In mid-2006, Bob Sweeney bought a copy of Souvenir of Hillsgrove from an auction on eBay. It was his intention to have the document transcribed and the pictures scanned for this web site. So, it was placed in the queue against that future day when Bob or his colleagues would get around to it. Hah!.....then in August 2007, Mike Clarke, a descendant of the Jackson family of Hillsgrove contacted us with a trove of family pictures and documents, including his own copy of the Souvenir. He has graciously created a set of PDF files for us which reproduce the text of the document, as well as a set of scanned photos following the text. This format is exactly as the original booklet was produced. We have also included several other photos and materials from Mike's collection along with the Souvenir text and have labeled them separately for the benfit of the reader. The Sullivan County Genealogical Web Page is grateful to Mike for his contribution and support in both time and historical content. We hope each reader will enjoy this rare and famous history as much as we have.

Hillsgrove was originally known as Plunketts Creek, but on April 15, 1856, as shown in the scan below, the Pennsylvania State Legislature changed the name to "Hills Grove". For sure, this change resulted from some form of political activity, but whose and why we are not sure.

Name Change from "Plunkets" Creek to "Hills Grove"
April 15, 1856
Acts of Pennsylvania State Legislature
Photo by Mike Clarke

At the end of the Souvenir, we have also included additonal information and photos on the Jackson and Fuller families and their relatives, courtesy of Mike Clarke. There is also a Postscript from Mike that tells about some amazing coincidences and anecdotes involving the Jackson and Clark families, where they lived, and more. You might also find it interesting to reference the Hillsgrove Cemetery site as well.

Hillsgrove Souvenir Cover
You can click on the above caption to see how the booklet appeared when it was originally published in lace binding.
Photo of original version courtesy of George Becker, its owner, in November 2010.

Just click on each PDF file in succession to read the text. They are grouped by topic, just as the original text groups the topics. Where an author was listed in the original, we have given him or her credit. We will provide an index as well to key surnames in the document. The pictures are listed at the end of the document with a caption for each; you can click on these as well to see their content.

 

Page 1: "Hello Folks!"
Page 2: Dedication
Page 3: Preface
Page 4: Hillsgrove Pioneer Homes
--by S. A. McBride
Page 5: Physicians/Hillsgrove's Beauty Spots
--by Harry H. Greene
Page 6: Hillsgrove's Gift to International Civilization
--by Harry H. Greene
Page 7: Churches/Meet Hillsgrove
--by Harry H. Greene
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10: Horses! Horses! Horses!
--by Harry H. Greene
Page 11
Page 12: The Loyalsock
Page 13: Are Wit and Humor Immortal?/Local Humor and Tall Stories
Page 14
Page 15: "Skul--Daze"
Page 16
Page 17: School Roll 1884
Page 18: Sports and Recreations
--by Geo. Chapman
Page 19: Claude Weldy Sadler
--by Herman Greene
Our Mothers/Hillsgrove Pioneers
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22: Lumbering and Tanning Industries
Page 23: Rod and Gun
Page 24
Page 25: Inns
Page 26: Lost Scenarios
--by Harry H. Greene
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29: Stores/The Hillsgrove Band
--by S. T. Galough
Page 30: Hillsgrove High School
Page 31: Hillsgrove High School (continued)
--by Mrs. Lillian Battershall
Page 32
Page 33: The Old Bridge Speaks/Memory Hash
Page 34
Page 35: Rafting on the 'Sock
Page 36: Reconstruction and Conservation
Page 37: Lodges and Societies
--by Paul Galough
Relics
--by John A. Speaker
Page 38
Page 39: Bridges/Philosophy of Age
Page 40: Loyalsock Beauty/Richard and Esther Biddle
--by Moyer Morean
Page 41: Descendants of Richard Biddle
Page 42: Melvin W. Lewis
Page 43: The Jackson Family
--by Mrs. Grace Salisbury Jackson
Page 44: The Harrison Family
Page 45: The Greene Family
Page 46: The Mountain School/Elk Creek School
Page 47: Ogdonian School
Page 48: Bridge View School
--by Lillian Battershell [sic]
Page 49
Page 50: Robert McEwen
--by Hugh J. Dewar
Page 51
Page 52: "Old Lee"
--by John D. McEwen
The Indians in the Valley of the 'Sock
--by John S. Morgan
Page 53
Page 54
Page 55: The Grand Finale

Hillsgrove, PA from Proctor Mountain
About 1905
Postcard Dated August 15, 1910, Wheelerville, PA
Photo by Bill Brenchley of an old postcard auctioned on eBay in September 2008

The appended photos appear next in the text by consecutive page number; just click on each link to see the pictures **. We have provided informative captions.
** Editor's Note: If the picture compresses to a smaller scale, then just "right click" on your mouse and then click once more on the icon with four arrows to restore the picture to normal size.

Page 56:
--The Big Splash Dam, 1900
--The Last Ark Down the "Sock", 1905
Page 57:
--The Last Drive on the "Sock", 1905
--Peeling Bark
Page 58:
--Bert Mapes and Tommy Tompkins
--The Old Swimming Hole on Mill Creek
Page 59: Representative and Mrs. George Walker
--From Lumber Camp to Legislative Hall in the Good American Way
--Last Descendants of Pioneer Settler: C. W. and Laura Sadler
Page 60:
--Hillsgrove Lodge No. 805, I. O. O. F.
--The P. O. S. of A., 1896
--The Original Hillsgrove Band, 1882 *
* Editor's Note: Mike Clarke has identified the members of the Hillsgrove band shown in the preceding picture as Charles Sadler, William Boyles, William Haynes, Bowman Barret, James Haynes, George Jackson, Lyman Jackson, Chan Fuller and Cris Tufton . You can see them at: 1882 Band Members. In Jnauary 2014, Paul Galough contributed an additional photo of this band, taken about 15-20 years later. You can see it at The Hillsgrove Band Circa 1900. Paul does not know the specific identities of those pictured here, other than some guesses.
In February 2014, Mike Clarke, having examined this photo, offered his own take on the photo identities:

Based on appearance, and based on my own educated guess, I'm thinking that the older white-haired fellow, hat askew, with the sousaphone, is likely to be, or most certainly is, John (aka Johnny) Jackson. There is a distinct possibility that the fellow in the front row, middle, (not wearing a band tunic), is or may be John Jackson's youngest child, John Lyman Jackson, (familiarly known as Lyman so as not to confuse him with his father). I'm not altogether sure if the boy with the cymbals is in fact Ray Jackson, but it may well be. The seeming age of the boy in what appears to be 1890-1892 appears right. Ray is my great grandfather, and was born in 1882. I think too that the fellow with the bass drum is or may be William Boyles; he being the husband of Martha (Jackson) Boyles, and she being a daughter of John Jackson.
Regarding the figure who I propose might be Lyman Jackson (in front, not wearing a band tunic) .... I am basing this, his "band identity" (tentatively), as it compares to a photo of him where he was photographed from the side, more or less in 3/4 full-face fashion, sitting next to a hammered dulcimer. The dulcimer photo was shot later in his life, but to me, there are distinct similarities in appearance between both the proposed Lyman in your "Band" photo, and the certified Lyman sitting next to the dulcimer later in life. One of the characteristis are his eyebrows -- appearing thick and somewhat bushy in both photos .... another are his ears, where although not "large" per se, they appear to be sticking out in both photos. Then there is the general shape of the head and generally similar facial appearance which appears to agree in both photos. Regarding the boy with the cymbals .... he may very well be young Ray Jackson (Raymond E. Jackson), despite the difficulty that there is in comparing the "Band" or "cymbals" image with a certifiably correct 17-year old Ray Jackson photo that I have. The cymbals image eyes and browline of the boy compare favorably with those of the 17-year old Ray Jackson photo. Yes, I would agree that it is difficult to definitively conclude that they are one in the same person, but I can say with certainty that, as with myself, if somebody 100 years from now compares a photo of me at 10 years of age with, say, my graduation photo (or any other photo of me) at 18 years old, there is no way way that anybody will be able to say that the two photos are of the same person.... because I changed so dramatically in appearance in the intervening teen years. I can't say the same for everybody, since it is probably more true than not that most people don't so dramatically or fundamentally change in appearance during their teenage years .... .for instance, my daughter at 18 years old, looked very much like her same self when she was 10.... i.e., at 18 she was basically just an older, more mature, version of the 10 year old her.
If at some point we assume or definitively conclude that the fellow in front (not wearing a band tunic) is in fact Lyman Jackson, then that increases the liklihood that the boy with cymbals is more likely to be his son, Ray Jackson.
It's funny how opening one door winds up opening a whole host of other doors. In this instance, I am referring to the the fellow with the bass drum....: From the gate, upon first seeing this photo, I suspected that he is, or may be, William Boyles; he being the husband of Martha (Jackson) Boyles. I base that notion on a comparison of the appearance of "bass drum man" to the appearance or image of another, later, photo of a fellow sitting on a chair, outdoors; in front of what appears to be a grapevine-fence or arbor directly behind him. The images of these two persons ("bass drum man" and "grapevine man") are so similar as to be convincingly the same person. The image of "grapevine man" exists in a small (i.e., thin-ish) folder--"the Boyles folder"-- residing among all the other familial folders and binders in the Sullivan County Museum.
Anyway, getting back to grapevine man .... His overall appearance, although decidedly older than bass drum man, is so similar to bass drum man in every way that it's hard to imagine that anybody would disagree, and assuming that I am correct - that William Boyles as he appears in the Boyles folder, is in fact William Boyles, the husband of Martha (nee Jackson), then the logical conclusion or argument can be made that bass drum man is this same William Boyles, albeit probably 20, (or maybe more), years younger than grapevine man.
Personally, and naturally, I am motivated to hope that the senior citizen sousaphone band member is John (aka Johnny) Jackson, and, as I mentioned earlier, I am hoping as well that the tunic-less band member in the front row is his son, John Lyman Jackson. Regarding the senior citizen sousaphone band member -- His stature and build squares perfectly with all family lore that documents it or remembers it. The cheekbones of senior citizen sousaphone man square perfectly with the cheekbones of he who is depicted in the "John Jackson sitting-in-front-of-his-cabin-photo" (shown below on this site).
Page 61: Along the "Sock"
-- Pleasure *
--The Dinkey in the Drink
* Editor's Note: In January 2014, Paul Galough wrote to us as follows: "I also have the original picture from page 61 labeled Pleasure. Mine is labeled on the back as well, indicating Paul Galough upper right with the umbrella, Nell Vroman top right (future Mrs. Paul Galough), Sam and Bessie Galough (Bessie Peck) on bottom row right. Taken in 1900. This labeling was done by my grandfather Bryan (Paul's son) after Paul's death."
Page 62:
--Boyles-Jackson-Strickland Reunion, 1904
--Mr. and Mrs. John Lucas, Edward, Laurence and Bill
--Ralph Vogle and Sid Greene
Page 63:
--The Bridge View School
--John Brey and Family *
Page 64:
--Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Harrison
--Dr. J. L. Christian
--J. L. McEwen
Page 65: Village Belles
Page 66: Good Neighbors
--Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Galough **
--Mr. and Mrs. Horace A. Greene
Page 67:
--Mr. and Mrs. William Haynes
--Mr. and Mrs. William Strickland
--Mr. and Mrs. Gus Ludy
Page 68: Fathers of the Hamlet
--Steve Vroman
--"Pappy" Jackson
--"Dad" Greene
--"Squire" Sheeley
Page 69:
--George S. Speaker, Prince of Good Fellows
--Milton Sheeley, President of Hillsgrove's First Railroad
--The Organist, Now Mrs. Manning Galispie
Page 70: Hillsgrove School (The "Big" Room), Mr. Black, Principal, 1886
Page 71: Robt. McEwen and Crew, Which Opened the Last Stand of Hemlock on Camp Mountain, 1899
Page 72: The Bridge of Spooks
Page 73:
--Grade School, 1920. Miss Eideth Speaker, Teacher
--Graduates, Hillsgrove High School, 1909, Dr. Guy Dutter, President
Page 74: Business and Industry
--The Tannery
--The Village Store in the Gay Nineties
Page 75:
--Tannery Crew, 1906
--Loft Crew, 1906
--Log Landing, Dry Run, 1904
Page 76:
--The Union Church and Public School
--"Squire" Sheeley's Sunday School Class, 1883
Page 77: White Ribbon Leaders
--Mrs. William Hull
--Mrs. A. J. Sheeley, Mrs. S. H. Hollman, Mrs. J. J. Sadler
Page 78:
--W. L. Hoffman and Family
--Rev. John Bryan, S. T. Galough, Andrew Galough, Paul S. Galough
--Henry, Annie Gilbert, Dan
Editor's Note: See a photo of Henry and his wife, Hannah (Moyer) Gilbert below.
Page 79:
--Baseball Team, 1904
--Walt, "Landing a Big One"
Page 80: Four Generations of the Speaker Family

* Editor's Note: In the Fall of 2009, Anne Vollman of Cogan Station, Lycoming County, PA, denoted several old deeds and records to the Sullivan County Historical Society and Museum. In transit, they were scrutinized and conserved by Bob Sweeney. Among those papers were a contract dated 1898 wherein George C. Bird and Jonathon Rogers authorized John Brey, pictured with his family above, to cut and prepare timber on their land along Elk Creek, for the benefit of the Hillsgrove Tanning Company. The Vollman materials also included a land deed, dated 1902, wherein the widow, Elizabeth (Huckell) Rogers, and children of Jonathan Rogers sold 346 acres in Elkland Township directly to John Brey. Here are several scans of this original land deed:

Deed Cover
Deed First Page
Deed Signature Page 1
Deed Signature Page 2

Among other facts, these scans show us a list of the parties to the sale, which includes all of the survivors of Jonathan Rogers, as well as John Brey, the buyer. We also are given the actual signatures of these individuals.

Larry Pardoe followed up on our receipt of these materials with a series of comments and links to other sources. We quote him here:

Thanks for sharing the information regarding deeds and contracts relating to John Brey, Peter Huffsmith, Jonathan Rogers (widow and children), James Dutter and George C. Bird. I have all these folks in my family tree except for John Brey. I'm attaching four outline "descendants" reports but only showing either just three or just four generations. This will allow access to the families who would have been tied in to the deed information:

Descendants of George Copeland Bird
Descendants of James Dutter
Descendants of Jonathan Rogers
Descendants of Peter M. Huffsmith, Jr.

Interesting that I only had Peter L. Huffsmith in my tree, but, after exploring the internet, I was able to take him back four more generations to the mid 1700's. I don't have much info on this family. They must have moved to Sullivan County from Monroe County about 1900. The son, Peter L. Huffsmith, married Myra Y. Bryan, daughter of Benjamin Huckell Bryan and Philena Arvilla Little. A good source on this family is Huffsmith/Hoofschmidt & Butz Genealogy by Dale E. Berger.

As for the Brey family, John Brey (October 3, 1858-1939) married Sarah "Sallie" A. (Huffsmith) Brey (June 15, 1861-abt. June 1927). In the picture shown above in the Hillsgrove Souvenir, their son Frank P. Brey (b. June 2, 1886) is standing behind his parents. The other two children appear to be daughters, Lillie M., Brey, b. June 13, 1889 and Mary E. Brey, b. July 30, 1896 although I can't tell which is which. This photo was probably taken in the early 1920's as Sarah died in 1927. My sources are the Federal Census for 1900 for Hillsgrove Twp., Sullivan Co., PA and the Hillsgrove Cemetery transcription.

I was unaware that the property covered by this deed had been out of the Rogers family hands. The J. Rogers S Mill (saw mill) appears on the well known 1872 Sullivan Co. map by F. W. Beers, and believe it to be the same property now known as Morgan Century Farm Bed and Breakfast. It is owned and operated by Linda (Morgan) Florentine and her husband Ken Florentine. (She is my fourth cousin - her mother was a Pardoe). I stay there when I visit Sullivan County on other than day trip visits.
I thought the farm had came down from Rogers somehow to the Morgan family, but will have to go back to Linda to see if her parents might have bought it from the John Brey family. Interesting. I thought I had heard somewhere that the three spinster Rogers daughters lived there. Maybe that was just until 1902 when it was sold to John Brey? I hope to get up to visit this coming year for the three day Molyneux Family Reunion - usually in July. If I do, I'll ask these questions of Linda to see if she can provide more information.
Jonathan Rogers (1821-1896) married Elizabeth Huckell. Jonathan was a son of Jonathan Rogers (1785-1830) and Elizabeth Snell (1783-1830). Linda (Morgan) Florentine, my cousin, goes back to the Snell family. Her father John Anthony Morgan (1912-1987) was son of John Snell Morgan (1882-1956) and Edith V. Snell (1879-1917) - thus Jonathan Rogers and Elizabeth Snell were her 3rd great-grandparents.
The 1920 Elkland Twp., Sullivan Co., PA Federal Census shows John Morgan, age 8 living with Sara Rogers and her sisters Serena and Rachel. I don't if they were living in the same farm house that is now the Morgan Century Farm Bed and Breakfast, or if they lived elsewhere in the Lincoln Falls area. If the property was sold to John Brey in 1902 it will be interesting to follow the chain to how it got back into the family's hands again. To be continued.......

Larry Pardoe
November 2009

** Editor's Note: According to Paul Galough, Jacob Galough was both a barber and a carpenter. He helped build a church in Hillsgrove. Paul's cousin researched this activity and says the church was demolished a few years ago. Paul still has a large tool chest filled with Jacob Galoughs tools. (planes, bit and brace, saws).

Susquehanna and Eagles Mere Railroad Trestle
Hillsgrove in the Early Twentieth Century
Hillsgrove Tannery in the Distance
Original Photograph by Nelson Caulkins
From an auction on eBay in September 2007

Appendix: The Jacksons and Related Families

The Souvenir mentions the Jackson family, and Lyman J. Jackson specifically, on several occasions. The original emigrants to Sullivan County were John and Mary (Bagshaw) Jackson and several of their children. They arrived in Philadelphia on November 8, 1848 on the Tuscarora, most likely from Liverpool. The Ship Roster shows these entries for this family:

316 John Jackson 32 m England
317 Mary Jackson 31 f England
318 Mary Jackson 8mo f England [Note: should be "Martha", not Mary]
319 Ann Glossip 30 f England
320 George Jackson 7 m England
321 Sarah Jackson 3 f England
322 Jane Glossip 9 f England
323 John Glossip 2 m England

Grave Marker for Ann (Hudson) Glossop
1823-1889
Widow of John Glossop
Northside Cemtery, Turbotville, PA
Source: Photo Taken by Mike Clarke on April 5, 2009

The Glossip family, with whom they apparently were traveling, was sailing to meet Ann Glossip's husband, already in the United States. Let's divulge for a moment to hear about the Glossop/Glossip family, whose fate Mike researched in early 2009. We also show here the tombstone for Ann Glossop, buried in the Northside Cemetery, just outside of Turbotville, Northumberland County, PA, near McEwensville. That is today, she lies at rest about 42 miles from Hillsgrove, where the Jacksons eventually arrived in Sullivan County. According to Mike:

Ann (Hudson) Glossop came over with John and Mary Jackson on the Tuscarora in 1848; she lost her husband John Glossop, (aka "Jack Goslip" per Grace Jackson in Souvenir of Hillsgrove), who preceded her with John Jackson's father, William Jackson, by or prior to 1850. She traveled north from Philadelphia with the Jackson entourage, but, being husbandless and therefore somewhat hapless, she was unable to tackle the rigors of the lifestyle of the Jacksons in Sullivan County, and only got so far as the foothills of the Endless Mountain region, that is east Lycoming County, between Hughesville and Picture Rocks. She disappeared from the record for a time, but reappeared in McEwensville in the 1880 census.

As an aside, I have John Glossop's and Ann Hudson's 1838 Sheffield, UK, marriage certificate. They produced 3 children in England; the middle one, a 2-year old, died in Sheffield (1843-1845). Their 1st and 3rd children, a girl and boy respectively, accompanied Ann with the Jacksons on the Tuscarora in 1848, and I have both of their UK birth registry certificates. The youngest of the two, John Glossop (Jr.), went on to serve with a Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment during the last year or so of the Civil War. He married a PA girl (surname Shunk, no less); wound-up in Michigan, and proceeded to go through about hree wives in all, and about 15 or more children! Ann's oldest, first born child, Sarah Jane Glossop, married and settled near her mother in the Turbotville area (northern end of Northumberland County, just south of Lycoming County). She is buried there next to her mother. Had Ann's husband (John aka "Jack") not died (he is believed deceased prior to 1850, in Philadelphia), there would likely have been Glossops in Sullivan County.
All this (and more) of what I now know of these Glossops began with the enigmatic kernel of a clue that Grace (Salisbury) Jackson provided in the Souvenir when she only once mentioned who I believe was the common law, second "wife" of William Jackson: "Mary Goslip, and her son Jack" as having accompanied William Jackson, (Johnny Jackson's father), to America, probably about a year or less prior to John Jackson and his family; John and company arriving in Philadelphia in 1848. They all met up in Philadelphia with the likely probability being that Ann's husband, John "Jack" Glossop, was already deceased. Ann stuck with the Jacksons and her mother-in-law, Mary "Goslip" Glossop, to a point, but faltered at the beginning of the Endless Mountains.
Ann never remarried. She does not appear in the 1850 census, and it is one possibility that she was somewhere between Hillsgrove and Wolf Township in East Lycoming COunty when the enumerators showed up... in other words, she may have left Lycoming County to go to Hillsgrove in the summer of 1850 just days before the Wolf Township enumerator showed up, and departed Hillsgrove; returning to Lycoming County, prior to the enumerator showing up in Hillsgrove... thus missing both enumerators and the 1850 census.
In 1860, she is recorded as being a "housekeeper" for a Rogers family, in Wolf Township, the head of household being a widower with about 4 or 5 kids. I think I know which farm was the Rogers farm in those years, and it's right along Rte 220 between Hughesville and Picture Rocks. By 1870, she is in Northumberland County, in the McEwensville or Turbotville area.

John and Mary Jackson were married in 1835 in Sheffield Cathedral, in Sheffield, England. The 1841 Sheffield census shows John and Mary living with her mother, Sarah Bagshaw, Mary's father having died the year before. Incredibly, the original marriage certificate itself is located in the registry there. Here are two photos of the cathedral, one from 1900 showing the structure as it most likely appeared 65 years earlier when the marriage occurred, and one from contemporary times. We also show the marriage registration page from the local records, with a transcription of the Jackson-Bagshaw entry provided by Mike himself:

Two Views of Sheffield Cathedral
About 1900 and Contemporary
Photos courtesy of Mike Clarke


Marriage Record and Transcription
John and Mary (Bagshaw) Jackson
Sheffield, England 1835
Photos courtesy of Mike Clarke

In October 2007, Mike sent us the following additional startling information, including the belief that he had found a picture of the ship his Jackson ancestors arrived on:

Much investigation into that ship revealed that there were actually two ships of that same name owned, each in turn, by the same Philadelphia company: the Cope Line. The first Tuscarora was of 397 tons burthen and was sold off some unkonwn years prior to 1848. The second Tuscarora was built and launched in Philadelphia, Feb. 15, 1848 and was of 1231 tons burthen. This means then, that the Hillsgrove Jacksons came over on the second Tuscarora, and that, in fact, the ship was virtually brand new and that their move to America was on the ship's second trans-Atlantic voyage: Liverpool to Philadelphia, Nov. 8, 1848.
I also discovered, by happenstance, through Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia that a certain early 19th century painter in Philadelphia painted two paintings of a ship called Tuscarora (date or year was not known), and that these paintings are actually housed or stored (as it turns out) at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) in Philadelphia. Contact with the HSP affirmed that the entire collection (which is large) of this painter is indeed at the HSP and in storage and not on display. Furthermore, digitized images of these works can be purchased.
The next question was, of course, which Tuscarora are these the paintings of? Turns out they are catalogued as: "Tuscarora of the "H. & A. Cope & Co.". I had in the meantime (lately) become aware or learned that the father/patriarch of the Cope Shipping Line, Thomas P. Cope, had, sometime prior to 1848, handed off operations and ownership to his two sons, Henry and Albert... H & A! In addition, a further exchange of emails between myself and the HSP resulted in them sharing with me that one of the paintings is identified on the front as: "Tuscarora, In the stream, June 1848". That pretty much nailed it for me! To make this even sweeter, and because I was becoming something of a known quantity at the HSP, they decided to send me both image copies, one each of both paintings for the price of one, and that they, rather than simply photograph the paintings, would instead scan them from film which will yield far better clarity and color.
Is this not a homerun, or what! Especially since, as far as I can tell, they are the only two known renderings of that ship that I can find and especially also the documentation indicting month and year on one of them meaning it was in the Delaware River, likely heading out or preparing to, with the result five months later, of returning to Philadelphia in November of 1848 with the Jacksons. I think this is totally a kick.
Just one miracle after another around here!

And here is a sketch of the very ship the Jacksons sailed on....

The Tuscarora
June, 1848
Five Months Before She Carried the Jacksons to America from Liverpool
Photo by Mike Clarke
Source: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), Philadelphia, PA. This reproduction is a sole use intended to comply in all respects with the "fair use" copyright standards of the HSP, and is serves soley for historical research purposes.

The caption in the original photo reads:

Philadelphia Packet Ship Tuscarora of Cope Bro's., Liverpool Line
Lost at sea near Cadiz Spain on the night of the 9th of January 1873. At 11 o'clock she sank in a dreadful gale with Capt. Dunlevy and 14 of his men; the mate and 10 men were picked up next morning. The steamer Barton Irwin of Glasgow, Scotland lay by her until she sunk. She sailed from Mobile Alabama in Dec. 1872 with 3650 Bales of Cotton for Liverpool Eng.’d
Sketched in the stream at Walnut Street Wharf Philadelphia in June 1848 by D.J. Kennedy

Another interesting bit of historia concering this ship is reported by Mike Clarke from reading the diaries of the patriarch/founder of the Cope Shipping Line, Thomas Pym Cope:

In November of 1849, about a year to the day after landing in Philadelphia on its return trip in Nov. 1848 with the Jacksons, this ship ran aground off Cape Henlopen, DE, which is the shore opposite Cape May, NJ, at the wide mouth of the Delaware Bay. The ship was severely damaged, and was believed at first to be a total loss. However, it was decided that despite a great deal of damage to the keel and 16' of water in its hold, that it might be possible to rig some kind of pump and patch system with a view toward saving it. This was tried repeatedly with little success at first, but eventually, despite winter weather, there was some degree of success, and the ship was floated. They then had it painstakingly towed to a dry dock at the Port of New York, (presumably towed by a steamer), since the dry dock that could accommodate a ship of this size (1231 tons) was still under construction in Philadelphia. It was reasoned and understood that by the time all this was accomplished and the ship repaired, the money spent could just as well have been spent on an entirely new ship, but the owners were very wealthy and Quakers to boot, and not to be easily discouraged. Interesting also is that the Captain of the ship, Enoch Turley, was retained despite this mishap and despite the knowledge that this mishap was not due to any storm. How long this captain continued, I don't know, but by 1873, it was captained by a certain Dunlevy.
As indicated on the documentation at the bottom of the painting, this ship was ultimately lost at sea off the coast of Spain in 1873. The great English/Irish immigration numbers had begun to flag by that time, and, in addition, steam-powered sailing ships had begun to overtake the trans-Atlantic transport of people.

Mike also sent us two tintype photos and one scanned page picture to post with the history of Hillsgrove. Shown first below is Hiram C. Fuller (his ggg-grandfather; buried in the Cemetery at Shunk). He is seated with a grand daughter, Mary Williams. Next, we see his gg-grandfather Lyman J. Jackson, buried in Hillsgrove Cemetery. Then comes the scanned page picture, showing the daughters of Hiram C. Fuller and the Fuller homestead in Fox Township, Sullivan County, PA. Lyman J. Jackson married one of Hiram Fuller's daughters, Julia Ann (Fuller) Jackson, Mike's gg-grandmother. Seated in the chair in the photo, she died of measles in 1883 and is also buried in Hillsgrove. She, too, is mentioned in the Souvenir in the Jackson family section. All photos are courtesy of Mike Clarke unless otherwise indicated.

Hiram C. Fuller and Mary Williams, His Granddaughter
Daughter of Charles and Zilphia (Fuller) Williams
Photo Taken at Shunk, PA
About 1890

Lyman John Jackson
Photo Taken at Hillsgrove, PA
About 1885

Daughters of Hiram C. and Diana (Courtright) Fuller
Fuller Homestead in Fox Township
Photos Taken About 1875
Source: The Fullers Now and Then

Here also is a picture of Ray E. Jackson, son of Lyman and Julia (Fuller) Jackson, taken about 1898 in Hillsgrove. Ray, age seventeen at the time, was Mike Clarke's great-grandfather. Mike was very fortunate to have actually known Ray Jackson. He lived to be a ripe old age, and Mike still can fondly recall times he spent at "Grampa and Granny Jackson's".

Ray E. Jackson
Son of Lyman and Julia (Fuller) Jackson
Photo Taken at Hillsgrove, PA
1898

Finally, here is a majestic picture that was given to Mike Clarke in the 1980s. Let Mike tell the story:

This picture hung for many decades in the big house directly across the road from the general store in Hillsgrove. The 'big house' across the road was at one time the home of the boss of the tannery, so I was told, and later it became the home of Theora and Robert Brong (pictured). They, and later, their daughter Marie and her husband Ray Kanally, operated the store and the Post Office it housed until they retired. During a visit with Marie and Ray Kanally sometime back in the 80's, I was fortunate enough to be given this photo.

Nelle Marie's mother was Theora Loverna (Jackson) Brong, daughter of Julia (Fuller) and John Lyman Jackson, and her father was Robert Brong. All are interred in the Hillsgrove Cemetery. The picture below was taken before Nellie Marie was born.
The two adult males in the foreground are Robert Brong, seated, with son Clinton Brong standing; and Ray E. Jackson, seated, with daughter Florence Mildred Jackson.
The women standing behind them are Anna (Gilbert) Jackson, wife of Ray E. Jackson, Theora (Jackson) Brong, wife of Robert Brong, and Anna Maria (Unglemoyer) "Grandma" Brong, (mother of Robert) with Bertha Brong (adopted daughter of Grandma Brong). Anna Maria was the wife of William "Grandpa" Brong, presumably deceased at the time of this photo.
Ray Jackson and Anna (Gilbert) Jackson were my great grand parents, while their tiny daughter, Florence Mildred, was my paternal grandmother. Her son, Gilbert W. Clark(e), was my father. The "e" on "Clarke" was a circa 1946 Army typo-addition he acquired that stuck.
** Editor's Note: See the curious anecdotes posed by Mike Clarke at the end of this page for more about the Jackson and Clarke families.
Ray E. Jackson (1881-1964) and Theora (Jackson) Brong were brother and sister and were two of three children born to Lyman J. Jackson and his young wife Julia A. (Fuller) Jackson. Julia died of measles approximately in 1883 when Ray, the youngest of the three, was just an infant.
Evidently this was a family outing with a view toward getting this picture taken. They all resided in Hillsgrove at the time.

The Jackson and Brong Family
Lincoln Falls, Sullivan County, PA
Photo Taken About 1908

Editor's Note: In February 2013, an old postcard was auctioned on eBay that depicts "Brong's Store" as it appeared in the 1950s. This store was the structure across from the 'big house' mentioned above by Mike Clarke. The picture, which we present below, shows two gas pumps along with an "Atlantic" gas sign above them. There are Pepsi and 7-Up signs on the side of the building as well. The sign above the store center reads "Brong".

The Brong Store
Hillsgrove PA
Taken in 1950s
Photo by Scott W. Tilden
Original auctioned on eBay in February 2013

Two photos taken at least a century apart show us the fate of the original Jackson homestead in Hillsgrove. The first picture shows Johnny Jackson, father of John Lyman Jackson, sitting in front of his log cabin, some time before 1903; the second shows the same spot where the cabin stood as it appeared on Sunday, November 11, 2007. The cabin burned many years ago; the place it was located was on the lower side of Sherman Higgley's house in 2012, not far from the road. This road goes past the church in Hillsgrove, and cabin was about a half mile past the church on the left, You can still see the big stones in the yard where it sat. According to Bill Brenchley, Johnny Jackson was his G G Grandfather, and this is the only known picture of the man. In the 1880 census, 13 people lived there. When Johnny moved there from Jackson Mountain, Mrs. White told him he could stay there and keep the farm with 50 acres after she passed on. Her husband had died. In this photo, Camp Mountain is in the background, Sherman Higgley lived there for 50 years and never knew the cabin had been there. When Bill showed him this picture, he was able to show Bill where the big stones were still lying in his yard.

Johnny Jackson In Front of the Jackson Log Cabin
Located Where Huckell's Run Empties into the Loyalsock
Hillsgrove, PA
Photo Taken Before 1903
Courtesy of Bill Brenchley

Original Jackson Homestead Location
Hillsgrove, PA
November 11, 2007
Photo Courtesy of Mike Clarke

And here's that photo of Henry W. and Hannah H. (Moyer) Gilbert, Annie Gilbert's parents, that we promised you:

Henry W. and Hannah H. (Moyer) Gilbert
Probably a Weddiong Photo
Berks County, PA 1871
Found in the Gilbert Family Bible passed down
from Annie (Gilbert) Jackson to Mike Clarke

You can also look through the Brong and Fuller Ancestry chart, which is found in The Fullers Now and Then, a family history which Mike obtained a copy of in the 1980s. All of the children of Hiram (1826-1913) and Diana (Courtright) (1830-1886) Fuller, their spouses and children, are listed here.

You can go here for a comprehensive set of additional pictures and captions on the Fuller Family--Now and Then.

Greetings from Hillsgrove
Winter Scene
Undated Postcard from Early Twentieth Century
Source: eBay Auction in September 2007

Postscript: Anecdotes from Mike Clarke

December 3, 2007

A strange tale and a bit of provenance...

I bought a small, old and beat-up high school text book: Merrill's English Texts - Selections From American Poetry, at a Salvation Army thrift store sometime this past year (2007), in Lycoming Co., Pa. I don't now know precisely why I bought this book, given its rather horrible condition, but I do recall noting as I leafed through it at the time of purchase that on page 45, (Part One of the book), a previous owner, (a student of along ago), had written "Look on Page 49".
On page> 49 this student had written "Page 65" and this goes on until page 147. As it happens, page 147 is one of many pages devoted to the poem "Snow-Bound" by John Greenleaf Whittier, with the top of each right-hand page denoting the poem title. On page 147, the student had written "Are you" Snow-Bound "?" as the culmination of the joke intended.
I remember thinking this was rather cute at the time and so bought what is otherwise a virtually worthless book for the sheer and simple interest in and joy of the adolescent humor that this distant owner had inscribed on its pages so many, many years before. The frontispiece of the book was missing at the time I purchased it, and because of this, there is no documentation as to the date the book was published. Today, I researched the book online, and discovered that this book was published in 1913. If this student had written the date along with her name, as people so often do on the blank front page, it is now long gone with the other frontispiece pages.
And now the rest of this really rather strange story....
Just yesterday, leafing through this book once again having rediscovered it on my bookshelf, I noticed that this same student, a girl by the name of Chere Lee Clarke (the name "Clarke" being the first oddity of this tale since we share the same last name), wrote her name and address on the back pages of the book. Her most recent address she wrote as:

Chere Lee Clarke
312 West Main Street
Apartment E
Endicott, NY
On another page in the back, she also listed all of her other past and current addresses, and indicted this by writing: "Places I have lived in" and listed them as follows:
20 Jefferson Avenue, Endicott, NY
1738 Main Street, Unadilla, NY
329 Byrd Street, Sidney, NY
11 Front Street, Vestal, NY
RD 1, Vestal Center, NY
123 Myrtle Street, Twin Orchards, NY
312 W. Main Street, Endicott, NY
Unfortunately she left no dates, but it can be assumed that the locations listed are in the order of their occurrence beginning with her first place of residence and ending with what was then the most recent or current residence since she wrote these same town names in the same order, but without street names, on the opposing page.
Here's the miracle: It happens that my Great Grandparents Ray and Anna Jackson lived for as long as any of my family can remember at the first of the addresses listed above: 20 Jefferson Avenue, Endicott, NY, since sometime unknown early in the first half of the 20th century. We are or were given to understand also that the house they lived in at 20 Jefferson Ave. [pictured below] was a house they purchased from the Endicott-Johnson Company, my Great Grandfather's employer. This could be a complete misunderstanding on our part, and could just as easily have been a house purchased with some kind of loan/mortgage agreement formulated between my Great Grandparents, EJ and the Bank.... Who knows?... and we may never know, but it appears that this young girl lived and was perhaps born at this residence, prior to my Great Grandparents living there, as the infant or young child of prior tenants or owners. How odd is this?...: Living at this particularly-significant-to-me-residence, first in a list of a small host of later residences, documenting this fact in the book, and that of all the myriad billions of books on this planet, I should stumble upon this book 80 to 90 years later, some place purely by chance in Pennsylvania! And what are the chances that this young student would have documented all of her prior addresses in it in the first place, remembering and so noting each and every street address!!
From Chere Lee Clarke's distant space-time perspective, this is equally bizarre and miraculous, and if nothing else, this demonstrates the significance, the impact and the importance of documentation and how that documentation lives on in strange ways, long after we are gone. For this reason, I treasure this book which would otherwise be regarded as a piece of damaged junk, am thankful for Chere Lee's innocently contrived time capsule of sorts, and am in basic awe of the improbability of its journey, its survival and of my now having it.

20 Jefferson Avenue, Endicott, NY
Early 1930s
Where Chere Lee Clarke Lived as a Child
Later Home of the Jacksons, Mike Clarke's Grandparents
Photo Contributed by Mike Clarke

December 18, 2007

Attached below are the scans of the back pages of the book I mentioned above.
I have a handwritten letter written by my paternal grandmother, Florence Mildred (Jackson) Clark... a letter she wrote to my father< Gilbert Clarke, back in 1973. I compared her handwriting in the letter to the handwriting in the book, and the two are eerily similar and even identical in a few ways.
Both individuals, (my grandmother and Chere Lee Clarke), were contemporaries, and both spent time in the New York school system, and that may account for the remarkable similarities in handwriting, but still, the similarities are profound to the point of being almost too profound. Even my mother (now 86 yrs old) remarked instantly: "That looks like Nana's handwriting!" when first she viewed the writing in the book a week or so ago, and she hasn't seen her mother-in-law's handwriting in decades and her remark was without any prompting by me!
I tend to believe until otherwise convinced, that the NY school system is to blame for institutionalizing a style of handwriting that all students were made to emulate as if by law, ... but then again... who knows? I think I might have to collect old postcards written by New York state residents of the period to really believe that's true.
I ramble on here, but probably the most important lesson this tale of Chere Lee provides is the importance, the significance and the impact that documentation has, and how that documentation lives on. And how much easier and more greatly blessed we all would be if we weren't all, for the most part, having to dig, ponder, guess and often winding up hopelessly lost in the genealogical quagmire.... if only our predecessors had filled in so many of the informational gaps we encounter years and decades later.

Chere Lee Clarke's School Book
Back Page Notes
The text was published in 1913.
Photo Contributed by Mike Clarke

December 29, 2007

Here's another mystery...
Back in 1946 my grandfather, Marvin K. Clark, disappeared without a trace. He and his wife, my grandmother, Florence Mildred (Jackson) Clark, had a difficult and troubled marriage. I don't know all the details, but it appears she just simply refused to leave her parents (Ray and Anna Jackson) in Endicott, and would not go with him out to the western states to pursue work and a life there. I have a few letters from him, one from Elmira, NY, to her and, in this letter, he tells her he is working for a company there on a secret and special project: the Norden Bomb Sight, and tells her in the letter she is not to speak of this to anyone. I have the letter, postmarked May 11, 1944, in front of me as I write this. You can read the letter itself here: Marvin K. Clark Letter
I also have several pay stubs from that period with his Social Security # printed on them. Doing a search online in the Soc Sec Death Index comes up with ZERO matches. It's as if the number was never issued, and nothing can be found of him anywhere either after that period.
During the 1940's he also worked in Bremerton, WA in the Naval Shipyard there, as well as in a variety of states out west, such as OK, AZ, NE. He was a machinist by trade. Note, his last name was Clark, while mine is Clarke. That was an Army typo that stuck upon my father's enlistment in the Army, in February of 1946. Prior to that, he and rest of the Clark family spelled it wihout the 'e', as they still do, ... me being the exception.
What do you think? Is it possible that a SS# can be so completely erased at the same time somebody physically disappears without some kind of government intervention?? He, Marvin, had the motive to disappear, and I think he was afforded that opportunity by somebody or some agent or agency of the government that could do so.... or is this just some "crazy conspriacy theory?" I can understand somebody disappearing, but does that or would that also include the all-important and highly regarded Soc Sec # as well? Incidentally, a couple of his brothers also moved out west to CA and AZ, respectively, and they never had any contact with him at all. This I recently found out to be a fact.

Hillsgrove Township 1910
View from the Jackson Trail
As it Runs Up the side of High Knob
Original Photograph by Nelson Caulkins
Photo by Mike Clarke of a postcard auctioned on eBay in January 2008

Copyright © 2007 Robert E. Sweeney and individual Contributors. All Rights Reserved. Prior written permission is required from Robert E. Sweeney and individual Contributors before this material can be printed or otherwise copied, displayed or distributed in any form. The reproduction of the Tuscarora displayed in this text is the sole intellectual property of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) and may not be copied or reproduced in any fashion without the express written permission of the HSP. This is a FREE genealogy site sponsored through PAGenWeb and can be reached directly at ~Sullivan County Genealogy Project (http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv)