Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/610

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

adopted country, enlisting in 1775, in the {luntcrdoii county volunteers, ivith which lie served as private. A man o f brave and fear­ less spirit, he w as soon promoted to ensign and later to cajitain. of the 2d New* Jersey Regiment* and stood so high in the confidence o f his superior officers that he was one of the two Ncw' Jersey men chosen by Washington to take charge of the crossing of the l)elaw*are on the eventful night o f Dec. 25. 1776. when the Hessian camp at Trenton w*as attacked. The other W'as Captain ’an Tcnyck. A fte r the crossing had been effected the lioats were phccd in their charge, with on lcrs to destroy them should Ihe expedition prove a failure. Captain Gearhart also took part in the battle of the Brandywine* and spent the hard winter of 1777-78 with Washington at Valley Forge. A t the close of the war he returned to his old home in Hunterdon county, N . J . but a few years later he joined tlic tide o f emigration which took many westward from Ncw Jersey into Pennsylvania and troni the eastern coun­ ties o f I'cnnsylvania farther out. Between 1785 and 17(^5 many families from that region settlc<l in what are now Kush and (iearliart townships Northumberland county, among them those o f Capt. Jacob Gearhart and his brother W illiam. In 178 1 the form er came West on a prospecting tour, and he brought his family out later. In 1790 (another acrtiiint says 178 2) the Captain and his family left Hunterdon county by wagon train. Late one afternoon they came to a deserted Indian hut close by a line spring, on the farm now owned by M rs. I.! l . Torrence, a great-grand­ daughter of the (.'aptain, and decided to camp for the night. When the land was examined in the niorning it was found to be fertile, and the water was so abundant and o f such good uality that the old w arrior determined to ound his home at that site. H e purchased land along the Susquehanna from K ipp's run to Boyd's run. one mile hack from the river, alt o f it at chat time a dense forest. With the aid o f his sons he began to clear and till the land, and after clearing a ]H>rtion on a small bluff overlooking the beautiful Stit^uchanna he erected a small frame house, which is still standing, though more than one hundred years old. an<I is one of the oldest landmarks of the vicinity. It is still owned by his descendants: it was occupied by William F. (icarhart, who dicil in 11^05. Captain (iearhart set out an orcliar<l which was completely destroyed by a hailstorm in 1846. H e acquired 1.500 acres, 200 o f which lie cleared. In 18 13, a fte r an active life o f seveiily-cight years. Captain

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Gearhart died, and his wife* O iiharinc Kline, survived him a few years. They had a family o f eleven children, nam ely: Jacob* boni in 1763. died in 18 4 1; H em iaii. bom in 1765, ditxi in 18 3 5 : George is mentioned below; William, born in 1776* died in 1 8 0; Charles* liorn in 1783. died in 1863; John, born in 1788, died in 18 58; Isaac; Benjam in; Elizabeth; Mary* and Catherine. Georjgc Gearhart, son o f Capt. Jacob and Catharine (K lin e ) Gcarliart, w*as bom in what is now Hunterdon county, N. J ., and he became a prosperous farm er and landowner. He had a licautiful fam i one mite from R iv e r­ side* along the bank of the Susquehanna river one mile south of the bridge, now forming him from his father at his majority* and there he lived all his life. H e erected many build­ ings there, and as he prospered purchased more land, at his death owning between three hundred and four hundred acres along Ihc .Susquehanna. H e was twice married, his first w ife being Acsah Ktinyun* who died when a young woman* the mother o f four children: Bonham R.* Benjamin (w ho moved out W est), Eliza and Rebecca (m arried W ilson M ettler). His second w ife w as Phoelic I^ t t , whom he had three children: Archie* George and Herman. Bonham R. Gearhart. M. D .. son o f (jeo rg c (rearliart, w as bom M arch 18* i 8 i i. on his father’s homestead in Rush township, and there received his early education* later at­ tending the academy at Danville. H e read medicine with Dr. II. Gearhart, o f Bloom s­ burg. and took a course at Jefferson M edical College. Philadelphia, from w*hich he w*as graduated. F o r two years Dr. Gearhart p ra c­ ticed in Sunbury, and he w as subsec|ucntly in Wa.shingtonville and Turbotville ( i83<>44) before settling at Danville, where he w as in successful practice to the close o f his life. H e was one of the most poptilar physicians o f Ms day, and his death, which occurred M ay 9, 1855, when he w as in his early forties, w as widely mourned. He died o f pneumonia. D r. Gearhart married Elizabeth Steel Boy<L daughter o f William and Eliza (Steel) B o yd; o f Ikniville* and granddaughter o f W illiam Boyd, the founder of the fam ily in .'merica. He w*as a colonel in the Revolution, and later promoted to general in the militia. M rs. K lira (Steel) Boyd was the niece o f General Steel, of the Revolution. M rs. Gearhart survived the Doctor nuny years, dying Ja n. 2 1. 1904, at the advanced age o f cighty-scven years, eight months, iwcniy-ninc days. They w ere the
 * Kirt o f South Danville. It w as a present to