9000 Acres on the River Lachawaxen, 1785

New Jersey Gazette, February 21, 1785

Rich in period detail, this advertisement for land "situate on the river Lachawaxen" came to light while researching that variant in America's Historical Newspapers, available through the Pike County Public Library / Free Library of Philadelphia partnership. The ad, at varying length, would run from November 1784 to April of 1785 in the New Jersey Gazette, the Pennsylvania Packet and the Pennsylvania Journal. 

The prevailing currency of the time, the British pound, £., is used in a summary of timber industry costs, including occasional rum for the sawmill manager, for a period of five years. 

Transcription of the Advertisement
TO BE SOLD,
NINE thousand acres of land, situate on the river Lachawaxen, about ten miles from Delaware river, and about one hundred miles from Trenton-Landing, to which large boats and rafts do commonly run from Lachawaxen in two or three days.  On this tract there is a great quantity of white and yellow pines of every size, from an eighty feet mast to the size of a spar; the pines are straight and thrifty, and are equal to any on the Delaware for masts, spars or boards.  It is accommodated with four millseats, on which sawmills may be erected to great advantage -- and the whole tract may be properly divided in two equal parts, to each of which there would be three hundred acres of excellent meadow ground, a hundred acres of which are cleared, and produces wild grass in abundance.  From the mills, when built, rafts, from twenty to thirty thousand feet of boards in each, may be sent down these rivers to Philadelphia.
     Time will be given for payment of part of the purchase money, and the remainder will be taken in loan office certificates.  Apply to Michael Hillegas, Esquire, Reuben Haines or Richard Wells, in Philadelphia, or to the subscriber at Trenton.
     The inland navigation of the Delaware has been so little attended to for several years past, that at present it is imperfectly known to many, who, if they were acquainted with its advantages, would suddenly reap profits that in future cannot be obtained without a great increase of their capital:  I have therefore subjoined an estimate of the expences (sic) for which a sawmill, with four saws, may be carried on on the above estate.

CUTTING the logs,                    -            £. 0 2 6
Hauling do. for five years, to
keep four saws cutting 250 days
of each year,                               -             0 5 0
The Sawyer, the same as is generally
given in the counties of Burlington
and Gloucester,                            -            0 7 6
Manager's wages, and rum
occasionally                                 -             0 5 0
Rafting, and every contingent charge
included, to Philadelphia,
and delivering,                             -            1 0 0
                                                                ______ 40f (shilling) per m. (mile)

N.B. If the boards are delivered
at Trenton-Landing, the expence
of rafting will not exceed 12f 6p.m.
I suppose four saws will cut 800 m.
feet per annum, and that when
delivered at Philadelphia they
will sell for £. 6 per m.                          4800 0 0
Deduct 40f per m. raft cost,                   1600 0 0
                                                           _________
                                                         £.3200 0 0
I allow, in addition to this esti-
mate, for accidents and charges
arising from delays, per annum,              500 0 0
                                                            _________
Net profit gained per annum,              £.2700 0 0

IN the foregoing estimate no notice is taken of the profits arising from rafts of masts from sixty to seventy feet long, each stick proportioned; nor of the singular advantages gained by sawing deck-plank of forty-five feet long:  They will, I believe, readily sell for thirty-five shillings per hundred feet; if reduced to board measure, would be equal to seventeen shillings and six pence per hundred; it is therefore evident, that deck-plank will produce a greater profit than boards -- and may be rafted with as little trouble, and more safely, than masts or spars.

We find, at present, a ready market for boards and scantling at Trenton; and if they are of the first quality, they will generally sell for six pounds per thousand; and when the permanent seat of Congress is fixed on the banks of the Delaware, may I not say that the demand for those articles will increase, and that the prices will rise in proportion to the demand?"
                                                                                           Robert Lettis Hooper, jun.
Trenton, January 27, 1785.
~~~~~

By 1808, the economic benefit of the timber industry was important enough for Pennsylvania to declare part of the Lackawaxen River a public highway for those "desirous of using the navigation of said river...as may be necessary for the passage of rafts, boats and other vessels..." Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1808.







"An Imperishable Fame" - Company B, 151st Pennsylvania Volunteers

While researching the life of Charles Bates, whose grave lies in obscurity on a sandy bank above the old Owego Turnpike in Dingman Township, I happened upon the following 1896 editorial  honoring the recruits of Company B, 151st Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry. Enrolled at Milford in the fall of 1862, this would be the only Company raised within Pike County during the Civil War.  The youngest enlistees gave their age as 18.  The eldest, John Cortright, stated he was 44 years old.  They were brothers, cousins, neighbors, friends and kin through marriage. Some were immigrants, others were descendants of the first settlers and militia men on the provincial frontier of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Editorial 
BRIEF HISTORY OF COMPANY B.
The official record of Company B, 151st Regiment, P. V. which was recruited from this county, and was mustered into service Oct. 20th, 1862 to serve nine months is as follows : Other companies were A. and C recruited in Susquehanna, F in Warren, D in Juniata E. G. H. K. and part of I in Berks and the remainder of I in Schuylkill. The regiment participated in the bloody battle of Gettysburg and history says of it:

"The heroism displayed by the One Hundred and Fifty-first in this battle, is unsurpassed. It went into the fight with twenty-one officers, and four hundred and sixty -six men. Of those, two officers and 66 men were killed, twelve officers and one hundred and eighty-seven men were wounded, and one hundred were missing, an aggregate loss of three hundred and sixty-seven, upwards of seventy -five per cent. At Gettysburg, says General Doubleday, who commanded the First Corps, they won, under the brave McFarland, an imperishable fame."

151st Pennsylvania Infantry Memorial, Co. B, Gettysburg, PA. Photo courtesy of Norman Gasbarro
The officers of Company B were :
Oscar H. [Harold] Mott, captain, discharged March 8, 1863.
Lafayette Westbrook, 1st lieutenant, promoted to captain, March 9, 1863. 
John H. Vincent, 2d lieutenant, promoted to 1st lieutenant, March 9, 1863.
Robert M. Kellogg, 1st sergeant, promoted to 2d lieutenant, March 9, 1863.
Herman Frank [var. Franke], promoted to 1st sergeant, March 9, 1863 ; wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863.
Stephen [Hazard], sergeant. 
Henry Cuddeback, sergeant.
William A. Salmon, sergeant, discharged by special order, Feb. 10, 1863.
[Thomas] M. Beardsley, sergeant, promoted from private, March 9, 1863, killed at Gettysburg.
Henry Smith, sergeant, promoted from corporal, Feb. 11, 1863, killed at Gettysburg.
William Sutton, corporal, captured at Gettysburg.
Ira Pellett, corporal.
George W. Kimble, corporal.
James [Hatton], corporal.
Nelson DeWitt, corporal. 
Wesley Watson, corporal, promoted Jan. 5th, 1863. 
Jacob C. Schorr, corporal, promoted Jan. 5th, 1863. 
Charles Bates, corporal, promoted Jan. 6th, 1863, wounded at Gettysburg. Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Francis E. Hazen, corporal, promoted Feb. 11th, 1863, died at Acquia Creek, Va., June 4th, 1863.
David Miller, corporal, deserted Nov. 18th, 1863.
James S. Smith, corporal, discharged on surgeon's certificate, April 14th, 1863. 

Privates:
Robert J. Andrews. 
Andrew J. Appleman.
[Edward] C. Appleman, died at Belle Plain, Va., April 15th, 1863.
Jesse R. Burrus. 
John Blackmore.
Simeon Brink. 
Benjamin C. Bonnell, captured at Gettvsburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
John Buckingham, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, l863.
Joseph A. Buckley.
George Burrus, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Charles Burrell [Jr], died at Union Mills, Va., Dec. 10th, 1862 buried in National Cemetery, Arlington Va.
Charles Blackmore, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863.
Solomon B. Brink, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Ira [Burrell] Case. 
David Canfield.
Janson Cole. 
John Cortright, Jr.
Wesley C. Cron.
Peter Cron, wounded and captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863.
James [Polk] Crone.
Cornelius Case, discharged on surgeon's certificate, April 13th, 1863.
Isaac S. Decker. 
George M. Decker.
Benjamin Degroat.
[Daniel Westbrook] Dingman [Jr.], captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. .
Adonijah [Brodhead] Drake.
Sealy S. Drake. 
William F. Fulkerson, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Charles [Lewis] Frank, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Nelson Garris.
Christian Grim [var. Grimm].
Conrad Happ.
Edward R. Hazen. 
John Henry.
Nicholas Hess. 
Valentine Hipsman.wounded with loss of arm, at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Michael Hissam, wounded at Chancellorsville. Va.. May 3d, 1863.
Rush K. [Killam, Jr.], wounded at Gettysburg. Pa.. July 1st. 1863. .
Robert [Augustus] Kayser, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
[Jonas] Kettle.
John Kleinstuber. 
Levi Labar. 
Levi Losey, wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Casper Madden.
Enos B. Mapes.
Peter [Marger].
Abraham Masker, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Warren Masker, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
Mordecai M. Mott.  
James [A] Morrison, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863.
Samuel McCormick, died at Philadelphia, Pa., August 3d, 1863
Charles M. [McCarter], wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863.
James Nyce, captured at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863. 
John L. Pearson [Pierson], wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863.
Burnham [Kimble] Pellett. 
Josiah Perry.
Michael B. Pitney. 
George W. Parr, killed at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863.
Nelson Reaser [var. Reser], wounded at Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 1863.
Francis Rolle. 
Silas Rosencrance. 
Randall D. Sayre. 
Charles D. Schmalzler [var. Schmazle, Schmalzle] 
Reuben [Sieg].
Gilbert Shaffer.
Edward Stidd.
Isaac Shearer.
Jacob C. Van Gordon, discharged on surgeon's certificate, Feb. 25th, 1863.
Amos Van Gordon, deserted Nov. 22d, 1862.
William M. Watson. 
Patrick White.
Ziba B Williams.
George G. [Gotlieb Worzel].
Henry P. [Worzel].
Joseph Zeimer [var. Zimer], died at Belle Plain, Va., April 1st, 1863.

The regiment was mustered out July 27, 1863, .... Of the 96 men composing Company B thirty-eight have gone over to the silent majority. Some rest in unknown graves, some are buried in National cemeteries and some sleep in our churchyards whose graves are yearly decked with flowers by the hands of their living comrades. Their names are enrolled on the Nation's page of honor, and their memories are revered for the noble sacrifice they made on the bloody field of battle. ~ May 15, 1896, Pike County Press, published by John Hixson Van Etten.

Charles Bates, 1812 - 1895
 Company B, 151st Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington VA - Charles Burrell, Jr., 1839 - 1862.
Bath National Cemetery, Bath NY - Silas Rosencrance, ? - 1907
Bloss Family Burying Ground, Blooming Grove PA - Charles Lewis Frank, 1840 - 1918.
Cashmere Cemetery, Cashmere, WA - Benjamin C. Bonnell, 1842 - 1897.
Clinton Center Cemetery, Wayne Co PA - Sealy S. Drake, 1845 - 1927.
Delaware Cemetery, Dingmans Ferry PA - James Polk Crone, 1844 - 1897; Daniel Westbrook Dingman, Jr., 1835 - 1900; James Nyce, 1842 - 1897; Michael B. Pitney, 1839 - 1911.
Dunmore Cemetery, Dunmore PA - Janson Cole, 1841-1921.
Evergreen Cemetery, Everett, Snohomish County, WA - Joseph A. Buckley, 1842 - 1906, also served in Co. A, 161st NY.
Fredericksburg National Cemetery, Fredericksburg, VA, Grave 5887 - Francis E. Hazen,  1840 -1863.
German Hill Cemetery aka Hipsman Farm Burying Ground, Shohola PA - Nicholas Hess, 1820 - 1899. Valentine Hipsman, 1840 - 1923.
Gettysburg National Cemetery, Gettysburg PA - Nelson Reaser, 1844 - 1863.
Greening Farm Burying Ground, Dingmans Township, PA - Charles Bates, 1812-1895.
Old Greentown Cemetery, Greentown PA - George Burrus, 1838-1863; Jesse R. Burrus 1833-1916.
Hopedale Moravian Cemetery, Pike County, PA - Reuben Sieg, 1844 - 1932.
Lakeville Cemetery, Lakeville PA - Benjamin Degroat, 1838 - 1909.
Milford Cemetery, Milford PA - Solomon B. Brink, 1834 - 1863; Ira Burrell Case, 1840 - 1917; Oscar Harold Mott, 1821 - 1864; Randal D. Sayre, 1840 - 1916; Jacob C. Schorr, 1838 - 1921; Wesley Watson, 1832 - 1910;  William M. Watson, 1834 - 1894.
Milton Junction Cemetery, Milton Junction WI - Ira Pellett, 1840-1916.
Mount Moriah Cemetery, Kimble PA - George W. Kimble; Josiah Perry, 1842 - 1922; John L. Pierson, 1841 -1921.
Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk IA - Robert Augustus Kayser 1842 - 1929.
Paupack Cemetery, Pike Co PA - John Buckingham, 1844 - 1917, also served with Co G, 213th Reg.; Rush K. Killam, Jr., 1844-1877; Abraham Masker, 1835 - 1912;  Warren Masker, - 1890; Burnham Kimble Pellett, 1842 - 1881.
Philadelphia National Cemetery, Philadelphia PA - James A Morrison, 1837 - 1863. 
Rowland Cemetery, Rowland PA - Nelson DeWitt, 1836 - 1923.
Sandhill Cemetery, Monroe Co PA - Levi Labar, 1823 -1910; Levi Losey, 1836 - 1897.
Stroudsburg Cemetery, Stroudsburg PA - Adonijah Brodhead Drake, 1821 - 1893; Lafayette Westbrook, 1824 - 1908.

Captain Lafayette Westbrook
Brothers:  Edward & Andrew Appleman, Charles & John Blackmore, Jesse & George Burrus, Isaac & George Decker (Dreese, 2000), Abraham & Warren Masker, Ira & Burnham Pellet, and Wesley & William Watson. 

*****

Sources, corrections and additions: 
Battle Unit Details, 151st Reg. PA Infantry, National Park Service. 
Cemeteries, Graveyards, and Burying Grounds in Pike County, PA, Gettysburg Chapter, Daughters of the Union, Victoria W. Fields, 1941. 
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, Pike County Press, 1896.
Record of Deaths, Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, (Google eBook) Vol 1, 1908. 
FamilySearch.com: 1850 Census (many transcription errors) and 1860 Census reports for Pike Pennsylvania.
Company B, 151st Regiment,, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, Volume 4 by Samuel P Bates, 1869.
National Cemetery Fredericksburg Burial Roster pdf
National Graves Registration Database, SUVCW.
The 151st Pennsylvania Volunteers at Gettysburg: Like Ripe Apples in a Storm, Michael Dreese, McFarland, 2009.
Pennsylvania State Archives, 151st Regiment, Company B, pages 5 - 7.
US Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890 Pennsylvania > Pike, NARA microfilm publication M123. 
USVA Grave Site Locator.

24 letters written by Peter Cron, 1862-1863, sold at Cowan's Auctions in 2014.  "The final letter in the collection is from Wesley Cron.... I don’t know any thing more about Peter only the Doctor says he is in Baltimore Badly Wounded but he thinks he will get well... Peter Cron died on July 27."  Dreese does not list Peter Cron among those mortally wounded.

Special thanks for permission to use the photo of the 151st Pennsylvania Infantry Memorial at Gettysburg, (c) 2011, Norman Gasbarro, all rights reserved. 

151st Reg: P.V.
151st Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry 
Overview:
Organized at Harrisburg October 18 to November 24, 1862. Moved to Washington, D. C., November 26. Attached to 3rd Brigade, Casey's Division, Defenses of Washington, to February, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to July, 1863.  Service:  Duty in the Defenses of Washington till February, 1863. Moved to Belle Plains, Va., and joined 1st Army Corps. Duty there till April 27. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Operations about Pollock's Mill Creek April 29-May 2. Battle of Chancellorsville May 2-5. Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3. Pursuit of Lee July 5-24. Mustered out July 27, 1863. Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 67 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 53 Enlisted men by disease. Total 123.


Record of a Nine Months' Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg

The "Narrows of the Big Eddy" ~ Narrowsburg, NY

In 1823 an Act was passed into New York State Law to incorporate the Narrowsburgh Bridge Company under the aegis of William A. Cuddeback, Abraham Cuddeback, and William Stokes for the purpose of building a bridge over the Delaware River, "at the place known by the description of the Narrows of the Big Eddy." 


Narrowsburgh
"... is another of the rapidly-growing communities which the rail-road has scattered along its path. Where, a few years since, were only a farm-house and hotel, now stands a village, with stores and dwellings clustering round the beneficent presence of a station. The village, as it may be called, lies on the margin of the Delaware that here is locked in between two points of rock, whose narrow gorge gives the place its title of Narrowsburgh, though the lumbermen call it by its old name, Big Eddy, because during a freshet there rushes through these "narrows" the "biggest kind of an eddy."  Over the "narrows" is flung a wooden bridge, with a single span of 184 feet -- a monstrous span, but not more so than the monstrous tolls for traversing it.



These are very high, and act prejudicially to Narrowsburgh, by diverting into other routes the produce that would flow into this station. The amount of business done here is proved by the appearance of the freight houses. The surrounding country is the region of tanneries, owing to the abundance of hemlock; and, in addition to the leather interests, the direct communication with the mines of Carbondale supply other sources of trade. The scenery around Narrowsburgh is very beautiful, and affords fine drives and strolling-grounds. The land, fortunately, is in the hands of a gentleman (Mr. Corwin) who has had the good taste to preserve the fine park-like trees dotting the beautiful meadow between the station and the river, and do every thing to make Narrowsburgh a favorite summer resort. Below the narrows spoken of the Delaware expands into a wide basin, which, during a freshet, exhibits a stirring scene. It is said the fury of the current through the "narrows" is such that no boat could live in it; and when large trees heave and toss in its eddies, a wilder scene can not be imagined. Mr Corwin says he has dropped in it a line 120 feet long with a weight of 28 pounds attached, without touching bottom. In the winter of 1850, when the river was frozen over, a sudden rise of its waters produced a novel scene in that gorge. The pressure of the swollen tide underneath caused the sheet of ice covering the basin below to heave in regular waves, till at last, giving way, the crash and roar of the floating fragments, as they were piled on each other, made a picture of true sublimity." Harper's Guidebook of the New York and Erie Canal Rail-Road, ~ William MacLeod 1856, p 83.

Narrowsburgh, 1875, Atlas of Sullivan County, New York

 History of Sullivan County
"...Oliver Calkins was the first Justice of the Peace at Big Eddy, William Dunn the second, and Jonathan Dexter the third. Some of the descendants of Judge Dexter are still living on the banks of the Delaware. Moses Dexter, who lives on a lot once owned by Wickham four miles above Narrowsburgh, is one of them. At an early day the Lassleys, Brannings, Drakes, and Cases settled in the neighborhood, but on the west side of the river. Of these John Lassley was drowned in the Delaware, at Big Eddy in the year 1798.  David and Joseph Guinnip, natives of New Jersey, settled near the Eddy but at what time we have not learned. John Bross located on the Deep Hollow brook about the year 1810. Timothy Tyler, who  was remarkable for some of his exploits, and has been immortalized by Alfred B Street under the nom of Tim Slowwater, lived at one time in a log-house where the Narrowsburgh Hotel now stands. In the early days of the settlement, the people had to go to Carpenter's Point to get their grain ground. They procured the largest part of their provisions in New Jersey, and hauled them up on the ice in the winter when the river was frozen. They bought their dry goods in Newburgh for a time, and it took a week to go there and return."  ~ James Eldridge Quinlan and Thomas Antisell, 1873, p 644.

Old   School  District  Burying  Ground: Dunning, Ennes, Little, Corwin, & Reynolds

Natural Gas at Narrowsburg 
"The existence of natural gas at Narrowsburg  was discovered in a curious way by Dr. L.A. Winslow, in 1850.  He was spending the summer at the Murray House in that village. The Delaware River at that place forms into a deep and wide lake-like body known as Big Eddy. On the Pennsylvania side of the river there is a whirlpool so strong that frequently rafts are drawn into it and kept whirling about for hours sometimes days before they can be turned into the channel again. One day Dr Winslow was rowing on the eddy. After lighting his pipe he threw the match, still blazing, into the river. Instantly a blaze up in the water where the match had dropped.  It burned with a faint blue light and finally went out. Then, for the first time, Dr Winslow noticed many bubbles were floating about on the water, and that they appeared frequently, coming quickly up from under the surface. The Doctor, being something of a geologist and scientist, knew at once that the bubbles were made by a gas that must come from the ground or rocks at the bottom of the river, and that the gas was inflammable. He touched a match to several of the bubbles, and each one responded with a blaze. At night he illuminated the entire eddy with these miniature natural bonfires. Dr. Winslow sounded the eddy, and found that in places the water was ninety feet deep, with a rocky bottom, and at some places could find no bottom at all.  His theory was that the rocky bottom was filled with crevices of unknown depth, and from them gas issued and found its way to the surface, forming the constantly appearing and disappearing bubbles.  In the mud along the shores of the eddy, and on islands of similar formation, this gas also found its way from the depths to the surface.  Dr. Winslow inverted a barrel with one head out over a spot on the New York shore where the gas came up out of the ground. He placed a small pipe in the other end of the barrel, and in a short time collected enough gas in the barrel to make a strong and brilliant flame at the end of the pipe when ignited, which burned steadily night and day." ~ Scientific American Vol. 54, April 10, 1886, p 233.

Two Hundred Miles on The Delaware
"...During high water there are two eddies so great that rafts running the river have not sufficient momentum to carry them through the dead water.  Consequently the rafts have to be towed until they reach the downward current. For this purpose ropes are carried to the island opposite the bend down which the raftsmen walk with their tow. This is the only spot from Arkville to Trenton where this hauling has to be done. During the rafting season the vicinity of the eddy is one of great activity and not a little confusion. Turning in after a day of labor we took a last look at the orb of night hanging over the motionless waters of  "Big Eddy." It was a picture not likely to be forgotten -- too enchanting to be easily dismissed from the memory." ~  J. Wallace Hoff, 1893, p 59.  
 Picturesque Erie: Summer Homes


                                                                             ~ Erie Railroad Company, 1889, p 99.


View Minisink Valley Genealogy in a larger map

 The Headwaters of the Delaware 
"... Stupendous cliffs contract the river above at the Narrows, where the village of Narrowsburg is built, and this region and the neighboring lake strewn highlands of Sullivan County, New York were the chief scenes of Cooper's novel, The Last of the Mohicans." ~ America: Picturesque and Descriptive, by Joel Cook, 1900, p 270.

The Big Eddy at Narrowsburg, June 7, 2014