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The Reverend Mr. David Craft Litchfield Township |
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HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIPS
LITCHFIELD TOWNSHIP
The township of Litchfield is situated between Tioga County, New York on the
north, and the townships of Windham on the east, Rome and Sheshequin on the
south, and Athens on the west. The surface is high and considerably broken
by small streams, except along the Susquehanna, which touches its northwestern
border, where a most beautiful flat occurs. It was on this flat that
Thomas Park built the first house in the town just on the State line. The
other streams are the Wappusening, Satterlee, Park, and Bullard creeks.
The soil is fertile and well adapted for the growth of the cereals, and also for
grazing and dairying.
The township was organized in 1821, being setoff from Athens.
SETTLEMENT
The first settler in the township was Thomas Park, who built his house near
the State line, on the Susquehanna, about 1800. His children were Daniel,
Samuel, James, Amos, Joseph, Elijah, Benjamin, Sally, Mary, Elizabeth, and
Susanna. Daniel married Martha Sanders, who bore him eleven children.
His second wife was Nancy Ellis, who bore him three children. Samuel
married Margaret Wolcott, and had four sons and one daughter. James (the
first while child born in the township) married Margaret McKinney, and had one
son; married, second, Sibyl Franklin, and had three children - married, third,
Anna Bronson, and by her had two sons and one daughter. Amos married
Arlette Griffin, and had two daughters. Joseph married Polly Stewart, and
had four sons. Eliza died unmarried, in her youth. Benjamin married,
but never lived in Litchfield. Thomas married Margaret (Wolcott), the
widow of his brother Samuel, and had three daughters and one son. Sally
married Cornelius Stephens, and moved into the lake region of central New York.
Mary married John Moore, and had two sons and one daughter. Elizabeth
married Elijah Wolcott, and bore him six sons and six daughters. Susanna
married John R. Wolcott, and bore him one child, a son.
Eleazer Merrill and his son Hiram, natives of Connecticut, came in to the
territory now included in the township of Litchfield, from Farmingham, Hartford
county, in November, 1803. They stopped on the Schoonover place until
February, while they were building their log house on the place now occupied by
the youngest son of Eleazer, Ira Merrill. Four of the children were born
in Connecticut,-Hiram, Nancy, Elisha, and Milo - Thomas and Ira were born in
Litchfield. The only settlers in the township when the Merrills came were
Thomas Park and William Drown, both of whom died in the town, -Drown perishing
from cold soon after the Merrills came. Hiram Merrill, from whom the facts
concerning his family have been obtained, was born March 3, 1798, and has
occupied the place he now resides upon since 1823. He lived on it
twenty-two years before any one joined fences with him. His farm is
located in the southeast corner of the township. Mr. Merrill assisted to
roll up twenty-two log buildings in 1816, mostly about Litchfield Centre.
The second son of Hiram, named C. S. Merrill, when two years and three
months old, was lost in the woods, July 11, 1833, and was found, after
forty-eight hours' absence, about half a mile from the house, nearly three
hundred men being searching for him during the time.
Solomon Merrill, a brother of Eleazer, and their father and mother, came to
Litchfield in 1806. Solomon first settled on the Schoonover place, where
he remained about three years, and then went to Chemung, N. Y. He came back
again, and bought the place where Thomson McAfee now lives. He had two
sons, Cyrus and George, and five daughters, Alma, Betsey, Anna, Abigail, and
Theodosia. Rebecca, sister of Solomon and Eleazer, married a Mr. Doan in
Windham.
Eleazer, Jr., father of Hiram, was born. in 1772, and died April 4, 1855.
He was reared under Calvinistic influences, afterwards was a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and died a firm believer in universal salvation.
Solomon Merrill expended all be had on a Connecticut title, and when he
arrived on his purchase had but three dollars left. His son Cyrus lives
near his birthplace in the county, and George is in Kansas.
Hiram Merrill married Susanna Wolcott, who bore him five sons and four
daughters. He subsequently married Nellie West, and third, Mary Wood, but
they bore him no children. Nancy, daughter of Eleazer, married Chauncey
Park, of Rome, and died in 1862, at the age of eighty years. She had one
daughter, her only child.
Elisha Merrill married Calistia Allington, who bore him four sons and four
daughters, who are now living. He married a second time, in Ohio, Rachel
Halsey, and is now living at Waverly, N. Y.
Milo Merrill married Catherine Hulett, a daughter of Samuel Hulett, of
Athens. They had seven sons and two daughters, all now living, but
scattered away from the old home, except Charles H., who lives on the homestead.
Milo died in 1871. He was born while his father was looking for the
homestead in 1803.
Thomas B. was born in Litchfield in 1805; married Eliza Rose, who bore him
twelve children, four sons and one daughter still surviving.
Ira married Maria Wolcott, and yet lives on the old homestead, selected and
begun in 1803. He is now seventy years old, and has never been twenty five
miles from home in his life. He has three sons and four daughters.
Solomon Merrill's children: Alma married James Burns; Betsey married
Benjamin Wolcott, and lives in Michigan; Cyrus married Nancy Hicks; George
married first Jerusha Byington, and second, Catherine Boyd; Anna married Elijah
Munn - Abigail married Joseph P. Munn, and is now dead - Theodosia married James
Martin.
Silas Wolcott came to Litchfield in 1805 or 1806. He went from Bald
Eagle, near Lock Haven, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, to
Catherinestown, and thence to Ithaca, N. Y., being six days in making the
journey through the woods. He was originally from Connecticut. Mr.
Wolcott cleared up a farm near Ithaca, and built a grist and sawmill, which he
sold when be removed to Litchfield. He settled on Satterlee creek, and
contracted to stock and operate the mill, and remained there one or two years,
and then moved to the farm occupied previously by Mr. Park, and which is now
owned by sorae of Mr. Wolcott's descendants. Mr. Wolcott married Peggy
Rowen, near Lancaster. He was a great hunter, the chase being a passion
with him, and it was the abundance of deer in Pennsylvania that induced him to
come to the country. His son, Elijah Wolcott (the father of Oscar Wolcott,
the latter yet a resident of the town), married a daughter of Thomas Park.
He came to this town with his father, Silas Wolcott.
A daughter of Silas, Molly Wolcott, married Thomas Munn, and bore him
twelve sons, who grew to manhood, and one daughter, who married and went to
Minnesota. Mr. Munn settled on the farm where Heinan Morse now lives, and
the majority of his sons settled in the township. He came from Ithaca at
about the same time as Silas Wolcott. The latter was a Revolutionary
pensioner.
In 1808, Josiah White (born November, 1790) came from Charleston, Vt., to
Litchfield, arriving in the month of March. He served in the War of 1812,
as a soldier. He cleared up a large farm, and still owns it. Ruloff
and Samuel Campbell were here before White, and came in 1806 or 1807.
Samuel made an improvement on Rowen Munn's farm, and built a saw-mill on Park
creek, about a mile from the mouth, which was the first saw-mill in the
township.
Daniel Bush was also among the early settlers, and built a grist-mill in
Cotton hollow, just beyond David McKinney's. The McKinneys came in after
Josiah White. There were four of the boys, and their father. The
boys were Henry, Joseph, David, and Samuel. George Headlock came into the
town about the same time with White. The McKinneys and Whites were
connected in the family relation, the father of Josiah being a cousin of the
older McKinneys. Josiah's mother was a daughter of Matthew Rogers, of
Sheshequin.
Alsop Baldwin came to the township a short time previous to Mr. White's
coming. He was from the Delaware River, and died on the farm he first
began to clear up, the same being his residence from that time to his death.
His daughter, Mrs.Evans, now owns the farm. He died in 1873. Samuel Ball
came in after Mr. White. Christopher and Doan Schoonover lived in the
neighborhood of Mr. Park.
Christopher Schoonover was an early settler in Wilinot, where be lived a
number of years. He finally went to Ohio, where he died. Mr. A. P.
Wolcott now occupies the Schoonover place.
Henry McKinny came to live in Litchfield in 1824. He bought his place
of Mrs. Hewlett. The family came from Scholarie, N. Y. they were Dutch
people. Mr. Hewlett came on, took up the farm, and lived on it until his
death. His sons, John, Ira, and Lewis, came on with the old man besides
these were Samuel, James, and Benoni. Benoni took up the next farm to his
father, where Johnson now lives. Old Mr. Hewlett died about 1825.
The old lady moved away. Most of the family went to Ohio.
James Brown was among the early settlers. He was a large, athletic
man, of great strength. William Loomis was also an old settler.
Alanson was his son. Esquire Nichols moved into the town in 1808, but
removed in a year or two.
John Moore and Joseph Greek came before 1808. William Cotton came
when a boy, and still resides in the town, aged eighty years. Peter Turner
came in from White Plains very early. Richard Struble and his son Moses
were also early confers to the town.
Zenas Cleveland came with his father in 1816. He was in the Adams war
of 1800, and in the War of 1812. He counted his age from the death of
Washington, at which date he was twenty-one years of age. He died in 1873,
aged ninety-four years. He was a hard-working man, but was reduced by
misfortune to indigence. He was blind and bedridden for many years.
His family was an important one in the country, and was the one for whom the
city of Cleveland, Ohio, was named. Nathaniel Hotchkiss came in with the
Clevelands.
Joseph Nichols and Russell Marsh came in together and settled, about
1816-17, at the Centre. Paul Apgar, a blacksmith, settled about the same
time, a little east of the Centre, and carried on his business there.
Nichols and Marsh removed to Ithaca, N. Y., and John Campbell now owns the
Nichols farm, and Sheriff Layton the Marsh farm. Drown was on this
property before them. Gleason settled in the northeast part of the town.
Beach, Tappan, Neff, and John Marks were all early comers. John Moore was
the first settler in that part of the town called South hill. Absalom
Adams came to the Centre in 1816-17.
Orson Carner came, in 1823, from Massachusetts to the property now owned by
Henry Brink. He was a Methodist local preacher, and came to Litchfield
when a young man. He died in 1875.
THE PRESENT
The township at the present time contains two gristmills,-Hunt's, on the
Wappasening, owned by A. C. Hunt, and Snell's, in Cotton hollow,-two stores, a
Hall of the Patrons of Husbandry, a Methodist Episcopal church, a Baptist
church, ten school-houses, and three post-offices. Its population in 1870
was 1256. In 1850 there were 1112 inhabitants in the town, and 1191 in
1860.
BIOGRAPH ICAL SKETCHES
SAMUEL P. WOLCOTT
was born in Litchfield township, Bradford Co., Pa., Dec. 29, 1811, on the
place which he now owns, and where he has lived the most of' the time for
sixty-six years. His occupations through life have been, like most of the
early settlers, lumbering and clearing up land during his earlier days, and
afterwards farming. He commenced on his place when it was almost an
unbroken wilderness, and with energy and hard work be has succeeded in
converting it into a farm and home for his declining years. He followed
rafting down the Susquehanna river from his boyhood until about twenty years
ago, and for many years was a successful pilot. He has been elected to
several of the most important offices in his township, filling all with credit
to himself and to the satisfaction of the people.
He married, Aug. 24, 1834, Lydia, daughter of James Bidlack, of Sheshequin
township, and a granddaughter of Captain James Bidlack, who was killed at the
massacre of Wyoming. Samuel P. and she had eight children, viz.: Oscar F.,
who married Sarah T. Hadlock, and lives in Litchfield, Eupbemia D., who married
H. F. Johnson - Theron D., who married Eva Hastings, and lives in Athens
borough; Mary B., who married Frederick Gobl, and lives in Athens borough;
Esther E., who married Warren Green, and died in Iowa, April, 1866 - Eliza C.,
who married Archie McVaugh, and lives in Sayre, Pa.; Franklin S., now living in
Litchfield township - and Emma M., who died when young.
Samuel P. Wolcott is a son of Elijah Wolcott and a grandson of Silas
Wolcott, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war as one of Washington's
body-guard during the memorable winter when his army lay encamped at Valley
Forge. He came from Ithaca, N. Y., to Litchfield about the year 1806 or
1807, and lived there until his death, June 4, 1834, aged seventy-eight years.
He drew a pension from the United States government for a long time before his
death, and his widow afterwards. His wife's maiden name was Margaret
Rowen, who survived him ten years. She died in 1844, at the age of eighty
eight years.
Silas and Margaret Wolcott had nine children, viz. : Molly, who married
Thomas Munn; Elijah, who married Elizabeth Park; Dorcas, who married Joseph Pew,
and lived in Ithaca, N. Y.; Loviah, who married John Perrigo, and lived in
Ithaca, N. Y.; Minerva, who married William Reed, and removed to Michigan ;
Silas, who married Effa Pixley, and removed west; John, Benjamin, and Margaret.
Benjamin married Betsy Merrill; Margaret married Samuel Park. Margaret was
then left a widow, and married Thomas Park, and is now living in Litchfield
township, Bradford Co., Pa.
Elijah Wolcott, eldest son of Silas Wolcott, first came to Litchfield in
the year 1802, when he married Elizabeth Park, and returned to Ithaca, N. Y.,
where they lived until a few years later, when they again removed to Litchfield,
and remained there until their deaths. Mikah Wolcott died Jan. 30, 1840,
aged fifty-nine years, and his wife Jan. 26, 1873, aged eighty-five years.
They had twelve children, as follows: Susannah, married Hiram Merrill, she died
May 9, 1843, aged thirty-eight years; Thomas, married Eliza Gillett (deceased),
lived in Springfield township, this county; Silas (died), married Maria McCauly;
Samuel, married Lydia Bidlack; Maria, married Ira Merrill; Elijah, married
Harriet Rose; Polly, married Henry Wood (deceased) Polly, married Hiram Merrill;
William (deceased), married Asenath Hotchkiss - Hannah ; Amos Prentice, married
Esther J. Munn ; Louisa, married E. M.Hadlock; Marion, married W. K. Green, and
lives in Athens. Of the above, all who are living, except Marion and
Thomas, reside in Litchfield.
Thomas Munn, who married Molly, eldest daughter of Silas Wolcott, had
fourteen children. They married as follows: Charles (deceased), married
Hannah Swartwood; Silas, married Sally Park (deceased) - Elijah, married Anna
Merrill; Rowen (deceased), married Jane Andrus; Betsy, first husband, E. T.
Potts (deceased); second husband, A. Loomis, and lives in Minnesota; Joseph P.,
married Abigail Merrill (deceased) ; Lemuel (deceased), married Harriet
Wilkinson (deceased) ; John, married first Eunice Johnson (deceased), and,
second, Phebe Park; Thomas, married Mary Ann Lambert; Ezra, married Jane
Chandler, lives in Athens; Ulysses, married Charlotte Lambert; Huston, married
Rachel Sinsebaugh; William, married Caroline Chandler, lives in Monroe township;
Ransom, died young.
The above Munn family, all being the descendants of Thomas and Molly Munn,
are at present the most numerous family in Litchfield township.
A. D. MUNN
was born in Litchfield, Bradford Co., Pa., June 13, 1841, the youngest child
of Elijah and Anna Munn, who are still living on the same farm where, the family
first settled in that town. Three brothers, farmers, and two sisters,
wives of Robert Sanders and Albert Carmer, are also residents of Litchfield.
Thomas Munn, the grandfather, was among the first settlers of Litchfield, moving
there from Tompkins Co., N. Y. He had fourteen sons and one daughter, of whom
Elijah, the father, was the third son.
The subject. of this sketch lived with his parents till 1867, when be moved
on to the farm which be now owns. He received his education in the
district schools of Litchfield, and at the Waverly institute. He was
married Oct. 27, 1861, to Augusta Park, daughter of Reuben and Maria Park, who
was born in Litchfield, Feb. 17, 1843, on the same place where they now live.
She had three sisters and one brother, all of whom are living. Her father
is deceased. Her mother is still living, making her home at her
daughter's, Mrs. Munn. Thomas Park, her great-grandfather, was among the
residents of the Wyoming valley who fled for their lives at the time of the
massacre, coming up the river on horseback and seetting in Litchfield, near the
State line.
Mr. and Mrs. Munn have three children, as follows, viz.: Clarence E., born
March 18, 1863; Dana P., born May 14, 1868- Harry Ford, born Dec. 13, 1873.
Mr. Munn is one of the most successful farmers in Litchfield. He has
filled various town offices: town clerk, constable for two years, assessor one
year, and town commissioner two years. He was also Master of the Grange
for two years. In politics, Republican.
HENRY McKINNEY
was a native of Ireland, born in about 1769. His father being a farmer of
some pretensions, and in the days of the tithe law, in which the parish priest
was entitled to one tenth of all crops, and was to make a choice of his share as
soon as the grain was cut and in the shock, and if not taken off by a certain
time after the owner had cleared the field of his, the farmer had the right to
turn his cattle therein and let them destroy. These laws enraged young
Henry, and with four others, they concluded to clear the field at once, and did
so, and without giving the priest notice, turned the cattle in, which destroyed
the tithe. This enraged the priest, and he sought redress by the legal
authorities. So young Henry and his four companions had to flee the
country. They took passage in a vessel, and in due time arrived in
Philadelphia, and were sold for their passage money.
The next we hear of him is in Cecil Co., Md., about 1792, when he is
married to Rebecca Hyntuan, of the same place. She was born Oct. 20, 1776.
The same year they took their all, which was three horses and a young babe, and
on horseback journeyed up the Susquehanna river, with the intention of settling
in the lake country, New York State, making their first halt at Daniel Moor's
ferry, now the S. W. Park farm, in Athens township, High water in the river
causing their stop, they waited here for the water to subside, and unpacked
their goods, and finally abandoned the idea of going farther; remained here some
time, then took up their abode in Tioga village, in a house on lot No. 27 of
Athens town plat, said lot being allotted to Eldad Kellogg in first division of
said town. He here followed his trade-weaving-for a livelihood, in which
he excelled, as can be seen at the present day by the production of his loom of
figured bed-quilts, and other articles of household use, plain and in colors,
delineating birds, animals, flowers, etc. In 1795 they removed to
Sheshequin; remained here till 1803, when they again took up their abode in
Athens township, on the east side of the Susquehanna, on the north half of what
is now the John J. Thompson farm, but did not purchase it. On the 28th of
September, 1796, he purchased lot No. 14, in the town of Murraysfield, as per
deed, consideration $100, fully executed and recorded, which was never looked
after, or entered into possession, by any of the family.
April, 1806, he was drowned in the Susquehanna river, on the east side,
nearly opposite the lower end of the island (Moses Park witnessing the
accident), by the upsetting of a canoe. Some four weeks thereafter his
remains were found lodged on the Wyalusing bar. He was buried on a point
of land near the river, on the east side thereof, near where the railroad is now
built.
His wife remained on the old place, and brought up the family, being poor,
as best she could, teaching them by her example habits of industry, economy,
sociability, and honesty, of whom she never had cause to complain, as they all
filled the qualifications taught, and became prosperous and respected. In
1816 her son Samuel married, and worked the place until 1824, when he moved to
Litchfield, this county. Her family being all married, except the
youngest, she went and lived with her son Henry a while, thereafter took up her
abode in the house of her son Joseph, and finally broke up housekeeping in 1834,
and passed the balance of her declining years with her son Joseph, and died
March 23, 1855, aged seventy-nine years. To them were born Samuel,
January, 1792, in Maryland John, December, 1793, in Tioga (Athens), died
December, 187 0 Margaret, 1795, in Sheshequin, died January, 1820 Henry, Oct.
10, 1797, in Sheshequin ; David, Aug. 1, 1800, in Sheshequin; Joseph, Sept. 17,
1802, in Sheshequin - Cynthia, Oct. 11, 1804, in Athens, died March 6, 1871.
David McKinney, fifth child of Henry and Rebecca McKinney, was born in
Sheshequin Aug. 1, 1800; lived at home until his marriage; passed his childhood
days in working around and going to school in the old log schoolhouse on the
flats, situate on the late Col. Franklin (now the E. R. Ovenshire) farm.
His first teachers were George Kinney, John Watkins, and Nathaniel Flower; the
most of his education was obtained here.
Many antics were played in his school days, some of which are both
ludicrous and laughable. Discipline in those days was strict, teachers
layin- down their rules and making the scholars live up to them or suffer the
consequence. One rule was that no scholar was allowed to exhibit a
plaything during school hours; if he did, it was taken from him and thrown into
the fire; but the scholars would at times be willing to endure a flogging for
the sake of seeing the fire fly. So one day an elder pop-gun was filled
with powder for the occasion, and was exhibited during school hours, when the
teacher demanded it. It was handed over; no sooner received than thrown in
the fire, when the coals and ashes flew pretty lively. Also soon after the
switch did.
Many days during his boyhood be has worked for a shilling day. In
1818 he made his first trip down the Susquehanna river on a raft. Went for
his brother Samuel; received man's wages, which was fifty cents a day.
Since then for forty years he did not miss making from one to three trips down
said river with lumber, either as hand, supercargo, pilot, or owner. Many
incidents and hair breadth escapes has he passed through while on the river,
besides witnessing the loss of great amounts of lumber.
He worked a great deal for Col. John Franklin, and chored
considerably for him, being paid in Continental money for the choring. In
the year 1821 he worked for Samuel Ownshire six months for $10 a month, and in
the pay received not a dollar in money. He remembers the big flood, which
drove all the settlers from their homes along the river-road. It came into
his mother's house up high enough to wet the yarn on the loom-beam. The
family escaped to a knoll, and made a shanty on what is the Martin Rogers farm,
and remained there four days, till the water subsided. He well remembers
the great eclipse of the sun in 1806. George Flower, Zullirurna Flower,
and himself were playing along the river-bank, and it became dark, which scared
them so they all scampered home. The first time he went to mill was to the
Spalding mill in Sheshequin. In 1825 he went to mill in a canoe from
Satterlee's landing up the river to Shepard's landing, and backed the grist from
there, about a mile, to the John Shepard mill. As he couldn't get the
grist ground right away, he accepted an invitation from Moses Park to join a
fishing party for dragging a seine for shad, the river abounding with them at
this time; got things in readiness, and made a haul about sundown, resulting in
five hundred nice ones caught; remained with the party and drew the net during
the night, and in the morning had over three thousand. As he owned no
share in the seine or fishery, be was entitled to only a small money for his
share; but there were distributed to him twenty-seven large ones, which were all
he could possibly carry.
Sept. 16, 1824, was married in Litchfield to Jane Bush, daughter of Daniel
Bush, who built the first grist-mill in Litchfield ; 1825, purchased his farm,
on which he now resides, in Litchfield township, Bradford Co., Pa. Built
himself a small frame house, and went to housekeeping, clearing up his farm,
etc. Was here seven years before he could see any cleared land except his
own. When he came here Litchfield was a howling wilderness, game and
wolves plenty. He has known them to come in the night within a few rods of
his door. He made a salt-lick a short distance southeast of his house, and
killed seven deer there in one season, spending but a very little time; 1850, be
built a new house, in which he now lives.
By frugality, industry, perseverance, and economy he has cleared up a large
farm, paid for it, made a good, well-finished house, besides rearing a family of
five children, educating them, and helping them to a start in the world.
Their children are as follows, to wit: Rebecca, born in Litchfield June 12,
1825, died Sept. 9, 1858, Joseph H., born in Litchfield April 16, 1827; Hannah
Jane, born in Litchfield Oct. 31, 1829; Cynthia, born in Litchfield July 29,
1832, died Dec. 14, 1861, Mary, born in Litchfield, Sept. 21, 1834.
His son Joseph married Lucretia Fitler, in 1858, and owns a farm a few
miles from him, in Athens township.
The daughter Hannah Jane married Richard Sensebaugh, and resides in Athens
borough. Another daughter, Mary, remains on the homestead with her father.
On Sept. 29, 1865, his wife was called to her rest.
Mr. McKinney has passed the seventy-seventh year of his age.
Politically, he was a Whig in the days of that party. At the breaking up
of the parties he took the Republican side, and has adhered to it to the present
time; though not radical, yet always avers his principles, talks them, and votes
them. Religiously, he is a good, whole souled Christian, has belonged to
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a friend to the needy.