USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume IV > Part 37
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"The elements So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, 'This is a man!' "
His word was a synonym of honor as well as of sense.
As a lawyer and a Judge he had the entire confidence of the members of the Bar. They were aware that his de- cisions were not the result of an inconsiderate conclusion. They knew that the rule of law adopted was the conclusion deduced from authority, or from close consideration. "A great lawyer," said Charles O'Connor once, "is not the one who knows the most of law, but who understands what the point involved is."
Judge Conyngham's industry was wonderful. "During an adjournment of Court he would frequently go without his meal, spending the whole time in his library, that he might be ready at the assembling of the Court to meet the questions that the case presented. Labor seemed to be a pleasure to him.
"He was proud of his reputation as a Judge. He disliked to be reversed, and his great desire was that he should be sustained by the Court of review, and it was very seldom that he was reversed. Therefore, no labor was too much for him to perform. When he was in the midst of a trial, he was lost to everything else; his mind was on that and that alone. Hurrying, with his head down, absorbed in his own reflections, in passing from his office to the Court, he would scarcely notice any one. Never was man inore devoted to his occupation, and never did man have a more earnest desire to administer the law correctly and in all its purity. Thus, with his research and his well-balanced mind, and his scrupulous desire to administer justice, he could not be otherwise than a most excellent Judge. And such he was."
In early life he was warmly interested in State and National politics, and though invariably decided and inflexible in his attitude, was respected and admired even by his opponents. In a speech which he made in 1862, at the Triennial Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, he said that since he had had the honor of being raised to the Bench he had refrained from any active part in politics; he had not attended any political meetings, had delivered no political addresses, and had heard none.
During the War of the Rebellion he was an earnest advocate for the Union, headed many subscription lists, ad- dressed public meetings, and encouraged enlistments.
Judge Conyngham's piety was robust and manly. There was no equivocation about it, no timidity in its main- tenance, no restiveness under it as if it were a burden. He was never ashamed of his religion. It was not a garment made for home wear, to be put off when he went on the circuit and on the Bench. It was not a robe to be worn on Sundays and in churches, and to be laid aside on journeys and in court houses.
At the time of his death Judge Conyngham was Senior Warden of St. Stephen's Church, Wilkes-Barre, having held the office of Vestryman for fifty years; President of the Wilkes-Barre Tract Society, of the Luzerne County Bible Society, of the Hollenback Cemetery Association, and of the American Church Missionary Society, New York City; Vice President of the American Sunday School Union, and of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Philadelphia.
Judge Conyngham married, December 17th, 1823, Ruth Ann Butler, seventh child of Gen. Lord Butler, and she bore him seven children, as follows: David Conyngham, born January 7th, 1826; John Butler Conyngham, born September 29, 1827; William Lord Conyngham, born November 21, 1829; Thomas Dyer Conyngham, born December 11. 1831; Mary, wife of Charles Parrish, Esq ; Anna Marie, wife of Rt. Rev. William Baker Stevens, D. D., Bishop of Pennsylvania; Charles Miner Conyngham, born July 6, 1840.
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vidual means, in addition to their liability in common with the citizens of the whole County, to aid materially in the expense of its construction.
"The plan of the proposed new building is in the Commissioners' office, and open to the inspection of those who may wish to examine it. The foundation which we see before us shows the size and general outline upon the ground. The front portion of the building is of two stories, to be built most solidly and compactly, with cross beams of iron, supporting the brick arches between the floors, to ensure their safety from fire. All the public offices are to be located in this part of the building, except the Sheriff's, which will be in the second story of the tower in front. The Court room properly fitted is high and commodious; and the Jury rooms are in the second front, or rather the rear of the building, opening towards the east end of Market street, and contiguous to the Court. These are also on a second floor, and can be conveniently guarded and watched by the officers."
The usual deliberateness to be expected of public work attended the com- pletion of the building after its cornerstone was laid. On November 25, 1857, the building was reported "under roof." Care was taken, in connection with plans for the new structure, not to imperil tlie foundations of the old, or second
LUZERNE COUNTY'S THIRD COURT HOUSE Completed 1859
court house, and this continued to be used for county purposes until the Spring of 1858 when it was sold to Metzgar and Shiber, who agreed to remove the old building, pile up the foundation stones and fill up the cellar in return for salvage rights.
Commenting on the situation, the Record of the Times, under date of Oct- ober 10, 1858, has this to say:
"Much as we dislike everything connected with the new court house, in its present lo- cation, we must give the court room the credit of being the handsomest we have ever seen. Thomas Lewis has just been putting up a handsome chandelier having 18 lights which, with those on the judges desk and the side lights, will give all the light needed. The woodwork of the room is painted to imitatejoak. The windows are of colored glass and the arched ceiling is ornamented in good taste. The room would look better without the elevated seats, but perhaps we have been accust- omed to them se long in the old court rooms that we should be lost without them. We rather think that when alterations are made they will come out."
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On November 27th the same year, gas in the court room was lighted by way of experiment which pleased even the pessimistic journal above mentioned, although it further complained that "the room is still uncarpeted and unfurnished and there are bad echoes."
In September, 1859, we find from press mention that "the court house is not yet completed. Nearly the whole season has been consumed in extending the height of the tower thirty feet. It will have to remain through another winter uncompleted." Again in November of the same year a somewhat sar- castic reference to the building appears as to the unfinished tower. "The cap" comments the scribe, "looks like a man's hat on a child's head-as though it must slip down. A very neat straw thatch instead of shingles would add to the picturesqueness of the top finish." The Fall of the same year saw the removal of the "fire proof," and the still older academy building, but as the cellars of these buildings were not filled in, the condition of the grounds was pronounced "a disgrace to the county and a nuisance to the town."
By gradual stages, however, Luzerne County's third court house was com- pleted. Many offices were occupied in the early months of 1859 and the court room was used at the Fall term. On July 4, 1860, the national colors were flown from a new flag staff then completed on top of the structure.
The court house bell was raised to position in December of the same year and continued to ring first at 9 A. M. and 2 P. M., later at 10 A. M. and 2 P. M. until 1901, when the practice was discontinued. The clock appeared on the tower in the Spring of 1861. When in June, 1874, the building was remodeled to some extent by the addition of a second story at East Market Street approach, the building, to all intents and purposes remained the same as that remembered by the present generation, before it, too, gave way to larger demands of public business and was banished for all time from a location on the Public Square.
In a previous Chapter devoted to the early coal trade of Wyoming, men- tion was made of the organization of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society on February 11, 1858, that date being the fiftieth anniversary of Judge Fell's experiment in burning anthracite without a forced draft. A fortunate coincidence led to the birth of this institution which, with the years, has become of increasing service to the community.
On the anniversary above mentioned, Capt. James P. Dennis, a grandson of Judge Fell, J. Butler Conyngham, the Hon. Henry M. Hoyt and the Hon. Stanley Woodward found themselves in a carriage on the way to the business portion of Wilkes-Barré. Captain Dennis mentioned that before leaving home that morning, he had picked up some old documents belonging to Judge Fell and had noted his entry on the fly leaf of a Masonic volume that February 11, 1808, was designated as the day of the Judge's experiment. Following an ex-
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clamation of surprise that exactly fifty years had elapsed since the entry had been made, came a suggestion that the four gentlemen in question invite others of their acquaintance to attend an informal meeting that afternoon in the then standing original Fell tavern, for the purpose of commemorating the occasion. Captain Dennis was elected chairman and William P. Miner secretary of the meeting.
Capt. E. L. Dana outlined the purpose of the meeting and appointed the following committee to report resolutions expressive of the sense of the gathering: Stanley Woodward, Henry M. Hoyt, G. B. Nicholson, Caleb E. Wright, W. H. Beaumont and Samuel Bowman. The committee then framed the following resolution: "That in view of the fact that there are still preserved in our midst many memorials, papers and relics of local and general historical importance, liable to be lost or disfigured in the removal and change of families and which, if gathered together, would form a collection of increasing interest and value therefore, resolved, that a committee of five be appointed by the chair to report a plan of organization of a Historical Society. Subsequently on March 11th, a more general meeting was convened, a name selected and a motion adopted that application be made to the legislature for the incorporation of a society "for literary and scientific purposes." By decree of the Court, under date of May 10, 1858, the charter was confirmed and the Society empowered to proceed with business. The first officers elected were: president, Edmund L. Dana, vice president, Charles F. Ingram, M. D., corresponding secretary, William P. Miner, recording secretary, George H. Butler, treasurer, John B. Conyngham and librarian, Welding F. Dennis, M. D .*
It was not until the charter of the Society was amended by order of Court under date of December 11, 1882, that the oversight and management of the organization became vested in a board of five trustees. Such trustees named in
*The following men have served the Society as Presidents and Corresponding Secretaries, respectively, since its foundation:
PRESIDENTS.
James Plater Dennis, Chairman, February 11 to
Andrew Todd McClintock, LL. D., 1876
March 11,
. 1858
Calvin Parsons,
1877-'78
Hon. Edmund Lovell Dana 1858-'60
John Welles Hollenback,. 1879-'80
Gen. Win. Sterling Ross, . 1861
Hon. Charles Abbot Miner, 1881
Charles F. Ingham, M. D. 1862-'63
Charles F. Ingham, M. D., 1882-'83
Welding Fell Dennis, M. D. 1864-'65
Hon. Edmund Lovell Dana, 1884-'88
Volney Lee Maxwell 1866-'67
Andrew Todd McClintock, LL. D. 1889-'91
Martin Coryell, 1868
Calvin Parsons, 1892-'93
Hon. John Nesbitt Conyngham, LL. D., 1869
Sheldon Reynolds, 1894
Hon. Hendrick Bradley Wright,. 1870-'72
Hon. Stanley Woodward 1895-'99
Calvin Wadhams.
1873
Maj. Irving M. Stearns.
1899-1920
James Plater Dennis, 1874
Col. Dorrance Reynolds,
1920-
Payne Pettebone.
1875
CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES
William Penn Miner
1858-'60
Calvin Wadhams, 1869
Welding Fell Dennis.
1860-'62
Douglas Smith, . 1880
Hon. Edmund Lovell Dana,
Sheldon Reynolds,
1884-'94
1862-'63; 1876-'79; 1881-'83
Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden
1894-1917
James Plater Dennis
1864-'65
Samuel C. Chase.
1917-
Martin Coryell 1866-'68; 1870-'75
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the order of the Court were: Charles F. Ingram, M. D., Edward P. Darling, Esq., Ralph D. Lacoe, Esq., of Pittston, Sheldon Reynolds, Esq .* and Harrison Wright, Esq.
The early years of the Society's life were uneventful. On the first anni- versary of its foundation, Gen. William S. Ross presented to the organization the "Chambers Collection" of coins and curiosities. This had been procured by the donor at an expense of two thousand dollars and consisted of some ten thous- and specimens, "around which," says his biographer, "a neucleus of other con- tributions gathered, and which really gave the Society success, and a prestige and name that commended it to the friends of science everywhere."
The early meetings of the Society and its collections were at first housed in Institute Hall, but at almost every annual meeting of the body after its collections became larger and more difficult to catalog, discussions arose as to obtaining more suitable rooms as a home for the organization. On March 11, 1870, a resolution prevailed to rent rooms in the new Music Hall building at that time nearing completion, but for some reason not apparent on the minutes, this was not done. Instead, the newly organized City of Wilkes-Barré, voted through its council on January 21, 1871, to deed to the Society three lots of the "Old Grave Yard property, having a frontage of one hundred feet on Washington Street," provided, "the Society would erect a building, costing not less than $40,000, for its own use on said lots within the time limit of two years."
*SHELDON REYNOLDS was born in Kingston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1844, the seventh child of the Hon. William Champion and Jane Holberton (Smith) Reynolds. He was graduated at Yale College with the degree of A. B. in 1867, and in 1872 received the degree of A. M. After leaving college he spent some time in foreign travel, and then, upon his re- turn home entered the law school of Columbia College, New York, where. in 1868 and 1869, he pursued the usual course of law. Later he became a stu- dent of law in the office of Andrew T. McClintock, Esq., at Wilkes-Barre, and October 16, 1871, was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County.
He was Treasurer of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society in 1880-'82; Corresponding Secretary, 1884-'94, and President in 1894-'95. He was also a member of various other historical and scientific societies in different parts of the country. He was one of the original Trustees of the Osterhout Free Library of Wilkes- Barré, and was Secretary of the Board from the date of its organization until his death. In 1875 and '76 he was a member of the School Board of the Third District of Wilkes-Barré, and in 1892 he became President of the Wilkes-Barré Water Company. He was the author of various essays and monographs, some of which have been published in pamphlet form, and others in different volumes of the "Proceedings and Collections of the Wyoming His- torical and Geological Society."
Mr. Reynolds was married Nov- ember 23, 1876, to Annie Buckingham Dorrance, only daughter of Col. Charles Dorrance.
Mr. Reynolds died at Saranac Lake, N. Y., February 8, 1895, after a long and tedious illness. Mrs. Reynolds died at her residence in Wilkes-Barré, October 4, 1905, being survived by one son-Dorrance Reyn- olds, Esq.
SHELDON REYNOLDS, A. B., A. M.
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As no plans for such building were authorized, the conclusion remains that the site was not satisfactory. Instead, the minutes mention negotiations being opened by a committee with Col. E. B. Harvey for "the purchase of a brick building owned by him (now occupied by C. Morgan and Sons) near the corner of Franklin and Market Streets."
The dilemma of securing suitable quarters was at length solved by securing a portion of the rear of the building erected by the then newly organized Miners Bank. Into these quarters the Society moved in the year 1870.
It was not until the will of the Hon. Isaac S. Osterhout*, dated January 27, 1881, was read that dreams of the founders of the Society were to come true in
*Isaac Smith Osterhout was commissioned, February 9, 1870, by Governor Geary, an associate judge of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of George Palmer Steele. The Osterhouts, as their name indicates, came originally from Holland. They settled first in Connecticut, whence they removed to Dover, Dutchess County, N. Y., Jeremiah Osterhout, grandfather of Isaac S. Osterhout, removed from Dover in 1778 and settled at or near Tunkhannock, where he assisted in organizing the township of Putnam, one of the seventeen townships set apart to claimants under the Connecticut title. Isaac Osterhout, son of Jeremiah Osterhout, and the father of Isaac S. Osterhout, subsequently settled at a point now known as Lagrange, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, where he en- gaged in merchandise and lumbering, and for some years kept a house for the accommodation of strangers and travelers- He married, at Old Forge, Susanna Smith, a daughter of William Hooker Smith The forge was originally built by Mr. Smith, but his son-in- law Colonel Napthali Hurl- but, ran it at this time. I. S. Osterhout's mother was born in a house which formerly stood at the corner of North- ampton and Franklin Streets. on the lot owned and occupied by him at the time of his death, and later owned by G. W. Guthrie, M. D. The house Isaac S. Osterhout built and occupied at La- grange is said to have been the first frame house erected between Pittston and Athens. This house is yet standing. Here I. S. Osterhout was born, October 26, 1806. In 1810 his father moved some three miles up the river, in 1818 to Black Walnut, and in 1822 to the Provost farm, six miles above Tunkhannock, where he died, June 27, 1824. He had, prior to his death, a share in the Hunt's Ferry Shad Fishery. About 1820 I. S. Osterhout took a load of shad, salted in barrels, to Salina, New York, to ex- change them for salt. Mr. Kinney accompanying him took a load of whetstones. The trip was made in sleighs and occupied two weeks. The shad found a ready sale, but the whetstones were disposed of with much difficulty and at a sacrifice. When I. S. Osterhout was twelve years of age he was sent to school at the Kingston Academy. In 1823 he came to Wilkes-Barre and engaged as clerk with Denison, McCoy & Daven- port, who had a store on River Street. He remained with them about a year, when he returned to Tunkhannock and engaged with Beach Tutt'e who was then in business there. In 1824 he went to Elmira, New York, and re- ISAAC S. OSTERHOUT mained there until 1830, clerk- ing for Tuttle & Covell. He then came to Kingston and clerked for Gaylord & Reynolds, and remained with them nearly a year. In the latter part of the last named year he came to Wilkes-Barre and entered into partnership in the mercantile business with his cousin. Whitney Smith. This partnership continued until 1834, when it was dissolved, and the business thereafter was con- tinued by Mr. Osterhout alone. As an evidence of enhancement of values in Wilkes-Barre, it may be remarked!that the premises occupied, embracing thirty feet on South Main Street and fifty feet on the Public Square, with suitable space in the rear, commanded a rent of but thirty dollars a year. In 1837 Mr. Osterhout purchased of Rev. George Lane, for the sum of three thousand dollars, the valuable property still owned by the estate, comprising a frontage of one hundred feet on the northwest side of the Public Square, now occupied by the Jos. S. Coons store, on which
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having a suitable building provided for its needs. Under provisions of the will, practically the entire estate of the philanthropist was devoted to "establishing and maintaining in the City of Wilkes-Barre a free library to be called 'The Osterhout Free Library, '" and further directing that "in the e: ection and ar- rangement of the building herein authorized, the same shall be so constructed that, in addition to the space required for the accommodation of the library and the increase thereof * * *
a portion of said building shall be devoted to the use and accommodation of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, without charge for rent, heat or light of the rooms that may be devoted to and used for the purposes of said Society."
In 1893, the trustees of the li- brary, deeming it safer as well as pre- ferable to house the Society's valu- ables in a separate building, author- ized the erection of the Society's present home in rear of the Library proper. On November 30, 1893 the completed building was accepted on behalf of the organization by the Hon. Stanley Woodward, the last survivor of its founders in an address which traced the history of the Society and to which mention has been made from time to time in these volumes.
WYOMING HISTORICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
In 1925, the Society acquired the larger building then about to be vacated by the Wilkes-Barré Institute and considered the adaption of that building to its continually growing needs. This plan however was changed when in 1927 the Society merged with the Arts and Sciences Association, and with the prospect of a wing in that group of future buildings.
Just as the history of a community and the composition of its population can be traced through the establishment of churches of different denominations at various periods, so may a reasonably definite knowledge of the trend of events be gained by an investigation of the laying out and abandonment of burial grounds; lugubrious but necessary concomitants of community existence. The Wyoming Valley differed in no essential from other American communities in that many of its earlier burial places were intended for private or family use.
Many of these plots, usually a half acre in extent and, at the start, protected by well kept fences, have received inention in earlier portions of this History. Few, however, have survived to the present excepting as overgrown and almost unrecognizable odd corners of farm lands or suffering a far more dismal fate in the encroachment of mine cave and culm pile. The earliest of these, in point of authentic record is what today is known as the Jenkins and Harding cemetery at West Pittston which, through the ministration of heirs of the two families, has been spared the fate of so many others.
there was then a house and two stores. Mr. Osterhout continued in the mercantile business until 1859. He had after years of toil and industry skillfully directed, acquired an ample competency, He held the offices of secretary and treasurer of the Hollenback Cemetery at the time of his death, and most of the time from its organization in 1854 He was also at the time of his death, and had been for thirty years, the secretary and treasurer of the Wyoming Athen- aeum. On January 29, 1840. Mr. Osterhout married Elizabeth C. Lee, only daughter of Hon. Thomas Lee, of Port Elizabeth, Cumberland County, New Jersey, who was a prominent and highly respected citizen of that place, and represented the district on the congress of the United States. I. S. Osterhout died in Wilkes-Barre April 12, 1882, and his wife, April 28, 1887. They left no children,
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A sketch of this plot, prepared by E. Sweetser Tillotson, and published in the Sunday Independent of October 26, 1924, accurately traces its history as follows :
"Going back to 1754 there is found the first transfer of land that was utilized for the Jenkins & Harding cemetery in West Pittston. The land on which the cemetery is situated is a portion of the land owned by John Jenkins, Sr., who was the general agent of the Connecticut Susquehanna Land Co., and who surveyed and purchased the district of Westmoreland from the Indians for that company in 1754. The lot was given by him to the public for general use as a burying ground but was merely set aside for burial purposes and was never deeded.
"When Judge Jenkins died and his estate was divided among his heirs, the portion occupied by the cemetery was included in the inheritance of Stephen, son of John Sr. At Stephen's death, his son, Jabez, came into possession of this tract. Jabez Jenkins sold the farm to Peter Polon, 'reserving one-half acre for a burying ground and more if needed.' This is the first time that this cemetery ground or plot is mentioned in a legal way. When the village of West Pittston was laid out there was danger that the old burial ground would be obliterated; the worn rail fence that enclosed it was being carried away by the newcomers for use as firewood. Observing this with deep concern, Mary B. (Mrs. George M. Richart) went to the Hon. Garrick M. Harding and expressed her fears that the place would be destroyed and asked him to advise what should be done about it.
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