| Sources |
- [S2217] Barb Hyde, paintedhills.org- Potter County Penna: Biographies, (Name: Painted Hills Genealogy Society, The; Location: http://www.paintedhills.org/potterco.html;), Lewis: sons of Wm & Ruth Bierce Lewis: Seth; Crayton, his son Carlos; O.A. Nelson.
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http://www.paintedhills.org/potterco.html
Potter County, Pennsylvania Index Page
here: http://www.paintedhills.org/POTTER/beersUlysses.htm
Biographies from Ulysses Township, Potter Co., PA
Submitted by Barb Hyde
Return to Potter Index
C. E. BAKER, farmer, P.O. Ulysses, is a representative of one of the early families in this part of Pennsylvania. He was born in Shippen township, Tioga Co., Penn., in 1846, a son of Hollister Baker. He is by occupation a farmer, and now owns one of the best farms in Ulysses township, Potter county. He is a public-spirited, enterprising man, and has always taken an interest in the public affairs of the township. In politics he was formerly a Republican, but now casts his suffrage with the Prohibition party. He was married, in 1871, to Nancy G., daughter of Moses and Julia (Crum) Hackett, granddaughter of John and Ruth (Baker) Hackett, and great-granddaughter of Gideon and Lydia (Griswold) Baker. They have one son, Cleon V. Mrs. Baker' s grandfather, John Hackett, came with his family to Potter county, from Broome county, N.Y., in 1826, and settled on the farm now owned by Mr. A.S. Burt. He also owned the land which is the present site of the town of Lewisville. Mrs. Baker's father died March 9, 1879, and her mother April 11, 1876. In 1886 the descendants down to the sixth generation, assembled at the old Hackett homestead to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the marriage of Gideon Baker and Lydia Griswold, who were married at Lebanon, N.H., August 24, 1786. The only child of this pair present was Mrs. Rhoda Harvey, of Bingham township. The descendants of this family are scattered over twelve states of the Union, and also in Canada, and number up into the hundreds. Several are residents of Potter county, and are worthy descendants of this pioneer family.
HENRY BARTLETT, farmer, P.O. Ulysses, a son of John and Hannah (Davis) Bartlett, natives of England, was born in Wiltshire, England, October 14, 1840. He received a practical business education in the public schools of his native country, and remained upon the home farm with his parents during his boyhood days, having charge of his father's horses. In November, 1861, he married Miss. Mary Bates, of England, and they are the parents of seven children, all of whom reside at home. Mr. Bartlett learned the trade of brewing in England, but engaged principally in farming until 1874, when he came to America, going to Addison, N.Y., where he engaged in market gardening for three years. In 1879 he came to Ulysses township, Potter Co., Penn., purchasing a farm, where he has since found a pleasant home. Mr. Bartlett has held the office of township assessor for two years. He is actively engaged in lumbering, and is one of the progressive workers in the township.
EDWARD BORST, lumber dealer, P.O. Ulysses, son of Henry J. Borst, was born at Erwin, Steuben Co., N.Y., in 1840. In 1861 he engaged in business as lumberman at Erwin, residing there until 1885. He then moved to Mills, Harrison township, Potter Co., Penn., where he purchased the old Lawrence mills, which he operated two years; then sold and purchased at Lewisville what is known as the Perry Brigham property, where he has a mill with a capacity of about 3,000,000 feet of lumber annually. Mr. Borst was married in 1861 to Georgiana D. Taggart, and they have five children: Adelbert J., Sidney H., Flora M., Edward and George Harvey. Mr. Borst is a member of Montour Lodge, No. 168, F. & A.M., and of Corning Chapter, No. 190, R.A.M. In politics he affiliates with the Democratic party.
PERRY BRIGHAM, P.O. Ulysses, was born in Cortland county, N.Y., in 183 7, a son of Hiram and Louisa Brigham. February 18, 1839, his parents moved to Potter county, Penn., and settled in Ulysses township, where his father bought a timber farm and a mill, and engaged in both farming and lumbering until 1868, when he moved to Tioga county, where he died. The mother now makes her home with her son Perry. Of a family of three children but two are living, John and Perry. One son, Collins, was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and while in the army contracted measles, which resulted in his death. Perry Brigham made his home with his parents until his majority. He learned the blacksmith's trade in his youth, and in 1860 located at Lewisville, where he worked at his trade until 1865, when he bought a farm in Ulysses township, on which he lived nine years. He then returned to Lewisville. He, with three partners, built a mill in Lewisville in 1872, subsequently becoming sole owner. He has twice suffered the loss of his mill by fire, his present mill being the third he has built on the same site. In 1885 he bought the first carload of pipes for water-works, nearly all of which he put in during the summer. In September, 1887, his company became incorporated, and the town is now supplied with an abundance of pure water, which is chiefly used for domestic purposes, but is also used in time of fire. Mr. Brigham is a public-spirited, enterprising man, and devotes considerable time and means to the promotion of the interests of his town. In addition to his milling interests he conducted the Lyman House, Lewisville from 1875 to 1882. He was married, in 1863, to Elizabeth C. Monroe. Mrs. Brigham died in May, 1885, leaving five children: Ione, Charles M., Ann L., Bert and Grace. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a lady whose life was one of self sacrifice for the good of others. Mr. Brigham has held the office of justice of the peace for ten years, and has held other local positions.
W. F. BURT, farmer, P.O. Ulysses, was born in Cortland county, N.Y., June 20, 1819, the third son of nine children born to Anson S. and Betsy (Blackman) Burt, natives of Massachusetts, who came to Ulysses township in 1832. Mr. Burt spent his boyhood days with his parents on the home farm. He married, in January, 1842, Miss Caroline Rathbun, a daughter of John and Betsey (Fisher) Rathbun. Miss Fisher was a descendant of Chief Justice Sylvester, of England. Mr. Burt, after his marriage, purchased the farm in Ulysses township, where he now resides. In 1859 he was elected sheriff of Potter county, in which capacity he served for three years.
W. F. BURT, farmer, P.O. Ulysses, was born in Cortland county, N.Y., June 20, 1819, the third son of nine children born to Anson S. and Betsy (Blackman) Burt, natives of Massachusetts, who came to Ulysses township in 1832. Mr. Burt spent his boyhood days with his parents on the home farm. He married, in January, 1842, Miss Caroline Rathbun, a daughter of John and Betsey (Fisher) Rathbun. Miss Fisher was a descendant of Chief Justice Sylvester, of England. Mr. Burt, after his marriage, purchased the farm in Ulysses township, where he now resides. In 1859 he was elected sheriff of Potter county, in which capacity he served for three years.
WOOLSEY BURTIS, merchant, Lewisville, a son of Solomon and Rebecca (Rosa) Burtis, was born in Sullivan county, N.Y., in 1822. May 6, 1836, his parents came to White's Corners, Harrison township, Potter Co., Penn., where his father engaged in farming and blacksmithing. In 1861 his father died, and his mother made her home with Woolsey until her decease. Their children were Jacob (deceased), John (now of Minnesota) and Woolsey. Woolsey Burtis remained with his parents at the homestead, and cared for them during their lifetime, succeeding his father in the ownership of the farm. In 1865 he removed to Lewisville, and has since been engaged in the mercantile business. He was married in 1844 to Mary J. Potter, and they have had two children: Celia (the late Mrs. F. M. Johnson, of Nebraska) and Sarah (now Mrs. George W. Bennett, of Ulysses). Mr. Burtis is a member of Lewisville Lodge, No. 556, F. & A.M. He united with the Republican party in 1856, which he supported until 1888, and now votes with the Prohibition party. In 1862 he was elected treasurer of the county, and served one term of three years; later was elected associate judge, and served one term. While in Harrison township he held all the township offices. Mr. Burtis is now living with his third wife, formerly Mrs. Sarah Taggart, daughter of Burrill Lyman.
GEORGE W. CARPENTER, farmer, P.O. Newfield, son of Theodore and Charity Carpenter, was born in Tompkins county, N.Y., March 1, 1825. Theodore Carpenter was born December 18, 1800, and Charity Carpenter, May 11, 1806; they were married in Tompkins county February 1, 1824, and removed to Bingham township, Potter Co., Penn., in October of the same year. At that time the country was a dense wilderness, and they located in the woods and cleared a farm, which they made their home till death. Their children were George W., Alva, Betsy, Harriet, Michael, Louisa, Theodore, Esther, Julia and John. Mr. Carpenter died July 31, 1859, and his widow June 11, 1865. George W. Carpenter made his home with his parents until 1846, when he located on and began improving the farm where he now lives, which his father had previously purchased. September 29, 1850, he married Lucinda, daughter of Willis Young, and they have had five children: Willis, Charles, Julia (deceased), Angeline and Theodore. In March, 1865, Mr. Carpenter enlisted in Company A, Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers. He received injuries at the battle of Hatcher's run, but remained in the service until the close of the war, when he returned home and resumed his former vocation, which he still continues. In politics Mr. Carpenter is a Democrat.
D. J. CHAPPEL, merchant, Lewisville, a son of John and Mercy (Williams) Chappel, was born in Cincinnatus, Cortland Co., N.Y., and came to Potter county, Penn., in 1843, with his parents, who located in Pike township, where they both died, the father in May, 1862, and the mother in 1869, leaving a family of four children, viz.: Maria (now deceased), D. J., E.W. and Henrietta (Mrs. H.R. Burgess, of Belmont). D.J. Chappel made his home with his parents until their decease. His first business venture for himself was at Lewisville, where he became a dealer in general merchandise. He later removed to Bingham township, and engaged in farming until 1863, when he returned to Lewisville and resumed his former business, which he continues. He enlisted March 1, 1862, in Company G, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, but was discharged on account of disability September 18 following. He is a member of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R. In politics he is an active Republican, but is not an office-seeker. Mr. Chappel was married, in 1858, to Anna M. Gridley, and they have one child, John.
D. C. CHASE, dealer in merchandise, Lewisville, son of John H. Chase, was born at Middleburg, Tioga Co., Penn., in 1857. He was reared in Allegany county, N.Y., and educated at the Mansfield State Normal School. After leaving school he located at Spring Mills, and became associated with W. Leonard (firm name being Leonard & Chase) as jobbers in cheese, for a period of five years. He then removed to a farm in Bingham township, Potter Co., Penn., where he remained two years; thence to Lewisville, where he formed a partnership with George H. Cobb the firm name being Cobb & Chase, dealers in general merchandise, and also proprietors of the Ulysses horse sale stables. In 1881 Mr. Chase married Mary M. Robbins, of Spring Mills, Allegany Co., N.Y., and they have one child, Laura. In 1888 Mr. Chase invested heavily in hemlock timber land in Potter county, Penn., another evidence of his great business enterprise. He is a Republican in politics.
DR. A. H. COBB, Lewisville, son of Horace and Diana (Huntington) Cobb, was born at Spring Mills, Allegany Co., N.Y., in 1843-the family comprising five sons and two daughters. There he was reared and educated, and in 1862 he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Thirtieth New York Volunteers, and was later transferred to the First New York Dragoons. He was mustered out of the service in 1865, having been in thirty-seven engagements. He returned to his former home, completed his education, and studied medicine with Dr. E.U. Eaton. He then attended medical lectures at Buffalo Medical College, and first began the practice of medicine in Ulysses, being associated with his former teacher as partner for a term of five years, when they dissolved, and Dr. Cobb located at Lewisville, where he is enjoying a very large and remunerative practice. He was married, in 1866, to Louise Raymond, daughter of Joel and Matilda Raymond, of North Bingham, Penn., and they have two children, D. Raymond and Aurelia L. The Doctor is a member of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R.; was formerly a Republican in politics, but in 1880 joined the Prohibition party, of which he is still a member, and is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
GEORGE H. COBB, merchant, Lewisville, son of Horace Cobb, was born in Spring Mills, Allegany Co., N.Y., in 1850. His father died in 1865, and from that time he was obliged to rely on his own resources. He was employed at various occupations, attending school, teaching, farming, etc., until his marriage, after which he settled at Spring Mills and engaged in farming, until he went to the oil fields, and, being successful, returned to Lewisville, Potter county, and embarked in the grocery business. This he continued for four years, at which time he took as a partner P.O. Chase, and carried on a general merchandise business for four years, the firm being Cobb & Chase, and now speculating in hemlock lands; they are also engaged in buying and selling wool, and are proprietors of the Ulysses Horse Sale Stables. Mr. Cobb was married, in 1870, to Ruth, daughter of Joel Raymond, of Bingham township.
D. A. COREY, proprietor Hosley House, Lewisville, is a son of A.D. and Elmira (Stewart) Corey, and was born at Almond, Allegany Co., N.Y., in 1846. His grandfather, Ambrose Corey, located at Ulysses (now Lewisville), and was one of the first merchants of the place, continuing business there until his decease in 1862, his wife dying the following year. His children were A.D., Charles, Selina, B.S., Lydia and Mary. (deceased). A.D. Corey was born in 1823, and made his home at Almond until 1855, in which year he removed to Ulysses, where he worked at his trade, harness making, until after the breaking out of the Civil war. In 1862 he enlisted in Company G, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was injured by the concussion of a shell, from the effects of which he has never recovered, which prevents his pursuing his former occupation. He is a member of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R. In Hornellsville he married Elmira Stewart, and to them were born four children: D.A., two who died in infancy, and E.A., who is a resident of Lewisville, married and has two children. D.A. Corey made his home with his parents until 1870. He was engaged in the harness business until 1883, when he purchased the Hosley House, at Lewisville, which he has since conducted. He was married in 1866 to Antoinette Comstock, and their children are Arthur L., M.M., Gertie and Laura (who both died in infancy), and Willie, Carrie and Marion.
J. N. CROWELL, retired, P.O. Ulysses, son of David and Mary Crowell, was born in Otsego county, N.Y., in December, 1822. His father came to Potter county in 1838, and J. N. was employed in carrying mail from Jersey Shore, Penn., to Olean, N.Y., there being at that time only one house in sixty miles. There was an office at Lymansville, and the next was at Jersey Shore. In 1839 his father' s family located in Ulysses township on the place now owned by Burton Lewis, it being then comparatively wild; lived there till 1851, when he removed to Sweden township, Penn., where he remained until his death in January, 1865; his widow died in 1872. Their children were Deborah, now Mrs. Nicholas Johnson, of Chenango; Afton; Angerona, now Mrs. E.A. Wagner; J.N.; A.B.; Adeline, now Mrs. Charles Armstrong, of Coudersport; Miranda and Amanda (twins), the former of whom, now deceased, was the wife of Henry Shafer, the latter now Mrs. Cornelius Searles; and David J. J.N. Crowell began his business life in 1845. He purchased a tract of wild land in Ulysses township and cleared a farm, upon which he lived until 1884, when he removed to his present residence at Lewisville. He married, in 1848, Julia, daughter of Abram Wagner, and they have four children: Charles R., Mary A. (Mrs. Fayette Lewis), F.A., and Ellen (Mrs. Philander H. Miller). Mr. Crowell enlisted during the Rebellion in Company G, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was wounded at the battle of White Oak Swamps, captured and confined in Richmond prison and at Belle Isle five weeks, when he was exchanged, and served until the expiration of his term, returning to his home in March, 1865, having served three years. Mr. Crowell is a Republican, and has held various official positions in his township.
M. S. CRUM, farmer, P.O. Newfield, son of Clark and Eda Crum, was born in Ulysses township, Potter Co., Penn., in 1838. His parents came to Potter county March 2, 1831, and located on the place now owned by James Nixon, in Ulysses township. This was the fifth family to settle in Ulysses township, and Mr. Crum gained the reputation of being one of the most successful hunters in the county. He killed over 1,500 deer, and many panthers, catching two of the latter alive. He also killed twenty-one black bear, five large gray wolves, and wild cats and foxes almost without number. He paid for a farm of 350 acres from the proceeds of the game he sold. His children were Mrs. Deborah Jackson, Mrs. Abigail Johnson, James L. and M.S. The father died February 22, 1887, aged ninety years, and the mother in August, 1864. M.S. Crum was reared in his native township, and has always devoted his attention to agriculture. He lived on the old homestead until 1870, when he bought the farm he now owns. He was married January 1, 1862, to Hannah M., daughter of Willis Young. They have two children: Sarah (now Mrs. George Williams) and Addie. In politics Mr. Crum is a Democrat, and has held various township offices.
HENRY HATCH DENT (deceased) was a native of Charles county, Md., born February 11, 1815, a son of Dr. William Hatch Dent (who died when his son was two years of age) and Katherine (Brawner) Dent, a daughter of Henry Brawner.
The parents of Dr. William Hatch Dent were Rev. Hatch Dent (who fought during the Revolutionary war, and afterward became a clergy man of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and first principal of the Maryland State School, at Charlotte Hall, St. Mary' s county, Md.) and Judith (Posten) Dent, all natives of lower Maryland, of Charles and St. Mary's counties.
Henry Hatch Dent, the subject proper of this commemorative record, received a thorough education, and graduated from Yale College in 1836 or 1837, after which he studied law in Washington, D.C., under Francis S. Keys, author of "The Star Spangled Banner." As a young man, he practiced law in the office of Felix Grundy, at that time attorney-general of the United States; then practiced in Washington until the death of his wife in 1849, during which time he was offered the judgeship of the criminal court there, which he declined. In 1850 Mr. Dent removed to St. Louis, Mo., and while claiming residence there, he spent a year in Philadelphia, attending to the partition suit between the heirs of William Bingham and John Adlum, which decided the title to much of the land in Potter and adjoining counties. In order that he might give personal attention to that part of the Adlum lands that had belonged to Mrs. Dent (who was a daughter of John Adlum), and to large tracts bought with his own funds,
Mr. Dent came to Coudersport in 1853.
Ten years afterward, in 1863, we find our subject residing in Brookland, Potter Co., Penn., where he remained until 1871, in December of which year he went to Baltimore for medical treatment, where he died November 19, 1872.
Mr. Dent was married in September, 1841, to Ann Maria, daughter of John and Margaret Adlum (latter a native of Frederick, Md.), the ceremony being performed by his college and life-long friend, Rev. R.H. Wilmer, then a young priest in his first parish, now bishop of Alabama. John Adlum, father of Mrs. Dent, was born at York, Penn., and his commission as major, written on parchment, and signed by President John Quincy Adams, is still in the possession of his grandson, William Dent, of Brookland. Mr. L. Bird, now of Penfield, Clearfield Co., Penn., writes of Mr. Dent as follows:
"As a young surveyor, and at that time about the only one, I did work for Mr. Dent, and, from January, 1854, to March, 1888, I was in the position of a trusted business agent for Mr. Dent, and, therefore, well qualified to speak of his business character. His most excellent Christian mother was with him several years, assisting to care for his four young children. They are now Miss M.K. Dent, Mr. William Dent and Mrs. Thomas G. Hull, of Brookland, Penn., and Mrs. Rev. J. McBride Sterrett, of Faribault, Minn.
"Mr. Dent was the 'soul of integrity' in his business transactions, careful to give and receive the exact amounts. The property consisted of over 250 contracts for land in Tioga and Potter counties, and considerable unseated land in these counties, also some land a few miles from Bradford, in McKean county, besides a farm near Georgetown, D.C. No man who was trying to pay was ever pushed by him on these contracts. The contracts, as had been the custom of the 'Bingham Estate,' were very strict. Nearly all the money received from those contracts and from sale of land was expended in buying and improving property, and for living expenses in Potter county. Many a man still remembers his prompt payment of liberal wages.
"The private charities of himself and his mother need not be detailed, but I may mention a gift of a 'town clock' for the new court-house, costing him about $300. I well remember his pained expression when some men suggested that the present was made to gain popularity. Few men are found that have less of selfishness than he had.
"Mr. Dent was a Democrat, but his personal friends were in both parties, and, while fixed in his political opinions, he was friendly toward opponents, unless they assailed his personal integrity. His sympathies were with the South in the Civil war.
"Jefferson Davis and many of the Southern leaders were personal friends and associates. He regarded slavery (if an evil) as a necessary evil, and the duty of the white man to take good care of his slaves; and thought it better to let the States go than have the war. I was a radical Republican, but our personal and business relations were not disturbed. The immense 'war taxes' were a severe drain, for Mr. Dent owned considerable unseated land, and the interest-bearing contracts had been reduced and put into other land. Therefore, while owning considerable property, Mr. Dent did not have any income tax to pay. Some men now living remember that this fact was a sore spot with some who gave attention to the matter. Mr. Dent paid every dollar of taxes that the law required, and that without outside grumbling.
"His instructions to me were to pay all that were legally assessed, at same time adding, 'bitter as it is to pay to support a war that I do not think is for the good of the country.'
"Mr. Dent was a polite, Christian gentleman, and while he had some few personal enemies, I could see that nearly all arose from the fact that, owing to the difference in early training and habits, he and some of the Coudersport people did not understand, each other, and I was glad to know from them and from him, in later years, that both recognized this fact, and gave each other credit for honest intentions."
E. U. EATON, M.D., Lewisville, son of Charles Eaton, was born in Andover, Allegany Co., N.Y., in 1844, and was there reared and educated. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Crandall, of that place, attended lectures at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1865-66-67, and subsequently at Buffalo Medical College, from which he graduated in 1884. He first began the practice of medicine at Lewisville in 1867, and now has a very large practice, being one of the most successful physicians in the county. He married, in October, 1868, Marcella R. Crandall, of Independence, N.Y., and they have two children, Nellie and Carrie. Dr. Eaton is a member of Lewisville Lodge, No. 556, F. & A.M. and of Ulysses Chapter, No. 269, R.A.M. In politics he supports the principles of the Republican party.
ANDREW J. EVANS, editor and proprietor of the Ulysses Sentinel, was born at West Union, Steuben Co., Penn., N.Y., October 30, 1857. His father was a mechanic, a stone mason, and moved about a great deal wherever he could find most employment at his trade. Shortly after the birth of the subject of these lines, his parents removed to Tompkins county, N.Y. While there the Civil war broke out, and his father enlisted in the army, leaving the mother to take care of six children, of which Andrew J. was next to the youngest. This she did as faithfully and devotedly as any of the thousands of other mothers who were doing the same self-sacrificing work at that period, so critical to the safety of the Union. After the war closed, the family moved back to Steuben county, and from there to Whitesville, N.Y., where the mother died when Andrew was twelve years old. A year later the father married again, and part of the family of eight children was quickly scattered, three children only being left at home. Soon after this the family moved to the backwoods of Potter county, Penn., where school privileges were very limited. Andrew was now old enough to appreciate the benefit of an education, and by dint of much study at home, with the aid of one term at select school, he was enabled to get a teacher' s certificate. At eighteen he began to teach school, and, with intervals of attending school, followed the profession for twelve years. From the time he began to teach, he was practically independent of his father, and received no pecuniary assistance from him. He saved his earnings, and attended the Mansfield State Normal School, where he graduated in 1884. After this he was principal of the Lewisville graded school for three years, and in the spring of 1887 became a candidate for the office of county superintendent. His liberal views on the subject of religion, however, defeated him. On the first of January, 1888, Mr. Evans bought a half-interest in the Ulysses Sentinel, and the following September purchased his partner' s interest in the same, and at present he is sole owner and proprietor. September 5, 1889, he was married to Miss Anna Evans, of Spring Mills, N.Y. Mr. Evans' parents were S.A. Evans and Nancy (Somers), both native Americans and traceable back to English stock. Mrs. Evans' parents were G.F. Evans and Lucinda (Murdock), also native Americans.
DANIEL FULLER, P. O. Ulysses, son of Thomas and Sally (Jincks) Fuller, was born in Wyoming county, N.Y., in 1831. In 1839 his parents removed to Ulysses township, Potter Co., Penn., near Gold, where they purchased a farm, and here his father lived and died, after which Mrs. Fuller made her home with Daniel, until her decease. Their children were Nathan, now a resident of Michigan; Mrs. Huldah Gallup, of McKean county; Hannah, now Mrs. Norman Rodgers, of Nebraska, and Daniel. Daniel Fuller made his home with his parents until twelve years of age, after which he engaged in various occupations, and learned the carpenter and goldsmith trades. October 16, 1861, in answer to his country's call for men, he enlisted in Company G, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, and September 17, 1862, was wounded at the battle of Antietam. The Irish brigade were in advance and had made several charges to drive the rebels from an adjacent corn field, and the Fifty-third was held in reserve with orders to lie down. He, with other men lying close to the ground in the second line of battle, heard a cheer in front, and, having curiosity to know its occasion, raised himself on his hands when a shell hit both arms, necessitating their amputation, the first operation being performed on the field, and the next on the 5th of October. He was of course discharged and returned to his former home, and was made a pensioner, receiving the highest amount then paid, $8 per month. Wholly incapacitated from performing any kind of manual labor, the future to him held not much of promise. However, on the presentation of his case to some of his personal friends, and receiving assurances of their willingness to loan their services to secure an increase of pension, he was induced to visit the city of Washington, to present his case in person. His friends and neighbors learning that a little financial assistance would not be unacceptable, gave an oyster supper, which netted $163, and this money, so kindly given, enabled him to make the contemplated trip, and when he appeared before the committee on pensions, and before the House, he secured in July, 1864, the first increase of pension given to those who lost both hands or both eyes, $25 per month, and to those who lost both legs $20. During his trip he was of course accompanied by a friend, and received continually assurances of sympathy and respect, in substantial form. Before the war he became acquainted with Mrs. Sophia F. Scott, and they were married after his return in 1863. They have one son, Charles A., now a farmer of Allegheny township. They are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Fuller is a member of O.A. Lewis Post, G.A.R. He is a Republican in politics, and has held several township offices.
W. J. GROVER, merchant and farmer, P.O. Newfield. A.M. Grover, the father of this gentleman, is a native of Johnsburg, Warren Co., N.Y., born in 1814. In 1842 he married Sabra Dunkley, and in 1853 they moved to Potter county, Penn., locating on the farm now owned by Alva Carpenter, and two years later they purchased a portion of the farm now in, possession of their son, W.J.; then, in 1885, they bought the T.A. Galutia farm, still owned by them, though they reside at Newfield. They are the parents of the following named children: Phebe L., Myron S. (deceased), W.J., Roxie M., Nettie A. and John J., the last two having been born in Potter county. Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Grover having been among the early settlers of Potter county, and their means being then limited, they naturally had an active share in the hardships experienced in the pioneer lives of the settlers in the forests of Potter county. W.J. Grover, whose name heads this sketch, was born in Johnsburg, Warren county, N.Y., May 10, 1847, and came with his parents to Potter county in 1853. At the time of the battle of Gettysburg, and during the excitement when there was an urgent call for militia troops, young Grover, against the will of his parents, enlisted in the militia, but through their influence at the time he did not proceed to the front. In February, 1864, he again enlisted, this time at Coudersport, in the Forty-sixth Regiment P.V.I., under Lieut. Rees, but was prohibited from going with his regiment by his parents. However, on March 31, same year, by the assistance of his fellow-comrades, he succeeded in enlisting in Company H, Fifty-third Regiment P.V.I., in which he served his country till the close of the war, being discharged June 30, 1865.
After the war he returned to the pursuits of peace, and settled down to a farming and commercial life. Mr. Grover has been three times married: First in 1875, to Eugenie L., daughter of Alva Carpenter, and she dying February 22, 1879, he married, in 1880, Mrs. Sarah A. Presho, daughter of Seth Conable; this wife died October 30, 1882, leaving one child, Willie M., and in 1883 our subject married Miss Nellie M., daughter of William and Irena Knapp, by which union there is also one child, Sarah Eugenie. Mr. Grover is a member of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R.; in politics he is a Republican, has served his township as supervisor and overseer of the poor six years, and has held various township offices. He owns a farm of 400 acres, and is the founder of and the only merchant in Newfield, the manufacturing concerns of which place he was mainly instrumental in establishing.
ALBERT L. HERVEY, farmer, P.O. Ulysses, son of Joseph and Rhoda (Baker) Hervey, was born in Triangle, Broome Co., N.Y., in 1830. His father was a native of Berkshire, Mass., and his mother of Lebanon, N.H. Each with their parents removed to Broome county, where they were married in 1824. They located at Triangle, where they remained until their removal to Bingham township, Potter Co. Penn., in 1847, where the father died in 1876. The mother survives, and makes her home with her children. They had a family of four sons: Jerome (of Bingham township, on the old homestead), Albert L., A.B. (of Canton, N.Y., and now president of the Universalist Theological College, and J.E. (of Westfield, Penn.). In August, 1862, Albert L. Hervey entered as a private in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was wounded at Gettysburg, losing the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, but remained in the field. In April, 1864, he was made second lieutenant, and was mustered out of the service in June, 1805. He then returned to his old home in Bingham township, and in 1874 purchased the farm he now owns in Ulysses township, erected fine farm buildings, and is now recognized as one of the able and successful agriculturists of the county. He has also been largely engaged in raising stock, and has one of the best dairy farms of the county. He is a member of Lewisville Lodge, No. 550, F. & A.M., Ulysses Chapter, No. 269, R.A.M., and of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R. In politics he is a Republican. In 1871 he was elected treasurer of the county, serving one term of two years, and has been honored officially in various ways in his township. He was married in 1855 to Sarah E., daughter of Jason Spender, of Triangle, N.Y., and to them have been born two children: William W. (now a merchant of Havana, N.Y.) and Mark S. (now a book-keeper in W. K. Jones' Bank of Coudersport).
WILLIAM T. LANE. The family of Lanes, from which the subject of this sketch is sprung, can be traced back in direct line to one John Lane, who came to America from Derbyshire, England, more than two hundred years ago, and settled at Killingsworth, Middlesex Co., Conn. Azel Lane, the seventh in the genealogical line, and the father of William T. Lane, was born in Killingsworth, Conn., September 2, 1793, and removed to Jacksonville, Tompkins Co., N.Y., about 1818, and there married Mrs. Asenath (Thompson) Smith, widow of Capt. Enos Smith, who died in the war of 1812; they were the parents of one child, Willett B. Smith, who was born in Jacksonville in 1808, and died in the Honeoye Valley in 1889. To the union of Azel and Asenath (Thompson) Smith Lane were born three children: Norman B., William Thompson, and a daughter who died in childhood. The father of these children had limited school advantages, but he made up in energy what he lacked in early education; he was a life-long student, and in his later years made the study of languages a specialty, and was enabled to speak several tongues, the knowledge of which he acquired by his own unaided efforts. He was a millwright by trade and a practical mechanic. He was also a man whose morals were stainless, and whose life was above reproach, and who, dying, left to his two sons the legacy of a name untarnished. He departed this life May 14, 1876, his wife having met her death several years before, the result of an accident.
William Thompson Lane was born in Chemung county, N.Y., near New Town (now Elmira), March 27, 1825. He came to the Honeoye Valley, Potter Co., Penn., about 1845, in company with his father and older brother Norman, now of Brockwayville, Jefferson Co., Penn. In June, 1846, he married Miss Sarah J. Mead, of Greenwood, N.Y., and to this union were born seven children, named as follows: Homer K. (druggist, Lewisville, Penn.), Mary S. (wife of E.S. Remington), Frances A. (wife of Dr. L.D. Rockwell, Union City, Penn.), George H. (deceased September 3, 1889), Helen A. (wife of F.S. Hover, Honeoye, Penn.), Wilbur F. and Charles A. (telegraph operator, Postal Line, Alma, N.Y.). After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lane they remained upon the farm which the husband had purchased upon coming to Potter county, and where he was engaged in lumbering and farming until the autumn of 1868, when they removed to Elk county, where Mr. Lane engaged more extensively in lumbering, for which business he possessed a particular aptitude. In this line he was successful, and; after a few years spent here, he returned to the farm, erected a fine, large house, and proceeded to improve and beautify the home place. In 1878 Mr. Lane was nominated by the Republican party for representative to the State legislature, but was defeated by the combined vote of the Democrat and Greenback parties. Mr. Lane is one of the few men who lives up to his conceptions of right, even though they conflict with his interest and convenience. He has always helped in every good word and work, and few men are held in higher esteem by those to whom he is thoroughly known. The church at Honeoye, Potter county, now being erected, owes much to his enterprise and enthusiasm. He is an ardent temperance man, and in this, as in any matter of conviction, never hesitates to speak and work for the right. This sketch would not be complete without a few words in regard to the wife of his youth, who has borne with him the burdens and heat of the day, and who has, in the highest sense of the word, been a helpmate unto him. Few women have so thoroughly fulfilled their mission as a wife and mother as she of whom we write. No labor was ever too great, no sacrifice too much for her to make, in order to give each child every advantage within her power. Nor has her kindness and self-sacrificing spirit been confined to her own home circle, no one in her vicinity ever needing aught within her power to give. Verily, she has walked the long pathway of her pilgrimage with feet shod with the sandals of the peace of God. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lane have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years.
HOMER K. LANE, druggist, Lewisville, was born in the town of Sharon, Potter Co., Penn., June 7, 1847, a son of William T. and Sarah J. (Mead) Lane. He was given the advantages of a good common-school education, finishing at an academy in Richburg, Allegany Co., N.Y. He was employed by his father, in Sharon, in the lumbering business until August, 1867, when both went to Blue Rock, Elk Co., Penn., where they were engaged in the same business until 1874, when the father returned to Sharon, where he still resides. Homer K., however, went to Brockwayville, Jefferson county, where he was engaged in general merchandising with Wellman Bros., until the fall of 1875, when he went to Union City, Erie county, where he purchased a drug store from R.W. Hazelton, and remained there until the fall of 1878, when he sold out to R.W. Wilkins, and in the spring of 1879 he came to Lewisville and bought a small stock of drugs from C.E. Hooley, and also a stock from Chappel Bros., renting the store from the latter firm. About 1885, his trade having been a thriving one, he erected the store building which he now occupies at Lewisville, and in which he keeps a large and well selected stock of drugs and medicines, fine perfumes, toilet articles, fancy goods, school and miscellaneous books, wall-paper and ceiling decorations, and is doing a very successful trade. September 27, 1869, Mr. Lane married Miss Hettie E. Huhn, of Brockwayville, Jefferson county, who bore him one son, August 3, 1870. November 21, 1872, Mrs. Lane died of consumption, and ten weeks later the son was carried away by lung trouble complicated with other disorders. December 22, 1875, Mr. Lane chose a second bride, Miss Carrie J. Eaton, of Andover, N.Y., and this union was blessed, March 13, 1880, by the birth of a daughter, Edith E. Mr. and Mrs. Lane are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Lane is a member of Lodge, No. 556, F. & A.M., and Ulysses Chapter, No. 269, R.A.M.
SETH LEWIS, attorney at law, Lewisville, a son of William and Ruth A. (Bierce) Lewis, was born at Upper Lisle, Broome Co., N.Y., January 27, 1829. His parents came to Potter county, Penn., February 14, 1839, and located in what is now Lewisville. William Lewis made farming his business, which he continued until his death, September 26, 1866, his widow surviving until February 18, 1869. They reared a family of nine children: Crayton, Angeline, Louisa, Anna, Perry, Martha, Thomas, Seth and Burton. Seth Lewis came to Potter county with his parents, remaining with them until 1850. The following six years he devoted to agriculture, and also attended Alfred University. He then taught school two years, and in 1860 was elected county superintendent of schools, serving one term. In 1863 he enlisted in Company K, Thirty-seventh Pennsylvania Militia, and September 23 was mustered into Company A, Eighth United States Colored Troops, as second lieutenant. He was wounded in the left thigh at the battle of Olustee, Fla., February 20, 1864, and October 13, 1864, was wounded in the left hand near Richmond, Va. November 28, 1864, he was promoted to first lieutenant, and February 8, 1865, was made captain of Company C. He was present at the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, and, on May 31, 1865, left Fortress Monroe for Texas, reaching Ringgold barracks July 31, when he returned to Brownsville, and was mustered out November 10, but was retained and paid until December 13, 1865. After his return home he studied law with Judge A.G. Olmsted, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He first practiced at Union, West Va., but returned to Ulysses, where he is still engaged in the practice of his chosen profession. He was also editor of the Ulysses Sentinel from September, 1882, to January, 1888. He was married, January 30, 1851, to Sarah E., daughter of Adna A. and Rodentha Gridley. Their children were Charles H. (deceased), Mary Eloise (Mrs. George A. Farnsworth), Jessie Florence (who graduated from the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, N.Y., June 20, 1889,) and Sarah Rodentha (deceased). Mr. Lewis is a charter member of Lewisville Lodge, No. 556, F. & A.M., and has been its secretary since its organization. He is also a member of Ulysses Chapter, No. 269, R.A.M., and of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R. He is an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party, and a radical tariff man. He was elected district attorney in 1869, and served four years. He was either a teacher, school director or superintendent from the age of twenty years to the beginning of the war, and subsequently, until the past twelve years, was school director.
CRAYTON LEWIS, the oldest son of William and Ruth A. Lewis, was born at Upper Lisle, Broome Co., N.Y., February 11, 1813. He was married March 3, 1835, to Caroline Hinman, and very soon after moved to Potter county, Penn. He settled on a piece of wild land now within the limits of the borough of Lewisville, and in a few years made it one of the finest farms in the vicinity. He had but a limited education, but he was an industrious reader, had a very retentive memory, and he soon became one of the most intelligent men of the locality. He was very benevolent, with tender sympathies and a keen sense of justice, and he early became an Abolitionist, but when the Republican party was formed, he joined it and remained through life a member. He early espoused the cause of temperance, and as early as 1843 he circulated a pledge and procured numerous signatures, starting a movement which resulted in the organization of Ulysses Division of the Sons of Temperance, in 1849, and of Lewisville Lodge of Good Templars, a few years later, of both of which organizations he was an active and honored member. To his labors, more than to the labors of any other man, is due the strong temperance sentiment which prevails in the northeastern part of Potter, and which has made Lewisville borough the stronghold of prohibition, this election district having given at the election June 18, 1889, 125 votes for the amendment and only seven votes against it. In August, 1857, Mr. Lewis was thrown from a buggy and received an injury in his head, from which he never fully recovered, and January 13, 1870, he was killed by falling in his barn. He reared five children, all of whom are living: Emily, now Mrs. T.E. Gridley, of Bingham, Penn.; John, living on the old homestead with his mother; Martin, a farmer of Ulysses, Penn.; Fayette, a surveyor and lumberman at Genesee Forks, Penn., and Carlos A., a merchant of Lewisville.
C. A. LEWIS, merchant, Lewisville, son of Crayton and Caroline (Hinman) Lewis, was born in Ulysses township, Potter Co., Penn., in 1850. His parents came from Broome county, N.Y., and were among the pioneers of Ulysses township, being the third family to settle there, locating on the farm now owned by his mother. Their nearest mill at that time was at Jersey Shore, a distance of sixty-five miles, and Crayton Lewis on one of his trips thither camped out with a yoke of oxen. Having broken his ox yoke when beyond the reach of any assistance, and having no tools except an ax, with this he cut a beech stick of the proper length, and, as there had to be openings made for the bows, he split it and bound it with withes, and went on his way. At one time his family and the neighbors were short of provisions, but he had a small patch of ground sown to buckwheat, which he worked during the day, chopping in the woods by moonlight. One day when they had not a mouthful of food in the house, except milk to drink, and were eagerly awaiting the ripening of the buckwheat and potatoes, as his wife stood at the door watching him at work, an idea, all at once, occurred to her. Selecting some buckwheat from the unripe crop, she picked a lot of it, dried it by the fireplace pounded and sifted it, and having fully prepared it, blew the horn, as usual, for dinner. On her husband's coming to the house, he was rejoiced and surprised to find a meal prepared from his own crop. This old pioneer unfortunately met with an accident, which resulted fatally; his widow still lives on the old homestead. Their children were Emily (Mrs. Thomas Gridley), John, Martin, Fayette and C.A. The last named was reared in his native township, and during his youth was variously employed, but in 1873, locating at Lewisville, he here embarked in general mercantile business. He was married April 23, 1874, to Kate Cushing, and they have two children: Irving C. and Archie C. Mr. Lewis is a member of Lewisville Lodge, No. 556, F. & A.M. In politics he is a Republican, and has served as school director, auditor, and in minor offices of trust.
CORNELIUS H. LOUCKS, P.O. Ulysses, son of Cornelius and Naomi Loucks, was born in Cortland county, N.Y., in 1831. His parents came to Hector Township, Potter Co., Penn., and located on the farm now owned by Clarence Stiles, where the father was a lumberman and farmer, and where they both died. Their children were Mary J. (Mrs. Russel Potter, of Skaneateles, N.Y.), Cornelius H., Mehitabel (deceased), Betsy (deceased), Steven L. (who enlisted and died in the army, aged twenty-six years) and William J. Cornelius H. Loucks remained with his parents until 1853, when he married Arty C. Calkins, and located on the farm adjoining the old homestead, where they remained several years. In 1864 he enlisted in Company G, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, and on Friday, March 31, 1865, in battle in front of Petersburg, Va., he received a wound in the left shoulder joint which necessitated the amputation of his arm. He was discharged June 12, 1865, and returned to his old home, subsequently removing to Lewisville, where he now lives. His wife died, leaving four children: Frank (since deceased), Darius, James and John, and March 26, 1883, he married Mrs. Louisa V. Stout, daughter of James J. Stewart. Mrs. Loucks is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Loucks is a member of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R; in politics he is a Republican, has been supervisor of Hector township, and has held various offices in his township.
GEORGE MERRILL, contractor and builder, Lewisville, son of Erastus and Elizabeth (Ayer) Merrill, was born in Ulysses Township, Potter Co., Penn., in 1838. His parents were natives of Vermont, and each, with parents removed to Broome county, N.Y., where they married, and in February, 1838, located in Ulysses township, Potter county, where the father of our subject was a farmer until his decease in 1884. The mother still has her residence on the old homestead with her daughter, Mrs. Caleb Gridley. Their children were Warren (who died when nineteen years of age), Obediah, Harriet (deceased), George Lyman, Esther (Mrs. Gridley) and Henry (deceased). George was married in 1864 to Amelia Kidney, of Wyoming county, after which he located in Lewisville, where he is a contractor and builder. Their children were Henry (who died when eleven years of age), Herbert and Maud. Mrs. Merrill is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Merrill affiliates with the Prohibition party, having formerly been identified with the Republican party. He has held various township offices.
O. A. NELSON, merchant, Lewisville, son of Henry and Speedy (Clark) Nelson, was born in 1845, near Colesburg, on the place now owned by F.A. Nelson, in Allegheny township, Potter Co., Penn. He made his home with his parents until 1864, when he traveled for several years, and engaged in various occupations. In 1875 he married Ellen M., daughter of A.F. and Juliette (Grove) Raymond, and located at Gold, on her father's farm, where they remained a year. He then worked at his trade (carpenter and joiner), and was also in the stock business, until his removal to Ceres, where he embarked in the mercantile business. Later he moved to Lymansville, where he was engaged in selling wagons, buggies and harness, afterward locating for a time in Austin. In November, 1887, he moved to Lewisville, where he is engaged in the clothing and gents furnishing goods business, the firm name being Nelson & Presho. In politics Mr. Nelson is a Democrat.
MRS. KATE STEARNS PARKER, P.O. Ulysses, daughter of Anson S. and Betsy (Blackman) Burt (now deceased), was born in Cortland county, N.Y., in 1829. Her maternal grandfather, James Blackman, was a native of Pittsfield, Mass., where he married Elizabeth Andrews, and came to Potter county, Penn., in 1834, locating in Ulysses township, where they lived the rest of their lives. Their children were Betsy, Sally, Anson, Dennis and Laura (the late Mrs. Edmund Alvord). Anson S. Burt was a native of Pittsfield, Mass., where he married, and in the spring of 1832 located in Ulysses township, Potter county, about a mile east of the village, where he bought a hundred-acre farm, which at that time was wild land, he being obliged to cut his own roads. His children were Laura (deceased), Sally (Mrs. William Canfield, of Willett, Cortland Co., N.Y.), James T., William F., Betsy (the late Mrs. Charles Monroe), T.W., and Kate S., who married Thomas Parker in 1846, a prosperous farmer of Ulysses township. Mr. Parker died July 26, 1883.
W. B. PERKINS, farmer, P.O. Newfield, son of William M. and Marissa M. (Dean) Perkins, was born August 28, 1861, in Ulysses township, Potter Co., Penn., on the farm he now owns. His father was a native of Andover, Allegany Co., N.Y., and his mother of Potter county, Penn. After their marriage they located at Independence, Allegany Co., N.Y., but sold and removed in the spring of 1850 to the farm now owned by W.B.; in the spring of 1886 his father removed to Sweden township. Mrs. Perkins died in the spring of 1862, leaving three children: Luther L., Manson B. and W.B. Mr. Perkins afterward married Fannie Gloss, their children being Arthur and Rosa. W.B. made his home with his parents until 1877, when he went to Deerfield, Tioga county. Determined to secure an education, he worked for $13 per month, and when his father learned of his laudable efforts in that direction, he cheerfully loaned him $800, which enabled him to complete his education at the State Normal School at Lock Haven, and from which he graduated in 1883. While at the State Normal School he joined the Baptist Church, and, becoming interested in Sabbath-school work, was made its superintendent, and at the county convention, or picnic, each superintendent was supposed and expected to deliver a speech; his was so elaborate, and so far beyond what had been expected, that he soon received urgent invitations to attend their theological seminary, at Lewisburg, Union Co., Penn., and after repeated solicitation accepted, remaining a year, when a change in his religious views induced him to sever his association with that institution. After leaving school he located on the old homestead, and engaged in business as a farmer and dairyman. He continued the dairy until the close of the summer of 1888, when he sold his cows and invested the proceeds in horses. Mr. Perkins married Mary A. Bigony, and they have a family of four children: Guy S., Marissa D., Sally B. and Samuel B. Mr. Perkins is a member of Lewisville Lodge, No. 556, F. & A.M., and Ulysses Chapter, No. 269, R.A.M. He is a Democrat in politics, and has held various official positions in the township.
A. F. RAYMOND, merchant and farmer, P.O. Gold, was born in Tompkins county, N.Y., November 3, 1825. In 1836 his parents moved to Potter county, Penn., and settled in Allegheny township, where his father bought a tract of wild land. He remained at home until after his marriage, and then bought a part of the old homestead, where he has since lived. He has a good home, and attends to the cultivation of his farm, at the same time carrying on a general merchandise business in Gold. He was married in 1850 to Miss Juliet Grover of Bingham township and they have five children: Frank A., of Gold; Ellen, wife of Oscar Nelson, of Ulysses; Fred H., of Ceres; Kate L., wife of Wilton Elliott, and Matilda. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond are members of the Baptist Church. He is a member of Gold Lodge, No. 658, E.A.U.
AMOS RAYMOND, P.O. Gold, son of Daniel and Amanda (Freeland) Raymond, was born in Tioga county, N.Y., September 24, 1821, and with his parents came to Potter county, Penn., in March, 1836. They located in Allegheny township, at that time a wilderness and cleared a farm, the nearest marked tree being at what is now Ford Nelson's, in Allegheny township, and there was no wagon road within three miles. They were compelled to go to Williamsport for corn, which at that time was worth $3.50 per bushel, in Potter county, and suffered all the other privations incident to the settlement of a new country. Their children were Lucinda, Amos, Daniel, Asa, Alvira, Perces, David, Joseph, Mary and Betsy. Amos made his home with his parents until his marriage, when he located in Allegheny township, but now resides on the farm he owns in Ulysses township, which he has carried on for some time. He has also devoted some time to contracting, was a merchant for several years, and also for several years was proprietor of a hotel at Raymond's Corners. He was married, March 31, 1842, to Rhoda Daniels, and they had six children: Harriet Lovina, Alice Lavina, Asa A., Miriam J. (who died in 1852), Josephine B. and Sarah J. Mrs. Rhoda Raymond departed this life November 26, 1876, and Amos Raymond, on March 15, 1878, married Miriam Daniels. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond are members of the Baptist Church. In politics he is a Democrat, and has held various official positions in the township.
HENRY T. REYNOLDS, P.O. Ulysses, son of Foster Reynolds, was born in Hebron township, Potter Co., Penn., in 1834. His father was a native of Rensselaer county, N.Y., where he married Fannie Potter, removed to Hebron township in 1831, and engaged in farming. He built two mills, one water and one steam power. They reared a family of five children: Steven P., William C., Henry T., Sarah and Celestia. The parents, with two daughters, are now residing in Jefferson county, Kansas. Henry T. Reynolds received his education in the Potter county schools, remaining with his parents until his majority. After his marriage he located on the farm he now owns in Ulysses township, and engaged in agriculture. He was married in 1857 to Margaret Weidrick, and they have four children: Willard E., Nellie E. (now Mrs. Henry Francis), Nettie F. (now Mrs. Arthur Bice) and Foster. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are members of the Episcopal Church. He is a member of Lewisville Lodge, No. 556, F. & A.M., Ulysses Chapter, No. 269, R.A.M. In politics he is an active Republican. He was elected sheriff in 1868, serving three years. In 1887 he was elected associate judge, and is now serving his term of five years. He has always been prominent in local politics. August 16, 1862, he enlisted in the defense of his country in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, or Second Regiment of Bucktails; sixteen days later he was promoted to second lieutenant, and May 1, 1863, was made first lieutenant. He was wounded three times at the battle of Gettysburg, and was captured; March 13, 1864, he was discharged on account of disability, and returned to his home in Ulysses township. He now lives in Lewisville. He is a charter member of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R., of which he is adjutant.
E. A. WAGNER, retired, P.O. Ulysses, son of Abram Wagner, was born in Oneida county, N.Y., in 1826. His parents removed to Steuben county, N.Y., and thence to Ulysses township, Potter Co., Penn., in 1842, locating on the farm now owned by Frank Wagner. They located in the woods and cleared a farm, which they made their home until the father' s death in 1876; the mother died in 1879. Their children were born in the following order: Mrs. Lorenzo Drake, Andrew J., Frances M., Edward A., Mrs. J.N. Crowell, Mrs. J.T. Burt, Mrs. J.A. Brown, Gratton H., James B., Mrs. A.G. Stewart, Mrs. C.T. Halleck and Mrs. L. Dean, all having homes of their own. E.A. Wagner has from youth followed agricultural pursuits. His first location was in Ulysses township, on the farm now owned by Charles Crowell; then at Kibbyville, in 1851, where he lived until 1871, when he removed to the borough of Lewisville, where he has since lived, and having secured a competency, has retired from active life. Politically he is a Republican. He has been a member of the council two terms; street commissioner, school director, nine years, and township assessor. His wife, to whom he was married in 1849, was formerly Miss Angerona Crowell, daughter of David Crowell.
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20190522HAv- http://www.paintedhills.org/POTTER/beersUlysses.htm
Biographies from Ulysses Township, Potter Co., PA, Submitted by Barb Hyde
C. E. BAKER, farmer, P.O. Ulysses, is a representative of one of the early families in this part of Pennsylvania. He was born in Shippen township, Tioga Co., Penn., in 1846, a son of Hollister Baker.
He is by occupation a farmer, and now owns one of the best farms in Ulysses township, Potter county. He is a public-spirited, enterprising man, and has always taken an interest in the public affairs of the township. In politics he was formerly a Republican, but now casts his suffrage with the Prohibition party.
He was married, in 1871, to Nancy G., daughter of Moses and Julia (Crum) Hackett,
granddaughter of John and Ruth (Baker) Hackett, and
great-granddaughter of Gideon and Lydia (Griswold) Baker.
They have one son, Cleon V.
Mrs. Baker' s grandfather, John Hackett, came with his family to Potter county, from Broome county, N.Y., in 1826, and settled on the farm now owned by Mr. A.S. (Arthur Scofield? -jcw) Burt. He also owned the land which is the present site of the town of Lewisville.
Mrs. Baker's father died March 9, 1879, and her mother April 11, 1876.
In 1886 the descendants down to the sixth generation, assembled at the old Hackett homestead to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the marriage of Gideon Baker and Lydia Griswold, who were married at Lebanon, N.H., August 24, 1786. The only child of this pair present was Mrs. Rhoda Harvey, of Bingham township.
The descendants of this family are scattered over twelve states of the Union, and also in Canada, and number up into the hundreds. Several are residents of Potter county, and are worthy descendants of this pioneer family.
20190522HAv- http://www.paintedhills.org/POTTER/beersUlysses.htm
Biographies from Ulysses Township, Potter Co., PA, Submitted by Barb Hyde
W. F. BURT, farmer, P.O. Ulysses, was born in Cortland county, N.Y., June 20, 1819, the third son of nine children born to Anson S. and Betsy (Blackman) Burt, natives of Massachusetts, who came to Ulysses township in 1832.
Mr. Burt spent his boyhood days with his parents on the home farm.
He married, in January, 1842, Miss Caroline Rathbun, a daughter of John and Betsey (Fisher) Rathbun.
Miss Fisher was a descendant of Chief Justice Sylvester, of England.
Mr. Burt, after his marriage, purchased the farm in Ulysses township, where he now resides.
In 1859 he was elected sheriff of Potter county, in which capacity he served for three years.
20190521HAv- http://www.paintedhills.org/POTTER/beersUlysses.htm
Biographies from Ulysses Township, Potter Co., PA, Submitted by Barb Hyde
GEORGE W. CARPENTER, farmer, P.O. Newfield, son of Theodore and Charity Carpenter, was born in Tompkins county, N.Y., March 1, 1825.
Theodore Carpenter was born December 18, 1800, and Charity Carpenter, May 11, 1806; they were married in Tompkins county February 1, 1824, and removed to Bingham township, Potter Co., Penn., in October of the same year. At that time the country was a dense wilderness, and they located in the woods and cleared a farm, which they made their home till death. Their children were
- George W.,
- Alva,
- Betsy,
- Harriet,
- Michael,
- Louisa,
- Theodore,
- Esther,
- Julia and
- John.
Mr. Carpenter died July 31, 1859, and his widow June 11, 1865.
George W. Carpenter made his home with his parents until 1846, when he located on and began improving the farm where he now lives, which his father had previously purchased.
September 29, 1850, he married Lucinda, daughter of Willis Young, and they have had five children:
- Willis,
- Charles,
- Julia (deceased),
- Angeline and
- Theodore.
In March, 1865, Mr. Carpenter enlisted in Company A, Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers. He received injuries at the battle of Hatcher's run, but remained in the service until the close of the war, when he returned home and resumed his former vocation, which he still continues.
In politics Mr. Carpenter is a Democrat.
20190522HAv- http://www.paintedhills.org/POTTER/beersUlysses.htm
Biographies from Ulysses Township, Potter Co., PA, Submitted by Barb Hyde
D. J. CHAPPEL, merchant, Lewisville, a son of John and Mercy (Williams) Chappel, was born in Cincinnatus, Cortland Co., N.Y., and came to Potter county, Penn., in 1843, with his parents, who located in Pike township, where they both died,
- the father in May, 1862, and
- the mother in 1869, leaving a family of four children, viz.:
- Maria (now deceased),
- D. J.,
- E.W. and
- Henrietta (Mrs. H.R. Burgess, of Belmont).
D.J. Chappel made his home with his parents until their decease.
His first business venture for himself was at Lewisville, where he became a dealer in general merchandise.
He later removed to Bingham township, and engaged in farming until 1863, when he returned to Lewisville and resumed his former business, which he continues.
He enlisted March 1, 1862, in Company G, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, but was discharged on account of disability September 18 following.
He is a member of O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R. In politics he is an active Republican, but is not an office-seeker.
Mr. Chappel was married, in 1858, to Anna M. Gridley, and they have one child, John.
Return to Potter Index
20190522HAv- http://www.paintedhills.org/POTTER/beersUlysses.htm
Biographies from Ulysses Township, Potter Co., PA, Submitted by Barb Hyde
D. C. CHASE, dealer in merchandise, Lewisville, son of John H. Chase, was born at Middleburg, Tioga Co., Penn., in 1857.
He was reared in Allegany county, N.Y., and
educated at the Mansfield State Normal School.
After leaving school he located at Spring Mills, and became associated with W. Leonard (firm name being Leonard & Chase) as jobbers in cheese, for a period of five years.
He then removed to a farm in Bingham township, Potter Co., Penn., where he remained two years;
thence to Lewisville, where he formed a partnership with George H. Cobb the firm name being Cobb & Chase, dealers in ge
- [S1115] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;).
Record for Henry Hatch Dent (44) facts
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20251023GHLn-
Henry Hatch Dent
Photo Added by Sam Andrusko
Henry Hatch Dent
Birth 11 Feb 1815
Charles County, MD
Death 19 Nov 1872 (aged 57)
City of Baltimore, MD
Burial Dent Memorial Chapel Cemetery
Charlotte Hall, St. Mary's County, MD
Memorial ID172806057 ·
Photos 2
Flowers 2
Added by Sam Andrusko
From History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, J.H. Beers & Co., 1890:
HENRY HATCH DENT (deceased) was a native of Charles county, Md., born February 11, 1815, a son of Dr. William Hatch Dent (who died when his son was two years of age) and Katherine [sic] (Brawner) Dent, a daughter of Henry Brawner. The parents of Dr. William Hatch Dent were Rev. Hatch Dent (who fought during the Revolutionary war, and afterward became a clergy man of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and first principal of the Maryland State School, at Charlotte Hall, St. Mary' s county, Md.) and Judith (Posten) Dent, all natives of lower Maryland, of Charles and St. Mary's counties. Henry Hatch Dent, the subject proper of this commemorative record, received a thorough education, and graduated from Yale College in 1836 or 1837, after which he studied law in Washington, D.C., under Francis S. Keys, author of "The Star Spangled Banner." As a young man, he practiced law in the office of Felix Grundy, at that time attorney-general of the United States; then practiced in Washington until the death of his wife in 1849, during which time he was offered the judgeship of the criminal court there, which he declined. In
1850 Mr. Dent removed to St. Louis, Mo., and while claiming residence there, he spent a year in Philadelphia, attending to the partition suit between the heirs of William Bingham and John Adlum, which decided the title to much of the land in Potter and adjoining counties. In order that he might give personal attention to that part of the Adlum lands that had belonged to Mrs. Dent (who was a daughter of John Adlum), and to large tracts bought with his own funds, Mr. Dent came to Coudersport in 1853. Ten years afterward, in 1863, we find our subject residing in Brookland, Potter Co., Penn., where he remained until 1871, in December of which year he went to Baltimore for medical treatment, where he died November 19, 1872. Mr. Dent was married in September, 1841, to Ann Maria, daughter of John and Margaret Adlum (latter a native of Frederick, Md.), the ceremony being performed by his college and life-long friend, Rev. R.H. Wilmer, then a young priest in his first parish, now bishop of Alabama. John Adlum, father of Mrs. Dent, was born at York, Penn., and his commission as major, written on parchment, and signed by President John Quincy Adams, is still in the possession of his grandson, William Dent, of Brookland. Mr. L. Bird, now of Penfield, Clearfield Co., Penn., writes of Mr. Dent as follows:
"As a young surveyor, and at that time about the only one, I did work for Mr. Dent, and, from January, 1854, to March, 1888, I was in the position of a trusted business agent for Mr. Dent, and, therefore, well qualified to speak of his business character. His most excellent Christian mother was with him several years, assisting to care for his four young children. They are now Miss M.K. Dent, Mr. William Dent and Mrs. Thomas G. Hull, of Brookland, Penn., and Mrs. Rev. J. McBride Sterrett, of Faribault, Minn.
"Mr. Dent was the 'soul of integrity' in his business transactions, careful to give and receive the exact amounts. The property consisted of over 250 contracts for land in Tioga and Potter counties, and considerable unseated land in these counties, also some land a few miles from Bradford, in McKean county, besides a farm near Georgetown, D.C. No man who was trying to pay was ever pushed by him on these contracts. The contracts, as had been the custom of the 'Bingham Estate,' were very strict. Nearly all the money received from those contracts and from sale of land was expended in buying and improving property, and for living expenses in Potter county. Many a man still remembers his prompt payment of liberal wages.
"The private charities of himself and his mother need not be detailed, but I may mention a gift of a 'town clock' for the new court-house, costing him about $300. I well remember his pained expression when some men suggested that the present was made to gain popularity. Few men are found that have less of selfishness than he had.
"Mr. Dent was a Democrat, but his personal friends were in both parties, and, while fixed in his political opinions, he was friendly toward opponents, unless they assailed his personal integrity. His sympathies were with the South in the Civil war.
"Jefferson Davis and many of the Southern leaders were personal friends and associates. He regarded slavery (if an evil) as a necessary evil, and the duty of the white man to take good care of his slaves; and thought it better to let the States go than have the war. I was a radical Republican, but our personal and business relations were not disturbed. The immense 'war taxes' were a severe drain, for Mr. Dent owned considerable unseated land, and the interest-bearing contracts had been reduced and put into other land. Therefore, while owning considerable property, Mr. Dent did not have any income tax to pay. Some men now living remember that this fact was a sore spot with some who gave attention to the matter. Mr. Dent paid every dollar of taxes that the law required, and that without outside grumbling.
"His instructions to me were to pay all that were legally assessed, at same time adding, 'bitter as it is to pay to support a war that I do not think is for the good of the country.'
"Mr. Dent was a polite, Christian gentleman, and while he had some few personal enemies, I could see that nearly all arose from the fact that, owing to the difference in early training and habits, he and some of the Coudersport people did not understand, each other, and I was glad to know from them and from him, in later years, that both recognized this fact, and gave each other credit for honest intentions."
View Cenotaph here
Family Members
Parents
Dr William Hatch Dent
1787–1818
Katharine Brawner Dent
1789–1860
Spouse
Ann Maria Adlum Dent
1813–1849 (m. 1841)
Siblings
Addison Rittenhouse Dent
1812–1823
Josiah Dent
1817–1899
Children
Margaret Katharine "Kate" Dent
1842–1917
Henry Hatch Dent
1844–1848
William Dent
1845–1906
Adlumnia Dent Sterrett
1847–1925
Anna Maria Adlum Dent Hull
1849–1920
Flowers • 2
Left by Kathi Maynard Wiley on 28 Jun 2025
Left by SLGMSD on 30 May 2023
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
20251023GHLn-
Henry Hatch Dent
Photo Added by Sam Andrusko
Henry Hatch Dent
Birth 11 Feb 1815
Charles County, MD
Death 19 Nov 1872 (aged 57)
City of Baltimore, MD
Burial Dent Memorial Chapel Cemetery
Charlotte Hall, St. Mary's County, MD
Removed from Oak Hill Cemetery, DC July 30, 1883
Memorial ID172806057 ·
Photos 2
Flowers 2
Added by Sam… |
- [S1583] www.PA-Roots.com, History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, etc../Potter County, Chapter 23, Ulysses Township, Lewisville.
Chapter 23, Ulysses Township, Lewisville
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Potter County, Chapter 23, Ulysses Township, Lewisville
CREATED: TUESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2008 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2014 WRITTEN BY NATHAN ZIPFEL PRINT EMAIL
CHAPTER XXIII
ULYSSES TOWNSHIP- BOROUGH OF LEWISVILLE
ULYSSES TOWNSHIP- UNION OF ULYSSES AND JACKSON TOWNSHIPS- GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY- POPULATION- ASSESSMENTS- ORIGINAL SETTLERS- SOME FIRST THINGS- ELECTIONS IN FEBRUARY, 1890-VILLAGES.
BOROUGH OF LEWISVILLE - LOCATION AND POPULATION- MUNICIPAL MATTERS- CHURCHES- SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS- HOTELS--- GENERAL BUSINESS- MISCELLANEOUS.
ULYSSES TOWNSHIP (named by Charles Parrish, of Ulysses, N.Y.), with the exception of the southeast and northwest corners, is an open Catskill region, about four miles wide from southwest to northeast. The head waters of Cushing creek, and a few feeders of the Genesee fork of Pine creek, flow southeast; the middle branch of the Genesee river flows due north along the western line, and the leading heads flow northwest from the Lewisville vicinity, while the very head of the Allegheny stretches across the Allegheny town line. Cushing creek forms at Brookland, and flows through the canon already noticed; bringing its waters to the Chesapeake, the Genesee carries the floods of Miller creek into Lake Ontario, and the Allegheny, which really takes shape in Allegheny township, flows into the Mississippi. Catskill red and gray shale and rocks characterize this township; the principal exposure is two miles northeast of Brookland, near the old F.W. Knox farm.
That portion of the township, which was formerly called Jackson, and annexed in 1879, is south and east of the main divide, and in its northwest quarter the waters of Cushing creek unite with Pine creek, while in the southern half the west branch finds six leading tributaries, exclusive of the streams coming down from the Swedish hills. Near the north township line, on Cushing creek, the rocks, familiar to explorers below the coal strata, are to be seen, while coal measures are found east and west of Whitmore run, and up the run three miles a heavy flowing spring rushes through the coal- bed of 40 inches in depth, while opposite is another coal outcrop. About 7,000 feet west of the spring is the great outcrop of Pottsville conglom, while close by, are the two immense detached masses of this rock, one 130 and the other 150 feet in circumference, and each about 25 feet high, both giving succor to a grove of scrub trees. The entire district rests upon a coal- bed, the dimensions of which can only be imagined. The greater part of the township (all except part of Chemung valley) is still as wild as it was when the pioneers of Pike township looked in upon the wilderness, and nothing less than the necessities of the future will ever lead to its improvement.
In Jackson (now, as stated, a part of Ulyssess) John M. Melizet, F.R. Wharton, David Lewis, J.P. Garrische, R. and J. Waln, F. Ravissee, Hannah M. Wharton and Francis R. Wharton paid taxes on unseated lands in 1834. The resident property owners in Jackson township in 1847 were Reuben Harrington (proprietor of saw- mill), Alex. Bane, Wm. and Chauncey Ellsworth, Rufus Thompson, Bradley Orsbeem, Thomas Reant, John P. Losey, Allen Shepherd, C. Lamphier, Wm. Woodard (assessor) and Jacob McFall.
Ulysses township was assessed in 1833 by Rufus A. Freeman, who found the following named residents there: Anson S. Burt, Charles Parrish, Jesse and O.A. Lewis, Lester Miles, Naham Miles, John Hackett, Ashbel Monroe. Clark and Ross L. Crum, Ira Gilbert, Wm. Miles, Hector Atwood, Isom Thompson, Sam. and Hosea Cushing, John Leonard, Anson, Dennis and James Blackman, Wm. W. Wood, Willis Young, Naher H. and Thomas Halock, Ichabod Grover, Edmund Bran, Steve Brace, Peter Haskell and Nancy Goff. In September, 1827, John Hackett, accompanied by Orange A. Lewis, came from Upper Lisle, N.Y., and settled in Harrison township, but in 1828 moved into Ulysses. In 1830 Lewis came hither and settled just south of his former employer's cabin. Hackett took possession of a hunter's shanty on what is now the Charles Monroe farm, and soon had for neighbors Dr. Keeler, Stephen Brace, Peter Haskell; while north in Bingham township the first female child, Ruth Spencer, and the first male child, Alva Carpenter, were added to the settlement, and Lydia, daughter of John Brace, was married to William Miles in 1830, by Benjamin Van Campin, of Bingham township.
The population in 1880 was 638, inclusive of Jackson township, annexed the year before, but exclusive of Lewisville borough. In 1888 the township, exclusive of borough, gave 92 Republican, 73 Democratic and 8 Prohibitionist votes, representing 865 inhabitants. There were 229 tax- payers in 1889, whose property was assessed at $166, 909.
Clark Crum, who died in 1887, settled on the farm (occupied by James Nickerson in 1882) within the borough in 1831; Joshua Thompson, on the Willet Lyon farm, two miles north; Willis Young, on the N.T. Jackson farm, two miles west; David Crowell on the Burton Lewis farm, two miles south. The first fanning- mill was made by Philander Hawley for John Hackett, the sieves being thin boards with several holes bored through them L.M. Howard was the first blacksmith. Collins Smith was the first merchant, in 1840, followed the same year by Cushing & Haskins. Dr. Andrew Stout, who in 1844 settled one- fourth of a mile south of his present home, was the only physician of the Ulysses district for years. Prior to his coming the physicians named in the sketches of Harrison and Bingham townships visited the settlements.
The first school- house was erected in 1837, and is known as the Daniels school- house, but as early as 1834 a small school was taught in the south part of Bingham, mostly for the benefit of the children of the Ulysses settlers. It was begun by Emily Lewis, but for some reason she gave up her position as teacher at the end, of four weeks, and the term was finished by Minerva Hackett. James Hawley, with his two sons, Philander and Salmon, built the first grist- mill in Ulysses. The date of the building of this mill is variously given from 1830 to 1836. This mill was burned, and rebuilt in 1840.
The officers of the township, elected in February, 1890, are: Constable, J.S. Hopkins; collector, J.S. Hopkins; judge of election, E.P. Johnson; town clerk, C.M. Stillman; treasurer, A. Carpenter; auditor, E.D. Leet; inspectors of election, O.E. Crandal, M.S. Crum; supervisor, M.W. Gridley; school directors, M.S. Crum, L.W. Cushing, C. Gridley; overseer of the poor, M.W. Gridley.
So early as 1828 the location of the village of Brookland was selected by Dr. Keeler as a site for his proposed saw- mill. The walls of a large log building were erected for this purpose, when the physician changed his mind and scene of labors, moving to the mouth of the East fork of the Sinnemahoning. Hosea Cushing came to this location a year or two after the Crums settled at Lewisville, and a few years later Elder Sheardown preached here.
In 1853 H.H. Dent came from Washington, D.C., and located at Coudersport. He owned extensive tracts of land in Potter county. He bought the square upon which the English Protestant Episcopal Church now stands, and built his residence thereon. In 1862 he moved from Coudersport to Brookland, in Ulysses township, where he built his residence and formed the nucleus of a hamlet. His grounds were laid out with fine taste, and the place is still one of the most attractive in the county. The name Brookland was given to it by Mrs. Timothy Ives, at a picnic, to which Mr. Dent invited the ladies to name his new home. Mr. Dent was a man of ability, and full of public spirit. He took great interest in educational matters, and presented the county with the clock which still remains in the tower of the court- house. William Dent, the only son of the old proprietor of Brookland, lives at the homestead, and is an extensive land owner.
In 1854 a post- office was established here with Hosea Cushing, master. In March, 1857, the name of Cushingville was changed to Brookland. The present office is in T.G. Hull's general store.
In 1871 a Sunday- school class was organized at this point, the Dent family being members. A temporary building for worship was occupied in August, 1875, and in 1878 Rev. Mr. Sterritt was engaged to preach here occasionally. In October, 1880, Rev. William Marshall came, and continued to serve the church here until June, 1889.
All Saints Protestant Episcopal Society of Brookland was incorporated in January, 1885, with Thomas G. Hull, George and Henry Bartlett, H.T. Reynolds, F. Jacobs and William Dent, wardens. In 1888 the present stone church was erected, the stone being quarried in the vicinity, and in the fall of 1889 the rectory was finished. The number of communicants is thirty- eight. Thomas G. Hull is senior warden and treasurer, and John Leach and John Jacobs, members of the vestry, with others named above. The building was dedicated September 19, 1889, by the assistant Protestant Episcopal bishop of Central Pennsylvania, and Rev. W.E. Wright, the rector.
The Fox Hill Cemetery Association was incorporated in January, 1886, with sixteen members, of whom W.A. Heath, V.E. Freeman and Charles Turner, of Brookland, were directors.
In 1850 there was a tannery at Kibbeville belonging to a German by the name of Plagueman, who has been dead several years; his widow is still living. Many a youthful swain stood up to be married in boots whose leather was tanned at Kibbeville. No work has been done at this tannery for a number of years. The East fork was made a highway in 1850. Lucas Cushing and M.J.N. Haskins opened a store in Ulysses township at what is now known as Olmsted's corners, in, 1840. In 1881 the residents of Gold village petitioned for a post- office, and suggested the name Raymond; the department gave the office but not the name. The old Gold Tub Factory was moved to Lewisville in February, 1883, but the industry is not now in existence. J.W. Morley & Co.'s general store is located here, and the little hamlet is fast assuming village airs. The Reynolds House is well conducted by E.J. Reynolds. Newfield, on the Moore farm, is the site of W.J. Grover's general store, and is one of the post- offices of the township.
BOROUGH OF LEWISVILLE.
Lewisville, generally called Ulysses, which is the name of the post- office, is located in a depression of the divide between the upper forks or feeders of the Genesee river, in the northeastern quarter of the township.
The population in 1880 was 365. In 1888 there were 86 Republican, 21 Democratic, 36 Prohibitionist and one Union Labor votes, representing a population of 720. Lewisville, in 1889, claimed 206 resident tax- payers, 108 horses, 2 oxen, 79 cows, seated real estate valued at $29,732, while moneys at interest were placed at $35, 653. As stated previously, Hackett settled in the township in 1828, and O.A. Lewis in. 1830. From this last- named pioneer the borough takes the name Lewisville. Clark Crum, a settler of 1831, and one of the early hunters, died in Ulysses township, in February, 1887. His cabin was within the limits of the present town.
Municipal Affairs.- Thefirst election for Lewisville borough was held February 2, 1872, when J.O. Potter was chosen burgess; Alva S. Mintonye, justice of the peace; E.C. Lewis, H.C. Hosley, E.A. Wagner, H.A. Gridley and T.W. Burt, councilmen; S.W. Monroe, O.R. Bassett, J.R. Nickerson and J.O. Potter, school directors; H.C. Hosley, constable and assessor; Austin Whipple and Moses Hackett, overseers of poor, and E.W. Chappel, auditor. George Merrill and C.M. Burt were inspectors, and Andrew Stone judge of this election. The names of burgess, councilmen and school directors elected annually are given as follows:
Burgesses.- William Howe, 1873; W.T. Hosley, 1874- 84; C.M. Allen, 1875; E.W. Chappel, 1876; C.G. Cushing, 1877; H.A. Gridley, 1878; A.S. Mintonye, 1879- 80; Perry Brigham, 1881- 86; T. W. Burt, 1882; G.C. Manion, 1883; George H. Cobb, 1885; William Daniels, 1887; F.M. Bronson, 1888- 89, receiving the full vote cast, or fifty- one votes.
Councilmen.- James Nickerson, 1873- 74- 77- 81- 83; James Gibson, 1873- 75- 88; C.E. Hosley, 1873- 76; W. Burtis, 1874; C.G. Cushing, 1874; E.A. Wagner, 1874; Perry Brigham, 1875; A.D. Corey, 1875- 76- 84; George Bartlett, 1876; E.R. Eddy, 1876- 80; J.O. Potter, 1877; B.L. Easton, 1877- 78- 81; Moses Hackett, 1878; E. Rathbone, 1879- 83; Thomas Bishop, 1879; Fayette Lewis, 1879. (In 1879 the vote against stock running at large was 47, and for, 21). John Lewis, 1880; A. Cady, 1880; G.H., or A.H., Cobb, 1880- 83; D.J. Chappel, 1880; H.A. Gridley, 1881- 84- 88; B.J. Cushing, 1881- 82; C.E. Burt, 1881- 82- 83; Charles Erlbeck, 1881- 82; E.A. Burt, 1882- 87; C.M. Allen, 1883; E. Blackman, 1883; E. Hyde, 1884; H.C. Hosley, 1884- 85- 86- 89; H.K. Lane, 1884; George A. Farnsworth, 1884- 88; G.C. Marion, 1885; A.S. Burt, 1886; W.M. Hosley, 1887; C.W. Bailey, 1889.
School Directors.- A.S. Mintonye, 1873- 76; C.G. Cushing, 1873- 76; Seth Lewis, 1874- 77; O.R. Bassett, 1874- 77; James Nickerson, 1878; H.C. Hosley, 1878- 81- 88; J.O. Potter, 1878; Charles Erlbeck, 1880; Perry Brigham, 1880; W.W. Hamswirtt, 1881; C.E. Hosley, 1081- 82; E.U. Eaton, 1882; B.J. Cushing, 1882; F.M. Bronson, 1883- 86- 89; H.A. Gridley, 1883- 85- 86- 89; C.A. Lewis, 1884- 87; C.M. Allen, 1884- 87; George C. Marion, 1884- 88; G.A. Farnsworth, 1885.
The officers elected in February, 1890, are as follows: Burgess, O.A. Nelson; councilmen, William M. Hosley, A.H. Lewis, Lyman Merrill; justice of the peace, F.M. Bronson; constable, E.A. Hovey; collector, E.A. Hovey; high constable, W.E. Turner; auditor, John F. Stone; school directors, D.C. Chase, E.A. Burt; overseer of the poor, I.P. Collins; judge of election, B.S. Easton; inspectors of election, George Nickerson, John L. Bailey.
The Lewisville Water Company was chartered September 30, 1886, with Perry Brigham, Tom Brigham, C.A. Lewis, G.C. Marion and E.U. Eaton, stockholders. The Ulysses Hose Company was organized in May, 1887, with G.C. Marion, chief, and G.A. Farnsworth, I.P. Collins and C.E. Hosley.
Churches.- The Baptist Church is mentioned in the minutes of the Canisteo Association of 1837. At that time Gardner H. Olmsted, the clerk, reported thirty- three members. In 1839 there was no report made, but Harrison township reported through Deacon W.G. Raymond, the successor of John Rooks, as clerk at that point in 1837. The first association meeting held within the Ulysses Church was that of 1871, and the second in 1885. The first Baptist society of Ulysses was incorporated January 6, 1849, with Daniel Olmsted, Leavitt Cushing, Barney Hicks, G.H. Olmsted, Lucas Cushing and Erastus Merrill, trustees. Among the members were Seth C. Parker, Eph. B. Slade, L.L. Robertson, C.F. Parker, Judson Brown and Delos Eason. In 1858 the society completed a church building.
The Methodist Church dates back to 1842- 43, when C. Graham was sent to preach here, holding services in the old school- house, which stood where Lewis Bros. meat market now is. In 1844 or 1845 E. Hudson came, and during his time a parsonage was built on what is now the .H. Young farm. In this house Messrs. W.K. Runner, W. Jones, W. Shaffer, W. Statham and E.P. Huntington, the successive incumbents of the circuit, resided. In 1858 S.P. Guernsey came, and deserted the old house for rooms in the old O.A. Lewis House, within the village. At that time the Baptists had completed their house, and in it the Methodists worshiped on alternate Sundays. H.O. Abbott, J. Easter and F.M. Smith were stationed here successively, while H. Rowland had charge during the last two years of the war.
In September, 1887, an effort to organize a Universalist society and build a house of worship at Lewisville was made. Mrs. Kate Parker, Thomas E. Gridley, John F. Stone, F.M. Wagner and A. S. Burt were chosen trustees.
Societies and Associations.- Lewisville Lodge, No. 556, F. & A.M., was organized May 12, 1881, under charter granted December 6, 1880, with George Marion, W.M.; H.T. Reynolds, S.W.; Frank Bronson, J.W.; Seth Lewis, secretary, and Ira Carpenter, treasurer. The list of past masters includes Geo. C. Marion, Frank M. Bronson, Dr. E.U. Eaton, Fayette Lewis and E.A. Burt. The master, in 1889, was P.A. McDonald. He is listed as past master from his service at Wellsville, N.Y., and at Port Allegany. The following are the officers for 1890: P.A. McDonald, P.M.; E.A. Burt, W.M.; I.P. Collins, S.W.; S.E. Chrisman, J.W.; H.K. Lane, treasurer, Seth Lewis, secretary; L.G. Goodenough, S.D.; D.R. Shiners, J.D., with P.H. Miller, J.J. Downey, H.U. Herritt, E.A. Hovey and H.A. Gridley filling the junior offices.
Ulysses Chapter, No. 269, R.A.M., was chartered November 9, 1888, with the following members: P.A. McDonald, H.P.; Geo. C. Marion, K.; E.U. Eaton, scribe; and H.T. Reynolds, H.K. Lane, Fayette Lewis, John V. Miller, Byron G. Miller and George Sutton. P.A. McDonald was H.P. in 1889, with Homer K. Lane, secretary. In 1890 G.C. Marion resides, with Seth Lewis, secretary.
O.A. Lewis Post, No. 279, G.A.R., was organized August 3, 1882, with Wm. Daniels, C.; A.A. Johnson, S.V.C.; H.T. Reynolds, J.V.C.; J.O. Potter, O. of D.; M.G. Wheaton, O. of G.; A.D. Corey, chaplain; A.H. Cobb, surgeon; T.V. Barker, adjutant; A.H. Owen, S.M.; D.J. Chappel, Q.M., and Edson Hyde, Q.M.S.A.D. Corey was commander in 1883; A.A. Johnson, 1883- 85- 88; A.E. Wright, 1886- 87, and E.M. Stewart, 1889, with Judge Reynolds, adjutant. The officers for 1890 are J.W. Smith, C.; H.R. Drake, S.V.C.; Wm. O'Neill, J.V.C.; F.M. Brown, Q.; John. Barnes, S.; E.M. Stewart, O.D.; Geo. W. Rogers, O.G.; H.T. Reynolds, Adjt.; J.T. Hovey, S.M.; Lyman Merrill, Q.M.S.; S.N. Vanover, Chap.; W.H. Mericle, J.S.; P.M. Jacobus, O.S. Whipple Post, No. 2, S. of V., is a recent organization, of which D.J. Whipple is adjutant.
Equitable Aid Union, No. 212, was presided over in 1883 by W.H. Millard, and in 1881- 82- 86 by Henry Hosley. J.W. Lewis was president in 1889, with Mary A. Blackman, secretary. E.M. Stewart is the present presiding officer, with Mary A. Drake, secretary.
K. of H. Lodge, No. 2025, was presided over by F.M. Bronson in 1881- 83- 85; by E.A. Burt in 1886. In May, 1889, an attempt to find the records was unrewarded.
Ulysses Lodge, No. 818, I.O.O.F., is presided over by A.O. Lewis, with Charles M. Brigham. secretary.
Ulysses Branch of the National Order of Independent Iron Clads of North America was incorporated January 11, 1886, with A.D. Corey, W.T. Hosley, E.A. Corey, G.W. Merrill, Geo. C. Marion and E.M. Stewart, directors. The object was to further the cause of temperance and kindred virtues.
In February, 1887, the C.L.S.C. of Lewisville elected F.F. Cutler, president, Seth Lewis, vice- president, and Minnie Cushing, secretary.
The W.C.T.U. was chartered June 20, 1884, the following named ladies being members: Mesdames Ann Gerona Wagner, Sarah E. Lewis, Marcella Eaton, Kate L. Stone, Clara Burt, Chloe Leet, Kate E. Lewis, Nettie M. Allen, Louisa A. Hosley, Estella Robbins, Mary Lewis, Charlotte Marion, Martha Drake, Elizabeth Lewis, Stella T. Baker, Charlotte Millen, Aggie Hosley, Clarissa Bennett, Emma Farnsworth, Lucy Lewis, Celia R. Cobb, Emma Millard, Caroline Burt, Flora Bailey, Kate Burt and Mary Bronson, and the Misses Carrie Stillman, Clara Hosley, Jessie Lewis and Mary A. Gridley. Mrs. Elizabeth Lewis is first president, Mesdames A.G. Wagner and Charlotte Marion, vice- presidents, and Miss M.A. Gridley and Mrs. K.L. Stone, secretaries, and Mrs. Kate E. Lewis, treasurer.
The Ulysses Cemetery Association was organized February 14, 1874, for the purpose of establishing a burial ground in the borough of Lewisville. There were fifty-two members, of whom O.R. Bassett, James Nickerson, E.C. Lewis, J.O. Potter, E.W. Chappel and Willet Lyon were trustees.
The Ulysses Driving Park Association was incorporated August 28, 1886, with E.U. Eaton, Geo. H. Cobb, John F. Stone, F.M. Wagner and J.N. Crowell, directors. There were thirty- seven members who subscribed for forty- three and a half $25 shares.
Hotels. - The Lyman House was built about thirty years ago by C. Lyman. This hotel was conducted by several persons for the last twenty years, until it became the property of Perry Brigham, whose residence it now is. The old Lewisville House ceased years ago, and like the Lyman is used as a residence. The Hosley House was built by William Hosley in 1883, and carried on by C.E. Hosley until June, 1888, when the building and furniture were sold to D.A. Corey, the present owner. There are twenty- three rooms, well furnished.
General Business. - A decade ago the general merchants were Chappel Bros., Abram Bennett, Burtis & Potter, S.W. Monroe and A. Burtis; Edson Hyde was a watchmaker, J.C. Davidson, a blacksmith and iron- founder; B. Lewis, a hotel owner; Seth Lewis, an attorney; A. Stout and E.U. Eaton, physicians, and E. Hackett, a mill owner. The academy and common-school buildings were here. Today the business houses are, in part, G.C. Marion & Co., hardware; Stone, Raymond & Co., clothing; D.J. Chappel & Son, general store; C.A. Lewis & Co.; general store; Drake Bros., furniture; A.S. Mintonye, boots and shoes; Homer K. Lane, drugs and books; Cobb & White, general store; C.M. Allen, jewelry and crockery; A.D. Corey, pool and billiard tables; S.G. Burtis, groceries. The professions are represented by Seth Lewis and I.P. Collins, attorneys; E.U. Eaton, physician, and S.A. Phillips, dentist. H.K. Lane established the first regular drug store at Lewisville, in 1879, in the Chappel Block, and in 1886 he erected his present building on Main street near North. The Sentinel, noticed in the press chapter, is a good local journal.
Miscellaneous.- Thefire of April 28, 1887, destroyed A.L. Hyde's building and stock, and the law office of Edson Hyde. The present Hyde building was completed in August, 1887; the G.A.R. hail and a billiard room were destroyed. In November, 1887, the Perry Brigham steam- saw and gristmill was destroyed, with 20,000 feet of lumber and 200 bushels of grain. The storm of May 28, 1888, destroyed orchards, fences and homes. Among the losers in Lewisville and neighborhood were A.F. Raymond, J.H. Hosley, of Gold; Alva Carpenter, George W. Carpenter; of Newfield; J.A. Brown, Cale Gridley and G.H. Cady, of Lewisville, who had their barns unroofed; D. Francis' barn was moved; A. Hawk's barn in Harrison township was partly carried away; J.W. Neal, of Harrison, had his wagon- shed blown down and wagons broken; F.A. Crowell, and others on the Cowanesque, lost property by this tornado.
Source: Page(s) 1135-1141 History of Counties of McKean, Elk and Forest, Pennsylvania. Chicago, J.H. Beers & Co., 1890.
Transcribed October 2006 by Nathan Zipfel, Published 2006 by PA-Roots
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1815 - 1872 (57 years)
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