opened a store on the site of the Wellsborough National Bank, where he carried on business for sixteen years. He then built what is known as the Jacobson block, in which he continued business for a number of years. In 1869 he became a member of the lumber firm of Truman & Bowen, proprietors of the old Bodine mill on Queen street, which they operated for about twenty years. For several years past he has lived retired from active business. Mr. Bowen was married October 16, 1849, to Maria Ann Howland, a daughter of Marsena and Elizabeth (Holt) Howland. She was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, December 19, 1824. Two children are the fruits of this union, viz: James M., a resident of Wellsboro, and George W., of Rochester, New York. Mrs. Bowen’s father died in Berkshire, New York, in 1844, aged fifty years, and her mother at Cedar Run in 1856, aged sixty. In politics, Mr. Bowen was first a Whig, but became a Republican upon the formation of that party. In 1869 he was appointed assessor of internal revenue for the Eighteenth district, which position he held four years. He was then appointed collector of internal revenue, but not desiring the office he resigned in favor of John Burrows. In 1876 he was a Blaine delegate to the National Republican Convention at Cincinnati. He was elected county treasurer in 1880, and served three years. He filled the offices of deputy sheriff and constable in Tioga county, New York; also assistant burgess, member of council and tax collector in Wellsboro. Mr. Bowen was one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of Wellsboro, and for seventeen years a member of the board of directors. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and for thirty-four years he has been a member of the Masonic order.
CHARLES G. OSGOOD, a son of Hon. John and Olive (Grosvenor) Osgood, was born in Cincinnatus, Cortland county, New York, March 22, 1820, and is descended from John Osgood, a native of Hampshire, England, who settled in Andover, Massachusetts, about 1638. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in his native State, and there received a common school education. In 1840 he came to Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and located at Tiadaghton, on Pine creek, where he engaged in lumbering three or four years. In 1845 he removed to Wellsboro, and the following year he purchased the mercantile stock of Henry Graves. For more than forty years he carried on merchandising successfully, finally retiring from active business in 1890, in which year he sold out the stock. Mr. Osgood was married May 23, 1861, to Mary Josephine Todd, a native of North Haven, Connecticut, born February 6, 1833. She is a daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth (Clinton) Todd. Her father was born in North Haven, Connecticut, in 1794, and was descended from Christopher Todd and Grace Middlebrook, who were among the original settlers of New Haven colony in 1638. He was married in 1816 to Elizabeth Clinton, and moved to Newark Valley, New York, in 1834, where he was interested in the tanning business for some years, later purchased a farm and followed agriculture up to the time of his death. To Charles G. and Mary J. Osgood have been born three children, viz: Harry Winthrop, who is connected with the United Press office, in New York city; Mary Helen, wife of Dr. C. W. Webb, of Wellsboro, and Charles Grosvenor, a graduate of Yale College. Mr. Osgood united with the Presbyterian church of Wellsboro in 1856, and has filled the office of elder in that body since 1857. He has been superintendent of the Sunday-school for many years, and mainly through his efforts and financial assistance the Presbyterian Sunday-school library has developed into its present proportions. Mrs. Osgood has taken an active interest in church work, and for twenty-seven years has been organist and chorister of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Osgood is a Republican in politics; has been burgess of Wellsboro twice, and is one of the substantial citizens of the county.
WILLIAM ROBERTS, son of William and Betsey (Pratt) Roberts, was born at Canton, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, August 14, 1826. His father was a son of Nathan Roberts, and a native of Connecticut, born in January, 1796. In 1799 the family came to Canton, Pennsylvania, where William Roberts, Sr., grew to manhood and married Betsey Pratt. To this union were born sixteen children, eleven of whom grew to maturity, as follows: Mehitabel, wife of David R. Cole; Hannah, wife of Edward McClellan; Julius, deceased; William, who died in Wellsboro; Lyman, deceased; David P., a resident of Emmettsburg, Iowa; Mary Jane, who lives in Canton, Pennsylvania; Mariette, wife of Erastus Putnam of the same place; Asa, deceased; Viola, wife of Russell Ross, of DeSmet, South Dakota, and Valeria, wife of F. M. Baldwin. The parents both died on the homestead farm at Canton, in April, 1865, their deaths occurring within two days of each other. The subject of this sketch obtained a common school education, and spent his youth and young manhood on the home farm in Bradford county. in 1852 he went to California, remaining there two years. In the autumn of 1854 he came to Wellsboro and opened a hardware store in partnership with his brother, David P., the firm being D. P. & W. Roberts. In 1857 his brother retired from the business, which, with but a slight interruption, was carried on by our subject up to his death, march 22, 1897, being at the time the oldest merchant in Wellsboro. Mr. Roberts was married October 22, 1857, to Margaret Sturrock, a daughter of David and Jane Sturrock. Nine children have been born to this union, as follows: William H., deceased; Charles H., Mary B., wife of Alexander P. Cameron, of Manor, Pennsylvania; Lyman, a commercial traveler, who resides in Elmira; Edwin M., Margaret, Minnie Jane, deceased, Sarah, and Jessie, the last deceased. Mr. Roberts was a Republican since 1856, but was not active in politics, though he served in the borough council and as a school director. In religion, he was a member of the Presbyterian church. He was the last charter member of Ossea Lodge, No. 317, F. & A. M., and was also a charter member of Tyoga Chapter, No. 194, R. A. M., and of Tyagaghton Commandery, No. 28, K. T. Mr. Roberts’ long and successful business career was marked by a strict adherence to honorable business methods. He enjoyed the respect and esteem of the community, and during the forty-two years he lived in Wellsboro he was an active supporter of nearly every enterprise calculated to forward the growth and prosperity of the town.
WILLIAM H. ROBERTS, son of William and Margaret (Sturrock) Roberts, was born in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1858, and was educated in the borough schools, and graduated from the Pittsburg Commercial College. After his return to Wellsboro, he assisted his father in the store. He was an expert book-keeper and accountant, and soon obtained recognition as a wide-awake, public-spirited citizen, and a foremost advocate of everything tending to advance the place of his birth. In 1889 he was elected burgess and made a most excellent official, his duties being very arduous, owing to the disastrous June flood of that year. In 1891 he was elected a councilman and was filling that position at the time of his death. He was a prominent Mason, and a member of a number of other secret and civic societies. Mr. Roberts possessed, in a marked degree, those sterling traits of character that command respect and esteem. He was married October 12, 1882, to Dora Coles, a daughter of W. R. Coles, of Wellsboro. He died October 21, 1893. Two sons, William and Leon, and their mother survive the loss of a kind father and husband.
M. M. CONVERSE was born in Palmer, Massachusetts, February 15, 1822, and learned the tailor’s trade in his native State. He came to Wellsboro in 1843, where he continued to work at his trade. In 1848 he opened a clothing store and offered to his patrons the first stock of ready-made clothing brought to Wellsboro. After conducting business alone for some years, he formed a partnership with Mr. Osgood, and the firm of Converse & Osgood continued the business. About 1880 Mr. Converse retired, and died June 27, 1895. In 1865 he married Mrs. Juliet Sherwood, oldest daughter of Chester Robinson, to which union was born one son, Chester R. His widow died in Pasadena, California, April 24, 1897.
CHESTER R. CONVERSE, only child of M. M. and Juliet Converse, was born in Wellsboro, Tioga county, October 21, 1869. He attended the common schools of the borough and later took a course in Phillips’ Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and in the Elmira Business College. In 1889 he engaged in the hardware business in Wellsboro as a member of the firm of Nichols & Converse, but within a year he purchased his partner’s interest and continued the business alone for five years. On January 1, 1896, he became a member of the firm of Bailey & Converse, dealers in agricultural implements, etc. Mr. Converse was married June 27, 1893, to Emily Nichols, a daughter of Alfred I. Nichols, of Wellsboro. In politics, he is a Democrat, and is recognized as one of the substantial young business men of the borough.
JOHN MATHERS, SR., a native of County Londonderry, Ireland, immigrated to Chester county, Pennsylvania, about the close of the last century. Early in the present century he came to Tioga county and settled in Broughton Hollow, in the southeastern part of Delmar township, removing some years later to a farm about a mile southwest of Wellsboro. He married Jane McKeever, who bore him the following children: Charles, James, William, Robert, John, Jane, who married Gaylord Judd; Mrs. Daniel Kelsy; Eliza, who married Gates Wilcox; Mary, who married Benjamin Gitchell, and Rebecca, who married Frank Wetherbee, all of whom are dead. The parents passed the closing years of their lives on the homestead farm near Wellsboro.
JOHN MATHERS, son of John Mathers, Sr. was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, June 10, 1799, removed with his parents to Tioga county when about eleven years of age, and grew to manhood in Delmar township. In 1829 he went to Evansville, Indiana, and there married Eliza Jane Beecher, a daughter of Hopestill and Abigail (Rathbone) Beecher, pioneer settlers at Beecher’s Island, Tioga county. She was born in this county February 13, 1806, and became the mother of eleven children, viz: Sarah Jane, wife of Charles Herrington, of Delmar; William T., of Wellsboro; Mary Clorinda, widow of Dr. Luther W. Johnson, of Blossburg; Happylonia, deceased wife of H. H. Gibson, of New York; Emily B., wife of George Sullivan, of Cincinnati; Helen E., wife of Lewis Tompkins, of Fishkill, New York; Abigail B., a resident of Wellsboro; John, Jr., a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana; Phoebe A., deceased wife of B. F. Werline, of Liberty; Charles C. and Marion H., both of whom are dead. Soon after his marriage Mr. Mathers removed to Shippen township, Tioga county, and settled on Pine creek, above Ansonia. Here for a number of years he operated a saw-mill and a grist-mill and also kept a wayside inn. When the postoffice of Shippen was established he became the first postmaster. In 1849 he was elected sheriff of Tioga county, and was elected a second time in 1855. After his retirement from office he bought a farm in Charleston township, near Round top. Here he made his home until 1876, when he went to New York for medical treatment and resided in that city until his death, may 29, 1879. His wife died August 11, 1887.
WILLIAM T. MATHERS, oldest son of John and Eliza Jane Mathers, and grandson of John Mathers, Sr., was born in Shippen township, Tioga county, August 8, 1832. He obtained his education in the common schools and at the seminary in Lima, New York. In 1858 he opened a general store in Wellsboro, which he carried on for twenty-five years, and was one of the leading merchants of the town during this period. For several years past he has been engaged in selling goods as a commercial traveler, though retaining his residence in Wellsboro. On June 7, 1855, Mr. Mathers married Mary Rose Merrick, a daughter of Israel Merrick, Jr., and has four children, viz: George Beecher, who lives in Delmar; William John, Horace Maine and Mary Beulah, all residents of Wellsboro. In politics, Mr. Mathers is a Republican, and in religion, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
CHARLES COOLIDGE MATHERS, youngest son of John and Eliza Jane Mathers, and grandson of John Mathers, Sr., was born in Shippen township, Tioga county, November 4, 1846, and received a common school education. He began his business career as a bank clerk in Evansville, Indiana, before he was twenty-one years of age. He subsequently returned to Wellsboro and in June, 1870, bought out the mercantile business of Laugher Bache. He continued in business by himself until 1878 when F. W. Graves purchased an interest and the firm became C. C. Mathers & Company. In 1885 F. W. Siemens was admitted to the partnership and the firm name was changed to Mathers, Graves & Company. Mr. Mathers continued in the successful prosecution of his business until his death, July 4, 1894. The firm name remains unchanged. On June 19, 1876 he was married to Mary Bryden, a daughter of James and Mary Bryden, of Wellsboro, to which union was born one son, George R. In politics, Mr. Mathers was a Republican, and though not an active politician he filled the office of burgess and took
