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Warren County, Pennsylvania, Genealogy

 

Biographies - Surnames beginning with W


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WAITE, Hiram B. - Youngsville p. o., Brokenstraw twp (page xcviii, Brief Personals *)

H. B. Waite is a civil engineer; he was bom in Nunda, Livingston county, N. Y., in 1826, and setted in Warren county as a teacher in 1849; he taught several years, and embarked in the general mercantile trade in 1857, which he continued until 1868, when he sold out on account of impaired health, and took up engineering. During the war he was active in the employ of the government in the purchase of stock. He married Susan Mead in 1830. They have had two children — Garello and Emma L.—the latter married Julius Bourquin. Mrs. Waite was a daughter of William and Susanna Mead; he was born in Westmoreland in 1784, and she in New Jersey in 1784; they were married in Brokenstraw in 1807, and had a family of six daughters and two sons.

 

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WALES, John M. - Enterprise p. o., Southwest twp (page xcviii, Brief Personals *)

John M. Wales was born in Southwest, Warren county, in 1862. He is a son of John Wales, who was born in Windham county, Conn., in 1807, and who settled in Southwest with his parents in 1825. His parents were Dorcas and Polly (Kees) Wales, who were born and married in Connecticut, and had a family of five children, of whom John is now the only surviving one. The others were Hiram, Sarah, Delosia, and Delusia. Dorcas died in 1850 at the age of seventy-one years, and Polly died in 1844. John Wales, sr., married Lucy Whitney in 1836. She died in 1850, leaving a family of five children— Maro died in 1860; Delocia, Elizabeth, George, and Lucy. Mr. Wales then married Harriet M. Mayhew, who was born in Addison county, Vt., in 1827. She was married in 1850, and by her he has had a family of four children, one of whom died in infancy — Hattie, born in 1859; John M., born in 1862; Fred, born in 1865. Hattie married Fred Johnson, and died in 1882, leaving one son—Theodore. John M. and his brother Fred are the managers of a part of the homestead (185 acres) formerly 300 acres. They are now engaged in producing oil on their lands.

[Warren County coordinator's note: From The Evening Democrat, dated 3 August 1895, page 4, under Brevities: George Wales, constable of Southwest township was in town today. He brought one John Smith with him and turned him over to Sheriff Howard.]

 

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WALKER, Cecil E. - Bear Lake p. o. (page xcviii, Brief Personals *)

Cecil E. Walker was a son of William Walker, who was born in Chenango county, N. Y., in 1821,and settled in Warren county in 1837. He married Mary Ann De Long, of Chenango county, N. Y., and to them were born two children —Cecil E., and Leon E.. He was a large dealer in lumber, and was the first to take lumber and shingles to St. Louis. Cecil E. married E. Curtis, of Columbus. They have had one child born to them —Roy. Mr. Walker is a dealer in short-horn cattle, and is engaged in farming.

 

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WALKER, Mrs. Lavina - West Spring Creek p. o., Spring Creek twp (page xcviii, Brief Personals *)

Mrs. Lavina Walker, wife of Silas Walker, who was born in 1823, and settled in Warren county. He died, leaving a family of six children, four of whom are now living—Mary Jane, Silas Adelbert, Emily Ann, Charles H., Franklin De F., and Martha R..

 

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WALLING, Oliver Smith - Germany p. o., Elk twp (page xcviii, Brief Personals *)

Oliver Smith Walling was born in Orange county, N. Y., March 3, 1842. At Rochester, N. Y., he was united in marriage with Mary Ann Holman, by whom he had a family of seven children—Sylvester L., John Z., Lyman H., Melissa, Franklin P., Harriet M., and Amy E.. They came to Quaker Hill about 1850, where the family have since resided. The farm, comprising one hundred acres, is one of the best in the township, and since the death of the father in November, 1861, has been conducted by his widow and her sons. Mr. Walling died in Oregon, where he had gone in the hope of regaining his health. During his life in Elk, Mr. Walling stood highly respected among his fellow-townsmen. His wife has held the office of postmistress of the town for sixteen years, and the establishment of the office in this place was largely due to the efforts of her husband. They commenced married life with less than $100 in money, but by industry and economy he acquired a comfortable home and farm.

 

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WALLACE, Benjamin F. - Eagle (page xcviii, Brief Personals *)

B. F. Wallace was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., and settled in Warren county in 1849. He married Mary Green, of Onondaga county, N. Y., and by her had a family of seven children—William A., John F., Permelia L., Ezra V., Morgan S., Bertha, and Floyd. He is a carpenter and farmer and owns a farm of fifty-two acres. He has been postmaster for twenty years, and also held the office of assessor, school director and town clerk. His father, William, was born in Washington county, N. Y., in 1798, and married Permelia Eddy, of Oneida county, N. Y. They had a family of three children born to them — Corydon S., Benjamin F., and Ichabod.

 

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WALTER, David - Warren p. o., Conewango twp (page xcix, Brief Personals *)

David Walter was born in Alsace, France, and came to Warren on May 15, 1852, and in September, 1854, removed to Glade. In his family vvere four children, as follows: Mary, Elizabeth, Emeline, and David, jr.. David Walter died February 26, 1871, Anna Marie, mother, died February 26, 1876. David, jr. married Maria Ursula, who came to Warren with her uncle's family when she was but thirteen years of age. Her parents now reside in Alsace, France. The children of David and Maria Walter are Albert David, born March 9, 1865, Louisa, born April i8, 1867, George B., born January 24, 1870, Frederick M., born October 29, 1871, Otto S., born December 28, 1873, William P., born August 9, 1876, Martin L., born July 17, 1878, and John, born November 29, 1881. David Walter is a prominent man in the affairs of Glade. He commenced life poor, but has worked his way up to a comfortable and enviable position in the town. He is a staunch Democrat, and a member of the Lutheran Church.

 

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WALTER, Henry - Irvinton p. o., Brokenstraw twp (page xcix, Brief Personals *)

Henry Walter was born in Meadtown in 1857, and engaged in the manufacture of lumber in 1878 — firm of Walter & Patch; they purchased the stave and shingle-mill at Irvinton. The partnership was dissolved in 1882, when Mr. Walter erected his present mill, and continued the stave, heading and shingle business. In 1884 his brother Frederick became his partner in the business. Mr. Walter was a son of Jacob and Burlena Walter who were born and married in Germany. They settled in Warren county in 1848, and had a family of ten children, seven of whom are now living—Frederick, Lewis, Henry, Samuel, Jacob, Kate, and Mary. Henry married Bertha Wiederhold, of Youngsville, in 1881, and they have two children —Alice P., and Guy V.. Mrs. Walter was a daughter of George and Barbara Wiederhold. The Messrs. Walter employ on an average of five hands in their business.

 

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WALTON, Aaron - of Columbus, Columbus twp (page xcix, Brief Personals *)

Aaron Walton was born in Columbus, Chenango county, N. Y., May 20, 1800. He was married in 1824 to Elizabeth Hanna, who was born in Oneida county, N. Y., in 1798, and died in 1868. They had a family of nine children born to them—George, Benjamin F., Robert H., and John D., Hiram A., Emily, Mary E., Sarah J., Artimissa. Emily married David O. Smith, and Artimissa married A. J. Daymon. Mr. Aaron Walton has held the office of county commissioner for three years, and has also held many of the town and district offices. He was engaged in farming and stock raising at an early age, a branch of business of which he has made a financial success. He was a son of Aaron, sr., and Artimissa (Fields) Walton. Artimissa was born in Connecticut, and Aaron, sr., was a native of Massachusetts. They were married and settled in Chenango county, N. Y., and with a family of ten children settled in Columbus, in 1824. Those of the family now living are Aaron, John, Levy, and Mary.

 

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WALTON, Charles H. - Columbus, Columbus twp (page xcix, Brief Personals *)

Charles H. Walton was born in Columbus in 1829. He was married in 1857 to Mary Parker, of Columbus. She died in 1867, leaving a family of four children, three of whom are now living—Laura, Dallas, and Lelia. He then married for his second wife Mrs. Johanna (Hesling) Morgan, in 1868. She had one son by her first husband, Arthur Morgan. Laura married Clifford Jarrett; Lelia married Albert J. Smith, a merchant of Columbus. Charles H. Walton retired from farming in 1880. He was a son of John and Harriet (Spencer) Walton, natives of Chenango county, N. Y., who were married in 1828. Harriet Walton, died in 1870, leaving a family of four sons aud four daughters. The father, John Walton, was born in 1806. His sons are Charles H., Darius S., Spencer A., and Frank B.. His daughters are Laura A., Lucinda M., Louisa J., and Lucretia E.

 

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WALTON, John - Columbus township (pages 673-676 * )

John Walton was born in the town of Columbus, Chenango county, N. Y., on the 31st day of August, 1806. His father's father was a farmer in Connecticut, where he died not far from 1820. Aaron Walton, father of John, was born in New England, and removed to Chenango county, N. Y., in the latter part of the last century. His wife, Artemisia Field, also a native of New England, accompanied her husband to what was then a forest country in New York State. They had eleven children, ten of whom, four daughters and six sons, attained years of maturity. One of the daughters, Mary, is now the wife of Mr. Kennedy and resides in Bradford, Pa.; Aaron, Levi, and John, the surviving sons, are all residents of Columbus township in Warren county, Pa.

In 1823 Aaron Walton, sr, came to Columbus, bringing with him his son Aaron, and built a log house on his farm about two miles northwest from the present village of Columbus, and about half a mile north of the "Center" so called. He returned at once to Chenango county, leaving his son and hired men to clear the land. In the fall the son Aaron returned and married that winter. In the spring they both came back, and in the February following John, Asa, Andrew, and Daniel, the other sons of Aaron, sr, walked from Chenango county to this wilderness by the way of Syracuse and the southeast. Aaron, jr., built a new house for himself and his bride, while all the rest of the family lived in this first log house.

At about the age of nineteen years John Walton went to work in the winter season at Wrightsville in this county, operating the saw-mills for the proprietors. At other seasons of the year he went down the river on a raft to Pittsburgh. He continued several winters at Wrightsville, and he continued making annual trips down the river—rafting his own lumber to Pittsburgh, every year for thirty years. On these trips he would take down the river in the spring the logs he had cut the preceding winter. He regarded his father's house as his home until he was twenty-two years of age. Meantime, as may have been supposed, he had had few advantages for obtaining an education, as his father's means were too limited to send his numerous children away to school, and the schools in this unbroken country were not very advanced nor well graded; still, he had by his own unaided efforts, mastered the elementary studies, such as stand him in good stead in the business world, and was contented.

On the 2d of September, 1828, he married Harriet Tracy, daughter of Israel Spencer, of Columbus, who was born March 5, 1808, and who died January 4, 1871. As soon as they were married John Walton took his wife to live on a farm of some seventy-five acres, five acres of which he had previously cleared, and on which he had erected a log house. Eighteen months later he moved back to his father's farm where he resided for one year, when he again moved, this time to a farm situated about one and a quarter miles northeast of Columbus village, where he stayed two or three years. In 1832 he purchased of Hannibal Lamb a farm two or three miles farther north, consisting then of about one hundred and fifteen acres, but which by gradual accessions Mr. Walton has increased to two hundred and fifty acres. He removed at this time to this farm, where he passed many years, where most of his children were born and where several of them were married. Several years previous to the outbreak of the civil war he bought a farm of 100 acres (to which he has since added forty acres), on the west side of Columbus borough as now constituted, where he lived until after the death of his first wife, and his marriage to the second.

John Walton
John Walton portrait
Portrait from History Of Warren County Pennsylvania

Thus has the subject of this sketch, by virtue of industry and thrift and honesty, been able to accumulate property. Starting with no means or capital but his own energy and faith in himself, he has added one acre to another and one farm to another until he is accounted a wealthy man. The acres which he now owns do not represent a tithe of what he has had, for it has been his method to buy land when it was cheap and by his own efforts increase its selling properties and its value, and sell it at a profit. In this way he has bought and sold land all his life. His farming now consists principally in dairying. He owns in all about twenty-eight cows, besides other live stock, several colts and horses. His last home farm is now run on shares by his son Frank. Has a small farm of about sixty-five acres north of Columbus, which is chiefly devoted to the raising of hay for his horses and cows. Another farm of seventy-two acres adjoining his old farm is used for pasturing.

Mr. Walton cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson, and has been pretty true to the Democratic party ever since. He has held several important township offices, but has not been politically aspiring. He was reared in the Methodist Episcopal faith, but has become more liberal in his views as he has grown older, and at this writing is devoting some thought to the mysteries of spiritualism— that fascinating system which, like Glendower of Wales, "can call spirits from the vasty deep." Whatever his creed, wherever he is known, Mr. Walton is esteemed for his sterling and undeviating honesty. His note is unnecessary; for an oral promise is as binding on his conscience as is a note in the eyes of the law. More than once he has exerted an energy seemingly far beyond his power for the purpose of meeting an obligation which was fast coming due.

By his first wife he was the father of the following children: Charles Henry, born June 14, 1829, now living in Columbus; Laura Ann, born June 17, 1831, now the wife of Washington Colegrove in this township; Lucinda Maria, born September 26, 1833, now the wife of Lawrence Colegrove, in Concord, Erie county, Pa.; Darius Seth, born February 10, 1836, living now in Concord, Pa.; Louisa Jane, born November 13, 1836, first the wife of Albert Dewey, who died about a year after the marriage, and now the wife of Lawrence Madison, of Concord; Spencer Aaron, born July 8, 1841, now of Columbus; Frank Denham and Franklin Ferdinand, twins, born December 20, 1845, the latter dying in about three months, the former still living in Columbus; and Lucretia Emma, born May 7, 1848, died unmarried at Hudson, Wis., November 12, 1873, whither she had gone for treatment.

Mr. Walton married the second time on the 15th of September, 1880, his wife being formerly Elizabeth Lackey, daughter of Robert Lackey, a native of Scotland, as is Mrs. Walton, but for years a resident of Port Hope in Canada West. Her mother, Agnes Parker, died when Elizabeth was eleven years of age. Previous to their marriage, Mrs. Walton had resided in Columbus for some nineteen years.

 

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WALTON, Levi - Columbus, Columbus twp (pages xcix-c, Brief Personals *)

Levi Walton was born in Columbus, Chenango county, N. Y., in 1818, and is a son of Aaron and Artamissa Field Walton. They were born and married in Connecticut, and settled in Chenango county, N. Y., in 1824, and emigrated to and settled in Columbus, with a family of ten children, four of whom are now living—Aaron, jr., born in 1800; John, born in 1806; Levi, born in 1818; and Mary. Aaron, sr., was a successful farmer, and died at the age of eighty-two. Levi married in 1841 Cynthia A. West, of Chenango county, N. Y.; she was born in 1818. They have a family of three children—Clarence L., Amelia M., and Lawrence. Amelia M., married H. C. Allen, of Otsego county, N. Y., in 1870, and Lawrence married Mary E. Ripley, of Chautauqua county, N. Y., m 1879. Mr. Walton retired from active business in 1883. Cynthia was a daughter of Charles West and Eunice Randal, who settled in Warren county in 1865.

 

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WALTON, Spencer A. - Columbus twp (page c, Brief Personals *)

Spencer Walton was born in Columbus in 1841, and in 1864 married Louisa Hammon, who was born in Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1842. They have one son, Cassius H., born in 1866. Louisa was a daughter of David and Louisa (Tooley) Hammon; the latter was from Rutland, Vt, and the former from Massachusetts. Spencer A. was a son of John and Harriet (Spencer) Walton, who were married in 1828. He [John] was born in 1806, and settled in Columbus from Chenango county, N. Y., with his parents, Aaron and Artimissa (Field) Walton. They were born in Connecticut and married there and settled in Chenango county, N. Y., and came to Warren county with a family of ten children in 1824.

 

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WALZ, Frederick - Tidioute p. o.. Glade twp (page ci, Brief Personals *)

EXCEPT Tidioute is in Deerfield twp and no where near Glade twp! On the 1880 US Federal Census, Frederick and Mary Walz are living in Tidioute.

Squire Frederick Walz was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1827. He was a son of John and Siblyla Walz, who emigrated to America in 1833, where they died leaving a family of six children, four of whom are now living—John, Johanna, Rose, and Frederick. Squire Frederick is a man of two hundred and seventy-five pounds weight. He enlisted in Company D, First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, in 1846, and served during the war with Mexico. They left Pittsburgh in December, 1846, under Colonel Wynkoop, and returned from Mexico in August, 1848; in that service he was under Generals Winfield Scott and Wool. Mr. Walz was commissioned to raise a company for the Fourth Pennsylvania Reserves, which he did, and placed them in command of Colonel March. He was married in 1859 to Mrs. Mary Magdalene Glassing. They settled in Tidioute in 1864, and in 1865 settled in Limestone on the Economist Society plot. From 1859 to 1873 he was engaged in the grocery business in Limestone. In 1873 he was appointed by the Bridge Company at Tidioute, as toll collector and agent. He has held the office of justice of the peace for several years, and in 1883, he received a unanimous vote from the people of the borough for the office of justice, which position he is filling with credit.

 

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WARD, George U. - Matthew's Run, Sugar Grove twp (page c, Brief Personals *)

Mr. Ward was born in Sugar Grove in 1860, and chose a farmer's life. In 1882 he married Maggie Waters, who was born in 1860. They have two children—James and Pearl. George U. is a son of James and Ann (Gray) Ward. They were born in Nottinghamshire, England, and were married in Sugar Grove, in 1859; they had a family of four children — George U., Martha, Grant, and Kate. James died in 1868. He was a son of John and Catharine (Unwin) Ward, of Nottinghamshire. John was born in 1804, and Catharine in 1821, and they were married in 1837; they had but one son—James. Catharine died in 1880. James and John settled in Sugar Grove in 1851, purchasing the homestead now occupied by George U..

 

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WATERHOUSE, Russell - Pittsfield twp (page c, Brief Personals *) see instead Pine Grove twp where Russell is located!

Mr. Waterhouse was born in Schoharie county, N. Y., in 1821. He was a son of William A. and Hannah (Davis) Waterhouse. William A. was bom in Stonington, Conn., Hannah was born in Rhode Island, and was a descendant of the Roger Willams colony; she was raised in the same neighborhood and went to school with Commodore Perry, and was a cousin of the hero of Lake Erie. They settled in Pittsfield in 1840, where William A. died in 1842. Hannah died in Dakota, aged ninety-five years. Russell Waterhouse settled in Pittsfield, in 1840, and was married in 1848 to Laura Ford, who was born in 1825. They have had a family of six children born to them — Hyatt M., is a graduate of Scudder's Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, and is now a professor at Minneapolis, Minn.; John A., was also a graduate of the same college; Maud, graduated from the same in 1886; Elgia N., Thomas W., and Effie. Thomas W. is now a bookkeeper, and the other two daughters are students at Fredonia. Laura Ford was a daughter of Obadiah and Elizabeth H. Ford. Obadiah was born in Maryland. They had a family of nine children born to them, seven of whom are now living — John C, Darius, Margaret Cordelia, Laura, Mansell, and Vincent. Darius and Mansell enlisted and served for four years in the late war, and were honorably discharged. Their father Obadiah served in the War of 1812.

 

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WATSON, Lewis Findlay - Warren Borough (pages 606 - 609 *)

Lewis Findlay Watson was born in Crawford county, Pa., on the 14th day of April, 1819. His parents, John Watson and Rebecca Bradley, were natives of the State of Delaware, and descended from a Scotch-Irish ancestry. The early education of the subject of this sketch was such as the educational advantages of Crawford and surrounding counties afforded during his boyhood. At the age of thirteen he entered a store at Titusville in the capacity of clerk, and remained in that occupation there and at Franklin and Warren until 1837, his residence in the latter place having commenced in in 1835. At the close of his last engagement, in 1837, he entered the prothonotary's and register and recorder's office in Warren, where he remained until 1838, shortly after which he commenced a course of study at the Warren Academy, then under charge of Mr. Rasselas Brown, who subsequently became president judge of this judicial district.

Upon leaving the academy, Mr. Watson entered upon mercantile pursuits in the borough of Warren, in partnership with Archibald Tanner and S. T. Nelson, under the style of Nelson, Watson & Co. At the termination of this co-partnership, in 1841, he continued his mercantile pursuits, sometimes on his own account, and sometimes with others, until 1860, when, closing this business, he turned his attention more directly to the manufacture and marketing of lumber. In the autumn of 1859, in company with his brother John and Archibald Tanner, he engaged in the development of the petroleum business by drilling wells on his brother's farm at Titusville, Pa. In the spring of 1860 this firm opened what was known as the Fountain Oil Well, the first flowing well in that district, and probably the first in the country.

Lewis Findlay Watson
Lewis F. Watson
1819 - 1890


Since the date of the above-mentioned discovery Mr. Watson has, at intervals, engaged in the production of petroleum, and has continuously engaged also in extensive operations in pine timber lands, and in the manufacture and sale of lumber up to the present time.

Enterprises of more public importance have at various times occupied his attention. In 1864 he was one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of Warren, and for several years acted as its vice-president. In 1870 he organized the Warren Savings Bank, of which he was the first president, a position which he continues to hold.

In 1861 he organized the Conewango Valley Railroad Company, now known as the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh, and was elected its first president. It was mainly through his efforts that the Conewango Valley road was constructed. In 1877 he purchased a large tract of land in Cass county, Dak., and at once commenced the cultivation of wheat and other agricultural products. At the present date he has over two thousand acres under cultivation.

Since the organization of the Republican party Mr. Watson has at all times supported the political principles which have distinguished that great body—principles that have more firmly cemented the bonds of the Union; which have protected the American laborer from competition with the degraded laborers of foreign nations, and which have established and sustained the conservative financial policy that has secured so much prosperity to the country, and insures the extinguishment of the public debt without distress to the people. Although not a politician by profession or practice, his unswerving loyalty to his party, his known patriotism, his energy, perspicacity, and success in the various enterprises which he had undertaken, led, in 1874, to the unanimous recommendation of Mr. Watson, by the Republicans of Warren county to the district convention, as a candidate for representative to Congress. At the meeting of the district convention Mr. Watson's name as a candidate was withdrawn at his own request, to effect an unanimous nomination of Hon. C. B. Curtis, the sitting member of the House from the Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania Congressional District, for a second term. Unfortunately Mr. Curtis was defeated at the polls by his Democratic competitor, by a small majority.

Two years thereafter, in 1876, Mr. Watson was nominated by the Republican convention, held at Franklin, as a candidate for representative to the Forty-fifth Congress from the above district, and he was elected by the overwhelming majority of 3,547, against Wm. L. Scott, the Democratic nominee, notwithstanding the election of a Democrat for the preceding term of 1874-76. In 1880 he was again elected to Congress. His congressional duties were performed with the same assiduity and zeal that he displayed in private affairs.

In the Forty-fifth Congress he introduced a bill to regulate inter-state commerce and to prohibit unjust discrimination by common carriers. This bill aimed to correct one of the crying evils of the times.

In the House it elicited discussion which its importance merited, and it was was widely commented upon by the leading newspapers of the country in a manner which indicated the deep interest felt in the proposed reformatory legislation by the people at large. The bill passed the House, with some unimportant amendments, by a large majority, but reached the Senate too late for action during that session of Congress.

That its passage through the House, by a large majority, should be ascribed to the energetic and skillful efforts of Mr. Watson, is apparent from the fact that a similar bill, introduced in the Forty-sixth Congress, did not reach a vote in either the House or the Senate.

In 1842 Mr. Watson married Elvira W. McDowell, whose death occurred in 1849. No children of this marriage survive. In 1856 he married Miss Caroline E., daughter of Hon. N. B. Eldred, of Wayne county, Pa. Of the children born of this marriage Annie Bartlett alone survives.

At the date of this publication Mr. Watson continues actively engaged in the various business pursuits which have absorbed so many years of his life—banking, the manufacture of lumber, operations in pine timber lands, the production of petroleum, and grain growing.

While increasing his lumber interests, he has gradually become, probably, the largest land owner in the county of Warren, and latterly he has acquired extensive timber tracts on the Pacific slope.

These various and absorbing pursuits have not diminished his concern inpublic affairs, nor have they dulled his lively interest in the successes, or lessened his sympathy in the misfortunes of his neighbors, and his large and everincreasing circle of acquaintances. On the contrary, he contemplates the various political schisms of the time with all the ardor of earlier days, but with a judgment and wisdom ripened by wide and varied experience.

Happy in his own domestic life and successes, he is ever ready to contribute to the happiness of the less fortunate, by his quiet sympathy in their distress, or by extending the hand of unostentatious charity—the greatest of all the virtues—which adorns alike the prince and peasant, the private as well as the more conspicuous public citizen who may wear her mantle.

Lewis F. Watson, who died Aug. 25, 1890,
was buried in the Oakland Cemetery
Lewis Watson tombstone
Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Hart

[Warren County coordinator's note: His second wife Caroline E. (Eldred) Watson, who died in 1919, was also buried in the Oakland Cemetery. She bequeathed funding in her will to establish the Watson Memorial Home, a special place for women without partners who have reached the age of 65 and no longer wish to live on their own.]

 

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WATT, Moses - Garland, Pittsfield twp (pages c-ci, Brief Personals *)

Moses, a resident of Garland, was born in Spring Creek township in 1828. He was a son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Andrews) Watt. Alexander was bom in Lancaster county, and his wife, Elizabeth, was born in Pittsfield. Alexander settled with his father, John Watt, in Spring Creek in 1797. John had a family of four children. Alexander and Elizabeth had a family of nine children bom to to them, four of whom are now living—Mrs. Hannah Mallery, Mrs. Melissa Snyder, Mrs. Sarah Spencer, and Moses Watt. Alexander A. Watt died in 1866 at the advanced age of eighty-five years. His son Moses was married in 1866 to Eveline Bright, who was born in Crawford county in 1844. They have had twro children born to them — Frank M. and Robert, who are now living; Winifred and a daughter, Sarah Etta, are dead. Sarah died in 1885 aged seventeen years. Eveline Bright was a daughter of Henry and Mary Ann (Butler) Bright. Moses Watt in early life was a lumberman and farmer, and in 1884 settled in Garland, coming there from Spring Brook, and there erected his present fine residence. He embarked in the general hardware business in 1884.

 

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WATTS, Thomas, Jr. - Sugar Grove twp (page c, Brief Personals *)

Mr. Watts was born in Wilkshire, England, in 1829. He was a son of Thomas and Susan (Barrett) Watts; they were married in England and with a family of four daughters and three sons in 1835 settled in Sugar Grove. The parents are both dead, the father died in 1841, the mother in 1854. Five of the children are now living — Mrs. Elizabeth Shutt, Mrs. Sarah Shutt, Mrs. Ellen Mead, John Watts, and Thomas Watts, jr. Thomas Watts, jr., married Lucretia Armitage, of Spring Creek in 1863. She was born in 1845 and died in Sugar Grove in 1873, leaving a family of three children — Nellie, May, and Jennie. Nellie married James Armitage in 1884, and died April 12, 1886, leaving an infant daughter, Nellie. May is a graduate and holds a teacher's certificate. Mr. Watts is a farmer, and was in early life a lumberman, and purchased his homestead farm in 1862.

 

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WAY, Timothy - Russellburg p. o., Pine Grove twp (page ci, Brief Personals *)

Timothy Way was born in Scipio, Cayuga county, N. Y., October 18, 1801, and died in Pine Grove January 31, 1879. Nancy Borthvvick, his wife, was born in Scipio January 20, 1802. They were married in 1826, and came to Pine Grove in 1830, settled in Russellberg, and in 1851 located on the beautiful farm in the north part of the town, where Judson W. Way now resides. The children of this marriage were Willard J., born June 30, 1828; William N., March 6, 1830; Judson W., February 15, 1853; Orrin J., July 12, 1835; Mary Jane, March 27, 1839; Nancy Jenet, September 5, 1841; Rebecca Ann, March 29, 1847. Judson W. Way married Isaura L., daughter of Ezra H. Gregory, of Farmington, on May 9, 1866. They have two children, Charles A. and Ralph C. Timothy Way, during his life, was a farmer and one of the most respected citizens of Pine Grove. Some of his business ventures were unsuccessful, but he eventuallv regained his fortune and at the time of his death was in comfortable circumstances. He was a prominent anti-slavery Democrat, and supported Mr. Lincoln as a candidate for the presidency. He was a member of the society of the Baptist Church.

 

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WEILER, George - Warren p. o., Conewango twp (page ci, Brief Personals *)

George Weiler was born in Alsace, France, on February 3, 1824. He is a farmer and settled on the farm he now occupies in 1850, a part of which he cleared and improved. He was a son of George and Barbara (Rockenbach) Weiler, who came to America in 1832, and settled in Pleasant township, where they resided for five years, after which they removed to Conewango and settled on the farm now owned by Jacob C. Seigrist, where they lived until the time of their deaths. They had a family of five children—Saloma (Mrs. John Arnold), George, John, Magdalena (Mrs. Christian Kaberlin), Mary (Mrs. Henry Boss). George Weiler, jr., was married on October 7, 1852, to Magdalena Kiel (a daughter of Michael and Susan (Hoscher) Kiel, who were natives of Germany and came to this country and settled in Conewango in 1839). They have had a family of seven children born to them—Lewis, Susan (Mrs. C M. Marston), Clara (Mrs. John Sly), Bessie, Nettie, John, and Robert.

 

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WEILER, John C. - Warren p. o., Conewango twp (page c, Brief Personals *)

John C. Weiler was born in Alsace, France, on November, 18, 1827. He is a farmer, owning about 450 acres. He purchased in 1868 two hundred and forty acres where he now resides, and has since added to it until now his farm cdmprises in all about 450 acres. He is one of the self-made men of Conewango, coming to this place when but four years old, and has accumulated his large property by his own exertions. He was a son of George and Barbara (Rockenbach) Weiler, who came to this country in 1832. John C. was married on June 6, 1851, to Saloma Seigrist, a daughter of Philip and Saloma (Strubler) Seigrist, who were among the early settlers of Conewango. They have had a family of six children born to them — Mary (now Mrs. Anthony Mintzer), Elias P. (deceased), Theodosia (now Mrs. Michael Kafferlin), Elias H., Gilbert G., and Chloe.

 

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WELD, Robert and Clarissa (HOWE) - Sugar Grove twp (page ci, Brief Personals *)

Robert and Clarissa (Howe) Weld were born in Vermont, she in Brattleboro in 1795, and he in Windham in 1784. He died in 1875, and she died in 1885. They had a family of seven children, five of whom are now living—Susan, Sarah, Squire, William W., and Mary. Theodore died in 1861 in his fifty-fourth year, and Clarissa died in 1883 aged forty years. The parents settled in Sugar Grove in 1831.

 

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WELD, William W. - Sugar Grove twp (pages ci-cii, Brief Personals *)

William W. Weld is a successful farmer of Sugar Grove, and was born at Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., February 23, 1829, and settled in Sugar Grove in 1831. He married Christina Falconer, of Sugar Grove, by whom he has had three sons — Robert J., Fred F., and Guy T. (who died February 27, 1883). William enlisted in Company B, Ninth New York Cavalry in 1861, and was promoted to second and then to first lieutenant, and was discharged in 1863 by reason of disability, and in 1864 he enlisted in Company G, 211th Pennsylvaina Regiment, served to the close of the war and was discharged. He was wounded in 1862, for which he now draws a pension. He purchased the farm in 1848, which consists of forty-eight acres, and now owns a homestead of 110, where he erected his dwelling complete in appointments in 1885. He was a son of Robert and Clarisa (Howe) Weld. She was a native of Brattleboro, and was born in 1795 and her husband was born in Windham county, Vt., in 1784, and died June i, 1875. They had a family of ten children born to them, five of whom are now living — Susan, Sarah, Squire, William W., Mary, and Theodore N. (died leaving a widow and two children), and Clarissa married E. M. Dupray, and died leaving three children. Sarah M. married W. P. Cummings.

 

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WELLMAN, Dr. Warren D. - Sugar Grove p. o., Sugar Grove twp (page cii, Brief Personals *)

Dr. Warren D. Wellman was born in Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1855. He was a graduate of the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute in the class of 1881 and settled in Sugar Grove, in his profession, that of surgeon and doctor. His brother, Elmer E. Wellman, settled in Sugar Grove in 1881, when they as partners formed the firm of Wellman Brothers, now engaged in the general drug and prescription business, and added a full stock of groceries and fancy goods, with stationery. They are the sons of W. D. and Laura L. (Martin) Wellman, of Harmony, Chautauqua county, N. Y. Their mother, Laura L., died in 1866, leaving a family of four children —Dr. W. D., Julia E., Elmer E., and Arthur M.

 

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WELSH, Lawrence - Chandler's Valley p. o., Sugar Grove twp (page cii, Brief Personals *)

Lawrence Welsh was born in Tipperary, Ireland, in 1826, and was a son of Patrick. He settled in Morristown, N. J., in 1848, when he married Joanna Hogan, born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1829, and married in 1849. They have a family of two children — Kate and Mary Elizabeth. Kate married Leonard H. Homer, and has three children. Mr. Welsh settled in Sugar Grove in 1880, purchasing the old John Chandler farm of 110 acres. He has been for twenty five years employed as section boss on the railroad, and agent of several roads, east and west.

 

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WENTWORTH, William Wallace - Pittsfield twp (page cii, Brief Personals *)

William Wallace Wentworth was born in Litchfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., in 1827, and with his parents, Loren and Servilla (Crosby) Wentworth, settled in Chautauqua county in 1828. Their children now living are William W., Eugene, Jasper, and De Ette. William W. Wentworth was married in 1848, to Sarah Olivia Sharp, who was bom in Grove, Allegheny county, N. Y., in 1829. They have had a family of ten children, four of whom are now living — William W. jr., Marion W., Sarah Servilla Pierce, and Eli B. S.. William W., sr., enlisted in Company I., Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry in 1862, and was discharged at the close of the war in 1865. He was wounded in the shoulder and the knee. His wife, Olivia, was a daughter of Eli B. and Sarah (Barker) Sharp. Sarah was born in Maine, and Eli, her husband, was born in Cayuga county, N. Y. They settled in Pittsfield in 1836. Marion M. Wentworth married George W. Wing, and her sister, Sarah S., married Henry Pierce. They had one child born to them — Francis May.

 

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WENTZ, Philip - Warren p. o., Conewango twp (page ciii, Brief Personals *)

Philip Wentz was born in Alsace, France, on March 18, 1840. He was son of Philip and Wilhelmina (Messner) Wentz, who settled in Conewango, Warren county, in 1841, on the farm which is now occupied by Philip, most of which they cleared and improved themselves. They had a family of two children — Saloma (Mrs. Matthias Schuler), and Philip, who suceeded to the homestead where he now resides. He was married on February 20, 1866, to Mahala Denney, by whom he has had one child— Eddie W.. Mahala was a daughter of Ransom and Philena Denny, of Steuben county, N. Y.

 

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WENZEL, Henry - Warren p. o., Conewango twp (page ciii, Brief Personals *)

Henry Wenzel, deceased, was born in Leniburg, Bavaria, Germany, on November 15, 1824. He was a son of Henry and Libbie Wenzel. He came to America in 1854, and settled in New York city, where he remained until 1864, when he came to Conewango, where he cleared and improved the farm which is now owned and occupied by his widow, and where he resided until his death, which occurred on February 5, 1886. He was married in 1849 to Saloma Kestner, a daughter of Michael and Ann M. (Bishop) Kestner, of Leniburg, Germany. Their children were Henry, Christian, William, Philopena, Amelia, Michael, Libbie, and Louis. Mr. Wenzel was a member of the Lutheran Church, and his family also belong to that denomination.

 

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WETMORE, Charles C. - Warren Borough (pages 658-659 * )

Foto of Charles C. Wetmore
Charles C. Wetmore, son of Judge Lansing Wetmore, was born in Warren, Pa., on the 23d of June, 1829. A biographical sketch of his father is published in this work. C. C. Wetmore had rather unusual advantages for obtaining an education, and availed himself of them with unusual diligence. Taking especial delight in the exercise of his ratiocinative faculties, he wisely determined that destiny had appointed him for work of that nature, and accordingly took a thorough mathematical course in Union College. He subsequently adopted civil engineering as his life-work, and about 1856 surrendered a good position on the New York Central Railroad for the purpose of engaging in his chosen vocation in Warren. His success was assured from the first. He had one of the largest contracts on the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, and was a pioneer in the projection and construction of the Oil Creek road.

He was a man of great executive abilities, was full of energy and activity, and was gifted with remarkable powers of endurance. He was, moreover, shrewd and enterprising in business matters, and in a few years accumulated a fortune. Just previous to his death he became largely interested in the lumber business, on the Allegheny River and its tributaries.

During the later years of his life he was much embarrassed by ill health, which threatened to result in consumption, and passed the winter of 1865-66 in Florida. But he was not to meet his death in this manner. On the 23d day of April, 1867, he was thrown from a spring wagon by a span of spirited horses, and received injuries on the head and back from which he died in a few hours. During his life he had won the respect and esteem of all who knew him, and because of his energy and great abilities would have been known, had he lived but a few years longer, not only for his great wealth, but for his public spirit and benefactions.

He married Rose L., only daughter of Chapin Hall, on the 15th day of December, 1857, and at his death left two children—Chapin Hall and Charles Delevan.

 

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WETMORE, Hon. Lansing - Warren Borough (pages 656-658 * )

The Hon. Lansing Wetmore was born at Whitestown (now in Oneida county), N. Y., on the 28th of August, 1792, and died in Warren Pa., on the 15th day of November, 1857. His father, Parsons Wetmore, was an early settler in Whitestown, N. Y., whither he had gone with his parents in 1786. In the year 1815 Lansing Wetmore emigrated from the place of his birth, where he had received a good common school education, to the headwaters of the Little Brokenstraw, in Warren county, Pa. There, in 1816, he married Caroline, daughter of Abraham S. Ditmars. His wife survived him until June, 1878. His mother was Aurelia, daughter of Judge Hugh White, one of the settlers of Whitestown, as Western New York was called in 1784.

After living for a while at Pine Grove, he removed his family in 1820 to Warren, where and in the vicinity of which he resided until his death. On the 25 th of September, 1819, soon after the separate organization of Warren county, he was appointed its first prothonotary by Governor Findlay, which office, together with those of register and recorder of deeds, and clerk of the several courts, he held until the spring of 1821. On the 23d of January, 1824, he was again appointed by Governor Shulze to the several offices of prothonotary, recorder, register, etc., in which he continued until the year 1830. About the year 1831, as will be seen by reference to the list of attorneys of Warren county, he was admitted to the bar, and he continued in the practice of law from that time until his retirement to his farm in Conewango in 1842. For a number of years between 1825 and 1830 he was interested in the publication of the Warren Gazette, in which enterprise he expended considerable time and money. In the fall of 1851 he was elected one of the associate judges of the county, and faithfully and ably discharged the duties of that office for his term of five years. The latter years of his life were devoted to agricultural pursuits, in which he always felt a deep interest, and to the advancement of which he contributed perhaps more than any one else in Warren county.

Without ostentation he was always found with the foremost in every enterprise that promised progress in the improvement of society and the development of the county, and was ever ready to bestow liberally of his time, toil, and money, to further all educational or literary projects, as well as also all enterprises looking to the material improvement of the county in the construction of roads, bridges, etc. He came to the county when its population numbered not more than three hundred. He was gratified at the advancement to which he had contributed in the county, isolated from the civilization of the east, and dependent for development on the character and spirit of its pioneers.

Coming into the wilderness peopled by an infant and scattered colony, without resources except character, ability, courage, and energy, he "grew with its growth, and strengthened with its strength," for forty years of continuous and faithful work in all the varied duties which devolve upon an active man in a new and growing county. The competent fortune which crowned his life of labor, was the slow growth of industry, fair dealing, and good judgment.

Perhaps the most prominent features of his character were his integrity and evenness of temper. He was in all circumstances and at all times the same calm, conscientious and unimpassioned man, performing every duty quietly and completely, disarming opposition by his gentle firmness of manner, and inspiring all his associates with admiration for the firmness of his purpose, the soundness of his judgment, and considerate regard for the rights and feelings of others; he was one of the original stockholders of the Sunbury and Erie now the Philadelphia and Erie R. R. Co. As a citizen his influence was always found on the side of order and sobriety, morality and progress; as a public officer he performed burthensome duties with the same promptness and fidelity with which he discharged those that were more agreeable; as a politician he was intelligent, tolerant, and firm in his adhesion to the old Whig party; as a lawyer his conduct was characterized by integrity of purpose and urbanity of manner; in the limited duties which devolve on the associate judge he was patient, sound, and impartial; as a Christian (a member of the Presbyterian Church), he was earnest and consistent; and as a husband and father, as was said at the time of his death, "he left a widow and numerous family, whose characters and positions in society are enduring monuments to his virtues in his domestic relations, and his faithful attention to the interests of education in the community where he had to be one of the originators of educational facilities."

His children were Lansing D., Warren, Pa.; Jerome W., Erie, Pa.; Augustus P., Warren, Pa.; Sidney A., Warren, Pa.; Albert A., dead ; Caroline L , dead; Charles C, dead; Sarah M. Reese, Warren, Pa.; Catharine B. Hutchinson, Albion, N. Y.; George R., Warren, Pa.

 

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WETMORE, Lansing Ditmars - Warren Borough (pages 610-613 *)

L. D. Wetmore was born in Pine Grove township, Warren county, Pa., on the 18th day of October, 1818. He is the son of Hon. Lansing Wetmore, a sketch of whose life is written in this work, and the grandson of Parsons Wetmore, an early settler in Whitestown, whose wife was a daughter of Hugh White, the first settler west of the Dutch settlements in the Mohawk Valley in the State of New York. Hugh White earned the distinction of being the founder of Whitestown, N. Y., as his son Hugh became the founder of Cohoes, N. Y. The family came originally from the vicinity of Hartford, Conn.

L. D. Wetmore received his earlier education in the district schools of Warren, and afterward attended the academy at the same place. He was graduated from Union College in the class of 1841, after which he began to study law in Warren. He was admitted to practice in 1845, and at once commenced the practice of his profession in Warren, his labors being interrupted for a time in 1843 and 1844, when he taught in the academy at Smethport for two seasons. From that time on he has conducted a large and successful practice in Warren, and is now at the head of the firm of Wetmore, Noyes & Hinckley. Mr. Wetmore's prominence in this and adjoining counties is sufficiently attested by the fact that in the fall of 1870 he was elected president judge of the Sixth Judicial District, composed of the counties of Erie, Warren, and Elk, and that during a term of ten years he performed the functions of that office with the most creditable promptness and efficiency. For some time previous to the death of his brother, C. C. Wetmore, in April, 1867, he was interested with him in an extensive lumber business. After that painful accident, as described in other pages of this volume, Judge Wetmore was obliged to assume sole charge over the business, and from that time to the present he has engaged heavily in the manufacture and sale of lumber, with results which disclose his sagacity and capacity for managing affairs. In politics Judge Wetmore is a Republican, and though not an office seeker was clothed for a time with the judicial ermine, as stated, and has been called upon to take a part in the arduous and not less important burdens of local office. Previous to his election to the bench he was president of the First National Bank of Warren, a position which he resumed on his retirement from the political office, and which he now holds. His judicial ability has been even better appreciated since the expiration of his term than while he was in office. Like his father, he has always been remarkable for the affability of his manner and his social disposition in all the relations of life. His decisions were almost always correct, notwithstanding the fact that he was engaged in private business enterprises that would alone have fully taxed the energies of most men. He studied all the questions that came before him for decision with the thoroughness of a student in love with his task, and refused to neglect the minutest duties of his position.

Judge Lansing Ditmars Wetmore
Lansing Ditmars Wetmore
1818 - 1905
Buried in the Oakland Cemetery, Warren


The following is the correspondence on the termination of his official life in Erie county:

ERIE, Pa., April 29, 1874.
To THE HONORABLE L. D. WETMORE,

Dear Sir:—As your connection with the bar of Erie county as president judge has ceased, the undersigned, its members, desire to give an expression of their respect for you, officially and personally, at a supper at such time as it may suit your convenience to meet us.

We are unwilling that your connection with us as president judge of our county should cease without some demonstration, feeling that while it should be a pleasant occasion to us, it is due to you for the ability, impartiality and fidelity with which you discharged the duties of the office as well as a grateful expression of our remembrance of the agreeable intercourse we have had with you as our late president judge, signally marked out as it was by gentlemanly and courteous bearing, and patient consideration of our efforts before you. With great respect we are your friends and obedient servants.
JOHN H. WALKER,
ELIJAH BABBIT,
JAMES C. MARSHALL,
and some forty members of the Erie bar.

WARREN, Pa., June 8, 1874.
Gentlemen:—Your favor was duly received and my absence has delayed a reply.

To have performed the duties of judge in a manner to meet the approval of the members of your bar is to me a source of great satisfaction.

Your learning, ability and urbanity greatly aided me in my labors on the bench.

The upright, fearless, and learned lawyer is as much a minister of justice as the court to which he speaks, said Justin Grier, on his retirement from the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The fact so truly stated by Judge Grier has been appreciated by me in my official intercourse with you.

I would be pleased to accept your invitation but am unable at present to state a time when it would be convenient for me to meet you. Thanking you for the flattering compliment of your letter, I remain
Very respectfully yours,
L. D. WETMORE.

To HON. JOHN H. WALKER, HON. ELIJAH BABBIT, HON. JAMES C. MARSHALL and others.

At a meeting of the court in Warren on the first Monday in January, 1881, the following resolutions, offered by a committee appointed by the bar, were adopted:

WHEREAS, The term of office of Lansing D. Wetmore, president judge of the 37th Judicial District has expired, and he is about to retire from the bench, therefore be it

Resolved, That we, the members of the bar of Warren county, express to Judge Wetmore our great respect and esteem for him personally, and our high appreciation of his able, learned, and impartial administration of justice in the county.

Resolved, That as a judge he has been calm and impartial in investigation, independent without pride of opinion, just but merciful in judgment, earnestly striving to judge according to the law.

He has ever sincerely sought to establish truth and do impartial justice, and by his considerate politeness and courtesy towards all he has merited our special gratitude, and shown himself a kind and cultured gentleman, as well as a just and learned judge.

The pure and perfect gem of judicial authority which was committed to his keeping ten years ago he transmits to his- successor, still a diamond, not a stone, with its brilliancy undimmed, its lustre unimpaired.

Resolved, That the sincere and hearty good wishes of this bar follow Judge Wetmore into private life, and we hope and expect to see his ripe years and manhood crowned with even greener honors than those he to-day lays down.

With all his labors he is governed by a philosophy of good will and enjoys life as it passes. He has an exquisite taste in literary matters, and among those who are acquainted with his attainments is regarded as a just and discriminating critic. He was one of the original contributors to the first fund, and is now one of the trustees of the Struthers Library Building. Moreover, he is liberal and ready to promote by generous contributions all beneficent public institutions, and with the aid of his wife is constantly engaged in the dispensation of many and well-directed private charities

Judge Wetmore has been twice married. His first wife was Miss B. Wetherby, of Warren, who died in 1856, four years after their marriage, leaving one child, now the wife of Lientenant J. P. Jefferson, a graduate from West Point. In March, 1858, Judge Wetmore married Maria C. Shattuck, of Groton, Mass. They have three children, Edward D., Frederick S., and Albert L. Wetmore.

 

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WHALEY, Erastus Bean - East Branch p. o., Spring Creek twp (page ciii, Brief Personals *)

E. B. Whaley was born in Wyoming county, N. Y., in 1828, and settled in Warren county in 1847. He is a farmer and owns 120 acres. He enlisted in 1862 in the Second District Columbia Regiment. He was ordained a minister in the Free Baptist Church, and now preaches at Sparta Church, being the oldest worker in this denomination in Spring Creek. He married Clarissa Nichols, of Sardinia, N. Y., who was born in 1835. They had a family of three children born to them—Charles A., Bettie, and Mattie. His father, Daniel Whaley, was born in Vermont in 1802, and died in 1879; he married Hannah Bean, of Genesee, N. Y., who was born in 1803, and died in 1844. They had a family of ten children, seven of whom are now living.

 

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WHEELER, Hon. Nelson P. - Tidioute, Deerfield twp (page ciii, Brief Personals *)

Born in Portville, Cattaraugus county, N. Y., in 1841. He was a son of William F. and Flora (Atkins) Wheeler, of Cleveland. Mrs. Wheeler died in 1850, leaving a family of three children — N. P., William E., and Augusta, now Mrs. E. A. Skinner, of Westfield, N. Y. Nelson P. Wheeler was married in 1877 to Rachel A. Smith, a daughter of Captain Alexander Smith, in Cincinnati. They have a family of four children — Rachel F., Isabel S., Mary Atkins, and Nelson P., jr. In 1836 his father, William F. Wheeler, purchased interests in large tracts of land in Venango, now Forest county. Nelson P. came to that part of Venango county, which is now Forest county, in 1865; was county commissioner from 1868 to 1871, and was a member of Assembly in 1878-79. He is an extensive lumber manufacturer and shipper from Hickory and Tionesta, their improved band saw-mill and log railroad into the woods greatly facilitating the trade. He is also interested in lumbering establishments in northern Michigan, and has lately been prominent in locating and erecting a tannery at Hickory. He removed with his family to Tidioute in 1885, and was elected school director the same year.

 

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WHEELOCK, Edwin R. - Sugar Grove twp (page ciii, Brief Personals *)

Born in Genesee county, N. Y., in the town of Sheldon August 24, 1827. He was a son of Abner and Lydia (Tillotson) Wheelock. Lydia was born in Genesee county, N. Y., Jannary [sic] 19, 1801, and her husband, Abner, was born in Charleston, Mass., October 9, 1796, and died on May 22, 1886. His wife, Lydia, died in July, 1871. They settled in Wayne township, Erie county, in 1830, where they resided until 1859, when they removed to Sugar Grove, where they resided up to the time of their deaths. They had a family of four sons — Charles A., George G., Edwin R., and Mathew G. Edwin R. was married on September 20, 1853, to Betsey Ann Allen, of Freehold township. They have had two sons born to them — Frank D. and George R. Edwin R. Wheelock settled in Warren county in 1842, and engaged in the manufacture and shipping of lumber, and in 1847 he, with his brother George, purchased the Mead Mill, in Mead township, where they resided until 1849, when they sold the mill to Joseph Hall and Charles Fisher, and purchased the David Allen mill in Freehold township, where he resided until 1870, when he removed to Sugar Grove, and built his present residence, which he now occupies. In 1875 he became engaged in the hardware business, under the firm name of Smith & Wheelock, and in 1879 the present firm of Wheelock & Son (Edwin R. and Frank D.), was formed. They deal in all classes of hardware, farmers' supplies, mowers, reapers, carriages, and ploughs. Mr. Wheelock is also engaged in the lumber business.

[Warren County coordinator's note: Edwin died April 18, 1914; Betsey Ann (Allen) Wheelock preceeded him in death on February 18, 1901. Both are buried in the Cherry Hill Cemetery, Sugar Grove township.]

 

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WHITE, Herbert - Lander p. o., Farmington twp (page civ, Brief Personals *)

Herbert White is a farmer, and was born in Farmington May 24, 1851. He was a son of Orange and Nancy (Robbins) White, who came from Oneida county, N. Y., and settled in Sugar Grove, now Farmington, in February, 1837, on the farm now owned by Harry Mahan, most of which they cleared and improved themselves. They had a family of nine children—Jay, Ebenezer, Otis, Myra E., Orange, jr., Emma, Herbert, Belle, and Harry D.. Herbert White was reared in Farmington, and was married March 9, 1882, to Clara M. Putnam, a daughter of Perry P. and Margaret (McCray) Putnam, of Farmington. They have had two children born to them—Maggie and Irwin S.

 

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WHITE, Jay - Corydon, Corydon twp (pages 655-656 *)

Jay White is the grandson of Israel White, who died in Oneida county, N. Y., in 1812, and the son of Orange White, who died in Farmington, in this county, in January, 1877. He is a descendant, also, of Hugh White, the first settler at Whitestown, Oneida county, N. Y. Orange White was born in that county on the 13th of June, 1806, at the same time with a twin brother, Otis, who died within two years thereafter. He had five other brothers, Moses, Israel, George, Willard, and another Otis, all of whom are deceased, but who have numerous descendants in Oneida county at this day. In the winter of 1836-7, Orange White came to that part of Farmington township, Warren county, which was then a part of Sugar Grove, where he passed the remainder of his life. In the spring of 1867 he leased the homestead and removed to Lander, where his widow still resides. He was twice married, first to Bethilda Brainerd, of Oneida county, deceased in March, 1833, leaving one child, Delia, who died in 1861; and secondly, in January, 1837, to Nancy Robbins, who still lives. She was a daughter of Ebenezer Robbins, a lawyer of the town of Western, N. Y., and was the eldest of his thirteen children, all but two of whom are now living. Ebenezer Robbins lived to a ripe old age, and died about ten years ago, he and his wife within a short time of each other. Orange and Nancy White had nine children, all of whom are living, and all of whom but one are married. The subject of this sketch is the eldest of these children. He was born in Sugar Grove, now Farmington township, on the 1st day of October, 1837. There he received a common school education, remaining on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years of age. At that time he went to McHenry county, Ill., where he remained two years and six months, teaching and farming. From there he went to Howard county, la., where, until the spring of 1866, he taught and worked as clerk in a store. His next venture was in Busti, Chautauqua county, N. Y., where he engaged in the mercantile business, his father taking an interest in the trade until the fall of 1869. He then opened a store at Lander, in Farmington, and remained in that place for one year. His father, meantime, retained a financial interest in the store, and with him removed the stock from Lander to Corydon in the fall of 1870. Father and son remained partners five or six years in all, though Orange resided all the time in Farmington. After the dissolution of this partnership, Jay White continued the business alone until the fall of 1884, when he relinquished it and engaged largely in buying and selling lumber. He was persuaded to enter upon this occupation by the belief that the growing importance of Corydon village had already created a demand for dressed lumber, and the result has evinced the accuracy of his supposition. He does not manufacture' the lumber, but hires it dressed in a mill which he owns and rents. Although he has abandoned the mercantile business, he still owns several stores, which he leases. He has never been smitten with oil fever.

In politics Mr. White was formerly a Democrat, but for some three years he has favored and upheld the Prohibition party. He has held a number of the important township offices in Corydon, serving one term as justice of the peace, and being re-elected to the same office, though he did not qualify because he had been appointed postmaster. He also served two terms as school director. He was postmaster of Corydon for about ten years, and until the spring of 1886. For a number of years he carried on the only mercantile operations in the whole township, but the opening of the railroad in 1882 increased the importance of the place in the eyes of outsiders, and other merchants brought their stock hither.

His religious belief is in the final salvation of all. He is a friend of all churches and of good schools as the props of the good order, stability, and purity of society. He is at present one of the trustees of the Methodist Church in Corydon. He was the most generous contributor towards the building of the Methodist house of worship, and did more to assure its success than any other one person.

On the 19th of September, 1868, Mr. White married Alice, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Airron, formerly of Sugar Grove, then of Busti, N. Y., and for eight years last past members of Mr. White's household. They have two adopted children—Jay M. and Vernie M., children of Mrs. White's sister.

 

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WHITE, Leonard K. - Garland, Spring Creek twp (page civ, Brief Personals *)

Born in Warren county in 1841. He was a son of Samuel and Louisa (Miles) White. Samuel was born in 1787, and died in 1852. His wife was born in 1797, and died in 1878. They had a family of eleven children born to them, six of whom are now living. L. K. White married Mary E. Elder, of Butler county. She was born in 1844. They had a family of eight children born to them—S. L., Effie B., H. E., W. R., Anna M., Lelia E., Clifford, Arliel, deceased. They now own and occupy a farm of thirty-five acres.

[Warren County coordinator's note: Retired farmer Leonard White died August 19, 1925 in Pittsfield township, according to his certificate of death. Born July 12, 1841 in Warren county, he was 84 years, 1 month, and 7 days old when he died. Parents listed as Samuel J. and Lois (Miles) White. The informant was his wife Rose M. White, a resident of Garland. He was buried in the Garland M. E. Cemetery.

His wife, Mary E. White, died at age 50 years, 7 months, and 19 days on August 15, 1894. Cause of death listed as "Disease Of Stomach" which lasted 4 days. Burial was made August 17th in the Garland M. E. Cemetery. Birthplace listed as Harrisville, Butler Co, Pa. Source: Warren county death records, Book 1, page 135.

Son, Clifford White, was born in October 1882, according to the 1900 census taken in Spring Creek township, Warren county. He died June 26, 1904, after a two week bout with pneumonia, at age 20 years, 8 months, and 17 days, as recorded in the Warren county death records, Book 2, page 136. He was buried June 29th in the Garland M. E. Cemetery.]

 

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WHITE, Lucius - Columbus twp (page civ, Brief Personals *)

Lucius White was born in Columbus in 1834. He was a son of Mark S. and Rachel (Walker) White, who were natives of Addison county, Vt., who settled in Columbus in 1832. They had a family of five children, four of whom are now living — Lovina, Lucius, Lyman, and Lura. Mark S. White died in 1879, aged eighty-four years, and his wife, Rachel, died in 1862. Mark S. was a son of Peter White, who was a Revolutionary soldier. Mark S. was a lumberman and farmer, and was a justice of the peace for some twenty or twenty-five years. He was appointed postmaster under the administration of President Taylor. Lucius White has served as justice of the peace from his early manhood up to the present time. He was appointed pension clerk at Washington under President Arthur. He owns and occupies the old homestead, which was purchased by his parents in 1836. Lucius White was married in 1885, to Mrs. Ada L. Doud, who was a daughter of Mr. William Lowry. She had a family of three children by her first husband —Jesse, William, and Sarah Doud.

 

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WHITEHEAD, James F. - McGraw p. o., Triumph twp (page civ, Brief Personals *)

James Whitehead was born on Prince Edward Island, in 1845. He was a son of William and Rebecca Whitehead. James emigrated to Buffalo, N. Y., in 1864, was employed as a journeyman and ship carpenter. In 1867 he came to Venango, and in 1872 he settled in Triumph, and engaged in the production of oil in his own interest as well as that of others. He became superintendent for J. M. Clapp, in his oil interest in 1880. He was married in 1875, to Marcia Thompson, a daughter of Squire J. W. and Nancy (McMillin) Thompson. J. W. was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., and his wife, Nancy, was born in Hamilton county, O. James F. Whitehead purchased his homestead farm of 225 acres in 1883.

 

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WHITCOMB, Paul - Cornplanter p. o., Elk twp, see also Corydon twp (pages civ-cv, Brief Personals *)

Paul Whitcomb was a native of New Hampshire, and served in the War of 1812. He married Matilda Page in Vermont, and settled in Howard, Steuben county, N. Y., and with his wife, Charles K., Matilda, and other children, came to Warren county something over fifty years ago, where Paul died in 1866, and his wife in 1878. Charles K. Whitcomb was united in marriage with Laura Seaman, by whom he had a family of four children, all of whom are now living. He began life for himself with no capital, and by industry and energy has amassed a comfortable fortune, the result of his own personal effort. Among his fellow men his judgment is respected. About thirty years ago Mr. Whitney moved to Corydon, on a good and well cultivated farm of seventy acres. He was formerly a member of the M. E. Church, but withdrew some years ago, but is a true friend and supporter of the Christian church.

[Warren County coordinator's note: Both Paul and son Charles Whitcomb are also mentioned in connection with Glade township. On the 1860 census for Corydon township, Warren county, both Charles and Paul, with their families, are living in that township. Charles' son Clarence W. Whitcomb died June 10, 1934 at the Rouse Hospital in Brokenstraw twp, a single man of 78. According to his Certificate of Death, he was buried in Kinzua on the 11th. Numerous cemeteries were relocation during the construction of Kinzua Dam and the Allegheny Reservoir in the early 1960s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, so it is unclear where his gravestone can be found.]

 

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WHITMAN, John - Sheffield twp (pages 669-671 * )

John Whitman, son of John and Jane (Davis) Whitman, was born in Sugar Creek township, Venango county, Pa., on the 30th day of March, 1810. His father came to that township as early as 1797 from eastern Pennsylvania, and was never more than three days out of the State. He died in 1839, and his wife followed him in about ten years afterward. Jacob Whitman, grandfather of the subject of this notice, was what is called a "Pennsylvania Dutchman," and was undoubtedly born in this State

At about the age of seventeen years the subject of this sketch embarked in life on his own account, and for four years worked on farms in the vicinity of his home. His health then failed; he was afflicted with bilious fever and pleurisy, and was advised by his physician to burn charcoal for his health. This he did for four summers, after which he took a trip down the Allegheny, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers as far as Vicksburg, Miss., with boat-loads of ice, purchased and procured by residents of that city. The first time that he attempted to make this trip he was taken ill and had to postpone the pleasure, but he finally succeeded in going in the spring of 1838. He remained in Vicksburg about two weeks looking to the unlading of the boats, and then returned to the North by boat, after an absence of some two months. During the remainder of that summer he worked on a farm in Venango county and also performed service on a turnpike road then building through the county. The next two years were passed in sawing lumber in Buck mill, as it was called, in Venango county, after which he came to Sheffield township, and worked in the saw-mill of White & Gallop, in the southern part of the township. He operated their mill one year. At that time Erastus Barnes was rafting lumber to Wheeling, W. Va., and seeing in Mr. Whitman the man he wanted for his help, he hired him to raft the lumber, going with him on the first trip. This work he performed for six or seven years, and in the mean time began to buy lumber of his employer and take the property of both himself and Mr. Barnes to the same market at the same time. By this time his reputation as a skillful pilot and raftsman had extended beyond the limits of his county, and Fox & Wetmore, of Forest county, made him an offer to enter their service, which he thought well to accept. He rafted for this firm for ten or twelve years, and as long as they continued together, running occasionally as far down as Louisville, Ky. On his last trip he took down 127,000 feet of lumber without help. In the fall of two different years he also assisted in the construction of a wooden tramway from the place where the timber of his employers was cut to the east branch of the Tionesta Creek, whence it was floated to the mill. From 1866 to 1873 he worked as pilot for different employers. In the last year he purchased a large amount of lumber from Fox & Wetmore and went down the river with it, realizing a gratifying profit. From that time to the present he has kept teams at work in this county drawing oil and lumber.

Meantime, as early as 1866, he purchased thirteen acres of land from Samuel Gilson, and worked on it at such leisure moments as were at his command. Since he has relinquished the life of a raftsman he has devoted the greater part of his time to the cultivation of this tract.

John Whitman
John Whitman portrait
Portrait from History Of Warren County Pennsylvania

In politics Mr. Whitman has been a consistent and loyal Democrat, and, though he has avoided rather than sought office, has frequently been called upon to serve in various capacities in his own town. He is a member of the Free Methodist Church, at which he is a regular attendant, and of which he is a trustworthy supporter. He also takes a deep interest in Sabbath-school work. It is too much the custom to deem the life of a man reviewed when the incidents of his labors and investments have been recited. Such sketches, were they not generally regarded as incomplete, would convey the impression that the subjects are men of the stamp which Julius Csesar denounced in Cassius:

. . . " He loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music;
Seldom he smiles; and smiles in such a sort
As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spirit
That could be moved to smile at anything."

No such man is Mr. Whitman. While the main incidents of his career show him to be a man of earnest purpose, he has ever been controlled by the true philosophy that much of the pleasure of life consists in enjoying such privileges as may be gathered on the way, rather than condemning them, and trusting to the often vain hope of "an easy time in the evening of life." On the 2d day of March, 1885, Mr. Whitman laid aside his cares for a time and took a pleasure trip to the New Orleans Exposition. While there he improved his opportunity to the utmost, going 110 miles below the city to the mouth of the Mississippi River, visiting the old Spanish Fort, sailing to West End, viewing that famous cemetery or city of the dead, in which the bodies of the dead are kept in vaults above ground, inspecting the old battle-ground of General Jackson, and pacing on Shell Beach on the Gulf of Mexico. He returned by way of Nashville, Tenn., and Cincinnati. In this way he united pleasure and profit—the profit that comes of instruction.

 

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WHITMAN, William - Kinzua p. o., Elk twp (page civ, Brief Personals *)

William Whitman was born in New York city in the year 1819. An orphan child, he was taken from a charitable institution, and brought by a family named Sears to Kinzua in 1827. He was an industrious lad, and worked around the town, and saved his earnings. He married Margaret Morrison, by whom he had a family of eight children — Lafayette, Alvira, Ellen, Roberta, John, William, Ellen (second), the first having died when quite young, and Gardner. William, the father, died September 16, 1883. His farm comprised seventy-eight acres nicely located on Kinzua Run. He was at one time connected with the M. E. Church, and was a class leader, but withdrew some years before his death.

 

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WHITNEY, Ira A. - Pittsfield p. o., Pittsfield twp (page cv, Brief Personals *)

Ira A. Whitney was born in Youngsville in 1842, a son of Nathan and Susan Davis Whitney. She was a daughter of Abraham and Ruth Mead Davis, and was born in 1809. Nathan was born in Massachusetts in 1803; they were born in Youngsville, and had a family of seven children, four of whom are now living—Ira A., Lucy, M. D., and Dr. William D.. Nathan was a son of Ira Whitney, settled in Youngsville in 1824, and died in 1862. Ira A. embarked in the mercantile trade in Pittsfield in 1873, dealing extensively in all classes of merchandise, grain, seeds, feed, flour, lumber, shingles, clothing, boots and shoes, and does a general barter business to accommodate his farming trade. He was appointed postmaster November, 18S5. He married Sabrina Mead, daughter of John and Eveline Mead, in 1879; they have three children —Ella, Mary, Lucy P., and Fred.

 

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WICKHIZER, John H. - Warren p. o., Conewango twp (page cv, Brief Personals *)

John H. Wickhizer was born in Monroe county in the year 1843, and came to Warren in 1869. He enlisted at Wilkesbarre in June, 1861, in Company F, Seventh Pennsylvania Reserves, was captured at Charles City Cross Roads, in the seven days fight in 1862, and served in the Confederate prisons at Libby and Belle Isle, where he was exchanged, and afterwards discharged for disability. He then re-enlisted in the 8th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, and served to the close of the war. In 1871 Mr. Wickhizer married Mary M., a daughter of Philip Trushel, by whom he has had two children. He is a contracting carpenter and joiner of Warren, and now resides in Glade. He is also a respected member of the Evangelical Church.

 

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WICKWIRE, Morton D. - Columbus, Columbus twp (page cv, Brief Personals *)

Morton D. Wickwire was bom in Hamilton, Madison county, N. Y., in 1829. He was a son of Giles and Lois (Carrier) Wickwire, who were born in Connecticut and settled in Columbus in 1839, where they died, he in 1873, and his wife, Lois, in 1877. They had a family of five children born to them—Morton, Monroe, Dimmis, Myron, and Milo. Morton D. Wickwire was married in 1855, to Sarah Dutton, of Warren county. They have had three children born to them —Dennis S., Lura L., and Lelia I. Mr. Morton has been town commissioner, school director, and collector, and was also engaged in farming. His son, Dennis, married Mary B. Scholton, of Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1881. They have one child —Earl M. Mrs. Sarah Wickwire was a daughter of Solomon and Rebecca (Rice) Dutton, who settled here in 1829. They had a family of four children —two sons and two daughters.

 

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WIEDERHOLD, George - Youngsville p. o., Brokenstraw twp (page cv, Brief Personals *)

George Wiederhold was born in Prussian Germany, Grossbartloff, County Heiligenstadt, R. B. Erfurt, Province Sachsen, January 11, 1826, and came to America in 1851 and settled at Galena, Ill., and in 1857 came to Buffalo, N. Y., where he was married in 1860 to Barbara Smith, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1842. They have had a family of seven children—Bertha, Maggie, George, Emma and Alma (twins), Leo, and Louis. George enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Yolunteers, in 1864, and served to the close of the war, when he returned to his trade, that of cabinet-making and undertaking, and in 1859 settled in Youngsville and engaged in the general furniture and undertaking business. The undertaking business is a specialty, and he has on hand a variety of fine selections.

 

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WILCOX, Daniel F. - Russell p. o., Farmington twp (pages cv-cvi, Brief Personals *)

Daniel F. Wilcox is a farmer, and was born in Conewango township January 18, 1839. He is a son of Thomas and Sophronia (Spencer) Wilcox. His paternal grandparents were Thomas and Lydia (Dibble) Wilcox, who settled in Conewango township about 1820. They had a family of twelve children—Mary A., Thomas, jr., Prudence, Phebe, Tabor, Lovisa, Angeline, Susan, Rockwell, Lodema, John, and Henry. The maternal grandfather of Daniel F. Wilcox was Abner Spencer, who was also among the first settlers of Conewango. Thomas Wilcox, jr., cleared and improved a farm in Conewango which is now owned by Daniel F. He had a family of five children born to him—Daniel F., Uretta, now Mrs. G. H. Pierson; Salina J., now Mrs. W. Filer; George, Caroline, now Mrs. Daniel Grunder; and Mathesia, deceased. Daniel F. Wilcox was reared in Conewango, where he resided until 1874, he then removed to Farmington, to the farm which he now owns and occupies. He was married March 26, 1874, to Rose Kiker, a daughter of Conrad and Sophia (Gross) Kiker. They have had two children born to them—George C., and Frank C.

 

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WILLIAMS, John W. - Columbus twp (page cvi, Brief Personals *)

John W. Williams was born in Westfield, Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1817. He was a son of Alvin and Sylvia (Curtis) Williams, who were natives of Massachusetts, and settled in Chautauqua county, N. Y., where they died. John W. Williams settled in Crawford county, in the tanning business, in 1868, and in 1869 he settled in Columbus, and erected his present fine factory, and also purchased a large lumber tract. He has done an extensive business and now tans some fifteen hundred hides per week, giving employment to about fifteen hands. Mr. Williams retired from business in January, 1886. His son, Frank Williams, continues the business. John W. Williams was married in 1844 to Emma Wheeler. They have had a family of three children born to them—Earl, Frank, Ida, who married C. A. Blakeslee. Mr. Williams first embarked in the mercantile business in 1837, and in the tanning business in 1857.

 

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WILSON, George T. - Garland p. o., Pittsfield twp (page cvi, Brief Personals *)

George T. Wilson, a practical miller, was born in Cato, Cayuga county, N. Y., in 1815, and settled in Pine Grove in 1832 with his parents, Joel and Sally (Ladow) Wilson. Sally was born in Cayuga county, N. Y., and Joel, her husband, was bom in Vermont. They were married in Cayuga county, N. Y., in 1813, and had a family of thirteen children born to them, five of whom are now living —George T. , Sarah, Polly, Cecilia, and Lyman D.. Joel died in 1866. Sally, his wife, died in 1871. One of their sons, Lyman D., enlisted and served in the late war, George T. was married in 1842 to Betsey Miller, who was born in Canandaigua, N. Y. She died in Ohio in 1863, leaving two daughters, of whom only one in now living— Sarah Jane. Mr. Wilson was again married, in 1864, to Mrs. Augusta Pike, the widow of James Pike, and by her has had one child—Jeanette. George T. Wilson settled in Garland in 1877, and in 1885 he became the partner of G. W. Brockway in the general milling, grain, and flour trade. They now occupy the mill which was built by Mr. Andrews.

 

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WOLLASTON, James E. - Stoneham p. o., Mead twp (page cvi, Brief Personals *)

James E. Wollaston is a carpenter, and was born in what is now Forrest [sic[ county June 15, 1849. He was a son of James and Rachel (Tuthill) Wollaston. He was reared in Warren county, where he learned his trade, which occupation he has followed since 1876. He located in Mead township in 1880, and was married December 13, 1880, to Mary J. McKee, born April 27, 1853, a daughter of Samuel and Martha McKee, of Titusville. They have had a family of three children bom to them—James E., born January 16, 1882; Mary J., born March 19, 1883; Samuel L., born April 6, 1885.

 

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WOODBURN, William J. - Brokenstraw, N. Y., p. o., Freehold twp (page cvi, Brief Personals *)

William J. Woodburn was born in Philadelphia in 1823, and settled in Warren county in 1833. He married Joicey Way, of New York, and by her had a family of four children—Ella (Eggleston, deceased), Mary (Finch, deceased), Kate (Wood), and Earl H. His father, James Woodburn, was born in Ireland, and was a weaver by trade. He married Mary Porter, by whom he had a family of seven children, six of whom are now living.

 

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WRIGHT, Aaron P. - Lander p. o., Farmington twp (page cvi, Brief Personals *)

Aaron P. Wright was born in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., March 14, 1818. He was a son of Aaron and Cornelia (Rose) Wright. He settled in Pine Grove township in 1839, and engaged in lumbering, and in 1846 located in Farmington on the farm on which he now resides. He was married in 1845 to Mary J. Newman, a daughter of Jeremiah C. and Nancy (Marsh) Newman, and a granddaughter of John Marsh, a native of New Jersey, who settled in what is now Farmington in 1800. By his marriage Mr. Wright has had a family of seven children—Ida, Nancy C, Inez, Marion A., Louisa, Belle (deceased), and Mittie.

 

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WRIGHT, David - Sugar Grove twp (page cvii, Brief Personals *)

David Wright was a son of Adam and Gertrude (Hunter) Wright, who were married in England, and settled in Sugar Grove. They had a family eleven children born to them, only one of whom is now living—David. Adam Wright was a cotton spinner in his early life, and his children followed the same occupation until settlement. David was born in Preston, Lancashire, England, May 7, 1818. He married Anna Read in 1841. She was born in Fabius, Onondaga county, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1822. They have had a family of ten children born to them—George B., Harriet E., Sarah A., David H., Ephraim M., Lois E., Mary A., Martha E., Belle, and Henry. Anna was a daughter of Zacheus B. and Sally C. (Dean) Read, who settled in Clymer, N. Y., where Zacheus died, leaving a widow and eight children.

 

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WRIGHT, George B. - Sugar Grove twp (page cvii, Brief Personals *)

George B. Wright, a farmer and lumber manufacturer; was born in Sugar Grove in 1843, and married Matilda Gifford, of North East, in 1868; she was born in 1843. They have had four children—Betsey E., Nettie A., Guy Allen, and Georgiana A. Matilda was a daughter of Ebenezer and Betsey Gifford; they came from Saratoga county, N. Y., and settled in Warren county in 1835. Betsey was bom in 1800, and died in 1868 in North East, leaving five children. George B. was a son of David and Anna (Read) Wright; they have had a family of ten children. She was born in Fabius, Onondaga county, N. Y.; he was born in Manchester, England, and came to America with his parents and settled in Massachusetts as a cotton-spinner, and in 1835 settled in Sugar Grove as farmers, where they died. They had a family of eleven children, all now dead but David.

 

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WRIGHT, Mrs. Laura - Freehold twp (page cvii, Brief Personals *)

Mrs. Laura Wright, formerly Laura Pierce, of New York, and widow of Edward Wright, was born in 1837, and married in 1866, and died in 1877, leaving a family of two children—Albert and Clifton.

 

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WRIGHT, Oliver O. - Columbus twp (page cvii, Brief Personals *)

Oliver O. Wright was born in Columbus in 1848. He was a son of Jacob and Clarissa (Davis) Wright. Jacob was born in 1803, and his wife Clarissa was born in Rush, Genesee county, in 1813. They were married in 1832, and that same year settled in Columbus. They had a family of ten children, seven of whom are now living, five sons and two daughters. Jacob, the father, died July 1, 1882. Clarissa was a daughter of James and Mary (Jewett) Davis. James was born in England, and his wife, Mary, was born in Connecticut. Oliver O. Wright, was married in 1872 to Mary Jane Williamson, of Ohio. They have had a family of three children born to them— Clarissa G., Jacob W., and William C.

 

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WRIGHT, Stephen B. - Bear Lake p. o., Freehold twp (page cvii, Brief Personals *)

Stephen B. Wright was born in Chenango county, N. Y., 1818, and settled in Warren county in 1834. He was married in 1839 to Caroline Lopus, by whom he had a family of ten children, seven of whom are now living. Mr. Wright is a carpenter by trade. His father, Joseph Wright, married Sally Brooks, and to them were born seven children, three of whom are now living. Mrs. Wright's father, Isaac Lopus, was born in 1792, and served in the War of 1812, and now draws a pension. The list of the names of the children of Stephen B. Wright is as follows: Chester O. Wright, born in the year 1843, was married in the year 1864 to Rosa J. Walker. Mary E. Wright, born in the year 1845, was married in the year 1864 to Rev. Lucius Markham. Julia L. Wright, born in the year 1849, was married in the year 1871 to Harrison D. Hotchkiss, and died in the year 1874. Rosella R. Wright, born in the year 1852, was married in the year 1870 to Rev. James W. Wilson. Sarah J. Wright, born in the year 1852, was married in the year 1871 to Oscar H. Wilson. Joseph B. Wright, born in the year 1854, and died in the year 1857. Laura F. Wright, born in the year 1856, was married in the year 1878 to George N. Dorn. Clara A. Wright, born in the year 1858, was married in the 1878 to Thomas R. Hinckley. Cyrus N. Wright, born in the year 1860, and died in the year 1861. Ephraim L. Wright, born in the year 1865, and lives at home, is now twenty-one years old.

[Warren County coordinator's note: Rosella Wright was not born in 1852; she appears on the 1850 census, age 1/12]

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* Source: History Of Warren County Pennsylvania with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, edited by J.S. Schenck, assisted by W.S. Rann; Syracuse, N.Y.; D Mason & Co., Publishers; 1887.

 


 

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