History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1887



Bly Family - CAPTAIN DAVID BLY Biography

Captain David Bly, deceased, was born at White Deer Mills, Union county, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1839, son of John and Lydia (Rhoads) Bly. John Bly was a native of Virginia and moved with his parents to Union county, Pennsylvania, when a young man. While a resident of that county he was united in marriage to Lydia Rhoads, a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and subsequently they removed to Watsontown. Northumberland county, where he was interested in the lumber business, having been a member of the Watsontown Lumber Company. His death occurred in Watsontown. Ten children were born to John and Lydia (Rhoads) Bly, Captain David Bly having been the second son. Four of the sons participated in the war of the rebellion : Joseph was a member of Company B, One Hundred and Thirtyfirst Pennsylvania Volunteers; James and William were members of the same company, and after their terms of enlistment expired re-enlisted in the Seventh Cavalry ; David enlisted in Company G, Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and subsequently served as captain of Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-first Regiment.

David Bly received a common school education and at the age of seventeen years began clerking in the store of Ario Pardee, of Watsontown, and was serving in that capacity when President Lincoln made his first call for troops. He immediately enlisted in Company G, Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served in the ranks three months. After his discharge he returned to Watsontown and resumed clerking. In May, 1862, he received a commission from Governor Curtin as second lieutenant and recruiting officer. He recruited one hundred and thirty one men in Northumberland and Union counties, and early in August, 1862, reported with his company at Camp Curtin, near Harrisburg, and was mustered in as captain of Company B, One Hundred and Thirty first Pennsylvania Volunteers. Captain Bly served fourteen months, and besides various minor 'engagements participated in the famous battles of Second Ball Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. After completing his service Captain Bly found employment with the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Company as civil engineer and was assigned to the western division, with headquarters at Erie. His duties were confined principally to harbor improvement, rights of way, etc., and he remained there until March, 1865. He then located in Pittsburgh and engaged in business as an oil broker, and afterwards operated a refinery. He was forced to abandon this business because of the aggressive and grasping actions of the Standard Oil Company, and retired from the oil trade at Pittsburgh in 1877. He came direct to W sport and engaged in the same business, but after a short period again compelled to abandon it. He then engaged in the marketing of bituminous coal, and in 1888 organized the Kettle Creek Coal Mining Company, serving as its first president and later as general manager. Still later he again engaged in the oil brokerage business in Williamsport, which he followed up to within a few months of his death. Captain Bly owned the property known as the White Deer flouring mills, and engaged in the manufacture of flour and other grain products. He was a stockholder in the Merchants' National Bank, the Susquehanna Trust and Safe Deposit Company, and various other institutions of the city, and was one of the organizers of the first board of trade. While a resident of Pittsburgh, Captain Bly served as a member of the city council one term, was a member of the school board of Williamsport three years, and president of the board in 1887-88. During his presidency the high school building on the corner of Third and Walnut streets was erected. He was a prominent member of Reno Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and served as commander of the same in 1881. He was a consistent member of Christ (Protestant Episcopal) Church. In politics he was a Republican, though not a strong partisan.

Captain David Bly was married September 6, 1877, to Vinnie C. Crain, who was born in Cooperstown, Pennsylvania, daughter of Charles G. and Mary (Mason) Crain. Captain Bly died in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1901, leaving one daughter, Bessie B., who is now the wife of H. F. Clapp, of Williamsport.

On the paternal side Mrs. Vinnie C. Bly, widow of Captain Bly, is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. William Crain, the pioneer ancestor, was born in county Down, Ireland, in 1704, and died in 1780. His wife Jean was born in the same county in 1695 and died February 15, 1754. In 1734 they emigrated to America and located on the Manada, a branch of the Swatara creek, in what is now Hanover township, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. They reared several children, among whom were Ambrose, born in 1734; George, born in 1736; Joseph, born in 1738; William, born in 1740; and Richard, born in 1743.

Ambrose Crain, son of William and Jean Crain, enlisted as a private in Captain John Marshall's company, March 25, 1776, and September 15, 1776, was appointed quartermaster-sergeant of Colonel Samuel Miles's battalion, Pennsylvania line. At the expiration of service he returned to his home, subsequently serving as captain of a company of " Associators," which was active in protecting the settlers from the encroachments of the British Tories and their Indian allies during the closing year of the war for independence. In 1793-94 he removed to Loudoun county, in the valley of Virginia, and his death occurred there a few years later.

George Crain, son of William and Jean Crain, died May 12, 1796. He was twice married. The maiden name of his first wife, whom he married in 1760, was Jean Sturgeon. He was married a second time by the Rev. John Elder, January 22, 1778, but the maiden name of his wife is unknown. His children, all of his first union, were : George, horn in 1761, married Martha Ritchey; William, born in 1763, married Mary Sawyer; Jean, born in 1763, married Andrew Robinson; James, born in 1767, married Margaret McClure; Lydia, born in 1770, married James Ainsworth ; and Jeremiah, born in 1772, married Ann Cochran, November 3, 1803.

Joseph Crain, son of William and Jean Crain, was married about the year 1764 to Mary Moore, who was born in Derry township, in 1744, daughter of Andrew and Sarah Moore. Andrew Moore, of Derry, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who died in October, 1767, was the father of the following named children : Elizabeth, who married James Forster; Agnes married a Craig; Mary married Joseph Crain, above mentioned; John married Agnes Forster, issue: William, Sarah and Agnes; and William married, June 1, 1761, Margaret Wright and had one son, Andrew Moore. Joseph Crain died in February, 1789, and his wife died April 8, 1789. Their children were : Andrew, born in 1765, married Jean Strain, December 20, 1790, and was residing in Hanover township in 1792; Jean, born in December, 1767, married John Barrett, June 3, 1788, died May 9, 1830; George, born in 1769, died in November, 1824; William, born in 1771; Sarah, born in 1773, married William Knox; Joseph, born in 1775; Richard Moore, born in 1777, married Elizabeth Whitehill; Mary, born in 1779; John, born in 1781; and Nancy, born in 1783, married James Humes, of Lancaster.

William Crain, son of William and Jean Crain, served as a private in Captain William Brown's company of "Associators " in 1776. He married Ann Espy, born in 1739, died December 12, 1802. Ann Espy was a sister of Abigail Espy, who married Anthony Creight, or McCreight. Abigail died March 5, 1804, and Anthony died February 26, 1804. They were the parents of five children, namely : Jane, Sally, John, Thomas and Benjamin Creight. William Crain died January 8, 1802.

Richard Crain, son of William and Jean Crain, whose death occurred in Middle township, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, previous to 1790, located west of the Susquehanna river prior to, the revolutionary war, during which he served as an officer in one of the "Associators " battalions. He also participated in the battle of Long Island under Colonel Frederick Watts, and was captured by the British, but shortly afterward was paroled on account of wounds received in that engagement. The maiden name of his wife is unknown. Their children were: Espy, a schoolmaster, who died in Middle township, October, 1804; Elizabeth, William, George, Mary, who married James Hamilton; Jane, who died prior to 1804, married Joseph Van Horn and had two children Espy and Mary; Ann, who married Matthew Dill; and Richard.

George Crain, son of George and Jean (Sturgeon) Crain, and grandson of William and Jean Crain, was born in 1761 and died prior to the year 1800. He married Martha Ritchey, and they were the parents of four children, namely : Joseph, born in July, 1789; Andrew Lee, born in December, 1791; Martha, born in 1793; and Frances, born in 1795. Martha (Ritchey) Crain was married in 1803 to Major Robert Boal and removed to Ohio.

William Crain, son of George and Jean (Sturgeon) Crain, and grandson of William and Jean Crain, was born in 1763, died January 8, 1802. On June 24, 1788, he married Mary Sawyer, who was born in 1767, daughter of William and Jane Sawyer, and her death occurred about the year 1820. William and Mary Crain had several children, among whom were: Mary, born in May, 1789; and William Sawyer, born in October, 1791.

Richard Moore Crain, son of Joseph and Mary (Moore) Crain, and grandson of William and Jean Crain, was born in Hanover township, in November, 1777. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, but early in life relinquished that occupation and went to Harrisburg, where he became prominently identified with public affairs. During the incumbency of General Andrew Porter, surgeon-general of the state, he received the appointment of deputy-secretary of the land office, a position he acceptably occupied through the various changes of administration for a period of forty years, or until the advent of Governor Ritner, when he was superseded by the candidate of the party then in power. Retiring to his farm in Cumberland county, he was chosen a delegate from that district to the constitutional convention of 1837, in which he figured as a leading spirit. During the war of 1812-15 he commanded a company of volunteers from Harrisburg, and was subsequently commissioned a colonel in the state militia. Colonel Crain died Friday, September 17, 1852. He married Elizabeth Whitehill, who was born in 1771, daughter of Robert and Eleanor (Reed) Whitehill. Robert Whitehill, son of James and Rachel Whitehill, was born July 24, 1758, in the Requa settlement, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and was educated in the schools of the Rev. Francis Alison. In the spring of 1771 he located upon a farm situated two miles west of Harrisburg. He participated actively in the exciting agitation culminating in the Declaration of Independence, serving on the committee of 1774-75 and that of July, 1776, and was a member of the assembly for the years 177677-78. Colonel and Mrs. Crain were the parents of five children, namely Dr. Joseph, , born December 28, 1803, died April 18, 1876, married (first) Rebecca Gibson Wills, and (second) Ellen Chambers; Eleanor, who became the wife of Dr. William Wilson Rutherford; Mary Adeline, who died in Camden, New Jersey, March 3, 188,1; she was three times married ; first to Dr. Joseph Junkin, of Cumberland county; second to Dr. Alexander Y. Dean, who died in Harrisburg, November 4, 1834; and third to Isaac Vanloona, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, who married Leopold N. Wickhoff, who was born in Philadelphia, August 30, 1800, and died in Harrisburg, October 30, 1874; and Agnes, who died in Harrisburg. Elizabeth (Whitehill) Crain died October 2, 1848.

William Crain, grandfather of Mrs. Bly, was born March 4, 1764. He removed from Cumberland county to Venango county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1805, settling in the vicinity of Cooperstown, and the active period of his life was devoted to agricultural pursuits. His wife Elizabeth was born July 14, 1764, and they reared a family of six children, namely : George, William, James, John, Charles G., and Maria, who became the wife of judge John McKalmont, of Franklin, Venango county, Pennsylvania.

Charles G. Crain, father of Mrs. Bly, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1803, and was about two years of age when his parents removed to Venango county. He was married March 13, 1828, by the Rev. Thomas Anderson, to Mary Mason. The children of this union were : Nancy, George, Elizabeth, Reuben, Laura, Emeline, Mary, Robinson, Vinnie C., the widow of Captain David Bly; and William. Charles G. Crain (father) died April 3, 1879.

Alem Bly, a brother of the late Captain David Bly, and the hero of the hour some three years ago for his bravery in defending the Montoursville trolley line power house from the fierce attack of a band of robbers, was born at White Deer, October 14, 1849. He was formerly employed by some of the leading lumber operators in this locality, and assisted in constructing a railroad in Brazil, where he also served as a locomotive engineer. He was subsequently employed in the same capacity by the Pennsylvania Railroad, but relinquished the service in order to resume lumbering. He finally accepted the position of chief engineer of the Montoursville (street) Railway Company, and while serving as such was forced to participate in the desperate encounter above referred to. Early in the morning of October 2, 1902, while on duty, the lower power house, in which the office of the company was located, was attacked by a band of robbers, who effected an entrance by battering down the door. The six masked desperadoes immediately began discharging their revolvers at the engineer, who was the only person on duty at the time, and he received two bullet wounds, one of which proved exceedingly serious, crippling him for life. Heedless of the excruciating pain he succeeded in obtaining possession of his revolver, which was kept in the drawer of a desk in another room, and with it he soon made himself master of the situation, killing one of the ruffians outright and wounding at least two others, who continued firing upon him after he had discharged the contents of his weapon. He then fought his way out with his fists and succeeded in reaching a nearby furniture factory, the steam whistle of which sounded the alarm, thus forcing his assailants to seek safety in flight. Mr. Bly's escape from death was almost miraculous. He still suffers from the effects of the terrible ordeal, and his successful defense of the company's property in the face of such unequal odds won the undying admiration of the entire community. Alem Bly married Miss Elizabeth Sahley, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Snell) Sahley, and they are the parents of one son, Thomas, who is now an electrician in New York city and resides in Brooklyn. Thomas Bly married Miss Mary E. Hart, of Brooklyn, New York.


Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Lycoming County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1906.










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