The Dempsey Family of Bradford, Pennsylvania

The American ancestor of the Dempsey family of Bradford, Pennsylvania, herein recorded, was Lawrence Dempsey, born in Ireland, of Scotch ancestors. He first became a resident of Center county, Pennsylvania, soon after the close of the revolution. In 1797 he penetrated the wilds of the Upper Allegheny Valley to the lands open to settlement on the general terms presented by the state. He was the first settler in the region and made his first improvement on the “Cauvel” farm, not far from the old graveyard near Dempseytown, a hamlet named in his honor. Here he planted an orchard, one of the first in the county, and certainly the first in what is now Oakland township. He had two sons, Peter and David. Lawrence Dempsey died in one of the eastern counties of the state, but his wife and one son are buried in the family graveyard at Dempseytown. The name of his wife was Mary Kaufman and she was of German origin, coming from the eastern part of the state. They had two sons: Peter, of whom further and David.

(II) Peter Dempsey

Peter, son of Lawrence Dempsey, was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, and came with his father to Venango county, where they settled on the site of the present town. Peter spent his life after 1797 in Venango county, engaged in farming and lumbering. He was a Democrat and a man of strong, upright character. His brother David was also a man of prominence in the county, and served for a time in congress. While Lawrence Dempsey was the first settler in Dempseytown, Peter Dempsey, his son, laid out the town, employing Samuel Dale who surveyed for him, September 2, 1800, four hundred and one acres of land lying next to the tract owned by his father. On it he built a house, and on the same site later built a hotel that he kept for many years. The old tavern stood until about 1885, when it was destroyed by fire. Peter Dempsey married Susanna, daughter of Thomas Carter, who was the first white child born in Pittsburgh, and who served in the revolutionary war when a young man. He was in the military service at Pittsburgh, also at Fort Franklin, and he settled on Sugar Creek, near Cooperstown. In 1803 he settled at Dempseytown, where he died at an advanced age. Children of Peter Dempsey were: Thomas C., of whom further; Cicero T., born December 18, 1808, married Nancy Kelley; Maria, September 16, 1810, married James Reed; David, October 8, 1813, married Jane Arters; Washington, February 5, 1816, lost on the Ohio river in 1844; Hetty C., April 3, 1818, married Robert Kelley; John C., April 5, 1820, married Jemima Reninger; Sally, April 5, 1820 (twin), married John Kelley; Isabel, February 7, 1823, never married.

(III) Thomas Carter Dempsey

Thomas Carter, son of Peter Dempsey, was born at Dempseytown, Venango county, Pennsylvania, October 13, 1806, died in Springboro, Crawford county, January 27, 1884. He received his education in the district school, and learned the carpenter’s trade, which he never followed but became a farmer. In 1848 he moved to Kaneville, Venango county, later to Crawford county, where he died. He was a Democrat until the Fremont campaign, when he transferred his allegiance to the Republican party, and ever afterward supported that party. He married Mary Ann, born at Tidioute, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1807, died in 1866, daughter of John Arthurs, then of Tidioute, later of Brookville, Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, where he died. His wife was a Miss Clover. Mary Ann (Arthurs) Dempsey had four brothers: Richard, John, Samuel and James. The children of Thomas Carter and Mary Ann (Arthurs) Dempsey were:

1. Richard Arthurs, of whom further.
2. Carter G., born in Ravenna, Ohio, April 13, 1839, deceased; married Rhoda Clover; four children:
   1. Carter G., deceased;
   2. Harry, now of Erie, Pennsylvania;
   3. Benton Thomas, resides in Michigan;
   4. Mary, now of Erie, Pennsylvania.
3. Joanna, born in 1845, on the Venango farm; married Harvey Knickerbocker, deceased, who was a merchant and farmer; two children:
   1. William, a farmer of Glendon, Crawford county, Pennsylvania;
   2. Anna, also a resident of Glendon.

(IV) Richard Arthurs Dempsey

Richard Arthurs, son of Thomas Carter Dempsey, was born in Dempseytown, Venango county, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1837. He was educated in the public schools of Oakland township, Venango county, and of Cornplanter township, Venango county, Pennsylvania. After his school days were over he worked at farming during the summer, and in the winter months in the lumber woods, continuing this until 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was attached to the Army of the Potomac, and with it he fought in many of the historic battles of the civil war, under Generals McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade and Grant. He was captured by the enemy near Petersburg, Virginia, October 1, 1864, and for three months and three weeks was held a prisoner at Salisbury, North Carolina, and being detailed to cut wood for the use of the camp he found opportunity to escape January 25, 1865, and after many adventures joined the Union army in Tennessee. His military record is an enviable one. He was advanced successively to the rank of corporal, sergeant, first sergeant and was commissioned first lieutenant of Company E to date from January 1, 1865. With his regiment he fought in Virginia, at Fredericksburg, Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna, Totopotomy, Bethesda, Cold Harbor, around Petersburg, and at Peebles’ farm. In 1864 he was under fire every day from May 5, to October 1, the day he was captured. On June 16, 1864, a comrade, William McKenzie, was shot by his side and instantly killed at Petersburg. Sergeant Dempsey with a few men was detached and sent to reconnoitre at North Anna. During the night a staff officer visited them and gave orders for them to remain where they were until further orders which did not arrive until late the next day, the little squad having been without food since noon of the previous day. When he was captured he was stripped of all his belongings, and with ten thousand other Union prisoners endured the intense suffering of a southern prison pen. After making his escape five hundred miles of hostile country lay between him and the Union army. He accomplished this distance in the dead of winter in thirty-six days, finally reaching the Union army in Tennessee. After the war ended he returned to Pennsylvania, where for a time he engaged in mercantile business, and later in the production of oil, and since 1871 has owned and operated an oil refinery. In 1877 he came to Bradford, bringing his family in 1880. In 1882 he became a member of a company in Custer City extensively engaged in the manufacture of high explosives used in the oil field. He retired from that company in 1902. He also owned a large tract of land in Kansas operated as a cattle ranch. At present (1912) he is president of the Pure Carbon Oil Company, president of the Hubbs Oil Company, president of the Dempsey Oil Company, manager of the Lafayette Oil & Gas Company, and of the Holly Oil Company. He is an energetic, capable man of affairs and is held in the highest esteem in business circles. He has given much of his time and ability to the public service, first appearing in public life as the successful candidate for mayor of Bradford. This was in 1886, and his first term covered the years 1887-88; five years later he was again elected mayor, serving in 1893-94-95. He has also filled the elective offices of supervisor of Bradford township, school director, water commissioner, coroner of McKean county, member of the house of assembly (two terms), 1897 to 1900, and served his party as chairman of McKean county Republican committee. Before coming to Bradford he was postmaster at Kane City one term, and Custer City one term. He is past noble grand of Bradford Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; past master of the Ancient Order of United Workmen; past commander of Bradford Post, No. 141, Grand Army of the Republic, having held that office many times, and belongs to the Union Veteran Legion of Bradford. He is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church, and interested in church and charitable work.

He married Martha Emmeline, born in Wallaceville, Venango county, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1843, daughter of Joseph Campbell, of Scotch parentage, born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1811, a miller and farmer in both Mercer and Venango counties (see Campbell). Martha Emmeline (Campbell) Dempsey is a member of the Bradford Methodist Episcopal Church and of the Ladies Union Veteran Legion. Children of Richard Arthurs Dempsey:

1. Nettie Gertrude, born in Venango county, April 29, 1861, died August 8, 1883; married, January 3, 1883,
   1. H. McCullough.
2. Mary Ann, born September 6, 1866, in Kane City, Pennsylvania; married, May 10, 1887, at Bradford, Frank Howard, a merchant of Steamburg, New York; deceased; children:
   1. Charles Dempsey, born April 7, 1888, now a carbon manufacturer at Wellsville, New York;
   2. Lois, born June 15, 1891.
3. Carrie J., April 11, 1868, died in Kane City, August 31, 1868.
4. Lissa M., born in Kane City, July 6, 1869, resides with her parents in Bradford.
5. Nora E., born in Kane City, February 2, 1871, married Orville B. Cutting, a contractor, builder and oil producer, now living in Monticello, Kentucky; children:
   1. Richard L., born July 4, 1901, at Woodsfield, Ohio;
   2. Martha, born March 16, 1911, at Monticello.
6. Dick S., born July, 1875, died July 31, 1876.
7. Lulu C., born March 30, 1879, at Kane City, now residing with her parents in Bradford.

The Campbell Line

Joseph Campbell married Mary M. Patterson, born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1818, died December, 1909, and their children were:

1. William, born in Mercer county, February 2, 1838, married Louise Smith, who died March 2, 1858.
2. Thomas Patterson, born in Mercer county, October 15, 1839, died April, 1899; he served four years and three months in the civil war and at the time of his death was superintendent of water works at Sistersville, West Virginia; he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Post No. 68, at Sistersville.
3. Mary E., born in Venango county, July 27, 1841; she married William Wenton, a machinist, now living in Warren county; children:
   1. Mina.
   2. Adda.
   3. Susan.
   4. Mary.
   5. Samuel, deceased.
4. Martha Emmeline, married Richard A. Dempsey (see Dempsey IV).
5. Sarah R., born in Venango county, June 5, 1844, married Alfred Flyte, whom she survives, a resident of Rixford, McKean county; children:
   1. Pride.
   2. Emma.
6. Margaret R., born in Venango county, March 17, 1846, died 1906; she married Nelson Fleeger, of Butler county, who died in 1908; child:
   1. Albert, a machinist, living in Indiana.
7. Melissa M., born in Venango county, December 26, 1847, married James P. Boggs, of Butler county, now residing at Evans City, Butler county; children:
   1. Mary.
   2. Frank.
   3. Nettie.
   4. Carrie.
   5. Zora.
8. William Filmore, born in Venango county, May 25, 1850, died June 11, 1910; he married the widow of Captain Knight; child:
   1. Maud, married Edwin Bliss, of Lynn, Massachusetts.
9. Bruce M., born in Venango county, May 20, 1852, now a contractor of Morcroft, Wyoming, married Zora Williamson; children:
   1. Gertrude.
   2. Bertha.
10. Ida Alice, born in Venango county, July 4, 1854, died at Mount Pleasant, Michigan, March, 1883; married Wilson Hunter; child,
    1. Grace, now living at Evans City, Pennsylvania.
11. Wallace R., born in Warren county, November 24, 1856, married Ruth Parke, and now resides on their farm at Forestville, New York.

Mary M. (Patterson) Campbell, the mother of these children, was a daughter of Thomas Patterson, born in Ireland in 1759, died 1840. He was the son of William Patterson, who married Sarah Douglass, born in Scotland. Thomas Patterson came to America at an early day and drifted westward joining a company of scouts in 1775, under Daniel Boone at Boonesboro, Kentucky. He served in the revolution under General Greene and was at Valley Forge the dreadful winter of suffering endured by Washington’s army. He married (first) Nancy Blakeley, (second) Martha McVannan, in the Ligonier Valley of Pennsylvania, in 1810. The latter was born in 1784, died in 1864. She was in receipt of a revolutionary pension of four dollars monthly on account of the patriotic services of her husband, which was sent to her at Plain Grove, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, care of Hutchinson Bovard, until her death.

See: Genealogy of the Allegheny Valley Pennsylvania

Source

Jordan, J. W. 1840-1921. (1913). Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co.

This genealogy is based upon the source cited above. Only the structure and formatting have been changed for clearer presentation; the genealogical and biographical content