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__PAGE NINE—A _
This township, named for Presi-
dent Monroe, included Beaumont
dnd Noxen after the township was
divided from Northmoreland in 1832.
This happy hunting grounds for
the Indians was in the beginning
a portion of Westmoreland County,
Connecticut. Later under the Penn
Treaties it was a portion of Luzerne
County from which it separated in
1840 to become part of Wyoming
County. *2
The first election for township
officers was held at North More-
land.
The first eleetion in the ‘township
itself was held at George Cairl’s
house (now home of Samuel Davis).
The records were lost.
Nathan Parrish and Peter Lutz
were elected as the first justices in
1840. (The Nelson Harding home
in Noxen is that of Peter Lutz.)
Munsell’s ‘“Histoy of Luzerne,
Lackawanna and Wyoming Coun-
ties” states the first settler in these
parts was a J. Lewis who came here
in 1804. *1
Lewis was followed by Ward
Frazer, then Lewis Warwick, and
Jared Slaughter, a noted hunter,
fisherman, and expert rifleman who
settled in the vicinity of the Chil-
dren’s Home at Stull above Noxen.
These early settlers came here to
' obtain land grants and settled on
the mountain tops. The land had
to be surveyed.
at Newberry was the state
surveyor who obtained many tracts
of land here in 1813 as payment
for his/services. He also did some
surveying for Colone! Matthias Hol-
lenback of Wilkes-Barre, a promi-
nent figure in the early develop-
ment of the country between
Wilkes-Barre and Elmira.
On the original site of land settled
by this Josiah Newberry, who at
first claimed much of the land now
called “Begumont”’, is one of his de-
scendants; Mr. William C. New-
berry, born April 9, 1870. Mr. New-
berry gave the following data when
he was interviewed: “I am the
fifth generation to live on this land
which has been in the hands ‘of
- the Newberrys since Josiah New-
berry claimed it 4s. his. This is
one of his original 424 acres which
now is divided into this farm, the
Charles Clark farm, the Glen Clark
place, and John Rifenbery’s farm.
“My father, Oliver C. Newberry,
enlisted in the Civil War with the
Army of the Potomac, got malaria
and was in the hospital which was
the patent office in Washington.
He was sent home, then drafted
by the Army, and was present at
Lee's surrender. I have my father’s
gun in the house right now.
“] remember my father saying
that Josiah Newberry was born in
Connecticut in 1782, married Mary
Chandler, had eleven children, and
died at the age of T3.
_“T believe the Jackson and Frear
settlers bought their lands from
Josiah Newberry who owned the
greater part of Beaumont.
“Oliver Wilson was a son-in-law
to Josiah Newberry and I can re-
call the Wilsons owning the land
now belonging tc the Douns farm,
the Union Church, the school
‘grounds, John Lewis, Clarence Hil-
berts.
“There was a Wilson grist mill
built on the site of the first New-
berry sawmill near the present
bridge at the foot of the Cemetery
Hill. There used to be an oar fac-
tory there too.
“Then Scott and Norton New-
berry, descendants of Josiah, lived
on the farm where Charles Hilbert
used to live and Arthur Smith is
now. Norton was born here in
Bedumontt in 1839. He entered the
Union Army September 10, 186i,
in the 53rd Pennsylvania Volun-
teers and was with them fourteen
months when he reenlisted in Co.
A, 4th U. S. Light Artillery, was
present at thirteen engagements,
lost an arm at Gettysburg, and was
discharged May 2, 1864. In 1861
he married Arminda H. Montross,
daughter of Elijah Montross
“There was a Frank Newberry
too, who was born in Beaumont
April 9, 1848. He was with the
104th N. Y. Infantry and he too
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saw Lee surrender. He married
Eliza Bennett, daughter of Josiah
Bennett. They had three children,
Alberta, born November 22, 1870;
Josephine, born January 15, 1872,
and Kate, October 5, 1876. In 1878
Frank built a steam saw mill over
in Buckwheat Hollow on the present
Mary Kibbler farm which used: to
be ‘the McKnight tract.
“Another Newberry,
was in the Civil War too.
his regalia is on display at
Gettysburg Museum.
“I've heard it said that more men
from Monroe Township served in
the Civil War than there were voters
and that public offices could not
be filled.”
Matthew Phoenix was an early
settler who arrived in Monroe Town-
ship in 1815, bought out Peter
Farrer, and became ‘owner of 409
acres in a wilderness of no roads
but bridle paths.”
Matthew Phoenix was born at
Kingston, Delaware County, N. Y.,
in 1769. He married Mary May
Chauncey,
Some of
the
ed a saw mill on the present Elmer
Dymond property.
Nine children were born to Mat-
thew and Mary Phoenix. Mr.
Phoeniv lived to be 107 years old.
Lloyd Phoenix of Noxen is a living
descendant.
The original Phoenix homestead
is now occupied by William Mun-
katchy and the farms of Oscar Pat-
ton, Elwood Patton, and Elmer Race
are part of the Phoenix tract which
now is the present boundary be-
tween Noxen and Monroe Town-
ships.
Following Matthew Phoenix to the
Bowman's Creek area in 1816 came
Josiah Newberry’s brother-in-law,
Philemon Clark from Plainsville.
Clark purchased a tract of land from
Lazarus Finney and 200 acres from
Jesse Good whose land joined New-
berry’s. In 1953 that complete pur-
chase reaches from the north rear
of the present Lewis Orcutt farm
to the southern boundary of the
present Charles W. Smith's farm.
Just imagine! The original purchase
price was $1,500. Some of the pres-
ent land sites on that purchase in-
clude homes of Stanley Kozak, C.
J. Dress, whose home was John
Clark’s, (one of Philemon’s sixteen
children), William Arch Austin
whose hotise was built by a daugh-
ter of Clark's married to.a Freeman,
William Martin, Charles Hilbert,
Willard Wetzel, and a direct de-
scendant, George Clark.
Mr. Lewis Orcutt owns the orig-
inal warranty deed written in long
hand and signed by Lazarus Finney,
Philemon Clark, Aaron Brown, and
Orial C. Orcutt.
At the deaths of Philemon Clark
and his wife, Elizabeth, his remain-
ing children - divided his estate
(which had to be settled in Or-
phan’s Court) and the present land
owned by Lewis and George Orcutt
was bid in by Aaron Brown who
immediately sold it to Orial C. Or-
cutt, father to the present Lewis
Orcutt. Orial Curtis Orcutt was
born April 22, 1802, at Poughkeep-
sie, N. Y. When he first came to
Beaumont in 1824, he cleared then
farmed the forest land of the re-
cently deceased Mrs. Myrtle Martin.
0. C. Orcutt married Nancy Clarke
(born-in 1806, died in 1878) daugh-
ter of Philemon Clarke.
Before O. C. Orcutt there was an
Ebenezer Parrish, who was born in
1760, in Massachusetts where he
later enlisted July 15, 1776, in the
Continental Army. This Mr. Parrish
came here in 1822.
Peter Montross came in 1824 and
bought 100 acres of the Swetland
and Benjamin Newberry tracts. He
and his wife ‘taught the first Sun-
day School. As a local preacher of
the Protestant Methodist Church he
preached gratuifously over forty
years. He was married first to Le-
vina Newberry (who died in 1827)
died in 1873. Mrs. Clara Smith
and then to Olive Jackson, who
now owns the Peter Montross place.
Nathan Parrish, born in 1796,
came to Monroe Township in 1828
and settled a mile east of the vil-
lage on Ignd purchased from Josiah
Newberry—just below the present
John Riféenbery farm. :
Michael Hafner, born in 1808,
settled in Monroe Township int 1840
in Stonestown which today we call
Stull; above Noxen near the Chil-
dren’s Home.
Rufus J. Frear built the Frear
homestead in 1840 and cleared land
over which the present route 309°
runs. The house and land is now
owned by James Sickler.
In an interview with Mrs. Calla
Frear Parrish, Beaumont's oldest
living resident now (born May 28,
1862) the following Frear data was
garnered:
“John Frear built the first frame
house on Leonard's Creek at the
foot of Cemetery Hill. This house,
though iA ruins now, is still there.
1 bought, it from
the Nettie Davis estate.
“The Frears left France in the
early sixteen “thirties when the
French Hugenots were undergoing |
persecution. They settled in West
Stockridge, Mass., ;then New York
“My father, Rufus Frear, was 4.
justice of the peace here for two
He
enlisted in Company F, 53rd Penn-
sylvanid Volunteers.
battles Ly Antietam, Peng
at Ream’s Station February 6, 1864,
confined to Libby Prison, and died
of malnutrition at Salisbury, N. C.,
December 16, 1864.
“William Frear was another 1840
settler. He was born in Eaton in
1827, married to Elizabeth Parrish
of Monroe in 1854. They had six
children, Edwin D., born in 1855,
David in (1857, Emma in 1859,
Carrie in 1861, Lois, 1862, and
Charles, 1873. Uncle Will was a
school director for ten years, asses-
sor for eleven years, and a poor-
master.
“Henry J. Frear, my brother, was
born here in 1847 and in 1866 he
married his cousin, Mandana KX.
Frear of Frear Hill, North Eaton,
by whom he had Gertrude and
Alpha who are dead, and Florence
whom you see right there very
much alive in that chair this very
minute.
“My mother was Mary Louisa
Jackson whose people settled here
on land bought from Joseph New-
berry. Uncle William H. Jackson
was born here in 1835. In 1866 he
built a grist mill on the site of the
first grist mill built by Josiah New-
berry. The mill had a run of two
stones and was quite capable of
doing all the work brought to it.
“The stones of this mill are now
part of the landscape at Niccolo
Cortilio’s summer home.
“William Jackson married Sarah
daughter. of Sydney
Clarke and had four children, of
whom three lived: Charles born
February 17, 1871, Jennie May,
April 1, 1873, and Stanley A., Aug-
ust 3, 1879. Mr. Jackson entered
the Union Army in 1862 in the
171st Pa. Volunteers and returned
in 1863. Today none of the Jack-
sons live in the homestead recently
purchased by Fuller Dymond who
wishes to sell it.”
The Crispells came to Monroe
Township about the $ame time the
Frears did.
The Crispells too were French
Huguenots. The came to America
in 1669 and settled in Ulster Coun-
ty, NN. ¥.
Thomas Crispell, the fourth gen-
eration of the original French im-
migrants, settled on land of the
present Edgar Engleman Fruit
Farm at Noxen.
This Thomas Crispell was born in
Ulster County, N. Y., September 10,
1795, and died in Wyoming County,
Pa., December 22, 1861. He mar-
ried Sara Weckes, born April 20,
1795, died September 12, 1823.
It was Thomas's son, William
Henry Crispell, who settled in Buck-
wheat Hollow in 1.844 on the present
Frank Blossom farm which Crispell
purchased from Elisha: Diamond.
In 1854 William H. Crispell added
more land to his by purchasing some
from Matthew Phoenix.
William Henry Crispell was born
December 20, 1816, in Ulster Coun-
ty, N. Y., and died here July 22,
1902. He married Sarah Wright
by whom he had these children:
Severn, Gertrude, Mary and Ziba
and Priscilla Honeywell by whom he
had Zachariah, John, William, Corry
and Hattie.
Severn Crispell, who was born in
Monroe Township April 9, 1848,
died November 26, 1926, married
Eunice Harris (born July 14, 1844,
died February 12, 1894). Their
chilldren were Chester, James,
Sarah, Frederick, Elmer, ,George
Ira Albert, and Grace.
Elmer Crispell now lives in Mon-
roe Township on land purchased
from O. C. Orcutt from the original
Philemon Clarke Estate.
George Crispell, Alfred E. Crispell,
and John M. Crispell also live in
this township in the vicinity of the
original settlers at Buckwheat Hol-
low.
Crispells have served their coun-
try from the time of the Revolution
and now the Korean conflict. .
The book entitled “The Crispell
Family” lists nine generations of
the Crispells from 1660-1950, truly
a family treasure.
Another early settler was Thomas
Baringer born at Olive, Pa., in 1827.
He came here in 1848 to dwell on
the land now owned by Dr. Eugene
Farley. Mr. Bdringer married a
Hannah Traver of Olive, Pa., in
1846. He enlisted in the 148rd Pa.
Volunteers in 1862 and was with
thé regiment at the Wilderness and
all of its other battles. He was
mustered out in 1865. The Bar-
ingers had a daughter, Olive, who
married George I. Miller. This Mil-
ler fellow was born in 1846 at New
then for his first wife marriéd Rosy
0. Wall, John Wall's daughter.
Mr. Miller hdd four wives with
Olive Baringer as - number four.
Miller served in the 152nd Pa. reg-
iment until it was mustered out.
After Olive was married she sold
the Baringer farm and kept a gro-
cery and candy store during the
early 1900's in the house now
owned by William Meeker. She
now lives in Binghamton, N. Y.
There was quite a flood in Bow-
man’s eek in 1850 when horses,
barns a were carried away.
Th me with the Bar-
inger 3 married 4 Traver
and : ried a Baringer,
settling n Buckwheat Hol-
low. :
Th . Mark D. Néwman
who wa r Dallas | in 1830 and
Ay
wads post master, school director; |7
inspector of elections, proprietor of
the mail stage between Kingston
and Monroe and the postmaster in
1877 and 1878. He was married
in 1857 to Carrie F. Earl of Tunk-
hannock. Their children were:
Henry W., born May 27, 1857;
Miles R., April 24, 1854, and Hiram
H., May 2, 1871. Mark Newman's
grandfather left home one morning
to seek work and never returned.
No traces of him were ever found.
One of these Newman's, Morton,
was a blacksmith who practiced
his trade here in the early 1900's
in the house occupied by William
Derhammer and owned by Warpa
Hadsall.
Another newcomer about this
time was R. Harper Evans who was
born at Deposit, Delaware County,
N. Y. He had married Miss H. N.
Belden, daughter of Silas T. Belden,
M. D., of Dover Plains, N. Y. They
had one son, Henry C. Evans, born
February, 1853. Part of Monroe
Township now bears the name of
“Evans Falls” at which spot R. Har-
per Evans first bought 1,300 acres
of land comprising part of the Wil-
son, Daniel Jackson, Matthew
Bridge and Hoyt tracts plus an old
saw mill and one house. He built
a new mill on the site of the old
one, then his new one burned in
December, 1877, but by May he had
replaced it adding machinery for
making lath, shingles, ete. From
20 to 50 men and boys were em-
ployed to peel from 1,000 to 1,500
tons of bark per year on the ad-
ditional 2,000 acres purchased. This
bark was taken to a Tunkhannock
tannery. The James Ogden Estate
of Tunkhannock owns the site of
Evans’ mill on Bowman's Creek on
Route 309 near the present entrance
to Root Hollow. The foundation of
the old house is there on the same
site and at the rear of Evans Falls,
a very good local swimming hole.
The Hilbert family too were
among those who developed farm
land after clearing the timber. Si-
mon Hilbert, who was born in Ger-
many, came from A Germany to
Wilkes-Barre with his wife and
foster son, Daniel Morgan. From
Wilkes-Barre they settled and
cleared the land of the William
Herdman farm now partly owned
by Cragg Herdman, Arthur Parks,
and ?
After the sale to the Herdmans,
the Hilberts owned the present Ed-
ward Freeman farm,; part of the
Nesbitt Estate, and in 1889 the
Samuel Cook farm which Harry Hil-
bert still owns.
Scott Morgan, the son of Daniel
Morgan, was born in Monroe Town-
ship in 1847. In 1873 he married
Nelly Brown of Monroe. Their chil-
dren were Mertie born in 1877,
John B. (born in 1879) who be-
came Superintendent of Wyoming
County Schools, Alice, Florence
(Mrs. Harry Wall), and Harry.
David M. Silkworth, M. D., came
to Monrce Township in 1862. It
was he who named the local set-
tlement Beaumont — French for
“beautiful mountains.”
Dr. Silkworth always told Mrs.
Calla Parrish, “You were my first
baby.”
Dr. Silkworth was born October
3, 1820, at Stafford, Conn. He re-
ceived his- early education at the
“common school” and at Monson
Academy, Mass. He studied med-
icin under Dr. A. W. Lenwood at
Lee, Mass., and was admitted to
practice in 1850. After enjoying
an extensive practice in several
states, he opened an office here in
the house now occupied by Emil
Balewski. He served with the 53rd
Pa. Volunteers in the Civil War
staff until he resumed his practice
here in 1865 and kept a drug store,
on land now used by Daniel Meeker,
Sr., for Meeker's Garage. Dr. Silk-
worth married Nancy J. Stanton
(born June 17, 1838) of Clinton,
Wayne County. Mrs. Silkworth
was a sister to Mrs. Solomon Mec-
Connell.
Edward Dimmick came to Monroe
in 1864 from Mansfield, . Conn.,
where hé was born in 1803. He
married Laura Round of Jackson,
Pa., Mary Meredith in 1865, and
then Abigail Stevens Parrish,
widow of Ebenezer Parrish. Eben-
ezer's father was a Revolutionary
soldier and pensioner.
Edward Dimmick’s son, Byron,
finally sold the original settlement
to John Straley.
Byron Dimmick was born in 1833.
He married Ermina O. Turrell of
Connecticut by whom he Kaa four
children: Frederick born June 27,
1854, Lelia U. February 14, 1856,
Shelby T., October 1, 1861, and
Cora D., October 4, 1866.
Byron Dimmick owned a mill on
mill which was sold to William
Frear, then to Nesbitt Estate.
Levi Moshier cor Mosier came
settle on land now occupied by
Palmer Updyke’s farm, Beaumont
Inn and the former Caleb and
Mosier farms. Levi Mosier operat-
ed the omly “up and down” Saw-
mill in this locality on the stream
coming from Lake Catalpa near the
Searfoss farm.
In 1869 H. P. Colvin came from
Benton, Pa., where he was born.
He married Miss B. Swingle, daugh-
ter of Ephraim Swingle of Monroe!
Xd them were born Eliza December
, 1870 and Charles A., September
23, 1874. In 1878 Colvin built a
saw mill on the land now owned by
Heber Belles. There was also a
kiln on the same property for mak-
ing bricks which were marketed in
Wyoming.
Colvin settled in Monroe a year
after Noxen Township was formed
or broke off with Monroe in 1868.
In 1884 Henry G. Dietz cleared
the land which now bears the name
of Dietz Hollow.
Lutes’ Corners was formerly
called Crosby Corners until William
Crosby sold his land to Wilbur
Lutes in 1898.
———
EARLY ROADS
(Contributeed by Heber Belles, Sr.)
The first white man to blaze a
trail to this vicinity was Marcus
Blair who left the Buffalo, N. Y.,
area as a soldier of the French and
Indian War to travel to Easton
with a companion, a mule, and a
dog.
He became separated from his
companion and his mule was de-
voured by wild animals.
With his dog and his compass
as his guides he continued on,
crossing Bowman's Creek near Stull.
Near the outlet of Harveys Lake he
fell, breaking his leg. He then
built a lean-to for protection in a
cave where he wintered. He was
the original discoverer of Harveys
Lake, ¥ 4 |
When he recovered from his leg
accident he staked out the area
surrounding the Outlet as a future
claim and a water power site.
Blair journeyed in the spring until
he came to the Susquehanna River
(near the present Nanticoke) and
noted by the smoke there were sev-
eral Indian villages at the present
Wilkes-Barre and Plymouth. = The
year was 1757.
The first Connecticut settlers
made their first roads on the moun-
tain tops.
One road went from Eastwood
Mountain through Rattle Snake
Springs to a point near Sugar Hol-
low. Another road was cut from
the Eastwood Mountain toward the
present Ricketts.
Many of these early mountain
top settlers whose clearings can
still be seen left with their posses-
sions for the prairie lands when
they opened up.
General Sullivan in his expedi-
tion against the Six Nations sent
a detachment over the Root Hol-
low Road. The trail they blazed
was called the Old State Road.
The next road started from the
present Centermoreland and over
the hills to Beaumont, crossing the
Frear property, continuing down
Leonard’s Creek to Evans Falls on
Bowman's Creek to make a junction
with the Root Hollow Trail.
Near Evans Falls there was a
road from the present land of Voyle
Traver to the mountain top towards
Noxen. The original settlers here
were Knox and Chandler. In the
mountain pasture fields back of
Lewis Orcutt’s the cellar walls and
apple trees of these log cabin res-
idents still stand.
The first road toward Wilkes-
Barre was the Fell Road which was
followed by the State Road.
EARLY DEEDS
When checking old deeds record-
ed under the name of “CLARKE”
at Wyoming County Court House
here are the records:
1852—Philemon Clark to Amos
Poole.
1852—Philemon Clark to Elijah
Montross.
1860—Philemon Clark Heirs,
Geo. D. Clark, John Clark to O. C.
Orcutt.
1860—Aaron Clark to Hugh Pat-
ton.
[1865—Sarah and John Clark to
Charles Crispell.
1885—George Traver from George
and Alice Clark.
1914—Sarah and John Clark to
L. B. Hilbert.
Charles Hess.
These are early
deed records:
“NEWBERRY”
Newberry.
1864 — Chauncey Newberry to
John Shotwell.
1886—Norton L. Newberry to
Park.
Norton L. Newberry to McConnell.
1891—Frank Newberry to George
T. Miller.
1903—Fanny Newberry to A. W.
Cook.
1909 — Margaret
Elizabeth Scovelle.
“CRISPELL” early deeds:
1844—Wm. H. Crispell from Elihu
Dimond.
1852—Thomas Crispell from Elias
Hoyt.
1854—Wm. H. Crispell from Mat-
(Continued on Page 10—A)
Newberry to
many ways.
Charles
SWEET VALLEY
H. Long
" Now Dodge
brings you
in its class and division.
Here is final,
performance unmatched
by any other
PR
A