History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1887



Sproat Family - SPROAT (OR SPROUT) FAMILY Biography

The following genealogical sketch of the Sproat (or Sprout) families was given by Robert "Sproat" to Samuel, his grandson, November 6, 1792, and copied by the said Samuel with his own additions up to August, 1845, he being then seventy-three years of age.

Robert Sproat was the first one of the name that came to New England, about fifteen or twenty years after the " landing of the Pilgrims" at Plymouth. He emigrated from Scotland, and worked to pay his passage. The name of Sproat in Scotland was designated by a coatof-arms representing three salmon with rings in their mouths, color deep and pale blue, with spots of gold and silver, and kept in the Scotch Heraldry, but what they represented was never learned. The above named Robert Sproat settled in Scituate, in the county of Plymouth, Massachusetts, as a farmer. He had eight children, three sons and five daughters. The sons were Robert, James and Ebenezer. The daughters were Marcy, Mary, Annie and Hannah.

James Sproat, second son of the first named Robert, settled in Scituate, and had four children, two sons and two daughters. The sons were Robert and Nathaniel. One daughter's name was Marcy. Robert, first son of the above James, died when about twenty-two years of age. The next child was named after him, who was the writer's grandfather, who settled in Middleborough county, Massachusetts, being a millwright by trade. He had three children. They were Zebadee, Samuel and Robert.

Zebadee, the writer's father, settled in Midleborough and had six children-one (Betsey) by his first wife, and two sons, Samuel and Peter; and two daughters, Lucinda and Katie, by his second wife. And now we come to the family of the writer (Samuel Sproat), Amasa Delano Sproat, Betsy Sproat, Samuel Sproat, Jr., and Sarah Mariah Sproat, and I am now (August, 1845) settled at Windsor, county of Windsor, state of Vermont. Amasa D., my oldest son, is settled at Chillicothe, Ohio; my other son, Samuel Jr., at Harwick, Vermont. And now returning to the children of the first named Robert Sproat: Robert, Jr., was drowned when young. Ebenezer settled in Scituate as aforesaid, and had five children, two sons, Ebenezer and James, and three daughters, Thankful, Abigail and Mary. Nathaniel, son of James and brother of the writer's grandfather, settled in Hardwick, Massachusetts, and had eight sons-Macha, Robert, Ebenezer, Nathaniel, James, Samuel, Nathan and Lemuel; and three daughters-Albrah (or Abrah), Mary and Hannah. They are scattered abroad, and their places of settlement unknown to the writer. Ebenezer, Jr., settled in Middleboro, Massachusetts, and had seven children-five sons, Ebenezer, Thomas, James, Earle and Samuel, and two daughters-Molly and Busheba. The last named Ebenezer and Earle settled in Marietta, Ohio. Ebenezer was the first sheriff of Marietta county, and colonel of a regiment. Thomas succeeded his father as proprietor of a large hotel in Middleborough Common. James became a noted attorney of Old Taunton, Massachusetts. The writer has no further history of this family. James, the son of Ebenezer, became a minister of the Gospel and settled in Philadelphia. Samuel, the brother of the writer's father, died when ten years of age. His brother Robert, then called Robert Sproat, Jr., settled in Middleborough and enlisted in the three years service in the war of the Revolution and died of smallpox. He had four children; one died when young, and the others, James, Leonard and Hannah. Leonard fell from a house in his youth and was killed; James is also deceased.

The foregoing sketches of the Sproat families given by Samuel in August, 1845, are undoubtedly of the ancestors of Sprout families now settled in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and other states of the union, as given by Ebenezer Sproat, late of Picture Rocks, Lyco ming county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1868, and written (from his statement given from memory) by his son Amos E. Sproat, and copied from his original manuscript December 23, 1897. The change from Sproat to Sprout has been made by the families in New England in the latter part of the seventeenth century and was, as near as we can ascertain by corresponding with parties in Scotland, formerly written Sprot, Sprott, Spratt, and Spear, but all or nearly all in the United States at this date seem to have adopted Sprout, and by that name all the descendants of the Sproat families are known. The following is the statement of Ebenezer Sprout above referred to:

The Sprout families are descendants of two brothers who came from Scotland probably (fifteen or twenty years after) with the Pilgrims, landing at Plymouth. As far back as I can trace my own ancestors, is my grandfather, Nathaniel Sprout, whose wife's maiden name was Thrasher. He was a soldier in the French war and in the battle of Bloody Pond near Lake George. He had eight sons and three daughters-Michael, Robert, James, Ebenezer, Nathaniel, Jr., Samuel, Nathan and Lemuel are the names of the sons in regular order; and Hannah, Mercy and Abigail are the names of the daughters. James, Robert, Ebenezer and Samuel were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. James was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and was surrounded by the enemy, but made his escape. Ebenezer, Sr., was taken prisoner at Ticonderoga, and was in Captain Hudang's artillery. Neither of them were killed or wounded. Michael settled in Vermont. His wife's maiden name was Warner. He had two or more sons, James and Daniel; one(or more) daughters, Rachel. Robert had one son and three daughters, all deceased. James had one son, Williard, and three daughters, Roxana, Polly and Cintha. Ebenezer, Sr., had one son, Ebenezer, Jr., and two daughters, Relief and Polly, by his first wife (whose maiden name was Thayer) and nine by his second wife, three of whom died in infancy; the other six were Ezra, David, Charles and Hozea, Mariam and Salome. Nathaniel had four sons, Nathaniel, Jr., Amos, Edon and Levi; and two daughters, Esther and Zuba. Samuel never. married and is deceased. Nathan, whose wife's maiden name was Dana, had two sons, Amoia D., and Josia; and three daughters, Lucinda, Clarinda and Melinda. Lemuel never married.

Descendants of Ebenezer Sprout, Sr., of Massachusetts : Ebenezer Sprout, Jr., married Miriam Burrows, daughter of Amos Burrows, Sr., of Stafford, Tolland county, Connecticut. He had eight sons-Asa R., Ariel B., Erastus T., Charles, Zebina E., Amos B., Samuel E., and Lewis B.; and three daughters-Mary Ann, Emeline N., and Sophronia M.

Ezra Sprout, son of Ebenezer, Sr., had three sons-Alfred, Bradford and Elmer; and four daughters-Amanda, Emeline, Orrilla and Luthera. David Sprout, son of Ebenezer, Sr., had one son and one daughter (names forgotten). Charles Sprout (son of Ebenezer, Sr.) married Hannah Anderson, and settled near Lockport, Niagara county, New York. He had five sons and two daughters; the sons were Charles, Jr., adjutant of the Twenty-eighth New York Volunteers, and fell in the battle of Cedar Mountains while leading the advance and foremost in the fight; it is said by soldiers of his regiment that from ten to fourteen of the enemy lay dead around him bearing the marks of his weapons, and he had himself seven bullet wounds, one piercing his heart, besides other sabre and bayonet wounds. Holton George (also in the war, most of the time in North Carolina at Newberne, etc.); Seneca; and John. Names of the daughters : Adaline and Carrie. Hozea Sprout, also son of Ebenezer, Sr., died of consumption about the age of twenty-one. Miriam, daughter of Ebenezer, Sr., married Robert Sprout (had no children). Salome (her sister) married Jacob Sampson, number of children not known by writer.

We cannot give the number and names of the grandchildren of Ebenezer, Sr., but to return to those of Ebenezer, Jr., the father of the writer, we will try to give some of his grandchildren's names and residences, though they are so many and so scattered throughout the United States that it would be almost impossible to give the names and residences of all.

Ebenezer Sprout, Jr., was born in Massachusetts, September 23, 1787, and died at Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania, January 10, 1871. His wife was born in Connecticut, July 4, 1789, and died at Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1878. Their eldest son, Asa R., was born in Massachusetts on April 25, 1816, and died at Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1888. His wife was Mary E. Bates. They had one son, died in infancy. Ariel B. was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1818, and died April 2, 1890. His first wife was Julia Bergstresser, of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, by whom he had four children, three of whom died in childhood, Samuel B. only surviving. He had four also by his second wife who was Rachel A. Cowles, and who with her children-Sidney, Alton, Edna and Venniestill survive, the two sons being noted electrical engineers, Sidney residing at San Francisco, California, and Alton unsettled, his business requiring his presence in nearly every state in the Union, Cuba and other countries. Sidney's presence was required at the World's Fair at Chicago during the Columbian Exposition. Erastus T. was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, November 14, 1819. His first wife (now deceased) was Mary Eddy, by whom he had seven children-Henry, Alice, Emma and Eva (twins), Charles E. and Lucy J. His second wife was Angeline Freeman, and both are now deceased. Charles was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1821, and died August K, 1888. His wife was Jane Hinds of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. She died September 23, 1889. They had eight children-James M., Susie, Edgar, Lewis H., Jane H., Samuel, Richard and George. Jane H. died at the age of eleven years. Samuel and Richard died in infancy. James M. was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion; Edgar was a noted dealer in and manufacturer of lumber; Lewis H. was a printer, and assistant in the publication and circulation of the "Independent Republican" of Montrose, Pennsylvania; George is a farmer on the old homestead near Montrose, Pennsylvania.

Zebina E. was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1822. He married Elizabeth Nichols, the only survivor of triplets. He had seven children-Edwin, Ellen, Samuel, E. Burton, Elizabeth, William and Frank. This family occupied the old Ebenezer Sprout, Jr., homestead and most of them were farmers. Amos B., (the writer of this sketch) was born at Forrest Lake, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, May 7, 1826; married Catherine G. Hinds, of Montrose, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania; they had four children. He has been engaged in school teaching, manufacturing lumber, sash, blinds, etc., at Picture Rocks, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania; he was the first justice of the peace of said borough, acting for twenty-one years. He died at Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1904. The names of his children are Judson H., Gordon D., Morton I., and Orpha D. The three sons are engaged in manufacturing of handles, excelsior rakes, turning, etc. The sons of Judson H. (W. Austin and Boyd B.), Austin is in the United States Navy and Boyd B. is a dentist in Williamsport. The children of Gordon and Morton and Orpha are young and at home. Samuel E. was born near Montrose, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1828. He married Mary Sutton, and they were the parents of four childrenMarion, Clarence E., Annie and Willis.

Clarence E. is an attorney, practicing in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Willis is in Potter county, Pennsylvania, principal manager of a large lumbering and kindlingwood manufactory; Lewis B. (youngest son of Ebenezer, Jr.) was born at the old homestead in Susquehanna county, May 4, 1830; married Ellen Donnelly, of said county; they had six children, Maggie, Augusta, Charles, Annie, Lucilla and Fred M. This family has been almost exclusively engaged in manufacturing the following articles : Sash, blinds and doors, lumber buggy springs, horse hay forks, pulleys and elevators, etc., and now under the firm name of Sprout, Waldron & Company, they are very extensive manufacturers of flouring and feed mills, which are sold throughout the United States and territories and in other countries. The Sprout families have been the inventors and patentees of many new and useful articles. Time and space will not permit us to give a further sketch of the different families descendant of the Sprout ancestors. We will just give the names of the husbands and children oaf Mary Ann, Emeline, and Sophronia M., before named. Mary Ann married Joseph Krause, a German by birth. The names of their children are : 1, Franklin J., who served in the Civil war, was a prisoner at Andersonville, and was paroled in 1864; 2, William E.; 3, Martha; 4, Edgar, lost an arm in the battle of the Wilderness; 5, Catherine E.; 6, Phillip P. Emeline married William F. Lathrop, of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. The names of their children are James, Charles and Juliett; two or three died in infancy. Sophronia M., married Charles Wells of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, and three children were born to them : Melissa M., Ida J. and Harriet L.


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










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