were present to pay the last token of respect, while many listened to the service from the porches. Dr. Hodge read from the 90th Psalm, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations," and Dr. Parke read the 15th chapter of I Corinthians. The choir of the First Presbyterian Church, Mrs. Shearn, Miss James and Messrs. Hartland and Evans, sang appropriate hymns. Dr. Hodge offered prayer, rendering thanks for the life which had shown so plainly the indwelling of God's spirit, praying that the example thus set before so many present might not be lost. The pall-bearers were four of the elders of the church, A. T. McClintock, Esq., N. Rutter, R. J. Flick and John Welles Hollenback. Alex Farnham, Esq., R. C. Shoemaker, C. P. Hunt, G. Murray Reynolds, Judge Rice and T. H. Atherton acted as carriers. The cortege was very long, extending from Market to Northampton Streets. Interment was made in the family plot in Hollenback Cemetery. Among the large number of relatives present were Mr. and Mrs. Pierce Butler and Frank Butler, of Virginia. DR. PARKE'S TRIBUTE. [Letter to the Editor.] There is an interest attaches to many aged persons arising simply out of their relations to the past and present, as connecting links. In the case of Mrs. John L. Butler, who at an advanced age has just been laid away out of our sight, there was this element of interest. When she, a bright and cultured New England girl, came to Wilkes-Barre to reside, the old people with whom she was intimately associated, knew from personal experience what the Wyoming Valley was before the massacre in 1778. Many of them were her near relatives. What she knew, therefore, from personal observation and what had been told her by those who were prominent actors in the stirring scenes in the history of the valley, covered a hundred years and more. In an important sense she reflected the history of a hundred years. This fact in itself gave interest to her life, and retaining as she did, in an eminent de gree, all her faculties up to the en l of her life, it made her one of the most interesting persons in Wilkes-Barre. But this was only incidental in Mrs. Butler's case. The charm of her life was not in what she had heard and seen in her extended life, although coupled with a bright and cultivated mind, kept bright until the end. Nor was it her rare conversational powers that gave her prominence in every social circle favored with her presence. She did not in her younger days or in more advanced life ignore the claims of society, but men women she never was a society woman. Certainly it never was her ambition to shine as such. She was literary in her tastes and aimed to keep abreast with the age in her knowledge of all the great questions that and are talking and thinking about. Neither was the charm of her life in her intelligence, taste and culture, that would have done honor to any new England woman. But it was in her character, in what she was, rather than in what she had heard and what she had done. She had unshaken faith in God, and this faith gave direction to her life. Without being demonstrative in matters of religion, for she rarely talked of her personal experience, she was an earnest Christian woman, who had faith in the power of the gospel to save. a Her record in the First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre is marvelous record of faithful work up to and beyond her four score years. All women have not the encouragement from their husbands that Mrs. Butler had from hers to make their homes hospitable. but she certainly managed to make a home where christian hospitality abounded. The writer of these lines has abundant reason to know of what he writes. With no more claim on Mrs. Butler than on any other christian woman in Wilkes-Barre, when coming here, a missionary to the Lackawanna region, no mother could have done more to help an inexperienced son than Mrs. Butler did for me, and what she did for me she did for other young men. She did not simply open her house for an occasional grand entertainment-the doors of her hospitable home were always open. She was not, I assume, free from the weaknesses that inhere in human nature. We have heard of women who were "supremely" selfish. Mrs. Butler, so far as she appeared to me, was supremely unselfish. She may have had her littleness and meanness and pride and worldliness to contend against, as the rest of us have, but it did not appear. was a grand woman and she bore the impress of true nobility in every feature of her character. She was intelligent, amiable, gentle, charitable, faithful and true-a christian in the highest sense of that term. There was nothing coarse in her nature, but in all her instincts she was a refined, true woman, loving and lovable. She When Cornelia Richards left Farmington, more than sixty years ago, to become Mrs. John L. Butler, she was no doubt missed from the quiet parish of Dr. Noah Porter, father of ex-President Porter, of Yale College. Now, at the advanced age of 86, as she lays her armor down, her pastor, the Rev. Dr. Hodge, cannot but feel that he has lost a most valuable helper. A light has gone out of her daughter's beautiful home. out of the church in which she has worship. ed and worked all these years, and out of Wilkes-Barre. She will not worship in the new sanctuary, the corner-stone of which was laid as her spirit plumed its wings to soar from the earth, but she will worship in the house not made with hands, of which Christ is the corner-stone. N. G. PARKE. Death of Mrs. Charles Bennet. The many residents of Wilkes-Barre who were acquainted with Mrs. Charles Bennet, of 48 South River Street, will be startled to be apprised of her sudden death by apoplexy on Thursday evening, June 16, at 8:45 o'clock. Mrs. Bennet was in apparent health up to within four hours of her death and at about 4:30 o'clock started with her eldest daughter to drive, her younger daughter, Miss Martie, going ahead of the carriage on horseback. Before reaching Union Street on River the driver perceived a sudden commotion on the rear seat, and seeing that Mrs. BenLet had fainted, called to Miss Martie, who turned round and came back. She realized at once that her mother was seriously ill and with much presence of mind and courage dismounted, dispatched the driver at once for Dr. Mayer and drove the team of horses home as rapidly as possible. Dr. Mayer soon arrived and with the aid of neighbors Mrs. Bennet was removed to her house. The doctor found that the attack of apoplexy was very severe, and from the first gave out no hope of recovery. Mrs. Bennet lingered without gaining consciousness until nearly 9 o'clock, when she expired. Mrs. Bennet was 62 years of age, having been born at Franklin, Mich., in 1825. Her maiden name was Sarah Sly, and she was the aunt of the late Major D. S. Bennet, of the Luzerne bar. She was the widow of Charles Bennet, whose death occurred in August, 1866. Mrs. Bennet had two children, Sarah and Martha, both of whom survive. Mrs. Bennet was a consistent Christian woman whose life was much given up to charity, but in a quiet, unassuming way that attracted little attention. She was of a retiring disposition and was devoted to her family, rarely appearing in any public place except at church where she was regularly in her pew. Mrs. Bennet had excellent business qualities and has managed the affairs of her husband's large estate since his death, 22 years ago. She had not been in good health for several years, but had not been confined to her bed and was accustomed to drive on every pleasant day. Death of an Aged Clergyman. News of the death of Rev. W. W. Turner, father of Mrs. C. M. Conyngham, was received in this city on July 11 and Mr. and Mrs. Conyngham and Miss Conyngham left the next morning to attend the funeral at Hartford. Mr. Turner was 87 years of age, an Episcopal clergyman and probably the last surviving member of the class of 1819 at Yale College. He devoted himself for many years to teaching deaf mutes and during a long period was principal of the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. Hill Family Reunion. Some time ago Dr. George Hill, of Hughesville, conceived the idea of calling together the members of the family to which he belonged and holding a reunion at Sunbury. On Thursday, June 23, sixty persons met at the Central Hotel in Sunbury. After the dincer a meeting was called in the lecture room of the Reformed Church and George Hill, of Sunbury, Was elected temporary chairman. He made a few graceful remarks, welcoming the members of the family to Sunbury. J. Nevin Hill, also of Sunbury, was elected temporary secretary. The following committee on permanent organization was selected: C. F. Hill, Hazleton; Hon. A. H. Hill, Hughesville; J. C. Hill, Esq., Williamsport; Edward Hill, Leechburg; C. W. Hill, Beach Haven, and Frank E. Hill, Philadelphia. They reported a form of organization and recommended the following persons for permanent officers, who were thereupon elected: President, Dr. George Hill; Vice President, C. F. Hill; Secretary and Historian, J. Nevin Hill; Treasurer, George Hill; Standing Committee, C. F. Hill, F. K. Hill, Theodore Hill and Edward Hill. It was decided that the secretary should have a permanent office in Sunbury. After the organization historical papers were read by C. F. Hill, of Hazleton, and J. C. Hill, of Williamsport. The family history was traced back to 1730. An Ancient Church. The 145th anniversary festival of the Moravian congregation of Bethlehem, organized June 25, 1742, was celebrated on Sunday, June 25, 1887. The festival was ushered in by trombonists rendering appropriate chorals from the steeple of the Moravian church. The anniversary sermon W88 preached by Rev. Morris W. Leibert. At the anniversary love feast in the afternoon Rev. J. M. Levering, who presided, read the report kept in the archives of the church referring to the founding of Bethlehem in 1742 and the official services of Count Zinzendorf, father of the Brethren's church, during his sojourn there and in Philadelphia. Domain of the Dead. The five-acre field lying between Hollenback Cemetery and Mill Creek has recently been added to the territory of that beautiful city of the dead. John Welles Hollenback, for the sum of one dollar to him in hand paid, has sold and conveyed this desirable property to the association as additional burying ground. The short feeder branch canal from above the dam at the mouth of Mill Creek, connecting with the old North Branch Canal, is to be filled in, and John Tracy has the contract for filling. A substantial retaining wall will be built from the new stone arch bridge down to the rocky bluff below the old dam, after which the field will be laid out in lots, corresponding with the older grounds as laid out some 30 years ago. The iron fence will be extended the whole length of River Street, while the sides facing the L. V. RR. and Mill Creek will be protected by a stone wall, same as the one already in place on the old grounds. This new addition will give the cemetery a territory of over 22 acres, and there is no doubt that it will soon be, if it is not already, one of the most attractive cemeteries in the country, outside of the large cities. While on the subject of cemeteries, perhaps it will not be out of place to remark that it is now admitted by everybody that our city authorities were guilty of almost a crime against the future generations to inhabit this city in not securing the whole of the Bidlack farm at the time of purchasing ground for the new city cemetery. The money then in the cemetery treasury ($35,000) has been sunk in the general city fund, and we are no better off than if it had been sunk in the depths of the Susquehanna River, while the land in question would now be of inestimable value as a part of the mortuary quarter of the city and surrounding country. A Presbyterian Centennial. During the coming year there will be held in Philadelphia a centennial celebration commemorating the establishment of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. All churches and Presbyteries will be expected to arrange for the collection and publication of the facts of their history. The committee to prepare the history of the Presbytery of Lackawanna consists of Rev. Dr. N. G. Parke, chairman, Rev. Dr. David Craft, Rev. C. C. Corss and Rev. P. H. Brooks. By resolution, churches of Presbytery are urged to have historical discoures prepared and copies forwarded to the committee as early as August, 1887, in order that they may be laid before the fall meeting of Presbytery. $ 4,865 30 85 00 613 04 450 50 3,548 60 1,627 50 940 00 4,266 68 3,135 00 766 38 7,503 29 What it Costs to Run Luzerne County. Fox certificates, etc.. 125 00 1,652 35 7,198 53 600 00 69 75 1,959 00 798 26 4,241 80 502 40 5,428 68 167 62 1,642 38 210 60 Inquests.... Jury commissioners. Lunatic hospital.. 2,040 78 Luzerne Agricultural Society. 100 00 Public records.. 1,830 22 Married Fifty Years. On June 25 Col. Jacob Rice, of Dallas, and his wife, celebrated the 50th anniversary of their wedding day. The colonel is a hale and hearty old man of three score years and ten and his wife is almost the same age. On Friday afternoon and evening the children and grandchildren began to arrive from Harrisburg, Plymouth, Fairmount and more distant portions of the State, and when the anniversary feast was spread on Saturday over fifty of the immediate relatives of the host and hostess sat down to the well covered tables. The dinner was a sumptuous one, and the large party gathered was a happy and merry one. In the evening the Dallas Cornet Band gave a serenade and were invited to partake of the hospitality of the house. Mr. Rice and his wife were the recipients of many costly gifts and sincerest wishes of the whole community for many more years of nappy life. Two Wills Filed. On July 14 the wills of Miss Ellen C. Rutter and Mrs. Sarah S. Bennet, were admitted to probate in the office of Register of Wills S. W. Boyd. Miss Rutter disposes of her estate as follows: To Ellen R. Patterson, daughter of Agnew Patterson, and to May Rutter, daughter of Sample Rutter, each $250. To her nephew Thomas Darling $1,000. All the rest of her estate she divides into three equal parts and bequeaths them as follows: One-third to her nieces Mary R. and Emily C. Darling in equal shares; one-third to her nieces Natalie and Hortense D. Beaumont in equal shares, and one-third to her nieces Ellen, Francis and Augusta, children of James M. Rutter, to be held in trust by the executor until they are 25 years of age, the income meanwhile to be used for their support and education. The will is dated March 9, 1885, and appoints E. P. Darling as executor. The will of Mrs. Sarah S. Bennet is brief and explicit. Two thirds of her estate real and personal she leaves unconditionally to her daughter, Martha Bennet. The remaining one-third she leaves to Martha Bennet in trust, the income to be devoted to the support of her daughter, Sarah or Sadie Bennet, on whose death it reverts to Martha Beanet. The document is dated Jan. 17, 1883, and appoints Martha Bennet sole executrix. THE BOUNDARY LINE. Report of the Commission Appointed by the Lackawanna and Luzerne Courts. The commission appointed by the courts of Lackawanna and Luzerne, John F. Snyder, W. H. Sturdevant and W. A. Mason, to determine the boundary line between the counties of Lackawanna and Luzerne, have filed a lengthy report of their finding in the office of the Clerk of the Courts, of Scranton, and a map designating the line as they have made it. A brief of the line is as follows: Beginning at a point on the Susquehanna river a little over a mile above the mouth of Falling Spring Brook, thence south and east crossing the Pennsylvania & New York Canal & RR. Co.'s tracks to a chestnut and two yellow pine trees, the line being all the way through improved lands; thence south to a small brook north side of public back road and to the left bank of the Lackawanna River, crossing the tracks of the Bloomsburg Division of the D. L. & W. RR.; to the intersection of the Pittston back road with the Moosic road, to the branch railroad to the Central breaker on of the Pennsylvania RR. Coal Co., and then to cut stone corner in little Mill Creek. Thence, up the centre of the bed of the creek to a cut stone corner; thence, south and east, crossing the track of the D. & H. RR. and the Erie & Wyoming Valley RR. at Pleasant Valley station, leaving the station on the right, crossing Spring Brook RR. and Spring Brook at cut, stone for line on easterly side of wagon road leading up the stream; thence to the northwest corner of the Jasper Irving tract and a corner of the Edward Kennedy tract and the corner of Spring Brook Township; located near which is known as "Cubby" or "Covey Swamp," Thence, south to the crest of mountain sloping toward Spring Brook to a cut stone at the wagon road at the foot of the mountain, crossing Spring Brook 150 feet below old Dolph saw mill; thence across the Spring Brook RR. track and Trout Creek to the corner southeast of the Richard Gardner tract; thence across Monument Creek to the corner of Jacob Yoner and Wm. Parker tracts. Thence, between these tracts across branch of Monument Creek and Pittston Road to a corner of Robert Grey and Joseph Lawrence tracts, thence along line of William Mone tract to a cut stone corner of Keating's field and to a cut stone near a road; thence crossing John Christ and Mathias Baff tracts to a cat stone corner in the northerly line of John Spohn tract; thence to a cut stone for line at the road leading from Meadow Run to Bear Lake to a corner in the left bank of Choke Creek; thence down Choke Creek, its centre thereof, its various courses and distances, through a number of tracts to the Lehigh River. Scranton Times. [This report, it is understood, decides that the small tract of land in dispute is within the limits of Luzerne County.-ED.] Historical Publications Received. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography is a high grade quarterly published at $3 a year by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia. The July number contains, among other matter, "Unpublished Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, for 1692;" a list of the several portraits of Benjamin Franklin; "Free Society of Traders in Pennsylvania;" Pennsylvania Troops in the U. S. service, in 1787; sketches of members of the Pennsylvania convention which framed the Federal Constitution of 1787; and a fund of interesting historical miscellany. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register is also a quarterly, published at $3 a year, by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 18 Somerset Street, Boston. It comprises 100 pages and presents portraits. The July issue has an interesting title page, the whole forming an invaluable contribution to New England history. Among other things is a list of the Harvard alumni who have held official position, from which it appears that Harvard has furnished two Presidents of the United States, John Adams and John Quincy Adams; two Vice Presidents. John Adams and Eldridge Gerry; 15 Cabinet officers, 23 ministers plenipotentiary, 31 United States Senators, 137 Representatives in Congress, 23 delegates to American and Continental Congress, 30 United States judges, 114 Judges Supreme Courts, 47 Governors of States, 47 presidents of colleges. Certainly a very proud record, though no other college has had an equal chance, as Harvard is 250 years old. The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record is published by the society whose name is incorporated in the title, and issued quarterly from 64 Madison Avenue at $2 per year. It comprises 48 pages and is illustrated. The July number is particularly interesting. The Historical Journal, is published monthly at $2 a year, by Col. J. F. Meginness, Williamsport, Pa., editor of the Gazette and Bulletin. The August number is an unusually interesting and valuable number. Its leading feature is a biographical sketch, with portrait, of Gov. John Andrew Shulze, including a history of the purchase of the farm at Montoursville, which led to his financial ruin. This is followed with the Journal of John Hamilton, of Clinton County, who made a voyage in a canal boat from Pine Creek to Philadelphia. via Union Canal, in 1839. Edith C. Baily contributes a charming article on "Local History-Its Interest and Importance." The story of a prolific family that emigrated from Greene County to Ohio in 1810 is one of the odd features of the monthly, which is followed with an article on curious grave stone inscrip. tions. Some valuable information is given of Huntingdon in early times, and the long ownership of the homestead occupied by Hon J. Simpson Africa is shown. Old time furnaces in Batler County and the first mail to Franklin make interesting paragraphs. A letter from Secretary Bayard shows that old Henry Harris, of Muncy, did not purchase his freedom, as he claimed. The department of old persons living is quite full, as well as that of aged deceased. An ac count of the centennial anniversary of a Washington County lady carries the reader back to pioneer days. Although but four months old the Historical Journal has reached a good circulation and is rapidly gaining a popularity among those who wish to see local history preserved. It is printed on heavy paper, in magazine form, and twelve numbers will make an illustrated bound volume of over 400 pages. With its July issue the prosperous Magazine of American History began its eighteenth volume. A portrait of Henry Laurens, the South Carolina statesman of the Revolution, graces the opening page, accompanied by a realistic and engaging sketch of "Henry Laurens in the London Tower," from the editor. Gen. A. F. Devereaux follows with a spirited and thrilling account of "Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg." Justin Winsor, the Cambridge historian, contributes a valuable paper on "The Manuscript Sources of American History," in which he points out the conspicuous collections extant. John M. Bishop discourses authoritatively on the "United States Mail Service," giving some choice bits of information in its checkered history. No article in this number, however, will be read with more profit than Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart's "Biography of a River and Harbor Bill," a fragment of contemporary history, and yet a legitimate field for inquiry into past politics. George E. Foster gives the history of "Journaleism Among the Cherokee Indians," & carefully written paper on a theme very little known to the reading public. William D. Kelley, Hon. Charles K. Tuckerman, James E. Deane, Walter Booth Adams, and others, contribute short stories. A new department appears, called "Historic and Social Jottings," which promises to be an agreeable feature of this admirably conducted publication. Price, $5 a year. Published at 743 Broadway, N. Y. City. From Bangor comes the Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder, a $3 quarterly. It is of interest to every son of Maine who entertains a feeling of pride for his native State. S. M. Watson is the editor and publisher. Although England has a magazine for local history in almost every shire, the only one that has reached the RECORD office is the Western Antiquary, or Notebook for Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. W. H. K. Wright, borough librarian of Plymouth, is the editor. It is published monthly at 7 shillings per annum and each issue comprises 24 pages. An interesting article gives an inventory of the house and furniture of an Exeter citizen in the reign of James I. The inventory contains no mention of crockery of any kind but there were 204 pounds of pewter articles and 50 ounces of silver plate. His library was limited to two bibles and other books aggregating in value 10 shillings. He was a well-to-do brewer and his death occurred in 1608. |