Historical sketches of Plymouth, Luzerne Co., Penna.

Front matter

Class Book.

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT

HENDKICK B. WRIGHT.

Dedication

To Hendeeson Gayloed, Esq.,

Mt Deae Sie : — Three of your name and kindred were members of Captain Samuel Kansom's company, in the Eevolutionary War. Another was a lieutenant in Captain Whittlesey's company, and fell in the memorable battle of Wyoming, on the third of July, 1778.

Among the brave men who volunteered under the flag of our country in the recent Eebellion, your son, Asher, occupied as proud a position for courage as the best of them; and was stricken down upon the field, covered with three honorable scars, which he had previously received in the same number of engagements.

Contents

' CHAPTER I.

Its name. — wheis" settled, . . . Page 33

CHAPTER n.

Preface

In a conversation, some months since, with an old Plymouth friend, he remarked : — " that all of the original settlers of the town had gone to their final resting-place, and that but a few of their children remained — and that these were now far advanced in years; that some of the old family names had become extinct; and that some one ought to prepare and write out a few biographical sketches of the most noted and prominent pioneers of the town. Their descendants should be informed of their early trials, sacrifices, and exposures; and what a vast amount of labor they performed, and what hardships they endured, to lay the foundation of all that wealth, which their kindred were now realizing."

I replied, that I thought Mr. Charles Miner had

pretty well accomplished this, in his " Hazleton Trav-

26 PEEFACE.

ellers." He said, " no ; and if I would refer to Mr. Miner's "book, I would see that h.e had written of but some four or five Plymouth, families. Mr. Miner spoke of the representative men, of the old time, throughout the entire valley. His limits would not, of course, permit him to go into that detail, which I am now suggesting,"

I said that the publication of a volume containing such biographical notices, would be attended with very considerable labor and expense ; that the subject matter of the book would be entirely local, and of little interest, save to the comparatively small number of people, who were the immediate descendants of the first settlers of the town, and it would also be a difficult matter to procure a competent person to perform it.

He replied, by saying, "that he thought I was the only person living possessing the necessary knowledge of the old people of the town — many of whom were, in their day and generation, men of mark; some of whom had rendered their country signal services, while others had been carried into captivity by the Indians — to write a personal history of their exploits, sufferings, and perils, and he thought that I

PREFACE. 27

ought to be willing to bestow the labor of doing the work.

" That as to the cost of publishing the work, when written, if the descendants of the old heroes who are now sitting down in comfortable ease and luxury, enjoying the fruits of the large coal properties which they have inherited, and which are the legacies resulting from the toil and hardships, as well as the sagacity of their ancestors, are unwilling to foot the bill, why, you and I will do it for them,"

With much warmth and feeling he continued; "it will be, at most, a paltry sum; and the memories of many of these old people are dear to us, and therefore let us put them in history ! There is not a New England town of the population of ours that has not its local history written out and published, and so let us have our history — ^we have the materials to make it one of interest, and it should be done."

" Therefore," said he, " go at it, and when you have completed it, name my share to be contributed."

Impelled, therefore, by such generous impulses, I could not well decline; and accordingly, soon after this conversation, I commenced writing out some of the personal notices of the representative men of the

28 PREFACE.

town, contained in the following pages. But in tracing out the characters of the subjects I had selected, I found they were so intimately blended with the startling and exciting events of the Revolutionary struggle, "the Yankee and Pennamite" dispute, Indian captivities, and border raids, that mere biographical sketches of a few leading men, would not correspond with my own ideas, at least, as to what was due to old Plymouth, and the hardy and intrepid men who had founded the town.

I therefore concluded that instead of drawing a series of personal portraits, I would write up the history of the town. Not a history precisely, either, with its connected chain of events, dates, and chronological tables; but rather outlines and sketches of the principal men, and most noted events; commencing with the settlement of the town, and continuing down to the year 1850 ; noting the early habits, customs, and amusements of the old settlers; giving memoranda of the early merchants, ministers of the gospel, physicians and schoolmasters; also an account of the shad fisheries, old land-marks, game, and many other matters purely municipal, but still of interest to those who had knowledge upon the sub-

PREFACE. 29

jects directly, or held them, in tradition, from their fathers.

For half of the period of the hundred years of which I write, I have a personal knowledge. Being a native of the town, and a resident in it for a number of years, I had a personal knowledge of, and an intimate acquaintance with, I may say, nearly all the people of the town for more than half a century. From the survivors of the first settlers I received the traditionary characters of their cotemporaries and predecessors. This personal knowledge, therefore, enabled me to collate and prepare materials for the volume which, under other circumstances, would have been attended with much trouble and great research.

Many of the events which I have written out, have been heretofore given to the public by the historical writers of the valley. I have therefore, not in all cases, cited authorities, for the reason that I had the same sources of information, and had become familiar with them long before their publication. The traditionary history of the town was a subject as thoroughly fixed in my mind, as the lessons taught me in the old Academy. As to facts, in some cases,

PREFACE.

I diifcr with tlic authors who have preceded me and who have written upon tlie same subject matter. I have done tliis, however, under the impression that my sources of information were the most reliable.

For instance, the tragedy attending the capture of Pike, Rogers and others, is stated differently by me, compared with previously written accounts of it. I made this change, because I have had repeatedly an extended and minute account of the whole affair from the mouths of both these men. While all the writers agree in the main, they are widely apart as to some of the minor details. This has been mainly produced by the incorrect statements, from time to time made, by Van Campen, and which have been received as truths.

When, therefore, I am in collision with the gentlemen who have gone over the same ground before me as to the verity of any point, I must fall back upon what I regard as my own superior opportunities of information. Nor have I, in such cases, relied wholly upon my own knowledge; but have consulted with aged persons, old residents of the town now living, whoso facilities of information were even better than my own; and have accordingly declined to change

PREFACE, 31

the thread of published history without their concurrence in opinion with me. But as the changes so made are comparatively few, and do not materially alter former texts, it was probably hardly necessary to have been alluded to at all. Still, those who write should be very exact in their statements, especially on historical matters. It is in this view that I have made allusion to the subject.

To Jameson Harvey and Henderson Gaylord, both aged gentlemen, and old residents of the town, I am under deep obligations for many of tlie facts and incidents contained in the volume.

To Stewart Pearce, author of the Annals of Luzerne, and Steuben Jenkins, both gentlemen who have devoted much time to the research of those t]iin<2:s which concern the early settlement and occupation of the valley by our ancestors, I also tender the expressions of my gratitude. Mr. Pearce is, upon his mother's side, of the family of Captain Lazarus Stewart, whose name occurs honorably in the following pages. Mr. Jenkins is a lineal descendant of Colonel John Jenkins, who headed the first Connecticut immigrant colony that set foot upon the banks of the Susquehanna.

32 - PEEFACE.

Both of these gentlemen have for many years past been very industrious and persevering in hunting out and treasuring up the early antiquities of the valley, and have thus become possessed of a large store of historic matter, from which, at their request and approval, I have made liberal draughts.

The photographic Hkenesses, and vievs^s, were executed and prepared by Mr. William H. Schurch, of Scranton, in this county. It is to be hoped that the clever style, and artistic manner in which they have been produced, may lead to a more general patronage towards him upon the part of the people of the valley.

Wiltes-Barre, April lOth, 1873.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF PLYMOUTH.