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Wll.l.lA^    PRNN    R>'A\AN. 


THE  EARLY  SETTLEMENT 


DALLAS  TOWNSHIP, 


Luzerne  County,  Pennsylvania, 


William  Penn  Ryman,  Esq., 

Member  of  the  Luzerne  Countj'  Bar. 


Read  before  the  Wyoming  Historical  and  Geological  Society 

December  ii,  1885  and  February  11,  1886, 

and  Reprinted  from  Volume  VI  of  its  Proceedings  and  Collections. 


VVILKES-HARRE,    PA, 
1901. 


Ii'< 


JJ/4'7f| 


THE  EARLY  SETTLEMENT  OF  DALLAS 
TOWNSHIP,  PA., 

BY 

William  Penn  Ryman,  Esq., 

WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH    OF    THE    AUTHOR, 

BY 

Wesley  E.  Woodruff, 
Historiographer. 


William  Penn  Ryman,  one  of  the  most  prominent  citi- 
zens of  Wilkes-Barre,  and  a  leading  lawyer  of  the  Luzerne 
Bar,  passed  into  his  final  rest  at  his  home  on  South  Franklin 
street,  July  31,  1899,  just  as  the  shades  of  evening  had 
closed  around  the  brightness  of  one  of  nature's  loveliest  days. 
Mr.  Ryman  had  not  been  a  well  man  for  years,  for  he  had 
recovered  from  a  former  desperate  illness  only  by  force  of 
will  and  by  extreme  care  in  his  routine  of  life.  In  this  way 
he  was  spared  to  those  whom  he  loved,  and  who  loved  him, 
and  for  useful  endeavor,  until  some  months  ago,  when  he 
again  failed  in  health.  Such  was  his  strength  of  resolution, 
however,  that  he  kept  up,  until  exhausted  nature  made  it 
impossible  to  do  so  longer.  Even  as  he  felt  the  shadows 
deepening  he  never  lost  his  courage,  his  serenity  or  his 
cheerfulness  of  spirit,  and  he  still  had  the  pleasant  greeting 
and  the  smile  of  a  cordial  spirit  until  a  merciful  oblivion 
closed  his  eyes.  For  several  hours  before  the  end  he  was 
not  conscious,  and  the  end  was  peaceful  and  beautiful — like 
a  child  falling  into  slumber  at  the  closing  of  the  day. 

William  Penn  Ryman  was  born  in  Dallas  August  23, 


4  WILLIAM    P.    RYMAN. 

1847.  He  was  the  son  of  Abram  and  Jemima  {Kunkle) 
Ryman,  whose  family  was  of  German  extraction,  and  settled 
originally  in  New  Jersey,  though  three  generations  were 
born  on  the  old  homestead  farm  at  Dallas.  William  P. 
attended  the  schools  of  Wilkes-Barre  and  then  prepared  for 
college  at  Wyoming  Seminary.  He  entered  Cornell  Uni- 
versity as  a  sophomore  at  the  first  opening  of  that  institu- 
tion, and  completed  the  usual  four  years'  course  in  three 
years.  He  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1871.  He  then 
took  the  two  years'  course  at  Harvard  Law  School,  com- 
pleting it  in  one  year,  and  afterwards  came  to  Wilkes-Barre, 
being  admitted  to  the  Luzerne  bar  from  the  office  of  the  late 
Edward  P.  Darling  September  20,  1873,  and  to  the  United 
States  Court  1882.  He  continued  the  practice  of  law  from 
that  time.  In  1892,  at  the  building  of  the  Wilkes-Barre 
and  Eastern  Railroad,  he  accepted  the  presidency  of  the 
corporation  and  held  that  position  until  the  merging  of  the 
road  with  the  Erie.  He  still  retained  official  connection, 
however,  as  counsel  for  the  road. 

He  organized  the  Algonquin  Coal  Company,  1893,  was 
its  president  from  the  time  of  its  inception  until  his  death, 
and  was  one  of  the  largest  stockholders. 

He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Wyoming  Historical  and 
Geological  Society  January  7,  1881,  and  became  a  Life 
Member  February  12,  1897. 

Mr.  Ryman  was  a  man  of  the  most  studious  habits,  and 
the  atmosphere  of  the  scholar  was  always  about  him.  His 
law  library  was  a  particularly  fine  one,  and  his  private  library 
was  one  of  singular  richness,  excellence  and  variety.  He 
was  beloved  by  everybody  who  knew  him,  and  close  ac- 


WILLIAM    P.    RYMAN.  5 

quaintance  invariably  added  to  the  esteem  and  the  affection 
in  which  he.  was  held.  As  a  citizen,  he  was  a  man  who 
considered  duty  above  all  else,  and  his  sense  of  duty  was 
clarified  by  an  appreciation  of  the  privileges  and  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  individual,  as  they  stand  related  to  government 
and  to  authority.  As  a  professional  man,  his  acquirements 
were  of  the  highest  type — moulded  in  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  law,  and  framed  in  honor  and  unimpeachable 
integrity.  He  was  a  man  also  of  broadest  culture,  of  an 
innate  and  a  developed  refinement.  He  was  always  a  reader, 
and  his  researches  extended  to  history,  to  science  and  to  the 
languages.  Art  and  music  were  his  relaxations,  and  he  was 
a  connoisseur  in  the  highest  realms  of  culture.  In  short, 
whether  in  professional  or  merely  personal  attainments,  he 
was  a  man  of  the  type  of  which  communities  boast,  and  a 
man  whom  any  city  might  well  be  proud  to  call  her  own.  In 
the  home,  in  the  associations  that  make  life  perfectly  round- 
ed and  beautiful,  he  was  esteemed  and  beloved  as  few  are. 
These  associations  from  which  the  beauty  and  the  fragrance 
of  life  exhale  are  not  for  the  public  ear,  nor  for  the  analysis  of 
a  public  chronicle.  A  heart  of  the  most  generous  impulses 
was  his ;  a  heart  of  the  tenderest  sympathy  and  of  sincerest 
yielding  to  duty.  The  community  is  poorer  because  of  this 
loss,  and  the  business  world  has  lost  one  of  its  brightest 
ornaments.  All  who  knew  him  will  breathe  a  sigh  of  the 
sincerest  regret  at  this  summons  of  death,  and,  indeed,  the 
expressions  that  have  already  come  to  those  bereaved  have 
been  many  and  have  been  from  the  heart. 


The  following  extended  and  valuable  history  of  Dallas 
township,  Luzerne  county,  Pennsylvania,  was  originally 
prepared  by  Mr.  Ryman  as  a  brief  paper  for  the  Wyoming 
Historical  and  Geological  Society,  and  was  read  before  the 
Society,  by  request,  December  ii,  1885.  It  was  so  full  of 
interest  that  it  was  at  once  referred  to  the  publishing  com- 
mittee, and  Mr.  Ryman  was  unanimously  requested  to  pre- 
pare a  second  paper  on  the  same  subject.  This  latter  paper 
was  also  read  before  the  Society  at  the  annual  meeting  Feb- 
ruary II,  1886.  At  his  own  suggestion,  that  a  much  larger 
amount  of  data  was  still  unrecorded  about  the  township, 
both  papers  were  returned  to  the  author  for  enrichment. 
This  task  was  with  him  a  labor  of  love,  taken  up  during  his 
leisure  hours,  and  the  last  touches  were  added  after  the 
disease  which  ended  his  useful  life  had  fully  developed. 
Even  in  his  last  days  he  still  hoped  to  have  strength  to  add 
a  chapter  on  the  part  played  by  Dallas  township  in  the  late 
Civil  War.  But  the  pen  fell  from  the  weak  hands,  and  this 
chapter  remains  unwritten.  h.  e.  h.** 


ABUA/H    R>  .>\AN. 


THE  EARLY  SETTLEMENT  OF  DALLAS 
TOWNSHIP,  PA. 


READ  BEFORE  THE  WYOMING  HISTORICAL  AND  GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 
DECEMBER  II,  1885,  AND  FEBRUARY  II,  1886. 


Up  to  the  present  time,  local  historians  have  found  so 
much  of  interest  connected  with  the  settlement  and  growth 
of  Wyoming  Valley  that  they  have  neglected  to  note  many 
important  events  in  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  country 
surrounding.  There  is,  no  doubt,  a  vast  deal  of  interesting 
historic  material  connected  with  every  township  in  the  pres- 
ent county  of  Luzerne,  which,  years  ago,  could  and  should 
have  been  recorded  and  given  permanent  place  in  its  annals, 
but  which,  from  long  neglect,  is  now  either  lost  forever,  or 
so  poorly  and  inaccurately  handed  down  to  us  as  to  be 
comparatively  valueless.  In  some  parts  of  the  county  the 
work  of  collecting  this  material  has  been  too  long  delayed 
to  make  it  possible  now  to  get  anything  like  an  accurate 
account  of  men  and  events  from  the  date  of  the  first  settle- 
ment. The  men  who  knew  of  their  own  knowledge,  who 
lived  and  had  experiences  in  the  earliest  days,  are  gone, 
leaving  us  only  the  children  or  grandchildren  to  relate  what 
was  told  them  by  their  ancestors.  This  kind  of  hearsay 
and  tradition  lets  in  an  element  of  uncertainty  which  should 
not  exist  in  any  historic  record. 

With  the  view  and  purpose  of  writing  down  what  I  can 
learn,  at  this  late  day,  concerning  the  "over  the  mountain" 
or  hill  country  west  of  Wyoming  Valley,  and  especially  of 
the  present  township  and  borough  of  Dallas,  I  began  in  the 
year  1885  to  make  some  effort  to  collect  these  materials 
and  data  from  every  source  known  to  me,  from  examination 
of  records,  from  conversation  and  correspondence  with  those 


8  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA, 

whose  memory  runs  farthest  back  and  is  clearest,  from  mon- 
uments, maps,  deeds,  &c.,  and  have,  in  the  following  pages, 
recorded,  as  best  I  can,  the  result.  I  have  endeavored  to 
collect  abundant  proofs  and  the  best  evidence  to  be  had 
before  putting  down  any  statement  herein  as  fact.  For  the 
reasons  given  above,  I  have  not  been  able  to  entirely  ex- 
clude hearsay  evidence  or  tradition ;  but  whenever  relied 
upon  it  has  been  fortified  by  the  testimony  of  more  than 
one  witness  on  the  same  point. 

The  township  of  Dallas  originally  embraced  all  the  ter- 
ritory of  Luzerne  county  northwest  of  the  present  boundary 
lines  of  Kingston,  Plymouth  and  Jackson  townships,  ex- 
tending to  the  present  SuUivan,  then  Lycoming  county  line. 
It  included  all  of  the  township  of  Monroe  and  parts  of 
Forkston,  North  Branch,  Northmoreland  and  Eaton  town- 
ships, in  present  Wyoming  county.  All  of  Lake  and  Leh- 
man townships  and  parts  of  Ross,  Union  and  Franklin 
townships  in  present  Luzerne  county.  Dallas  township 
originally  joined  to  Kingston  township  as  it  now  does  on 
the  line  of  the  southeasterly  side  of  certified  Bedford  town- 
ship. The  northern  portion  of  present  Dallas  township  is 
drained  by  Leonard's  Creek  which  passes  through  the  vil- 
lage of  Kunkle  to  Bowman's  Creek  and  with  that  into  the 
Susquehanna  river  near  Tunkhannock.  The  southern  and 
larger  portion  of  present  Dallas  township,  including  nearly, 
if  not  quite  all,  of  certified  Bedford,  is  drained  by  Toby's 
Creek,  which  passes,  by  an  easy  grade,  through  a  cut  or 
gap  in  the  mountains  to  Wyoming  Valley  at  a  point  near 
the  center  of  greatest  population  and  activity.  This  is 
noted  as  an  important  fact,  because  the  first  immigrations  to 
a  country  always  follow  the  streams.  This  opening  through 
the  mountains  made  the  country  about  the  head  waters  of 
Toby's  Creek  very  accessible  to  those  living  near  its  outlet. 
As  soon  as  the  settlements  in  the  valley  increased  so  that 
neighbors  lived  near  enough  to  see  each  other,  there  were 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  9 

some  restless  souls  who  felt  crowded  and  began  to  seek 
homes  farther  back  into  the  woods.  The  soil  in  the  valley 
was  sandy  and  not  very  rich.  The  trees  that  grew  upon  it 
were  scrubby  and  small,  while  upon  the  higher  lands  about 
Dallas  the  soil  seemed  stronger  and  was  covered  with  a 
heavy  forest  of  very  large  trees.  Some  who  first  settled  in 
the  valley  reasoned  from  this  that  the  soil  about  Dallas, 
which  could  raise  such  very  large  trees,  must  be  richer  and 
better  for  farming  purposes  than  the  soil  of  the  valley,  and 
they  sold  their  farms  in  the  valley  and  moved  back.  Of 
course  the  anthracite  coal  of  the  valley  was  not  known  of 
or  considered  then. 

THE  EARLIEST  SETTLERS  AND  THEIR  IMPROVEMENTS. 

The  difficulties  of  settling  Dallas  township  were  very 
great.  It  was  comparatively  an  easy  thing  to  cut  a  path 
or  road  along  the  banks  of  Toby's  Creek  and  find  a  way 
even  to  its  source,  but  to  settle  there  alone,  many  miles 
from  any  clearing,  and  meet  the  wolves,  bears  and  other 
wild  animals,  which  were  terrible  realities  in  those  early 
days,  saying  nothing  of  the  still  pending  dread  of  the  prowl- 
ing Indian,  was  a  very  serious  undertaking. 

When  a  young  boy  I  heard  Mr.  Charles  Harris,  then  an 
old  man,  tell  some  of  his  early  recollections,  which  ran  back 
to  about  the  time  of  the  battle  and  massacre  of  Wyoming. 
He  told  us  of  the  Indians  who  once  came  into  the  house 
where  he  and  his  mother  were  alone  and  demanded  food. 
There  being  nothing  better  they  roasted  a  pumpkin  before 
the  fire  and  scraped  it  off  and  ate  it  as  fast  as  it  became  soft 
with  cooking.  He  also  told  us  about  his  father's  first  set- 
tling on  the  westerly  side  of  Kingston  mountain  at  what  is 
still  known  as  the  "Harris  Settlement"  about  two  miles 
north  of  Trucksville.  He  said  that  his  father  worked  all 
the  first  day  felling  trees  and  building  a  cabin.  Night  came 
on  before  the  cabin  could  be  enclosed.     With  the  darkness 


10  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

came  a  pack  of  wolves,  and,  to  protect  his  family,  Mr.  Har- 
ris built  a  fire  and  sat  up  all  night  to  keep  it  burning. 
The  wolves  were  dazed  and  would  not  come  near  a  fire, 
and  when  daylight  came  they  disappeared.  To  pass  one 
night  under  such  circumstances  required  bravery,  but  to 
stay,  build  a  house,  clear  a  farm  and  raise  a  family  with  such 
terrors  constantly  menacing  exhibited  a  courage  that  com- 
mands our  highest  esteem. 

The  time  had  arrived,  however,  for  the  settlement  and 
clearing  up  of  that  "back  of  the  mountain"  country,  and 
there  were  volunteers  ready  and  anxious  to  do  it.  Of  those 
volunteers  I  have  been  able  to  get  the  names  of  a  very  few 
and  to  learn  where  some  of  them  lived.  They  settled  alone 
and  lived  alone,  leaving  almost  no  evidence  except  a  thread 
of  tradition  as  to  how  they  lived. 

Among  those  earliest  settlers  in  that  vast  wilderness 
about  Dallas  were  John  Kelley,  John  Wort,  Elam  Spencer, 
Ephriam  McCoy,  William  Trucks,  John  Leonard,  Thomas 
Case,  the  Baldwin  family  and  the  Fuller  family.  There  were 
many  others  who  came  after  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  but  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  above  named,  had  set- 
tled in  that  region  before  the  year  1800. 

John  Kelley  and  John  Wort  were  revolutionary  soldiers 
and  settled  near  each  other  in  present  Dallas  (then  Kings- 
ton) township.  They  were,  in  my  opinion,  the  first  who 
settled  and  built  homes  within  the  present  township  of  Dal- 
las, probably  earlier  than  McCoy  or  Leonard  (Mr.  Pearce 
in  his  Annals  of  Luzerne  County  gives  McCoy  as  the 
builder  of  the  first  house  in  Dallas),  as  both  names  appear 
in  the  assessment  books  of  Kingston  township  for  the  year 
1796,  while  McCoy's  name  does  not  appear  there  (until 
several  years  later)  probably  for  reasons  hereafter  explained. 

John  Wort  then  (1796)  had  fifty  acres  of  land,  three  of 
which  were  already  cleared,  while  John  Kelley  had  a  like 
number  of  acres  in  all,  of  which  six  acres  were  then  cleared. 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  I  I 

Wort  then  had  one  horse  and  two  cattle  while  Kelley  was 
credited  with  owning  no  horses  but  four  cattle.  John 
Wort's  settlement  was  on  the  southerly  side  of  the  present 
road  leading  from  Dallas  borough  to  Orange  post  office  or 
Pincherville,  in  Franklin  township.  The  old  log  house  in 
which  he  afterwards  lived  was  still  standing  a  few  years  ago 
nearly  opposite  where  Leonard  Oakley  then  lived,  about 
half  a  mile  southwest  of  late  residence  of  Sanford  Moore, 
now  deceased.  John  Kelley  lived  on  the  same  side  of  the 
same  road  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  nearer  Orange  post 
office  on  the  lot  in  the  warrantee  name  of  John  Eaton.  In 
the  early  days  of  this  century  the  "Kelley  clearing,"  as  John 
Kelley's  improvement  was  called,  was  a  somewhat  noted 
spot,  and  is  found  frequently  mentioned  in  the  early  road 
views,  descriptions  in  deeds,  &c.,  in  that  part  of  the  country. 
People  went  there  from  miles  around  to  cut  hay  from  his 
low  marsh  land,  where  grass  grew  abundantly  before  it  had 
yet  been  started  on  the  newly  cleared  land  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. Among  other  things  most  difficult  to  get  at  that 
time  was  hay  for  horses  and  cattle.  The  first  clearings,  I 
am  told,  were  all  used  and  needed  to  raise  a  sufficient  sup- 
ply of  grain  and  other  food  for  the  families,  and  a  long  time 
elapsed  before  enough  land  was  cleared  so  that  farmers 
could  spare  a  part  of  it  to  stand  in  grass  or  hay.  The  first 
hay  crops  were,  as  a  rule,  exhausted  long  before  the  new 
grass  could  be  had,  and  one  of  the  methods  of  piecing  out 
the  horse  feed  was  to  send  the  boys  in  early  spring  to 
gather  the  ferns  that  would  push  themselves  up  from  the 
ground  and  begin  to  unroll  almost  before  the  snow  was 
gone.  Another  expedient  was  to  cut  evergreen  trees  and 
brush  of  different  kinds  and  drag  them  into  the  barn  yard 
for  the  cattle  and  sheep  to  feed  upon. 

John  Leonard  settled  and  made  a  clearing  at  the  lower 
or  southeastern  end  of  part  two  of  lot  one  and  part  one  of 
lot  two  of  certified  Bedford  (then  Kingston  and  now  Dallas) 


12  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

township,  near  the  new  stone  county  bridge  across  Toby's 
Creek,  almost  exactly  at  the  point  where  the  northernmost 
and  the  middle  branches  of  Toby's  Creek  come  together 
near  the  easternmost  corner  of  Dallas  borough,  now  called 
Leonard's  Station  on  the  Wilkes-Barre  and  Harvey's  Lake 
Railroad.  The  clearing  made  by  him  still  remains  sur- 
rounded by  almost  unbroken  woods  as  he  left  it.  A  few 
.stones  from  the  tumble  down  chimney  of  his  house  and  a 
few  apple  trees  standing  near  mark  the  spot  where  his  house 
stood,  near  the  eastern  end  of  the  clearing.  It  has  always 
been  and  is  still  known  as  Leonard's  Clearing  or  Leonard's 
Meadows.  He  bought  this  land,  150  acres,  of  a  relative, 
Jeremiah  Coleman  of  Plymouth,  in  the  year  1795,  and  prob- 
ably settled  there  soon  after.  In  the  deed  for  the  land 
Leonard  is  named  as  a  resident  of  Plymouth  township.  In 
1796  he  was  assessed  in  Plymouth  township  as  the  owner 
of  45  acres  of  land,  a  log  house  and  four  cows.  He  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  assessed  in  Plymouth  township 
after  1796.  The  assessment  books  for  Kingston  township 
for  the  next  seven  years  cannot  now  be  found ;  but  in  the 
year  1804  we  find  him  assessed  in  Kingston  township  with 
18  acres  of  cleared  land  (about  the  amount  of  the  present 
clearing)  and  the  145  acres  of  unimproved  land,  one  house  and 
four  cows.  He  was  regularly  assessed  thereafter  in  Kings- 
ton township  for  the  same  property  until  1807,  when  all 
trace  of  him  disappears.  He  was  a  shingle-maker,  and  the 
spot  where  his  clearing  was  made  is  said  to  have  been  an 
old  halting  place  for  the  Indians,  who  used  to  travel  up  to 
Harvey's  Lake  and  across  the  country  that  way. 

Joseph  Shaver,  of  Dallas  borough,  informed  me  that  his 
father,  John  P.  Shaver,  who  afterwards  bought  and  settled 
near  the  Leonard  clearing,  used  to  tell  of  the  trials  he  had 
when  a  boy,  about  the  year  1802,  in  driving  a  team  from 
Wilkes-Barre  up  Toby's  Creek  to  John  Leonard's  clearing 
to  get  a  load  of  shingles.    There  were  no  roads,  only  a  road- 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  1 3 

way  cut  through  the  woods  from  the  valley  along  Toby's 
Creek  to  where  Trucksville  now  is,  and  from  there  over  the 
hills  somewhat  as  the  main  road  now  runs,  to  a  point  near 
the  maple  tree  by  the  present  road  on  the  present  line  be- 
tween Kingston  and  Dallas  townships,  near  the  cross  roads 
and  late  residence  of  James  Shaver,  deceased.  From  there 
he  said  there  was  a  path  down  to  Leonard's  house.  There 
were  no  bridges  then,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  trip  were 
greatly  increased  by  his  being  obliged  frequently  to  cross 
and  re-cross  the  creek  and  part  of  the  way  to  drive  in  the 
bed  of  the  creek,  both  going  and  returning. 

In  the  woods  a  few  rods  south  of  the  Leonard  clearing  there 
is  still  standing  a  carefully  dug  and  walled  up  cellar  in  the 
center  of  which  stands  a  tall  pine  tree.  I  have  been  unable 
to  find  anyone  who  could  give  me  any  information  as  to 
who  built  this  cellar.  It  may  have  been  the  commencement 
of  a  house  for  John  Leonard,  Jr.,  who  appeared  about  the 
year  1806  as  a  single  freeman,  but  who  disappears  with 
John  Leonard,  Sr.,  in  1807,  after  which  date  the  records  of 
this  county  show  no  further  trace  of  either  of  them. 

Charles  Car  Scadden  (or  Skadden),  of  Plymouth,  bought 
a  lot  next  to  Leonard's  from  same  grantor  in  the  same  year, 
but,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  never  lived  on  it. 

Rev,  William  Case,  of  Kingston  borough,  tells  me  that 
Leonard  was  related  to  his  family  and  to  the  Skadden  fam- 
ily— all  formerly  of  Plymouth — through  marriage,  and  that, 
in  his  opinion,  this  same  John  Leonard  moved  to  Ohio  and 
settled  near  Cleveland  about  the  year  18 10.  This  fact,  and 
the  vague  uncertainty  about  it  and  about  the  exact  name, 
no  doubt  gave  rise,  a  few  years  since,  to  an  effort  on  the 
part  of  a  portion  of  the  Case  and  Skadden  families  at  Ply- 
mouth to  establish  relationship  with  the  great  philanthropist 
and  millionaire,  Leonard  Case,  who  died  at  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
in  the  winter  of  1879  and  1880,  leaving,  as  it  was  by  some 
supposed,  no  nearer  heirs. 


14  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Elam  Spencer,  a  Connecticut  Yankee,  bought  the  balance 
of  lot  one  of  certified  Bedford — 168  acres — of  Jeremiah  Cole- 
man in  the  year  1800,  and  is  said  to  have  moved  into  the 
house  with  John  Leonard  and  to  have  lived  there  while 
erecting  a  domicil  for  himself  on  the  upper  end  of  the  tract, 
near  where  his  son,  Deming  Spencer,  afterwards  lived  and 
died.  While  Elam's  family  was  living  in  the  Leonard 
House,  this  son  Deming  Spencer  was  born,  in  the  year  1800. 
(This  is  given  as  an  old  tradition  about  Dallas,  although 
the  tombstone  of  Deming  Spencer  gives  the  date  of  his 
death  1873,  age  76  years.)  He  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  white  child  born  within  the  territory  of  present  Dallas 
township. 

Ephraim  McCoy  settled,  made  a  small  clearing,  and  built 
a  house  in  the  year  1797  on  the  lower  side  of  the  present 
road,  about  half  way  between  Raub's  hotel  in  Dallas  bor- 
ough and  the  "Corner  School  House,"  near  present  resi- 
dence of  William  Goss.  This  house,  like  all  the  houses  of 
that  region  at  that  time,  was  built  of  logs,  and  was  but  little 
better  than  a  hunter's  cabin.  McCoy  was  the  original 
grantee  from  the  state  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  lot  two 
of  certified  Bedford  township.  He  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier,  and  was  lame  from  a  wound  received  in  battle.  He 
was  unable  to  do  much  work  and  drew  a  pension.  He 
cleared  a  small  spot  when  he  first  settled  there,  but  in  later 
years  worked  but  little,  spending  much  of  his  time  fishing 
at  Harvey's  Lake.  When  he  first  settled  in  Dallas,  Har- 
vey's Lake  was  a  famous  fishing  and  hunting  resort.  Mc- 
Coy said  it  was  still  visited  by  Indians  and  that  he  fre- 
quently saw  them  passing  by  a  trail  through  the  woods 
where  Dallas  village  now  stands,  to  and  from  the  lake. 

Abram  Honeywell  informs  me  that  he  remembers  McCoy 
well,  and  says  than  when  McCoy  died  the  nearest  burying 
ground  was  at  Huntsville,  and  there  being  no  drivable  roads 
yet  opened  between  Dallas  and  Huntsville,  McCoy's  body 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  15 

was  carried  by  the  pall  bearers  about  two  miles  to  the  Hunts- 
ville  burying  groud  for  interment.  I  give  this  incident  as 
it  was  related  to  me  by  Mr.  Honeywell,  but  it  is  proper  to 
state  that  McCoy  sold  his  Dallas  lands  in  1817,  and  is  noted 
in  the  first  assessment  book  of  the  newly  organized  Dallas 
township  (18 1 8)  as  having  "removed,"  and  his  name  does 
not  appear  thereafter  as  a  taxpayer  of  Dallas  township. 
This  may  be  the  date  of  his  death.  He  left  no  kin  and  but 
little  can  be  learned  of  him.  There  is  no  tombstone  to  mark 
his  grave  at  Huntsville. 

William  Trucks,  a  Connecticut  Yankee,  in  1801  bought 
of  Daniel  Barney,  of  Wilkes-Barre,  the  Connecticut  title  to 
lot  three  "of  certified  Bedford  with  a  warrant  against  all 
persons  claiming  the  same  by  any  title  derived  from,  by  or 
under  the  state  of  Connecticut  or  the  Susquehanna  Com- 
pany." WiUiam  Trucks,  Jr.,  aftewards  completed  the  title 
by  securing  a  patent  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. It  is  on  this  lot  three  of  certified  Bedford  that  nearly 
all  of  the  present  village  and  much  of  the  borough  of  Dallas 
now  stands.  William  Trucks,  however,  though  a  pioneer,  did 
not  go  so  far  into  the  wilderness  from  the  settlements  of 
Wyoming  Valley.  He  did  not  venture  beyond  the  banks 
of  Toby's  Creek  at  the  present  village  of  Trucksville,  which 
took  its  name  in  his  honor. 

As  early  as  1796  he  was  a  resident  of  Kingston  township 
and  the  owner  of  36  acres  of  "occupied"  land  and  208  acres 
of  "unoccupied"  land,  one  horse  and  two  cattle,  and  was  by 
occupation  a  carpenter  and  millright.  In  the  year  1804  his 
holdings  were  13  acres  of  improved  land,  803  acres  of  unim- 
proved land  and  three  cattle.  In  the  year  1800  Benjamin 
Carpenter,  Oliver  Pettibone  and  William  Trucks  were  ap- 
pointed as  committee,  "by  the  proprietors  of  Kingston,  for 
the  purpose  of  leasing  the  public  lands  in  said  town  to 
William  Trucks."  Seventy  acres  were  thus  leased  for  a 
term  of  999  years.     The  lease  was  dated  4th  April,  1800. 


l6  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

In  1813  William  Trucks,  Jr.,  conveyed  all  of  lot  three  of 
certified  Bedford  to  Philip  Shaver. 

In  the  year  1807  we  find  him,  for  the  first  time,  assessed 
as  owner  of  a  grist  mill  and  a  saw  mill.  These  mills  were 
at  Trucksville.  The  grist  mill  must  have  been  built  at 
an  earlier  date  however,  as  we  find  it  mentioned  in  a  peti- 
tion for  a  road  view  as  early  as  1804.  It  was  built  of 
logs,  two  stories  high,  and  stood  on  the  same  ground  now 
occupied  by  the  present  steam  grist  mill  in  that  village. 
It  had  but  one  pair  of  mill  stones,  and  they  were  made 
from  a  large  boulder  of  conglomerate  rock,  known  as  "flat 
iron  rock,"  which  used  to  stand  by  the  road  side  opposite 
the  old  John  Gore  saw  mill  that  formerly  stood  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  above  the  present  toll  gate  of  the  Kingston  and 
Dallas  turnpike.  These  mill  stones  were  cut  out  and  set 
by  Mr.  Trucks  himself.  At  this  mill  the  grain  was  first  run 
through  the  stones  and  ground.  It  was  caught  in  bags 
below  and  carried  up  stairs  again  by  hand  where  it  was 
thrown  into  a  hopper  and  shaken  by  hand  through  a  coarse 
cloth  and  thus  bolted. 

The  saw  mill  was  erected  by  Mr.  Trucks  about  the  same 
time,  possibly  a  year  or  two  later.  It  stood  against  the 
steep  and  rocky  hillside,  about  four  rods  above  the  stone 
mill  dam  which  now  stands  at  the  point  where  the  Kings- 
ton and  Dallas  turnpike  crosses  Toby's  Creek  in  the  lower 
end  of  the  village  of  Trucksville.  Those  mills  and  the 
William  Trucks  settlement  at  that  point  were  very  impor- 
tant improvements  in  the  early  part  of  this  century.  It  was 
the  first  foothold  of  settlement  and  civilization  on  that  side 
of  Kingston  mountain.  William  Trucks  built  substantially 
as  if  he  intended  to  stay  and  develop  the  country.  The 
house  in  which  he  lived  was  built  of  logs,  hewn  on  four 
sides,  and  stood  on  the  flat  ground  where  the  store  building 
late  occupied  by  J.  P.  Rice,  Esq.,  and  now  by  William  Pat- 
terson,  Esq.,  stands,  about  four  or  five  rods  below  the 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  1/ 

present  grist  mill.  This  house  had  two  rooms  down  stairs. 
The  chimney  was  built  in  the  center  and  had  two  fire  places. 
It  was  warm  and  strong  I  have  been  told  by  those  who  re- 
membered it. 

In  the  year  1809  William  Trucks  was  commissioned  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  by  Governor  Snyder,  for  Plymouth,  Kings- 
ton and  Exeter  townships.  In  181 1  he  sold  his  mills  to 
Joseph  Sweatland  who  soon  afterwards  added  a  distillery  to 
the  grist  mill.  The  same  year  William  Trucks  moved  to 
Wayne  township  where  he  spent  the  balance  of  his  days, 
leaving  powers  of  attorney  with  his  son  William  Trucks, 
Jr.,  and  his  friend  Daniel  Ayres  of  Plymouth,  to  dispose  of 
the  balance  of  his  interests  in  Luzerne  county,  Pennsylvania. 

About  1 8 14  Jacob  Rice  purchased  part  of  the  Trucks  im- 
provement from  the  Sweatland  family  and  settled  atTrucks- 
ville.  The  distillery  was  distasteful  to  Mr.  Rice  and  soon 
disappeared.  Mr.  Rice  came  from  Warren  county,  New 
Jersey,  and  was  a  local  preacher  of  the  Methodist  faith. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  enterprise  and  industry.  He  made 
many  improvements  at  Trucksville,  and  became  one  of  the 
foremost  and  wealthiest  citizens  of  his  time  in  that  vicinity. 
He  erected  a  tannery,  plaster  mill  and  fulling  mill,  opened 
a  store,  and  for  many  years  conducted  a  large  and  prosper- 
ous business  at  that  village.  He  built  a  handsome  residence 
on  the  hill  above  the  grist  mill  which  is  still  standing,  and 
which,  at  the  time  of  its  erection,  was  far  in  advance  of  any 
other  house  in  that  country.  It  was  painted  white  and  had 
green  blinds  on  the  windows,  and  when  new  was  generally 
regarded  as  palatial  for  that  place.  Joseph  Orr,  father  of 
Albert  S.  Orr,  of  Wilkes-Barre,  was  the  builder. 

Another  enterprise  started  at  that  point  by  Mr.  Rice  was 
a  corn  roaster  intended  for  preparing  roasted  corn  to  send 
south  for  the  negro  slaves.  Roasted  corn  was  afterwards 
found  to  be  injurious  as  a  negro  diet,  and  this  enterprise 
failed. 


1 8  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Almost  contemporary  with  the  William  Trucks  settle- 
ment, possibly  a  little  earlier,  was  the  settlement,  at  Hunts- 
ville,  on  the  southwest  fork  of  Toby's  Creek,  then  in  Ply- 
mouth township,  afterwards  just  on  the  border  Hne  of  Jack- 
son township  and  Dallas  township,  as  originally  laid  out. 
The  place  took  its  name  in  honor  of  William  Hunt  who 
went  there  about  the  year  1800.  One  of  the  first  stores  at 
that  place  was  kept  by  Mr.  Hunt,  and  of  him  the  story  is  told 
that  he  was  once  complaining,  in  a  half  bragging  way,  about 
the  extravagance  of  his  family  in  the  use  of  sugar,  and  added, 
by  way  of  justification  of  his  complaint,  that  if  they  had 
their  full  swing  he  really  believed  they  would  consume 
forty  pounds  a  year.  Hunt  was  the  original  certified  grantee 
of  part  of  lot  five  in  certified  Bedford,  part  of  which  was  by 
him  sold  to  Peter  Ryman  in  1829,  has  since  remained  in  the 
hands  of  his  family  and  descendants,  and  constitutes  a  part 
of  the  Ryman  homestead  farm. 

The  earliest  settlers  of  Huntsville,  however,  were  the 
Baldwins  and  Fullers.  Jared  Baldwin  had  already  erected 
a  saw  mill  there  in  1796.  Amos  Baldwin  and  Jude  Bald- 
win, "hatters"  by  trade,  also  had  a  half  interest  in  a  saw 
mill,  possibly  partners  of  Daniel  Allen  in  another  mill,  at 
the  same  time.  Jehiel  Fuller  is  credited  with  having  a  still 
house  in  the  same  neighborhood  in  the  same  year.  In  the 
year  1799  Jared  Baldwin  still  owned  the  mill  while  Amos 
and  Jude  Baldwin  confined  themselves  to  their  trade  as 
"hatters."  The  Fuller  "distillery"  is  not  mentioned  again 
by  the  assessors,  and  possibly  disappeared.  The  country 
was  not  enough  cleared  about  there  at  that  day  to  make  a 
distillery  at  that  point  pay.  About  this  time,  1799  or 
1800,  Jared  Baldwin  and  Amos  Baldwin  erected  a  grist  mill 
near  where  the  present  grist  mill  in  the  village  of  Hunts- 
ville stands.  In  the  year  1804  the  active  business  portion 
of  the  Baldwin  family  in  that  settlement  consisted  of  Jared 
Baldwin,  the  father,  and  Tibball   Baldwin,  Amza  Baldwin, 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  I9 

Amos  Baldwin  and  Jude  Baldwin,  sons.  All  were  united, 
at  that  time,  in  the  ownership  of  the  grist  mill  and  half  of 
the  saw  mill  at  Huntsville.  The  following  additional  facts 
concerning  the  Baldwin  family  may  be  of  interest,  viz : 
Jared  Baldwin  came  from  Connecticut  in  1795  and  built 
the  hat  factory  at  Huntsville  with  the  remnant  of  his  means. 
He  had  been  a  quartermaster  in  the  Connecticut  hne  of  the 
Continental  army,  and  quartermasters  in  that  struggle  put 
their  fortunes  into  supplies  and  trusted  the  government  to 
reimburse  them,  but  the  Continental  script  became  worth- 
less. After  building  the  hat  factory  and  saw  mill,  which 
stood  about  six  rods  above  the  present  county  bridge  at 
Huntsville,  and  a  flouring  mill  which  burned  in  1809,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  stream  from  the  present  one,  he  re- 
turned to  Connecticut  where  he  died  about  1817.  His  son 
Tibbals  built  a  log  house  near  the  little  old  orchard  back  of 
Harvey  Fuller's  present  dwelling  and  died  there.  Other  of 
the  sons  removed  to  Pitcher,  N.  Y.  Jude  continued  in 
business  in  Huntsville,  but  died  of  typhus  or  (typhoid)  fever 
in  1 82 1,  as  did  several  of  his  family.  There  had  been 
erected  a  dam  to  overflow  the  old  marsh  where  the  Wilkes- 
Barre  Water  Company's  dam  now  is.  This  overflow  killed 
a  lot  of  standing  timber  and  is  said  to  have  caused  an  epi- 
demic of  fever  of  some  very  fatal  kind.  Ambrose,  Lewis 
and  Watson,  sons  of  Jude  went  to  Ohio  in  1832.  Burr  fol- 
lowed in  1839,  and  died  in  Williams  county  in  1855.  Mrs. 
Eleanor  Brown,  late  of  Lehman,  was  a  daughter  of  Jude. 
Ambrose  afterwards  moved  from  Ohio  to  Ottawa,  Kansas, 
where  he  was  twenty  years  justice  of  the  peace,  and  died  a 
few  years  ago.  [For  these  Baldwins,  see  Baldwin  Family, 
343-369.] 

Joshua  Fuller  and  Benajah  Fuller  were  the  owners  of  the 
other  half  of  the  saw  mill.  Next  year,  1805-6,  this  saw  mill 
was  burned  down.  The  same  joint  owners  rebuilt  it,  how- 
ever, at  once,  and  with  it  a  distillery.     These  mills  stood 


20  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

within,  or  very  nearly  within,  the  territory  afterwards  in- 
cluded in  Dallas  township  at  its  formation  in  1817.  Mr. 
Pearce  states,  in  his  Annals  of  Luzerne  County,  that  the 
first  saw  mill  in  Dallas  township  was  built  byjude  Baldwin 
on  a  branch  of  Toby's  Creek  in  the  year  181 3.  Jude  Bald- 
win did  build  a  mill  at  that  date  on  Toby's  Creek  about  one 
mile  above  Huntsville,  but  there  is  doubt  about  its  being 
the  first  mill  in  Dallas  township  as  originally  laid  out, 
though  it  may  have  been  the  first  within  the  present  terri- 
tory of  Dallas  township.  Miner  Fuller,  afterwards,  about 
1847,  built  another  saw  mill  about  half  a  mile  farther  above 
the  Jude  Baldwin  mill  on  the  same  creek.  Both  of  these 
mills  have  been  torn  down  within  the  past  twenty  years, 
there  being  no  longer  any  need  for  them.  The  Fullers  and 
Baldwins  were  vigorous  pioneers  and  natural  mill  builders. 
I  cannot  more  appropriately  conclude  this  subject  than  by 
quoting  from  some  valuable  letters  regarding  those  early 
people,  which  Hon.  Evart  Bogardus,  of  North  Monroeville, 
Ohio,  in  response  to  my  earnest  solicitations,  did  me  the 
honor  to  write,  dated  April  7th,  il 


*  *  *  "Jude  Baldwin  was  one  of  the  early  settlers. 
He  had  a  large  family.  His  sons  were  Burr,  Abed,  Lewis  J., 
Watson  and  Ambrose.  The  last  is  still  living  somewhere 
in  the  west,  as  is  also  his  youngest  daughter,  Mrs.  Eleanor 
Brown,  widow  of  the  late  Amos  Brown,  Jr.  Abed  and  Burr 
carried  on  the  mercantile  business  in  Huntsville  in  my 
father's  old  store  house. 

"The  Fullers  settled  in  Lehman  and  Plymouth  (now  Jack- 
son) townships  in  an  early  day.  There  were  two  brothers 
that  settled  near  Huntsville,  Benajah  and  Joshua.  They 
built  the  first  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  "over  the  mountain"  (as 
we  were  in  the  habit  of  calling  it).  They  came  from  near 
Kent,  Connecticut,  and  first  purchased  in  Kingston,  nearly 
opposite  Colonel  Dorrance's,  and,  if  my  memory  is  correct, 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  21 

sold  to  Mr.  Sharp  and  purchased  a  large  tract  of  wild  land 
about  Huntsville  on  the  Jackson  and  Lehman  sides.  The 
saw-mill  was  situated  just  above  the  present  bridge.  When 
I  lived  in  Huntsville  a  heavy  freshet  uncovered  the  old  mud- 
sill— a  hemlock  log — that  had  been  buried  beneath  the 
ground  for  fifty  years,  and  it  was  as  sound  as  the  day  it  was 
first  put  in.  The  grist-mill  was  located  just  below  where 
the  present  one  is  now  standing.  It  had  two  run  of  stones, 
one  of  burr  and  one  of  pudding  or  conglomerate  stones, 
such  as  is  found  on  the  Shawnee  Mountain.  The  grist-mill 
was  built  some  time  after  the  saw-mill.  There  was  a  very 
good  water  privilege  to  supply  these  mills  before  the  coun- 
try was  settled  and  the  forest  was  cleared  away,  but  the 
advance  of  civilization  has  lessened  the  supply.  Just  above 
the  saw-mill,  at  the  mouth  of  a  large  marsh,  through  which 
the  west  branch  of  Toby's  Creek  runs,  the  hills  coming  near 
together  left  a  narrow  passage  for  the  escape  of  the  water. 
The  beaver,  with  his  cunning  instinct,  selected  this  outlet  to 
erect  a  dam,  which  they  did  in  a  most  substantial  manner. 
When  I  first  remember  Huntsville  the  remains  of  this  dam 
were  visible.  I  should  judge  it  was  originally  about  four 
feet  high,  which  would  overflow  some  two  or  three  hundred 
acres  of  land.  But  since  the  country  has  been  cleared  up 
the  sudden  and  heavy  freshets  have  washed  away  its  last 
remains. 

"Benajah  Fuller  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  and  drew  a 
pension,  as  did  his  widow.  His  wife,  "Aunt  Katy"  {^lee 
Catherine  Thompson)  survived  him  eight  years.  They  had 
three  sons,  William,  Jeremiah  and  Isaac.  Chester  Fuller, 
son  of  William,  now  resides  in  Lehman — a  prosperous 
farmer — living  on  the  old  homestead.  Harvey  Fuller,  son 
of  Jeremiah,  is  living  at  Huntsville.  Both  brothers  had 
other  children  who  went  west.  Truman  Atherton  married 
their  daughter  Clarrissa,  with  whom  the  old  folks  made 
their  last  earthly  home.    The  sons  of  Isaac  Fuller  were  five. 


22  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

One  now  resides,  I  think,  in  Bradford  county,  Pa.  Two 
went  west  and  two  died.  Benajah  Fuller  was  an  industrious 
and  upright  man,  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew 
him.  His  eldest  daughter  married  William  Trucks,  the 
founder  of  Trucksville.  Louise  married  Daniel  Ruggles. 
Laura  a  Mr.  Trundall,  whose  son  James  lives  opposite  my 
present  dwelling  house,  and  is  one  of  our  wealthiest  and 
most  respected  citizens. 

"Joshua  built  near  his  brothers  on  the  farm  now  owned 
by  Dr.  Rogers.  He  had  three  sons,  Sylvanus,  Stephen  and 
Abram.  The  latter  died  when  a  young  man.  Sylvanus, 
or  'Uncle  Vene,'  as  he  was  known,  lived  near  Jude  Bald- 
win. He  was  a  thrifty  farmer,  and  was  always  full  of  fun  and 
good  nature;  one  of  the  best-hearted  men  in  the  world, 
respected  and  beloved  by  all  his  neighbors.  He  removed 
to  Loraine  county,  Ohio,  about  1830  or  1835,  and  accumu- 
lated a  handsome  property.  His  son  Abram,  the  only  child 
left,  is  still  living  on  the  old  homestead,  a  wealthy  man. 
Stephen  also  moved  farther  west.  I  know  but  little  of  him 
since  he  left  Pennsylvania.  Joshua  also  had  four  daughters. 
One  married  the  late  Benjamin  Reynolds ;  one  married 
Amos  Brown  ;  another  married  Joseph  Worthington,  Jr. ; 
the  fourth,  Amzi,  never  married.  She  lived  near  Harvey's 
Lake,  and  died  within  a  few  years  back.  There  was  another 
brother,  who  settled  in  Northumberland,  of  whom  I  know 
but  little." 

There  were  no  other  mills  built  on  the  northeastern  fork 
of  Toby's  Creek  above  William  Trucks'  mills  until  about  the 
year  18 15,  when  Philip  Shaver  built  a  saw-mill  about  half  a 
mile  below  the  point  where  Toby's  Creek  crosses  the  line 
between  Dallas  and  Kingston  townships,  on  the  site  where 
the  old  mill  now  stands  near  the  residence  of  Lewis  R. 
Shaver.  (Now  "Shavertown"  station  on  W.  B.  &  H.  L.  R. 
R.)    On  this  mill  Philip  Shaver  sawed  the  siding  which  are 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  23 

now  (1886)  in  use  on  the  old  wagon  bridge  across  the  Sus- 
quehanna at  Wilkes-Barre.  [Replaced  1892-3  by  new  steel 
bridge.]  They  were  furnished  by  Philip  Shaver  under  a 
contract  at  ^5.00  per  thousand  feet,  delivered  at  the  bridge, 
and  to  be  two-thirds  panel. 

About  the  year  1818  another  saw-mill  was  erected  by 
Christian  Rice  (who  came  from  near  Greensburg,  Warren 
county.  New  Jersey,  about  that  time)  a  few  rods  below  the 
point  where  the  main  road  crosses  Toby's  Creek  in  the 
present  village  of  Dallas.  That  mill  was  still  standing  up 
to  about  1880.  Another  mill  was  erected  along  in  the 
thirties  by  Jacob  Frantz  near  the  present  Frantz  school 
house,  on  the  northernmost  branch  of  the  north  fork  of 
Toby's  Creek.  Still  another  mill  was  erected  about  the  same 
time  midway  between  the  Frantz  mill  and  the  John  Leon- 
ard clearing.  This  was  known  as  the  Weston  mill.  This 
branch  of  Toby's  Creek  was  too  small  to  afford  any  suffi- 
cient water  power,  and  these  mills  had  to  be  abandoned 
many  years  ago. 

About  the  year  1840  Abram  and  Richard  Ryman  built  a 
saw-rnill  on  site  of  present  steam  saw-mill  of  Ryman  & 
Shaver,  about  a  half  mile  below  Dallas  village.  In  the  year 
1852  a  steam  saw-mill  was  added,  and  these  two  were  run 
together  until  about  the  year  1870,  when  both  were  torn 
down  and  a  large  steam  mill  was  erected,  occupying  the 
ground  of  both  the  former  mills.  This  new  steam  mill  was 
burned  about  July  or  August,  1881,  and  the  present  mill 
was  built  in  the  same  year. 

The  foregoing  comprise  the  saw- mills  on  Toby's  Creek 
within  the  territory  of  Dallas  township.  Prior  to  1890  there 
has  never  been  a  grist-mill  within  the  territory  of  present 
Dallas  township  so  far  as  I  can  learn.  In  that  year  a  steam 
grist-mill  was  erected  about  lOO  feet  northeast  of  the  site 
of  the  old  Christian  Rice  saw-mill  in  the  borough  of  Dallas 
by  Gregory  &  Heitzman. 


24  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

At  Kunkle  post  office,  in  the  "Green  Woods"  country,  on 
Leonard's  Creek,  a  branch  of  Bowman's  Creek,  there  were 
two  or  three  other  mills.  About  1840  Levi  Hoyt  built  a 
saw-mill  there  about  a  half  mile  below  or  north  of  the 
village  of  Kunkle.  Wesley  Kunkle  afterwards,  about  1841, 
erected  a  mill  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  south  of  the  village 
of  Kunkle,  towards  Dallas  village.  Still  later  Wesley  Kun- 
kle built  another  mill  in  the  village  of  Kunkle  which  occu- 
pied the  site  of  present  (1886)  steam  saw-mill  of  A.  Ryman 
&  Sons.  The  steam  power  was  put  in  by  Abram  Ryman 
in  the  year  1871. 

The  Newbury  mills  at  Monroe,  in  present  Monroe  town- 
ship, were  erected  at  quite  an  early  date.  They  were 
marked  on  the  map  accompanying  the  report  of  viewers 
opening  road  from  Wilkes-Barre  to  Bradford  county  line, 
via  Dallas  and  Monroe,  in  1820.  Hitchcock  &  Church  built 
another  mill  at  "Churchdale,"  near  Kunkle,  about  1840. 

Still  another  mill  was  built  by  Elijah  Harris  about  1840, 
near  site  of  present  mill  of  Richard  Ryman,  at  point  known 
as  Ryman's  pond.  This  mill  was  supplanted  by  a  very  large 
steam  saw-mill  erected  by  Richard  Ryman  about  1858.  The 
latter  burned  a  few  years  later,  and  in  its  place  the  present 
mill  (1886),  run  by  water  power,  was  built. 

About  1834  Christopher  Snyder  built  a  distillery  and  ran 
it  for  a  few  years.  It  stood  near  the  center  of  the  north- 
western half  of  lot  six  certified  Bedford,  being  the  part  cer- 
tified to  Abel  Wheeler  and  Sarah  Seeley,  near  late  residence 
of  Edward  Hunter.  Apple  whiskey  made  from  distilled 
cider  was  the  principal  product  of  this  and  most  of  the 
other  small  distilleries  of  that  day.  Apples  were  then,  as 
now,  a  bountiful  crop  in  Dallas  township. 

The  settlements  in  Dallas  township  during  the  first  dec- 
ade of  this  century  were  not  numerous;  but  just  after  the 
close  of  the  war  of  1812,  when  the  soldiers  had   returned 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  2  5 

and  were  seeking  homes,  a  new  impetus  was  given  to  the 
house-hunting  and  setthng  about  Dallas. 

Among  those  who  came  in  the  first  decade  was  Joseph 
Worthington  and  wife — the  latter  a  daughter  of  Jonathan 
Buckley.  They  came  from  Connecticut  in  the  year  1806 
and  settled  near  Harvey's  Lake.  His  first  house  was  built 
of  logs,  and  stood  about  ten  rods  northwest  from  the  late  resi- 
dence of  his  son,  late  Henry  Worthington,  on  the  hill  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  eastern  inlet  to  Harvey's  Lake. 
When  Mr.  Worthington  first  moved  into  that  country  there 
was  no  road  from  Huntsville  to  Harvey's  Lake  except  a 
bridle  path.  Mr.  Worthington  cut  a  way  through  and  built 
a  house  when  his  nearest  neighbor  was  miles  away  and  no 
clearings  in  sight  anywhere.  Wolves  were  then  very  nu- 
merous and  bold  at  night,  and  the  only  way  Mr.  Worthing- 
ton could  protect  his  family  from  their  assaults  was  for  all 
to  climb  the  ladder  to  the  second  floor  and  pull  the  ladder 
up  after  them.  Mr.  Worthington  used  to  say  that  his  life 
during  those  early  days  was  most  lonely  and  disheartening. 

Concerning  Mr.  Worthington  and  other  early  settlers  in 
that  vicinity,  I  cannot  do  better  that  to  further  quote  from 
the  valuable  letters  of  Mr.  Bogardus : 

"Joseph  Worthington  was  one  of  the  prominent  men  of 
Lehman.  When  he  settled  at  Harvey's  Lake  it  was  a  wild 
wilderness.  The  old  homestead  never  departed  from  the 
family.  He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  a  Miss 
Buckley,  by  whom  he  had  five  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Joseph  L.  built  the  house  where  James  Myers  now  lives 
(1886).  Eliphat  located  in  Doylestown.  Elijah  was  an 
editor  of  a  Whig  paper  in  Wilkes-Barre.  Jonathan  was  a 
shoemaker  and  moved  to  Loraine  county,  Ohio,  he  died 
about  a  year  ago  (1885).  Thomas  moved  to  Sauk  City, 
Wisconsin.  Nancy  married  Isaac  Fuller.  Maria  married 
and  lived  in  Doylestown,  Pa.     Eliza  married  Asaph  Pratt. 


26  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Elijah  married  Caroline  Pratt.  Asaph  and  Elijah  were 
courting  each  others  sisters  at  the  same  time.  The  four 
lovers  met  at  the  lake  one  pleasant  day  and  proposed  a  sail 
on  the  water.  Thomas  was  also  with  them.  They  lashed 
two  canoes  together,  putting  boards  across  both  for  seats, 
and  to  hold  them  level.  They  were  fortunately  not  far  from 
shore  when,  by  some  mishap,  the  boats  doubled  in  and  let 
them  all  in  the  water.  Elijah  and  Asaph  could  not  swim, 
nor,  of  course,  could  Caroline.  Thomas  being  a  good 
swimmer  was  rescuing  them  as  fast  as  he  could.  Eliza 
said  to  her  lover,  'now  you  follow  my  direction  and  I  will 
save  you  and  myself.'  After  getting  the  promise  she  di- 
rected him  to  lay  his  hand  on  her  shoulder  and  struck  for 
shore.  Had  she  not  been  a  swimmer  both  would  have 
drowned,  as  Thomas  had  all  he  could  do  to  save  the  other 
two.  Not  one  of  the  family  ever  brought  disgrace  on  them- 
selves or  their  much  respected  father  and  mother. 

Mr.  Worthington's  second  wife  was  Sally  Perry,  a  very 
estimable  lady,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  the  late  Henry 
Worthington." 

Of  Jacob  I.  Bogardus,  a  conspicuous  and  for  many  years 
a  leading  citizen  of  Dallas  (now  Lehman)  township,  I  glean 
the  following  from  the  letters  of  his  son  above  quoted. 

He  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York  1783,  his  father 
being  a  merchant  in  that  city.  He  married  the  only  daugh- 
ter of  Jonathan  O.  Moseley,  of  East  Haddam,  Conn.  He 
engaged  for  a  time  in  the  mercantile  business  at  Katskill, 
N.  Y.,  and  not  being  successful,  removed  to  Pennsylvania 
and  settled  in  Bradford  township,  afterwards  a  part  of  Dal- 
las, and  now  of  Lehman  township.  He  settled  there  about 
about  18 1 2  in  the  midst  of  the  forest.  His  nearest  neigh- 
bor on  the  south  was  Thomas  Case,  two  miles  ;  on  the  east, 
Amos  Brown,  three  miles;  on  the  north,  John  Whiteman, 
two  and  a  half  miles.     There  were  no  public  roads  to  any 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  2/ 

of  the  neighbors.  Mr.  Bogardus  and  his  wife  were  both  well 
educated,  and  Mr.  Bogardus  wrote  a  large  portion  of  the 
early  deeds,  mortgages  and  other  papers  needed  in  that  time. 

He  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  Justice  of  the  Peace 
soon  after  coming  to  Pennsylvania,  which  office  he  held  until 
he  resigned  many  years  after.  He  was  at  one  time  the  only 
Justice  of  the  Peace  within  the  present  territory  of  Lehman, 
Dallas  and  Jackson  townships.  His  decisions  and  opinions 
were  considered  by  most  people  about  there  in  those  days 
as  final ;  but  few  of  them  were  carried  to  higher  courts,  and 
of  these  but  few  were  reversed. 

Abram  S.  Honeywell  was  the  standing  Constable.  Es- 
quire Bogardus  married  most  of  the  young  people  about 
there  in  those  days.  "  I  well  remember,"  says  the  letter  of 
Evart  Bogardus,  "the  marriage  of  A.  S.  Honeywell.  He 
and  his  bride  came  on  horseback,  followed  by  most  of  the 
young  folks  of  Dallas.  They  had  a  jolly  time  and  returned 
happy." 

"Uncle  Peter  Ryman,"  continues  the  letter,  "and  after- 
wards his  son,  Joseph  Ryman,  were  the  people's  lawyers 
that  practiced  at  this  court.  They  would  lay  down  the 
law  to  the  court,  sometimes  rather  crudely,  but  the  court 
would  listen  to  them  respectfully,  and  when  they  got  through, 
decide.  Peter  and  Joseph  were  often  engaged  to  represent 
opposite  sides  in  the  same  law  suit.  Peter  spoke  with  a  de- 
cided German  accent.  He  was  also  the  owner  of  a  copy  of 
Purdon's  Digest,  and  usually  prepared  his  cases  by  study- 
ing this  book,  and  recognized  no  other  authority.  On  one 
occasion  when  they  were  thus  opposing  each  other,  Joseph 
stated  a  legal  proposition  which  did  not  suit  Peter  very 
well.  It  was  good  law  and  good  sense,  as  Peter  seemed  to 
feel,  but  some  reply  had  to  be  made  to  break  its  force  and 
leave  some  ground  for  him  to  stand  on  before  his  client. 
This  Peter  did  with  all  the  force  at  his  command,  by  saying  : 
'  Yosep,  dat  may  be  good  law,  put  you  can't  find  it  in  Purton! 


28  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

"John  Ryman,  another  son  of  Peter  Ryman,  had  also  a 
taste  for  the  law.  He  went  west  at  an  early  day  and  was, 
for  twenty  years,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1856,  a  con- 
spicuous and  leading  lawyer  in  the  states  of  Indiana  and 
Ohio,  as  the  early  volumes  of  the  Supreme  Court  Reports 
will  abundantly  show.  He  was  a  man  of  great  physical 
strength,  and,  as  Smaton  Holman  recently  remarked  of  him, 
'he  had  a  courage  equal  to  his  strength,  and  probably  never 
knew  what  fear  was.' 

"Esquire  Bogardus  was  a  tall,  athletic  man.  He  had  but 
few  equals  in  strength,  yet  was  good  natured  and  never  quar- 
relsome ;  always  full  of  fun.  Militia  training  was  a  great  in- 
stitution in  those  days.  Once  a  year  there  was  a  general 
training  day,  when  the  brigade  inspector  was  to  inspect  the 
arms  of  the  patriots.  They  were  all  armed.  Some  with 
old  muskets,  broom-sticks,  corn-stalks,  canes,  &c.  Some 
time  about  1820  general  training  was  held  at  Shawnee. 
Esquire  Bogardus  was  a  private  in  (I  think)  Captain  Oliver 
Davenport's  Company,  who  for  some  reason,  whether  just 
or  unjust,  I  cannot  say,  put  Esquire  Bogardus  and  some 
others  from  over  the  mountain  under  guard,  which  made 
them  feel  very  indignant.  While  walking  home  they  re- 
solved to  raise  a  volunteer  company  which  was  to  be  called 
'The  Dallas  and  Plymouth  Rifle  Company.'  Esquire  Bo- 
gardus was  elected  captain.  I  have  not  a  distinct  recollec- 
tion as  to  the  other  officers.  I  think  Joseph  Worthington 
and  William  Fuller  were  lieutenants.  It  was  said  to  be  the 
finest  looking  company  in  the  regiment  and  the  best  drilled. 
Almost  every  man  stood  full  six  feet  high.  The  uniform 
was  green  round-about  coats,  trimmed  with  gold  lace  and 
round  brass  buttons.  A  high  white  feather  tipped  with  red. 
Otis  Allen,  a  tall,  muscular  man  was  the  'file  leader.' 
When  the  company  wished  to  pass  over  a  fence  Uncle  Otis 
would  get  down  on  all  fours  and  the  company  would  use 
him   as  a  step  to  vault  over  the  fence.     A  few  evolutions 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA,  2g 

would  bring  him  to  the  head  again.  Many  a  time  have  I 
looked  on  these  evolutions  with  pride  while  getting  outside 
of  a  'fippenny-bit's  worth  of  gingerbread. 

"About  1825  Col.  Jonathan  O.  Moseley  left  East  Haddam 
and  settled  in  Lehman  on  the  same  place  with  my  father. 
He  built  the  first  frame  house  in  either  Dallas  or  Lehman, 
which  is  still  standing  on  the  old  homestead.  It  was  the 
marvel  of  the  times,  high  walls,  lathed,  plastered  and  papered. 
The  furniture  was  of  a  costly  kind,  being  of  solid  mahogany 
with  two  good  sized  pier-glasses.  This  furniture  was  hauled 
by  wagons  from  New  York. 

"Col.  Moseley  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  under 
presidency  of  Theodore  Dwight.  He  represented  the  dis- 
trict in  which  he  lived,  Middlesex  county.  Conn.,  sixteen 
years  continuously  in  Congress.  He  was  a  poHshed  gentle- 
man, as  his  education  and  surroundings  gave  him  every  op- 
portunity to  be.  He  was  a  good  lawyer,  but  he  labored 
under  the  mistaken  idea  that  it  would  be  degrading  to  return 
to  his  practice.  Col.  Moseley  and  my  father  built  and 
started  the  first  store  back  of  the  mountain  at  Huntsville. 
That  was  their  mistake.  The  goods  had  to  be  carted  from 
Philadelphia  by  wagon.  The  country  was  new,  money  very 
scarce,  and  consequently  a  good  deal  of  credit  was  given, 
and  when  accounts  were  due  the  pay  was  not  forthcoming. 
After  three  or  four  years  the  money  that  had  not  been  spent 
on  the  farm  was  in  the  hands  of  the  dear  people  and  re- 
verses followed.  Garrick  Mallery,  Esq.,  bid  in  the  farm 
and  permitted  Col.  Moseley  to  occupy  it  until  he  removed 
to  Michigan  in  1839,  Mr.  Mallery  being  a  good  friend  to 
Col.  Moseley. 

"The  writer  remembers  seeing  deer  in  flocks  in  the  woods, 
wolves  howling  at  night,  bears  come  and  drink  from 
the  spring  brook.  Our  first  near  neighbor  was  William 
Newman  who  married  Peggy  Lee.  He  sold  to  'Governor' 
Sitese,  who  got  the  title  of  Governor  in  rather  an  amusing 


30  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

way.  Joseph  Worthington  who  was  the  only  resident  at 
Harvey's  Lake  was  expecting  the  Governor  of  Pennsylva- 
nia to  call  on  him  on  a  certain  day.  In  the  morning,  as  he 
went  out  on  his  farm  to  work,  he  told  his  daughter  Eliza, 
a  mischievous  young  lady,  that  when  the  Governor  came 
she  should  call  him  and  he  would  come  in  the  back  door 
and  change  his  farm  clothes  for  his  store  clothes.  The  call 
came,  and,  after  Mr.  Worthington  had  attended  to  his  toilet, 
he  went  into  the  room  only  to  meet  Cornelius  Sites.  What 
added  to  the  amusement  of  the  daughter  was  that  Mr.  Sites 
was  a  tall,  raw-boned,  uneducated  man,  and  exceedingly 
homely.  The  title  of  "Governor"  never  departed  from  him. 
"Governor"  Sites  was,  however,  a  clever  man  and  good 
neighbor. 

"  Our  nearest  school  house  was  a  log  house  situate  two 
miles  distant  on  the  road  leading  to  Harvey's  Lake  through 
a  dense  woods.  The  first  post  office  established  back  of 
the  mountain  was  at  Huntsville.  It  was  named  in  honor  of 
William  Hunt,  an  old  resident  of  the  place.  Truman  Ath- 
erton  was  the  first  postmaster.  He  was  appointed  under 
John  Quincy  Adams'  administration.  He  held  the  office 
until  about  1849  when  he  resigned,  and  Major  Abed  Baldwin 
was  appointed  as  his  successor.  Truman  Atherton  occupied 
quite  a  prominent  place  in  the  respect  of  his  neighbors, 
holding,  frequently,  two  or  three  township  offices  at  the 
time,  and  represented  his  county  two  years  in  the  legisla- 
ture of  Pennsylvania. 

"Oliver  McKeel  bought  a  farm  adjoining  ours.  His  wife, 
nee  Charity  Pringle,  is  still  living  (1886)  on  the  old  home- 
stead now  owned  by  their  son  Lewis  McKeel. 

"John  Linskill  came  from  England  and  settled  near  what 
is  called  the  Linskill  school-house,  in  Lehman,  about  1830; 
purchased  his  farm  of  Russel  T.  Green,  and  married  for  his 
second  wife  Polly  Steel.  His  first  wife  was  a  sister  to 
Thomas   Major,   Sr.      Mr.   Linskill    worked    at   his    trade 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  3  I 

(tailoring)  in  a  shop  near  his  house.  He  was  an  honest,  in- 
dustrious man,  very  quick  in  his  movements  and  decisions  ; 
of  strong  religious  faith,  rather  intolerant  towards  those  who 
differed  from  him.  I  remember  very  well  when  they  were 
building  the  Christian  Church  at  Huntsville  he  would  not 
look  at  it,  and  I  believe  never  went  into  it ;  but  he  was  a 
good  neighbor  and  kind-hearted,  and  commanded  the  re- 
spect of  the  neighborhood. 

"Amos  Brown  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Lehman. 
He  was  living  there  when  my  father  came  to  Pennsylvania 
in  1812.  He  had  two  sons,  Jeremiah  and  Amos;  three 
daughters,  Rachel,  Annis  and  Sybil.  Jerry  and  Rachel 
never  married,  but  always  lived  on  the  old  homstead.  Amos, 
Jr.,  married  Eleanor,  youngest  daughter  of  Jude  Baldwin. 
Annis  died  young.  Sybil  married  William  Major.  Jerry 
was  a  jolly,  good-hearted  fellow,  fond  of  young  company. 
He  passed  through  three  generations  as  a  young  fellow  ;  or 
rather  one  among  the  young  folks. 

"Jerry  quoted  'Uncle  Vere'  very  often.  He  would  gen- 
erally finish  a  sentence  with  'as  Uncle  Vere  said.'  A  com- 
mon answer  to  a  saluation  as  'How  are  you,  Jerry?'  would 
be  'Forked  end  downwards.'  Dr.  Robinson,  who  married 
Polina  Fuller,  Uncle  Vere's  oldest  daughter,  Jerry's  cousin, 
could  never  get  over  laughing  about  Jerry's  'forked  end 
downwards.' 

"Elder  Griffin  Lewis  was  an  early  settler  there.  He  lived 
in  Jackson  township  near  Huntsville.  He  was  the  only 
minister  among  us  for  many  years.  He  was  a  large,  stal- 
wart Vermonter — a  man  of  unimpeachable  honesty  and 
integrity,  an  exemplary  Christian.  He  was  not  noted  for 
his  eloquence,  but  for  his  solid,  good  sense,  and  among  his 
neighbors  a  peacemaker.  He  married  Hannah  Rogers, 
sister  of  Dr.  Rogers'  father.  Elder  Joel  Rogers.  He  has 
two  sons,  James  and  Jonah.  The  latter  is  now  living  at 
Battle  Creek,  Mich.     James  died  a  few  years  since  in  De- 


32  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

troit.  Abed  Baldwin  married  one  of  his  daughters.  One 
married  Captain  T.  O.  Bogardus;  one  married  Palmer 
Brown  (she  is  still  living,  1886);  the  youngest  married 
Thomas  Worthington. 

"As  you  wish  me  to  say  something  about  myself,  I  will 
give  a  short  outline  of  my  life.  I  was  the  third  son  of  Ja- 
cob I.  Bogardus  ;  was  born  in  Lehman  (or  Bedford  as  it 
then  was)  September  15th,  1813,  five  days  after  the  battle 
of  Lake  Erie.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  I  went  to  the  city  of 
New  York,  where  my  father  apprenticed  me  to  the  saddle 
and  harness  trade.  I  remained  in  the  city  about  five  years, 
after  which  I  returned  to  Lehman  and  helped  work  on  the 
farm.  The  first  office  I  ever  held  was  constable.  I  had 
an  execution  in  favor  of  Joseph  Worthington  against  Mc- 
Carty  (I  forget  his  first  name).  [Probably  Edward.]  He 
turned  out  his  only  cow.  Mrs.  McCarty  came  out  with 
tears  in  her  eyes  and  said  it  was  her  only  cow.  I  told  her 
to  keep  her  cow  until  I  called  for  it.  I  laid  the  case  before 
Mr.  Worthington.  He  directed  me  not  to  sell  it.  I  thought  if 
that  was  the  business  of  a  constable,  to  be  the  instrument  in 
the  hands  of  the  law  to  distress  the  poor,  I  had  had  enough 
of  that  glory.  I  resigned  and  John  Linskill  was  appointed 
by  the  court  as  my  successor.  I  shortly  after  left  for  Phil- 
adelphia and  entered  into  the  employ  of  J.  M.  Botton  & 
Co.  as  shipping  clerk  in  a  forwarding  and  commission  busi- 
ness. I  remained  with  them  three  years.  In  the  spring  of 
1838  my  father  removed  to  Kalamazoo,  Mich.  I  followed 
him  in  next  December  with  a  bright  prospect  of  entering 
into  the  mercantile  business,  but  was  disappointed  by  false 
promises.  In  1840  I  returned  to  Pennsylvania,  stopped  at 
Williamsport,  and  through  the  kindness  of  a  good  friend,  I 
obtained  a  situation  as  book-keeper  for  John  B.  Hall  &  Co. 
In  November  following  I  was  married  to  Miss  Louise,  only 
daughter  of  Truman  and  Clarrissa  Atherton.  At  the  ear- 
nest solicitations  of  my  wife's  father  I  left  Williamsport  in 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA.  33 

the  spring  of  1841  and  took  charge  of  his  farm.  Remained 
on  the  farm  seven  years  (as  long  as  Jacob  worked  for  his 
wife).  My  old  friend  G.  M.  Hollenback  said  to  me  several 
times,  when  I  met  him  in  Wilkes-Barre :  'Mr.  Bogardus,  it 
seems  to  me  you  could  do  better  than  work  on  a  farm.'  I 
thought  perhaps  he  had  something  for  me,  so  I  would  see 
what  it  was.  I  told  him  I  though  I  could,  and  wished  I 
could  see  an  opening.  Said  I,  'Perhaps  you  have  one.'  He 
said  he  had,  and  invited  me  into  his  office.  He  then  un- 
folded to  me  his  plan,  viz.,  to  rent  me  his  old  warehouse, 
put  me  up  a  store  at  the  canal  basin  (on  the  same  ground 
where  now  stands  the  new  L.  V.  R.  R.  depot  in  Wilkes- 
Barre).  Had  he  thrown  a  pail  of  cold  water  on  me  I 
could  not  have  received  a  more  sudden  chill,  I  could  not 
see  even  a  living  in  it,  but  he  assured  me  there  was  money 
in  it;  and  knowing  him  to  be  a  good  business  man,  I  trust- 
ed in  his  judgment,  which  proved  to  be  correct.  The  first 
year,  by  strict  attention  to  business  and  by  the  help  of  my 
good  wife,  I  found,  at  the  close  of  navigation  the  following 
fall,  I  had  accumulated  ^1200  over  and  above  my  living  and 
house  rent,  and  had  built  up  a  paying  business.  I  retailed 
in  one  year  15,000  bushels  of  oats.  My  prices  for  hay  and 
oats,  corn  and  chop  governed  the  market.  I  introduced 
the  first  dray  in  Wilkes-Barre,  drawn  by  a  large  bay  horse 
weighing  between  1700  and  1800  pounds.  Joe  Keller  was 
drayman.  My  business  was  always  prosperous,  and  my 
business  relations  with  the  people  of  Wilkes-Barre  and 
the  surrounding  country  were  almost  of  the  most  pleasant 
kind,  and  it  does  me  good  when  I  visit  my  old  home  to  re- 
ceive so  many  hearty  greetings. 

"In  1855  I  joined  my  father-in-law  in  building  the  grist- 
mill at  Huntsville.  After  it  was  finished,  we  sold  out  our 
farms,  both  his  and  mine,  in  Jackson  and  Lehman,  to  Anson 
Atherton.  I  then  sold  out  my  store  and  good  will  to  J. 
M.  Hollenback,  my  house  and  lot  to  Robert  Watt,  and  in 


34  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

the   fall   of  1856,  in   company  with  my  father-in-law  and 

brother-in-law,  G Atherton,  and  our  families,  we  left 

for  the  West,  and  located  in  Huron  county,  Ohio,  my  pres- 
ent home.  We  purchased  a  good  farm  and  bought  out  the 
only  merchant  in  our  village,  and  did  a  prosperous  business. 
I  was  always  active  in  politics — a  Democrat  up  to  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  in  186 1.  I  then  united  with 
the  Union  party.  The  only  plank  in  their  platform  was  to 
put  down  the  Confederacy  at  any  cost.  The  course  pursued 
by  the  Democrats  of  Ohio  I  could  not  approve,  and  I  be- 
came identified  with  the  Republican  party.  I  held  the 
office  of  county  commissioner  six  years,  justice  of  the  peace 
six  years,  and  had  the  honor  of  representing  Huron  county 
four  years  in  the  Legislature  of  Ohio,  and  have  been  notary 
public  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  and  hold  that  office  still.  In 
early  youth  I  was  baptised  into  the  Church  by  Elder  Griffin 
Lewis.  I  have  tried  to  live  a  consistent  Christian,  never 
denying  my  religion.  My  hope  in  Christ  is  the  comfort  of 
my  declining  years — looking  for  the  coming  of  my  Saviour 
with  joy,  in  the  full  faith  of  having  a  part  in  the  resurrection 
at  His  appearing. 

"I  could   say  much   more  about  the   Ides,  Whitemans, 
Jacksons,  Harrises,  Husteds,  Majors  and  many  others  of 
those  early  days,  but  I  suppose  you  have  had  enough.   *   * 
"Your  friend,  E.  Bogardus." 

Coming  back  again  to  the  territory  within  the  boundaries 
of  present  Dallas  township,  the  Shaver  family  appears  as  an 
early,  and,  like  the  Honey  wells,  a  numerous  settler.  The 
name  was  at  first  spelled  Shaver  or  Shafer  and  Shaffer. 
Adam  Shaver,  Peter  Shaver  and  Frederick  Shaver  were 
residents  of  Kingston  township  as  early  as  1796.  Adam 
was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  but,  in  1806,  he  started,  and  for 
several  3^ears,  ran  an  oil  mill  at  Mill  Hollow,  now  Luzerne 
borough,  at  the  place  now  (1886)  occupied  by  Schooley's 


Joseph  Shaver 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA.  35 

plaster  and  chop  mill.  Adam  Shaffer  was  also  certified 
grantee  of  the  northwestern  half  of  lot  five  in  certified  Brad- 
ford, now  principally  owned  and  occupied  by  John  Fergu- 
son, Esq.  The  exact  date  when  the  Shavers  first  settled 
in  Dallas  cannot  now  be  determined  with  certainty.  They 
were  Germans  and  most  of  them  came  direct  from  New 
Jersey,  vicinity  of  Newton. 

About  the  year  1812-13,  Philip  Shaver  and  his  sons  John 
and  William  became  the  owners  of  large  bodies  of  land  in 
the  southeasterly  portion  of  what  is  now  Dallas  township 
and  in  adjacent  portions  of  Kingston  township.  For  a  long 
time,  and  even  to  this  day,  the  settlement  is  locally  known 
as  and  called  "Shavertown."  Philip  Shaver  was  a  pro- 
gressive man.  One  of  his  earliest  purchases  was  in  18 13, 
of  the  whole  of  lot  three,  certified  Bedford,  from  William 
Trucks.  The  same  year  he  sold  a  portion  from  the  north- 
west half  to  Jonah  McLellon,  also  a  Jerseyman  (from  Knowl- 
ton  township,  Warren  county).  On  that  portion  bought  by 
McLellon  the  present  village  of  Dallas,  or  McLellonsville, 
as  it  was  originally  named,  was  built. 

Philip  Shaver  was  born  and  spent  his  boyhood  in  the 
valley  of  the  Danube  River,  near  Vienna,  Austria.  It  was 
a  cardinal  principle  with  him  that  a  man  was  not  really  run- 
ning in  debt  when  he  bought  and  owed  for  real  estate  at  a 
reasonable  price.  He  settled  and  built  his  home,  a  log 
house,  on  the  hill  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  cross 
roads  near  late  residence  of  James  Shaver,  deceased,  on  the 
ground  afterwards  occupied  and  owned  by  Asa  Shaver, 
now  deceased.  Philip  Shaver  was  generous  and  public 
spirited  to  a  marked  degree  for  the  time  and  place.  He 
gave  the  land  for  the  public  burying-ground,  on  the  hill 
near  the  pine  grove  just  south  of  Dallas  village,  on  the  road 
to  Huntsville.  He  also  gave  land  for  what  is  known  as  the 
Shaver  burying-ground,  which  lies  about  a  mile  southeast  of 
the  former.     The  land  upon  which  the  first  school-house 


36  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

in  Dallas  township  was  built  was  likewise  a  gift  from  him. 
This  land  lies  partly  in  the  cross-roads  just  south  of  and 
adjacent  to  the  present  public  school  building  in  Dallas 
borough.  That  school-house  was  erected  in  18 16  of  logs. 
It  was  standing  yet  within  my  recollection  (about  1853  or 
1854).  I  remember  attending  a  Sunday-school  in  it  once. 
Mr.  George  Oliver  was  superintendent,  and  they  sang 
"Happy  Day,"  and  it  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  heard  it. 
This  school-house  was  also  used  for  holding  meetings  and 
services  of  all  kinds,  divine  and  secular.  Candles,  in  small 
tin  candle-holders,  turned  over  at  the  top  to  form  reflectors, 
and  hung  on  nails  driven  here  and  there,  in  window  and 
door  frames,  furnished  the  only  light  at  evening  meetings. 
The  candles  were  home-made  dips  contributed  by  the  differ- 
ent persons  who  were  in  the  habit  of  attending  the  evening 
meetings  there.  Evening  meetings  at  that  time  were  always 
announced  to  commence  at  "early  candle  light."  The  lux- 
ury of  a  clock  was  indulged  in  by  but  few,  and  of  a  watch 
by  almost  none,  so  that  the  surest  way  to  get  a  congrega- 
tion together  at  a  particular  time  after  sundown  was  to  fix 
the  hour  as  above.  I  am  told  by  a  lady  who  attended  meet- 
ings in  that  school-house  when  she  was  a  girl,  nearly  fifty 
years  ago,  that  a  bonnet  was  seldom  seen.  The  ladies  wore 
handkerchiefs  tied  over  their  heads  instead. 

The  first  or  one  of  the  first  schools  in  that  school-house 
was  taught  by  one  Doty,  an  Irishman.  He  was  very  strict 
and  had  a  long  list  of  rules,  to  break  any  one  of  which  was 
sure  to  subject  the  offender  to  severe  chastisement.  No 
two  pupils  were  allowed  to  go  out  or  be  out  of  doors  at  the 
same  time  during  school  hours ;  and  in  order  to  avoid  such 
an  occurrence,  a  card  was  suspended  on  the  door,  on  one  side 
of  which  was  printed  in  large  letters  the  word  "out"  and  on 
the  reverse  side  the  word  "in."  When  anyone  went  out  he 
must  turn  the  card  so  that  the  first  named  word  could  be 
seen,  and  when  he  came  in  the  card  must  be  again  turned 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  37 

SO  that  the  second  word  could  be  seen.  No  coaxing  or 
reasoning"  would  prevail  to  let  anyone  go  out  while  the  word 
"out"  could  be  seen  on  that  card. 

As  previously  remarked,  the  country  about  Dallas  was 
very  rapidly  filled  with  settlers  just  after  the  close  of  the 
war  of  i8i2.  It  was  regarded  as  the  frontier  country  to 
those  living  farther  east  in  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut,  as 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  California  soon  after  became  in  the  minds 
of  the  people  of  this  region. 

Aaron  Duffee  was  one  of  the  ex-soldier  settlers.  In  1813 
he  appeared  first  in  that  country.  He  settled  and  built  a 
house  on  the  Amos  Wickersham  warrant,  near  and  north- 
east of  the  point  where  the  main  road  from  Dallas  to  Kun- 
kle  crosses  Chestnut  hill  or  Brace  hill  ridge.  Though  an 
Irishman  by  birth,  Duffee  was  a  most  aggressive  and  un- 
compromising Methodist  preacher.  He  preached  about  the 
neighborhood  in  private  houses  and  barns,  and  later,  after 
its  erection,  in  the  log  school-house. 

That  was  an  age  of  distilleries  and  liquor  drinking.  There 
were  very  few  people  then,  in  that  region,  who  did  not  have 
whiskey  in  the  house  at  all  times.  About  the  year  1823 
Peter  Roushey,  a  tailor  by  trade,  living  near  the  road  at  the 
upper  or  northwest  corner  of  lot  number  one  of  certified 
Bedford  township,  near  late  residence  of  Enoch  Reily,  un- 
dertook to  sell  liquor  by  the  "smalle"  or  drink.  There  had 
probably  been  difficulty  before,  but  this  enraged  Duffee, 
and  he  prosecuted  Roushey.  To  beat  him  and  get  rid  of 
him,  Roushey  took  out  a  tavern  license.  This  was  in  the 
year  1823,  and  was  the  first  tavern  Hcense  taken  out  in  Dal- 
las township.  It  was  not  renewed  next  year,  and  there  was 
no  other  license  taken  out  in  that  township  until  one  was 
taken  out  by  Jacob  Meyers  in  1837.  Since  1837  a  hotel 
has  been  continuously  kept  in  Dallas. 

About  18 1 2-1 3  William  Honeywell  moved  from  New 
Jersey  and  bought  and  settled  on  a  portion  of  the  Edward 


38  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA, 

Duffield  tract,  near  where  the  farm  of  his  grandson,  William 
J.  Honeywell,  now  is,  also  part  of  the  same  land  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Dallas  Union  Agricultural  Society  for  a  fair 
ground  and  racing  track.  For  much  of  the  information 
that  I  have  concerning  that  period  I  am  indebted  to  Abram 
S.  Honeywell,  Esq.,  son  of  William  Honeywell,  who  is  still 
living  (September  5,  1885)  and  very  active  at  the  age  of 
ninety-five  years.  Mr,  Honeywell's  narrative  in  connection 
with  his  father's  moving  to  Dallas  is  very  interesting,  and  I 
give  it  in  his  own  words  as  he  gave  it  to  me  on  the  19th 
day  of  September,  1885,  at  the  house  of  his  son,  William  J. 
Honeywell,  in  Dallas. 

"  I  have  a  very  distinct  recollection  of  many  things  that 
occurred  about  the  time  my  father  moved  into  this  country 
(Dallas).  I  cannot  give  the  year,  exactly,  that  we  came, 
but  it  was  in  the  spring.  My  father  had  been  out  here  the 
fall  before  and  had  bought  a  large  body  of  land,  part  of  lot 
one  certified  Bedford  (this  deed  is  dated  20th  September, 
1813,  and  the  deed  for  part  of  Edward  Duffield  tract  is 
dated  3d  November,  18 14,  but  the  purchases  may  have  been 
contracted  for  before  either  of  those  dates),  and  we  moved 
in  the  next  spring.  We  came  from  Nolton  (Knowlton) 
township,  near  Greensburg,  Warren  county.  New  Jersey 
Many  of  the  early  settlers  of  Dallas  came  from  there.  The 
township  of  Dallas  had  not  yet  been  cut  off  from  Kingston 
and  Plymouth  townships,  from  which  it  was  taken.*  There 
were  five  families  who  came  in  from  New  Jersey  when  we 
did.  Widow  Sweazy  and  her  son,  Thomas  Sweazy,  about 
my  age,  were  in  the  party.  We  drove  our  teams  and  wagons 
all  the  way.  We  first  came  down  to  Wilkes-Barre,  and  ex- 
pected to  cross  there  and  come  up  to  Dallas,  through  the 
narrows  and  along  Toby's  Creek  by  the  way  of  Trucksville, 
but  the  water  was  so  high  in  the  river  that  spring  that  we 

*  The  first  petition  for  the  new  township  was  filed  October  sessions,  1814,  and  the 
court  appointed  Oliver  Pettibone,  Charles  Chapman  and  Josiah  Lewis  viewers,  but 
they  never  made  any  return  or  report  of  any  kind  to  the  court. 


WlI.lJAM    J.     HcjNIiN  W  Kl.l. 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  39 

could  not  get  over,  and  we  had  to  go  back  to  Pittston  to 
cross.  After  crossing  at  Pittston  we  came  down  to  New 
Troy  (Wyoming)  and  came  up  along  the  creek  (Abraham's) 
that  cuts  through  the  mountain  at  that  point,  and  on  through 
the  woods  to  the  place  where  father  had  bought  and  in- 
tended to  settle.  There  was  no  road  at  all,  and  we  had  to 
cut  our  way  through  woods  the  whole  distance.  It  was  a 
dreadful  hard  job,  and  it  took  us  about  five  days  to  get 
through.  We  had  brought  our  cows,  sheep  and  hogs  with 
us,  and  it  was  almost  impossible  to  get  them  through  the 
woods  and  across  the  streams.  The  water  in  the  creeks 
was  very  high,  and  of  course  there  were  no  bridges,  so  we 
had  to  ford  them  all  and  carry  the  sheep  and  hogs  over. 
The  forest  was  very  dense  and  heavy,  and  everything 
looked  most  discouraging  to  us.  My  father's  name  was 
William  Honeywell,  and  we  settled  almost  exactly  on  the 
spot  where  stood  the  house  lately  occupied  by  Enoch  Reily. 
It  was  on  the  upper  end  of  lot  one  certified  Bedford.  There 
were  only  four  or  five  houses  within  the  territory  of  present 
Dallas  township  at  that  time.  Ephraim  McCoy  lived  there 
then  on  the  lower  side  of  the  present  road,  about  half  way 
between  the  Goss  or  corner  school-house  and  Raub's  hotel. 
There  was  also  a  man  by  the  name  of  Vanscoy  living  back 
of  us  somewhere,  about  where  Ferdinand  Ferrell  lives. 
Elam  and  Daniel  Spencer  each  had  a  little  log  house  down 
along  the  creek  in  a  direct  line  between  our  house  and  the 
present  village  of  Dallas.  When  we  arrived  our  house  was 
not  yet  done.  My  father  had  hired  a  man  the  fall  before 
to  build  it  and  have  it  ready  by  a  certain  time  when  we 
should  arrive.  We  had  to  all  turn  in  and  help  finish  it. 
Just  back  of  this  house  there  was  a  small  clearing  when  we 
went  there  and  on  it  stood  the  ruins  of  a  old  log  hut.  This 
clearing  was  old,  for  the  ground  had  been  planted  until  it 
was  quite  run  down.  I  don't  know  who  cleared  it  or  who 
ever  lived  there. 


40  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA, 

"The  old  Leonard  Meadows  or  Leonard  Clearing  was 
then  about  as  it  is  now,  but  John  Leonard  had  moved  away 
when  we  came.  The  original  forest  covering  Dallas  town- 
ship was  very  heavy.  There  was  a  growth  of  very  large 
pine  trees,  many  of  them  150  to  200  feet  high.  There  were 
also  oak,  maple,  chestnut  and  hemlock  in  abundance.  There 
were  many  other  kinds  of  wood,  but  these  predominated. 
There  were  no  worked  roads  or  bridges  when  we  first  went 
to  Dallas.  The  best  roads  we  had  were  simply  the  natural 
ground  with  the  trees  and  brush  cut  so  as  to  let  a  wagon 
through.  The  woods  were  full  of  game  of  all  kinds — bears, 
deer,  wild  turkeys,  &c.  Wolves  were  very  thick,  too. 
There  were  no  Indians  in  Dallas  when  we  went  there,  but 
I  have  heard  McCoy  tell  about  seeing  them,  when  he  first 
moved  in,  as  they  went  from  the  valley,  through  where  Dal- 
las village  now  stands,  to  Harvey's  Lake,  on  their  hunting 
and  fishing  trips.  Harvey's  Lake  was  a  grand  place  to 
hunt  and  fish  then.  You  could  kill  a  deer  there  almost 
any  time.  Many  of  the  settlers  who  came  in  after  we  did 
moved  away  very  soon  because  the  country  was  so  rough 
that  they  could  not  stand  it.  It  was  very  hard  for  any  of 
us  to  get  a  living  then.  There  was  no  money  a-going. 
The  most  important  thing  with  us  was  to  get  our  roads 
opened  and  fixed  up  so  that  people  could  get  about  through 
the  country.  We  were  often  called  by  the  supervisors  of 
Kingston  to  work  out  our  road  tax  on  the  roads  in  the 
valley,  and  we  had  to  get  down  there  by  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning  or  have  our  time  docked.  To  do  this,  we 
had  to  get  up  and  eat  breakfast  before  daylight  even  in  the 
summer  time,  and  they  kept  us  at  work  until  sundown,  so 
that  we  had  to  go  home  in  the  dark  also.  It  was  very  dis- 
couraging. We  could  not  get  supervisors  to  go  over  into 
the  Dallas  end  of  the  township  to  work  the  roads,  nor 
would  they  let  us  work  our  tax  out  there.  At  last  we  be- 
gan trying  to  get  a  new  township.     (This  was  first  tried  in 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA,  4 1 

1 8 14,)  We  had  very  hard  work  of  that,  too.  The  people 
in  the  valley  fought  us  all  they  could,  and  we  had  to  work 
three  or  four  years  before  Dallas  township  was  set  off. 
Then  we  began  harder  than  ever  to  lay  out  and  open  roads. 
Everyone  was  so  poor,  however,  that  we  had  almost  no  tax, 
and  so  we  had  to  turn  out  and  have  working  bees  on  the 
roads  in  order  to  make  them  even  passable.  Dallas  town- 
ship filled  up  very  fast  after  the  separation.  Most  of  the 
settlers  were  Jerseymen,  though  there  were  a  few  Connecti- 
cut Yankees  among  them. 

"Peter  Ryman  came  in  about  1814.  He  was  from  Greens- 
burg,  Warren  county.  New  Jersey.  John  Honeywell,  my 
father's  brother,  came  in  the  year  before  we  did.  Richard 
Honeywell,  another  brother,  came  in  soon  after  we  did. 
They  all  came  from  Warren  county.  New  Jersey.  My 
brothers  were  Joseph,  Thomas  and  Isaac.  I  had  one  sis- 
ter, Elizabeth,  who  married  Eleazor  Swetland,  brother  of 
William  Swetland  of  New  Troy  (Wyoming).  John  Orr 
came  here  about  the  time  we  did.  He  was  a  blacksmith, 
and  used  to  sharpen  plowshares.  He  would  not  shoe  horses 
much.  The  only  plow  in  use  then  was  the  old  fashioned 
shovel  plow.  The  only  iron  about  it  was  the  blade,  which 
was  about  the  shape  of  an  ordinary  round-pointed  shovel. 
This  was  fastened  to  the  lower  end  of  an  upright  post.  To 
the  post  was  attached  handles  to  hold  it  with,  and  a  beam  or 
tongue  to  which  the  team  could  be  hitched.  This  plow  was 
jabbed  into  the  ground  here  and  there  between  the  roots, 
stumps  and  stones,  and  with  it  a  little  dirt  could  be  torn  up 
now  and  then.  There  was  no  patent  plow  in  use  then,  nor 
could  it  be  used  there  for  many  years  after  we  settled  in 
Dallas,  Nor  could  we  use  a  cradle  for  cutting  grain.  At 
that  time  the  ground  was  so  rough,  and  there  were  so  many 
stumps  and  roots  and  stones,  that  we  had  to  harvest  at  first 
with  a  sickle." 


42  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

As  narrated  by  Mr.  Honeywell,  and  as  may  yet  be  in- 
ferred from  the  great  number  of  large  pine  stumps  still  seen 
in  the  fields  and  numerous  stump  fences  about  Dallas,  there 
was  at  one  time  a  species  of  very  tall  pine  trees  covering 
that  country.  A  very  few  of  them  can  still  be  seen  (1886) 
towering  far  above  the  other  highest  trees  in  the  woods 
below  Dallas,  near  the  Ryman  and  Shaver  steam  saw-mill, 
but  they  are  the  last  of  their  race.  For  some  reason  they 
do  not  reproduce,  and  will  soon  be  an  extinct  species.  Many 
of  them  grew  to  a  height  of  175  to  200  feet,  and  often  the 
trunk  would  be  limbless  for  150  feet  from  the  ground,  with 
a  diameter  of  from  five  to  six  feet  at  the  ground.* 

It  is  difficult  to  fell  them  without  breaking  them  in  one 
or  two  places.  They  are  so  heavy  and  have  so  few  limbs 
to  retard  their  fall,  or  to  protect  them  in  striking  the  ground, 
that  they  come  down  with  a  terrible  crash,  and  any  stone, 
stump,  log  or  unevenness  on  the  ground  where  they  fall  is 
sure  to  break  them. 

Little  benefit  was  ever  derived  by  the  people  of  Dallas 
from  this  now  valuable  timber.  The  most  important  con- 
sideration with  the  first  settlers  was  how  to  clear  away  and 
get  rid  of  the  vast  and  impenetrable  forest  that  covered  the 
entire  country.  Saw-mills  were  built  to  make  sufficient 
lumber  to  supply  the  wants  of  immediate  neighbors.  There 
was  no  great  market  for  lumber  anywhere,  because  all  parts 
of  the  country  had  mills  and  lumber  as  abundant  as  it  was 
in  Dallas.  Furthermore,  there  were  no  roads  over  which 
it  could  be  conveyed,  even  if  there  had  been  a  market,  so 
most  of  it  had  to  be  cut  down  and  burned  on  the  ground. 

ROADS. 

Mr.  Abram  Honeywell  tells  me  that  when  his  father 
wanted  a  few  slabs  to  cover  the  roof  of  his  house  in  Dallas, 

*  This  statement,  when  originally  read  before  the  Historical  Society,  was  questioned 
somewhat  by  Hon.  Steuben  Jenkins,  who  was  then  living  and  present.  I  have  since 
had  some  of  the  trees  measured,  and  find  that  my  statement  as  to  their  height  is  correct. 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  43 

they  had  to  carry  and  drag  them  from  Baldwin's  mill  at 
Huntsville,  about  three  miles,  because  the  roads  were  so 
poor  a  wagon  could  not  then  be  driven  between  Dallas  and 
Huntsville. 

While  on  the  subject  of  roads,  a  few  dates  may  be  noted 
when  some  of  the  earlier  roads  of  that  country  were  peti- 
tioned for,  laid  out  or  opened. 

At  August  sessions,  1804,  the  petition  of  Zacariah  Harts- 
hoof  and  others  was  read  asking  for  viewers  to  be  appointed 
to  lay  out  a  road  from  James  Landon's  saw-mill,  the  nearest 
and  best  route  to  the  bridge  near  William  Truck's  grist- 
mill, whereupon  the  court  appointed  viewers.  No  report 
was  made,  and  nothing  more  seems  to  have  been  done  with 
this  petition. 

At  January  sessions,  1806,  the  petition  of  Samuel  Allen 
and  others  was  read  praying  for  viewers  to  be  appointed  to 
lay  out  a  road  from  Dallas  and  Baldwin's  Mills  (afterwards 
called  Huntsville)  to  intersect  the  road  that  was  laid  out 
from  Mehoopany  to  Wilkes-Barre  (old  state  road,  now  en- 
tirely opened,  superseded  by  road  of  1820,  hereinafter  men- 
tioned), at  or  near  William  Truck's  grist-mill.  The  said 
road  to  begin  at  or  near  Mr.  Foster's.  Whereupon  the 
court  appoint  John  Goss,  Zacariah  Hartzshoof,  Philip  Mey- 
ers, John  Tuttle,  Elijah  Shoemaker  and  Elisha  Atherton 
to  view  the  ground  proposed  for  said  road,  etc.,  etc.  At 
November  sessions,  1806,  the  viewers  return  a  road  as  fol- 
lows, leading  from  Fuller  &  Baldwin's  Mills  (Huntsville)  to 
William  Truck's  mill  (Trucksville) :  Beginning  at  a  stake 
and  stones  near  Mr.  Foster's,  which  is  the  centre  of  the 
road ;  from  thence  south,  63  degrees  75  perches  to  a  stake 
in  the  Reynolds  meadow ;  from  thence  south,  40  degrees 
east,  92  perches  to  a  stake ;  thence  north,  72  degrees  east, 
128  perches  to  a  stake;  thence  north,  54  degrees  east,  56 
perches  to  where  it  intersects  with  road  that  leads  from  Me- 


44  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

hoopany  to  Wilkes-Barre,  one  mile  and  seventy-one  perches 
long.     This  report  was  confirmed  and  the  road  opened. 

At  January  sessions,  1807,  a  road  was  ordered  from  "near 
where  Cephas  Cone  formerly  lived  in  Exeter  by  Alexander 
Lord's  to  intersect  the  road  leading  from  Northumberland 
to  Wilkes-Barre  near  John  Kelley's." 

At  November  sessions,  18 19,  a  road  was  ordered  in  Dal- 
las, beginning  at  a  large  white  pine  tree  near  Jonah  Mc- 
Clellon's  (where  Raub's  hotel  now  stands),  and  on  road 
leading  from  Jacob  Rice's  mill  (formerly  Truck's  mill  at 
Trucksville)  to  upper  part  of  Dallas  township  via  "John 
Orr's  improvement,"  west,  etc.,  etc.,  "to  a  road  leading  from 
Baldwin's  Mills  (Huntsville)  to  Harvey's  Lake.  The  above 
road  runs  fifteen  perches  through  improvement  of  Jonah 
McClellon's  and  thirty  perches  through  an  improvement  of 
John  Orr."  (This  is  the  present  road  from  Dallas  to  Har- 
vey's Lake.) 

1820.  Road  was  laid  out  "from  pubhc  road  near  line  of 
William  Honeywell"  (corner  east  of  Goss  school-house), 
"northeast  via  corner  by  Conrad  Kunkle's  mill,  etc.,  etc.,  to 
Northumberland." 

1 82 1,  April  sessions.  Road  laid  out  from  near  school- 
house  near  residence  of  Ezra  Ide,  southeast  across  Hunt- 
ington road  via  Jacob  L  Bogardus*  improvement,  also  via  cen- 
tre line  of  certified  Bedford  township,  whole  distance  716 
perches  to  line  between  lots  38  and  39,  near  house  of  Jacob 
L  Bogardus. 

January  3d,  1821.  Road  is  ordered  from  line  of  Bedford 
township  to  Harvey's  Lake,  on  petition  of  Joseph  L.  Worth- 
ington  and  others,  whole  distance  380  perches. 

April  sessions,  1822.  Road  opened  from  Bedford  county 
line,  via  Dallas,  to  Wilkes-Barre,  whole  distance  31  miles 
307  perches.  (This  is  the  main  road  in  present  use  from 
Wilkes-Barre,  via  Dallas,  to  Bowman's  Creek.) 

November  sessions,  1821.    Road  laid  out  from  near  Bald- 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA,  45 

win's  mills  (Huntsville)  on  line  of  road  leading  from  Bald- 
win's Mills  to  Harvey's  Lake,  via  Wyncoop's,  Wheeler's 
and  Whiteman's  improvements,  crossing  Harvey's  Creek 
and  Pike's  Creek,  and  through  Flagler's,  Wilkinson's  and 
Long's  improvements  to  an  established  road  leading  to 
Huntington. 

January  sessions,  1822.  Road  laid  out  and  opened  in  Dal- 
las from  Philip  Kunkle's,  via  line  between  John  M.  Little, 
Aaron  Duffy  and  others  to  highway  at  or  near  Warren  Da- 
vidson's. 

January  sessions,  1823.  Road  laid  out  "beginning  at 
public  road  near  saw-mill  of  Christian  Rice  (McLellonsville, 
now  Dallas,  village);  thence  south,  10  degrees  west,  60 
perches  to  a  white  oak  at  a  school-house  (old  log  school- 
house)  ;  thence  south,  6  degrees  west,  30  perches ;  south, 
10  degrees  west,  29  perches  to  house  of  Christian  Rice; 
south,  32^  degrees  west,  through  improvements  of  John 
Honeywell,  74  perches  to  corner ;  south,  43^  degrees  west, 
past  Peter  Ryman's  barn  40  perches  to  William  Hunt's 
line;  thence  south,  40  degrees  west,  40  perches  through  an 
improvement  of  William  Hunt  and  46  perches  more  to  a 
white  pine  sapling;  south,  15  degrees  west,  14  perches  to 
a  white  oak ;  south  64  perches  to  a  pine;  south,  14  degrees 
west,  17  perches  to  a  corner;  south,  20  degrees  west,  40 
perches  through  improvement  of  Fayette  Allen  to  public 
road;  same  course,  34  perches  to  white  oak  sapling;  south, 
3  degrees  west,  across  small  run,  12  perches  to  a  pine; 
south,  10  j4  degrees  west,  74  perches  to  a  road  running  from 
Fuller's  mill  (Huntsville)  to  Philip  Shaver's  mill  (or  Toby's 
Creek  just  below  Dallas  borough  line);  thence  along  said 
road  south,  19  degrees  west,  72  perches  to  the  corner  at 
McLoskey's  store,  near  Fuller's  mill  (Huntsville).  This  is 
the  present  main  road  between  Huntsville  and  Dallas. 

August  6th,  1827.  Road  opened  from  main  road  between 
Dallas  and  Trucksville,  via  old  log  school-house  in  Dallas, 


46  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

west,  via  Henry  King's  (now  Robert  Norton),  Alexander 
Ferguson's  (now  John  Ferguson),  and  A.  Wheeler's  (now 
)  improvements,  to  road  leading  from  Burr  Bald- 
win's (Stroud's)  house  to  Harvey's  Lake. 

November  3d,  1828.  Road  laid  out  from  near  house  of 
Peter  B.  Roushey  (corner  of  Goss  school-house) ;  thence 
on  centre  line  of  Bedford  township  south,  44^  degrees 
west,  102  perches  to  road  leading  from  Kingston  to  Har- 
vey's Lake,  near  house  of  Nathaniel  Worden  (M.  E.  Church). 

August  sessions,  1828.  Road  laid  out  from  Stephen 
Brace's  (Brace  Hill)  south,  50  degrees  east,  through  swamp, 
etc.,  to  road  leading  from  Kingston  to  Bowman's  Creek. 
(This  road  reviewed  1837.) 

1 823-1 824.  Road  laid  out  from  north  side  of  Stephen 
Ide's  cider-mill  (near  Ide  burying-ground  and  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Lehman  township),  on  road  leading  from  Hunts- 
ville  to  Harvey's  Lake,  via  Stephen  Ide,  Miner  Fuller  and 
Jonathan  Husted  improvements,  to  road  leading  from  Ben 
Baldwin's  (late  Allen  &  Honeywell's)  saw-mill  to  Amza  B, 
Baldwin's  ;  thence  via  old  road,  Joseph  Meyer's  and  Simeon 
Spencer's,  to  Joseph  Orr's  improvement. 

January  sessions,  1844.  Road  laid  out  from  house  of 
Anthony  Foss  (near  M.  E.  Church  in  Dallas  borough), 
along  center  line  of  Bedford  township,  to  "Baldwin's  road" 
at  or  near  house  of  Joseph  Wright. 

It  is  very  probable  that  some  of  the  foregoing  roads  were 
opened  and  actually  used  for  some  time  before  they  were 
legally  declared  to  be  public  roads  by  decree  of  court. 
While  on  the  other  hand,  some  of  them  were  not  actually 
opened  for  public  use  for  a  considerable  period  after  they 
were  ordered  by  the  court.  It  may  be  stated,  also,  that 
some  of  the  earlier  roads  were  opened  and  accepted  as  pub- 
lic roads  by  common  consent  without  any  action  of  the  court 
ever  being  taken. 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  47 

SOME  EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  PRESENT  VILLAGE  OF  DALLAS. 

Christian  Rice  settled  in  Dallas  about  the  time  the  new 
township  was  set  off  from  Kingston  and  Plymouth.  He 
bought  part  of  lot  number  four  certified  Bedford,  and  built 
on  it  near  the  graveyard  on  road  between  Dallas  and  Hunts- 
ville.  This  farm  is  now  (1886)  owned  by  his  son,  Jacob 
Rice,  and  lies  within  the  present  borough  of  Dallas.  Both 
Christian  Rice  and  his  son  Jacob  Rice  have  been  closely 
identified  with  the  growth  and  progress  of  Dallas.  While 
the  present  village  of  Dallas  was  not  honored  with  having 
built  in  it  the  first  house  that  was  erected  in  Dallas  town- 
ship, it  became  evident  at  a  very  early  day  that  a  village 
would  be  built  there,  largely  due,  perhaps,  to  the  willing- 
ness of  Jonah  McLellon  to  sell  lots  of  small  size  to  anyone 
who  wanted  to  buy  and  improve. 

The  Ephraim  Moss  house  stood  in  the  field,  on  a  little 
knoll  just  over  the  spring  run,  about  twenty  or  thirty  rods 
northwest  of  the  present  public  school-house  in  Dallas  bor- 
ough. There  are  a  few  pear  trees  or  apple  trees  yet  stand- 
ing (1886)  near  the  spot.  The  ruins  of  the  old  chimney 
were  still  standing  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  ago.  Ephraim 
Moss  was  a  shoemaker,  I  am  told. 

Jonah  McLellon's  house  stood  on  the  spot  where  rear  end 
or  kitchen  part  of  Raub's  hotel  now  stands,  and  was  proba- 
bly the  first  house  built  in  the  present  village  of  Dallas. 
McLellon  bought  this  land,  as  before  stated,  in  the  year 
18 13,  and  probably  moved  there  and  built  soon  after.  He 
was  an  Irish  Jerseyman.  He  came  to  Dallas  from  Knol- 
ton  township,  Warren  county,  N.  J.  He  originally  owned 
all  the  northwest  end  of  lot  number  three  certified  Bedford 
down  to  a  point  160  rods  or  one-half  mile  southeast  of 
center  line  (middle  of  road  by  old  M.  E.  Church),  which 
included  nearly  all  the  land  within  the  present  village  of 
Dallas.     In    18 16   he   sold   twenty-five    acres  to  Christian 


48  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Rice,  on  which  the  latter  built  the  saw-mill  before  referred 
to.  The  new  Dallas  Cemetery  grounds  were  also  included 
in  that  purchase.  On  this  ground  Christian  Rice  also  built 
a  log  house,  which,  until  a  few  years  ago,  stood  on  the 
northeasterly  side  of  the  street  just  across  an  alley  and  west 
of  A.  Ryman  &  Sons'  store.  One  of  the  first  to  occupy  it 
was  his  son,  Jacob  Rice.  This  house  was  torn  down  to 
make  room  for  the  house  now  occupied  by  Clinton  Honey- 
well, which  stands  on  the  same  spot  where  the  log  house 
stood  up  to  about  1861-2. 

Patrick  O'Malley,  a  son-in-law  of  Jonah  McLellon,  and 
a  cooper  by  trade,  built  a  log  house  and  lived  on  westerly 
side  of  road  leading  to  Harvey's  Lake,  nearly  opposite 
Raub's  hotel,  about  four  hundred  feet  west  of  the  Wilkes- 
Barre  and  Harvey's  Lake  Railroad  depot. 

Another  log  house  built  in  Dallas  village,  probably  the 
third,  was  erected  by  Joseph  Shonk,  Esq.,  on  the  ground 
now  occupied  by  "Odd  Fellows'  Hall."  This  house  was 
built  about  1819-20.  Joseph  Orr,  afterwards,  about  the  year 
1838,  built  a  frame  front  to  the  house,  the  first  frame  build- 
ing in  Dallas,  and  converted  it  into  a  hotel.  It  was  the 
custom  at  that  day  to  make  a  "frolic"  or  "bee"  and  invite  all 
the  neighbors  to  help  whenever  there  was  any  extra  work 
to  be  done,  like  the  raising  of  a  barn  or  other  building, 
clearing  of  the  logs  and  rubbish  from  new  land,  or  the  burn- 
ing of  a  "new  ground,"  or  removing  the  stones  from  a  very 
stony  field,  or  the  husking  of  a  big  field  of  corn  when  the 
farmer  was,  from  some  cause,  belated  in  his  work. 

These  "frolics"  or  "bees"  were  usually  very  well  attended; 
by  some  from  motives  of  neighborly  kindness  and  charity, 
but  by  many,  it  is  probable,  because  plenty  of  free  whiskey 
and  food  were  on  such  occasions  to  be  had.  They  were 
often  occasions  of  general  debauching,  and  ended  frequently 
with  many  trials  of  strength,  or,  worse  still,  with  brutal 
fights  among  the  young  men.    On  the  occasion  of  the  rais- 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA.  49 

ing  of  the  Orr  Tavern  there  was  a  convivial  crowd  present, 
and  much  hilarity  prevailed.  The  erection  of  the  first  frame 
house  in  Dallas,  and  that  too  for  the  purpose  of  a  perma- 
nent hotel,  was  an  event  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
marked  in  some  way.  There  were  then  five  houses  in  the 
village,  and  it  was  decided  that  this  was  sufficient  to  war- 
rant them  in  dignifying  the  settlement  with  a  special  name. 
That  the  christening  might  be  properly  solemnized,  several 
young  men  from  the  crowd  climbed  part  of  the  almost  un- 
supported frame,  and  from  the  highest  peak  of  the  rafters 
one  of  them,  standing  erect,  held  up  a  bottle  of  whiskey, 
swung  it  around  once  or  twice  above  his  head,  and  then 
hurled  it  down,  breaking  it  over  the  timbers,  and  named 
the  place  "AIcLellojisville''  in  honor  of  Jonah  McLellon, 
while  from  below  came  approving  shouts,  mingled  with  the 
firing  of  guns  and  pistols.  By  this  name  the  place  is  still 
known,  and  by  many  it  is  still  so  called  to  this  day,  though 
through  some  oversight  the  postoffice  and  borough  charter 
took  the  name  of  Dallas  from  the  original  name  of  the 
township,  rather  that  the  more  proper  one,  McLellonsville. 

Like  many  men  of  his  time  in  that  vicinity,  Jonah  Mc- 
Lellon was  very  fond  of  whiskey,  and  frequently  indulged 
his  fondness.  He  had  not  always  lived  in  perfect  harmony 
with  his  wife  Eunice,  and  I  am  told  by  several  who  person- 
ally knew  of  the  facts,  that,  finally  when  Death  called  him, 
for  hours  before  his  final  dissolution  he  lay  in  a  semi-dele- 
rious  state,  his  eyes  partly  closed,  breathing  long  and  heavy, 
and  with  each  exhalation  forced  out  a  half  articulate  groan, 
''God  d Eunice^'  and  so  continued  expelling  this  curse- 
laded  breath,  with  gradually  weakened  force,  through  the 
long  hours  of  nearly  one  whole  night,  stopping  only  when 
the  last  spark  of  life  had  left  his  body,  and  just  as  the  first 
light  of  a  new  day  was  appearing  in  the  east. 

Those  who  witnessed  this  scene  pronounce  it  one  of  those 
weird  events  which  brings  on  a  cold  chill  when  recalled. 


50  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

It  is  fair  to  the  memory  of  Jonah  to  say  that  his  wife, 
Eunice,  was  not  generally  regarded  in  the  community  as 
distinguished  for  womanly  loveliness.  On  the  contrary, 
she  was  believed  to  be  a  witch.  Joseph  Honeywell,  when 
alive,  was  sure  of  it,  and,  as  proof  of  his  assertion,  used  to 
say  that  on  one  occasion  when  driving  towards  Dallas  from 
the  Trucksville  grist-mill,  he  overtook  Eunice,  who  was 
walking.  She  asked  him  to  let  her  ride.  He  declined,  for 
some  reason,  and  she  took  offence.  "Goon,  then,"  she 
said,  "  I  will  get  to  Dallas  yet  before  you  do."  She  kept 
her  word,  "for,"  said  Mr.  Honeywell,  "she  witched  my  load 
of  grist  so  that  it  would  not  stay  in  the  wagon ;  whenever 
I  went  up  hill  it  would  slide  up  hill  and  fall  out  of  the  front 
end  of  the  wagon,  and  when  I  went  down  hill  it  would  slide 
the  other  way  and  fall  out  behind,  so  that  I  had  to  keep 
putting  the  bags  back  into  the  wagon  all  the  time  and  was 
hardly  able  to  get  home  at  all  with  my  load." 

The  son-in-law,  Patrick  O'Malley,  was  in  some  respects 
unique.  He  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  and 
was  lame  from  a  wound  received  in  battle.  Otherwise  he 
was  a  man  of  powerful  physique.  It  is  by  many  remem- 
bered of  him  that  he  would  any  time  bare  his  breast  and 
let  any  man  strike  him  with  all  his  power  for  a  drink  of 
whiskey.  The  Irish  reputation  for  a  quick  answer  was  also 
well  preserved  in   him.     He  had  a  very  peppery  temper, 

withal,   and  on   one  occasion   was  pressing  Mr.   R ,  a 

well  to~do  neighbor,  who  was  then  keeping  a  store  in  Dal- 
las, for  the  payment  of  a  small  debt  which  he  claimed  the 
neighbor  owed  him.  The  claim  was  denied,  and,  of  course, 
payment  was  refused.  Some  words  followed,  when  suddenly 
O'Malley  turned  to  go  away,  remarking  as  he  went:  "God 

Almighty  has  made  you  able  to  pay  me,  Mr.  R ,  and 

I'll  d soon  make  you  willing." 

The  old  Orr  Tavern  served  its  purpose  well  for  many 
years,  and  the  father,  Joseph  Orr,  died  a  few  years  later. 


Map  of  Dallas  Township,  1874. 

Scale,  loo  Perches  to  the  Inch. 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  5  I 

and  was  succeeded  first  by  his  son,  Miles  Orr,  and  later  by 
A.  L.  Warring,  followed  by  another  son,  Albert  S.  Orr,  late 
postmaster  at  Wilkes-Barre,  in  the  proprietorship.  On  the 
night  of  April  27,  1857,  ^^^  entire  structure  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  Albert  S.  Orr  was  then  owner  and  proprietor. 
With  characteristic  energy,  he  began  immediately  to  rebuild, 
not  on  the  old  site,  but  on  the  more  desirable  one  where 
the  new  hotel  still  stands,  now  known  as  Raub's  hotel.  This 
hotel  was  completed  almost  as  it  now  stands  (1886)  within 
about  six  months  after  the  destruction  of  the  old  one.  It 
was  the  first  three-story  building  erected  in  Dallas.  It  was 
followed  soon  after  by  another  three-story  building,  the 
Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  still  standing  (1886),  erected  by  Joseph 
Atherholt,  Esq.  Those  buildings  were  considered  very 
large  and  grand  for  that  place  at  the  time  they  were  built, 
and  they  added  much  to  the  dignity  and  importance  of  the 
village.  On  the  completion  of  the  latter  building,  the  Odd 
Fellows'  Lodge,  which  formerly  had  been  held  at  Hunts- 
ville,  was  moved  to  Dallas.  A  lodge  or  chapter  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity  has  since  been  established  in  the  same 
building.* 

SETTING    OFF    THE    NEW    TOWNSHIP    OF    DALLAS. 

As  previously  stated,  the  first  efforts  on  the  part  of  the 
citizens  to  get  a  separate  township  set  apart  to  them,  like 
some  of  their  first  efforts  at  getting  roads  opened,  were  of 
little  avail.  Some  of  the  early  petitions  for  roads,  etc.,  for 
that  country  were  stuck  away  in  the  files  by  malicious  or 
irresponsible  clerks,  and  were  never  allowed  to  appear  again 
where  action  of  the  court  could  be  taken  on  them.  In  one 
instance  a  clerk,  wishing  to  emphasize  his  villainy,  wrote 
some  trifling  words  of  disapproval  on  the  petition,  clearly 
indicating  that  it  should  never  see  light  again,  and  it  never 

*  This  building  was  burned  down  in  1894,  and  a  new  two-story  building  has  been 
erected  by  the  Odd  Fellows  in  its  place. 


52  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

did.  No  action  of  court  was  ever  taken,  and  no  record  of 
it  was  ever  made. 

The  first  petition  for  the  new  township  fared  a  little  bet- 
ter, but  not  much.  It  was  filed  at  October  sessions,  1814. 
The  petition  was  signed  by  Nehemiah  Ide,  Joseph  Worth- 
ington  and  others,  inhabitants  of  Plymouth  and  Kingston 
townships,  setting  forth  cogent  reasons  for  their  demands, 
and  asked  for  practically  the  same  boundaries  given  in  the 
subsequent  petition,  and  which  was  finally  granted. 

Oliver  Pettebone,  Charles  Chapman  and  Josiah  Lewis 
were  appointed  viewers  on  this  first  petition,  and  that  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  last  of  it.  There  is  no  record  of 
anything  having  ever  been  done  by  the  viewers.  After  a 
year  and  a  half  patient  waiting,  another  petition  was  pre- 
pared and  numerously  signed.  It  was  presented  at  April 
sessions,  18 16,  and  Judge  Gibson,  who  was  then  on  the 
bench,  appointed  Anderson  Dana,  David  Richard  and 
Phineas  Waller  as  viewers,  with  the  order  to  "view  and,  any 
two  agreeing  that  said  township  is  necessary,  they  shall 
proceed  to  lay  out  the  same,  designating  the  lines  by  natu- 
ral lines  or  boundaries,  if  the  same  can  be  so  designated, 
and  make  report  thereon  to  the  next  court  of  quarter  ses- 
sions" (August).     Order  issued  May  4th,  18 16. 

At  August  sessions  following  (5th  August),  the  report 
not  being  ready,  the  order  was  continued,  viewers  to  report 
at  next  (November)  sessions. 

In  September,  18 16,  the  viewers  filed  their  report,  but  on 
5th  November,  18 16,  it  was  referred  back  to  them  again  to 
make  a  plot  or  draft  as  well  of  the  new  township  laid  out 
as  of  the  township  out  of  which  it  was  taken,  and  to  make 
report  thereon  at  next  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  (January, 
1 8 17).  This  work  was  completed  on  5th  December,  18 16, 
and  at  January  sessions,  1817,  the  report  was  filed  and  con- 
firmed Jiisi. 

At  April  sessions,  18 17,  which  began  on  the  first  Mon- 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  53 

dap  of  that  month,  with  Hon.  Thomas  Burnsides,  President 
Judge,  and  Jesse  Fell,  assistant  judge,  on  the  bench,  the 
following  order  was  made  in  relation  to  that  report,  viz : 
"The  court  confirms  the  division,  and  in  testimony  of  the 
respect  which  the  court  entertains  for  the  late  Alexander 
James  Dallas,*  call  the  new  township  ^Dallas!  " 

On  the  loth  day  of  April,  1817,  the  court  order  and 
direct  "that  Isaac  Fuller  be  appointed  constable  for  the 
new  township  of  Dallas,  and  further  direct  a  rule  to  issue, 
returnable  forthwith,  to  be  served  by  the  sheriff  on  said 
Isaac  Fuller  to  appear  to  show  cause,  if  any  there  be,  why 
he  will  not  perform  the  office  of  constable  for  the  ensuing 
year." 

"Rule  issued,  whereupon,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1817, 
the  said  Isaac  Fuller,  being  in  court,  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment, whereupon  he  was  sworn  according  to  law." 

William  Fuller  and  Peter  Worthington  were  appointed 
supervisors  at  the  same  court  for  the  first  year. 

The  list  of  officers  "elected,  returned  or  appointed"  for 
Dallas  township  from  1818  to  1844,  as  they  appear  upon 
the  records  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  of  Luzerne 
county,  are  as  follows,  viz  :     [See  following  pages.] 

*  Alexander  James  Dallas  died  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  14th  January,  1817. 


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•* 

FIRST  DISTRICT  OF  TAXABLES  AND  ASSESSMENTS 
IN  THE  TOWNSHIP  OF  DALLAS.     1818. 


QUALITY  AND  PRICE 
PER  ACRE. 

IMPROVED 
LAND. 

UNIMPROVED 
LAND. 

NAMES. 

i 

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b! 

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■21 

•2 

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REMARKS. 
Total  Value. 

Tibbels  Baldwin    . 

.5 
8 
6 

6 

3 
5 

6 
5 

6 

2 

3 
2 

25 

20 
20 

15 

7 

10 

7 

10 
20 

12 
27 
28 
25 
24 
50 

7 
10 

8 
2 
10 

5 
6 

8 

10 

50 

26 

50 
30 
100 
70 

ID 
120 

"5 
20 

50 

74 

50 
100 
100 

•    • 

50 
26 

's'o 
75 

40 
100 

24 
200 
24 
49 
210 
160 

90 

90 
135 
35 

30 
45 
60 

79 
176 
177 

136 

25 

52 
258 

50 

176 
no 
134 

130 

178 

23 

294 

230 

140 

100 
20 

I 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

I 
2 

3 
2 

I 
I 
I 

3 

I 

2 

I 

I 
I 
I 

I 

I 

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I 

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• 

• 
2 

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2 
2 

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2 
2 

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2 

2 

3 
2 

• 
2 

■ 

• 
2 

_ 

2 
2 

2 

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2 
3 
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2 

I 
3 

3 

2 
4 

4 

I 

3 

2 

2 
I 

I 

2 

I 
I 

4 

I 
2 

I 

118. 

652.    Single  Freeman,  $100. 

979.    Saw-mill,  5175. 

498. 

Jacob  I.  Bogardus  . 

542. 
629. 

Major  Church     .   . 
Daniel  Davidson   . 
Aaron  Duffy     .   .    . 
Warren  Davidson 
Daniel  Davidson    . 
Jeremiah  Fuller  .    . 
Isaac  Fuller  .... 

Single  Freeman,  $100. 

f  Transferred  to  Jos.  L.  Wotth- 
\     ington  and  Isaac  Fuller. 

150. 
32.    "Tenant."' 

130. 

201. 

526. 

William  Fuller    .   . 

781. 

Abraham  Fuller     . 
Stephen  Fuller    .    . 

f  TOO  transferred  to  J.  Orr. 
"5-  j  Half  saw-mill,  $75. 
202. 
829.    Half  saw-mill,  $75. 

354- 

634. 

Richard  Honeywell 
William  Honeywell 

2d ; ; 

698. 
870. 

Thomas  Honeywell 
Abram  Honeywell 
William  Honeywell, 
Joseph  Honeywell 

John  Honeywell,  2d 

Nehimiah  Ide,  Jr  . 
Nehimiah  Ide  .   .    . 

30 
16 
6 

22 

15 
30 

'20 

40 

7 
6 

10 
20 

Single  Freeman,  $100. 

Single  Freeman,  Sioo. 

Single  Freeman,  $100. 

f  Removed — Transferred  to 

1     Henry  H.  King. 
Carpenter,  $100. )  Moved  since 
S.Freem'n,$ioo.J  Trien.  Ass't. 
760. 

303. 

Nathaniel  Ide 

John  Ide    

Stephen  and  Ezra  Ide  .    .    . 
William  Ide 

Joseph  Jackson  

Henry  H.  King 

Henry  Kizer    .       

Henry  Kizer,  2d 

Conrad  Kunkle 

James  Mears 

Ephraim  McCoy 

Isaac  Montanye 

John  Man 

John  Orr 

128. 
418. 
485- 
42. 

f  Moved  in  since  Triennial 
^°3-  \     Assessment. 
374- 
336. 

f  Berwick  land  transferred  to 
(     Alex.  Ferguson. 

/Removed — Land  transferred 

1     to  Aaron  Becket. 
576. 

65. 
617. 

/Moved  in  since  Triennial 
474-  \     Assessment. 

/Carpenter,  $60.     Moved   in 

\     since  Triennial  Assessm't. 
382.    Singleman,  |ioo. 

Joseph  Orr,  Jr    .   . 
John  Ross         .   .    . 

QUALITY  AND  PRICE 
PER  ACRE. 

IMPROVED 
LAND. 

UNIMPROVED 
LAND. 

NAMES. 

5     '^ 

s 

i. 

■i 

1 

S 
0 

1 

5 
0 

1 

REMARKS. 
Total  V'ahif. 

Christian  Rice    . 
Mary  Robbiiis    . 
Elijah  Robbins   . 
Stephen  Robbins 
Peter  Ryman   .    . 
Elam  Spencer  .   . 
Philip  Shaver  .    . 
Thomas  Swayze 
William  Shaver  . 

Daniel  Spencer  . 

Jos.  L.  Worthing 
and  Isaac  Fuller 
Joseph  Worthingt 
John  Whitenian  . 

David  Wynkoop 

Samuel  and  John 
Abel  Wheeler  .    . 
Ney  Wheeler   .    . 
Amariah  Watson  i 
James  Nesbitt 

Aaron  Burkel  . 

John  M.  Little    . 

Lewis  Griffin  (?) 

William  Newman 

Oliver  Pettebone 
Jonah  McClellon 
Alex.  Ferguson  . 

to 
3n 

W 

\\\ 

il 
J 

oi 

d 

J 

den 

1- 

27 

8 

6 

10 

25 
10 

1  3 

2  28 

3 

5 
6      24 

4       6 

9 

18 

I      12 

15 
•4 
10 

I    718 

3 
5? 

20 

25 

5 
5 

23 

20 

105 
20 

10 
10 

30 

8 
75 

62 

20 

37 

80 
80 

25 

141 

323 

145 
60 

160 
73 
82 
119 
100 

59 
60 
15 

120 

100 

54 

I 
6 

2 

2 

• 
I 

I 
I 

2 

34 

2 

2 
2 

. 

2 
2 

2 
2 

33 

2 

I 

I 

2 

3 
I 

I 

I 

2 
2 

2 

2 

2 

I 

2 

I 

73 

199. 
22. 
42. 

Carpenter,  $60. 
162. 
152. 
511- 

252.     Singleman,  $100. 
132. 

f  Removed— Land  trans- 
\    ferred  to  O.  Pettebone. 

273- 

453- 
268. 

(  Moved  in  since  Trien- 
243-  \     Dial  Assessment. 
195- 
716. 
100.    Single  Freeman. 

348. 

g    f  Moved  in  since  Trien- 

■  \      nial  Assessment. 
/Moved  in  since  Trien- 

^^'  \     nial  Assessment. 
323- 

/Moved  in  since  Trien- 

■  \     nial  Assessment. 
174. 

124. 
1     307. 

73  names.              Totals  .   . 

105 

I 

597 

.5^54 

340 

20840 

RECAPITULATION. 

Total  number  of  acres  of  improved  land  in  Dallas  twp.  worth  $38  per  acre,     2 
"       "       "  "  "       "        "         "         "      ^23    "     "        71 

"      "      "         "  "      "       "        "         "      $  6   "     "      718 

"      "      "        "  "      "       "       "        "      ^  3   "     "       59 


Grand  total  improvtd  land, 850 

Total  nimiher  of  acres  of  unimproved  land  in  Dallas  twp.  worth  $4  jier  a.,   105 

"       "      "  "  "      "       "  "  "       ^2     "       1597 

"       "      "  "  "      "        "  "  "       $1     "      5254 

"  "         "       "      "  "  "      "        "  "  "       50c  "         220 

Grand  total  of  seated  land,  improved  and  unimproved, 8026 

Total  number  of  dwelling  houses, 54 

"         "         "    outhouses, ...     6 

"  "         "     horses, 34 

"         "         "    oxen, 33 

"        "        "    cows, 73 

Total  valuation  of  foregoing,  ;^20,840. 


Map  of  Dallas  Township,  1884, 

Scale,  150  Perches  to  the  Inch. 


\ 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  59 

All  the  balance  of  the  vast  territory  then  included  in  the 
township  of  Dallas  was  in  the  list  of  unseated  lands,  which 
was  very  large ;  but  few  of  the  tracts  would  then  sell  for 
enough  to  pay  the  taxes.  There  have  been  no  sales  of  un- 
seated lands  in  Dallas  township  for  taxes  for  several  years 
past.  In  fact,  none  have  been  advertised.  This  is  striking 
evidence  of  the  changes  since  the  first  organization  of  the 
township.  The  lands  in  Dallas  township  are  now  all  in  the 
seated  lands,  i.  e.,  are  occupied  or  improved  lands. 

GROWTH  AND  CHANGES  OF  THE  NEW  TOWNSHIP  OF  DALLAS. 

The  new  township  grew  and  prospered  with  great  rapidity 
both  in  wealth  and  population.  Starting  with  seventy-three 
taxables  in  1818,  the  number  was  increased  next  year,  18 19, 
to  eighty-eight.  Among  the  new  taxables  of  this  year(i8i9) 
were  Jared  R.  Baldwin,  Abram  S.  Honeywell,  Oliver  Ide, 
Joseph  Mears,  Joseph  Mears,  Jr.,  and  William  Orr,  all  "sin- 
gle freeman." 

1820.  In  the  year  1820  the  number  of  taxable  inhabi- 
tants had  increased  to  10 1.  Among  them  appears  for  the 
first  time  the  name  of  Peter  B.  Roushey,  assessed  as  "Tay- 
lor." Among  the  improvements  of  this  year  must  be  noted 
the  laying  out  of  the  great  road  from  Wilkes-Barre  to  Brad- 
ford county  line  near  Mehoopany  Creek.  This  road  is  the 
one  in  use  at  present  (with  a  few  slight  changes  in  Kingston 
borough)  from  Wilkes-Barre  bridge,  up  Toby's  Creek, 
through  Dallas,  Kunkle,  Monroe,  to  Bowman's  Creek,  etc. 
Most  of  the  way  it  was  laid  out  on  the  line  of  the  "  Old 
State  Road,"  which  had  been  laid  out  years  before,  but  not 
opened.  The  viewers  who  laid  out  this  road  were  Joseph 
Slocum,  George  Cahoon,  Samuel  Thomas,  Joseph  Tuttle 
and  John  Bennett.  This  road  was  a  very  important  im- 
provement, and  to  open  it  cost  many  years  of  hard  work 
and  large  expenditures  of  money  on  the  part  of  the  citizens 
of  Dallas  township.     It  is  interesting  to  show  the  scarcity 


60  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

of  other  roads  then  existing  to  intersect  it,  as  well  as  the 
paucity  of  buildings  and  improvements  along  its  line. 

Hardly  had  the  organization  of  the  new  township  been 
completed  before  dissatisfaction  appeared  in  the  southwest- 
ern corner,  and  at  August  sessions,  1820,  a  petition  was  filed 
in  behalf  of  inhabitants  of  Huntington,  Union  and  Dallas 
townships,  setting  forth  that  whereas  the  line  between  the 
counties  of  Luzerne  and  Lycoming  appears  never  to  have 
been  run,  and  in  consequence  of  that  circumstance  and  other 
causes,  the  lines  of  the  townships  of  Huntington,  Union  and 
Dallas  have  been  incorrectly  laid  out  and  run,  and  marked 
erroneously  upon  the  ground,  and  asking  for  viewers  to  be  so 
appointed  to  view  and  correct  these  errors. 

Whereupon  the  court  appoint  Jacob  I.  Bogardus,  Esq. 
(of  Dallas),  Shadrack  Austin  (of  Union),  and  John  Coons 
(of  Huntington)  to  view  said  townships  proposed  to  be 
altered,  who,  or  any  two  them  agreeing,  shall  make  a  draft 
or  plot  of  said  townships  proposed  to  be  made  and  desig- 
nating the  same  by  natural  boundaries  if  the  same  can  be 
so  designated,  and  make  report  thereof  to  the  next  Court 
of  Quarter  Sessions,  etc.,  etc. 

At  November  sessions,  1820,  the  said  viewers  made  re- 
port as  follows,  to  wit :  "We,  the  undersigned,  appointed  by 
the  above  court  to  run  and  make  the  lines  therein  mentioned, 
do  report  that  in  pursuance  of  said  order,  we,  the  subscri- 
bers, being  two  of  the  above  named  persons  (having  first  been 
duly  sworn)  went  upon  the  ground  and  run  and  marked  the 
following  described  lines  between  the  townships  of  Union 
and  Dallas,  for  the  northeasterly  boundary  of  the  township 
of  Union,  to  wit:  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  Hunlock's 
Creek ;  thence  north,  1 1  degrees  west,  2  miles  and  280 
perches  to  the  southeast"  (?)  (west)  "corner  of  the  certified 
township  of  Bedford,  and  being  the  southeast"  (?)  (west) 
"corner  of  Dallas  township  ;  thence  on  the  Bedford  line  and 
a  continuation  of  the  same  north,  34  degrees  west,  15  miles 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA.  6 1 

and  lOO  perches  to  a  hemlock  marked  for  a  corner  on  the 
county  line.  Also  run  the  following  described  lines  between 
the  townships  of  Huntington  and  Union,  for  the  westerly- 
boundary  of  Union,  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit :  Be- 
ginning at  the  mouth  of  Shickshinny  Creek  ;  thence  north, 
63^  degrees  west,  one  mile  and  280  perches  to  the  north- 
easterly corner  of  Huntington;  thence  on  the  Huntington 
line  and  a  continuance  of  the  same  north,  21  degrees  west, 
14  miles  and  150  perches  to  a  maple  marked  for  a  corner 
on  the  county  line." 

This  report  was  filed  and  confirmed  iiisi  November  8th, 

1820,  and  was  confirmed  absolutely  on  January  3d,  1821. 
Bogardus  did  not  sign  this  report  with  the  other  viewers, 

probably  because,  as  will  be  seen  by  comparing  the  maps, 
that  this  view  took  a  considerable  slice  from  the  new  town- 
ship of  Dallas,  and  gave  it  to  Union  township,  without  any 
compensation  or  exchange. 

The  year  1820  may  be  noted  also  as  the  year  when,  under 
the  new  laws,  the  assessors  of  each  township  were  required 
to  return  the  number  of  children  between  the  ages  of  five  and 
twelve  years,  whose  parents  were  unable  to  pay  for  their 
schooling.  No  report  was  made  under  this  law  for  Dallas 
township  in  1820,  but  the  next  year  (182 1)  Joseph  L.  Worth- 
ington  was  assessor,  and  under  that  law  he  reported  the 
children  of  Nicholas  Keiser,  John  Mann,  David  Wynkoop 
and  David  Davidson,  eleven  in  all. 

There  were  one  hundred  and  six  taxables  on  the  list  for 

1 82 1,  It  was  also  the  year  in  which  Judge  Baldwin  died — 
date  June  9th ;  age  forty-six  years  eleven  months  and 
twenty-five  days. 

1821-1822.  During  this  year  Aaron  Burket  conveys  his 
land  to  William  Brigg  and  removes.  John  Eaton,  farmer, 
Russell  T.  Green,  shoemaker,  and  Joseph  Hoover  became 
residents  of  Dallas  township.  Asa  Fox  sells  to  Oliver  Pet- 
tebone  and  removes.     Roswell  Holcomb  and  John  M.  Lit- 


62  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

tie  remove  from  township.  John  Orr  buys  eight  acres  of 
land  and  one  log  house  of  Jonah  McLellon.  Deming  Spen- 
cer (the  first  white  child  born  in  the  territory  of  Dallas  town- 
ship) attained  his  majority  and  appears  first  time  as  "single 
freeman"  in  assessment  books.  Also  buys  his  father's  farm. 
Cornelius  Sites,  a  wheelright,  moves  into  the  township  and 
buys  land  of  William  Newman.  William  Sites  also  moves 
in  and  buys  of  David  Wynkoop.  Nicholas  Keizer's  chil- 
dren are  the  only  ones  reported  whose  parents  are  too  poor 
to  pay  for  their  schooling.     Total  taxables,  ii8. 

1 822-1 823.  Joseph  Ryman's  name  appears  for  first  time 
in  the  assessment  books — is  assessed  with  two  acres  of  land, 
Warren  Davidson  becomes  a  "cooper"  and  Thomas  Tuttle 
a  "wheelmaker."     Total  taxables  129. 

1 823-1 824.  Very  hard  times.  The  children  of  Joseph 
Wright,  John  Thorn,  Peter  Gary,  Aaron  Duffy,  Nicholas 
Keiser  and  Nathan  Worden  were  returned  to  be  educated 
by  the  county,  because  the  parents  were  too  poor.  Among 
the  persons  last  named  John  Thorn  was  a  character  de- 
serving of  a  moment's  special  notice.  He  was  always  poor, 
shiftless  and  lazy.  He  early  became  a  charge  on  the  town- 
ship, and  remained  a  town  pauper  the  balance  of  his  days. 
In  the  midst  of  his  greatest  poverty  he  was  given  to  boast- 
ing and  high-sounding  talk.  The  poormasters  of  Dallas 
township  were  in  the  habit  of  giving  him  an  occasional  "poor 
order"  on  some  farmer  or  dealer  for  a  few  dollars,  which 
he  could  "trade  out"  and  get  something  to  eat.  Backed 
with  one  of  these  "poor  orders,"  John  was  for  the  time 
wealthy  and  assumed  the  importance  of  a  capitalist.  With 
it  he  would  start  for  some  store  or  farm  house  where  he 
intended  to  trade  it  out.  He  usually  began  by  asking  the 
proprietor  if  this  man's  order  (producing  the  poor  order  and 
pointing  to  the  name  of  the  poormaster  at  the  bottom)  was 
good  and  would  be  accepted.  While  the  order  was  being 
read  John  would  explain  that  the  giver  or  the  maker  of  the 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  63 

order  was  owing  him  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  and 
being  short  of  ready  cash,  had  asked  him  (John)  to  take 
this  order;  that  being  always  willing  to  accommodate  his 
neighbors,  he  had  consented  to  accept  this  order  provided 
it  could  be  used  the  same  as  cash.  On  being  assured  that 
the  order  was  good,  John's  next  inquiry  was  usually  for 
pickled  side  pork  of  the  cheapest  grade.  Feeling  that  some 
apology  or  explanation  might  be  due,  he  would  generally 
add  that  he  had  plenty  of  '^gammons"  at  home,  but  that 
they  were  still  in  the  process  of  smoking  or  some  other  por- 
tion of  the  curing  treatment.  All  this  and  much  more  like 
it  would  occur,  yet  always  with  greatest  seriousness  on 
John's  part.  He  died  only  a  few  years  ago.  In  one  of  his 
later  illnesses  a  physician  had  been  called,  and  had  left 
certain  medicines  to  be  given  at  certain  specified  hours. 
John  had  no  clock  or  other  time  keeper  in  the  house,  and 
at  night  had  no  way  of  telling  the  hour  except  by  the  crow- 
ing of  the  rooster,  which  he  believed  occurred  every  hour 
with  regularity.  One  night  John  grew  very  much  worse, 
and,  thinking  that  the  hour  for  taking  his  medicine  had 
arrived,  and  that  the  cock  had  gone  to  sleep  or  forgotten  to 
crow,  sent  his  son  John,  Jr.,  out  to  waken  him  and  remind 
him  of  his  duty.  After  a  good  deal  of  squeezing  and  shak- 
ing up,  John,  Jr.,  succeeded  in  making  the  rooster  crow. 
The  medicine  was  of  course  given  at  once,  and  the  natural 
relief  followed. 

In  the  same  house  where  John  spent  his  later  years  lived 
later,  one  Ira  Gordon,  a  carpenter  and  farmer.  Mr.  Gor- 
don's notions  of  family  duties  and  farm  economy  were  most 
tersely  expressed  in  the  remark  credited  to  him,  that  "a 
woman,  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  wood-shod  sled  are  three 
things  that  never  ought  to  be  allowed  to  go  off  the  farm." 

1 824-1 825.  In  this  year  there  were  many  transfers  of 
real  estate,  and  the  number  of  taxables  in  Dallas  township 
is  increased  to  164. 


64  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

1 825-1 826.  The  Triennial  Assessment  was  made  this 
year  showing  a  slight  reduction  in  the  number  of  taxables 
as  compared  with  the  previous  year. 

1826-1827.  Joseph  Shonk,  this  year,  purchases  one- 
fourth  interest  in  the  Christian  Rice  saw-mill  and  log  house 
at  McLellonsville.     Number  of  taxables  170. 

At  August  sessions,  1827,  an  attempt  was  made  to  form 
a  new  township  from  Union  and  Dallas  townships,  but  the 
opposition  was  so  strong  that  the  viewers  appointed  to  view 
and  lay  it  out  reported  adversely  to  it. 

1 827-1 828.  The  first  mention  is  made  this  year  of  a  post 
office  in  Dallas  township,  and  Jacob  Hoff  is  assessed  as 
post-master  at  a  valuation  of  fifty  dollars  for  the  office. 
Thomas  Irwine  begins  his  long  career  as  justice  of  the  peace. 

1 828-1 829.  Levi  Hunt  died  of  small  pox,  caught  while 
on  a  rafting  trip  down  to  Baltimore,  Md.  This  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first  death  in  Dallas  township  from  that  dread 
disease. 

The  leading  event  of  this  year  was  the  division  of  Dallas 
township  by  cutting  off  Lehman  township  from  it. 

PETITION. 

"To  the  Honorable,  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  the  county  of  Luzerne,  now  composing  a  Court  of 
Quarter  Sessions  of  the  Peace  in  and  for  said  county: 

"The  petition  of  the  subscribers,  inhabitants  of  the  town- 
ship of  Dallas,  in  said  county,  humbly  showeth  :  That  your 
petitioners  labor  under  great  inconvenience  from  present 
size  and  shape  of  the  said  township  of  Dallas,  many  of  them 
being  distant  from  the  place  of  holding  elections  and  doing 
public  business,  they  believe  it  would  be  much  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  public  generally,  as  well  as  for  themselves, 
if  a  Nezv  Tozvnship  should  be  formed  out  of  the  now  town- 
ship of  Dallas,  and  that  this  can  be  done  without  injury  to 
the  part  which  should  remain.     Your  petitioners  therefore 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  65 

pray  your  honors  to  appoint  three  impartial  men  to  inquire 
into  the  propriety  of  dividing  the  said  township  of  Dallas, 
and  setting  off  a  new  township  lying  west  of  line  commenc- 
ing at  the  point  where  the  line  between  lots  Nos.  7  and  8 
of  the  certified  township  of  Bedford  meets  the  line  of  Ply- 
mouth township,  and  running  the  course  of  said  line  between 
said  lots  until  it  shall  meet  the  line  of  the  township  of  North- 
moreland.  And  your  petitioners  will  ever  pray,  etc. 
(Signed) : 

"William  Sites.  "Elijah  Ide. 

C.  King.  Joseph  Worthington. 
William  Ide.  Daniel  J.  Whiteman. 
Stephen  Ide.                      Elijah  Worthington. 
Nathaniel  Ide.                   J.  B.  Worthington. 
Oliver  McKeel.  Oliver  Ide. 

John  O.  Mosely.  William  Harris. 

John  Ide.  John  Whiteman. 

Simon  P.  Sites.  Nehemiah  Ide. 

Julius  D.  Pratt.  Jeremiah  Fuller. 

Ezra  Ide.  Amisa  B.  Baldwin. 

William  Fuller.  Clinton  Brown. 

Cornelius  Sites.  Thomas  Major,  Jr. 

Robert  Major.  Thomas  Major,  Sr. 

James  Mott.  Simeon  F.  Rogers. 

D.  Banister.  Asaph  W.  Pratt. 

"Petition  filed  January  7th,  1829. 

"January  Sessions,  1829.     Viewers,  Benjamin  Dorrance, 
Ziba  Hoyt,  James  Barnes." 

Luzerne  County,  ss  : 

"At  a  Court  of  General  Sessions  held  at  Wilkes- 
[seal].  Barre,  in  and  for  the  county  of  Luzerne,  the 
first  Monday  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-nine,  before 
the  Honorable  David  Scott,  president,  and  Matthias  Hol- 
lenback  and  Jesse  Fell,  esquires,  justices  of  said  court.  The 
petition  of  Elijah  Ide  and  others  was  read  praying  for 
viewers  to   be  appointed  to  view  township  and  to   inquire 


66  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA, 

into  the  propriety  of  dividing  the  township  of  Dallas,  and 
setting  off  a  new  township  lying  west  of  line  commencing 
at  the  point  where  the  line  between  lots  Nos.  7  and  8  of  the 
certified  township  of  Bedford  meets  the  line  of  Plymouth 
township  and  running  the  course  of  said  line  between  said 
lots  until  it  shall  meet  the  line  of  the  township  of  North- 
moreland.  Whereupon  the  court  appoint  Benjamin  Dor- 
rance,  Ziba  Hoyt  and  James  Barnes,  viewers,  who  are  to 
view,  and  any  two  of  them  agreeing,  are  to  make  a  plot  or 
draft  of  the  township  proposed  to  be,  and  of  the  division 
line  proposed  to  be  made  therein,  designating  the  same  by 
natural  lines  and  boundaries,  if  the  same  can  be  so  desig- 
nated, and  make  report  thereof  to  the  next  Court  of  Quar- 
ter Sessions. 

"In  testimony,  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  from  the 
records,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the 
said  court  and  certify  the  same  accordingly, 

"For  C.  D.  Shoemaker,  Clerk. 
"Harris  Colt." 

"To  the  honorable  judges  within  named:  In  pursuance 
of  within  order  we  do  report  that  due  examination  has  been 
made,  and  we  are  decidedly  of  opinion,  for  many  reasons, 
that  the  request  of  petitioners  ought  to  be  granted.  The 
annexed  draft  represents  the  situation  of  the  townships  and 
several  adjoining.  (Signed), 

Viewers,  two  days  each,  "James  Barnes. 

we  have  been   sworn  and  "Benjamin  Dorrance." 

affirmed.         "James  Barnes. 

"Benjamin  Dorrance." 

"Return  filed  April  7,  1829. 

"Remonstrance  filed  April  7,  1829. 

"November  Sessions,  1829.  Confirmed  by  the  name  of 
Lehman  from  respect  to  memory  of  Dr.  William  Lehman, 
of  Philadelphia,  a  distinguished  friend  and  advocate  of  in- 
ternal improvements." 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  6/ 

REMONSTRANCE. 

"To  the  Honorable,  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Quarter 
Sessions  of  the  Peace,  in  and  for  the  county  of  Luzerne : 
"The  petition  of  the  undersigned  inhabitants  of  the  town- 
ship of  Dallas  would  most  respectfully  show :  That  they 
have  witnessed,  with  much  regret,  an  attempt  made  by  some 
individuals  to  divide  the  township  aforesaid.  The  object, 
we  verily  believe,  is  not  the  advancement  of  the  publick 
interest,  but  the  gratification  of  private  ends.  By  the  pro- 
posed division  the  iiiterest  of  the  township  generally  will  be 
contravened.  The  extent  of  the  inhabited  part  of  said  town- 
ship, and  that  which  is  inhabitable  within  the  compass  of 
many  years  is  not  too  large  for  the  convenient  transaction 
of  the  township  business,  and  the  number  of  inhabitants,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  lists  of  taxables,  is  not  too  great  for 
the  convenient  accommodation  of  the  people  at  elections. 
With  these  views  we  would  respectfully  remonstrate  against 
the  proposed  or  any  division  of  the  townsnip  of  Dallas  at 
this  time,  deeming  it  inexpedient,  uncalled  for  hy  public k 
convenience.  March  7th,  1829. 
(Signed), 

"Abram  S.  Honeywell.        "Ephraim  Moss. 

Smith  Tuttle.  Peter  Ryman. 

William  Shaver.  Fayette  Allen. 

Thomas  Irwin.  David  Beam. 

Jacob  Honeywell.  Sylvanus  Fuller. 

William  Honeywell.  Watson  Baldwin. 

Bur  Baldwin.  Nathan  Wheeler. 

Marvin  Wheeler.  Jonathan  Williams. 

Alexander  Ferguson.  Henry  Kizer,  Jr. 

Henry  H.  King.  Almon  Church. 

Elam  Spencer.  Thomas  Hoover. 

Peter  B.  Roushey.  Edwin  McCarty. 

Samuel  Hunnywell.  Stephen  Brace. 

Simeon  Spencer.  Joseph  Hoover. 

John  Simpson,  Jr.  Thomas  Swayze. 

Nathaniel  Warden.  James  L.  Williamson. 


68 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 


Deming  Spencer. 
Peter  Seaman. 
Joseph  Hunneywell. 
Peter  Shaver,  2d. 
Nathaniel  Hunneywell. 
Isaac  Hunneywell. 
Richard  Hunneywell,  Jr. 
C.  C.  Hunnwell. 
Philip  Kunkel. 
John  Simpson. 
David  Donley. 
Adam  Hoover. 
J.  W.  Darling. 
John  Wilson. 
Simon  Anderson. 
Elijah  Ayrs. 

William  Hunneywell,  2d. 
C.  B.  Shaver. 


James  Shaver. 
George  Shaver. 
Asa  W.  Shaver. 
John  Miller. 
James  Ross. 
Lawrence  Ross. 
Jacob  Wilcocks. 
Morris  Baldwin. 
Anthony  Foss. 
James  Steward. 
Garat  Durland. 
Miles  Spencer. 
Edwin  Church. 
John  Wort,  Jr. 
James  Symers. 
Daniel  Wodward. 
R.  Hunnewell  (sic). 
Thomas   Hunneywell. 
William  Hunt." 


Joseph  G.  Ryman. 
"Filed  April  6,  1829." 

This  division  left  the  following  named  taxables  in  Dallas 
township,  viz  :  Fayette  Allen,  Elijah  Ayres,  Eleanor  Bald- 
win, Burr  Baldwin,  Watson  Baldwin,  William  Briggs,  Wil- 
liam Bradford,  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Stephen  Brace,  Edwin 
Church,  Benjamin  Chandler,  Almon  Church,  Peter  Conner, 
Aaron  Duffee,  David  Donley,  Garret  Derling,  Alexander 
Ferguson,  Sylvanus  Fuller,  Anthony  Foss,  Jacob  Gould, 
Richard  Honeywell,  William  Honeywell,  Sr.,  William 
Honeywell,  2d,  Thomas  Honeywell,  Abram  S.  Honeywell, 
Joseph  Honeywell,  Jacob  Honeywell,  Nathan  S.  Honeywell, 
Charles  C.  Honeywell,  Richard  Honeywell,  Jr.,  Isaac  Honey- 
well, Samuel  Honeywell,  William  Hunt,  *Matthias  Hollen- 
back,  Jonathan  Husted,  Adam  Hoover,  Thomas  Irwin, 
Philip  Kunkle,  Henry  H.  King,  Henry  Keizer,  Jr.,  Griffin 
Lewis,  Ira  Manvill,  Jonah  McLellon,  Jacob  Maxwell,  Jared 
R.  Baldwin,  John  Simpson,  Sr.,  Edward  McCarty,  John 
Miller,   Peggy  Montanye   (widow),    Ephraim    Moss,  Jacob 

*  Non-resident. 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  69 

Nulton,  *James  Nesbitt,  2d,  Michael  Neeley,  John  Orr, 
Oliver  Pettibone,  Andrew  Puterbaugh,  Peter  B.  Roushey, 
Mary  Robbins,  James  Ross,  Lawrence  Ross,  Christian  Rice, 
Jacob  Rice,  Peter  Ryman,  Joseph  S.  Ryman,  Deming  Spen- 
cer, Simeon  Spencer,  Miles  Spencer,  Thomas  Swayze,  James 
Shaver,  John  P.  Shaver,  heirs  of  Philip  Shaver,  Sarah  See- 
ley,  William  Shaver,  Simon  P.  Sites,  James  Stewart,  Chris- 
topher Shaver,  Peter  Seaman,  James  Somers,  Peter  Shaver, 
2d,  George  Shaver,  Frances  Southworth,  heirs  of  Joseph 
Shonk,  John  Simpson,  Sr.,  John  Simpson,  Jr.,  heirs  of  Jo- 
seph Shotwell,  David  Stewart,  Thomas  Tuttle,  Abram  Van- 
scoy,  Ebenezer  Winters,  Daniel  Woodward,  Jacob  Wilcox, 
John  Worden,  Samuel  Worden,  Abram  Worden,  *Calvin 
Wadhams,  Marvin  Wheeler,  Daniel  Higgins,  John  Wort, 
Jr.,  John  Wilson,  James  Williamson,  Jonathan  Williams, 
Simon  Anderson,  Lawrence  Beam.     Total,  104. 

The  following  named  taxables  were  transferred  to  Leh- 
man township,  viz  :  Abed  Baldwin,  Amza  B.  Baldwin,  Amos 
Baldwin,  David  Bannister,  David  Beam,  Jeremiah  Brown, 
Clinton  Brown,  Joshua  Derling,  Stephen  Fuller,  Annis  Ful- 
ler, Jeremiah  Fuller,  Isaac  Fuller,  William  Fuller,  Joseph 
E.  Haf{, postmas fe7^,Wi\\iam  Harris,  Joseph  Hoover, Thomas 
Hoover,  Daniel  Higgins,  Lewis  Higgins,  Elijah  Ide,  Ezra 
Ide,  Stephen  Ide,  William  Ide,  Ephraim  King,  Jonathan  O. 
Moseley,  *Garrick  Mallery  (purchaser  of  J.  I.  Borgardus 
interest),  Egbert  B.  Mott,  James  Mott,  Barton  Mott,  Thomas 
Major,  Sr.,  Thomas  Major,  Jr.,  *John  Major,  Oliver  McKeel, 
Asaph  A.  Pratt,  Jonathan  Rogers,  Simeon  F.  Rogers,  Wil- 
liam Sites,  Cornelius  Sites,  John  Vanlone,  Joseph  L.  Worth- 
ington,  Jonathan  Worthington,  Elijah  Worthington,  Squire 
Wedge,  John  Whiteman,  Daniel  Whiteman,  Benjamin  F. 
Westley.     Total  5  i. 

1 829-1 830.  This  year  William  Hunt's  land  is  transfer- 
red to  William  Thomas  of  Wilkes-Barre,  and  Hunt  moves 

*  Non-resident. 


70  DALLAS  TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

away.  John  Orr  conveys  thirty  acres  of  unimproved  land 
to  WilHam  A.  Kirkendall,  and  fifty  acres  to  Henry  Keizer. 
Christian  Rice  buys  back,  from  the  estate  of  Joseph  Shonk, 
deceased,  the  one-fourth  interest  in  saw-mill  and  log  house 
which  he  conveyed  to  Shonk  a  few  years  prior.  Joseph  S. 
Ryman  buys  three  acres  from  heirs  of  Joseph  Shonk  in  vil- 
lage of  McLellonsville  ;  also  three  acres  from  Jonah  McLel- 
lon  in  same  place.  James  Shaver,  William  Shaver,  Peter 
Shaver,  George  Shaver  and  Asa  W.  Shaver,  buy  their  farms 
from  estate  of  Philip  Shaver,  deceased. 

1 830-1 83 1.  Simon  Anderson  acquires  sixty-eight  acres 
of  land  from  James  Nesbitt,  Jr.,  being  part  of  certified  lot 
No.  —  in  Bedford  township.  Anthony  Foss  buys  three 
acres  of  Jonah  McLellon  near  village.  McLellon  also  sells 
one  acre  near  village  to  Richard  Honeywell.  Real  estate 
very  active  and  many  transfers  made. 

At  January  Sessions,  1 83 1 ,  the  petition  of  Josiah  W.  New- 
bery  and  others  was  filed  praying  for  viewers  to  be  appointed 
to  view  and  inquire  into  the  propriety  of  making  a  new  town- 
ship laid  off  from  the  back  part  of  Northmoreland  and  Dallas, 
and  out  of  others  of  the  certified  townships.  Court  appoint 
Elias  Hoyt,  Doctor  John  Smith  and  Harris  Jenkins,  viewers. 

At  August  Sessions,  1831,  the  viewers  reported  in  favor 
of  the  township,  as  follows:  "Beginning  at  southwest  cor- 
ner of  certified  township  of  Northmoreland,  and  running 
thence  on  line  of  John  Nicholson,  north  10  degrees  west,  to 
corner  of  Robert  Morris  ;  thence  on  the  line  of  Robert  Mor- 
ris north,  18  degrees  west,  234  perches  to  a  white  oak; 
thence  southeast  corner  of  tract  in  the  warrantee  name  of 
Thomas  Poulton ;  thence  north  on  line  of  said  Poulton  and 
others  to  the  line  of  Eaton  township ;  thence  on  line  of 
Eaton  township  west  to  Marsh  creek  ;  thence  down  Marsh 
creek  to  its  intersection  with  Bowman's  creek  ;  thence  on 
line  running  nearly  west  to  the  northeast  corner  of  a  tract 
of  land  surveyed  to  John  Pennington  ;  thence  on  the  line  of 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  /I 

John  Pennington  and  others  west  until  it  intersects  the  line 
of  Windham  township ;  thence  on  the  Windham  line  until 
it  intersects  the  line  of  Lehman  township ;  thence  south  to 
the  main  branch  of  Bowman's  creek ;  thence  east  on  the 
line  between  the  tracts  in  the  name  of  Aaron  Bailey  and 
Uriah  Bailey  to  the  southeast  corner  of  a  tract  of  land  sur- 
veyed to  Daniel  Mount ;  thence  to  northeast  corner  of  John 
Merrideth ;  thence  on  line  of  John  Merrideth  and  Jesse 
Fell  south,  75  degrees  east,  314  perches  to  a  chestnut  on 
Harvey's  Lake,  near  the  west  corner  thereof  at  the  mouth 
of  a  little  run  ;  thence  in  a  northeasterly  direction  to  a  beach 
the  northwest  corner  of  a  tract  of  land  surveyed  to  William 
Wyllis  and  on  the  line  of  Dallas  township ;  thence  on  the 
line  of  Dallas  south,  70  degrees  east,  372  perches  to  the 
beginning." 

At  January  Sessions,  1832,  this  report  was  confirmed  ab- 
solutely by  the  name  of  Monroe  township. 

1 831-1832.  Warren  A.  Barney  buys  200  acres  of  tract 
in  warrantee  name  of  John  Olden.  John  Snyder  buys  1 18 
acres  of  Eleanor  and  Lewis  Baldwin.  Christopher  Snyder 
buys  fourteen  acres  of  land,  one  house  and  two  outhouses 
of  Sylvanus  Fuller,  who  sells  other  of  his  lands  soon  after 
to  William  Snyder  and  moves  West.  On  this  land  Christo- 
pher Snyder  built  and  started  a  distillery  a  few  years  later. 
Under  the  new  assessment  law  the  assessors  of  Dallas  town- 
ship made  following  report  for  year  1832,  viz: 

"A  true  list  of  notes  and  bonds  made  taxable  for  use  of 
Commonwealth : 
"Enos  Frisky  &  Co.,  two  hundred  and  sixty-one 

dollars  in  notes, ^20i.00 

"Charles  C.  Honeywell,  sixty  dollars  in  notes,  .  .  60.OO 
"Adam  Shaver,  eighty-five  dollars  in  notes,  .  .  .  85.00 
"William  Honeywell,  Sr.,  forty-five  dollars  in  notes,  45.OO 
"Samuel  and  Isaac  Honeywell,  fifty  dollars  in  notes,  50.00 
"Bank  and  Turnpike  Stock,  none. 
"Taverns,  none. 
"Poor  Children,  none." 


72  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

1 832-1 833.  Sanford  Moore  buys  all  the  real  estate  of 
John  Wort,  Sr.,  within  township  of  Dallas,  seventy-two 
acres.  Many  other  transfers  of  real  estate.  Joseph  Ryman 
is  assessed  as  postmaster.  This  post-office  was  at  his  house, 
which  stood  where  the  old  Orr  tavern  stood,  now  where 
the  Odd  Fellows  hall  stands.  This  was  the  first  post-office 
within  the  limits  of  the  present  territory  of  Dallas  township. 

1 833-1 834.  Joseph  Anderson  buys  194  acres  of  land,  part 
of  tract  in  warrantee  name  of  Amos  Wickersham.  William 
Algerson  buys  sixty-five  acres  ;  Joseph  Hoover  buys  thirty- 
seven  acres  ;  Felix  Hoover  buys  fifty  acres,  all  of  same  tract. 
Thomas  Irwin  buys  eighty-two  acres  from  the  Joseph  San- 
som  tract.  Charles  Moore  buys  130  acres,  and  Jacob  Nul- 
ton  buys  eighty-six  acres  of  same  tract.  The  latter  also 
buys  forty  acres,  part  of  tract  in  warrantee  name  of  John 
Olden,  Francis  Southworth  buys  seventeen  acres  from 
Sansom  tract,  and  fifty  acres  from  the  John  Olden  tract. 
Jacob  Wilcox  buys  twenty-nine  acres  from  the  John  Olden 
tract.  Jacob  Ryman  appears,  for  the  first  time,  as  a  single 
freeman,  and  seats  100  acres  of  tract  in  warrantee  name  of 
Josiah  Lusby.  Ransom  Demund  seats  eighty  acres  of  tract 
in  warrantee  name  of  Alexander  Emsbry.  Francis  P.  South- 
worth  buys  sixty-eight  acres  of  Alexander  Emsbry  tract. 

1 834-1 835.  William  C.  Roushey  appears,  for  first  time, 
as  a  taxable.  Philip  Kunkle  and  James  Shaver  elected 
school  directors,  they  being  the  first  to  be  elected  under  the 
new  school  law  providing  for  the  establishment  of  common 
or  public  schools,  which  have  continued  to  this  day. 

Dallas  township  continues  to  fill  up  very  rapidly,  and  the 
unseated  lands  are  taken  up  and  seated  so  rapidly  that  in 
the  year  1835,  the  long  list  embracing  hundreds  of  tracts  of 
unseated  land  at  time  of  organizing  the  new  township  in 
18 1 7,  was  reduced  to  the  following,  viz : 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 


n 


No.  of 

Acres.  Name  of  Warrantee. 

400 Simon  Dunn, 

430 Jacob  Dunn,  . 

438 .  Aaron  Dunn, 

400 Anthony  Dunn, 

354 James  Dunn,  . 

100 Jacob  Downing, 

258 Alex.  Emsbry, 

340 John  Eley  .    . 

50 Lawrence  Erb, 

442 George  Fell, 

440 Simon  Harman, 

338 Josiah  Lusby, 

316 Josiah  Lusby, 

85 Patrick  Moore, 

200 John  Olden,   . 

58 Joseph  Sansom, 

41  . Amos  Wickersham, 

417 Jos.  Wyllis,     , 

421 Wm.  Wyllis,  , 

200 Wm.  Sansom, 

60 Abiel  Abbott, 

186 Jos.  Shotwell  heirs, 

65  acres  and  6  perches,  Charles  F.  Wyllis, 
1 50  acres  and  5  perches,  John  App  (owner), 
240 Joseph  Mears,    .    . 


Assessed 
Value. 

^400.00 

430.00 

438.00 

400.00 

354.00 

100.00 

258.00 

340.00 

50.00 
442.00 
440.00 
338.00 
316.00 

85.00 
200.00 

58.00 

41.00 
417.00 
42  1 .00 
200.00 

60.00 
I  86.00 

65.50 

150.75 
240.00 


1835-1836.  John  Anderson  buys  fifty  acres  of  land  from 
Joseph  Anderson.  William  C.  Roushey  assessed  as  car- 
penter, and  buys  three  acres  and  one  house  of  Joseph  Ry- 
man.  Joseph  Ross,  carpenter,  buys  thirteen  acres  of  Thomas 
Irwin.  Jonas  Randall  settles  in  the  township  and  buys  fifty- 
one  acres  and  a  house  of  John  Wilson,  also  175  acres  of 
Leclere.(?)  William  Randall  appears,  for  first  time,  as  a 
"single  freeman."  Charles  Smith  and  William  A.  Barnes 
buy  seventy-five  acres  of  Sylvanus  Fuller.  Henry  Ander- 
son appears  as  a  "single  freeman"  for  first  time.  Daniel 
Spencer,  Jr.,  buys  fifty  acres  of  land  of  Joseph  Anderson. 

1 836-1 837.   Joseph  S.  Allen  buys  130  acres  of  land  with 


74  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

house  and  barn  from  Charles  Moore.  John  Anderson  buys 
fifty  and  Henry  Anderson  ninety-four  acres  of  land  from 
Joseph  Anderson.  Joseph  Castleline  buys  ninety-five  acres 
from  Alfred  D.  Woodward.  William  Honeywell,  2d,  buys 
thirty  acres  of  Simon  Anderson.  Richard  Honeywell  buys 
one  acre  of  Joseph  Ryman.  C.  Butler  buys  264  acres  from 
G.  M.  Hollenback  and  Joseph  Ryman  (part  of  lots  i  and  2 
certified  Bedford).  A.  Thomas  buys  100  acres  at  sheriff's 
sale  of  H.  P.  Hopkins  and  George  Shaver  (part  of  lot  5)  (?). 
Thomas  Sweazy  buys  fifty-one  acres  of  Joseph  Hoover. 
Joseph  Hoover  buys  twenty-nine  acres  of  Philip  Hoover. 
Joseph  Reiley  buys  five  acres  of  Jonathan  Husted.  C. 
Kunkle  buys  twenty-five  acres  of  Felix  Hoover.  Henry 
King  buys  thirteen  acres  and  one  house  of  Ephraim  Moss, 
also  twenty-two  acres  of  Jacob  Rice  (part  of  present  Rob- 
ert Norton  farm,  now  John  Reynolds  plot  of  lots).  Jacob 
Gould  buys  165  acres  of  Nicholas  Keizer.  Rev.  Griffin 
Lewis  dies. 

Christopher  Snyder  buys  118  acres,  house  and  barn  of 
J.  Fisher.  J.  Fisher  buys  twelve  acres,  house  and  barn  of 
William  Snyder.  A.  S.  Honeywell  buys  lot  of  land  of  T. 
Tuttle  and  Peter  Seaman.  Daniel  Spencer  buys  fifty  acres 
of  Joseph  Anderson. 

1 837-1 838.  Solomon  Frantz  is  assessed  as  cabinetmaker. 
Jacob  Miers  takes  out  a  tavern  license  and  starts  a  hotel  on 
southeast  corner  at  cross-roads  near  the  "Goss"  or  "Corner 
School  House,"  about  one-half  mile  north  of  McLellons- 
ville  on  road  to  Kunkle  post-office.  Excepting  the  license 
granted  to  Peter  B.  Roushey  in  1823,  before  referred  to, 
this  was  the  first  hotel  or  tavern  license  within  present  ter- 
ritory of  Dallas  township.  Jacob  Miers  kept  this  tavern 
for  about  two  years,  when  he  died  of  smallpox,  which  he 
caught  while  on  a  rafting  trip  down  the  Susquehanna  River 
in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  case  of  Levi  Hunt  before  re- 
ferred to.     Miers  was  buried  alone  a  few  miles  back  of  the 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  75 

spot  where  his  tavern  stood.  The  well  in  the  corner  of  the 
field  south  of  the  Corner  School  House  now  nearly  marks 
the  spot  where  the  Miers  hotel  stood.  The  level  ground  at 
that  point  made  it  a  favorite  spot  for  the  Dallas  millitary 
company  to  meet  and  drill  on  training  days.  The  last  train- 
ing there  was  the  day  when  the  first  of  what  proved  in  a 
few  days  to  be  Miers'  fatal  illness  began  to  appear.  Miers 
was  up  and  about  that  day,  but  was  feeling  very  ill.  A 
week  later  he  was  dead.  On  that  day,  as  on  previous  oc- 
casions, there  was  a  great  deal  of  drinking  and  fighting  after 
the  training  was  over.  These  fights  grew  more  from  an  ex- 
huberance  of  masculine  strength  and  physical  good  feeling, 
accompanied  by  a  desire  to  see  who  was  the  "best  man," 
than  from  any  anger  or  bad  blood,  though  what  was  begun 
in  sport  often  ended  in  angry  and  brutal  affrays. 

Among  the  trades  which  appeared  this  year  on  the  as- 
sessment books  are  Abram  Huey,  cooper;  Nathan  Mon- 
tanye,  blacksmith ;  Joseph  Orr,  carpenter  (moved  in  this 
year);  Edward  O'Mealey,  cooper;  William  Shaver,  carpen- 
ter; Peter  Shaver,  2d,  carpenter;  Peter  Seaman,  shoemaker; 
Joseph  Castiline,  blacksmith  ;  Abram  Huey,  Jr.,  cooper.' 

1 838-1 839.  Jacob  Frantz  buys  sixty  acres  of  land  from 
Thomas  Irwin.  David  Fulmer  buys  100  acres  from  Griffith 
Lewis  heirs  (Eypher  farm)  (?).  P.  N.  Foster  buys  sixty 
acres,  house  and  barn  from  Almon  Church ;  Thomas  Irwin 
buys  fifty-seven  acres  of  William  Hoover.  William  Hoover 
buys  fifty  acres  of  the  William  Sansom  tract.  Jacob  Rice,  2d, 
appears  for  the  first  time  as  a  taxable,  and  buys  thirty-seven 
acres  from  Abram  King.  William  A.  Kirkendall  buys  sixty 
acres  of  Abram  Thomas.  Philip  Kunkle  sells  112  acres  to 
Conrad  Kunkle.  Peter  Ryman  dies.  Abram  Ryman  attains 
his  majority,  and  buys  twenty-five  acres  from  Abram  Thom- 
as. Jacob  Ryman  conveys  his  land  to  Nathaniel  S.  Honey- 
well and  moves  west.  Thomas  Sweazy  sells  out  to  William 
Coolbaugh  and  moves  to  Wilkes-Barre. 


76  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

1839-1840.  Wesley  Kunkle  appears  for  first  time  as- 
sessed as  single  freeman. 

1840-1841. 

1 84 1.  Thomas  Irwin  becomes  one  of  the  county  com- 
missioners. John  Fisher  appears  this  year  first  time  as 
"single  freeman."  Samuel  Honeywell  buys  twenty-five 
acres  of  Simon  Anderson.  Nathaniell  Honeywell  buys 
twenty-four  acres  of  Abram  Ryman.  Elijah  Harris  buys 
nine-four  acres  of  the  James  Wyllis  tract.  Henry  H.  King 
dies.  Philip  Kunkle  is  made  postmaster.  Wesley  Kunkle 
buys  eighty-three  acres  of  Chester  Butler.  William  W.  Kir- 
kendall  buys  same  amount  of  same. 

Miles  Orr  opens  his  tavern,  first  time  (1840),  in  village  of 
McLellonsville,  though  still  assessed,  1841,  as  carpenter. 
Abram  and  Richard  Ryman  buy  100  acres  of  heirs  of  Oliver 
Pettebone.  Concerning  this  purchase  I  will  quote  from  a 
letter  received  from  John  R.  Bartron,  an  old  resident  of  Dal- 
las, but  now  hving  in  Madison,  Indiana. 

"I  often  think  of  the  time  when  the  Ryman  boys  bought 
the  Pettebone  farm  (part  of  lot  where  present  Ryman  and 
Shaver  steam  saw-mill  stands)  of  100  acres  for  ;^iooo  before 
daylight.  Other  parties  were  after  it,  but  their  mother  pre- 
pared breakfast  soon  after  midnight  for  the  boys,  who  walked 
down  to  the  valley  (Kingston)  and  closed  the  sale.  On 
their  way  back  they  met  the  other  parties  going  to  buy  it. 
All  wanted  it  because  it  had  on  it  a  mill  seat  and  lots  of  pine, 
oak  and  hemlock  timber.  This  was  in  1841,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  their  lumber  trade.  Some  folks  said  the  boys 
were  'daring  and  would  break,'  but  all  worked  well  to  suc- 
cess." 

John  R.  Bartron  also  writes  me  some  interesting  remi- 
niscences of  the  early  days  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  Dal- 
las.    He  says : 

"  I  can  count  many  families  living  in  log  houses  with  a 
ladder  only  for  a  stairway  to  the  loft,  where  one  or  more 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  77 

beds  and  sometimes  house  plunder  and  grain  were  kept ; 
while  the  room  below — kitchen,  dining-room  and  parlor — 
where  the  wool  was  carded  into  rolls,  spun  and  sometimes 
woven  into  cloth,  prepared  for  the  puller,  to  be  made  into 
good  warm  winter  goods.  Here,  too,  flax  goods  for  sum- 
mer wear,  sheets,  towels,  etc.,  were  made.  It  was  a  busy 
place;  and  then,  sometimes  grandmother,  in  her  younger 
days,  had  carried  to  Wilkes-Barre  butter  and  eggs.  I  heard 
her  say  she  sold  her  butter  readily  to  a  tavern-keeper 
whose  name  was  Steel  for  three  cents  more  on  the  pound 
than  the  common  price.  I  have  been  told  that  she  cleared 
off  the  ground  where  the  old  Ferguson  house  stood  on  the 
day  before  a  son  was  born.  That  son  was  a  leader  in  de- 
bates at  the  old  log  school-house  debating  club,  involving 
questions  of  history  and  science.  Conrad  Kunkle  told  me 
that  he  debated  with  the  young  man.  This  boy's  father 
kept  books  in  his  house,  took  a  weekly  paper,  and  was  a 
kind  of  Socrates  in  the  home  circles  and  neighborhood. 
Pine  knots  were  plentiful  and  they  made  a  good  light." 

Wilham  Shaver  is  made  justice  of  peace  in  absence  of 
Thomas  Irwin.  John  King  and  Christian  Rice  are  assessed 
as  owners  of  watches,  and  the  latter  is  also  assessed  as  the 
owner  of  a  carriage.  This  is  the  first  instance  of  anyone 
being  found  in  Dallas  township  who  indulged  in  either  of 
those  luxuries.  I  am  told,  by  those  who  remember  the 
carriage,  that  it  created  a  great  sensation.  Young  and  old 
went  miles  to  see  it,  and  Jacob  Rice,  for  whose  use  it  was 
purchased,  was  the  envy  of  all  who  saw  it.  This  carriage,  I 
am  informed,  was  an  open  buggy,  and  was  taken  from  Wyo- 
ming to  Dallas  by  Miles  Orr,  when  he  moved  over  there, 
and  was  by  him  traded  to  Christian  Rice  in  exchange  for  a 
lot  of  land  in  the  village  of  McLellonsville,  which  is  now 
owned  by  Chester  White,  Dr.  Spencer,  and  estate  of  William 
Randall,  deceased. 

Peter  Stots  appears  and  is  assessed  as  "silversmith."    He 


7^  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

was  a  traveling  clock-tinker,  and  followed  this  till  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  within  a  few  years  past.  He  was 
afflicted  with  a  very  large  wen  in  the  neck  just  below  his 
chin.  His  voice  was  very  heavy,  and  he  spoke  with  dis- 
tinctness and  deliberation  that  was  quite  marked.  He  trav- 
eled all  over  the  country  on  foot,  and  always  carried  his 
clock  tinkering  tools  with  him  in  a  little  bag.  He  was  lia- 
ble to  drop  in  at  any  time  to  see  if  anything  needed  atten- 
tion about  the  clock.  His  charges  were  little  or  nothing, 
but  he  expected  to  be  invited  to  the  table  wherever  he 
might  be  at  meal  time,  and  usually  was  so  invited.  Thus 
he  made  a  living. 

1 841-1842.  In  1842  William  C.  Roushey  was  assessor, 
and  makes  one  or  two  characteristic  records,  Joseph  Orr 
he  returns  as  "carpenter,  .j^jo,  and  wants  to  keep  tavern." 
Henry  Overton,  constable,  ;^50.  Abram  and  Richard  Ry- 
man  build  mill  on  land  lately  purchased  of  Pettebone  heirs 
(where  present  steam  mill  below  Dallas  village  now  stands). 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  lumbering  business  with  both. 
Jacob  Rice  also  begins  lumbering  on  his  father's  mill  in  the 
village  of  McLellonsville. 

The  new  county  of  Wyoming  is  set  off  from  Luzerne  by 
Act  of  Assembly  passed  April  4th,  1842,  but  not  to  take 
effect  until  May  ist,  1843,  except  so  far  as  to  enable  the 
county  commissioners  to  erect  new  buildings  and  to  com- 
plete the  survey  by  the  courses  and  distances  named  in  the 
Act. 

1842-1843.  Thomas  Irwin  resumes  the  office  of  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  which  he  held  continuously  thereafter  for  many 
years.  No  better  evidence  of  his  fitness  for  the  position  can 
be  asked  than  this  fact  that,  like  Captain  Jacob  I.  Bogardus, 
before  spoken  of,  he  was  so  long  and  so  continuously  re- 
tained in  it.  Miles  Orr  continues  to  be  inn-keeper  at  Mc- 
Lellonsville.  Ebenezer  Parrish  and  A.  C.  Cowles  assessed 
as   "mill    rights."     Isaac  Hughey,   "shingle-maker."     Mr. 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  79 

Hughey  afterwards  became  quite  famous  as  a  shingle-maker. 
Whenever  any  extra  nice  or  extra  good  shingles  were 
wanted  in  Wilkes-Barre  during  his  day,  Isaac's  shingles 
were  quite  sure  to  be  sought ;  and,  if  found,  were  equally 
sure  to  be  satisfactory.  He  was  proud  of  the  reputation  he 
had  made  in  this  respect,  but  he  was  poor  and  never  could 
pay  an  old  debt,  either  at  a  store  or  for  rent.  He  moved 
annually  or  oftener,  and  lived  wherever  he  could  find  an 
empty  hovel  that  would  hold  him.  For  his  last  wife  he 
married  a  Miss  Moss,  and  the  favorite  joke  with  him  was 
that  he  was  a  living  refutation  of  the  old  adage,  ''A  rolling 
stone  will  gather  no  moss!' 

Franklin  township  is  this  year  (1843)  set  off  from  parts 
of  Kingston,  Exeter  and  Dallas  townships. 

This  was  the  last  pruning,  except  small  corner  from  west- 
erly end  of  Lake  township,  that  Dallas  township,  as  origin- 
ally laid  out  and  formed,  was  obliged  to  suffer.  This  leaves 
Dallas  township  with  the  same  shape  and  size  that  it  now  has, 
and  I  give  the  list  of  taxables  in  Dallas  township  for  the 
year  1844,  the  first  complete  list  after  Wyoming  county  and 
Franklin  township  had  been  cut  off  of,  viz  :  Fayette  Al- 
len, farmer;  James  Anderson,  shoemaker;  Henry  Ander- 
son, farmer;  Joseph  Anderson,  farmer;  Elijah  Ayres,  farmer, 
and  has  money  at  interest;  Alexander  Albron,  laborer; 
Harris  Brown,  laborer,  single;  Joseph  Blasier,  farmer;  Miles 
Burbeck,  farmer,  "money  at  use"  ;  Abed  Baldwin,  farmer ; 
Daniel  Brown,  farmer ;  Lawrence  Beam  ;  Jacob  W.  Bishop, 
sawyer,  single;  Henry  Boon,  laborer;  William  C.  Brace, 
farmer ;  Stephen  Brace,  farmer ;  William  Croop,  farmer ; 
Charles  Cairl,  laborer;  George  Cairl,  sawyer;  Palmer  Carey, 
wheelwright;  Garret  Durland,  farmer;  Henry  S.  Low, 
farmer;  James  Durland,  carpenter;  Martin  Davis,  laborer; 
Ransom  Demond,  farmer ;  David  Donley,  weaver ;  Charles 
Deremer,  laborer,  single;  Samuel  Elston,  farmer ;  Solomon 
Frantz,  farmer ;  Jacob  Frantz,  farmer,  half  saw-mill ;  David 


80  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Weston,  half  saw-mill  (this  was  the  Weston  saw- mill  before 
referred  to) ;  David  Frantz,  farmer  ;  David  Fulmer,  farmer ; 
Charles  Ferguson,  laborer,  single;  Anthony  Foss,  farmer; 
Alexander  Ferguson,  farmer;  Jacob  Fisher,  farmer,  John 
Fisher,  laborer  ;  Joseph  Fleet,  laborer  ;  Almon  Goss,  farmer, 
"money  at  use";  Samuel  Gould,  farmer;  David  Gibbs, 
farmer;  William  H.  Goble,  carpenter;  Samuel  Honeywell, 
farmer;  Abram  Hughey,  cooper;  N.  S.  Honeywell,  farmer, 
"money  at  use"  ;  Thomas  Honeywell,  laborer ;  Daniel  D. 
Honeywell,  farmer,  single;  Elijah  Harris,  laborer,  saw-mill 
(first  time  for  saw-mill) ;  David  Holcomb,  farmer ;  Joseph 
Hoover,  shoemaker;  William  Honeywell,  farmer;  A.  S. 
Honeywell,  2d,  shoemaker,  single;  Joseph  Honeywell,  farm- 
er ;  Thomas  Hoover,  laborer;  Philip  Hoover,  laborer;  C.  C. 
Honeywell,  farmer;  James  Huston,  farmer;  Charles  Huston, 
farmer,  single  ;  William  C.  Hagerman,  tailor  ;  Richard  Hon- 
eywell, farmer  ;  Isaac  Honeywell,  farmer;  Levi  Hoyt, farmer, 
saw-mill ;  Isaac  Hervey, laborer, shingle  maker;  Abram  Hoo- 
ver, laborer;  A.  S.  Honeywell,  farmer;  Jonathan  Husted, 
farmer;  John  J.  King,  farmer;  Wesley  Kunkle  and  William 
Salmon,  saw-mill;  John  H.  Low,  laborer;  Peter  Lewis, 
laborer ;  James  M.  Lord,  carpenter ;  George  C.  Lord,  farm- 
er;  Michael  Lee,  farmer  ;  William  Montanye,  farmer  ;  Owen 
Martin,  mason  ;  Isaac  Montanye,  farmer,  single ;  Margaret 
Montanye,  widow  ;  Charles  Montanye,  farmer,  single  ;  San- 
ford  Moore,  farmer;  Joseph  Matthews,  laborer;  Ruben 
MuUison,  farmer;  William  Mullison,  farmer;  Isaac  Nulton, 
farmer ;  Stephen  Northrup,  shoemaker ;  Zachariah  Neeley, 
farmer,  tanner;  Thomas  Henry  Nutt,  doctor  (first  doctor); 
Henry  Overton,  farmer ;  Leonard  Oakley,  laborer ;  William 
Perrigo,  laborer ;  George  Puterbaugh,  laborer ;  Andrew 
Puterbaugh,  laborer ;  Peter  B.  Roushey,  tailor ;  Jonathan 
Rogers,  laborer ;  Abram  Ryman,  farmer ;  Jacob  Rice,  2d, 
farmer,  saw  mill ;  Christian  Rice,  farmer ;  Enoch  Reiley, 
laborer;  Stephen  Reiley,  laborer,  single ;  Richard  Ryman, 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  8 1 

sawyer,  saw  mill,  single ;  William  Reiley,  laborer ;  William 
C.  Roushey,  farmer;  Deming  Spencer,  farmer,  "money  at 
use"  ;  Erastus  Shaver,  laborer,  single  ;  Israel  Stewart,  labor- 
er; John  Sigler,  farmer;  Nathaniel  Schooley,  laborer;  Daniel 
Spencer,  farmer;  William  Shaver,  justice  of  the  peace, 
"money  at  use"  ;  William  Shniven,  laborer ;  John  P.  Shaver, 
laborer ;  Joseph  Shaver,  farmer  ;  Peter  Shaver,  carpenter ; 
Charles  Shaver,  carpenter,  single ;  Asa  W.  Shaver,  farmer ; 
James  Simmers,  laborer ;  Peter  Stetler,  farmer ;  Simeon 
Spencer,  farmer ;  Miles  Spencer,  farmer ;  William  Snyder, 
farmer ;  Manning  Snyder,  farmer,  carpenter ;  John  Snyder, 
farmer,  saw  mill ;  Christopher  Snyder,  farmer ;  William 
Smith,  blacksmith ;  John  Smith,  laborer ;  Simon  P.  Sites, 
laborer;  Thomas  Tuttle,  farmer;  Chance  Terry,  laborer; 
John  Thorn,  Jr.,  laborer,  single  man  ;  George  Thorn,  labor- 
er; John  Urtz,  mason;  Jesse  Vausteemburgh,  carpenter; 
Elisha  H.  Venning,  farmer;  Charles  Vanwinkle,  shoemaker; 
John  Waldon,  shoemaker  ;  Heirs  of  John  Wilson,  deceased; 
William  Wilson,  farmer;  Peter  Wilson,  laborer;  John  Wea- 
ver, mason ;  David  Westover,  laborer ;  Levi  Wheeler,  la- 
borer; Joseph  Wright,  laborer;  John  Wright,  laborer,  sin- 
gle :  George  Wright,  laborer,  single ;  Edward  Williams, 
cooper :  Joseph  Wordon,  farmer,  single ;  John  Wordon, 
farmer;  Samuel  Worden,  farmer;  Abram  Worden,  farmer ; 
David  Weaver,  laborer,  single ;  Henry  Weaver,  mason  ;  Jo- 
seph Orr,  tavern  keeper  ;  Miles  C.  Orr,  ex-tavern  keeper ; 
Philip  Kunkle,  f  u'mer  ;  Phineas  N.  Foster,  farmer ;  Abram 
Vanscoy,  farmer ;  Orlando  T.  Hunt,  laborer,  single ;  Sam- 
uel Myers,  laborer,  single ;  Brasson  Willis,  shoemaker ; 
William  B.  Taylor,  Jesse  Fosbinder,  Hitchcock  and  Church, 
Joseph  Boon.     Total  173. 

1844-1845.  Isaac  Whipple  appears  as  doctor  (second 
one),  and  Jonathan  Husted  gets  a  pleasure  carriage  (second 
one  in  township). 

1 845- 1 846.     William  W.  Kirkendall  dies.     Jesse  Kreid- 


82  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

ler  starts  blacksmith  shop  near  Goss  or  Corner  School 
House,  afterwards  continued  by  his  son,  Abe  Kreidler,  who 
was  accidentally  shot  by  William  C.  Smith  about  1856,  and 
killed. 

Joseph  Orr  justice  of  the  peace  this  year.  Elijah  Harris 
starts  the  first  lath  mill  in  Dallas  township  (near  present 
"Ryman's  Pond"),  Abram  Ryman  gets  a  pleasure  carriage 
(the  third  one  in  the  township).  John  Rainow  moves  on 
John  Honeywell  farm  (lot  four  in  certified  Bedford,  where 
John  Welch  now  lives).  Christopher  Eypher,  wheelwright, 
moves  into  township. 

1 846-1 847.  George  Cairl  starts  a  tannery  at  Green  woods 
near  Kunkle.  Anthony  Peche,  laborer,  moves  into  town- 
ship, 

1 847-1 848.  John  Bulford  starts  his  blacksmith  shop  in 
village  of  McClellonsville.  Miner  Fuller  builds  saw  mill  on 
Toby's  Creek  one-half  mile  above  Jude  Baldwin's  mill,  near 
Lehman  township  line.  Almon  Goss  made  postmaster. 
Henry  Hancock  and  Joseph  Shaver,  as  Hancock  &  Co.,  go 
into  lumber  business  at  Jude  Baldwin  mill. 

1 848- 1 849.  A.  L.  Warring  starts  a  hotel  or  tavern, 
which  continues  but  a  short  time. 

1849-1850.  Jacob  Rice  appears  first  time  as  merchant. 
Albert  L.  Warring,  tavern  keeper.  John  Thorn  makes  ap- 
plication for  hotel  license. 

LIST    OF    UNSEATED    LANDS,    185O. 
No.  of  acres.  Warrantee  name  of  owners. 

66 Abiel  Abbott. 

100       ......  Nancy  Diley. 

719 Simon,  Jacob,  Aaron  and  James  Dunn. 

250 Anthony  Dunn. 

85 Patrick  Moore. 

125 John  Opp,  owner. 

186 Heirs  of  Joseph  Shotwell. 

90 Heirs  of  T.  B.  Worthington. 

50 Chester  Butler. 

50 Lawrence  Erb. 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  83 

STORES,    FOOD,    CLOTHING,    ETC. 

After  the  abandonment  and  removal  of  the  rolHng  mill 
from  South  Wilkes-Barre,  about  the  year  1844,  the  firm  of 
Stetler  &  Slyker,  which  had  been  keeping  a  general  mer- 
chandise store  there,  stopped  business  and  removed  their 
remaining  stock  of  goods  out  to  McLellonsville.  Stephen 
Slyker,  one  of  the  partners,  who  is  still  living  (1886),  at 
South  Wilkes-Barre,  went  out  with  the  goods  to  close  them 
out.  There  was  then  a  wagonmaker's  shop  owned  by  one 
Jerome  B.  Blakeslee,  standing  on  the  southeastern  bank  of 
Toby's  Creek,  where  the  present  store  of  Ira  D.  Shaver,  in 
Dallas  borough,  now  stands.  Slyker  secured  this  shop,  put 
in  shelves  and  a  counter,  and  otherwise  fitted  it  for  use  as  a 
store,  and  moved  in  with  his  stock  of  goods.  This  was  the 
first  store  started  within  the  present  territory  of  Dallas 
township.  Before  this  time,  about  the  year,  1840,  Almon 
Goss  kept  a  few  goods  at  his  house  near  the  Goss  or  Corner 
School  House,  just  north  of  McLellonsville,  from  which  he 
supplied  his  men  and  others  who  wanted  to  buy ;  but  the 
Slyker  store  was  the  first  real  store  in  a  separate  building 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  business. 

My  father,  Abram  Ryman,  also  for  many  years  kept  a 
few  goods  in  his  house  at  the  homestead  farm,  between 
Dallas  and  Huntsville,  to  accommodate  his  employees  and 
others  who  wished  to  buy.  He  also  began  along  in  the 
forties.  He  went  once  or  twice  a  year  to  Philadelphia,  and 
bought  a  few  staple  articles.  Some  dry  goods  of  the  com- 
monest and  most  substantial  kind  were  kept  in  the  "spare 
room"  laid  out  on  a  board,  which  rested  on  two  or  three 
chairs.  Molasses,  pork  and  damp  goods  of  that  class  were 
kept  in  the  cellar.  Sugar,  tea,  coffee  and  that  class  of  grocer- 
ies were  kept  up  stairs  over  the  kitchen  in  a  large  room  next 
to  the  roof  where  we  boys  and  sometimes  the  hired  men 
slept.     Many  times  were  we  wakened  after  going  to  bed  by 


84  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

my  father  coming  up  stairs  with  some  late  customer  to  weigh 
out  some  coffee  or  sugar  or  the  like.  His  counter  in  that 
room  was  a  large  table.  Just  over  the  table,  suspended 
from  a  rafter,  was  a  pair  of  balancing  scales.  Weights  were 
put  in  either  side,  and  the  article  to  be  weighed  was  put  in 
the  other  side.  My  father  kept  store  in  this  way  until 
about  the  year  1856,  when  he  erected  a  separate  building 
for  it  near  the  road.  After  ten  or  eleven  years  he  erected 
another  store  down  in  the  village  of  Dallas,  which  is  still 
in  use  by  the  firm  of  A.  Ryman  &  Sons. 

The  Slyker  store  did  not  remain  long  in  McLellonsville. 
About  1846  Samuel  Lynch,  Esq.,  now  of  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa., 
leased  the  Slyker  building,  and  started  a  branch  to  his 
Wilkes-Barre  store,  and  thus  conducted  business  there  for 
about  two  years. 

About  the  same  time  that  Lynch's  store  was  started  (Mr. 
Lynch  thinks  a  little  before)  Henry  Hancock  came  up  from 
Kingston  and  opened  a  store  in  the  front  part  of  the  house 
where  J.  J.  Bulford  now  lives  (ground  since  occupied  by 
Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  and  station).  Bulford  lived  in  the 
back  part  of  the  house  at  the  same  time.  Lynch  abandoned 
his  Dallas  store  soon  afterwards,  and  Hancock  moved  his 
store  to  Huntsville,  where  he  continued  in  business  until 
just  prior  to  the  war.  When  the  war  broke  out  his  sympa- 
thies were  with  the  South,  and,  not  wishing  to  shirk  any 
duty  toward  the  Southern  cause,  he  went  South  and  joined 
the  Confederate  army.  He  was  afterwards  taken  prisoner, 
and  died  during  his  confinement  in  one  of  the  Western 
prisons. 

About  the  year  1848  Jacob  Rice,  2d,  of  Dallas,  and  Dr. 
James  A.  Lewis,  of  Trucksville,  formed  a  copartnership  un- 
der the  firm  name  of  Rice  &  Lewis,  and  continued  business 
in  the  Slyker  building  (which  Mr.  Rice  had  in  the  mean- 
time purchased)  as  successors  to  Mr.  Lynch.  Dr.  Lewis 
left  the  firm  in   1841,  and  the  firm  of  Rice  &  Kirkcndall 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  85 

soon  followed,  with  George  W.  Kirkendall,  deceased,  late 
of  Wilkes-Barre,  as  the  junior  partner.  The  successions  in 
that  store  since  then  have  been  Rice  &  Sons,  John  J.  Whit- 
ney, Whitney  &  Shaver,  Brown  &  Henry,  Smith  &  Garre- 
han,  Garrehan  &  Son,  and  now  Ira  D.  Shaver.  The  old  store 
building  burned  down  about  1861,  while  occupied  by  Brown 
&  Henry,  but  was  immediately  rebuilt  by  Whitney  &  Shaver. 

Another  store  was  started  at  McLellonsville  quite  early 
in  the  fifties  by  Charles  Smith,  now  of  Trucksville,  in  a 
store  building  which  until  quite  recently  stood  on  the  ground 
now  occupied  by  Dr.  C.  A.  Spencer's  residence.  Still  an- 
other store  was  started  there  about  the  same  time  as  the 
Smith  store,  on  the  corner  where  now  stands  the  residence 
of  Chester  White.  It  was  more  of  a  "fluid"  grocery  store 
where  oysters,  cider  and  even  stronger  drinks  could  be  had. 
The  Smith  store  building  was  used  for  like  purposes  after 
Smith  went  away. 

The  best  of  these  first  stores  in  Dallas  would  hardly  be 
dignified  by  that  name  now.  Only  a  few  necessaries  were 
kept  in  any  of  them,  and  "necessaries"  then  had  a  much 
scantier  meaning  than  now.  A  few  of  the  commonest  and 
cheapest  cotton  cloths  were  kept  in  stock  ;  the  woolen  goods 
used  for  winter  wear,  for  both  men  and  women,  were  all 
homespun.  It  took  many  years  for  the  storekeepers  to  con- 
vince the  farmers  that  they  could  buy  heavy  clothes  of  part 
wool  and  part  cotton  that  would  be  as  durable  and  cheaper 
than  the  all  wool  homespun.  The  time  spent  on  the  latter 
was  counted  as  nothing,  and  the  argument  failed.  A  few 
other  goods  of  kinds  in  daily  use,  such  as  coffee,  tea,  sugar, 
molasses,  tobacco,  powder,  shot  and  flints  and  rum  were  of 
course  necessary  to  any  complete  store.  Hunting  materials 
and  supplies  were  in  great  demand.  A  hunter's  outfit  at 
that  time  was  proverbially  "a  quarter  of  powder,  a  pound  of 
shot,  a  pint  of  rum  and  a  flint."  Tobacco  was  always  in 
demand.     The  flint  was  the  box  of  matches  of  that  day. 


86  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Before  the  invention  of  the  lucifer  match,  the  matter  of  keep- 
ing fire  in  a  house,  especially  in  winter  time,  was  one  of  ex- 
treme importance,  in  that  sparsely  settled  country.  Every 
one  burned  wood  then,  about  there,  and  fire  was  kept  over 
night  by  covering  a  few  "live  coals"  with  ashes  in  the  fire- 
place. Sometimes  this  failed,  and  then,  if  no  flint  and  punk 
were  at  hand,  some  member  of  the  family  had  to  go  to  the 
nearest  neighbor,  probably  a  mile  or  more  away,  and  bring 
fire.  It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  their  sufferings  during 
the  winters  in  this  respect.  Had  food,  clothing  and  other 
things  been  plenty  and  good,  this  hardship  could  have  been 
better  endured ;  but  they  were  not,  and  worst  of  all,  there 
were  almost  no  means  of  procuring  theuL  There  was  an 
abundance  of  game  and  fish  for  a  time,  but  they  did  not 
satisfy  a  civilized  people.  Buckwheat  was  early  introduced 
in  Dallas,  and  was  afterwards  so  extensively  raised  there 
that  the  expression  "Buckwheat-Dallas"  was  frequently 
used  by  way  of  marking  this  fact  in  connection  with  the 
name.  It  is  a  summer  grain  and  quick  to  mature.  In 
ninety  days  from  the  day  when  the  crop  is  sowed  it  can  be 
grown,  matured,  gathered,  ground  and  served  on  the  table 
as  food,  or,  as  has  been  often  remarked,  just  in  time  to  meet 
a  three  months'  note  in  bank.  Another  practical  benefit 
from  raising  this  grain  was  that,  in  gathering  it,  a  large 
quantity  of  it  shook  off  and  was  scattered  over  the  fields. 
This  afforded  a  most  attractive  pigeon  food,  and  during  the 
fall  and  spring  seasons,  and  often  during  much  of  the  win- 
ter, pigeons  would  flock  in  countless  numbers  all  over  that 
country.  They  came  in  such  quantities  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  exaggerate  their  numbers.  When  a  boy  I  used 
to  see  flocks  that  extended  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
from  end  to  end,  and  these  long  strings  or  waves  of 
birds  would  pass  over  so  closely  following  each  other  that 
sometimes  two  or  three  flocks  could  be  seen  at  once,  and 
some  days  they  were  almost  constantly  flying  over,  and  the 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  8/ 

noise  of  their  wings  was  not  unlike  the  sound  of  a  high  wind 
blowing  through  a  pine  woods.  They  cast  a  shadow  as  they 
passed  over  almost  like  a  heavy  cloud.  Often  they  flew 
so  low  as  to  be  easily  reached  with  an  ordinary  shot  gun. 
The  skilled  way  of  capturing  them  in  large  quantities,  how- 
ever, was  with  a  net.  William,  or  Daddy  Emmons  was  a 
famous  pigeon  trapper  as  well  as  fisherman.  He  used  de- 
coy pigeons.  They  were  blind  pigeons  tied  to  the  ground 
at  some  desired  spot,  and  when  they  heard  the  noise  of 
large  flocks  flying  overhead,  they  would  flap  their  wings  as 
if  to  fly  away.  Attracted  by  this  the  flock  would  come 
down  and  settle  near  the  decoys,  where  plenty  of  buck- 
wheat was  always  to  be  found.  When  a  sufficient  number 
had  settled  and  collected  on  the  right  spot,  Mr.  Emmons, 
who  was  concealed  in  a  bush  or  bough  house  near  by, 
would  spring  his  net  over  them  quickly  and  fasten  them 
within.  After  properly  securing  the  net,  the  work  of  killing 
them  began.  It  was  done  in  an  instant  by  crushing  their 
heads  between  the  thumb  and  fingers.  Hundreds  were 
often  caught  and  killed  in  this  way  at  one  spring  of  the  net. 
Pigeons  were  so  plenty  that  some  hunters  cut  off"  and  saved 
the  breast  only,  and  threw  the  balance  away.  Pigeon  trap- 
ping in  Dallas  twenty-five  and  thirty  years  ago  was  almost 
if  not  quite  a  parallel  with  the  great  shad  fishing  days  in 
the  Susquehanna. 

On  the  morning  of  September  5th,  1887,  while  walking 
along  the  roadside  in  Dallas  borough,  "Daddy  Emmons" 
was  knocked  down  by  a  wagon  loaded  with  hay,  through 
some  carelessness  of  the  driver  coming  from  behind.  Daddy 
Emmons  was  pushed  off  the  lower  bank  of  the  roadside,  a 
broken  thigh  was  the  result,  and  he  died  from  the  shock  at 
the  house  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Davis,  in  Dallas  village, 
within  a  few  days,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years.  I  quote 
the  following  tribute  to  his  memory,  written  soon  after  his 
death,  by  Hon.  Caleb  E.  Wright,  formerly  of  the  Luzerne  bar  : 


88  dallas  township,  pa. 

Daddy  Emmons. 

"I  never  seethe  name  of  this  harmless  and  gentle  spirited  man,  or 
hear  it  pronounced,  but  with  reverential  emotion.  Many  years  have 
passed  since  it  was  first  my  pleasure  to  become  associated  with  him  in 
the  mystic  art  of  capturing  fish — an  occupation  that  everybody  knows 
is,  and  always  has  been,  with  all  men,  one  of  the  characteristics  of 
genius. 

"The  first  time  I  met  this  ancient  fisherman  was  at  Harvey's  Lake. 
There  he  had  his  summer  cabin,  invited  to  it  by  the  genial  warmth  that 
lured  also  the  osprey  and  the  kingfisher,  and  like  them  devoting  him- 
self to  the  one  occupation.  He  had  his  boat,  his  bait  net,  and  all  his 
tools  of  trade  at  hand ;  and  with  the  morning  dawn  was  up  and 
abroad  upon  the  waters. 

"At  our  first  interview  I  thought  I  discovered  his  merit;  and  then 
and  there  we  grew  into  bonds  of  affinity.  On  the  little  inland  sea  I 
was  constrained  to  acknowledge  his  superior  sleight  of  hand,  and  often 
wondered  where  such  matchless  skill  in  capturing  pickerel  and  catfish 
could  have  found  growth.  Rut  when  on  the  bold  stream  issuing 
from  the  density  of  the  Sullivan  county  woods,  armed  with  the  coach- 
man or  yellow-sally,  my  companion  laid  down  his  arms  at  my  feet. 
The  most  cautious  and  alert  of  untamed  things,  the  trout,  challenges 
a  prowess  not  thrust  promiscuously  upon  the  sons  of  men.  It  is  a 
special  gift. 

"With  every  yard  square  of  that  noble  sheet  of  water,  largest  of  Penn- 
sylvania lakes.  Daddy  Emmons  was  familiar.  The  places  where,  at 
different  times  of  the  day,  bait  shiners  could  be  scooped  up  with  his 
net,  and  at  what  spots,  at  different  hours,  lay  the  largest  of  the  fish  he 
sought. 

"A  man  may  be  good  on  water  without  much  knowledge  of  wood- 
craft. This  was  once  demonstrated  when  the  old  fisherman  under- 
took to  guide  George  Lear,  of  the  Bucks  county  bar,  and  myself  from 
the  north  shore  of  the  lake  to  Beaver  Run.  We  wished  to  reach  the 
run  at  the  foot  of  the  great  meadow.  It  was  once  a  meadow,  but  of 
late  years  an  inextricable  confusion  of  alders,  through  which  the  stream 
found  its  way,  a  mile  or  so  in  extent.  Instead  of  reaching  it  below 
the  jungle,  our  conductor  brought  us  in  above.  Our  Bucks  county 
friend  started  in  first.  A  short  distance  brought  him  to  the  alders. 
We  found  his  track,  where  he  had  penetrated  the  tangled  under- 
growth, but  that  was  all.  The  future  Attorney  General  of  the  Com- 
monwealth was  lost.  In  hunting  for  him,  having  wound  up  our  lines, 
we  got  lost  too.     I  don't  know  how  many  hours  we  wandered  in  the 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  89 

dismal  slough,  chiefly  in  circles,  but  Squire  Kocher,  hunting  his  cat- 
tle, found  and  rescued  us.  Mr.  Lear,  getting  out  upon  a  log  road, 
followed  it  to  the  lake,  and  a  lad  of  Judge  Barnum's  rowed  him  across 
to  the  hotel. 

"There  was  a  pleasing  simplicity  and  honest  candor  in  this  old  nav- 
igator of  the  lake  that  commended  him  to  the  regard  of  men  far  above 
him  in  social  rank.  Judge  Paxson  of  our  Supreme  Bench,  for  many 
years  a  summer  resident  of  the  celebrated  resort,  spent  his  days  in 
company  of  Daddy  Emmons.  Their  communion  was  a  pleasant  thing 
to  behold,  and  the  disdnguished  jurist,  in  common  with  many  others, 
will  ever  bear  a  kindly  remembrance  of  this  old  piscatorial  veteran, 
deploring  the  sad  catastrophe  that  hastened  his  descent  to  the  tomb." 


Death  of  Daddy  Emmons. 

THE  CELEBRATED  OLD  FISHERMAN  PASSES  AWAY  AT  THE  AGE  OF  NINETY-TWO. 

"At  half-past  eight  o'clock  Wednesday  morning  the  celebrated  Har- 
vey's Lake  fisherman,  William,  better  known  as  "Daddy,"  Emmons, 
passed  to  his  eternal  rest.  Two  weeks  ago,  as  then  stated  in  this  pa- 
per, he  was  knocked  down  and  badly  injured  by  a  hay  wagon,  near 
Dallas,  his  thigh  being  broken.  From  this  shock  he  never  rallied. 
His  death  occurred  at  the  home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Davis,  in  Dallas, 
who  during  his  last  days  administered  to  his  every  want,  and  did 
everything  that  a  loving  heart  and  willing  hands  could  suggest  and  do 
to  make  him  comfortable. 

"Daddy  Emmons  went  to  Harvey's  Lake  from  New  Jersey  about 
thirty-five  years  ago,  and  ever  since  has  been  a  prominent  character 
at  that  favorite  resort.  Up  to  about  two  years  ago  he  lived  in  a  hut 
in  a  copse  of  woods  on  the  banks  of  the  lake,  and  was  looked  upon  as 
the  ideal  fisherman  of  the  neighborhood.  He  knew  just  where  the 
finny  tribe  was  most  numerous,  and  seldom  failed  to  make  a  catch 
when  a  proper  effort  was  put  forth.  He  taught  many  of  the  promi- 
nent men  of  his  day  the  art  of  angling,  among  his  pupils  being  the 
late  Judge  Paxson,  of  Philadelphia.  Since  leaving  the  lake  he  has 
resided  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Davis,  from  whose  home  the  funeral 
will  occur  to-morrow." — Leader,  Sept.  ij,  iSSj . 

As  the  forests  were  cleared  away  and  the  country  became 
more  thickly  settled  the  pigeons  grew  timid  and  gradually 
ceased  to  return  in  such  large  flocks.  In  later  years  Daddy 
Emmons  turned  his  attention  more  to  fishing,  at  which  he 


90  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

was  as  successful  as  in  trapping  pigeons.  His  home  was  at 
Dallas,  but  early  in  each  returning  spring  he  went  to  Har- 
vey's Lake  and  took  possession  of  his  cabin,  which  stood 
at  the  edge  of  a  little  grove  near  the  eastern  end  of  the  old 
bridge  at  the  southeastern  inlet,  and  there  lived  alone, 
spending  his  whole  time  at  fishing.  He  made  a  business  of 
it,  and  for  many  years,  until  his  strength  failed  on  account 
of  his  age,  he  succeeded  in  getting  a  living  out  of  it.  His 
honest  old  face  was  for  many  years  associated  with  the 
memory  of  Harvey's  Lake,  and  with  many  of  us  it  will 
never  be  forgotten.  Harvey's  Lake  at  one  time  abounded 
in  speckled  trout,  but  the  artificial  introduction  of  other  fish 
has  exterminated  the  trout.  Game  of  every  kind  was  also 
very  abundant  about  there.  It  was  a  famous  hunting  and 
fishing  ground.  Ephraim  King  once  imformed  me  that  he 
had  killed  over  a  hundred  deer  in  and  about  Harvey's  Lake. 
Hunting  dogs  were  seldom  needed  in  his  best  hunting  days, 
fifty  to  seventy  years  ago.  The  deer  were  oftenest  killed  by 
rowing  quietly  up  to  them  with  a  light  in  the  boat  while  they 
were  feeding  in  the  shore  grass  or  drinking  just  at  the  edge 
of  the  water.  The  torch  dazed  them,  and  its  reflection  in 
their  bright  eyes  made  a  sure  mark  for  the  hunter.  Bears 
and  wolves  ceased  to  be  a  terror  before  the  first  half  of  this 
century  was  ended,  but  they  were  seen  occasionally  in  and 
about  Dallas  and  Lake  township  at  a  later  date.  Watch 
dogs  were  employed  at  one  time  to  protect  the  sheep  from 
attacks  by  wolves,  but  the  dogs  had  to  be  of  such  a  fero- 
cious kind  that  it  sometimes  became  a  question  as  to  which 
were  the  more  destructive  in  the  sheepfold,  and  many  good 
watch  dogs  had  to  be  killed  for  this  reason.  The  need  of 
watch  dogs  for  that  purpose  ended  in  Dallas  years  ago — 
about  1855. 

Fox  hunting  was  rare  sport  at  one  time  in  Dallas,  and 
during  the  winter  season  was  extensively  indulged  in.  For 
this   huntin<j  fox   hounds   were  used.     The   hunters  were 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  9 1 

stationed  about  on  the  hills  where  the  "runaways"  were 
supposed  to  be,  and  each  had  his  shot  at  the  fox  as  it  was 
driven  by  in  front  of  the  hounds.  The  fox  skin  brought  a 
little  money  in  at  the  furriers,  and  the  county  paid  a  small 
bounty,  so  that  there  was  a  slight  remuneration  from  this 
sport.  Catamounts  and  wildcats  were  often  seen  and  killed 
by  the  earlier  inhabitants  of  Dallas,  There  were  also  a  few 
rattlesnakes  and  other  poisonous  reptiles  found  there  by 
the  earlier  settlers,  but  all  of  these  are  gone  now  from  Dai- 
las  township. 

KUNKLE. 

The  village  or  post-office  of  Kunkle  was  settled  about 
1836  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Wesley  and  Conrad  Kun- 
kle. Wesley  Kunkle  settled  and  erected  a  saw-mill  near  there 
about  1840;  Conrad  did  not  go  there  until  about  twelve 
years  later.  The  country  round  about  Kunkle  was  and 
still  is  generally  known  as  the  "Green  Woods,"  and  I  find 
record  that  it  was  so  called  as  far  back  as  1820.  The  rea- 
son for  it  is  apparent  when  we  recall  the  fact  that  all  that 
region  was  originally  almost  entirely  covered  with  hemlock 
and  other  evergreen  trees.  The  hemlock  was  abundant  and 
of  most  excellent  quality.  On  account  of  its  superiority 
the  hemlock  grown  on  the  west  side  of  the  Susquehanna 
River  in  this  vicinity  commands  a  considerably  larger  price 
than  that  grown  the  opposite  side.  This  is  a  fact  well  known 
to  dealers  in  lumber,  but  not,  it  is  believed,  by  the  unini- 
tiated. About  the  year  1840  George  Cairl  (?),  in  order  to 
utilize  the  hemlock  bark  in  that  vicinty,  established  a  tan- 
nery on  the  hill  just  east  of  present  Kunkle  village.  This 
was  the  second  tannery  established  in  Dallas  township,  the 
first  being  that  established  two  or  three  years  earlier  by 
Zachariah  Neely  in  West  Dallas  near  the  Lehmon  township 
line,  on  the  road  leading  from  McLellonsville  to  Harvey's 
Lake,     The  Cairl  tannery  was  superseded  by  a  large  steam 


92  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA, 

tannery  erected  about  1855  by  Edward  Marsh,  an  enter- 
prising young  New  Yorker.  This  steam  tannery  was  burned 
several  years  ago,  and  the  present  one  was  erected  after  the 
model  and  upon  the  same  ground  of  the  former  one. 

Conrad  and  Wesley  Kunkle  were  men  of  considerable 
prominence  in  the  community  where  they  lived.  Each  had 
a  power  of  making  and  retaining  extensive  acquaintances 
and  friendships.  Conrad  was  for  many  years  Justice  of  the 
Peace  in  Dallas  township,  and  was  also  one  of  the  two  first 
school  directors  appointed  by  the  court  for  Dallas  township 
in  the  year  1834  under  the  provisions  of  the  new  school 
law,  then  for  the  first  time  put  in  force.  Wesley  was  elected 
to  the  office  of  Recorder  of  Deeds  in  Luzerne  county  in  the 
fall  of  i860,  and  served  one  term.  Intimately  connected 
with  the  early  settlement  of  the  Green  Woods  country  at 
Kunkle  was  also  William  Wheeler  Kirkendall,  father  of 
George  W.,  Ira  M.  and  William  P.  Kirkendall,  now  of  the 
city  of  Wilkes-Barre.  Wheeler  Kirkendall,  as  he  was  fa- 
miliarly called,  came  from  New  Jersey,  and  was  a  carpenter, 
also  a  carder,  fuller  and  clothes  dresser  by  trade,  and  it  was 
largely  through  his  aid  that  the  first  carding  and  fulling 
mill  was  undertaken  and  built  by  Jacob  Rice,  ist,  in  the 
village  of  Trucksville.  He  was  a  man  of  kindly  nature  and 
abounded  in  good  cheer.  A  harmless  joke  was  never  any  less 
enjoyable  to  him  because  it  happened  to  be  at  his  expense. 
He  used  to  tell  of  and  heartly  laugh  at  an  incident  which  oc- 
curred while  he  was  engaged  at  the  work  of  constructing 
the  carding  and  fulling  mill  at  Trucksville,  above  referred 
to.  A  neighbor  of  his  from  Dallas,  somewhat  noted  for  his 
large  stories  as  well  as  his  fondness  for  practical  fun,  ap- 
peared coming  down  the  road  towards  Kingston  one  morn- 
ing in  great  haste.  "Hold  on,  Uncle  Abe,"  called  Kirken- 
dall as  he  passed,  "what's  your  hurry  ?  Can't  you  stop  and 
tell  us  a  good  big  lie  this  morning?"  Quick  as  thought, 
and  without  halting  or  turning  about,  Uncle  Abe  shouted 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  93 

back  that  he  had  no  time,  that  Philip  Kunkle  had  just  fallen 
from  an  apple  tree  and  broken  a  leg,  and  he  was  going  to 
Wilkes-Barre  for  a  doctor.  Philip  Kunkle  was  the  father 
of  Wesley  and  Conrad  Kunkle,  as  well  as  the  step-father  of 
Wheeler  Kirkendall,  and  was  also  a  most  highly  esteemed 
citizen  of  Dallas,  to  whom,  on  account  of  his  advanced 
years,  such  an  accident  was  likely  to  bring  most  painful  if 
not  fatal  consequences.  Under  these  circumstances  such  an 
announcement  was  serious  to  Wheeler  Kirkendall.  Before 
he  had  time  to  revive  after  the  first  shock  and  recover  his 
wits,  Uncle  Abe  was  out  of  sight  and  hearing.  The  sus- 
pense was  unbearable,  and  no  time  was  lost  in  starting  for 
the  scene  of  the  accident,  which  was  at  least  four  miles 
away  by  the  nearest  route.  There  being  no  horses  or  con- 
veyances at  hand,  the  journey  had  to  be  made  on  foot.  This 
was  done  in  all  possible  haste,  and  after  two  hours  of  hard 
walking,  up  hill  and  down,  over  the  roughest  of  roads,  Mr. 
Kirkendall  arrived,  much  fatigued,  at  his  journey's  end,  only 
to  find  Mr.  Kunkle  enjoying  his  usual  health,  and  to  dis- 
cover that  Uncle  Abe  had  literally  complied  with  his  re- 
quest and  told  a  good  big  lie, 

Levi  Hoyt,  formerly  of  Kingston,  was  also  one  of  the 
first  to  locate  at  Kunkle.  He  lived  there  and  operated  with 
the  saw-mill  previously  mentioned  as  early  as  1838,  but  I 
am  unable  to  get  very  positive  data  in  relation  to  his  trans- 
actions. An  extensive  business  was  at  one  time  carried  on 
at  Kunkle  in  the  manufacture  of  long  oars  for  small  whale 
boats.  The  superior  quality  of  white  ash  which  grew  there 
was  specially  adapted  to  this  use.  For  many  years  after 
the  first  settlements  in  Kunkle  village  the  nearest  school- 
house  was  by  the  roadside  on  the  divide  known  as  "Chest- 
nut Hill,"  or  "Brace  Hill,"  about  one  and  a  half  miles  south- 
east of  the  present  village.  About  the  year  1858  a  new  red 
school-house  was  erected  within  the  village  limits.  Soon 
after  this  improvement  was  made,  it  was  proposed  one  day 


94  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

to  Start  a  Sunday-school  also  in  the  same  building.  There 
being  no  church  in  the  place,  this  proposition  grew  in  favor 
and  soon  ripened  into  a  fact.  On  the  day  fixed  for  the  open- 
ing a  large  crowd  was  assembled,  so  that  there  was  hardly 
room  to  accommodated  the  parents  and  children  who  had 
come  from  every  direction  to  join  the  Sunday-school.  Great 
pains  had  been  taken  to  have  everything  in  readiness  for 
the  opening  day,  but  in  spite  of  all,  one  serious  omission 
was  at  the  last  moment  discovered.  No  provision  had  been 
made  for  the  opening  prayer.  There  were  two  or  three 
residents  of  the  village  who  had  experienced  religion  in  the 
Methodist  way,  and  were  to  a  limited  degree  pious,  but  they 
did  not  feel  competent  to  undertake  such  an  important 
prayer  as  this  one.  The  upshot  of  it  all  was  that  everything 
had  to  be  suspended  and  the  people  kept  waiting  while  some 
one  went  three  miles  across  country  through  the  woods  and 
brought  a  man  who  knew  how  to  make  such  a  prayer. 
From  that  beginning  a  large  and  prosperous  Sunday-school 
has  grown  up  and  become  permanently  established. 

The  same  enterprising  citizen  who  organized  and  started 
the  first  Sunday-school,  famed  for  his  abounding  good  na- 
ture, generosity  and  forwardness  in  starting  and  promoting 
new  and  useful  operations  for  the  interest  and  welfare  of  the 
community,  is  also  noted  for  the  variety  of  his  trades  and 
accomplishments.  He  was  born  to  handle  skillfully  tools 
of  all  trades.  He  practiced  a  little  in  law  and  medicine,  and  in 
music  he  was  at  home  with  almost  any  instrument.  After  the 
late  war,  when  the  30th  of  May  was  first  set  apart  and  made  a 
holiday  for  the  decoration  of  the  graves  of  the  soldier  dead, 
he  was  the  first  to  improvise  a  band  of  drums  and  fifes  to  take 
part  in  the  ceremony  of  visiting  and  decorating  the  various 
graves  in  the  graveyards  in  and  about  Dallas.  The  pro- 
gram of  this  first  decoration  day  at  Dallas  was  to  visit  each 
soldier's  grave  and  lay  upon  it  a  wreath  of  flowers ;  and  as 
the  procession  marched  from  one  grave  to  another,  music 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  95 

of  the  funereal  kind  was  furnished  by  this  band.  There 
were  several  graveyards  and  a  considerable  number  of 
graves  in  each  to  be  visited,  while  the  number  of  tunes  suit- 
able for  such  an  occasion  in  the  repertory  of  this  newlj'  or- 
ganized band  was  very  limited,  and  in  visiting  so  many 
graves  there  was  of  course  much  repetition,  so  that  by  night, 
the  services  having  lasted  most  of  the  day,  this  band,  and 
especially  its  organizer  and  leader,  were  very  tired  of  those 
particular  pieces.  Finally  the  last  grave  had  been  decorated 
and  the  procession  was  headed  for  home.  The  programme 
called  for  more  music,  but  to  repeat  again  any  of  those 
psalm  tunes  seemed  unbearable  to  all.  With  a  look  almost 
of  despair,  one  of  the  members  ventured  to  ask  of  the  leader, 

"  What  shall  we  play  now  ?"     "  O it,  anything — the 

'Girl  I  left  behind  me,' "  was  the  reply.  The  relief  was  so 
great  that  all  marched  away  heartily  enjoying  the  change, 
while  the  bluntness  and  profanity  of  the  reply  and  the  amus- 
ing yet  literal  inappropriateness  of  the  music  were  for  the 
moment  unnoticed  ;  though  the  afterthought  of  the  situation 
has  since  furnished  much  amusement  to  many  who  were 
present  on  that  occasion. 

In  the  practice  of  medicine  our  own  Sunday-school  and 
band  organizer  has  also  won  some  laurels.  It  is  told 
of  him  that  on  one  occasion  a  distinguished  and  skillful 
practitioner  of  the  same  profession,  being  overcome  with 
heat  or  from  some  other  cause,  was  suddenly  prostrated  and 
became  unconscious  in  the  road  near  the  house  of  our  hero. 
W^ith  quick  presence  of  mind,  our  hero  had  the  patient  re- 
moved to  his  house  near  by  and  ordered  the  two  men  whom 
he  had  called  as  assistants  to  apply  cold  water  bandages  to 
the  head,  while  he  took  down  his  herb  doctor  book,  adjusted 
his  spectacles,  and  began  licking  his  thumb  and  with  it  turn- 
ing the  leaves  one  by  one  and  carefully  scanning  each  page, 
while  his  thumb  was  resting  against  or  near  his  protruding 
tongue  so  that  it  might  be  properly  dampened  on  the  instant 


g6  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

that  the  next  leaf  was  to  be  thumbed  over.  After  nearly  an 
hour  thus  doubled  over  this  volume  of  medical  lore,  a  cry- 
broke  out :   " ,  boys,  I've  found  it ;  we've  got  to  sweat 

him !  One  of  you  go  for  a  pound  of  ground  mustard  while  I 
steam  some  hemlock  boughs."  Quicker  than  I  can  write  it, 
one  of  the  attendants  darted  out  to  the  store  near  by,  but 
in  his  haste  he  asked  for  and  procured  a  pound  package  of 
of  ginger  instead  of  mustard.  In  the  excitement  and  hurry, 
however,  no  one  discovered  the  mistake,  and  soon  the  pa- 
tient was  nicely  encased  in  a  covering  of  ginger  plasters, 
steaming  hot  hemlock  boughs,  etc.  The  effect  was  all  that 
was  desired — it  woke  up  the  patient.  He  was  quite  restored 
and  still  lives  to  tell  the  tale — if  he  would. 

SCHOOLS. 

One  of  the  first  schools — probably  the  first — taught  in 
Dallas,  was  in  an  old  barn  near  the  residence  of  Philip 
Kunkle,  on  lot  53  of  certified  Bedford,  near  central  line. 
The  date  of  opening  this  school  I  cannot  obtain  with  any 
degree  of  certainty,  nor  can  I  learn  the  name  of  the  teacher, 
though  there  are  two  or  three  people  still  living  who  at- 
tended and  well  remember  the  school.  The  date  was  prob- 
ably about   1813  or   1814,  and  the  teacher  was  either  Mr. 

Bell  or  Joseph  Sweazy.     My  informants  do  not  agree 

on  this  point.  It  seems  to  be  undisputed,  however,  that 
both  of  these  taught  private  schools  in  barns  and  private 
houses  of  that  neighborhood  before  the  log  school-house 
was  erected  in  18 16.  What  became  of  Bell  I  cannot  learn. 
Joseph  Sweazy  remained  in  Dallas  until  about  the  year  1843, 
when  he  sold  his  farm  and  moved  down  to  Wilkes-Barre. 
He  bought,  and  for  several  years  owned  a  considerable  tract 
of  land  between  Ross  and  South  streets  through  which 
Franklin  street  has  since  been  opened.  The  three  old 
houses  still  standing  (1886)  on  northeasterly  side  of  Ross 
Street  and  next  South,  east  of  Wright  street,  now  owned  by 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  97 

estate  of  Isaac  S.  Osterhout,  were  erected  by  him.  Joseph 
Sweazy  was  a  devout  Methodist,  and  an  educated  man.  He 
was  of  too  fine  a  grain  to  enjoy  the  rough  life  and  experi- 
ences of  that  time  in  Dallas.  His  last  years  were  pitiable 
in  the  extreme.  The  death  of  his  wife  and  a  stroke  of  par- 
alysis coming  nearly  together  in  his  advanced  years  caused 
sorrows  more  than  he  could  stand.  His  religious  medita- 
tions became  nearly  or  quite  an  insanity.  At  last  he  lost 
the  power  of  speech  and  began  to  write  down  his  religious 
thoughts.  In  the  year  1848,  just  prior  to  his  death,  he  sent 
out  a  written  appeal  to  the  public  as  follows  :  "By  reason 
of  palsy  I  am  rendered  speechless  and  my  right  hand  and 
all  my  right  side  weak  and  almost  helpless,  so  much  so  that 
I  cannot  labor.  Besides  I  have  lost  my  dear  companion 
with  a  lingering  consumption,  which,  for  nursing,  medicine 
and  necessaries  (for  she  ate  well  most  of  the  time)  involved 
me  in  debt  to  the  amount  of  four  hundred  and  six  dollars, 
and,  as  I  have  no  means  to  pay  this  honest  debt,  and  cannot 
work,  I  have  written  a  book  which  I  want  to  get  printed  and 
bound  and  sold  in  order  to  pay  what  I  can  of  this  honest 
debt.  The  book  is  a  religious  book  and  will  contain  per- 
haps two  hundred  octavo  pages,  and  be  worth  perhaps  fifty 
cents.  It  is  my  earnest  desire  that  it  may  be  a  blessing  to 
my  fellow  men  in  whose  hands  it  may  fall,  and,  if  it  is,  I 
would  lie  at  the  feet  of  Jehovah  and  give  Him  the  praise, 
for  it  is  His  due.  I  hope  each  gentleman  and  kind  hearted 
lady  will  give  what  money  he  can  spare  to  help  to  get  the 
books  printed  and  bound,  and  the  Lord  will  bless  them. 
Any  sum  will  be  received  with  a  low  bow,  which  is  my 
sincere  thanks.  He  that  giveth  to  the  poor  lendeth  to  the 
Lord,  and  He  will  repay  it  again.  O,  give  relief  and  heaven 
will  bless  your  store.  Your  unworthy  dust  and  needy  pe- 
titioner.— Thomas  Sweazy." 

Mr.  Sweazy  died  soon  after,  and  the  book,  I  am  told,  was 
never  printed,  though  many  names  were  signed  and  money 


9^  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

paid  for  the  book.  Among  the  subscribers  for  this  book 
were  the  names  of  nearly  all  the  active  and  leading  business 
men  of  Wilkes-Barre  and  vicinity  of  that  time  ( 1 848). 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  law  (1834)  providing  for  the 
establishment  of  free  schools,  the  second  school-house  in 
Dallas  township  was  built  upon  lands  of  Richard  Honeywell 
about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  north  of  McLellonsville,  where 
the  present  school-house  now  stands,  near  the  residence  of 
William  K.  Goss.  Another  school-house  was  erected  in 
Dallas  about  the  same  date  near  the  Frantz  saw-mill,  before 
mentioned,  which  is  still  known  as  the  Frantz  school-house. 
Still  another  school-house  was  erected  about  the  same  time 
on  the  divide  known  as  Chestnut  Hill  or  Brace  Hill,  and 
near  the  road  leading  from  Dallas  borough  to  Kunkle. 
That  was  known  as  the  Chestnut  Hill  or  Brace  Hill  school 
house,  but  was  abandoned  twenty  odd  years  ago. 

These  buildings  supplied  the  needs  of  Dallas  township 
for  many  years.  The  West  Dallas  school-house,  near  the 
residence  of  William  C.  Roushev,  the  Demond  school-house, 
near  late  residence  of  Ransom  Demond,  near  headwaters  of 
northernmost  fork  of  Toby's  Creek,  the  Shaver  school-house 
in  "Shaverton,"  on  the  lower  end  of  lot  five  of  certified  Bed- 
ford next  to  Kingston  township  line,  and  the  Hunter  school- 
house,  erected  on  western  land  of  lot  six  of  certified  Bed- 
ford, near  late  residence  of  Edward  Hunter,  and  the  Kunkle 
school-house  at  the  village  of  Kunkle,  were  erected  later, 
in  about  the  order  named,  as  there  seemed  to  be  demand 
for  them.  They  were  all  small,  one-room  buildings,  and  the 
schools  kept  in  them  were  of  the  crudest  kind.  Classes  in 
"A,  B,  C's,"  two  or  three  classes  in  spelling,  as  many  classes 
in  reading,  one  or  two  classes  in  arithmetic,  possibly  a  class 
in  grammar,  and  another  in  geography,  were  all  called  to 
the  centre  of  the  room  to  recite,  usually  twice  a  day.  When 
all  had  recited  once  and  a  little  time  had  been  given  to  exer- 
cise in  writing,  school  was  let  out  for  noon.  The  afternoon  was 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA,  90 

nearly  or  quite  a  repetition  of  the  forenoon.  No  one  could 
well  study  during  school  hours,  and  few,  if  any,  would  study 
out  of  school  hours.  Pupils  went  to  school  in  that  way 
from  month  to  month  and  year  to  year,  and  a  few  of  them 
from  necessity  rubbed  off  a  little  information,  and  were 
turned  away  finished  to  the  satisfaction  of  many  of  the  pa- 
rents. No  thoughts  of  a  higher  education  than  these  rudi- 
ments, thus  worn  off  and  ground  in,  were  entertained  ex- 
cept by  a  very  few,  and  with  fewer  still  was  there  any  desire 
for  it.  In  time  teaching  of  this  kind  began  to  be  looked 
upon  as  mere  physical  labor  which  one  person  could  per- 
form with  about  the  same  skill  as  another.  A  lady  teacher 
was  all  that  was  desired  for  the  summer  terms,  because  then 
the  big  boys  were  working  on  the  farms,  and  she  was  capa- 
ble of  managing  the  girls  and  small  boys ;  but  for  the  win- 
ter terms,  when  the  farmer  boys  were  allowed  to  go  again, 
a  man  teacher  was  required,  and  a  good,  able-bodied  one 
too,  in  order  to  do  the  flogging  which  was  indispensible. 
With  such  ideas  prevailing,  it  is  not  strange  that  in  hiring  a 
teacher  the  only  question  was  how  cheap  it  could  be  done. 
Skilled  teachers,  who  were  worth  and  could  command 
good  salaries  where  good  schools  were  appreciated,  many  of 
them  refused  to  compete  in  this  low  bidding  and  disap- 
peared. There  were,  of  course,  notable  exceptions  to  this 
rule.  Dallas  had  some  excellent  teachers,  and  passed 
through  several  periods  that  in  a  small  way  might  be  termed 
periods  of  the  Revival  of  Learning.  With  what  pleasure 
many  of  us  now  recall  the  school  days  in  Dallas  under  the 
teaching  of  John  Whitney — a  gentle,  kind,  brave  and  good 
man,  beloved  by  all,  but  most  by  those  who  knew  him  best. 
He  came  to  Dallas  about  1856-7,  and  opened  a  general 
merchandise  store  upon  the  spot  where  the  store  of  Ira  D. 
Shaver  now  stands.  He  continued  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness but  a  short  time,  however,  when  he  leased  his  store 
building  and  entered  into  the  business  of  teaching,  which 


100  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

seemed  more  congenial  to  his  tastes.  He  followed  teaching 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  great  Oivil  War  of  1861.  At 
the  first  sound  of  the  alarm  he  dropped  everything,  and  was 
among  the  earliest  volunteers  in  the  three  months'  service. 
When  that  term  was  ended  he  renewed  his  enlistment,  and 
remained  actively  in  the  service  wherever  duty  called. 

We  who  remember  him  so  affectionately  as  our  teacher, 
read  with  fearful  solicitude  the  death  roll  after  each  great 
battle  in  which  he  was  likely  to  be  engaged.  The  dreaded 
messenger  came  at  last;  Whitney  had  been  shot  and  killed, 
and  in  a  few  days  his  body  was  brought  home  to  be  buried. 

His  school  teaching  at  Dallas  was  all  at  the  little  red 
school-house  which  stood  on  the  same  grounds  where  the 
first  log  school-house  of  Dallas  township,  before  mentioned, 
had  stood.  Whitney  began  with  a  night  school,  and  had  a 
few  subscription  pupils  who  were  asked  to  come  in  and 
learn  geography  by  singing  it.  He  had  a  fine  set  of  maps 
of  the  world  on  a  large  scale,  such  as  had  never  before  been 
seen  there.  To  these  was  added  a  familiar  knowledge  and  un- 
bounded zeal  on  the  part  of  the  instructor.  The  result  was 
marvelous.  His  class  soon  sang  through  the  geography  of 
the  whole  world  to  the  tune  of  Yankee  Doodle,  after  which 
the  multiplication  table  was  taken  up  and  learned  by  many 
of  us  to  the  same  music.  This  success  was  to  Whitney  but 
the  sharpening  of  desire  to  do  more.  His  class  had  learned 
more  in  the  few  short  weeks  of  close  application  under  his 
drilling  than  ever  before  in  many  times  the  same  period, 
and  they  were  all  willing  supporters  of  any  plan  Whitney 
had  to  offer.  He  at  once  proposed  to  the  school  directors 
to  remodel  the  interior  and  seating  arrangement  of  the 
school-house  at  his  own  expense  and  take  charge  of  the 
school  under  certain  conditions.  His  offer  was  at  once  ac- 
cepted. At  this  Whitney  threw  off  his  coat,  turned  from 
teacher  to  carpenter,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time,  with 
his  own  hands,  tore  out  the  old  long  backless  benches  and 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  10 1 

clumsy  desks,  which  were  but  little  better  than  racks  of 
torture,  and  made  them  over  into  a  set  of  new  and  graceful 
and  easy  seats  with  backs,  and  so  arranged  that  each  pupil, 
large  or  small,  was  provided  with  a  comfortable  seat  and  a 
desk  in  front  of  him  on  which  he  could  rest  a  book.  The 
effect  of  this  change  was  magical.  It  was  now  possible  to 
have  comfort  and  do  a  little  work  during  school  hours. 
The  opening  was  auspicious.  New  and  improved  school 
furniture,  a  large  attendance,  affectionate  respect  for  the 
teacher,  and  a  reciprocal  love  on  his  part  for  the  pupils, 
were  indeed  ominous  of  success,  and  success  certainly  fol- 
lowed in  the  few  months  that  John  Whitney  remained.  His 
teaching  and  influence  gave  an  impetus  to  educational  de- 
sire that  has  never  been  lost.  To  it  more  than  to  anything 
else  I  attribute  the  establishment  so  soon  after  of  the  splen- 
did graded  school  of  which  Dallas  borough  now  so  proudly 
and  justly  boasts.  John  Whitney  was  a  frank  and  genial 
man,  of  tall,  slender  and  delicate  build,  scrupulously  neat  but 
never  foppish,  gentle  as  a  woman,  but  every  inch  of  him  was 
manly  and  brave.  When  duty  called  he  knew  no  fear.  He 
will  long  be  held  in  affectionate  remembrance  in  Dallas  by 
all  who  knew  him.  The  John  Whitney  Post  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  at  Dallas  is  named  in  his  honor. 

It  is  difficult  to  preserve  chronological  order  in  a  paper 
of  this  kind  without  destroying  the  continuity  of  many  sub- 
jects like  the  one  now  in  hand.  I  prefer,  therefore,  to  follow 
the  subject  of  schools  to  a  little  later  date,  because  it  leads 
to  the  questions  out  of  which  grew  organization  and  setting 
apart  of  the  borough  of  Dallas  from  the  township. 

As  the  village  of  McLellonsville  grew  and  the  wealth  of 
its  inhabitants  increased,  new  ideas  began  to  creep  in,  and 
some  of  the  parents  began  to  grow  dissatisfied  with  the  idea 
that  their  children  should  live  and  grow  up  without  some 
of  the  advantages  of  modern  civilization.  "  'Tis  wonderful," 
says  Emerson,  "how  soon  a  piano  gets  into  a  log  hut  on  the 


102  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

frontier.  You  would  think  they  found  it  under  a  pine  stunjp. 
With  it  comes  a  Latin  grammar."  A  piano  and  one  or  two 
organs,  a  Latin  grammar  and  one  or  two  of  the  "ologies" 
had  found  their  way  out  to  Dallas  early  in  the  sixties,  about 
the  winter  of  1862-3,  but  there  was  no  one  then  in  the  town- 
ship who  could  teach  such  branches,  and  only  by  sending 
the  children  away  to  Kingston  and  elsewhere,  and  paying 
their  tuition  in  addition  to  regular  school  tax,  could  such 
instruction  be  had.  A  few  were  able  to  do  this  and  did  do  it, 
while  the  common  schools  of  the  township  did  not  get  much 
above  the  curriculum  of  the  famous  "three  R's." 

Great  efforts  were  made,  mostly  by  a  few  who  lived  in 
and  near  McLellonsville,  to  improve  this  state  of  things  and 
establish  a  graded  school,  but  a  jealousy  of  the  village  folks 
grew  up  among  those  who  lived  in  the  remoter  portions  of 
the  township,  and  with  it  a  combined  effort  to  oppose  all 
such  schemes.  Schools  which  had  been  good  enough  for 
their  fathers  and  grandfathers  were  good  enough  for  them. 
This  was  unanswerable  argument  to  many  of  them,  and 
swept  away  every  opposition  in  the  outside  districts.  Those 
village  folks,  thought  they,  must  not  be  indulged  in  any 
such  extravagant  and  visionary  notions.  A  reformer  who 
ventured  to  offer  himself  as  candidate  for  school  director 
was  looked  upon  as  a  common  enemy  by  this  class,  who 
honestly  believed  that  debt  and  financial  ruin  were  the  nat- 
ural and  certain  sequences  of  his  election,  so  that  such  candi- 
dates were  almost  invariably  defeated,  or,  if  by  chance  elect- 
ed, were  left  in  such  minority  as  to  be  powerless  for  good. 
The  typical  school  director  was  often  a  man  who  could  nei- 
ther read  nor  write.  Teachers  were  oftener  chosen  because  of 
the  meagerness  of  the  salary  which  they  could  be  induced  or 
forced  to  accept  than  for  any  other  merit  or  qualification. 
A  lady  school  teacher  was  one  time  discharged  from  one 
of  the  schools  there.  The  real  and  well  known  reason  was 
because  she  had  the  temerity  to  flog  a  son  of  one  of  the 


John  T.   Fuller 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA.  I03 

school  directors.  Not  wishing  to  give  the  true  cause  for 
removing  her,  this  school  director  put  it  on  the  broader 
ground  of  alleged  unfitness.  He  defended  his  action  as  fol- 
lows :  "I  don't  profess  to  know  much  about  school  teaching 
myself,"  said  he,  "but  I  can  sometimes  spell  a  simple  word 

hke  b-o-k  book,  which  is  a more  than  she  can  do,  if  I 

do  say  it  myself.     Haint  that  so,  Jim  ?" 

Bad  seemed  to  grow  worse  until  this  state  of  thing  be- 
came unbearable  to  the  villagers  in  and  about  McLellons- 
ville.     All  other  efforts  having  failed,  separation  began  to 
be  thought  of  and  discussed.   At  first  it  was  thought  that  a 
separate  school  district  might  be  cut  off  from  the  township. 
That  plan  did  not  seem  to  be  best  just  at  that  time,  because 
of  the  long  fight  and  delay  that  might  ensue  if  the  matter 
was  contested,  as  it  was  most  likely  to  be.     They  wanted 
immediate  relief  in  the  matter  of  better  school  accommoda- 
tions and  were  determined  to  have  it.     The  result  was  the 
organization  forthwith  of  the  Dallas  High  School  Associa- 
tion, incorporated  February  i6,  1878.     Within  a  few  weeks 
of  its  inception  this  association  was  fully  organized  and  in- 
corporated.    The  purchase  of  grounds  and  commencement 
of  the  building,  adjoining  the  site  of  the  first  log  school  in 
Dallas,  where  was  still  standing  the  old  "red  school-house," 
successor  to  the  log  school-house,  soon  followed,  and  the 
result  was  the  handsome  and  commodious  school  building 
now  standing  on  the  hill  just  south  of  the  village.     This 
building  was  completed  in  the  fall  of  1878,  and  in  October  of 
that  year  the  first  school  was  opened  there  with  John  Ful- 
ler, Esq.,  late  of  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  now  deceased,  as  prin- 
cipal.   Few  men  could  have  satisfied  the  needs  of  that  place 
at  that  time  so  well  as  did  that  genial  and  ever  kind  hearted 
John  Fuller.     Fresh  from  college,  where  he  had  graduated 
with  distinction,  filled  with  the  ambition  and  zeal  of  youth,  he 
accepted  this  position  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the  many  higher 
things  which  he  had  a  just  right  to  believe  were  before  him. 


104  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

The  excellent  school  which  he  established,  and  the  many 
recollections  of  his  genial  companionship  and  splendid  man- 
hood will  long  live  as  silent  tribute  to  his  esteemed  memory. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  original  stockholders 
and  incorporators  of  the  Dallas  High  School  Association : 
Leonard  Machell,  James  Garrahan,  Ira  D.  Shaver,  William 
J.  Honeywell,  Theodore  F.  Ryman,  John  J.  Ryman,  Ches- 
ter White,  Joseph  Atherholt,  William  Snyder,  Joseph  Sha- 
ver, Jacob  Rice,  James  I.  Laing,  C.  A.  Spencer,  A.  Raub, 
George  W.  Kirkendall,  WilHam  P.  Kirkendall. 

After  the  formation  of  the  borough  of  Dallas,  the  High 
School  Association,  by  deed  of  November  lo,  1887,  con- 
veyed all  its  property  and  franchises  to  the  Borough  School 
District.  The  school  has  since  that  date  been  in  charge  of 
the  Borough  School  District,  supported  by  the  public  school 
funds. 

From  the  first  opening  day  this  school  was  very  success- 
ful. With  two  or  three  exceptions  all  the  children  of  school 
age  in  the  district  attended  the  new  school,  and  the  tax- 
payers asked  that  the  taxes  belonging  to  that  district  be 
used  in  support  of  the  new  school.  This  was  flatly  re- 
fused, and  for  a  long  time  the  public  money  was  practically 
thrown  away  in  keeping  open  the  public  school  within  five 
rods  of  the  new  school,  where  more  than  ninety  per  cent, 
of  the  pupils  were  paying  tuition  in  addition  to  the  regu- 
lar school  tax,  for  the  sake  of  getting  the  advantages  of  the 
best  school.  This  wasteful  spite  work  on  the  part  of  the 
township  school  directors  could  not  long  be  tolerated,  and 
steps  were  soon  taken  to  revive  the  old  question  of  a  sepa- 
rate organization,  either  of  a  school  district  or  of  a  borough. 
The  latter  plan  was  finally  adopted.  The  petition,  map  and 
other  necessary  papers  were  quietly  prepared  on  the  4th  day 
of  January,  A.  D.  1879.  They  were  laid  before  the  grand 
inquest  of  the  county.  The  application  was  vigorously 
fought  on  the  dog  in  the  manger  principle  by  the  outside 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  IO5 

residents  of  the  township,  especially  by  the  school  directors 
and  supervisors,  but  the  opposition  was  too  late.  The 
movement  had  gone  too  far,  and  had  too  much  strength  and 
had  too  good  a  cause  to  suffer  defeat  then.  The  application 
was  approved,  and  the  incorporation  of  the  borough  was 
completed  on  the  2ist  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1879. 

The  ill  feeling  aroused  by  this  struggle  and  final  separa- 
tion of  the  borough  was  carried  to  extreme  lengths,  and  by 
some  will  be  carried  to  their  graves.  With  many  it  took 
the  form  of  "boycotting."  Some  of  the  people  who  were 
left  out  in  the  township  vowed  never  again  to  patronize  a 
store  or  business  within  the  limits  of  the  borough.  Coop- 
eration stores  were  established  in  the  township,  in  which  a 
company  would  form,  build  a  storehouse  and  stock  it  with 
the  fund  raised  by  contributions  from  each  member.  Each 
contributor  then  had  the  right  to  buy  his  goods  at  cost  from 
this  stock.  Others  vowed  never  to  enter  or  pass  through 
the  borough  limits  again,  and  would  go  miles  around  and 
suffer  great  inconveniences  for  the  sake  of  keeping  good  the 
pledge.  Such  was  the  bitterness  of  the  animosity  that  grew 
from  so  simple  a  course.  As  the  years  roll  by,  and  we  get 
far  enough  away  to  see  correctly  and  with  an  accurate  focus, 
the  conviction  must  gradually  come  to  all  that  it  is  best  as 
it  is.  There  will  be  more  high  schools  in  a  few  years.  "Let 
those  who  have  the  laurels  now  take  heed."  Those  boys 
cannot  be  held  back  much  longer. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  schools,  a  line  upon  the  old 
custom  of  "boarding  around,"  which  is  now  fast  disappear- 
ing, may  be  of  interest.  This  custom  was  universal  at  one 
time  in  Dallas,  as  in  most  country  districts.  Each  family 
that  sent  children  to  school  was  expected  to  board  and 
lodge  the  teacher  a  proper  portion  of  each  term.  Word 
was  usually  sent  by  one  of  the  children  a  few  days  in  ad- 
vance notifying  the  parents  when  they  might  expect  the 
teacher  to  board  with  them.     The  practice  grew  from  a 


I06  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

necessity  in  the  earlier  days  when  every  one  was  money 
poor,  and  it  was  easier  to  furnish  food  and  lodging  than 
the  money  to  pay  for  them.  There  were  some  advantages 
and  civilizing  effects  also  in  the  practice,  which  should  not 
be  lost  sight  of.  While  the  teacher  was  in  the  house  there 
was  usually  a  little  extra  cleaning  up  and  putting  on  of  bet- 
ter clothes  and  manners.  The  spare  room  was  opened,  the 
table  was  improved,  and  a  general  air  of  trying  to  be  as  re- 
spectable as  possible  pervaded  the  home.  The  severity  of 
the  school  room  manners  was  dropped,  and  teacher,  pupil 
and  parents  seemed  to  come  together  with  a  better  under- 
standing of  each  other.  Just  how  or  why  it  was  it  is  not  so 
easy  to  explain,  but  the  children  usually  felt  that  there  was 
a  certain  general  reformation  and  comfort  about  home,  dur- 
ing the  period  of  the  teacher's  visit,  which  was  pleasing, 
and  made  them  glad  to  have  the  occasion  come  often. 
There  were,  no  doubt,  many  parents  who  had  a  similar  feel- 
ing. 

POLITICS    AND    RELIGION. 

As  before  stated,  the  earlier  settlers  about  Dallas,  after 
McCoy,  Leonard,  Worthington,  Wort,  and  probably  half  a 
dozen  other  families  of  Connecticut  Yankees,  were  nearly 
all  Jerseymen.  They  brought  with  them  many  of  the  cus- 
toms and  beliefs  of  the  Jerseymen,  which  gave  as  distinct 
an  individuality  to  the  Dallas  settlement  as  the  Connecticut 
Yankees,  the  Germans  and  Scotch-Irish  have  given  to  other 
settlements  in  Pennsylvania.  In  religion  they  were  Meth- 
odists, and  in  politics  Democrats.  Methodism  for  many 
years  had  no  rival.  The  first  services  were  held  at  private 
houses  and  in  barns.  The  houses  of  Philip  Kunkle,  Rich- 
ard Honeywell  and  Christian  Rice  were  among  the  places 
for  holding  prayer  meetings  and  Sunday  meetings  until  the 
old  log  school-house  was  built  in  i8i6.  This  became  then 
the  regular  place  of  worship  and  so  continued  for  many 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  lO/ 

years,  until  the  Goss  school-house,  the  Frantz  school-house 
and  others  were  from  time  to  time  erected.  The  First  Meth- 
odist Church— still  standing,  1886  — near  Dallas  village 
(since  converted  into  a  broom  factory),  was  erected  in  185 1. 
No  other  religious  denomination  has  yet  succeeded  in 
getting  sufficient  followers  in  Dallas  to  erect  a  church, 
though  there  are  now  numerous  representatives  of  other 
denominations. 

The  new  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Dallas  borough, 
designed  by  Messrs.  Kipp  and  Podmore,  architects,  at 
Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.  (of  which  a  cut  is  elsewhere  given),  was 
begun  in  September,  1888,  and  finished  in  the  spring  of 
1889.  The  ground  for  this  church  was  obtained  from 
George  W.  Kirkendall,  a  former  resident  of  Dallas,  but  then 
of  Wilkes-Barre.  The  work  of  erecting  the  new  church 
was  begun  with  some  ceremony  in  the  presence  of  about 
fifty  interested  persons.  Mr.  G.  W.  Kirkendall  threw  out 
the  first  shovel  full  of  dirt.  This  church  was  erected  at  a 
cost  of  about  ^9,000.  I  am  told  that  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  of  185 1  was  erected  by  Almond  Goss  at  a 
cost  of  $960,  his  bid  being  below  cost,  and  ^40  lower  than 
any  other  bid. 

Politically,  the  Jerseymen  in  Dallas  have  not  all  been  so 
steadfast  in  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  This  assertion  may 
be  questioned  by  some,  for  Dallas  township  has  long  been 
famous  as  a  stronghold  of  Democracy.  At  one  time  it  was 
unanimously  Democratic,  but  as  early  as  1836,  three  men, 
Fayette  Allen,  Christian  Rice  and  Alexander  Ferguson, 
parted  company  with  the  old  line  Democrats,  and  united 
themselves  with  the  Whigs.  For  three  or  four  years  after- 
wards they  stood  alone  there  in  this  faith.  In  1840  their 
number  was  increased  to  eleven  by  the  accession  of  John 
Williams,  Abram  Ryman,  Jacob  Rice,  Charles  Ferguson, 
Joseph  Shaver,  Henry  Simons,  Samuel  Worden  and  Joseph 
Richards.     From  this  eleven  Whigs  has  grown  the  Repub- 


I08  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Hcan  element  which  has  a  slight  majority  in  the  borough 
and  a  threatening  minority  in  the  township. 

The  influence  of  politics  was,  however,  quite  insignificant 
in  and  about  Dallas  during  the  earlier  days  compared  with 
religion.  Only  on  rare  occasions,  when  there  was  a  great 
national  agitation,  did  politicians  visit  that  back  country. 
Religion  took  a  deeper  hold,  and  was  almost  constantly 
kept  before  the  people  by  local  exhorters  and  revivalists. 
So  great  was  the  need  of,  and  haste  to  make  use  of,  the 
present  Methodist  Church  edifice,  that  it  was  pressed  into 
active  service  as  soon  as  it  was  enclosed,  and  before  any 
floor  was  put  down.  The  congregation  sat  on  logs.  After 
its  completion,  this  church,  like  the  old  log  school-house, 
was  put  to  a  great  variety  of  uses.  Lectures  on  temperance, 
hygiene,  travels  in  holy  land,  magic  lantern  panoramas,  day 
school  and  Sunday-school  exhibitions.  Fourth  of  July  cel- 
ebrations, funerals,  revivals  and  "protracted  meetings"  were 
all  held  there.  Until  quite  recently  the  funerals  were  always 
held  at  the  church,  and  they  were  matters  of  such  general 
public  concern  that  they  usually  attracted  as  large  an  assem- 
blage of  the  general  public  as  any  of  the  other  meetings  or 
"goings  on"  at  the  church.  Even  a  funeral  was  diversion 
in  that  rough  and  lonely  country.  "Uncle  Oliver  Lewis," 
as  every  one  called  him,  was  at  one  time  famous  in  that 
country  for  his  funeral  sermons.  He  was  very  sympathetic 
and  wept  copiously,  as  did  the  mourners  and  most  of  the 
audience,  during  his  sermon.  His  discourse  was  usually  an 
hour  or  more  in  length,  and  was  devoted  largely  to  pane- 
gyric and  the  narration  of  touching  incidents  in  the  life  of 
the  deceased,  interwoven  with  minute  and  torturing  details 
of  the  special  sorrow  that  this  and  that  member  of  the  family 
would,  for  particular  reasons,  feel.  The  first  two  or  three 
seats  directly  in  front  of  the  pulpit  were  always  reserved  for 
mourners.  The  open  coffin  was  placed  directly  under  and 
in  front  of  the  pulpit  about  midway  between  the  preacher 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  IO9 

and  mourners.  At  all  meetings  and  services  in  this  meeting 
house  it  was  the  invariable  rule  for  the  men  and  women  to 
occupy  separate  sides  of  the  house.  After  the  funeral  the 
men  were  invited  to  pass  around  and  view  the  corpse,  pass 
down  the  aisle  on  the  women's  side,  out  doors  and  re-enter 
and  take  seats  again  on  their  own  side. 

A  reverse  operation  was  then  performed  by  the  women. 
After  all  strangers  had  thus  finished  viewing  the  remains, 
the  mourners  were  invited  to  take  a  last  lingering  and  ago- 
nizing look.  This  public  exhibition  of  mourning  was  often 
carried  to  ridiculous  and  unnatural  extremes.  Sometimes, 
possibly,  from  love  of  display  ;  and  again,  perhaps,  through 
fear  that  any  lack  of  sufficient  demonstration  on  the  part  of 
a  near  relative  or  friend  might  be,  as  it  sometimes  was,  the 
subject  of  unfavorable  comment  in  the  community. 

Of  all  the  occasions  in  that  church,  however,  none  ever  ap- 
proached such  intensity  of  feeling  and  excitement  as  the 
"revival"  or  "protracted  meeting"  season. 

These  meetings  usually  began  late  in  the  fall,  about  the 
time  or  just  after  the  farmers  had  finished  their  fall  work. 
The  first  symptom  usually  appeared  in  the  slightly  extra 
fervor  which  the  minister  put  in  his  sermons  and  prayers 
on  Sunday.  Then  a  special  prayer  meeting  would  be  set 
for  some  evening  during  the  week.  Other  special  meetings 
soon  followed,  so  that,  if  all  things  were  favorable,  the  re- 
vival or  "protracted  meeting"  would  be  at  a  white  heat 
within  two  or  three  weeks.  In  the  meantime  the  fact  would 
become  known  far  and  near,  and  the  "protracted  meeting" 
would  be  the  leading  event  of  the  neighborhood.  If  the 
sleighing  became  good,  parties  would  be  formed  miles  away 
to  go  sleigh  riding  with  this  protracted  meeting  as  their 
objective  visiting  point,  often  from  idle  curiosity  or  for 
want  of  something  more  instructive  or  entertaining  to 
do.  Others  went  equally  far,  through  storm  and  mud,  in 
wagons  or  on  foot,  from  a  higher  sense  of  personal  respon- 


no  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

sibility  and  duty.  With  many  it  was  a  most  grave  and  se- 
rious business.  The  house  was  usually  packed  to  repletion. 
Professional  ambulatory  revivalists,  often  from  remoter  parts 
of  the  state  or  county,  would  stop  there  on  their  religious 
crusades  through  the  land,  to  attend  and  help  at  these 
meetings.  Many  of  these  were  specially  gifted  in  the  kind 
of  praying  and  speaking  that  was  usually  most  successful 
at  such  times.  It  is  not  overdrawing  to  say  that  many  times 
on  a  still  night  the  noise  of  those  meetings  was  heard  a  mile 
away  from  the  church.  On  one  occasion  I  saw  a  leading 
exhorter  at  one  of  those  meetings  enter  the  pulpit,  take  off 
his  coat,  hurl  it  into  a  corner,  and  standing  in  his  shirt  sleeves 
begin  a  wild  and  excited  harangue.  After  possibly  half  an 
hour  of  most  violent  imprecations  and  raving  he  came  down 
from  the  pulpit,  jumped  up  on  top  of  the  rail  which  extend- 
ed down  the  centre  of  the  room  and  divided  the  seats  on 
the  two  sides  of  the  house,  and  from  there  finished,  and  ex- 
hausted himself,  begging  and  pleading  with  sinners  to  come 
forward  and  be  converted,  and  invoking  "hell  fire"  and  all 
the  torments  supposed  to  accompany  this  kind  of  caloric, 
upon  those  who  dared  to  smile  or  exhibit  a  sentiment  or 
action  not  in  accord  with  his. 

The  principal  argument  at  those  meetings  was  something 
to  excite  fear  through  most  terrible  picturings  of  hell,  and 
the  length  of  an  eternal  damnation  and  death.  Scores  would 
be  converted,  and  many  would  backslide  before  the  proba- 
tionary season  had  ended.  Some  were  annually  reconverted, 
and  as  often  returned  again  to  their  natural  state.  Many 
remained  true  to  the  new  life,  and  became  useful  and  prom- 
inent members  of  the  church  and  community.  It  cannot  be 
successfully  denied  that  many  are  reached  and  reformed  at 
those  meetings  whose  consciences  never  could  have  been 
touched  by  any  milder  form  of  preaching.  They  had  to  be 
gathered  in  a  whirlwind  or  not  at  all. 

A  famous  revivalist  and  assistant  at  those  meetings  was 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  Ill 

Elisha  Harris,  personally  well  known  to  many  now  living 
in  Luzerne  county,  and  also  extensively  known  in  larger 
fields,  through  what  Rev.  Dr.  Peck  and  others  have  written 
of  him.  His  home  was  near  the  Dallas  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  and  he  was  a  frequent  visitor  there,  and  a  most 
zealous  worker  at  those  "protracted  meetings."  His  familiar 
and  tremendous  shout,  "Amen !  Glory  be  to  God,"  was 
heard  always  at  such  times  clear  and  distinct  above  all 
other  noises.  Its  effect  was  often  most  startling  and  ludic- 
rous. It  was  his  expression  of  approval  of  anything  that 
was  said  by  any  one  either  in  prayer  or  in  speaking.  It 
was  a  short  thundering  punctuation  mark  which  he  could 
not  refrain  from  putting  in  whenever  he  listened  to  a  prayer 
or  sermon.  On  one  occasion,  at  Lehman  Center  Church, 
he  came  in  late  at  an  experience  meeting,  when  some  pro- 
bationers were  giving  their  "experiences,"  etc.,  since  con- 
version. As  he  entered  the  church  he  observed  some  one 
standing  up  apparently  to  speak.  Not  wishing  to  disturb 
any  one,  he  quietly  seated  himself  unobserved  in  a  seat  be- 
hind everybody  in  the  room  near  the  door.  The  person 
speaking  talked  so  low  and  indistinct,  only  a  faint  sound  of 
the  voice  could  be  heard  by  Elisha.  As  the  speaker  sat 
down  Elisha  heard  apparent  mutterings  of  approval  from 
the  good  brethren  who  sat  nearer,  and  felt  sure  that  some- 
thing good  must  have  been  said.  The  old  shouting  instinct 
at  once  irrestibly  came  over  him,  and  in  that  silent  moment 
"Amen,  at  a  venture^'  came  thundering  up  from  his  power- 
ful throat.  The  shock  to  many  was  quite  severe.  He  had 
so  managed  that  not  half  a  dozen  in  the  house  knew  of  his 
presence.  He  enjoyed  such  surprises,  and  rather  took  pride 
in  the  distinction  they  gave  him. 

John  Lindskill,a  brawny  Yorkshire  Englishman  by  birth, 
a  man  of  good  sense  and  sterling  honesty,  of  whom  more  is 
said  elsewhere,  was  also  heard  often  with  good  and  telling 
effort  at  those  meetings. 


112  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Infant  baptism  was  but  little  known  to  and  indeed  rarely- 
practiced  by  the  people  of  Dallas  in  those  days,  so  that  after 
these  great  revivals  there  were  numerous  baptisms  of  adults. 
With  many,  and  I  might  say  almost  with  the  majority,  bap- 
tism, by  immersion,  was  the  only  true  and  satisfactory 
method.  This  rite  was  frequently  performed  at  Christian 
Rice's  mill  pond,  and  sometimes,  too,  in  coldest  winter 
weather.  Large  crowds,  drawn  by  curiosity,  were  usually 
present  at  these  public  baptisms.  The  deeper  sentiment 
and  solemnity  of  the  ceremony  was  but  little  apprehended 
by  the  onlookers.  I  am  told  that  on  one  of  these  occasions 
along  "early  in  the  forties,"  Jacob  Beam,  a  famous  fighter 
and  bully  at  that  time,  stood  intently  and  silently  watching 
the  minister  as  he  led  the  candidates  one  by  one  from  the 
shore  down  into  the  deep  water,  and  by  a  sudden  move- 
ment threw  them  over  and  dipped  them  under  the  water. 
Jacob  had  witnessed  several  repetitions  of  this  operation, 
which,  in  his  mind,  awakened  but  one  thought,  and  that 
evidently  in  the  line  of  his  ruling  passion.  After  a  few  mo- 
ments of  silent  contemplation,  Jacob  turned  to  some  people 
who  were  standing  near  him,  and  remarked  in  his  broken 
English  :  "Golly,  but  I'd  like  to  see  any  tree  men  trow  me 
so."  Jacob  had  long  been  a  champion  wrestler,  and  claimed 
no  man  could  whip  him  or  make  him  cry  enough.  "An' 
yit,"  he  used  to  add,  with  boastful  family  pride,  "I  ain't  as 
good  a  man  as  my  brudder  John,  'cause  John  can  lick  his 
daddy,  an'  dad't  more'nd  I  could  ever  do." 

The  brother  John  referred  to  was  frequently  known  as, 
and  called  John  De  Beam,  or  John  De  La  Beam,  because 
of  his  very  peculiar  habit  of  interjecting  the  words  "de"  or 
"de  la"  into  almost  every  sentence  he  spoke,  especially  into 
the  more  excited  and  profane  portion  of  his  conversation. 
He  was  another  odd  character.  Like  most  of  his  family  he 
was  a  man  of  great  physical  strength  and  of  iron  constitu- 
tion.    Though  more  than  half  a  score  of  years  beyond  the 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  II3 

age  which  would  have  subjected  him  to  the  liability  of  being 
drafted,  he  voluntarily  entered  the  United  States  Army 
during  the  late  Civil  War  in  the  143d  Regiment  Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers,  and  serve  through  to  its  end,  with 
probably  as  little  complaint  or  suffering  as  any  member  of 
his  regiment.  Every  year,  about  the  month  of  August,  or 
just  after  the  oats  were  harvested,  he  used  to  announce,  in  his 

characteristic  dialect :    "  By  de  la ,  I've  got  to  go  and 

give  de  old  chimney  a  good  burnin'  out  agin."  By  this  he 
meant  going  to  Harvey's  Lake  for  three  or  four  days  and 
often  a  week  or  ten  days  continuous  drunk,  interspersed 
with  going  in  swimming  three  or  four  times  a  day.  On 
these  occasions  he  was  usually  provided  with  a  large  bottle 
or  jug  well  filled  with  the  cheapest  and  rankest  whiskey  he 
could  purchase.  During  these  "burning  out"  seasons  he 
was  usually  entirely  alone  and  cared  for  no  other  food  or 
drink,  and  at  night  slept  in  the  woods  or  by  the  roadside, 
in  a  barn  or  any  place  where  he  might  happen  to  be  when 
darkness  came  on.  John  had  occasional  other  sprees  dur- 
ing the  year,  but  he  seemed  to  regard  this  annual  "burnin' 
out  of  de  old  chimney"  as  almost  a  hygenic  necessity.  Ann 
Beam  was  a  sister  of  John.  She  is  still  remembered  by  many 
about  Wilkes-Barre  and  the  remoter  parts  of  the  county.  She 
was  an  incessant  wanderer  and  lived  and  slept  out  of  doors 
almost  like  an  Indian.  It  was,  in  fact,  claimed  by  some  that 
there  was  a  considerable  mixture  of  Indian  blood  in  all  the 
members  of  this  family.  Another  family  similarly  famous 
in  Dallas  during  the  early  half  of  this  century  was  the  Lee 
family.  They  also  were  reputed  to  be  partly  of  Indian  blood. 
I  believe  both  of  these  families  are  now  extinct.  They  pos- 
sessed many  good  traits,  and  many  very  bad  ones.  They 
were  at  one  time  a  constant  menace  to  the  peace  and  good 
order  of  society,  and  figured  often  and  conspicuously  in 
the  criminal  courts,  as  the  records  of  Luzerne  county,  too, 
will  attest. 


114  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Resuming  again  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  it  cannot  well 
be  closed  without  some  reference  to  "Millerism"  and  the 
preaching  of  Millerite  doctrines  in  the  winter  of  i842-'43. 
It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  religious  movement  of  modern 
times,  and  certainly  few  in  all  historic  time,  have  ever,  in  so 
short  a  period,  awakened  so  vast  a  religious  excitement  and 
terror  as  the  announcement  and  promulgation  of  these  doc- 
trines. Ten  years  before  Rev.  William  Miller,  of  Pittsfield, 
Mass.,  began  preaching  upon  the  subject  of  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  and  claimed  to  have  discovered  some  key 
to  the  prophecies  by  which  the  near  approach  of  the  end  of 
the  world  and  of  the  judgment  day  was  clearly  shown.  His 
earnest  manner  and  elaborate  arguments,  apparently  forti- 
fied with  abundant  historic  proof,  had  attracted  great  atten- 
tion and  started  many  followers  to  adopt  and  preach  the 
doctrines,  so  that,  at  the  period  named,  the  excitement  at- 
tending it  throughout  Christendom  was  at  its  highest  point 
The  time  for  this  holocaust  had  been  definitely  fixed  by 
these  modern  interpreters.  The  year  was  1843  and  Febru- 
ary was  the  month  when  all  things  were  to  collapse  and 
end.  Even  the  day  was  fixed  by  some.  On  that,  however, 
all  did  not  agree.  Some  fixed  the  14th  and  others  the  i6th 
of  February,  and  others  still  other  days  in  that  month  for 
the  happening  of  this  terrible  event.  When  we  recall  that 
the  doctrine  found  millions  of  believers  in  the  most  civilized 
centres  of  the  world,  and  for  a  time  seriously  paralyzed 
business  in  London,  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  we  will  not 
wonder  that  with  the  people  then  living  in  the  dreary  soli- 
tudes of  Dallas,  such  a  doctrine  found  ready  listeners  and 
willing  believers  almost  everywhere.  The  old  log  school- 
house  was  not  large  enough  to  hold  the  meetings,  and  others 
were  started  in  different  places.  A  very  large  one  was  con- 
ducted at  the  "Goss"  or  "Corner"  school-house.  The  time 
was  getting  short,  and  with  the  nearing  of  the  fatal  day  ex- 
citement increased.    Half  the  people  of  the  community  were 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  II5 

in  some  degree  insane.  Many  people  refused  to  do  any- 
business,  but  devoted  themselves  entirely  to  religious  work 
and  meditation.  These  meetings  were  started  early  in  the  fall, 
and  were  kept  up  continuously  through  the  winter.  The  plan 
and  intention  of  the  leaders  was  to  convert  every  one  in 
Dallas  township,  and  with  a  few  exceptions  the  plan  suc- 
ceeded. Of  course  there  were  different  degrees  of  faith. 
Some  were  so  sure  of  the  dissolution  of  all  things  on  the 
appointed  day  that  they  refused  to  make  any  provisions  for 
a  longer  existence.  One  man,  Christian  Snyder,  refused  to 
sell  corn  or  grain,  but  was  willing  to  give  it  away  to  the 
needy,  and  only  desired  to  keep  enough  for  the  needs  of 
himself  and  family  until  the  fixed  final  day.  Many  of  the 
people  spent  that  dreadful  winter  reading  the  bible,  praying 
and  pondering  over  that  horrible  interpretation.  The  me- 
morable meteoric  shower  which  extended  almost  over  the 
whole  world  on  the  night  of  the  I2th  and  13th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1833,  w^s  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  almost  every 
adult,  and  was  well  calculated  to  prepare  their  minds  to  be- 
lieve the  proofs  and  prophecies  of  such  a  catastrophe.  That 
never-to-be  forgotten  rain  of  fire  must  have  been  frightfully 
impressive  even  to  the  most  scientific  man  who  could  best 
understand  the  causes  which  produced  it.  It  has  no  paral- 
lel in  recorded  history,  and  one  can  quite  readily  understand 
how  such  an  interpretation  of  the  holy  prophecies,  following 
immediately  such  a  fiery  manifestation  in  the  heavens, 
should  find  easy  believers. 

Converts  were  frequently  baptized  that  winter  by  immer- 
sion through  holes  cut  in  the  ice,  and  in  one  instance,  I  am 
credibly  informed,  when  a  parent  only  succeeded  in  convert- 
ing a  doubting  daughter  on  the  night  before  the  supposed 
fatal  day,  he  took  her  himself  on  that  bitter  cold  night  to  the 
nearest  mill-pond,  cut  a  hole  in  the  ice  and  baptized  her  by 
immersion.  That  man  was  personally  well  known  to  me, 
and  to  the  day  of  his  death,  which  occurred  only  within  the 


Il6  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

last  decade,  he  remained  firm  in  his  faith  in  similar  inter- 
pretations of  the  prophecies,  and  continued  calculating  and 
fixing  new  dates  in  the  future  for  the  coming  of  the  end  of 
all  things.  He  was  never  disconcerted  by  any  failures,  but 
seriously  accounted  for  it  by  saying  that  he  had  made  a  lit- 
tle error  in  his  calculation,  and  gave  you  a  new  and  cor- 
rected date  farther  on.     This  man  was  Christopher  Snyder. 

An  anecdote  is  told  of  Harris  in  connection  with  the  me- 
teoric shower  above  referred  to,  illustrating  the  common 
belief  that  the  stars  had  actually  fallen  from  the  heavens. 
On  the  evening  folloMang  the  shower,  Mr.  Harris  said  he 
could  see  a  great  diminution  of  the  number  of  stars  in  the 
heavens,  and  ventured  the  belief  that  a  few  more  showers 
like  the  one  of  the  evening  before  would  use  up  the  balance 
of  them.  So  common  was  this  belief  that  the  stars  had 
actually  fallen,  so  great  and  memorable  was  the  event,  that 
to  this  day,  among  the  older  men  about  Dallas,  you  will 
occasionally  hear  men  trying  to  fix  the  date  or  year  of  some 
long  past  occurrence,  and  not  infrequently  one  will  remark 
something  like  this  :  "Well,  I  know  it  happened  then  be- 
cause the  stars  fell  in  thirty-three,  and  this  happened  just 
so  many  years  after"  (or  before,  just  as  the  case  may  be). 
"Now  figure  it  up  yourself." 

Sunday-schools,  those  now  inseparable  adjuncts  of  almost 
every  religious  society,  were  established  in  Dallas  at  quite 
an  early  day — soon  after  the  erection  of  the  old  log  school- 
house — probably  not  long  after  1820.  On  account  of  the 
distance  children  had  to  go,  and  of  the  bad  roads  during 
winter  time  in  the  country,  these  Sunday-schools  were  at 
first  only  kept  up  during  the  summer  months.  About  1870 
the  first  effort  was  made  in  Dallas  to  have  the  Sunday- 
schools  continue  the  year  round  at  the  church. 

With  difficulty  it  was  kept  alive  through  the  first  few 
years,  but,  by  the  efforts  of  a  few  untiring  ones,  the  school 
became  perennial  and  prosperous.     The  old  plan   was  to 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  11/ 

organize  the  Sunday-school  as  soon  as  the  roads  became 
settled  in  spring,  and  to  close  with  the  coming  of  the  muddy 
roads  of  autumn.  The  fourth  of  July  celebration  of  earlier 
times  was  usually  under  the  auspices  of  the  Sunday-school, 
and  was  the  great  event  of  the  Sunday-school  year.  A 
neighboring  grove  was  usually  cleared  of  underbrush,  some 
logs  were  laid  down  and  slabs  or  boards  laid  across  them 
for  seats.  A  speaker's  stand  or  large  platform  was  erected 
in  front.  If  not  more  than  a  mile  or  so  away  the  children 
usually  formed  in  line  at  the  church  and  marched  to  the 
grove.  The  drum  and  fife  were  the  only  music.  We  knew 
nothing  about  any  better  music,  and  wished  for  nothing 
better.  In  fact,  when  old  Uncle  Alex  Lord  of  Poverty 
Hollow,  near  Pincherville,  a  drummer  of  the  war  of  1812, 
used  to  play  his  famous  "  Double  Drag  Yankee  Doodle," 
with  Mr.  Hazeltine  from  Trucksville  accompanying  him  on 
the  fife,  we  boys  thought  it  about  the  best  music  that  there 
was.  We  always  expected  to  see  Mr.  Hazletine  at  Dallas  on 
the  fourth  of  July,  and  he  seldom  disappointed  us.  His  fife, 
when  not  in  use  on  those  occasions,  was  always  carefully 
wrapped  in  a  red  handkerchief  and  seldom  allowed  to  leave 
his  immediate  possession.  Sometimes  a  bass  drum  was 
added  to  the  band  of  that  day,  but  requiring  less  skill  to 
manipulate  it  had  a  great  variety  of  performers.  These 
celebrations  usually  brought  together  a  large  number  of 
people  from  miles  around,  and  were  conducted  much  as  an 
ordinary  Sunday-school  picnic  is  now,  except  that  there  was 
generally  a  reading  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  fol- 
lowed by  a  fourth  of  July  oration  with  plenty  of  eagle  in  it, 
then  possibly  a  story  about  the  Wyoming  Massacre  or  the 
sufferings  of  early  settlers  by  old  Uncle  Charles  Harris,  or 
some  other  venerable  person.  Once  I  remember  also  some 
funny  songs  by  Robert  Holly,  then  a  recent  arrival  from 
the  old  country.  Of  course  there  were  plenty  of  good  things 
to  eat,  and  usually  the  appetite  to  enjoy  them.     For  the 


Il8  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

children  it  was  one  of  the  rare  occasions  when  each  could 
have  a  stick  of  candy,  and  possibly  a  little  thin  lemonade. 
Simple  as  these  treats  seem  now,  they  were  of  greatest  con- 
sideration to  the  children  of  Dallas  in  those  days.  They 
have  better  times  now,  and  there  are  but  few  of  the  luxuries 
which  they  cannot  now  enjoy  with  the  rest  of  the  children 
of  the  world.  For  the  work  of  keeping  up  Sunday-schools, 
fourth  of  July  celebrations,  military  displays,  and  other  kin- 
dred diversions  in  Dallas  during  the  past  fifty  years,  more 
credit  is  due  to  Jacob  Rice,  Esq.,  than  to  any  other  man, 
and  for  it,  as  well  as  his  many  other  good  deeds,  he  deserves 
lasting  remembrance.  Mr.  Rice  died  in  the  year  189-,  and 
was  buried  in  the  new  cemetery  at  Dallas.  He  will  long 
retain  a  warm  place  in  the  memory  of  those  who  knew  him. 

AMUSEMENTS. 

The  social  festivities  and  amusements  of  those  early 
times  were,  as  has  been  previously  stated,  very  limited. 
What  there  was  of  them,  however,  was  usually  on  the  dulce 
cum  utile  principle — a  certain  amount  of  work,  seasoned  to 
suit  the  taste,  with  some  kind  of  innocent  play.  Apple  cuts, 
spinning  bees,  quilting  bees,  logging  bees,  stone  bees  and 
huckleberry  parties  were  of  this  character,  and  constituted 
the  bulk  of  all  amusements.  Balls  and  parties  were  looked 
upon  by  many  as  worldly  and  frivolous.  Occasional  public 
balls  were  given  at  the  hotel,  but  were  not  extensively  pa- 
tronized because  of  the  brutal  fighting  which  for  many  years 
kept  them  in  bad  odor.  Roughs  and  bullies  assembled 
from  all  parts  of  the  county  on  those  occasions.  For  a  gang 
from  Monroe,  now  Wyoming  county,  or  from  Shawnee 
(Plymouth)  to  meet  at  Dallas,  and  force  their  way  into  the 
ball  room  and  break  up  a  dancing  party,  or  for  one  faction 
of  the  Dallas  roughs  to  perpetrate  the  same  outrage  on  any 
party  whoever  they  might  see,  was  at  one  time  considered 
the  smart  and  funny  thing  to  do.     Even  in  the  memory  of 


Captain  Jacoi;  Rice 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  II9 

many  who  are  yet  on  the  morning  side  of  forty,  a  public 
ball  or  party  could  not  be  held  at  Dallas  without  having 
strong  -men  engaged  to  act  as  doorkeepers  and  bartenders 
to  prevent  the  invasion  of  the  roughs  on  the  ball  room  and 
the  bar.  So  rough  and  so  frequent  were  those  fighting 
scenes  at  Dallas,  not  only  at  balls,  but  at  political  meetings, 
barn  raisings,  logging  bees,  stone  bees  and  almost  all  occa- 
sions for  the  assembling  of  men,  that  Dallas  got  credit  or 
discredit  for  almost  every  fight  or  outrageous  act  occurring 
in  the  county  and  not  otherwise  accurately  accounted  for. 
According  to  general  belief  no  good  could  come  out  of  this 
Nazareth.  Not  only  Dallas,  but  everything  connected  with 
it,  was  the  subject  of  jeer  and  by-word  for  all  the  rest  of  the 
country  around,  and  respectable  citizens  were  almost  put 
to  shame  by  letting  the  place  of  their  abode  be  known  in 
some  of  the  neighboring  towns.  "He  is  from  Dallas,"  was 
the  usual  and  every  day  observation,  whenever  a  drunken 
brute  or  extraordinarily  awkward  and  uncouth  person  ap- 
peared on  the  street  "of  Wilkes-Barre."  No  one  would 
question  the  truth  of  such  a  remark,  and  with  probably  a 
majority  of  the  citizens  it  was  the  first  thought.  The  repu- 
tation of  Dallas  was  so  bad  that  everything  disreputable  was 
laid  at  its  doors.  Prior  to  the  great  Civil  War  of  1861-65, 
I  will  not  attempt  to  say  that  it  did  not  merit  a  portion  of 
its  unsavory  reputation,  but  since  then  I  claim  that  no  com- 
munity could  have  done  more  to  redeem  itself  At  the 
breaking  out  of  that  war  the  rough  fighting  element  of  Dal- 
las was  among  the  first  to  join  the  many  true  and  brave 
men  who  went  from  there  in  defence  of  the  Union.  Many 
of  those  who  were  commonly  known  as  the  fighters  in  Dal- 
las were  only  so  when  drunk.  When  sober,  they  were 
peaceable  and  law  abiding  citizens.  When  drunk,  they 
were  eager  to  "fight  their  weight  in  wildcats." 

The  war  cured  all  that.     A  few  of  them  lived  to  come 
back  with  the  remnant,  but  they  were  sober,  serious,  earnest 


I20  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

men  now.  They  had  seen  enough  of  fighting  and  wanted 
to  get  back  to  the  plow.  From  then  until  now  Dallas  has 
been  as  peaceful  and  law  abiding  as  could  be  desired  by  the 
most  exacting. 

Of  "apple  cuts"  I  can  speak  in  lighter  vein.  They  were 
never  sanguinary  or  brutal,  as  far  as  I  can  learn.  On  the 
contrary,  they  were  generally  occasions  of  great  merriment. 

It  has  been  truly  said  that  a  country  is  poor  indeed  when 
it  is  so  poor  that  dried  apples  become  a  luxury.  Before  the 
days  of  cheap  sugar  and  canned  fruits,  dried  apples  and 
cider  apple  sauce,  the  latter  made  of  apples  boiled  to  a  pulp 
in  cider,  were  luxuries  and  necessities  both  in  many  places 
besides  Dallas.  Apples  were  always  abundant  and  cheap 
in  Dallas.  In  fact,  when  the  forests  are  cleared  away,  apple 
trees  are  found  to  spring  up  spontaneously  in  some  places, 
and  only  need  a  little  trimming  and  protection  to  become 
good  orchards.  This  fact  was  accounted  for  to  the  writer 
by  the  owner  of  one  such  orchard  as  follows  :  He  said  a 
good  many  people  had  marveled  at  the  natural  growth  of 
his  orchard,  and  had  asked  him  how  he  could  account  for 
it.  "Of  course  you  know,"  said  he,  "that  it  has  always  been 
my  habit  to  give  such  things  a  good  deal  of  thought.  I 
could  never  be  satisfied,  like  most  folks,  to  just  sit  down 
and  take  things  as  they  come  without  trying  to  understand 
them,  and  I  always  keep  at  them  until  I  cipher  them  out. 
Now,  you  see  it's  just  like  this  about  these  apple  trees. 
Some  day  or  nuther,  probably  millions  of  years  ago,  this 
hull  country  was  overflowed  by  the  ocean.  That's  plain 
enough  to  any  man  who  takes  the  trouble  to  think  about 
these  things.  Well,  right  about  over  here  somewhere  there 
has  been  a  shipwreck  some  day,  and  a  ship  load  of  apples  has 
sunk  right  here,  and  these  apple  trees  have  sprung  from  the 
seeds.  You  know  a  seed  will  keep  a  great  while  and  then 
grow." 

The  work  of  paring  the  apples  and  removing  the  cores  for 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  121 

an  ordinary  family's  winter  supply  of  dried  apples  and  apple 
butter,  before  the  days  of  machines  for  that  purpose,  was  a 
task  of  no  little  magnitude.  All  had  to  be  done  by  hand. 
Well,  as  sometimes  happened,  many  bushels  had  to  be  so 
treated.  It  was  a  task  that  would  have  occupied  the  work- 
ing portion  of  an  ordinary  family  several  days,  and  thus 
much  of  the  fruit  would,  from  long  keeping,  have  lost 
its  value  for  cider  appliance  by  becoming  stale  and  partly 
dried.  For  this  reason  there  seemed  almost  a  necessity  for 
calling  in  help  sufficient  to  do  the  required  amount  of  work 
in  a  very  short  period  of  time.  The  apple  cut  solved  this 
difficulty  successfully.  When  a  family  had  once  determined 
on  having  an  apple  cut,  it  was  given  out  to  the  nearest  neigh- 
bors, and  from  them  it  spread  of  its  own  accord  for  miles 
around.  Those  who  heard  of  it  could  go  if  they  chose  to.  No 
special  invitations  were  required.  The  apple  cut  was  an  even- 
ing festivity,  and  was  most  prevalent  just  after  buckwheat 
thrashing,  when  the  nights  were  cool  and  the  roads  not  very 
muddy.  I  am  told  that  in  later  years  it  began  to  be  con- 
sidered "bad  form"  to  go  to  an  apple  cut  without  special 
invitation ;  but  apple  cuts  were  degenerating  then,  and  they 
died  soon  after  when  the  apple  parer  in  its  present  improved 
form  was  introduced. 

The  old  fashioned  apple  cut  was  a  very  informal  affair. 
Each  guest  upon  arrival  was  expected  to  take  a  plate  and 
knife,  select  a  seat  and  some  apples,  and  begin  work  with- 
out disturbing  anyone  else.  The  "cut"  usually  lasted  for 
an  hour  or  two.  Twenty  or  thirty  people  could,  and  did 
usually,  accomplish  a  good  deal  in  that  time  in  the  way  of 
work  as  well  as  say  and  do  a  great  many  of  the  common- 
place things  that  country  people  ordinarily  indulge  in  when 
thus  congenially  thrown  together. 

After  the  work  was  finished  and  the  debris  cleared  away, 
a  surreptitious  fiddle  was  sometimes  pulled  from  an  old 
grain  bag  and  started  up.     "  Fisher's  Hornpipe,"  "  Money 


122  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Musk"  and  "The  Arkansaw  Traveler"  composed  the  reper- 
toire of  the  average  fiddler  thereabouts  in  those  days,  and 
either  air  was  enough  to  set  all  heels,  with  the  slightest  pro- 
clivities in  that  way,  to  kicking  in  the  French  Four  or  Vir- 
ginia Reel  or  Cotillon.  At  some  houses  dancing  was  looked 
upon  as  improper,  and  in  its  stead  some  simple  games  were 
played.  The  festivities  usually  broke  off  early,  as  all  had 
long  distances  to  go.  Dissipation  in  the  matter  of  late  hours 
could  not  be  indulged  in  very  much,  because  of  the  very 
general  country  habit  of  early  rising. 

The  gentlemen  did  not  often  forget  or  fail  to  be  gallant 
in  the  matter  of  escorting  the  ladies  home.  Usually  the  de- 
mands of  etiquette  were  satisfied  with  the  gentlemen  "going 
only  as  far  as  the  chips,"  as  it  was  commonly  expressed, 
meaning,  of  course,  the  place  where  the  wood  was  hauled 
in  front  of  the  house  and  chopped  up  for  firewood. 

"Going  as  far  as  the  chips"  was  an  expression  as  common 
and  as  generally  understood  in  that  day  as  going  to  the 
front  gate  would  be  now.  The  front  gate  then  was  gener- 
erally  a  few  improvised  steps  to  assist  in  climbing  over  the 
rail  fence  at  some  point  near  the  "chips"  or  wood  pile. 

"Spinning  Bees"  and  "  Quilting  Bees"  were  exclusively 
feminine  industries.  With  each  invitation  to  a  "spinning 
bee"  was  sent  a  bunch  of  tow  sufficient  for  two  or  three 
days'  spinning,  which  the  recipient  was  expected  to  convert 
into  thread  or  yarn  by  or  before  the  date  fixed  for  the  party. 
The  acceptance  of  the  tow  was  equivalent  to  a  formal  ac- 
ceptance of  the  invitation.  On  the  appointed  day  each  lady 
took  her  bunch  of  spun  tow  and  proceeded  early  in  the  af- 
ternoon to  the  house  of  the  hostess.  The  afternoon  was 
usually  spent  in  the  usually  easy  and  unconventional  man- 
ner that  might  be  expected  when  a  dozen  or  fifteen  able 
bodied  women  of  the  neighborhood,  who  had  not  seen  each 
other  lately,  are  assembled.  This  was,  of  course,  long  be- 
fore the  newspaper  or  magazine  had  reached  their  present 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  1 23 

perfection,  and  before  the  daily  paper  "brought  the  universe 
to  our  breakfast  table" 

The  surest  way  for  a  lady  to  avoid  being  the  subject  of 
comment  was  to  be  at  the  meeting.  The  gentlemen  always 
came  in  time  for  tea  and  to  see  the  ladies  home. 

"Quilting  Bees"  define  themselves  in  their  name.  They 
were  very  similar  to  spinning  bees,  except  that  the  work  was 
done  after  the  guests  had  assembled. 

Huckleberry  parties  occurred  usually  just  after  corn  hoe- 
ing, early  in  July,  and  consisted  of  two  or  three  wagon 
loads,  probably  a  dozen  boys  and  girls,  provisioning  them- 
selves with  about  three  days'  rations,  and  starting  near  the 
smallest  hours  of  the  night  for  some  one  of  the  famous 
huckleberry  mountains  like  Mehoopany  Mountain  or  Allen 
Mountain.  The  mountain  top  was  usually  reached  about 
nine  or  ten  o'clock  next  day.  One  night  at  least  was  usu- 
ally spent  in  camping  out  on  the  open  mountain  top.  Of 
course  there  would  always  be  a  good  harvest  of  berries. 
The  return  was  usually  planned  so  that  home  would  be 
reached  about  the  same  hour  in  the  night  that  marked  the 
departure.  Sometimes  the  more  industrious  would  prolong 
the  trip  one  or  two  days  more,  but  usually  the  festivity  had 
worn  many  out  at  the  end  of  the  second  day  and  all  would 
be  glad  to  return. 

Of  "Stoning  Bees,"  "Logging  Bees"  and  "Raising  Bees," 
mention  has  been  made  before.  The  names  are  almost 
self-explaining,  though  just  why  they  were  called  "Bees'" 
I  cannot  learn,  unless  it  is  because  those  who  came  were 
expected  to,  and  usually  did,  imitate  the  industrial  virtues 
of  that  insect.  They  were  also  sometimes  called  "frolics," 
possibly  for  the  reason  that  the  frolicking  was  often  as  hard 
and  as  general  as  the  work.  Strong  and  hearty  men  were 
much  inclined  to  indulge  in  playful  trials  of  strength  and 
other  frivolities  when  they  met  at  such  times.     This  ten- 


124  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

dency  was  much  enhanced  in  the  earher  days  by  the  cus- 
tomary presence  of  intoxicants. 

These  amusements  were  varied  and  extended  far  beyond 
those  above  mentioned.  They  exhibit  and  illustrate  much 
of  the  character,  surroundings  and  habits  of  those  early 
people.  They  wanted  no  better  amusement.  It  was,  in 
their  esteem,  a  wicked  waste  of  time  and  in  conflict  with 
their  necessary  economies  to  have  parties  or  gatherings  of 
any  kind  exclusively  for  amusement,  and  unaccompanied 
with  some  economic  or  industrial  purpose  like  those  indi- 
cated above. 

The  dancing  party  or  ball  was  a  thing  of  later  date,  but 
even  when  it  came,  and  for  many  years  after,  it  was  looked 
upon  by  the  more  serious  people  as  not  only  wicked  and 
degrading  in  a  religious  and  moral  point  of  view,  but  very 
wasteful  in  an  economic  sense. 

Their  hard  sense  taught  them  that  their  industrio-social 
gatherings,  together  with  the  church  meetings  and  Sunday- 
schools,  furnished  ample  occasions  for  the  young  to  meet 
and  become  acquainted,  while  the  elements  of  bad  that  crept 
into  modern  society  elsewhere  were  there  reduced  to  a  min- 
imum. 

HARD    TIMES    AND    BUSINESS. 

As  before  stated  in  this  paper,  there  was  a  very  great 
scarcity  of  money  in  those  early  times  in  Dallas,  nor  was 
there  much  improvement  in  this  respect  until  after  the 
breaking  out  of  the  War  of  1 86 1,  which  flooded  the  country 
with  "greenbacks." 

The  many  expedients  employed  in  those  early  days  to 
get  a  little  money,  as  well  as  to  get  along  without  it,  seem 
almost  incredible  in  these  days  of  plenty.  All  the  dealing 
at  stores  was  done  through  a  system  of  exchanges.  Instead 
of  "shopping"  at  the  stores  they  called  it  "trading,"  which 
was  the  exact  word  to  use.  The  storekeeper  was  by  neces- 
sity compelled  to  take  anything  that  was  offered  in  exchange 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  125 

for  goods.  Among  the  articles  known  by  the  writer  to  have 
been  so  exchanged  or  traded  are  grain  of  all  kinds,  butter, 
eggs,  cows,  calves,  hogs,  sows  and  pigs,  game  of  all  kinds, 
fresh  fish,  poultry,  furs  and  skins,  lumber,  shingles,  township 
orders,  horses,  yoke  of  oxen,  beef,  cattle,  etc.  There  were 
many  more,  but  these  are  fair  samples.  To  some  extent  the 
practice  is  still  kept  up.  Sometimes  the  store  bill  would  be 
allowed  to  run  for  a  while,  and  when  it  came  to  settlement 
a  cow  or  some  other  of  the  more  valuable  articles  enumer- 
ated would  be  brought  in  to  balance  account.  I  have  a 
personal  recollection  of  every  item  in  the  articles  above 
enumerated  having  been  exchanged  or  traded  for  goods  at 
my  father's  store. 

Farmers  often  hired  extra  help  by  agreeing  to  work  an 
equal  number  of  days  in  exchange.  This  was  called  "chang- 
ing work,"  and  of  course  made  things  equal  without  the  use 
of  money.  A  large  portion  of  the  products  of  the  farms 
and  mills  at  that  time  gradually  drifted  into  the  hands  of 
the  local  merchants,  who  sent  them  to  the  larger  cities, 
where  they  were  sometimes  sold  for  money,  but  oftener 
again   exchanged  or  "traded"   for  goods  for  the  country 

stores. 

Some  money,  however— a  very  little  sufficed— had  to  be 
raised  to  pay  taxes  and  for  a  few  other  purposes,  such  as 
church  collections.  The  minister  was  usually  paid  with 
"donations,"  but  some  cash  was  necessary  at  times,  and  the 
getting  of  this  cash  was  a  most  difficult  thing  to  do.  One 
of  the  methods  was  for  the  men  to  go  down  to  the  Wyo- 
ming Valley  during  the  wheat  harvesting  season,  and  help 
gather  the  crop.  Scores  used  to  go  from  Dallas  and  vicinity 
for  this  purpose  every  year,  and,  as  Colonel  Charles  Dor- 
rance  once  said  to  the  writer,  they  did  a  day's  work  too. 
The  farmers  in  the  valley  had  begun  to  accumulate,  and 
many  of  them  were  already  quite  well  off  They  were  glad 
to  get  such  good  help,  and  the  "young  men  from  the  back 


126  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

of  the  mountains"  were  very  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  get 
work  that  would  bring  them  a  Httle  money.  I  am  told  that 
the  wages  paid  were  either  a  bushel  of  wheat  or  a  dollar  in 
cash  for  a  day's  work.  Wheat  was  a  cash  item  in  those 
days ;  so  much  so,  that  it  was  a  common  saying  when  one 
wished  to  emphasize  the  value  or  sufficiency  of  an  article  or 
a  security  of  any  kind  to  call  it  "good  as  wheat." 

In  the  winter  time,  those  of  the  Dallas  farmers  who  had 
teams,  and  some  who  had  not,  were,  for  many  years,  in  the 
habit  of  going  each  year  to  White  Haven,  or  to  "The 
Swamp,"  as  it  was  called,  to  work  in  the  lumber  woods. 
This  was  another  method  to  get  a  little  real  money,  and 
was  of  later  origin  than  by  working  in  the  harvest  fields  in 
the  valley.  The  workers  at  "The  Swamp"  usually  went  out 
there  in  the  early  winter  and  stayed  till  spring.  Just  prior 
to  the  War  of  1861,  it  was  not  an  unusual  thing  for  twenty 
or  thirty  men  from  Dallas  to  thus  spend  the  winter  at  or 
near  White  Haven. 

The  experiences  of  my  father  back  about  the  30's,  when 
the  big  dam  at  White  Haven  was  in  course  of  erection,  have 
been  often  told  to  me,  and  illustrate  well  how  hard  it  was  to 
get  work  that  would  bring  money  pay.  He  was  then  a  lad 
of  only  about  fifteen  years,  but  was  large  and  strong  for  his 
age.  Hearing  that  the  fabulous  sum  of  eleven  dollars  per 
month  was  being  paid  for  laborers  to  work  on  that  dam,  he 
walked  all  the  way  from  Dallas  and  offered  himself  as  a  labor- 
er. His  apparent  youth  was  against  him,  but  after  much  urg- 
ing he  was  allowed  to  begin  on  a  week's  trial.  He  spent  that 
week  with  a  wheelbarrow  and  at  quarrying  stones  on  the 
easterly  bank  of  the  river.  Never  in  his  life,  as  he  often 
said  afterwards,  did  he  work  harder  or  try  to  keep  a  job 
than  he  did  during  that  week,  which  meant  a  good  deal 
with  him  ;  and  never  was  he  more  broken-hearted  when  at 
the  end  of  that  time  he  was  told  that  he  was  too  young,  and 
would  have  to  give  way  to  older  and  stronger  men.     To 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA.  12/ 

get  a  little  money  ahead  so  as  to  start  some  kind  of  business 
was  his  ambition,  and  to  have  this  great  opportunity  wiped 
put  in  such  a  manner  was  to  him  a  severe  blow.  The  experi- 
ence was  not  lost,  however,  for  he  saw  that  at  this  point 
money  was  circulating,  and  that  farm  products  were  needed 
and  could  be  sold  for  cash  there.  He  therefore  returned  to 
Dallas,  secured  a  team  of  oxen  and  a  sled,  loaded  the  latter 
with  beef,  took  it  to  the  camps  near  White  Haven  where 
the  men  were  living,  and  sold  it  all  to  eager  buyers  and  with 
some  profit.  He  repeated  the  trip  several  times  with  differ- 
ent kinds  of  farm  produce.  The  last  time,  late  in  the  fall, 
with  apples,  which  froze  and  were  spoiled  on  the  way. 

On  one  of  those  trips,  while  at  White  Haven,  one  of  the 
laborers  died.  He  was  a  Catholic,  and  there  being  no  con- 
secrated ground  nearer  than  Carbondale,  my  father  let  his 
ox  team  and  sled  for  one  dollar  to  haul  the  body  to  Car- 
bondale for  burial. 

Ox  teams  were  much  more  numerous  than  all  others  com- 
bined in  those  days.  They  were  less  expensive  to  keep 
and  had  another  advantage  of  being  converted  into  beef 
when  no  lonsfer  useful  for  work.  There  were  still  other 
advantages  in  favor  of  oxen  for  that  time  and  place ;  they 
were  more  easily  managed  than  horses ;  they  needed  no 
harness  ;  their  slowness  and  gentleness  better  fitted  them  for 
the  work  in  the  woods  and  on  the  stumpy  new  land. 

Among  the  few  bad  traits  of  the  ox  was  sometimes  the 
habit  of  wanting  to  pasture  in  some  other  field  than  the  one 
into  which  he  had  been  put,  commonly  known  as  being 
"breachy."  It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  some  one  called 
on  Samuel  H.,  a  well  to  do  farmer  of  Dallas,  to  buy  a  "yoke 
of  oxen."  Mr.  H.  was  much  afflicted  with  stammering. 
His  oxen  were  beautiful  to  look  at,  and  quite  filled  the 
stranger's  ej^es,  and  the  price  asked  for  them  was  satisfac- 
tory. The  stranger  began  to  question  Mr.  H.  as  to  their 
qualities.     "Are  they  sound  ?"  asked  the  stranger.     "Y-y- 


128  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

y-y-ye-yes,"  responded  Mr.  H.  "Are  they  gentle  ?"  re- 
sumed the  stranger.  "  Ye-ye-ye-yes,"  stammered  Mr.  H. 
"Are  they  breachy  ?"  continued  the  stranger.  "Th-th-th-th- 
they  n-n-n-never  bother  me  any,"  answered  Mr.  H.  again 
after  an  unusual  paroxysm  of  stammering.  Seeing  the 
apparent  innocence  of  Mr.  H.,  and  the  pitiable  effort  it 
caused  him  to  continue  the  conversation,  the  stranger  closed 
the  bargain  at  this  and  took  the  oxen.  He  was  not  long  in 
finding  out  the  real  character  of  the  animals,  and  returned 
demanding  satisfaction  of  Mr.  H.  He  began  by  accusing 
Mr.  H.  of  all  kinds  of  deception  and  lying.  "You  sold  me 
those  oxen,"  said  he,  "and  told  me  that  they  were  not 
breachy,  and  they  are  the  worst  I  ever  saw.  I  can't  keep 
them  in  the  township."  "Ne-ne-ne-never  told  you  any 
such  th-th-th-thing,"  replied  Mr.  H..  "  Y-y~y-y-you  asked 
me  if  the  oxen  were  breachy,  and  I-i-i-i  told  you  they 
n-n-n-never  bothered  me  any,  and  they  n-n-n-never  did, 
'cause  I  wouldn't  let  such  a  thing  b-b-b-bother  me."  This 
fact  came  forcibly  to  the  stranger's  recollection,  and  he  de- 
parted filled,  no  doubt,  with  the  conviction  that  greatest  de- 
ception can  sometimes  be  practiced  with  a  literal  truth. 

This  stammermg  was,  however,  genuine  with  the  farmer, 
and  he  had  great  difficulty  in  uttering  certain  words.  One 
of  the  unpronounceable  words  with  him,  I  remember,  was 
"shilling."  He  used  to  struggle  and  chaw  at  that  word  for 
a  long  time,  and  was  never  able  to  pronounce  it.  The  only 
way  he  could  express  what  he  was  trying  to  say  was  by 
switching  off  suddenly  and  substituting  "  'leven  penny  bit," 
which  he  could  say  quite  readily. 

Another  ox  story  is  told  of  him  in  trying  to  sell  a  pair  of 
oxen,  one  of  which  (the  near  one)  was  good  and  the  other 
one  of  small  value.  He  would  say,  "That  n-n-n-n-near  ox 
is  the  bb  b-best  ox  you  ever  s-s-saw,  and  the  other  one  is 
his  m  mm- mate." 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  1 29 

Mr.  H.  was  withal  a  man  of  quick  wit  and  much  good 
nature,  and  had  the  esteem  of  his  neighbors  and  those  who 
knew  him  best. 

CHARACTERS. 

Abram  Pike,  the  "Indian  killer,"  was  a  wandering  men- 
dicant for  many  years  prior  to  his  death.  He  was  found 
dead  one  morning  in  a  barn  near  the  present  residence  of 
George  Ide,  in  Lehman  (then  Dallas)  township.  He  was 
buried  by  Dallas  townsfolk  as  a  pauper,  under  an  apple  tree 
near  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  old  "Ide  burying  ground," 
in  the  present  township  of  Lehman. 

The  following  incident,  connected  with  his  later  years, 
has  been  told  me,  which  I  do  not  remember  to  have  heard 
of  or  seen  in  print  before.  The  owners  of  an  eel  ware  in 
the  Susquehanna  River,  just  above  the  gas  house  at  Wilkes- 
Barre,  had  strong  suspicions  that  some  one  was  stealing 
their  fish,  and  set  a  watch  to  catch  him.  In  due  course  the 
thief  was  caught,  and  it  proved  to  be  poor  Pike.  He  was 
taken  down  to  old  HoUenback's  storehouse,  which  stood  on 
the  river  bank  a  short  distance  below  Market  street,  and 
locked  up.  Some  wagish  boys  put  up  a  card  over  the  door, 
"The  largest  Pike  ever  caught  in  the  Susquehanna  River  now 
on  exhibition  here — admission  ten  cents"  ;  and  it  is  said  they 
took  a  good  many  dimes  from  the  curious  people  who 
flocked  to  see  it. 

In  1 81 3  Steuben  Butler  proposed  to  publish  a  life  of 
"Abraham  Pike,"  but  for  lack  of  support  the  work  was  not 
published.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  original  subscrip- 
tion paper  now  in  hands  of  C.  E.  Butler  {verbatim) : 

" PROPOSALS 

"For  publishing  by  subscription  a  New  Work,  being  the 
life  of  Abraham  Pyke,  containing  his  adventures  in  the 
brittish  service  and  in  America  in  the  Wyoming  war,  etc., 
etc.     The  work  is  ready  for  the  press  as  soon  as  sufficient 


130  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

subscribers  will  warrant  the  publication.     It  will  be  printed 
on  good  paper  with  an  entire  new  tipe  and  stitched  in  blew, 
price  to  subscribers  50  cents. 
"  Wilkesbarre,  August,  18 1 3. 


"Subscriber's  name.  Place  of  residence. 

"(no  subscribers.)" 

While  speaking  of  the  wandering  propensity  of  Pike,  I 
am  reminded  of  the  other  two  characters  who  are  still  re- 
membered, no  doubt,  by  many  in  widely  separated  parts  of 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  I  refer  to  John  Shaw  and  James 
or  "Jimmy"  Bradshaw.  The  latter  was  a  soldier  of  the  war 
of  1 81 2,  and  was  very  old  and  very  deaf,  at  my  earliest  recol- 
lections, and  was  a  peddler  by  occupation.  He  spent  his  win- 
ters usually  at  the  charge  of  the  town  where  he  happened 
to  be  when  the  first  snow  came.  He  was  out,  however, 
again  with  the  first  warm  spring  days,  and  would  find  his 
way  to  some  near  storekeeper  and  secure  a  pack  of  goods 
to  peddle.  This  pack  consisted  usually  of  a  few  needles, 
pins,  buttons,  some  thread,  and  possibly  half  a  dozen  other 
small  articles,  costing  probably  five  or  ten  dollars  for  the 
entire  outfit.  Of  course  his  purchases  had  to  be  on  credit, 
but  none  who  knew  him  would  refuse  to  trust  him.  He 
traveled  over  a  vast  extent  of  country.  Almost  everyone 
knew  him  along  the  line  of  his  routes,  and  was  always  will- 
ing to  trade  with  him  or  give  him  food  and  lodging.  He 
was  careful  to  return  sooner  or  later,  often  not  until  he 
drifted  around  next  year,  and  pay  his  bills  for  purchases. 
In  mind  and  manners  he  was  as  simple  as  a  child.  He  spoke 
with  a  low,  genteel  mumble,  which  made  it  very  difficult  to 
understand  him.  He  never  shaved,  yet  his  face  was  almost 
as  hairless  and  soft  as  a  woman's. 

John  Shaw  came  nearer  to  being  a  veritable  wandering 
Jew  than  any  other  man  of  my  knowledge.     Not  that  he 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  I3I 

was  ever  supposed  to  be  a  bearer  or  precursor  of  pestilence, 
but  simply  because  he  was  a  persistent  and  constant  wan- 
derer. About  once  a  year  he  would  be  seen,  always  alone, 
slowly  strolling  across  the  country  from  the  south  towards 
the  north,  wearing  a  shabby-genteel  black  suit  with  broad- 
cloth frock  coat  and  a  much  worn  silk  hat.  He  generally 
walked  with  his  head  bowed  down  and  hands  clasped  be- 
hind him,  as  if  in  deep  thought.  Later  in  the  year  he  would 
pass  down  across  the  country  again,  but  in  the  opposite 
direction.  I  have  seen  him  pass  my  father's  house  in  this 
way  many  times,  but  do  not  remember  to  have  ever  seen 
him  look  up  and  speak  to  any  one  in  passing.  No  one,  so 
far  as  I  could  ever  learn,  knew  where  his  home  was  or 
where  he  went  to  on  his  annual  trips. 

A  story  is  told  of  him  that  on  one  occasion  he  was  taken 
sick  while  then  tramping  through  one  of  the  lower  counties 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  obliged  to  take  a  room  at  a  hotel. 
The  appearances  not  being  favorable  to  the  theory  of  his 
having  much  wealth,  there  was  a  coldness  and  lack  of  atten- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  landlord.  Shaw's  genteel,  though 
much  worn  hat  and  apparel,  together  with  his  natural 
shrewdness,  came  to  his  relief.  Assuming  an  importance 
and  dignity  equal  to  his  purpose,  he  sent  for  the  landlord, 
and  hinting  that  he  feared  that  his  illness  was  something  of 
a  most  serious  nature,  which  might  terminate  fatally,  he 
asked  to  have  a  doctor  and  a  lawyer  sent  for  at  once.  The 
former,  of  course,  to  cure  his  physical  ills,  and  the  latter  to 
draw  his  will.  He  hinted  at  large  possessions  in  other  parts 
of  the  state,  and  from  this  on  the  doctor,  lawyer  and  land- 
lord were  all  attention  to  his  wants.  He  dictated  a  will  with 
great  care  and  elaboration,  disposing  of  large  blocks  of  im- 
aginary landed  estates,  consisting  mainly  of  farms  and  coal 
lands  in  and  about  Kingston  and  Wilkes  Barre,  making  most 
liberal  provisions  for  the  doctor,  lawyer  and  landlord.  With 
the  excellent  attention  and  nursing  that  followed,  he  was  soon 


132  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

convalescent,  and  through  the  kindness  of  the  landlord  was 
favored  with  many  long  and  pleasant  drives  in  the  fresh  air. 
When,  later  on,  he  was  strong  enough  to  walk,  short  strolls 
were  indulged  in  from  day  to  day,  until  one  day,  when  re- 
covery was  quite  complete,  Shaw  continued  one  of  his  strolls 
so  far  that  he  failed  to  return,  leaving  the  landlord  and  other 
attendants  to  grow  wiser  at  their  leisure. 

SOME    DALLAS    YARNS    AND    INCIDENTS. 

There  was  at  one  time,  before  the  days  of  the  organ  and 
choir  in  the  Dallas  churches,  a  good  deal  of  rivalry  between 
Jacob  Rice  and  his  brother-in-law,  William  C.  Roushey, 
both  leading  members,  as  to  which  could  best  start  the 
tunes.  During  the  reading  of  the  hymn  it  was  not  an  un- 
common occurrence  to  see  each  of  them  rise  from  his  seat 
and  remain  standing.  The  boys  generally  understood  from 
this  there  was  fun  ahead,  and  were  seldom  disappointed. 
Hardly  would  the  last  words  of  the  reading  be  finished  be- 
fore each  of  the  tune  starters  would  make  a  drive  at  the  sing- 
ing. Sometimes  the  same  tune,  but  often  entirely  different 
tunes  with  different  meters.  A  long  meter  hymn  to  a  short 
meter  tune,  or  vice  versa,  made  but  little  difference  to  them. 
The  question  with  them  was  which  would  the  congregation 
follow.  One  or  the  other  usually  got  the  following,  though 
I  have  known  instances  when,  to  my  untrained  ear,  it  seemed 
that  each  had  a  following  on  a  different  tune.  To  say  that 
the  music  was  usually  "executed"  well,  would,  as  I  recall  it 
now,  seem  to  define  the  situation  perfectly. 

As  an  example  of  how  greatness  is  sometimes  born  in  us 
and  sometimes  thrust  upon  us,  it  is  said  of  Mr.  Roushey 
that  he  once  remarked  that  he  did  not  understand  how  it 
it  was  that  so  many  people  knew  him  whom  he  did  not 
know,  unless  it  was  because  he  always  started  the  tunes  in 
church.  Mr.  Roushey  was  a  much  respected  citizen  through 
a  long  life  spent  in  Dallas,  but,  like  most  of  us,  he  had  pecu- 


William   C    Roushey 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA,  1 33 

liarities  which  it  is  difficult  to  disassociate  from  his  memory. 
He  was  a  privileged  character  in  his  church,  and  felt  it  his 
duty  to  interrupt  the  minister  at  any  time,  from  his  seat,  if 
he  thought  any  misstatement  was  being  made ;  and  not  in- 
frequently I  have  heard  him  call  to  the  minister  during  the 
reading  of  a  hymn  and  ask  for  its  number,  which  probably 
he  had  not  accurately  heard  at  the  first  announcement. 
This  probably  grew  out  of  his  desire  to  be  ready  to  start 
the  tune. 

Another  amusing  story  is  told  in  which  this  same  Mr. 
Roushey  figures  somewhat.  He  had  recently  been  licensed 
as  a  local  preacher  or  exhorter,  and  began  by  trying  him- 
self on  the  Dallas  congregation.  Among  those  present  was 
John  Linskill,  a  large-brained,  sharp-witted  Yorkshire  Eng- 
lishman, whose  critical  comprehension  nothing  uttered  by 
the  preacher  was  likely  to  escape.  Of  course  the  sermon 
and  the  text  must  be  delivered  without  notes,  lest  some  one 
might  question  the  genuineness  of  the  "call  to  preach,"  and 
as  a  result  there  were  some  "bad  breaks."  The  text  prob- 
ably intended  to  be  used  was  "The  ways  of  the  wicked  are 
an  abomination  to  the  Lord,"  and  to  this  text  he  stuck. 
Faithfully  for  a  long  hour  he  chased  it  up  and  down  and 
ran  it  into  all  kinds  of  human  experience,  and  pictured  the 
horror  and  abomination  of  the  Lord  over  the  prayers  of  the 
wicked.  How  wicked  it  was  for  the  wicked  to  pray.  To 
those  who  happened  to  be  awake  during  the  long  harangue, 
among  them  Mr.  Linskill,  of  course  it  was  all  very  ludicrous. 

At  last,  after  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  in  making  human 
affairs  dovetail  with  this  text,  the  preacher  sat  down.  On 
the  instant  Mr.  Linskill  rose  from  his  seat  far  back  in  the 
church  and  said  with  a  deliberate,  penetrating  voice  heard 
in  every  corner  of  the  church,  "If  any  man  will  show  me 
that  text  in  the  bible,  I  will  be  a  wiser  man  than  I  ever 
have  been,"  and  sat  down.  Of  course  this  was  a  crushing 
humiliation  to  the  preacher,  but  it  seemed  to  be  one  of  the 


134  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

cases  of  "least  said  soonest  forgotten,"  and  so  I  presume 
the  incident  has  passed  out  of  the  memory  of  most  of  those 
who  were  present. 

A  story  is  told  of  A.  L.  Warring,  who  for  a  short  time 
about  1849  to  1851,  kept  the  hotel  at  Dallas.  Among  his 
most  liberal  patrons  were  Charles  Bennett,  a  lawyer  of 
Wilkes-Barre,  and  Henry  Hancock,  a  merchant  of  Dallas, 
Huntsville  and  elsewhere,  before  mentioned  in  this  book, 
who  were  in  the  habit  of  stopping  here  on  their  way  up  or 
down  on  numerous  fishing  and  other  excursions.  They 
were  both  famed  for  the  fun  that  they  were  usually  able  to 
extract  at  almost  any  time  from  the  most  trifling  incident  or 
fact  that  might  arise.  On  one  occasion  they  began  to  show 
a  disposition  to  criticize  Warring's  way  of  running  a  hotel, 
and  wound  up  by  telling  him  that  unless  he  secured  a  hotel 
sign  with  an  American  eagle  on  it  they  should  decline  to 
again  stop  at  his  hotel.  The  jest  was  so  well  hidden  that 
Warring  promised  faithfully  to  procure  that  bird  as  soon  as 
possible,  rather  than  lose  such  valuable  patrons.  P.  V. 
Wambold,  a  cabinetmaker  and  undertaker  of  note,  then  at 
Kingston,  was  commissioned  by  Warring  to  do  the  work, 
which  he  did  in  his  usual  finished  style,  putting  in  the  bird's 
mouth  a  ribbon  on  which  were  painted  the  words  ''E  plu- 
ribus  urnini"  in  rather  conspicuous  gold  letters. 

In  due  time  the  sign  was  erected  and  ready  to  greet  the 
eyes  of  Bennett  and  Hancock  when  they  came  again,  which 
was  not  long  after.  Supposing,  of  course,  that  they  would 
be  delighted  with  the  new  sign,  Warring  went  out  to  greet 
them,  and  incidentally  "pointed  with  pride"  to  the  American 
eagle  on  the  sign.  Quick  as  thought  signs  of  disgust  and 
contempt  began  to  darken  the  countenances  of  the  guests. 
Of  course  Warring  could  not  understand  the  cause  and 
asked  an  explanation.  "Explanation,"  exclaimed  the  guests, 
"Don't  you  see  you  have  insulted  us  ?  We  are  Americans 
and  we  asked  you  to  erect  an  American  eagle  sign,  instead 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  135 

of  which  you  have  had  an  '^ E pluribus  7cnurn'"  bird  put  up 
here,  which  is  an  insult  to  every  American  who  comes  to 
your  house,"  It  is  said  that  Warring  was  so  worried  over 
the  matter  that  he  sent  the  sign  back  to  Wambold  to  have 
it  made  right,  as  I  presume  it  was,  though  tradition  telleth 
not. 

The  fact  that  no  religious  denomination  except  the  Meth- 
odists has  ever  thrived  in  Dallas,  has  been  mentioned  before, 
but  the  density  of  the  ignorance  concerning  other  denomi- 
nations in  that  country  was  never  brought  to  the  writer's 
notice  until  one  of  the  Wilkes-Barre  evening  papers  of  recent 
date  published  the  following  : 

"A  distinguished  Episcopalian  clergyman  from  Philadel- 
phia was  at  Glen  Summit  recently.  One  day  he  came  to 
the  city,  and  in  the  company  of  friends  drove  over  to  Dallas. 
Being  a  great  walker  he  started  off  by  himself  to  view  the 
beauty  of  the  surrounding  country.  Becoming  thirsty  he 
went  to  a  farm  house  and  asked  if  he  could  purchase  a  little 
milk.  The  lacteal  was  produced  and  other  hospitalities  ex- 
tended, for  which  remuneration  was  refused.  'Do  you  have 
any  Episcopalians  over  here  ?'  he  inquired  of  his  hostess. 
"Well,  really  now,  I  don't  know,'  she  answered;  'our  hired 
man  shot  some  sort  of  a  queer  critter  down  back  of  the  barn 
the  other  day,  but  he  allowed  it  was  a  woodchuck.'  " 

This  story  is  a  little  moth-eaten,  and  I  fear  was  never  in- 
digenous to  Dallas;  but  whatever  it  may  lack  of  truth, 
illustrates  what  I  before  observed  about  the  tendency  of  the 
people  of  Wilkes-Barre  and  vicinity  to  attribute  to  Dallas 
any  unseemly  or  uncivilized  act  or  remark  which  was  with- 
out other  localization. 

A  series  of  good  yarns  are  told  of  and  concerning  one 
M L ,  an  all  around  Yankee  genius,  already  men- 
tions in  these  papers.  On  one  occasion  he  and  a  party  of 
neighbors  came  down  to  Dallas  to  enjoy  one  of  Philip 
Raub's  famous  suppers  of  chicken  and  waffles,  and  after- 


136  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

wards  to  have  a  little  dance.  Mr.  L.  brought  his  fiddle 
along,  and  was  orchestra,  called  off  the  dances,  and  was 
general  manager  of  ceremonies  as  usual.     As  the  sets  were 

formed  for  the  quadrille  it  happened  that  Mr.  L 's  son 

Charles  and  his  partner  took  a  position  nearly  in  front  of  and 
close  to  the  father.  As  the  dance  proceeded,  the  father  no- 
ticed that  Charles  seemed  to  be  a  good  deal  more  interested 
in  talking  to  his  partner  than  in  promptly  responding  to  his 
part  in  the  quadrille  as  the  calls  were  made.  This  indifference 
grew  until  Charles  was  practically  standing  still  during  many 
of  the  evolutions  where  he  should  have  taken  part.  Presently 
"swing  your  partners"  came  ringing  from  Mr.  L.,  and  the 
music  for  a  swing  proceeded,  while  Charles  stood  still  talk- 
ing to  his  partner,  oblivious  of  every  one  else  in  the  room. 
Mr.  L.  could  endure  this  no  longer.  Suddenly  the  music 
stopped  and  he  called  out,  "Charley,  swing  that  gal;  if  you're 
a  goin'  to  dance,  I  want  you  to  dance ;  if  you're  a  goin'  to 
spark,  go  down  in  the  settin'  room." 

Mr.  L.  at  one  time  had  a  considerable  reputation  for  his 
gift  at  swearing,  and  when  it  was  learned  that  he  was  about 
to  move  to  Dallas  that  reputation  preceded  him.  At  that  time 
Dallas  could  boast  of  another  citizen,  Mr.  J.  F.,  also  distin- 
guished, among  other  things,  for  his  facility  in  the  invention 
and  use  of  oaths.  About  the  time  that  Mr.  L.  was  coming 
to  Dallas,  some  one  mentioned  to  Mr.  F.  that  when  Mr.  L. 
arrived,  he  (F.)  would  have  to  retire,  as  Mr.  L.  could  beat 
him  all  over  at  swearing.  The  curiosity  of  F.  was  so  aroused 
by  this  that  he  determined  to  go  down  to  the  hotel  at  Dal- 
las on  the  day  of  the  arrival  to  see  the  newcomer,  and  pos- 
sibly get  some  points  in  profanity.  After  waiting  around 
some  time,  a  stranger  drove  up  to  the  hotel  and  stopped. 
Hardly  had  he  done  so  when  the  flood  gates  were  opened, 
and  I  am  told  by  those  who  heard  it  that  the  way  he 
swore  was  an  inspiration.  No  name  for  the  stranger  had 
yet  been  given,  and  F.  stood  wondering  if  this  could  be  his 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  1 37 

rival.  After  hearing  a  few  choice  specimens  the  doubt  was 
enough  removed  for  F.  to  approach  and  address  him.  "Ain't 
your  name  L.  ?"  asked  F.     "Yes,"  barked  the  stranger; 

how  the  did  you  know  me  ?"     "Well,  sir,  by , 

they  told  me  that  you  were  comin',  and  that  you  were  the 
only  man  in  the  world  that  could  beat  me  a-swearin',  and 

I  know'd  you  by  that."     They  were  fast  friends  from 

then  on — two  of  the  best-hearted  men  in  the  township ; 
rough  diamonds  indeed  they  were. 

A  good  story  is  told  of  Joseph  Hoover  dating  well  back 
in  the  first  half  of  the  century.     He  went  one  day  to  the 

store  of  Mr.  Jacob  R ,  in  a  neighboring  town,  to  get  a 

gallon  of  molasses,  taking  with  him  the  jug  usually  used  for 
that  purpose.  As  it  happened  that  day,  the  son,  Isaac,  who 
usually  waited  on  him,  was  otherwise  engaged,  and  the 
father,  Jacob,  went  down  cellar  to  draw  the  molasses.  After 
being  gone  some  time,  Jacob  called  up  from  the  cellar  to 
Joseph  and  said  that  the  jug  did  not  hold  a  gallon.  "Call 
Isaac,"  replied  Hoover,  "and  let  him  try ;  he  has  always 
been  able  to  get  a  gallon  in  that  jug." 

For  a  number  of  years  prior  to  the  year  1883,  Francis 
Hoover,  who  lived  near  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Wilkes- 
Barre  Water  Company's  reservoir,  where  the  road  from 
Huntsville  to  Dallas  passes  around  the  same,  claimed  title 
to  some  land  which  also  was  claimed  by  a  neighbor,  Chris- 
topher Eypher.  The  dispute  ended  in  an  ejectment  suit, 
which  was  finally  decided  in  favor  of  Mr.  Eypher  by  the 
poet-lawyer,  David  M.  Jones,  of  Wilkes-Barre,  to  whom  the 
case  was  referred.  I  quote  from  the  newspaper  account 
which  was  published  at  the  time  : 

"Eypher  brought  an  action  of  ejectment  against  Hoover  for  some 
three  acres  of  land  in  Dallas  township,  part  of  a  larger  tract  of  one 
hundred  and  three  acres.  The  defendant  filed  the  usual  plea  of  "not 
guilty,"  thus  disputing  not  only  the  plaintiff's  alleged  ownership  of  the 
title  to  the  three  acres,  but  also  denying  the  usual  primary  averment 


138  DALLAS    TOWNSPilP,    PA. 

of  the  plaintiff  in  such  cases  that  the  defendant  was  in  possession,  as 
unless  he  were  he  could  not  be  sued  even  though  he  had  no  title 
whatever. 

"A  jury  trial  was  waived  and  the  case  referred  to  Attorney  D.  M. 
Jones,  our  popular  poet,  who,  after  taking  a  large  amount  of  testimony 
on  both  sides,  and  listening  to  the  spirited  arguments  of  counsel,  filed 
a  report  in  favor  of  the  plaintiff.  To  this  numerous  exceptions  were 
filed  by  defendant's  counsel,  and  after  lengthy  argument  on  the  excep- 
tions, the  court,  Judge  Woodward,  filed  the  following  opinion : 

"Christopher  Eypher    j  C.  P. 

vs.  \  200  January  Term,  1883. 

Francis  Hoover.       ]    Report  of  Referee  and  exceptions. 

"This  is  an  action  of  ejectment,  and  the  8th  finding  of  fact  by  the 
Referee  is  as  follows : 

"  'Eighth — That  the  title,  legal  and  equitable,  to  said  land  is  in  Chris- 
topher Eypher,  the  plaintiff,  and  that  he  has  been  in  possession  and 
has  occupied  and  improved  said  lot  No.  6  since  the  28th  March,  1844, 
the  disputed  land  being  within  the  certified  fines  of  said  No.  6,  and 
of  lot  No.  5  certified  Bedford  since  the  6th  of  May,  1854 — that  he  has 
occupied  and  improved  said  lands  under  and  by  virtue  of  said  con- 
veyance.' 

"Again,  in  what  is  called  the  'history  of  the  case,'  on  page  5,  the 
Referee  states  that  'the  plaintiff  has  been  in  possession  of  these  lands 
for  a  little  over  forty  years,'  &c. 

"Now,  ejectment  is  a  possessory  action,  and  the  writ  avers  that  the 
defendant  is  in  possession,  while  the  right  of  possession  remains  in 
the  plaintiff  who  brings  the  suit.  Certainly  this  is  not  established  by 
showing  that  the  plaintiff  is  actually  in  possession,  and  has  been  for 
forty  years  last  past.  The  referee  concludes  his  report  by  finding  in 
favor  of  the  plaintiff  for  the  land  described  in  the  writ.  We  are  utterly 
at  a  loss  to  understand  how  a  judgment  in  ejectment  can  be  either 
entered  or  enforced  in  favor  of  a  party  shown  by  the  evidence  to  have 
been  in  actual  and  peaceful  possession,  not  only  at  the  time  of  bring- 
ing the  suit,  but  for  forty  years  previous  thereto. 

"Apprehending,  however,  that  we  may  possibly  not  rightly  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  the  referee,  we  refer  the  case  back  to  him,  with 
the  remark,  that  if  his  statement  of  the  facts  is  precisely  what  he  in- 
tends, there  would  seem  to  be  no  cause  of  action. 

"Stanley  Woodward,  Judge." 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  1 39 

Later  the  referee  filed  a  supplemental  report  on  the  re- 
reference,  wherein  he  rebuts  the  inference  of  the  plaintiff's 
possession  from  that  part  of  his  former  report  quoted  in  the 
opinion  of  the  court,  and  again  awards  the  disputed  land  to 
the  plaintiff  Accompanying  his  supplemental  report  the 
referee  handed  to  Judge  Woodward  the  following  extra- 
judicial vindication  of  the  true  intent  of  the  former  finding: 

Luzerne  Cou?ity,  ss  : 

Eypher  "^  No.  200,  January  Term,  1883. 

vs.  y  Ejectment. 

Hoover.         J    Supplemental  "  History  of  the  Case." 

They  made  me  a  Referee 

In  a  land  case  uncommonly  long-winded, 
An  ill  wind  that  blew  a  good  fee, 

Because  for  a/ee  they  contended. 

And  I  said  to  myself,  my  Report 

Is  lucid,  at  least  to  my  own  mind; 
And  when  it  goes  up  to  the  court, 

On  the  usual  exceptions,  tho'  stone  blmd, 

Dame  Justice  will  see  what  I  mean  ; 

But  wit,  too,  is  blinding  by  flashes, 
And  a  stroke  of  it  might  intervene, 

Should  she  lay  the  law  down  on  my  dashes. 

And  behold,  in  a  finding  of  fact, 

The  Judge  found — bad  luck  to  my  dashes — 

The  plaintiff  possessed  of  the  tract, 

And  then  follows  his  wit,  with  its  flashes : 

"Possessed  of  the  piece  in  dispute, 

(What  more  could  a  plaintiff  desire  ?), 
At  the  time  he  started  the  suit, 

And  upwards  of  forty  years  prior." 

Did  it  take  me  ten  days  to  find  out, 

With  a  cursory  sort  of  digression. 
What  the  whole  blasted  case  was  about, 

And  who  was  in  peaceful  possession  ? 


HO  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

There  were  acres  one  hundred  and  three — 
Perchance  more — aUogether,  were  aching 

To  get  a  small  slice  of  the  fee, 

And  the  title  to  three,  it  was  taking. 

The  plaintiff  one  hundred  possessed  / 

But  his  deeds  called  for  three  in  addition  ! 

He  ought  to  be  sorely  distressed, 

But,  dear  Judge,  I  don't  mean  in  perdition. 

I  said  what  I  meant,  and  I  meant 

What  I  said,  and  I  say,  that  I  said  it, 
It  is  not  what  I  wrote  I  repent. 

But  the  cursory  way  that  you  read  it. 

The  defendant's  attorney  he  took 

Two  days  my  dull  mind  to  enlighten. 
Oh !  the  fists  in  my  face  that  he  shook, 

To  inform  me,  you  see,  not  to  frighten. 

Now  he  claims  that  my  report  is  sent  back, 
That  the  case  may  again  be  gone  over, 

How  the  sides  of  Old  Laughter  will  crack. 
When  that  Bull  gets  again  in  the  clover. 

But  I  think  I  can  stand  the  attack. 

At  ten  dollars  a  day,  till  'tis  ended ; 
To  go  up  again  and  come  back 

On  a  teeter  like  that  is  just  splendid. 

How  fine  to  ascend  and  descend 

On  that  see-saw  aforesaid  a-straddle, 
With  law  points  to  boot  at  each  end. 

And  myself,  as  it  were,  in  the  saddle. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

D.  M.  Jones. 
To  the  Honorable  Stanley  Woodward,  Judge. 

THE    TELEPHONE,    RAILROAD    AND    OTHER    ENTERPRISES. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  War  of  i86i-'65  and  for  several 
years  thereafter  the  only  mail  facilities  at  Dallas  were  via  the 
route  from  Kingston  to  Bowman's  Creek  once  a  week. 
Within  a  few  years  after  the  war  the  mail  was  increased  to 
twice  a  week,  but  it  was  not  until  the  year  1873,  under  the 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  I4I 

administration  of  President  Grant,  that  the  mail  receipts 
were  increased  to  every  day.  Abram  Ryman  was  post- 
master at  that  time.     From  this  time  on  there  was  a  stronp' 

o 

and  growing  feeling  with  a  few  inhabitants  of  Dallas  in  favor 
of  a  telegraph  or  some  more  rapid  means  of  communicating 
with  the  outside  world.  The  telegraph  was  impractical  on 
account  of  the  expense  of  hiring  skilled  operators.  The 
problem  was  not  solved  until  1878,  when  the  telephone  was 
put  on  the  market  first  as  a  practical  invention.  A  few  ex- 
perimental telephones  had  been  seen  at  Wilkes-Barre,  at- 
tached to  telegraph  lines,  early  in  that  year.  They  seemed 
to  so  fit  the  needs  of  Dallas  and  vicinity  that  immediate  steps 
were  taken  to  organize  a  company  and  build  a  line.  The 
Wilkes-Barre  and  Harvey's  Lake  Telegraph  Company  was 
the  name  of  the  corporation  then  formed.  It  was  incorpo- 
rated as  a  telegraph  company  because  no  laws  had  yet  been 
formed  to  provide  for  incorporating  telephone  companies, 
and  this  was  considered  substantially  near  enough  a  system 
of  telegraphing  to  warrant  calling  it  such.  The  charter  was 
received  July  4th,  1878.  The  incorporators  were  H.  S. 
Rutter,  E.  P.  Darling,  H.  A.  Moore,  G.  M.  Lewis,  C.  A. 
Spencer,  W.  J.  Honeywell,  Joseph  Shaver,  T.  F.  Ryman, 
J.  J.  Ryman  and  W.  P.  Ryman.  The  line  was  constructed 
from  Wilkes-Barre  to  Harvey's  Lake,  with  an  ofifice  at  the 
store  of  A.  Ryman's  Sons  in  Dallas  village.  The  Harvey's 
Lake  office  was  first  at  the  cottage  of  H.  S.  Rutter,  and  the 
Wilkes-Barre  office  at  the  office  of  Ryman  &  Lewis,  No. 
7  West  Market  street,  where  the  present  Anthracite  Build- 
ing now  stands  [1886].  The  line  was  completed  and  the 
instruments  connected  about  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 

the day  of  November,  1878.     At  about  that  time  the 

writer  rang  the  signal  bell  and  got  an  answer  from  Dallas. 
The  surprise  and  wonder  were  very  great,  and  we  could  at 
first  hardly  realize  that  we  were  talking  to  each  other  nine 
miles  away.     This  was  the  first  regular  telephone  line  con- 


142  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

structed  in  vicinity  of  Wilkes-Barre,  and  up  to  that  time  was 
the  longest  distance  anyone  in  the  vicinity  of  Wilkes-Barre 
had  attempted  to  talk.  The  curiosity  and  incredulity  of  the 
people  along  the  line  about  Dallas  and  Harvey's  Lake,  when 
told  that  machines  were  being  put  up  by  which  one  could 
talk  at  Harvey's  Lake  or  Dallas  and  be  heard  at  Wilkes- 
Barre,  were  very  great.  Some  laughed  at  it  as  a  joke  and 
would  not  seriously  consider  the  possibility  of  such  a  thing 
for  a  moment.  Scores  watched  the  work,  however,  with 
increasing  attention  and  earnestness  as  it  approached  com- 
pletion. As  the  day  and  the  hour  of  its  completion  drew 
near  crowds  began  to  assemble  at  the  Harvey's  Lake  and 
Dallas  offices  until,  I  am  told,  they  amounted  to  hundreds, 
who  had  assembled  to  have  their  predictions  of  failure  be- 
lieved. When  they  were  persuaded  by  hearing  and  recog- 
nizing the  voice  that  the  speaker  was  actually  as  far  away  as 
Wilkes-Barre,  they  began  to  try  and  explain  the  "how"  and 
"why"  of  it.  With  most  of  them,  as  with  the  majority  of 
mankind,  it  was  incomprehensible ;  but  a  few  knowing  ones 
at  Dallas  explained  it  easily  enough,  I  am  told,  by  an  im- 
aginary discovery  that  the  wire  which  had  been  strung 
upon  the  poles  to  Wilkes-Barre  was  hollow,  and  thus  the 
voice  was  easily  carried  so  far  as  through  a  tube. 

THE    RAILROAD. 

To  Albert  S.  Orr,  more  than  to  any  other  one  person,  is 
due  the  credit  of  starting  and  pushing  the  enterprise  of  the 
Wilkes-Barre  and  Harvey's  Lake  Railroad  until  it  had  to 
and  did  become  a  reality.  For  many  years  a  short  line 
from  Wyoming  Valley  via  Dallas  to  the  New  York  state 
line  had  been  talked  of  Once,  about  the  year  1868,  a  sur- 
vey was  made  from  Mehoopany  down  via  Bowman's  Creek, 
Kunkle,  across  "Chestnut  Ridge"  and  through  Dallas  vil- 
lage, but  this  survey  did  not  find  a  practical  route  on  ac- 
count of  steep  grades  and  deep  cuts.     In  the  midsummer 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA.  I43 

of  1885  Mr.  Orr  called  one  warm  afternoon  at  the  law  office 
of  George  W.  Shonk,  Esq.,  on  Franklin  street,  in  Wilkes- 
Barre,  and  began  to  talk  about  some  valuable  timber  land 
and  lumber  interests  belonging  to  John  Shonk,  the  father 
of  George,  situate  at  Ruggles  post-office,  beyond  Harvey's 
Lake.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  Orr  asserted  that 
he  knew  a  feasible  route  for  a  railroad  from  Wyoming  Val- 
ley to  Harvey's  Lake  which  could  be  built  and  equipped 
for  a  very  small  sum  comparatively,  say  ^^  100,000  to  ^150,- 
000,  which,  when  built,  would  not  only  enhance  Mr.  Shonk's 
lands,  but  all  others  along  the  line.  This  idea  at  first  struck 
Mr.  Shonk  favorably,  but  when  he  began  to  think  of  its 
cost,  compared  with  his  bank  account  at  that  particular  day, 
the  notion  became  ridiculous  to  him,  and  he  remarked  to 
Mr.  Orr  that  he  could  not  talk  about  building  a  railroad, 
calling  attention  to  his  then  small  balance  in  bank.  "That 
makes  no  difference,"  said  Mr.  Orr;  "I  have  no  more  cash 
on  hand  than  you  have,  but  I  will  take  ^5,000  in  the  road 
and  will  find  some  way  to  raise  it.  I  want  you  to  see  your 
father  to-night  when  you  go  home  and  talk  it  over  with 
him."  Mr.  Shonk  did  as  requested.  Much  to  his  surprise, 
his  father  was  not  only  much  interested,  but  agreed  to  take 
^25,000  of  the  stock  and  to  get  others  to  take  some.  Mr. 
Orr  in  the  meantime  called  on  Mr.  Troxell,  owner  of  a  large 
body  of  land  at  Harvey's  Lake,  and  Messrs.  Ryman  and 
Brothers  and  Joseph  Shaver  and  others  owning  land  at  Dal- 
las, and  from  each  got  not  only  encouragement  but  agree- 
ment to  take  some  of  the  stock.  With  this  assurance  Mr.  Orr 
began  at  once  to  secure  right  of  way,  to  have  surveys  made 
and  to  make  application  for  the  charter.  Mr.  Orr  spent 
most  of  the  balance  of  the  year  1885  in  getting  the  right  of 
way,  in  which  he  was  very  successful,  having  secured  a 
large  portion  without  cost.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1886, 
everything  being  in  readiness,  and  the  organization  com- 
plete, the  directors  met  and  let  the  contract  for  grading  to 


144  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

Mr.  Orr.  Hardly  was  the  ink  dry  on  his  contract  before 
one  bright  morning,  May  30,  1886,  Mr.  Orr  was  at  work 
with  about  one  hundred  Hungarians  grading  this  road  as 
it  now  h'es,  beginning  at  a  point  near  the  old  White  mill- 
dam  in  Luzerne  borough.  Mr.  Orr  continued  his  work 
with  unabated  zeal  for  nearly  a  month,  when  the  Lehigh 
Valley  Railroad,  through  Mr.  Albert  Lewis,  seeing  the  ad- 
vantage of  this  road  and  its  importance  to  a  larger  system, 
began  negotiations,  and  within  a  few  days  purchased  the 
franchise  and  all  rights  of  the  new  company  and  proceeded 
to  finish  it.  In  this  way  the  road  was  built  much  better  and 
more  substantially  than  it  probably  would  otherwise  have 
been.  The  work  was  not  pushed  rapidly,  but  was  done 
well,  and  on  Thursday,  December  9th,  1886,  the  first  loco- 
motive passed  through  the  village  of  Dallas.  The  road  was 
not  open  for  general  business  and  travel,  however,  for  sev- 
eral months  later.  Under  the  management  of  the  Lehigh 
Valley  this  railroad  prospered  far  beyond  expectation.  The 
lumber  and  passenger  traffic  grew  rapidly  and  soon  attracted 
attention. 

Within  ten  years  from  the  beginning  of  the  first  railroad 
there  began  to  be  talk  of  a  second,  this  time  an  electric 
road,  intended  more  especially  to  catch  the  passenger  busi- 
ness between  Wilkes-Barre,  Dallas  and  Harvey's  Lake.  As 
early  as  the  year  1893  John  B.  Reynolds  of  Kingston,  the 
leading  spirit  of  the  new  enterprise,  began  discussing  the 
subject  with  his  friends.  Nor  did  he  stop  with  mere  dis- 
cussion. One  after  another  of  his  plans  were  perfected,  his 
company  organized  and  work  was  begun. 

In  the  year  1896  he  had  partly  graded  his  line  through 
the  mountain  gorge  between  Luzerne  and  Trucksville,  when 
he  came  upon  a  landowner  who  refused  to  give  or  sell  the 
right  to  cross  his  land  at  any  price.  This  suspended  the 
work  for  a  short  time  only.  Mr.  Reynolds  soon  took 
out  a  new  charter  under  the  general  railroad  law  of  Penn- 


DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA.  145 

sylvania  for  a  new  steam  railroad  under  the  name  of  the 
Wilkes-Barre  and  Northern  Railroad,  which  gave  him  also 
the  right  of.  eminent  domain,  and  thus  broke  down  all  ob- 
stacles put  in  the  way  by  landowners.  From  this  time  for- 
ward the  new  road  progressed  rapidly,  so  that  almost  ex- 
actly within  ten  years  from  the  entry  of  the  first  locomotive 
into  the  village  of  Dallas  in  December,  1886,  the  first  loco- 
motive on  the  new  road  made  its  first  entry  into  the  village 
of  Dallas.  The  road  is  at  this  writing  being  extended  to 
Harvey's  Lake,  and  it  is  expected  before  long  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  electric  trolley  system  at  Wilkes-Barre,  so 
that  one  can  ride  in  the  electric  cars  from  Public  Square  in 
Wilkes-Barre  to  Harvey's  Lake  without  change. 

While  ever  mindful  of  the  needs  and  comforts  of  the  liv- 
ing, Dallas  was  not  forgetful  of  the  dead.  About  the  year 
1883  the  subject  of  a  new  and  better  arranged  cemetery  was 
brought  before  the  people,  which  soon  culminated,  Novem- 
ber I2th,  1883,  in  the  incorporation  of  the  Dallas  Cemetery 
Association,  which  immediately  secured  and  laid  out  the 
cemetery  ground  as  it  now  is  in  the  village  of  Dallas.  To 
this  cemetery  many  remains  were  removed  from  different 
burying-grounds  in  the  vicinity.  The  incorporators  of  this 
association  were  as  follows  :  Chester  White,  Perry  Frantz, 
William  A.  Garringer,  William  C.  Roushy,  O.  L.  Fisher, 
Dr.  C.  A.  Spencer,  and  John  J.  Ryman,  all  of  Dallas. 

The  lumbering  industry  in  Dallas  as  early  as  1885  was 
practically  at  an  end  except  with  two  or  three  owners  of 
mills  who  still  bought  a  few  scattering  logs  in  winter  and 
sawed  them  up  as  needed,  and  almost  everyone  else  turned 
his  attention  to  farming  and  stock  raising.  A  very  decided 
improvement  in  the  appearance  of  the  farms  and  of  the  stock 
of  all  kinds  appeared  about  this  time.  With  this  pride  in 
improved  farms  and  farm  products  grew  a  desire  to  exhibit 


146  DALLAS   TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

and  compare  notes.  The  outcome  of  this  desire  was  the 
incorporation,  July  9,  1885,  of  the  Dallas  Union  Agricul- 
tural Association,  which  now  owns  a  valuable  property, 
where  it  holds  annual  fairs,  and  continues  to  prosper.  The 
original  organizers  of  this  association  were  as  follows  :  Wil- 
ham  J.  Honeywell,  Philip  T.  Raub,  James  Monaghan,  C.  A. 
Spencer,  Chester  White,  C.  D.  Honeywell,  Ira  D.  Shaver, 
A.  D.  Hay,  Leonard  Machell  and  Jacob  Rice. 

On  the  30th  of  July,  1889,  the  Dallas  Broom  Company 
was  incorporated.  It  purchased  the  old  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  and  grounds,  raised  the  building  high  enough 
to  build  another  story  under  it,  and  divided  the  old  main 
room  into  two  stories,  so  as  to  make  a  new  three  story 
building,  into  which  was  placed  new  and  improved  machin- 
ery, and  the  first  brooms  were  made  there  about  October  1st, 
1889.  The  business  was  conducted  under  the  same  man- 
agement until  the  year  1895,  when  it  was  consolidated  with 
several  other  companies  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States 
under  the  name  of  The  American  Broom  and  Brush  Com- 
pany. The  original  stockholders  were  as  follows  :  William 
K.  Goss,  Isaac  N.  Shaver,  John  J.  Ryman,  P.  T.  Raub, 
Charles  H.  Cook,  F.  W.  Tyrrell,  Jacob  Rice,  Ira  D.  Sha- 
ver, Hay  &  Honeywell,  John  F.  Garrahan,  Dwight  Wol- 
cott,  Dan  Perry,  E.  H.  Elston,  James  G.  Laing,  John  T. 
Phillips,  G.  M.  Metzgar,  A.  S.  Orr,  S.  D.  Goff,  William  P. 
Kirkendall,  C.  A.  Spencer,  Gregory  &  Hitzman,  G.  W. 
Brickell,  Chester  White,  Kirkendall  &  Bros.,  A.  L.  Wall, 
Jesse  Albertson,  P.  N.  Warden,  George  Puterbaugh,  Wil- 
liam J.  Honeywell  and  William  P.  Ryman. 

Dallas  had  now  reached  the  period  of  its  career  when  a 
newspaper  was  necessary  to  chronicle  its  happenings.  In 
the  year  1889  Mr.  A.  A.  Holbrook  started  The  Dallas  Post, 
with  the  motto,  "There  is  nothing  too  good  for   Dallas." 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  147 

This  paper  has  been  published  continuously  each  week 
since.  In  the  year  1895  Mr.  Holbrook  was  succeeded  by 
Mr.  W.  H.  Capwell  as  editor  and  proprietor. 

Nothing  was  "too  good  for  Dallas."  Good  water  it  had 
in  wells  and  springs ;  but  with  modern  ideas  of  household 
comforts,  hot  and  cold  running  water,  and  the  bath  room,  as 
well  as  the  sanitary  principles  involved,  demanded  that  wa- 
terworks be  established  and  pure  water  be  brought  to  the 
houses  from  some  point  far  away  from  any  contamination  of 
drainage  from  houses  and  cesspools.  The  plan  was  soon  put 
in  effect  by  the  incorporation  of  the  Dallas  Water  Company, 
August  2ist,  1893,  with  the  following  stockholders:  John 
T.  Phillips,  J.  J.  Ryman,  A.  A.  Holbrook  of  Dallas,  G.  L. 
Halsey  of  White  Haven,  Pa.,  Sheldon  Reynolds  of  Wilkes- 
Barre,  and  John  B.  Reynolds  of  Kingston,  Pa. 

This  water  company  secured  the  water  from  some  large 
springs  on  the  old  Edward  McCarty  farm,  about  two  miles 
north  of  the  village,  and  has  a  supply,  sufficient  for  present 
needs,  of  most  excellent  water.  This  water  was  turned  into 
the  new  pipes  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  1893.  The  question 
of  a  water  supply  when  Dallas  has  grown  to  five  or  six 
times  its  present  size  may  not  be  easily  solved. 

The  following  residents  within  the  borough  of  Dallas 
were  signers  of  the  petition  for  the  borough  which  was  pre- 
sented to  the  court  January  4th,  1879,  ^i^ : 

Barney  Stroud,  J.  J.  Ryman,  Theodore  F.  Ryman,  Leon- 
ard Machell,  Jacob  Rice,  Ira  D.  Shaver,  J.  B.  Williamson, 
William  Randall,  George  W.  Shotwell,  Lewis  Starmer,  Wil- 
liam H.  Rice,  William  H.  Law,  Alexander  Snyder,  George 
Randall,  B.  W.  Brickie,  Joseph  Atherholt,  J.  A.  Folkerson, 
James  G.  Laing,  Isaac  N.  Shaver,  Elmer  B.  Shaver,  Joseph 
Shaver,  Fayette  Allen,  Fayette  Shaver,  John  T.  Fuller,  John 
J.  Bulford,  O.  F.  Roushey,  S.  Rumage,  Spencer  Worden,  S. 


148  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

B.  Perrigo,  William  J.  Honeywell,  C.  A.  Spencer,  Philip 
Raub,  Thomas  Garrahan,  Thomas  E.  Oakley,  Chester 
White,  Peter  Santee,  William  Snyder,  Andrew  Raub,  L.  M. 
Rice,  Andrew  J.  Williamson,  William  P.  Shaver,  P.  Perrigo, 
Charles  H.  Cooke,  C.  E.  Raub,  J.  W.  Johnson,  C.  D.  Hen- 
derson, C.  D.  Fulkerson,  G.  W.  Wilcox,  J.  S.  Henderson, 
J.  H.  Gerhardt,  Dwight  Wolcott,  William  Randall,  Frank- 
lin Bulford,  S.  H.  Welsh,  James  Garrahan,  E.  Hunter, 
Christopher  Snyder. 

This  petition  was  also  presented  to  the  Grand  Jury  on  the 
4th  day  of  January,  1879.  On  the  same  day  the  Grand 
Jury  reported  favorably  to  granting  the  borough,  Wesley 
Johnson,  foreman.  April  21st,  1879,  after  argument  of  the 
exceptions  filed,  the  court  confirmed  the  finding  of  the  Grand 
Jury  and  decree  that  the  town  of  Dallas  be  incorporated 
into  a  borough  as  prayed  for,  and  that  the  corporate  style 
and  title  thereof  be  '^The  Borough  of  Dallas!'  Borough 
bounded  and  described  as  follows :  Beginning  at  a  corner, 
a  pile  of  stones  and  a  corner  to  lands  of  Seth  Rummage  and 
Barney  Stroud  and  in  the  division  line  of  Dallas  and  Leh- 
man townships  ;  thence  along  the  said  division  north,  30 
degrees  west,  along  lands  of  Barney  Stroud,  Smith  Perrigo 
and  Thomas  Parks,  500  perches  to  a  stone  corner  on  said 
Dallas  and  Lehman  township  line ;  thence  along  lands  of 
Thomas  Parks  and  William  Husted  north,  58  degrees  and 
55  minutes  east,  100  perches  to  a  hemlock  stump  on  west 
side  of  the  road  leading  from  James  Henderson's  to  Mrs, 
Oliver's;  thence  north,  30  degrees  west,  13  perches  to  a 
post  and  corner  to  lands  of  William  Snyder  and  Mrs.  Oli- 
ver;  thence  north,  58  degrees  and  55  minutes  east,  138 
perches  along  lands  of  Mrs.  Oliver  and  William  Snyder  to 
a  corner  in  Joseph  Atherholt's  line  ;  thence  along  said  Jo- 
seph Atherholt's  land  north,  30  degrees  west,  75  perches  to 
land  of  John  Hay;  thence  along  said  John  Hay  north,  35 
degrees  and  55  minutes  east,  75  perches  to  a  corner  of  Levi 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  1 49 

Reed's  land ;  thence  along  land  of  the  said  Levi  Reed  and 
Perry  and  George  Worden,  south,  30  degrees  east,  264 
perches  to  a  corner  on  Centre  Hill  and  in  line  of  Leonard 
Machell's  land ;  thence  along  land  of  said  Leonard  Machell 
and  Wordens,  north,  58  degrees  55  minutes  east,  i86y'^ 
perches  to  Maria  Kirkendall's  corner  and  in  line  of  lands  of 
William  K.  and  Mary  Goss  ;  thence  along  the  line  of  lands 
of  the  said  William  K.  and  Mary  Goss  and  Maria  Kirken- 
dall,  south,  30  degrees  east,  6^  perches  to  a  small  maple ; 
thence  by  land  of  the  same  south,  19  degrees  west,  I3x% 
perches  to  a  post ;  thence  by  the  same  south,  30  degrees  east, 
12  perches  to  a  locust  tree;  thence  north,  42  degrees  east, 
6  perches  to  a  post  and  a  corner  in  line  of  lands  of  William 
K.  Goss  and  John  Bulford ;  thence  along  their  line  north, 
76  degrees  east,  3 1  perches  to  another  corner  of  said  Goss 
and  Bulford's  land ;  thence  south,  30  degrees  east,  along 
land  of  said  William  K.  Goss  and  John  Bulford  and  Jacob 
Rice,  I27y^^  perches  to  a  corner  of  lands  of  William  K.  and 
Mary  Goss  and  James  B.  Williamson's  lands ;  thence  north, 
60  degrees  east,  along  lands  of  said  Goss  and  Williamson, 
54  perches  to  a  corner  in  line  of  lands  of  Daniel  Heft ;  thence 
along  line  of  lands  of  said  Heft  and  Williamson,  south,  30 
degrees  east,  81  ^^  perches  to  a  corner  of  said  Heft's  land 
in  the  line  of  Ryman  and  Shaver's  land ;  thence  north,  60 
degrees  east,  10  rods  to  a  stone;  thence  by  Ryman  and 
Shaver's  lands,  south,  30  degrees  east,  57  perches  to  a 
hemlock  tree  by  the  same  south,  60  degrees  west,  10 
perches  to  a  post;  thence  by  same  south,  37  degrees  east, 
37^2  perches  to  a  rock;  thence  by  land  of  Asa  B.  Shaver, 
south,  60  degrees  west,  54  perches  to  a  post  in  line  of  lands 
belonging  to  Joseph  M.  Shaw  ;  thence  along  his  land  north, 
30  degrees  west,  62  perches  to  a  corner  of  land  of  Elmer  B. 
Shaver  in  centre  of  the  road  (Dallas  to  Kingston) ;  thence 
along  the  road  north,  49^  degrees  west,  25^  perches  to  a 
corner  of  Adison  Church's  land  ;  thence  by  same  south,  31  j4 


150  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

degrees  west,  26  perches  to  a  corner  of  land  of  Norton  and 
Holly ;  thence  south,  60  degrees  west,  by  said  Norton  and 
Holly's  land,  75  perches  to  a  birch  tree  and  corner  of  lands  of 
Jacob  Rice  and  John  N.  Welch  ;  thence  along  the  land  the 
same  course  53  perches  to  a  corner  of  Rice's  land;  thence 
north,  49^  degrees  west,  53^  perches  to  Ryman's  corner  ; 
105^  perches  to  another  corner  of  said  Ryman's  in  line  of 
William  B.  Steckels  ;  thence  along  said  Steckel's  land,  south, 
30  degrees  east,  loj^  perches  to  a  corner  of  lands  of  Chris- 
tian Eypher ;  thence  along  said  Eypher's  land,  south,  60 
degrees  west,  io8y^^  perches  to  another  corner  of  said 
Eypher's  land ;  thence  south,  30  degrees  east,  45  perches 
to  stones  corner  of  Fanny  Hoover's  land  ;  thence  south,  60 
degrees  east,  45  perches  to  corner  of  land  of  Seth  Rum- 
mage ;  thence  along  his  land  north,  30  degrees  west,  39^ 
perches  to  the  centre  of  the  road  leading  from  Huntsville 
to  Dallas  Village ;  thence  a  northeast  course  along  said  road 
to  William  B.  Steckel's  corner ;  thence  along  said  William 
B.  Steckel's  land,  north,  30  degrees  west,  yS^-^  perches  to 
a  post,  another  corner  of  said  Seth  Rummage ;  thence  by 
his  land  south,  60  degrees  west,  34y%  perches  to  the  road 
and  a  corner  of  lands  of  Barney  Stroud  and  said  Rummage; 
thence  along  the  road  leading  from  said  Stroud's  to  said 
Rummage's  dwelling,  south,  18  degrees  east,  10  perches; 
south,  3  degrees  east,  13  perches;  south,  23  degrees  east, 
21  perches  to  a  chestnut ;  thence  along  the  same  road  south, 
30  degrees  east,  40  perches  to  a  corner  of  Stroud's  land ; 
thence  south,  60  degrees  west,  along  line  of  lands  of  said 
Stroud  and  Rummage,  100  perches  to  a  stone  corner,  the 
place  of  beginning. 

Report  of  Grand  Jury  January  4,  1879,  Wesley  Johnson, 
foreman. 

Same  day  court  orders  certificate  to  be  entered  of  record. 
April  21,  1879,  court  confirms  the  judgment  of  the  Grand 
Jury  and  decree  that  the  town  of  Dallas  be  incorporated 


DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA.  I5I 

into  borough  as  prayed  for,  and  ''that  the  corporate  style  and 
title  thereof  shall  be  The  Borough  of  Dallas." 

Court  also  directs  that  the  annual  borough  election  shall 
be  held  at  the  hotel  of  Andrew  Raub  in  said  borough  on 
the  third  Tuesday  of  February ;  also  declared  and  decreed 
that  said  borough  should  be  a  separate  school  district. 
Court  also  directed  that  the  election  of  officers  for  said  bor- 
ough for  first  year  be  held  at  said  Raub's  hotel.  May  13, 
1879,  between  7  A.  m.  and  7  p.  m.,  and  designated  William 
J.  Reiley  to  give  due  notice  of  said  election.  Barney  Stroud 
also  same  day  appointed  to  be  judge,  and  William  Snyder 
and  John  Ferguson  appointed  to  be  the  inspectors,  and 
William  H.  Rice  and  D.  Wolcott  to  be  clerks  of  said  elec- 
tion. 

Map  recorded  Charter  Book  No  i,  page  364. 

High  School  Association  of  Dallas. — Petition  and  charter 
1868.  Charter  members:  Leonard  Machell,  Dallas,  40 
shares;  James  Garrahan,  Dallas,  10  shares;  Ira  D.  Shaver, 
Dallas,  10  shares  ;  William  J.  Honeywell,  Dallas,  20  shares  ; 
Theodore  F.  and  J.  J.  Ryman,  Dallas,  20  shares ;  Chester 
White,  Dallas,  10  shares ;  Joseph  Atherholt,  Dallas,  5 
shares  ;  William  Snyder,  Dallas,  10  shares  ;  Joseph  Shaver, 
Dallas,  20  shares  ;  Jacob  Rice,  Dallas,  20  shares  ;  James  G. 
Laing,  Dallas,  5  shares ;  C.  A.  Spencer,  Dallas,  5  shares ; 
A.  Raub,  Dallas,  10  shares  ;  George  W.  Kirkendall,  Wilkes- 
Barre,  10  shares;  William  P.  Kirkendall,  Wilkes-Barre,  5 
shares.     Charter  Book  i,  page  318. 

The  Methodist  Church  of  Dallas  did  not  become  an  in- 
corporated body  until  its  charter  was  granted  by  the  courts 
November  26,  1866.  It  is  recorded  in  Luzerne  county  Re- 
corder's office.  Charter  Book  2,  page  474. 

This  charter  was  revised  and  amended  to  conform  to  the 
new  incorporation  laws  of  Pennsylvania,   by  amendment 


152  DALLAS    TOWNSHIP,    PA. 

dated  March  23,  1889,  and  recorded  in  Charter  Book  2,  page 
500.  The  trustees  named  in  the  new  charter  were  :  WiUiam  J. 
Honeywell,  Dwight  Wolcott,  John  T.  Phillips,  W.  P.  Kir- 
kendall,  Jacob  Rice,  Frank  W.  Tyrrel,  William  C.  Roushey, 
John  J.  Ryman. 

Dallas  Union  Agricultural  Association. — Charter  July  6, 
1885.  Charter  members:  William  J.  Honeywell,  Dallas, 
10  shares;  Philip  T.  Raub,  Dallas,  10  shares;  James  Mon- 
igan,  Trucksville,  10  shares ;  C.  A.  Spencer,  Dallas,  10 
shares;  Chester  White,  Dallas,  10  shares;  C.  D.Honey- 
well, Dallas,  10  shares ;  Ira  D.  Shaver,  Dallas,  10  shares ; 
A.  D.  Hay,  Dallas,  10  shares ;  Leonard  Machell,  Dallas,  10 
shares;  Jacob  Rice,  Dallas,  10  shares. 

Dallas  Cemetery  Association. — Charter  Book  No.  2,  page 
26.  Incorporated  November  12,  1883.  Chester  White,  7 
shares ;  Perry  Frantz,  7  shares  ;  William  A.  Garringer,  7 
shares ;  William  C.  Roushey,  7  shares ;  O.  L.  Fisher,  7 
shares ;  Dr.  C.  A,  Spencer,  7  shares ;  John  J.  Ryman,  8 
shares — all  of  Dallas. 


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