BIOGEAPHY

JOHN HUSTON MARVII

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Biography ot

JOHN HUSTON MARVIN

Preface

This hlography is not written becauseof any greatness attained politically^ so^cially or otherwise; but solely with thethought in mind that the li^t of his fineintellectual and devoted Christian char-acter might not be over- shadowed with thepassing years; but might find further ex-pression in someone travelling along theroad of life.

HENRY MARVIN — 1771-1848

See Marvin Family History Page 121

HENHY MABVIN

In order to portray the ancesstralbackground of our subject the author pre-sents herewith a brief sketch on the lifeof the ancestral grandfather of our sub-ject, Henry Marvin,

Henry Marvin. whose genealogioalchain is more fully described in the Mar-vin I^mily History, pages 88-122 and inthe Van Horn family History, page 165, wasborn February 2, 1771, in Sandyston Town-ship, Svissex County, New Jersey, where hespent his entire life. On January 101806, he married ,Anna. daughter of Corne-lius and Kate (Wolls) Van Horn, To thisunion thoro was born ton children ofwhich S^ra, the father of our subject wasthe seventh child, born January 19, 1817,and whoso biography is briefly outlinedon page 201 of the Van liorn Eamily His-tory.

Honry Marvin was a farmer which oc-cupation ho followed his entire 11 fo buthe was also a public spirited citizen andtook a great interest In the educationaland religious life of the community inwhich he lived and he gave the ground forerection of the Dutch Reformod Church atPeter*s Valley othorwiso known as Eevans,New Jersey, and of which organization,both ho and his wife were active membersto the day of their deaths and are buriedIn the burying grounds adjoining the•hurch and their graves arc well marked

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He was a very successfuly farmer andwas a possessor of a largo estate, for aman of his dr.y and ho willed at his deatha farm to each of his surviving children.

He was highly esteemed in the com-munity as a man of sterling character andof a stern but lovable disposition yetjust and firm in all his dealings*

Marvin A. De.Van Horn for many yearsa noted Philadelphia attorney, was also agrandson by his tenth child, Lucinda, whomarried Garret Van Horn, for many years aMethodist Clergsrman who had issue of on@child, the said Marvin A. DelambertineVan Horn.

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RACHEL (HUSTON) MARVIN

EZHA MARVIN

Ezra Marvin, the father of our sub-ject was born January 19, 1817, at Bevans,Sandyston Tov/nship, Sussex County, NewJTersey*

He was a student In the schools ofNew Jersey where he received a fair oom-xnon school education and as a young manworked on the farms owned by his father.Being b©th ambitious and studious, he im-proved his education, becoming recognizedin his community as a well read young manof well applied ability*

On January 25 j, 1840 he married RachelHuston^ an accomplished daughter of Col»Jonn and Anna (Shafer) Huston of nearStroudsburg, Pennae Soon thereafter hepurchased a property about three mileswest of Stroudsburgt Penna., known as the"Ri.^ing S\m Hotel" , which he- successfullycpe^feited for a- number of years; Duringthis time he refused an offer of an evenexchange of the hotel for a tract con-taining' 7,200. acres in Lackawanna County,Penna«, being the same tract on which alarge portion of the city of Scranton nowstand:s, M tract rich in coal depositsthough undiscovered at the time, but whichw^3 soon thereafter discovered*

Ezra Marvin was a man of great phy-sique and strength, standing 6 feet iinches in height and weighing well over200 lbs# It was not an uncommon sight tosee him lift from the ground two men ofaverage weight, at arms length at one and

the same time or to carry a man seated ona chair; at arms length by his grip upona rung of the chair

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It is said that on one occasion hecame upon six men fighting viciously, "^ith

a crowd of spectators standing around wa-tching the fight as if gladiators werefighting in the bull-rings of lilexioo, whenhe crowded his way to the fightars thens^pcrating them so rapidly ^hey hardlykns¥/ what had happened, he shouted, "Stopthat fighting now, and if you want tofight, fight me"o He had no ohallangersand the fight stopped.

He was nevertheless, always a cham-pion of right and justice ajid for manyyears he served Monroe County as Justiceof the Peace,, and he knew no politics orfavoritism

, in his, administration of Jus-tice, .':

His wife, Rachel Huston, was of dif-ferent physique, never having gained aweight in excess of 100 Ibsv, but bore himten children of which our subject was thesecond. She died March EOf 1873

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Itoa Marvin, following the death ofhis first wife married Jane Brcadhead(1875) a greatly belovod and refined ms-id-en lai-y of Dingmans S'erry, Pike County,Pennsylvania, who died September 25, 1891from injuries sustained in a run-away ac-c id ant when the horse they were drivingbecame frightened* She was indeed greatlybeloved by his entire family who held herin high CBteem.

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Esra Marvin spent the major portionof his life in Stroud and Jackson Townsh:^Monroe County , Fennae, and died August 19|1890 and is buried in the Shafers SchoolHouse Cemetery three miles west of Stroud-slmrg in Stroud Township, Monroe County

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Penna»

HACHEL (HUSTON) M^VXN

Rachel Huston "born September 6, 1816on the fB.rm. still known as the Huston farmsituate near Shafer^s School House inStroud Township. Monroe County, Penna*,was the ninth child and third daughter ofthe late Col* John and Anna (Shafer) Hus"*ton*

She was indeed a woman of fixed op->

inion and with a deep religious convictionof iinfaultering faith and devotion.

January Z5, 1640 she married E^aMarvin and as a result of which union shebecame the mother of our subject*

Though she became the mother of tenchildren she still found time for oivioand religious duties and she organized andfounded the Wesley Chapel Methodist SundaySchool and Church becoming its first Sun*day School Superintendent and first churchOdl^sd leader, both of which organizationshave been functioning to this date*

The Rev* Isaac Teeter once said tothe writer that **I eherish the memory ofyour Grandmother, Rachel Marvin, as aygreatest spiritual adviser***

She died Mareh SO, 1879*

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JOHN HUSTON MARVIN

JUst as the frost of autuirn, in theyear 18AS had painted with ey.q.ui site beau-ty the trees of the forest along the- moun-tain slopes of Now Jersey, Ban Cupid*

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stork paid a second visit to a long, nap-roTf, two story house of a ooimaon architeo-tual structure of that day situated bosidea babbling brook at a point near TuttlesCorners in Sandyston To\mship, SussexCounty, New Jersey ^ the home of Ezra andBachel l/Iarvin, and* there left on October23, 1342, a second son. whom they chose toname John Huston Marvin.

It was at this place that he spentonly the first two years of his life,as hewas brought by his parents at the age of Syears to a point 5t miles West of Strouds-b^org, in Stroud Township, Monroe County,Pannsy.lvania, where they established theirr^'cure horae and w'lere our subject grew toa a^.! of 10 years

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, While he, like his other brothers andsisters, ^|^|>®^"fc che tender years of theirlives in a^'licensed hotel where intoxica-ting liquors Yier 3 sold and oons^imed, ho,nevertheless, re solved in early childhood^ith a fini: determination to be and remainfor life a -total abstainer from a.ll in-toi.ioatiiig liquor"and he was always there-after an opponent of the saloon and to thesale of intoxicating liquors as a bever-a^e

.

At the age of 10 years his parentssold their hotel in Stroud Township andpurchased a farm in Jackson Township, Mon-

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roe County, Penna,, where he grew to man-hood.

After studying in the one room commonschool of Stroud and Jackson Townships, heattended the first Normal School Branchever to have been established in MonroeCounty, located at Snydersville; and aftercompleting his studies in that school, hebegan teaching first at Snydersville andtaught for thirteen terms in various ruralschools, then three to six months winterterm, teaching at Tannersville, the Moun-tain School, Butz Run, Scribners and else-where. He was never censored by any schoolboard for failure to keep order in hisschool room for order was of first magni-tude with him as a teacher. He was manytimes coiHEended as being a food disciplin-arian,

At the outbreak of the Civil Wet;, hisfather being a died-in-the-wool Democrat,declared that none of his sons could servein the war; therefore when he was calledto the colors, his father hired a substit-ute, as was permissible in those days.

In 1866 his father purchased the gen-eral store at Appenzell, Penna • , and tookhis son, our subject, into partnershipwith him and placed him in charge as man-ager and which store he managed success-fully for a number of years.

On April 30, 1867, he returned toSandys ton Township, N, J,, and the nextday. May 1, 186 7, he drove with his fianceeMary E. Merring, to Port Jervis, New York,where they were married,

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Following his marriago they oontiimedto operate the Appanzell store and te?.ohduring the winter nonthsc Shortly afterhis marriage, he purchased his fathsr^s in-terest in the "business.To this union therewere born (6) children. They were:

1, Arthur Wade, b. March 18, 1868,who married September 3, 1891, Clara Met-zgar and died December 29, 1918, He taught18 terms of school in the one room ruralschools of Monroe County, and for severalyears was a foremaii for the N,Y.S« and W.Division of the Erie Eailroad; he was astaunch Democrat, a Methodist and thefather of 10 childred. He resided at Bar-tonsville, Pocono Lake, and Stroudsburg.For family see Van Home Family History,page 273,

S» Rev, Theron Watson, b. June 21,1870, married first, April 28, 1889 toJennie Sipley, second, October 3, 1923, toEleanor Vanzile. He studied,^ at AlleghenyCollege and was a Baptist Clergyman havingserved as Pastor of the First BaptistChurch of East Stroudsburg and elsewhere,and supplied many pulpits throughout Penn-sylvania and New Jersey, Ee was a veryfluent^, extemporaneous speaker and ^^yrras

always in demand. In his latter years' hewas a Salvation Army captain at Newton, N,J, For family see Van Home Family His-"tory, 'page 274, He died November 1, 1931,and was buried beside his first wife atStillwater, New Jersey,

Z. Joel Irving, b« January 1, 1872,drowned in a mill dam at Bartonsville, Pa,May 16, 1893, dying without issue,

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4» Edgar, b. October 8,1873, at Jermyn,Pa^, died April 4, 1881,

5» Francis Merton (the author), b«April 14, 1884 at Swartswood, New Jersey,was brought by his parents at the age of 4years to Bartonsville, Pa. ,where he grewto manhood* He was a student in the publicschools at Bartonsville and JBast Strouds-burg State Normal School, later the StateTeachers College* He taught for one termin the public schools, having taught a:^ the"Loders School" in Stroud Township, follow-ing which he entered into a partnershipwith his father in the mercantile businessat Bartonsville, Penna» This partnershipcontinued for about 2 years during whichtime he organized and became the firstpresident of the Monroe County MerchantsAssociation,and at which time he purchasedhis father's interest in the business andcontinued to conduct same for about 18months. He then sold same to John C. Al-legcr and in turn purchased a QueenswareStore at 222 South Main Street, Wichita,Kansas.After conducting the store at Y/ich-ita, Kansas, for a fev; months, he tradedbusiness, stock, fixtures and equipment foran 80 acre farm near McPherson, Kansas andreturned East to Bartonsville v;here hespent most of his life and where he served16 years as a Justice of the Peace in andfor Monroe County ; 10 years as a s.ohooldirector; 4 years as Jury CornmissionersClerk and 4 years as County Coroner, dur-ing which time ho has been actively en-gaged in the real estate and insurancebusiness. He was twice married, first toBessie Dornan Cruver, May 3, 1905, bywhich union he became the father of fourchildren:

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!• Harold I^anols, now a resident of792 Madison Avenue, Paterson, N. J»

2* Ruth Maria, now the wife of For--rest E» Motts, and residing at Bartons-ville, Pa« Jois family see voluioe 6, page391 in the Compendium of American Geneal-ogy.

3* }^h63^ I^rralna^ now the wife ofJohn Ktesge, Jr., and residing near Tan*nea^Yllle, Pa« For family see Tolume 6,page 391 in the Compendium of AmericanGenealogy,

4« Doris Irene, now the wife of Henry!)• Topfer, and residing at Bartonsville,Pa.

His second marriage on September 17,1924, was to Nina L. Price Feltham, bywhom there was no issue.

The 6th son of John Huston Marvin wasRev. S. Alton Marvin, who was one of thefounders and first trustee of the Inter-national Holiness Biblo Sohool and Collegeat (Buleah Perk) Alientown, Pa^ He Is anordained minister and was the founder andorganizer of tho System PerjLn,^5ylvania

Prayer and Gospel Band at Lehigbton, Pa,,euid for the past 11 years has been thepastor of that congregation which hasgrown rapidly since its organization, to-da^ owning clean and clear their small butvery fine church edifice and are now bran-ching out. He has also conducted specialrevival and camp meeting services at manypoints throughout the state and is stillmuch in demand. He married early in life,fimma F. Custard, by \ihom there were no is-sue.

John Huston Marvin was always near to

his family and took a keen interest intheir spiritual, social and f inajioial wel-fare*

He was an excellent penman euid at oneof the County Teachers Institutes, was a-warded the honor of being the best penmanajnong the teachers of the County,

Beligiously, he was always a staunchMethodist and of the Wesley and Wakefieldtype and he served every office in bothchurch and Sunday School that that congre-gation provided at sometime during hislife's ca3;j^.ar and although he passed fromthis life at 79, he never gave up his ac-tive attendence in Sunday School untilforced to do so by reason of illness.

His favorite ministers and spiritualadvisers were: Rev. George B, ISalv of Bat-tle Creek, Michigan, v/hom he traveled manymiles to hear and vis it. He was also a deepadmirer of the Rev. T* Dewitt Taltoage andthe Rev. Henry Hudson.

Morally he adhered vehemently to theGdlden -Rule and the Ten Commandments ashis moral and social code of ethics.

He was a great Bible student and alicensed exhort er and it can be well saidof him he knew and loved the Gospel of hisLord and Christ. His favorite passages ofthe Scripture were:John 3.16; 2 Tim. I.IS;Gal. 3;20; 2 Tim. 4.7; and Ps. 23.

He loved nature and he loved to tra-vel. He was in attendance at the WorldsFair both at Chicago and at St, Louis and

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at the age of 75 thought nothing of a tenmile walk, for he was also a great walkerhaving walked while a young man fromStroudsburg to Wilkes Barre in a singleday, a distance of 60 miles.

Politically he was a staunch Democratand his political idol was William Jen-nings Bryant, for whom he traveled manymiles to hear and whom he never failed tosupport whole heart edlj^^, He served oneterm as a Justice of ^e Peace in Still-water Township, Sussex County, N. J,

For 12 years, 1892 to 1904 he waspostmaster at Bartonsville, Pat

His motto was "Owe no man anything•"

He maintained and was a strong advo-cate of family worship and the family al-tar. His views on that subject oan best beexpressed in the following verse:

Rear you an altar that will last forever:Longer than any shaft or .marble dome;Erect it there beside your own hearthfire,The chaste, white family altar in the hc]|9.Chisel the Word of God upon the waiting'*Hearts and minds of the dear ones gatheredthere—

The blowing sands of time will not erase' it;Nor friction dim the imprint of your pray-

:er.

Tor memory will hold those chiseled let*ters,

And prayer shall be imbedded in the heart*And the children whom you love will not

depart

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From the way of life. •••The Word will lastforever.

Though earth and heaven itself should passaway

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If you have not as yet begun the building,Of that eternal altar— start todayl

The essence of his daily ..morningprayer can best be expressed as follows:

God, for another day, for anothermorning, for another hou2j for anotherminute, for another chance to xive and ser-ve Thee, I am truly grateful. Do Thou thisday free me:

Irom fear of the fut\ire|Jrom anxiety of the morrow;Jrojn. bitterness toward anyone;From cowardice in face of danger;From laziness in face of work;i^om failure before opportunity;From weakness when Thy power is at

hand.But fill me with:Love that knows no barrier;Courage that cannot be shaken;Faith <j^-irong enough for the darkness;Strength sufficient for my tasks;Loyalty to Thy Kingdom's goal;Wisdom to meet life's complexities;Power to lift men unto Thee.Be Thou with me for another day ..and

use me as Thou wilt; in Christ's najne"' Ipray* Amen.

He died June 2, 1920, repeatedly say-ing in his passing "Bless the Lord Oh MySoul and all that is within praise hisHoly name."

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He lies buried in the cemetery nearSixafer*s School house, two miles West ofStroudsburgj Monroe County, Penna,, await-ing the coming resurrection of the justwho lived by Paith; but in the hearts ofthose who knew him best, he lives today*

BARTONSVILLE STORE AND POST OFFICE

This home and store was owned by our subject from 1892 to the

time of his death June 2nd, 1920 and where the writer

spent his early boyhood days.

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