628
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Morri<ion E ., who married Anne S. Gilm ore; Emily* w ife o f Hudson O w en; Harriet* w ife o f Jacoh Diettrick; Martha, w if^ o f Clinton D. M cH en ry; Elizabeth* w ife o f Hudson O w en; and Slaty, JO H N H E R V E Y A IK M A N . o f Centre townsliip* Columbia county* where he owns and operates the Cabin Run farm* is one of the welt known residents of that section* being idcntihcd with public affairs and business as well as agricultural interests. H e is serving as justice of the peace, is treasurer and one of the directors of the White Milling Comuauy. o f Bloomsburg. and associated with the b ria r Creek Farm ers' >(utual Fire Insurance Company. The family has been settled in Centre township for considerably over a century. T he Aikman family is o f ScotchMrish ex traction, and its founder in America* A lex ander Aikman, a native o f Ireland, came to this country from the North o f Ireland. For some time he lived in M orris county* N . J., whence he emigrated to Columbia county. Pa.* during the progress of the Revolutionary war, aliout i 777*78* bringing with him his w ife and children. In N cw Jersey he had married M ary Lew is. H e located on a tract of Lind which he purchased, (be land u|>on which his grandson l,^vi .Aikman afterw ards resided being part o f this purchase, but about half a mile west o f where the pioneer made his home. When Alexander Aikman arrived there were few settlers in the vicinity, and his lan<l in Briarcreek valley was covered with a heavy growth o f timlier. He had to cut down the trees to obtain the logs o f which his cabin was constructed, and b ^ a n (be work o f clearing. M r. Aikman had come on ahead with three sons to look after the prcliminar)* work neccssarv for the establishment of the home, his w ife and the younger children remaining be hind at Sunbury* Northumlicrland county. A fte r getting his nine hundred acres located, his cabin built, and (brce acres o f tum i{^ planted, he went back to Sunbury with his three sons (o bring out the rest of the family. Before thcir prei^^rations for the trip were completed the Indian troubles broke out* mak ing the new home in what w as then considcrcil (he extreme west unsafe, and accordingly Mr. Aikman w as glad to take advantage o f an opportunity to sell six hundred acres o f his purchase. “ H e afterw ards often related how the compensation he got for this la ^ e tract was realized from the sale o f thirty yards o f tow cloth* he having been obliged to take his
pay in Continental money.” T he family re turned to M orris county* N. J .. but came west again after the Indian troubles subsided* and here Alexander Aikman and his w ife passed the remainder of their lives. H e died first* towards the close of the eighteenth century, M rs. *Aikman surviving him for some tim e: they arc buried near Light Street, in Scott township* but not in a n ^ l a r cemetery, as there w as none in the county at the time of their death. I 1 ie y had a family o f seven chil dren. M r. Aikman w as a Presbyterian in re ligious faith. When he came to this rq^on the bears and wolves were still here in large numbers, and his son I.cvi was often heard to say that when the family arrived here dccr were more plentiful than sheep in his later days. .Alexander Aikman became quite a skill ful deer hunter, and also killed a number of bears. Levi .Aikman. Sr.* son o f AIc.xandcr and Mar)' (L e w is) Aikm an, the second o f thcir family* w as bom in 1766 in Ncw Jersey* and was but a l>oy when he came with his father
- ind three brothers to this section. H e had
received some education in his native SLite, but after the fam ily .settled here he had only a month or so o f schooling, tbc facilities at that time being very meager, and his help at home necessary. H e spent his boyhood and young m an h o ^ assisting his father* with whom he remained until his marriage. Before that event he bought the land on which his son I^cvi later resided* and on which he had previously put some work, he and his w ile settling there when they licgan housekeeping. He owned about 350 acres in Centre township* partly covered with timlicr* and followed farming there until about fifteen years before hts death* passing the remainder o f his days in retirement. When about thirty years old M r. Aiknuin married M argaret Hutchison* who w as bom in Northampton county. Pa., where she was reared; her father was a farmer. H er parents died when she w as a child, and she subscciucntly came to Columbia county. Her ancestors were o f Scotch-Irish extraction. M r. Aikman died in 1846, six or eight years after the death o f his w ife. They arc buried in the cemetery of the H idlay Union Church. In politics he was a Whig, in re ligious connection a Presbyterian. Eight chil dren were bom to Ijcvi Aikman and his w ife M argaret, nam ely: Sarah, w ife o f (Jcorge H id lay; Esther, w ife o f .Abraham W illett; Elizabeth, who died when throe or four years o ld; M ary, w ife of Jam es D ewitt: John W il son; M argaret; Lcvi, and Jam es Emmett.
