BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF Nathan D. Cortright
PAGE 710
Nathan D. Cortright was
born at Beach Grove, Salem township, Luzerne Co., Pa., Feb. 11, 1817. His ancestors originally emigrated from
England, settling in New York State, on the Hudson, from where they moved to
the Wyoming Valley, being among the first settlers of that rich and inviting
soil. His maternal great-grandfather,
Thomas Dodson, was a soldier, and lived in the time of the Revolutionary and
Indian wars. In one of their
engagements he was taken prisoner by the British soldiers and carried into
Canada. Some time afterward he was
exchanged or released. He endured great
hardships during his captivity, having to return to his home through hostile
Indian lands, traveling the whole distance on foot by the Indian path.
Soon
after peace was restored, his son, Thomas Dodson, volunteered the hazardous
task of going to Canada on horseback to bring home Miss Abigail Dodson, who was
kept a prisoner by an Indian chieftain, having been taken prisoner along with
the Gilbert family from Gnadenhütten during the Indian wars. He succeeded in rescuing her, and brought her
safely to her family and friends. This
was considered a daring feat, and her relations ever held him in high esteem
for this act of humanity. Mr. Cortrights’s
paternal grandfather, Elisha Cortright, was among the pioneer settlers of the
Wyoming Valley, and during the trying scenes of the Revolution and Indian wars
endured the hardships incident to that period. Being sick with a prevalent fever at the time of the battle of
Wyoming, or which is more popularly known as the “Wyoming Massacre,” July 3,
1778, his brother, John Cortright, served in his stead, and was killed. His name is inscribed on the monument at
Wyoming, placed in memory of those who fell at that perilous time.
After the struggle
between the Pennsylvania settlers and the Connecticut claimants, Elisha
Cortright moved to Beach Grove, bought lands, and made a settlement. He married Huldah, daughter of Andrew
Dingman, of Dingman’s Ferry, Pike Co., Pa. His son, Isaac Cortright, father of the subject of this sketch,
was born in Hanover, Luzerne Co., in 1776, and removing with his parents to
Beach Grove, Salem township, in the same county, in 1786, grew to manhood’s
years at that place.
He subsequently married
Mary, daughter of Thomas Dodson, and engaged in farming pursuits through a long
and active life. For fifty-two years
his wife and he lived together in the same house, surrounded by many friends,
in a Christian community, with good schools, and in a neighborhood where peace
and social contentment reigned, his farm bordering on the west side of the
beautiful and historic Susquehanna. They
were blessed with eight children, namely, - Elisha D., Mabel D., Nancy A.,
Thomas D., Huldah D., Nathan D., Abram D., Rachel B., - Nathan D. being the
sixth in succession. His early life was
passed upon his father’s farm, enjoying at the same time the benefits of such
education as was imparted at the Cortright school-house, which was located upon
a plot of ground donated by Elisha Cortright for educational and church
purposes. At the age of nineteen he
removed to Beaver Meadow, Carbon Co., and in the spring of 1836 secured a
position in the corps of engineers of A. Pardee and J. G. Fell, civil
engineers, who were engaged in building the Beaver Meadow, Hazleton and Summit
Railroads. In the winter of 1838-39 he
was appointed the general shipping and boat agent of the Hazleton Coal Company,
and in 1842 was made superintendent of the same company, under the direction of
Dr. Samuel Moore, president, holding that important position continuously until
1857. This company during that period
was one of the strongest coal organizations in the State. Its transactions, though numerous and varied,
were carried on with the strictest integrity, even amid the most threatening
financial storms, and it may be truthfully said that some portion of this
success and prosperity were due to the fidelity, executive ability, and
excellent business judgment of Mr. Cortright. In 1857 he engaged in the coal business for himself, and is still
actively engaged, in connection with his son, N. D. Cortright, Jr., in carrying
on that branch of business. He had
witnessed the gradual and successful development of the great coal and iron
interests of the Lehigh and Wyoming regions, and occasionally participated in
such development. From 1847 to 1852 he
was interested with others in driving the old tunnel at Hacklebernie through
about twelve hundred feet of rock and coal at the east end of the basin of the
coal lands of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. Since 1845 he has resided on the same
premises, having built a new house in 1860 in Mauch Chunk, where he is
recognized as a useful and valuable citizen, of modest tastes and inclinations,
and actively identified with the various institutions in the locality. He is a member of the board of directors of
the Second National Bank of Mauch Chunk, and has been one of the leading
members of the Methodist Episcopal society since 1854, holding official
relation with the same for many years, and in active sympathy with the
temperance, Sabbath-school, and Bible causes. In 1851 he was appointed by Governor William F. Johnson one of his
aides-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. On Feb. 6, 1845, he was married to Margaretta L., daughter of
Ezekiel W. and Margaret Harlan, who were of Quaker origin. They came to Mauch Chunk from Chester…
PAGE 711
… County in 1826. Mr. Harlan was
one of the early employés of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and
afterwards became a partner of the late Asa Packer. This firm, Packer & Harlan, contracted for and rebuilt a
portion of the Lehigh Canal, after which they operated the Nesquehoning mines.
Mr. Harlan’s family consisted of twelve children. Margaretta L. was born Oct. 8, 1826. Their married life proved a happy and prosperous one; the issue of their union being six children, - four sons and two daughters. The eldest, Harlan W., who married Eliza Le Fevre, of Hurdtown, N. J., was superintendent for the Ogden Mine Railroad Company, near Dover, N. J., for sixteen years; is now engaged in the coal business. Nathan D., who married Maggie Kennedy, of Port Kennedy, Pa., has been engaged in the coal business for the past eighteen years; is the junior member of the firm of N. D. Cortright & Son, also postmaster of Mauch Chunk for the past five years. Gertrude M. is living at home with her parents. Samuel M., late superintendent of the Pennsylvania Telephone Company, married Maggie Weyhenshimer, of Allentown. William S., after attending Lafayette College, at Easton, Pa., then graduated from Wyoming Commercial College, at Kingston, Pa., and graduated from the College of Dental Surgery in 1879; has been a successful practitioner of his profession at Mauch Chunk ever since. On June 5, 1883, he married Miss Jennie Rawling, of Mineral Point, Wis. Emma L., youngest daughter, was married to Edwin F. Keen, wholesale merchant of Philadelphia, Nov. 21, 1883.
END
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RETURN
TO THE MATHEWS & HUNGERFORD INDEX
PAGE
From
The History of the
Counties of Lehigh & Carbon, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
By
Alfred Mathews &
Austin N. Hungerford
Published
in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1884
Transcribed
from the original in May, 2003
by
Susan
Gilkeson Sterling
Web page by
May 2003