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Assorted Family Bios
James Bennett, a highly-respected pioneer of Gibson township, is now passing his declinig years upon the homestead, which he cleared in the midst of the wilderness, and his memory covers the entire period of the development of that locality. He was born January 26, 1811, in Chenango county, N. Y., and his ancestors were early settlers in that State, his paternal grandparents having been residents of Orange county. Levi Bennett, his father, was born and reared in Orange county, removed in early manhood to Chenango county, and in 1814 settled in Gibson township, Susquehanna county, clearing a farm and engaging in agriculture. He died there July 8, 1854, aged eighty years, and his wife, Lida (Belcher), who was also a native of Orange county, N. Y., died March 5, 1953. Their remains were interred in a private in Gibson township, Susquehanna county. Of their large family of children, John died in Kirkwood, N. Y.; Betsey married William Moore, of Kirkwood; Mary Ann married Willard Walker, of Kirkwood; Abby married Isaac Maxson, of Gibson township, Susquehanna county; Nancy married Richard Lewis, of Kirkwood; Jane married Charles Davie, of Wisconsin; William died in Michigan; James, who is mentioned fully farther on, is the only survivor; and George died in Scranton, Pennsylvania. As the son of a pioneer farmer, James Bennett was trained to hard work. Leaving home at the age of twenty, he settled in Clifford township, Susquehanna county, and cleared a farm for himself. In 1841 he located at the site of his present homestead, and since improving that he has cleared another farm, making three valuable estates redeemed from the wilderness by him. Notwithstanding his advanced years, he is in excellent health, and his sight is remarkably good. His years of industry have brought him their due reward, and in his last days he is surrounded by comforts of which he knew nothing in youth. Politically he is a Republican, and for many years he has been a leading member of the Free Will Baptist Church, in which he held the office of deacon. On June 2, 1831, Mr. Bennett was married, in Clifford township, Susquehanna county, to Miss Juliette Sweet, a native of New Milford township, that county, who died in 1889, at the age of eighty years, and was buried in the Gibson cemetery. She was a member of a well-known family, and her parents, John and Eliza Sweet, were prominent residents of New Milford township. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, as follows: Edwin B., married Rosannah Kinne; Levi F. operates his father's old homestead; William M. married Mary Wells, and died in February, 1864, from black fever; Mary E. married Robert Ellis, of Gibson township; John S. is mentioned farther on; Sarah I. married Isaac Morgan, and died December 2, 1897; Julia A., born July 9, 1845, married Morris Davis, a blacksmith of Uniondale, Penn.; Amanda A., born May 14, 1848, is the deceased wife of Merwin Taft, a farmer of Wayne county; and Harriet A., born July 31, 1852, married Dennis Card, of Uniondale, Pennsylvania. During his boyhood John S. Bennett became familiar with the details of farm work, and when twenty-five years old he took charge of the homestead. At twenty-eight he purchased his present homestead in Gibson township, where he is regarded as an excellent citizen, and where he has been prominent in educational affairs, serving six years as school director. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party. In 1864 Mr. Bennett was married to Miss Esther Reece, and the following children have brightened their home: Arthur R., born March 24, 1866, married Miss Anna Decker, and resides upon a farm in Clifford township; Grace A., born January 28, 1869, died January 31, 1869; Leona M., born October 5, 1871, is engaged in the millinery business at Factoryville; Harry T., born August 9, 1874; Wertley E., born July 3, 1876; Hortense A., born October 31, 1877, resides in Factoryville; Vidie, born August 25, 1879, is a school teacher in Gibson township; and Portia G., born November 3, 1880 and Daisy D., born September 3, 1882, are at home. Mrs. Bennett, who is an efficient helpmeet to her husband, was born November 7, 1841, at Carbondale, Penn., daughter of Thomas Reece. Her paternal grandparents, John and Elizabeth Reece, natives of Wales, were early settlers in Lackawanna county. The grandfather, who was a farmer by ocupation, died in Blakely, Penn. Thomas Reece, Mrs. Bennett's father, was born in Wales and came to Susquehanna county in 1858, locating on a farm in Gibson township, where he died in 1879, aged sixty years. He was married, at Carbondale, to Mary Harris, a native of Wales, whose parents, John and _____ Harris, lived and died in the old country. She died n 1869, aged fifty-one, and the remains of both now rest in the cemetery at Carbondale. They were devout members of the Congregational Church, and their children were reared in the same faith. Their family consisted of Elizabeth, widow of G. A. Williams, of Olyphant, Penn.; John, who died in Carbondale; Ann, who married William Hughes, a farmer of LeRoy, Kans.; Esther, wife of our subject; Harriet, wife of Joshua Richards, of Peckville, Penn.; Jane, who married Thomas E. Reynolds, of Scranton, Penn.; Henry and Benjamin, residents of Olyphant; and Permilla, who died at the age of four months. |
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