History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1887



Munson Family - C. LARUE MUNSON. Biography



Cyrus LaRue Munson, who is among the most eminent and highly successful lawyers of Pennsylvania, and whose home is at Williamsport, where he is an important member of the bar and a leading spirit in all that tends toward the present day prosperity of that flourishing city, is descended from American ancestry through the following direct line from Thomas Munson, an English emigrant in the early part of the 17th century. (I) Thomas Munson was born in Suffolkshire in England, in 1612, and emigrated to the Colony of Massachusetts during the Puritan exodus, some time prior to 1636. The first record we have of him is in 1637, when, at the age of twenty-five years, he was one of the ninety men composing Mason's renowned company, and in the Pequot War assisted in the extermination of the Indian tribe of that name. At this time he resided in Hartford, in the colony of Connecticote, as it was then spelled. In 1638 he was one of the company formed by the Rev. John Davenport who became the purchasers from the Indians of the territory now composing the City of New Haven, Connecticut, and several adjacent towns. On June 4, 1639, he was one of the sixty-three signers of the famous Fundamental Agreement, whereby the colony of New Haven was formed, and flourished until it was consolidated with the colony of Connecticut. In 1675 he was captain in command of the forces of his colony in the historic King Phillip's war, and held various other offices of trust and honor in his colony. This unique and curiously spelled record can be found among the official records of the colony of New Haven, under date of September 10, 1649:

"The Gouerner further Informed the Court that Sarjant Munson is aboute goeing to Connecticote, to staye their this winter. Therefore the Court maye Consider whether it be safe for ye towne to lett him goe, - seeing Sarjant Andrewes is not at home. The Court thought it not fitt that he should now goe; but desired the Gouerner to Informe them at Connecticote, whom it Concernes, that it is not his neglect, but the Towne hinders him for publique respects."

He died in 1685, leaving two daughters and one son, Samuel, and his gravestone can still be found in the old cemetery at New Haven.

(II) Samuel Munson, son of Thomas (I), was born in New Haven in 1643. Like his father he was of what is now known as the Congregational faith and held many important positions of trust in the colony, among others being the first rector, or principal, in 1684, of the well known Hopkins Grammar School, to this day a leading educational institution in New Haven. In October, 1665, he married Martha, daughter of William and Alice (Pritchard) Bradley, and died in the winter of 1692-3 at Wallingford, Connecticut, of which town he was a founder, leaving ten children, of whom Joseph was the sixth.

(III) Joseph Munson, son of Samuel (II), was born November 6, 1677, and married Margery, daughter of John Hitchcock, on March 10, 1700. He died October 30, 1725, in Wallingford, Connecticut, of which place he had been a life long resident and honored citizen.

(IV) Ephraim Munson, son of Joseph (III ), was born November 5. 1714, in Wallingford, and later resided in Branford, afterwards removing to Granville, Massachusetts, of which place he was one of the first settlers. He was married in May, 1739, to Comfort, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Hall) Curtis, and died September 21, 1770.

(V) Jared Munson, son of Ephraim (IV), was born in 1742, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He showed his faith in the American cause by purchasing in 1778 from his colony land in Vermont which had been confiscated from the tories, paying for it £1200, a fortune in those early days; his only hope of maintaining his title being in the supremacy of the colonial arms in their struggle with England, and by this purchase materially assisting the cause of his country. He then made his home in Manchester, Vermont, married Annorah, daughter of Joseph Hall, and died there July 30, 1823.

(VI) Rufus Munson, son of Jared (V), was born in 1762 at Manchester, Vermont, and was also in the Revolutionary war, serving for about two years. In 1790 he married Bethiah, daughter of Josiah Burton, and died in Manchester September 13, 1797.

(VII) Jesse Munson, son of Rufus (VI), was born in Manchester, Vermont, on August 21, 1792. His father dying when he was but seven years old, he lived for a time with his uncle, John Burton, at St. Albans, Vermont, and at the age of thirteen made his home with another other uncle, Curtis Burton, at Greenfield, Saratoga county, New York, whoa was engaged quite extensively, for those days, in the business of tanning and lumbering. When he was but nineteen his uncle died, leaving a widow and small children, and his business affairs in uncertain condition. His executors entrusted the care of the whole property to the youthful Jesse, who was enabled by good management and hard work to pay all his uncle's debts and leave a comfortable support for his family. Jesse then became the owner of the property and very largely extended it, adding the business of manufacturing boots and shoes from the leather made in his tannery, and engaging as well in a general merchandise business. One of his early successes consisted in opening a temporary store in Canada for the sale of his boots and shoes to the soldiers engaged in the war of 1812. For more than twenty years he conducted his various branches of business in eastern New York to complete financial success. His energy knew no bounds, it being related of him that he would often drive to the Hudson River, a distance of twenty miles, arriving there so early in the winter morning that he would be obliged to waken some of the inhabitants to learn whether he could cross the river on the ice, which bent and swayed under its burden, but enabling him to find a market for his load of leather or lumber.

The timber lands of his section becoming denuded he sought new fields for his activities, and, in about 1834, removed to Steuben county, in the western part of New York, then a new and undeveloped county, where he purchased large forests of pine timber and became the owner of saw mills and flouring mills, together with an extensive store and farms at Bradford. Still further extending his business, he began, in 1850, to purchase large tracts of timber lands on the waters of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, becoming in a few years the owner of more than 20,000 acres of valuable pine lands in Potter and Clinton counties, Pennsylvania, where, with his sons and son-in-law, he conducted large lumber operations.

During the War of the Rebellion he did much for the Union cause, raising the full quota of soldiers of his town and personally paying each man a bonus for his enlistment. In 1813 he married Sophia, daughter of Jonathan Tallmadge, a helpmate, indeed, and a lovely Christian woman. After her death, in 1871, he made his home with his son Edgar, in Williamsport, where he died of old age on October 13, 1879.

Jesse Munson was a man of great strength of character, of the highest honor and integrity, and successful in all his undertakings. He possessed the power of controlling the minds of others to a marked degree, and in politics was most influential, for many years being one of the leaders of the Democratic party in western New York. He was generous in all his actions, and the appeal of the widow and orphans was never refused by him. His founding and sustaining the Bradford Academy was an instance of his love of education for the people, while the erection, at his cost, of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church at Bradford, evidenced his care for religion.

(VIII) Edgar Munson, son of Jesse (VII), was born in Greenfield, New York, on April 21, 1820, and received his education in the Academy at Bennington, Vermont, completing it in the well known Burton Academy, Manchester, Vermont, founded by one of his ancestors, and still flourishing with great success. At the age of nineteen he became a clerk in a mercantile establishment in Saratoga Springs, and later followed his father's family to Bradford, New York, where he continued to reside until 1870, when he removed to Williamsport. First serving as bookkeeper in the extensive lumbering and other business of his father, he became a member of the firm of Merriman, Munson & Company in 1850. In about 1854 his firm purchased large tracts of timber land in Potter and Clinton counties, Pennsylvania, and in the care of the lumbering business connected with the operation of those lands he had a large share. He was at different times a leading member of the firms of John R. Cook & Company, Slonaker, Howard & Company and Starkweather & Munson, owning and operating large saw mills in Williamsport, and about 188o engaged in business alone, owning, and for more than twenty years operating, the well known Susquehanna Saw and, Planing Mills at Williamsport, as well as branch mills in Clinton county, Pennsylvania. During his business career he manufactured and marketed more than 500,000,000 feet of lumber, chiefly pine, in addition to large amounts of planing mill materials, boxes, etc., employing hundreds of men, all of whom were at all times his friends, and to whom he ever showed generosity and kind consideration.

His activities were not confined to the lumber business but extended to other fields and industries. He was the active spirit in its organization, and, during its construction, the president of the Syracuse, Geneva & Coming Railroad, now forming an important part of the Pennsylvania Division of the New York Central Railroad. He was also at one time president of the Williamsport National Bank and of the Citizens Water Company of Williamsport, and a director in the Lycoming Rubber Company, one of Williamsport's chief industries. He was the first president of the West Branch Lumbermen's Exchange, and was also interested in the Kettle Creek Coal Mining Company, a large bituminous company in Clinton county, Pennsylvania, and operating 14,00o acres of coal lands owned by his father's estate, and through whose foresight they were secured more than half a century ago.

For many years he served as vestryman and warden, and, at the time of his death, as senior warden of Christ (Episcopal) Church, Williamsport, while in the growth of that church and its financial advancement none other responded more graciously and liberally. No man ever lived in Williamsport who commanded and deserved greater respect from his fellow citizens than Edgar Munson; at all times and under all circumstances he was a Christian and a gentleman, generous and kind hearted, never refusing the call of charity and always devoutly religious. His honor and integrity were ever beyond reproach, and in all his business career he did no act that sullied his name or reputation in the slightest degree. His was a character of gentleness and goodness. considerate of others, and ever ready to lend them a willing hand, no matter how humble their condition in life, while by precept, and none the less by example he was an influence to all men for Godly living and righteousness of life.

He was married June 15, 1852, to Lucy Maria, daughter of Amos and Louisa (Johnson) Curtis, of Meriden, Connecticut, and for nearly fifty years and until parted by death, their lives were united in love and devotion. His wife will long be remembered for her charm of manner and qualities of heart and mind, exhibiting talents of a literary order of high degree. Their children were Cyrus LaRue Munson, born July 2, 1854; Robert Hallam Munson, born January 27, 1857, and Edwin Curtis Munson, born November 10, 1858, who died February 9, 1865.

Edgar Munson died at Williamsport May 25, 1901, and his wife February 10, 1902. A beautiful monument marks their resting place in Wildwood Cemetery, and their memory is preserved by a stained glass window in Christ Church, Williamsport.

(IX) Cyrus LaRue Munson, son of Edgar and Lucy Maria (Curtis) Munson (VIII), was born in Bradford, New York, July 2, 1854. His earliest ancestors were leaders in the Puritan exodus to the Massachusetts and New Haven Colonies, and the man of whom this notice is written well represents the stalwart, aggressive and progressive type of manhood which predominated in those earlier centuries among the settlers of New England.

After receiving a good primary education in private schools he entered the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, at Cheshire, in 1868, (numbering among its alumni J. Pierpont Morgan, General Joseph Wheeler, and other distinguished men), and there graduated as valedictorian of his class in June, 1871. After leaving this school he entered his father's lumber office in Williamsport, and also commenced the study of law in the office of Allen & Gamble, then leaders of the bar of Lycoming county. In September, 1873, Mr. Munson entered the Yale Law School at New Haven, Connecticut, graduating from that institution July 1, 1875, receiving the degree LL. B., and the same day was admitted to the bar of Connecticut, this being the day before he became of age. In September, 1875, he entered into law partnership with Addison Candor, as Candor & Munson, who for more than thirty years have continued in the active practice of their profession at Williamsport. In 189o Mr. Munson was elected by the corporation of Yale University a regular lecturer on legal practice, and has since continuously filled that position at the Yale Law School. He received the honorary degree of M. A. from his Alma Mater in 1891. In 1897 lie wrote a well known law book entitled "Manual of Elementary Practice," which is an authority as a text book in a number of law schools. In 1902 he was elected and served one year as president of the Pennsylvania State Bar Association, and in 1904 was elected president of the Yale Law School Alumni Association. He is also associated with the well known lawyer, James B. Dill, Esq., and has an office with him at No. 27 Pine Street, New York City.

Mr. Munson is the senior warden of Christ Episcopal Church and is prominently connected with church affairs in the diocese of Harrisburg. Of his society relations it may be said that lie is a thirty-second degree Mason and in 1902 was Eminent Commander of Baldwin II No. 22 Commandery of Knights Templar. He is also a trustee of the James V. Brown Memorial Library of Williamsport, having been chosen to that position by the city councils of Williamsport. He is a member of the Ross Club, the Howard Club of Knights Templar, and of the Young Men's Democratic Club, of Williamsport, and also of the Manhattan Club and the Yale Club of New York and the University Club of Philadelphia. He is also a member of the Bar Association of the City of New York, of the Society of Colonial Wars in Pennsylvania, and of the Pennsylvania Society in New York.

Aside from his extensive legal practice, Mr. Munson is connected with and president of a large number of the most thriving business enterprises of his city and vicinity. Among these may be named the presidency of the Savings Institution of Williamsport, the E. Keeler Company, the Williamsport Iron & Nail Company, the Eagles Mere Light Company and the Scootac Railway Company. Among other corporations with which he is associated as a director are these : Lycoming National Bank, Williamsport Passenger Railway Company, Citizens Water & Gas Company, Williamsport & North Branch Railroad Company, American Wood Working Machinery Company, John N. Stearns & Company, of New York, Burns Fire Brick Company, Demorest Sewing Machine Company, Royal Braid Manufacturing Company, Williamsport Wire Rope Company, and other enterprises of much financial importance and local pride.

Perhaps no one thing brought the present day prosperity to Williamsport so much as did the organization of the Williamsport Board of Trade, which Mr. Munson and a few others formed, and through the methods they followed industry after industry was brought to Williamsport and a new life given a city once apparently retograding by reason of the waning of the lumber business upon which the place originally depended for support.

Mr. Munson married Josephine Anthony, daughter of Hon. Henry and Catherine (Anthony) White, November 8, 1877. She died July 26, 1889. October 20, 1891, he married Minnie Wright, daughter of Ackley Post and Jennie (Bailey) Tuller, of Rome, New York. Mr. Munson's children are Edgar, born June 24, 1881, and George Sharp, born October 2, 1883, and both graduates of Yale College in the class of 1904, receiving the degree of B. A., and now students at the Yale Law School.


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








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