would not inventory over $500. After about a year thus engaged, his brotherin-law, who had in the meantime united with the Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and been stationed at Geneva. N. Y., again invited him to live with him, and attend the college in that beautiful town. The long hopedfor opportunity to complete a college course seemed to have arrived, and he hastily closed his interest in the store, and prepared to accept the offer. His profits in the year's business comprised a respectable wardrobe, and about $100 in bills receivable. He had in preparation for his trip a wooden trunk made by a carpenter and joiner (which is still preserved in the attic of his residence), in which all of his worldly wealth was stowed, when a few days before starting he received a letter stating that both Mr. and Mrs. Crow were lying at the point of death, from typhoid fever. He went there at once, on horseback, but found that his sister was dead and buried, and his brother-in-law almost at the point of death, so he was obliged to return to Smethport with his hopes disappointed, and his spirits crushed. By the advice of his brother, Orlo J., who was then practicing law in Smethport, he gave up the idea of completing a collegiate education, and entered his office as a student and clerk. This was in 1843, and in 1846 he was admitted to the bar of McKean county. His brother had the care of a number of landed estates, for various owners, and the attention to the details of this part of the business falling largely upon the young student, he early acquired a taste for it, and having given the subject his principal attention during his long professional career, he is an accepted authority upon legal as well as practical business questions relating to lands and land titles. In 1855 he accepted the agency of the lands of Keating & Co., then comprising nearly two hundred thousand acres of the two hundred and ninety-seven thousand they had purchased from William Bingham, in the year 1796, in McKean, Potter, Cameron, Clinton and Clearfield counties. He had their care and management to the year 1884, when he became the purchaser of what remained of this estate, and interested some of his family relatives with himself in its ownership-the business being conducted in the names of Byron D. Hamlin, Henry Hamlin and John Forrest.

In politics Mr. Hamlin is a Democrat. When a young man he was active and prominent as a local leader, and his party, then largely in the majority in the county and district, recognized his abilities and usefulness. In 1848, at the age of twenty-four, he was recommended by his county as a candidate for the legislature, but declined at the district convention in favor of G. W. Scofield, of Warren county, who was elected; in 1850 he was elected treasurer of McKean county; in 1852 he was sent to the State senate, in which body, although one of the youngest members, he took a leading and prominent position, and was elected as its presiding officer at the close of the session of 1854. He was re-nominated by the convention of his district at the close of his term, in 1855, but was defeated by Henry Souther, of Elk county, the candidate of the American and Free-Soil parties. Having a good clientage and extensive land estates under his care, he considered it his duty to those interests, and to his family, to withdraw from active political life to more congenial and profitable pursuits. He was tendered the nomination (which, in that district, was equivalent to an election) for president judge of the counties of Clearfield, Clinton and Centre, in 1868, but declined it. Since that time he has been urged by the people of his own district, without regard to party, to stand as a candidate for judicial honors in it, but adhered to his often expressed determination to spend his life in domestic pursuits, without the slavery of public office. In 1882, however, he was induced, after repeated

solicitations, to allow his name to be presented as the candidate of his party for the legislature. Although the county was Republican by a considerable majority, and he was opposed by the strongest candidate who could at that time have been nominated against him, he was defeated by less than a score of votes. In the dark period of our Nation's history (1861-65) Mr. Hamlin stood on the ground that the only way to correct the fallacies of those who sought to break the bond of union of the States was the physical one; all arguments appealing to the patriotism and reasoning faculties having failed. He was examined, and pronounced physically unfit for service in the field, but, immediately following the news of the first shot on Sumter, he applied himself to the work of encouraging and aiding the valorous young men of his region to enlist, for the defense of their country and their homes. He rendered efficient aid to Gen. Thomas L. Kane, to whom he was much devoted, in selecting the valiant fellows who formed the famous Bucktail Regiment, and no compliment ever bestowed on him afforded him and his family more gratification than his election as an honorary comrade in that regiment, at the re-union of its survivors in 1888. Mr. Hamlin is now at the age of sixty-five years, a wellpreserved gentleman, in the prime of his maturity and usefulness. Although his life has been full of toil and business cares, he has always been temperate in his habits, and has not wasted his energies or his health.

In 1846 he married Miss Harriet, daughter of John Holmes, of Smethport, who has by her faithful devotion, constant sympathy and good counsel, contributed largely to his success. They were blessed with children, one boy and two girls. The son, Delano R., died May 30, 1884, leaving a widow and two children. The eldest daughter, Jenette, married H. V. Redfield, the well-known Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, who died November 17, 1881, leaving his wife and three lovely children. Mrs. Redfield was next married September 24, 1889, to William E. McCoy, an enterprising and substantial cotton manufacturer of Augusta, Ga., and with her children now resides in that healthful and attractive Southern city. The youngest daughter, Mary, married John Forrest, who is a lawyer and a partner with his father-in-law in the law and land business, and the main reliance for the details of the business of the firm. Mr. and Mrs. Forrest have two young daughters, who are the pride of their parents and grandparents. Mr. Hamlin is very domestic in his tastes, and is happiest when surrounded by his family, children and grandchildren. He lives in a comfortable mansion in Smethport, and enjoys with his family the competence and ease earned by his hand and brain throughout a busy and useful life.

HENRY HAMLIN, eldest son of Orlo J. and Orra L. (Cogswell) Hamlin, was born at Smethport, McKean Co., Penn., April 9, 1830. At this time his father, Orlo J. Hamlin, a man of rare scholarly attainments, and, until obliged by physical weakness to give up his profession, the leader of the bar of his district, was an active practitioner, and his son, who had inherited in a marked degree his father's love of books and research, and whose mind fitted him to follow in his footsteps, naturally at an early age commenced the study of law. Finding, however, that his health demanded a more active life, he concluded to take up the mercantile business, and entered as a clerk the store of O. J. & B. D. Hamlin, of which firm, at the age of nineteen, he was admitted as a partner. From this time on until the year 1878, when he sold out his interest in the business to Mr. Haskill, he was successful in all his ventures; strict integrity, close attention to business, and his wonderful faculty of acquiring a knowledge of the minutiae of everything he undertook, being the secret of his success, and the latter trait has followed him through life, not only in busi

ness matters, but even in out-door and other amusements, in which he has always taken a lively interest, ever ready to take a hand in them during his leisure moments, and never satisfied until he has mastered every feature. As a financier Mr. Hamlin has been wonderfully successful, making investments only after thorough investigation; and while he has been and is at present largely interested in timber lands in his own and other States, in the production of oil and in other commercial ventures, he rarely makes a mistake or suffers a loss, his present banking establishment, known as the banking house of Henry Hamlin, being one of the solid institutions of Western Pennsylvania. A marked characteristic of Mr. Hamlin's business life has been his leniency toward the deserving poor among his debtors, as many a man in McKean county can attest, for while he has always worked under strict business rules and principles, he has never been an oppressor of the poor. Mr. Hamlin has

done much for the prosperity of his native town: notably his connection with the present successful water-works system, the erection of his handsome bank building, which would be an ornament to a much larger place, his own handsome grounds, and his interest in all matters of public improvement. In 1854 Mr. Hamlin married Hannah L., daughter of Dr. W. Y. McCoy, a lady who by reason of her many virtues has endeared herself to all classes of people. They have four children: Laena D. (now Mrs. Robert H. Rose), Emma M. (now Mrs. J. H. McCandless), Eugenie M. and Orlo. To Mrs. Henry Hamlin and her sister, Mrs. John C. Hamlin, Smethport mainly owes its present Episcopal Church system. Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin and their children are all members of St. Luke's Church, Mr. Hamlin contributing largely toward the erection of the church edifice. In politics Mr. Hamlin was formerly identified with the Democratic party, but is at present an active Republican, coming into the Republican ranks by his support of Abraham Lincoln. In 1881 he was elected associate judge, and he performed the duties of that office with great credit to himself and in the interest of his constituents until the abolishment of the office by reason of the county becoming a separate judicial district, under the constitution of 1874, it then having a population of over 40,000. Mr. Hamlin is widely known and universally respected, and his career as a business man and as a citizen has been such as to be an example to young men, showing what can be done by application and a conscientious performance of business and other duties.

JOHN C. HAMLIN, hardware merchant, Smethport, son of Orlo J. Hamlin, was born March 4, 1836, at Smethport, McKean Co., Penn., where he was educated and where, in 1865, he opened the first store exclusively for hardware, a business he is still engaged in. In 1857 he married Charlotte M., daughter of Dr. W. Y. McCoy, one of the first practicing physicians of Smethport, which union was blessed with three children: William O., C. Aline (now Mrs. Dr. Lewis H. Robinson, of Brooklyn, N. Y.) and Mary E. (now Mrs. Charles Bosworth, also of Brooklyn, N. Y.). William O. married Miss Julia Lightbody, and is also a resident of Brooklyn. Mr. Hamlin is a member of McKean Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 388; of Bradford Chapter, R. A. M., and Trinity Commandery, K. T. He is a Democrat, but not a politician, devoting his time and energies to business cares. He and his family are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. The foundation and prosperity of the church afford an example of the reward of twenty years of untiring labor by Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin, who maintained the Sunday school and church affairs in general, from 1857 to about 1880, when St. Luke's had grown to be a strong parish, and since then it has become one of the largest and most flourishing in the county.

DELANO R. HAMLIN was born at Smethport, McKean Co., Penn., August 10, 1847. He was the only son of Byron D. and Harriet Hamlin, and was the eldest of their family of three children. After having attended the public schools of his native borough until he was thirteen years old, he was sent to a public school at Flushing, L. I., and two years later entered Flushing Institute, conducted by that prince of educators, Prof. E. A. Fairchild. The damp sea-air at that place disagreeing with his health, he was removed to Allegheny College, at Meadville, Penn., where he made excellent studies, and remained until 1868, when he returned to his home, and entered upon the study of law in his father's office. He was admitted to the bar, and on January 1, 1871, became a partner in his father's law and land business, under the firm name of Hamlin & Son, and continued as such until his death. In 1871 Mr. Hamlin married Miss Eugenia McCoy, a daughter of Dr. William Y. McCoy, of Smethport. This union was a happy one, the parties to it being congenial, each striving for the welfare and rational enjoyment of the other. They were blessed with two promising children: Paul and Jenette, the son being now a student in St. Paul's school at Concord, N. H., and the daughter at home with her mother, who keeps house in the beautiful family mansion erected for her by her husband a short time before his death. At an early age the subject of this sketch became a victim to attacks of inflammatory rheumatism, which continued at intervals, producing hypertrophy of the heart, and finally causing his death, which occurred May 30, 1884. His remains were buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, at Smethport, the funeral services being witnessed by a large concourse of sorrowing friends, assembled from all parts of the county. As a young man he started in life with bright prospects and high resolves, and, had his health and life been spared, no man in this region would have attained a higher station of honor and usefulness. His characteristics, habits and ambitions all tended toward the true and the right. He had not in his nature an impure, mean or ungenerous impulse. His sympathies were ever active, and his heart and purse always open to the demands of charity and the public good. He was eminently public spirited, and always ready to advance every enterprise for the benefit of the community. In politics he was of the Democratic faith, ardent in the support of his views, laboring earnestly for the candidates of his political party, but never seeking office for himself. He was sincerely and actively interested in the prosperity of his native borough and county, and his loss was deeply felt and deplored by all. He was a faithful member of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church, was a member of Trinity Commandery, No. 58, K. T., of Bradford; Bradford Chapter, No. 260, R. A. M., and McKean Lodge, No. 388, A. Y. M., and an honorary member of the Smethport Hose Company, No. 1, many of the members of these organizations being present to sympathize with his bereaved family, and aid in the performance of the last sad rites. Following his death, action was taken as shown in the following resolutions of respect and condolence. At a meeting of the McKean county bar, the following resolutions were adopted:

The members of the bar of McKean county desire to express their deep sorrow over the death of Brother D. R. Hamlin. His amiable disposition, his gentlemanliness, his uniform conduct to all, and his hospitality, won the affections of his brethren of the bar as his ability, modesty, honesty, and truthfulness won their respect. The members of the bar desire further to express their sympathy with the parents and widow of the deceased in the loss of son and husband so richly endowed with qualities which make the relationship of parents and children one of unalloyed satisfaction, and the association of husband and wife uninterrupted happiness: John C. Backus, N. B. Smiley, J. M. McClure, committee. It was ordered that the resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the court, and a certified copy be sent to B. D. Hamlin and family. Appropriate and feeling remarks

were made by the following gentlemen: Judge Olmsted, and Messrs. Backus, Gorton, Keenan, Smiley, Milliken, King, Smith, Cotter, McSweeney, Weil, Chapman, McClure and Rose.

At a regular meeting of the Smethport Hose Company, No. 1, the following resolutions were adopted:

WHEREAS, The final roll has been called and one whose name appeared at the head of our list as the first honorary member of our association has courageously and even cheerfully answered its imperative summons, whereby we have lost a genial companion, a well-loved friend, a ready helper, and a generous benefactor; and, WHEREAS, For the first time the darkened chambers of the silent city have been opened to receive one of our members, we, the officers and members of the Smethport Hose Company, No. 1, express our sincere sorrow for the loss of one whose aid and advice have been invaluable to our success, and whose patience and cheerfulness under great affliction were proverbial; and we desire hereby to express our heartfelt sympathy with the parents and family of our deceased brother, Delano R. Hamlin, in their great bereavement. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the widow of the deceased brother, and a copy furnished the McKean Miner and the McKean Democrat for publication: F. W. Brownell, S. Gorton, T. F. Richmond, committee.

At a regular meeting of McKean Lodge, No. 388, A. Y. M., the following preamble and resolutions were adopted:

WHEREAS, It has pleased the Great Master of the universe, who doeth all things well, to call from this world of labor, sorrow and pain our beloved Brother, Delano R. Hamlin, whose life has ever been an exponent of the beneficent principles taught within the lodge and who by the constant exercise of charity, patience and resignation under suffering, and the faithful discharge of every duty, had endeared him to his fellows. Resolved, That while we mourn the loss of a friend and brother, we bow submissively to the decree of the great and all-wise Master, and tender to the bereaved family of our departed brother our deepest sympathy in this their great affliction. Resolved, That these resolutions be engrossed upon the minutes of the lodge, a copy presented to the family of our deceased brother, and that they be published in the Miner and Democrat: H. F. Barbour, L. O. Chadwick, G. M. Smith, committee.

ORREN E. HAVEN, farmer, P. O. Smethport, is a son of Luther and Jemima (Colegrove) Haven, and was born in Norwich township, McKean Co., Penn., December 1, 1820. His father came from Chenango county, N. Y., about 1820, and located at Colegrove, where he engaged in farming, remaining there until 1847, in which year he removed to McHenry county, Ill., where he died March 1, 1855, and his wife November 11, 1861. Their children were Lorinda P., Jasper J., Benjamin C., Orren E., Helen O., Edson G. and Edmund F. (twins), and Fidelia C., eight children, all living, the eldest now seventy-three years old and the youngest sixty-one. Their father took an active interest in educational matters, and during his residence in Norwich township paid one-third of the entire sum raised for educational purposes. Orren E. Haven made his home with his parents until twenty years of age, and having received a practical education became a teacher; for some time was also engaged in searing timber. In 1851 he married Eunice, daughter of Henry Lasher, of Norwich township, McKean county, and located in Keating township, on a farm he had previously purchased and where he has since resided. Mr. and Mrs. Haven have three children: D. L., Clyde P. and Mittie L. They are members of the Old Norwich Church. In politics he is a Republican, has filled nearly all of the local township offices, and was urged to accept the nomination for county commissioner, but declined.

F. S. HOLMES, proprietor of planing-mill, Coryville, was born in Geneseo, Livingston Co., N. Y., in 1850. He learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner, and located at Coryville, Penn., in 1874, where he had a planingmill, which was destroyed by fire in 1885, after which he built what is known as the Iron Mill, of which he is at present proprietor. In 1874 he married Ella C., daughter of A. H. Cory, of Coryville, and they have a family of four