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History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania with Biographical SketchesBy H. C. Bradsby, 1891If You Have Photos of People Mentioned on the Page, Send Them In For Inclusion |
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in Braintree MA. His father was Robert Spalding, a native of what is now Bradford County, who was born July 1, 1790, and was married, July 2, 1814, to Aurelia Satterlee, by whom he had eleven children; he was the son of William (Wilter) Spaulding, a native of Connecticut, who settled in what is now Sheshequin, in 1788, and married, Aug. 23, 1789, Rebecca, daughter of Gen. Simon Spalding, of Sheshequin. William (Wilter) died in 1845; he was a son of Oliver, son of Ephraim, son of Edward, son of Benjamin, son of Edward Spalding, first above-mentioned. Major Spalding was born in Athens, this County, Jan. 22, 1825, and was the sixth child and third son of Robert and Aurelia (Satterlee) Spaulding; he was married, Dec. 21, 1852, to Ruthie E. Cooley, daughter of Alva Cooley, of Myersburg. His life was spent on the farm until the breaking out of the Civil War. In 1862 he took an active part in enlisting men for the 141st Regiment, PVI, and was elected Captain of a company from his own neighborhood, and on the organization of the regiment, Aug. 29, 1862, he was elected major, and served in that capacity until his death. He received a slight wound at the battle of Chancellorsville, and then July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, was twice wounded in the same leg, a mini ball shattering his ankle joint, and another passing through the fleshy part of the thigh; exposure and the complication arising caused his death, on July 28, following. Major Spalding was a special favorite of his regiment, and his loss was universally mourned; he was buried near his home and Wysox, Aug. 2, 1863; his children were three in number, viz.: Ella, Fred, and Israel P., Jr.
Joseph E. Spalding, farmer, PO Franklindale, was born in Franklin, this County, July 22, 1826, a son of William B. and Delight (Spalding) Spaulding, the former a native of Sheshequin, the latter of Plainfield, Connecticut. William B. was a son of John Spalding, who was one of the first settlers in Sheshequin; John was a son of Simon Spalding, a colonel in the Revolutionary Army under General Washington. John Spalding and his future wife, Miss Wheatley Gore, were in the Wyoming massacre, but escaped by a hasty flight. In after years they returned to and settled in the Wyoming Valley, and after the lapse of a few years the two families removed to Sheshequin, where John Spalding and Miss Wheatley Gore were married. They had fourteen children -- -- eleven sons and three daughters -- -- and the son Harry was the first male child born in Sheshequin. William Spalding, his son, was born Aug. 24, 1786, and about 1810 commenced business in Franklin, in partnership with his brother Noah, in the milling and lumber business. William was the first who discovered coal in Barclay Township, in 1812. He married, May 20, 1816, Delight Spalding, of Canton, and their family consisted of five children: Sarah (deceased), Ezra (deceased), Hannah, Joseph E., and Anna. William, at the time of his residence in the County, is reported to have been the oldest male in Bradford County; he lived in Franklin until 1846, when he went to Texas to visit a brother, where he died, in Corpus Christi, September 10, 1847. Joseph E. Spalding was reared in Franklin and educated at various schools, spending some time at Mannington, in Susquehanna County, and also at Cazenovia, Madison County, New York; he finished his education at Towanda, where he also learned surveying, which he has followed from 1847 to the present time. At the age of thirty he married, at LeRoy, Jan. 31, 1856, Miss Louisa, daughter of Mr. Kelder, of Onondaga County, New York, by which marriage there were three children: Susie M, (born Aug. 24, 1857, married Martin Kerry), Anna Delight (born March 4, 1860, married CM Fanning), William S. (born July 22, 1861, married Mrs. Sarah Curtis), the latter residing in Montana and reported to be very wealthy. Mr. Spalding entered the Army during the Civil War, Oct. 24, 1862, as Sergeant of Co. C., 171st Pennsylvania Drafted Militia, for a term of nine months; then reentered the Army, and September 1864, in Co. B., Third New York Artillery, to serve one year; was honorably discharged from both commands, and now draws a pension. He has retired from active business life, and is at present living with his daughter, Mrs. Martin Cary. He is a member of the F. and AM, I.O.O.F., and G. A. R.; is a Republican, and has held the office of County surveyors six years, also other town offices, such as road commissioner and school director.
Elijah Cicero Spencer, farmer, of Wysox Township, PO Wysox, was born in Bridgewater, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, January 15, 1817, a son of Neimiah and Elizabeth (Swan) Spencer, natives of Connecticut, and of English lineage. We find in this family something that few heretofore have known Bradford County to possess -- -- a branch of the famous English Spencer family. General Joseph Spencer, of Revolutionary fame, was the grandfather of Elijah C.; he was also of the wife of Lewis Case, who was candidate for president in 1860. Dr. Ichabod Spencer, of Brooklyn, New York, and Hon. Joshua Spencer, of Utica, New York, are also branches of this family. The connection of the differ branches of this family in England and America is shown beyond a doubt in a letter to Jared Sparks by Charles Sumner, in which he was assisted by the Earl of Spencer; and in which he also relates the convivial relations that existed between the Washingtons and the Spencers. After leaving Connecticut, Neimiah resided in different places, at brief intervals, and in 1819 came to Orwell; he subsequently lived in Sheshequin, and finally in Wysox; was killed, in 1839, by a horse, which he was riding on Main Street, Towanda, falling on him. In his family there were eight children, of whom our subject is the youngest. Elijah Cicero Spencer began life for himself in his early "teens," working on a farm and in sawmills until he was sixteen; then engaged with Martin Ridgebury, of Wysox, to learn the shoemakers trade; he remained with him three years, and one year with AA Bishop. He followed this occupation to some extent for thirty years, at the same time clearing and tilling a farm of 111 acres, which he purchased in 1842, frequently working in the field all day and on the bench until midnight. Mr. Spencer was married, December 5, 1841, to Miss Mary Jane daughter of John and Polly (Lent) Bull, natives of Orange County, New York, and they have nine children, as follows: George P., Henry C., born at March 31, 1845, a farmer, in Wysox Township; Mary Ellen, born May 3, 1848; John Clayton, born January 26, 1850, A. Miller, of Watertown, South Dakota; Joseph C., born October 10, 1852, died June 30, 1885; Thomas A, born April 17, 1855, a carpenter in Chicago, Illinois; William L., born January 14, 1858, an employee of James Shalor Towanda, Pennsylvania; R. Reed, born January 30, 1861, an employee of his brother, JC, at Watertown, South Dakota, and Emma I., born May 12, 1863. The Spencer family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Pond Hill, of which Mr. Spencer has been trusty thirty years and steward twenty-five; he is an earnest advocate of the principles of prohibition, and has been much for the advancement of education and Bradford County, nearly all of his children being teachers.
George P. Spencer, farmer, PO Wysox, was born, August 28, 1842, on the farm where his father now resides, a son of Elijah C. and Mary Jane (Bull) Spencer. In his father's family there were nine children, of whom he is the eldest. He spent his boyhood on the farm, and attending the common school and select schools; began life for himself at the age of twenty-one, teaching, which he has followed to some extent sense, having taught, in all, twenty-one terms. From 1865 to 1868 he clerked in a tea store and in a gents’ furnishing goods establishment in Jersey City, and in 1884 he purchased his present home of fourteen acres. On November 27, 1872, Mr. Spencer married Hannah M., daughter of Edward C. and Lydia (Horton) Vought, of Ghent, natives of Pennsylvania, and they have one child, Edward C., born March 16, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Myersburg. He is a Prohibitionist, and has been auditor of Asylum.
Horace Spencer, farmer in West Burlington Township, PO West Burlington, was born September 1, 1841, at Providence (near Scranton), Pennsylvania, a son out of Horace and Hannah (Denton) Spencer, natives of Dutchess County, New York, and of English origin; they removed to Pennsylvania and experienced all the privations of Pioneer life, as tillers of the soil; they reared a family of nine children, seven of whom grew to maturity. Horace, who is the fifth in the order of birth, was reared on the farm, and has successfully followed agricultural pursuits. In August 1862, he enlisted in Co. C., 141st PVI, and served until the close of the war, participating in several battles; was finally made a bugler of the regiment, and was present at General Lee's surrender, serving in all nearly three years. He is a pensioner. Mr. Spencer was married, November 14, 1866, to Elvira A. Johnson, of Greenville, who was born November 19, 1845, only daughter of George A., and Lemira (Ballard) Johnson, who were among the pioneers of Granville. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer have had born to them four children: George A., Alford C., Myra, and Floyd. He is the owner of two farms--the homestead of 100 acres, and another near it of 100 acres, on which he carries on a fine dairying business, also raises sheep. Mr. Spencer has been well known many years as a teacher of singing schools. Politically he is a Republican, and has held several offices of public trust. He is much respected by the entire community.
James Edwin Spencer, farmer, PO West Burlington, was born, January 21, 1835, in Dutchess County, New York, a son of Horace and Hannah (Denton) Spencer, natives of that County, born of English extraction, and farmers by occupation; they removed to Pennsylvania of wind James E. was a lad of five years of age, and settled near Scranton, where they had a farm, and reared a family of nine children, of whom our subject is the second in order of birth, and six are still living; the father died, October 8, 1882, at the age of seventy-two years, and the mother, August 15, 1891, age eighty-two years. Mr. Spencer was reared a farmer, and removed to Bradford County in 1850, settling on his present farm in West Burlington Township in 1860, which was then a wilderness. By strictest economy and great perseverance he has accumulated a fine property, the farm consisting of 100 acres, on which he has built one of the finest residences in the town. Mr. Spencer was twice married: first time to Catherine Brown, by whom he had three children: Mertie, Hattie, and Dewitt; she dying in 1874, he was afterward married to Charlotte Whitehead, of Burlington, to whom have been born children, as follows: Hezekiah, Jay E., and Benjamin H. Mr. Spencer is a Republican, but gives his attention more to business and politics. He is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry.
Frank H. Sponslor, proprietor of the "Canton House," Canton, is a native of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, born March 5, 1852. His parents were David and Susan (Breinizer) Sponslor, also natives of Pennsylvania; the father, who was a stock dealer and dealt quite extensively in horses, died in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1868, in his fifty-first year; the mother died in Warrensburg, Missouri, in 1888, in her sixty-sixth year. Frank H. Sponslor, who is the fifth in order of birth in a family of six children, was reared in Mechanicsburg, and received a public school education; went to Altoona in 1870 and worked in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's Passenger Car Shops three years; then went to Hazleton and worked in the sash and door factory about six months, after which he engaged in the glassware and notion business with Frank Fullerton, under the name of Fullerton and Sponslor, and then continued and a little over a year, when Mr. Sponslor moved to St. Louis and traveled for a short time in the West. Returning to Hazleton by way of New York, he embarked in the grocery business with his brother-in-law, James Gilmore, which continued two years; he successively took charge of hotels at the following places: Dauphin. Middleton, and Bethlehem; he then removed to Canton in August, 1884, and took charge of the "Canton House." Mr. Sponslor was married in Reading, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1881, to Sarah, daughter of Benjamin and Annie (Hocker) Myers, natives of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; her father is a farmer and resides in Dauphin County. Mrs. Sponslor is the eldest of six children; she is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Sponslor is a member of the F. & A.M., Canton Lodge, No. 415; Troy chapter, No. 261; and Canton Commandery, No. 64; politically he is a Democrat.
John D. Squires, retired farmer, was the first child born in Herrick Township, this County, south of the State Road. He was born January 2, 1821, a son of Charles and Mary (Webb) Squires, natives of Connecticut. The father, who was a blacksmith, came to this County in 1815, and located in Asylum Township; then in 1820 removed to Herrick, when the country was almost an unbroken wilderness; he crossed the river on the ice, and had to cut a road thru the woods nearly two miles; his first log house was 20 by 30 feet, and contained two rooms, with one window in each room, six panes, 8 by 10, a fireplace at each end, a Dutch oven built in the house; the first winter the chimneys were build only to the joist, and an aperture was left in the roof for escape of the smoke; the house was made almost without nails, the rafters and sheeting were ash poles split and fastened with iron nails made at his forge; the roof was of white split pine boards, fastened with poles. The first night after moving into this house the whole roof was broken in by snow and lodged on the joist. This was a primitive log cabin, gotten up and furnished in the most primitive manner; the bedstead was of white pine split from the log and nailed together with nails manufactured at his own forge; he also made all the tools used by him in his trade and on the farm, such as axes, hoes, and rakes. Mr. Squires has in his possession a griddle over one hundred thirty years old. To plant the first crops in this wilderness he cleared the trees and brush from the land, and with the axes and hoe worked the dirt lose among the roots and deposited their seed, covering the same with what loose earth they could scrape up, and, with exception of occasionally pulling the weeds, this was all the cultivation the crop received, but there was an abundant yield. There were no schoolhouses in the neighborhood until after his tenth birthday, when his father and neighbors, Isaac Camp, Warren C. Granger, and William Gamble, erected a small log house, which was used as a school and church many years. Hannah Smith was the first teacher, and at the close of school she married Joseph Camp; the first sermon he remembers was preached at his father's house by Levi Baldwin, a Baptist minister. He was ten years old when he first commenced to attend school about two months in the year until he was twenty-one, and very early engaged in lumbering, rafting, clearing, and farming; he has cleared a large amount of land and fitted for the plow. In 1844 he purchased the farm now owned by Mr. Camp, then wild land, and sold it in 1864. Mr. Squires was married in 1845 to Eliza, daughter of Rev. Levi Baldwin, and to them were born six children, four of whom died in infancy; the survivors are Levi S. and Gideon P., the latter of whom married Harriet Whipple, of Standing Stone.
Levi S. Squires was born in Standing Stone, Pennsylvania, September 23, 1846; attended the common schools of the County until twenty, farmed until 1890, and studied theology during his leisure hours. In 1888 he received a call, and is a prominent Baptist minister, ordained September 9, 1890, as pastor of the South Auburn Baptist Church, of which he is now pastor. He was married October 23, 1867, to Mary M., the youngest in the family of six children of Joseph and Mary (Molyneaux) Pardoe; to them has been born one child, Eva J., who was educated in the common schools of Bradford County, and at the Keystone Academy, Factoryville, finishing at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania; she was filled with a desire to become a foreign missionary from her fourteenth year, and was educated with that design. On September 26, 1890, she started, fully equipped for her field of labor in Burmah, and she is now there earnestly engaged in her work. Mr. John D. Squires is a member of the Baptist Church; in politics a Prohibitionist, and has held several Township offices; his son Levi S. is a Republican.
Pembroke S. Squires, farmer, PO Ballibay, was born December 23, 1829, on his present farm, which was the home of his father, Charles Squires. He attended the common schools until his fourteenth year, since which time he has devoted his life to farming, lumbering, and thrashing. In 1853 his father gave him the homestead, and he executed to him a bond and mortgage to support and care for him the remainder of his life, paying to the other heirs their share in the estate, in all 100 acres, to which he has since added eighty-nine and, built his present residence in 1863, and the barn in 1869. Mr. Squires is a son of Charles and Mary (Webb) Squires, natives of Massachusetts and Connecticut, respectively. The mother was a daughter of Santhare Webb (born August 9, 1790), and she was married November 10, 1810, in her native place. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Squires came from there to Asylum Township, this County, in 1815; 1820 moved to Herrick Township, and improved the family homestead, where they spent the remainder of their long, useful, and honorable lives. Charles Squires was born September 15, 1787, and died January 29, 1865, aged seventy-seven; his consort, Mary Squires, died July 12, 1866, aged seventy-six. They were the parents of thirteen children, and left, living, four daughters and five sons, twenty grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
When Mr. Squires came to the new country he was a skilled blacksmith, and so worked in connection with his farm many years. The family were exemplary members of the Baptist Church. Nearly fifty years this brave man and his wife lived in the wild wilderness, to the reclaiming of which were devoted their strong and brave energies. They were in the far front of the little band that hewed the way in the primal forests. He located and cut out the highway that now runs from Camptown, to Smithboro, and he assisted in much of the early days surveying in this region about. Their pilgrims to the woods on foot or with oxen team; the encampment by the babbling brooks on the mountainside; the first log house; going long days journey to the mill, and the little ones waiting the return for their supper porridge; the long intervals of visits from distant neighbors; the dreary silence; so often only awakened by the hungry wild beast's terrifying cries--these were some of their experiences. Mr. Squires, among other incidents, would tell of his returning home just after dark, when suddenly appeared before hand in the path a Panther. The animal would walk alongside him; when Mr. Squires would stop, it would also stop, and when he would go on, it would also, and only when almost at his cabin did the Panther turn off and disappear. Mrs. Squires, going on one occasion to the stream to wash, discovered a gang of wolves approaching; she took her position by the vessel of boiling water, preparing to defend herself as best she could, and they turned away, only frightening her.
P. S. Squires, the subject of this sketch, has been one of the successful and enterprising farmers of the County, and his friends are legion. He was first elected town constable one year, then assessor one year (1851), then town auditor one year, school director eight years, being president of the board during all the time except one year; then was again elected town auditor, and in 1872, was elected town commissioner for a term of three years; in 1885 -- 86, he was town assessor, and in 1890 was elected County Commissioner, which office he now holds. He has never sought rates nor office, and invariably his majorities have been so emphatic they alone are the highest complements his neighbors could bestow. At the last election, in order to accommodate some of his fellow candidates, so little did he care for the office that he allowed them to sacrifice, to some extent, his interest, and yet polling day showed as usual that his was the largest. These records fact speak more plainly than any words we can. Mr. Squires is a member of the Wyalusing Lodge, No. 503, I.O.O.F., and has passed the chairs; he is a member of the Wyalusing Baptist Church. In 1854 he married Harriet H., a daughter of John and Jane (Little) Lafferty, natives of New Jersey, but residents of this County at the time of marriage. By this marriage there are three children: Judson W., Jennie (wife of D. F. Mahoney, of Wilkes-Barre) and Katie (wife of R. S. Hillis, of Herrick Township, this County). Mrs. P. S. Squires died January 24, 1886. Mr. Squires is one of the most prominent men of the County, one who makes no loud pretensions, but is sincerely esteemed by all who know him.
Frank R. Stalford, farmer, Wilmot Township, PO Sugar Run was born September 23, 1857, and is the eldest of the three children of Joseph H. and Mary A. (Dehil) Stalford, natives of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch Irish descent. He was reared on his father's farm in Wilmot, and educated in the common schools of Wilmot Township. He began life for himself at twenty-one years of age, farming and lumbering, at which he is still engaged. Mr. Stalford married, December 8, 1878, Miss Amelia, daughter of Zodak and Amelia (Harford) Hiney, of Rome, Pennsylvania, and they have four children: Lucy B., born August 19, 1881; Arthur M., born April 22, 1885; Mary L., born September 27, 1889, and Emily, born December 18, 1890. Politically Mr. Stalford is a Republican.
W. H. Stalford, manufacturer of lumber, Wyalusing, was born in Wyalusing Township, this County, June 22, 1865, a son of Jesse Stalford. He passed his boyhood on a farm, and was educated in the common schools and Wyalusing Academy. At the age of eighteen he began teaching, which occupation he continued for a short time; then followed farming until December, 1878, when he went to Michigan, and for three years was engaged in lumbering. At the end of that time he returned home and purchased a sawmill, and has since been engaged in the manufacture of lumber in Bradford County. He owns the Stalford mill on Wyalusing Creek, and also owns and operates a portable mill in Wilmot Township. He has an elegant residence, which he built in 1888. On December 1, 1886, Mr. Stalford married Ameline C., daughter of Honorable E. B. Chase, of Wilkes-Barre, and they have one child, V. H., born April 25, 1891. Mr. Stalford is a member of White Lily Lodge, No. 808, I.O.O.F., and his taken all the subordinate degrees; he is a Republican in politics, and has filled various town offices.
Charles W. Steele, of the firm of Steele and Jones, liverymen, Troy, was born in Granville, this County, October 25, 1860, and is a son of Calvin and Achsah (McKeel) Steele, natives of Pennsylvania. His father was a farmer by occupation, and resided in Bradford County many years, where he reared a family of twelve children: Edmund, Emma J. (Mrs. Charles Williams), William A., Emery C., Charles W., James C., Andrew W., Warren B., Samuel, Ada, and Ida (twins, of whom Ada married Arthur Field), and Elizabeth (Mrs. Abner Owens). Charles W. Steele was reared in union Township, this County, received the common school education, and located in Troy in 1884, and for four years was in the employ of Pomeroy Brothers. In 1888, with his brother, James C., he embarked in the livery business under the firm name of Steele Brothers, which partnership existed up to September, 1890, when his brother sold his interest, since which time the firm has been Steele and Jones. Mr. Steele is a popular liveryman, and is doing a successful business; politically he is a Republican.
Alonzo R. Stephens, physician and surgeon, of Herrick Township, PO Herrickville, was born in Pike Township, June 1, 1835. Jonathan Stephens, his father, was born in Connecticut, of English descent, a carpenter and joiner; his wife was named Charity, and was also a native of Connecticut. He came to this County in 1842, where he followed his trade until his death. He had eleven children, viz.: Orlena, Charles and Louis (both died in infancy), Caroline (deceased), Harriet (deceased), Almon P. (deceased), Harry (deceased), Eliza (deceased), Charles F. (deceased), Emma A., wife of John Champion, and Alonzo R., the subject of this sketch. The latter attended the district school until his fifteenth year, and then went to Binghamton, New York, where he continued his studies. At the age of seventeen he began the study of medicine under Dr. O.V. Thayer, of Binghamton and, after studying seven years, attended the Albany Medical College, where he received his degree of M.D. in 1855, when he returned to Binghamton, and began practice with Dr. George A. Thayer, and continued with him until 1862, when he enlisted in Co. B., 149th New York V. I. He was afterward appointed medical cadet, U.S.A., and assigned to temporary duty with the 89th Regiment, New York V. I.; was commissioned assistant surgeon in 1864, and assigned to the 20th Army Corps, 2nd Brigade, Second Division; he was injured in service, September 14, 1864, receiving a gunshot wound in his leg, and in falling received an injury in his back, which caused paralysis. He was removed to the hospital at Louisville, Kentucky, and was there until the following March; then was transferred to the general hospital at Albany, New York, where he remained until he was discharged, September 4, 1865, on account of physical disability. He came to LeRaysville, and from there to Herrickville, arriving here in 1866, where he engaged in, and has continued to practice, his profession. The Dr. married Nancy, daughter of Hiram and Malvina (Waterman) Sweet, of Glen Castle, New York, who died in 1885. They had two children: Hiram H. and George Taylor. On January 20, 1889, Dr. Stevens married Mrs. Mary Park, widow of Norman F. Park, and daughter of Clark and Mary (Baldwin) Smith. She was born, September 15, 1850, the fifth in a family of nine children; she had been married, March 10, 1868, to Norman F. Park, merchant of Wysox, who died, May 16, 1880, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. Dr. Stephens has a farm of fifty-three acres, and a small dairy and five horses; he is a member of Hurst Post, No. 86, G. A. R., and a United States Pension Examiner, having received his appointment July 31, 1885, and politics he is a Democrat. Mrs. Stephens is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Ira H.Stephens, locomotive engineer, Sayre, is a native of Towanda, born December 18, 1856, a son of Ira E. and Mary A. (Gregg) Stephens, natives of Bradford County. Ira E. Stephens is a traveling salesman, and resides in Towanda. Our subject’s great-grandfather, Ira H. Stephens, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was a charter member of the Masonic Fraternity in Athens, Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, in 1795; he built a house at the foot of Spanish Hill that is still standing occupied; he married Cybil, daughter of Capt. Samuel Ranson, who served as an officer in the Continental War, and was killed at the Wyoming massacre. The subject of this sketch, who is the second in a family of eight children, was reared in Towanda, and completed his education at the Collegiate Institute of that place. He commenced driving a team when about eleven years old, working on the building of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and was watchman at the depot awhile, and at Towanda. In May 1874, he went on the road as brakeman, began firing in 1877, was promoted to engineer in October 1881, and has been running on the line since. He has not missed a monthly payment since he commenced work. Is a lover of a good horse, and owns one of the best-bred young trotters in the County. Mr. Stephens was married, in Towanda, February 16, 1882, to Miss Esteele, daughter of Adam and Harriet (Adamson) Wilson, the former of whom is a native of Dumfries, and the latter of Easton, Pennsylvania. Her father is a carpenter, and works in the Erie Railroad shops, in Elmira, where they reside. She is the fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children, and was born in Steuben County, New York, April 2, 1860. To Mr. and Mrs. Stephens were born one son, Louis Wilson. Mr. Stephens is a member of the F. and AM, Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, Union Chapter, No. 161, and Northern Commandery, No. 16.
Samuel Stethers, a farmer of Harrick Township, PO Balibay, was born in Harrick Township, October 12, 1848. His father, Francis Stethers, was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, June 29, 1812, and in his thirtieth year he went to Liverpool (sailing in the "Henry Bell," the first steamship built to run between Ireland and Liverpool), where he worked through the summer seasons, until March 19, 1837, when he married Anna J. Hillis, daughter of James and Nancy (McCray) Hillis, and came to this country, settling in Harrick Township, this County. He had one sister-Sarah-and three brothers-William, John, and James-of whom William died in Liverpool, and John and James and Ireland. Sarah and her husband, John Hurst, came to this country soon after Francis did. When Francis Stethers first came here he purchased ninety-five acres, the present Stethers homestead, in 1867 thirty acres of the Michael Coleman estate, also from George and Gershum Barnres, thirty-three acres adjoining the Coleman property, and in 1876 he purchased of Richard Graham sixty-nine acres in Wyalusing Township, making a total of 309 acres. He built his first log house and barn in 1839; in 1850 his present barn, in 1851 his house which in those days was considered quite modern. He raised and dealt quite extensively in cattle, and was considered a very successful man; he died April 23, 1889; Mrs. Stethers died April 5, 1889. They had children as follows: James; Sarah, wife of Theodore Clark (deceased); Nancy; Samuel and Francis M. Samuel Stethers attended the Balibay school until his thirteenth year then went to Camptown and attended a select school kept by Silas Durand, one term, also a select school, kept by Rev. S. F. Brown, three terms, and returned home and went three terms to William Thompson, at Harrick. Than he began farming, taking full charge of his father’s affairs which he managed until his father's death, when he received, as his share, the homestead, with all the personal property and a half interest in the property which his father had purchased, consisting of sixty-three acres which he now owns, having purchased his brother’s share. He married, in 1877, Vie Haight, daughter of Harry L. and Caroline (Shiner) Haight, natives of this state; she is the third in a family of seven children, six of whom are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Stethers have two children, as follows: William L., born January 15, 1882, and Atla D. born October 20, 1884. Mr. Stethers is a Democrat, and is highly regarded by all his neighbors.
Achatius Stevens, farmer, was born in Standing Stone Township, January 10, 1822, and is a son of Asa Stevens, who was born in Wilkes-Barre, September 24, 1790, a son of Jonathan Stevens, a tailor, who was born in Canterbury, Connecticut, in 1764. Asa Stevens received a common school education, and worked on a farm until his twenty-fourth year, when he received from his father fifty acres of land, adding to it later; built his first log house in 1815, and lived in until 1844, when he built the present frame house, which he enlarged afterward, and followed farming until he died, February 20, 1879. He had married, in 1814, Phoebe, daughter of Achatius and Jane (Oakley) Vought, who died March 16, 1876, and they had the following children: Benjamin, Achatius, Jonathan, Joel, Bryan, Nelson, Eleanor (wife of Alexander Ennis), Annie (wife of William Kingsley), Sarah and Lydia (wife of James B. Bush). Achatius Stevens was educated in the district schools until he was eighteen; then worked on the farm until his thirtieth year when he purchased his present farm of sixty acres; he added thirty acres in 1864, and built his house in 1872. He has been town treasurer thirty years, is a member of the Grange, No. 354, and of the Universalist Church; in
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