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 V > Part 28
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Robert L. Coughlin married, September 24, 1927, Eve- lyn E. Wick, and they have a son, Robert L. Jr. He is a member of the Republican party in political spheres, and of Landmark Lodge, No. 442, of the Frec and Ac- cepted Masons in fraternal order work. He joined the Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania, and takes an active interest, has plenty of friends and is known as one of the most promising of the junior members of the bar.
JAMES HOSIE HUGHES-One of the well-known consulting engineers of Wilkes-Barre, James Hosie Hughes occupies offices in the Second National Bank Building, Rooms No. 504 to 506. Earlier in his profes- sional career he was identified with several coal com- panies, as an engineer ; then he became a consulting en- ginecr. He is now with the firm known as Hughes, Moore and Sterling, of Wilkes-Barre.
Mr. Hughes was born in Carbondale, in what is now Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, on January 22, 1860, a son of John and Lucretia (Smith) Hughes, both of whom are now deceased. John Hughes, a native of Aberdare, Glamorganshire, Wales, who was born on March 24, 1817, was for many years inside superintend- ent of the Delaware and Hudson mines at Carbondale ; he married Lucretia Smith in Aberdare on July 14, 1838. She, also a native of Aberdare, was born on November 30, 1820. They were the parents of fourteen children : Francis, born April 6, 1839, died September 27, 1840; Francis, 2d, born May 6, 1841 ; Elizabeth, born September 24, 1842; Edward, born January 11, 1844; Samuel, born December 4, 1845; George, born July 9, 1847: William, born October 24, 1848; Margaret Jane, born August 22, 1850; David, born January 24, 1852; Margaret Jane, born May 6, 1854; Mary, born November 30, 1855; John, born October 16, 1857; James Hosie, of this review, and Ruth, born July 13, 1861. All of these children are now dead except Edward and James Hosie Hughes. The Hughes family left its native land and came to the United States in 1840.
James H. Hughes, who spent most of his boyhood in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, whose public schools he at- tended, went later to Colorado, and was graduated from the Black Hawk High School in 1879, after which he became a student at the University of Colorado, receiving in 1882 a certificate of competency as an assayer of ores. However, during these years he had prospected in the Gunnison, Buena Vista and Leadville districts and had
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been employed in a mining camp at Leadville, After he had spent five years in Golden, Colorado, where he was assistant assayer for the Golden Smelting and Reduction Company, and later in charge of the sampling department, he returned to Pennsylvania where, in December, 1882, he took a position as engineer, and later in the general manager's department with the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. Still later he served as general superin- tendent of the Keystone Coal Company. Subsequently he formed a partnership with W. F. Dodge under the firm name of Dodge and Hughes, consulting engineers, in Wilkes-Barre. This partnership lasted for eighteen years, 1893-1911, at the end of which time he formed the present firm under the name of Hughes, Moore and Ster- ling, with offices in the Second National Bank Building. Along with his other work, Mr. Hughes, for the past thirty-five years, has acted as consulting engineer for the principal estates in the Wyoming Valley; he has been consulting engineer and operator for the receiver of the Natalie Coal Lands of Northumberland and Columbia counties ; consulting engineer for the Mt. Carmel and Natalie Railroad, 1898-1917; engineer, general manager and later president of the Archibald Coal Company in Lackawanna County, 1908-16; president and general man- ager of the Lauralla Slate Company of Slatington, Pen- sylvania, 1906-1I.
In his political affiliations Mr. Hughes is a member of the Republican party. Religiously he is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Kingston. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which order he is affiliated with the Caldwell Consistory, of Blooms- burg, Pennsylvania; the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he received the thirty-second degree; Irem Temple, of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine, in Wilkes-Barre. He is a member of the Irem Temple Country Club, the Wyoming Valley Country Club, the Westmoreland Club, the Press Club, the Wilkes- Barre Automobile Club (ex-president ), and the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, and was a director of the Engineering Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania. For more than thirty years Mr. Hughes has been one of the foremost representative citizens of Wilkes-Barre, keenly interested at all times in the welfare of the city and eager to promote any movement that he believed would improve its social and civic life.
James H. Hughes has been married twice; (first) to Emma Laird, daughter of James D. and Patience ( Jack- son) Laird; and (second), in 1913, to Madge von Storch, daughter of Robert Miner and Arabella (Rogers) von Storch. By the first marriage there was one daughter, Patience Laird, who is the wife of Charles F. Turner, of Wilkes-Barre, by which marriage there is one child, James Hughes. By his second marriage Mr. Hughes has no children. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes reside at No. 465 Wyoming Avenue, Kingston.
EVAN C. JONES-For the past twenty-seven years Evan C. Jones has been actively engaged in legal prac- tice in Wilkes-Barre, where he had made for himself a reputation as a skilled practitioner and as a man of wide legal knowledge. Mr. Jones is a graduate of Lafayette College, and was admitted to the Luzerne County Bar in July, 1900. He is well known in Masonic circles, and has many friends in this city.
John C. Jones, father of Mr. Jones, was born in Cardiganshire, Wales, and came to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 1864, settling at Warrior Run, Han- over Township, where for thirty-five years lie was super- intendent of the Warrior Run Coal Mines. He was a Republican in his political allegiance, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He and his wife, Elizabeth ( Rowland) Jones, who also was a native of Cardigan- shire, Wales, were married in their native land and came to this country in 1864. They were the parents of the following children: John R., who is associated with the Ryman Lumber Company of Wilkes-Barre; David C., who was engaged in the grocery business in Wilkes- Barre, and died in August, 1915: Benjamin R., who is associate judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, which includes Luzerne County ; Janet, widow of David Phil- lips, of Wilkes-Barre; Thomas R., who is superintendent of the Madeira Hill Anthracite Coal interest at Frack- ville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; and Evan C., of further mention.
Evan C. Jones, son of John C. and Elizabeth ( Row- land) Jones, was born at Warrior Run, Hanover Town- ship, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, November 26, 1876, and received his early education in the local public schools, graduating from Sugar Notch High School in 1891. Hc
prepared for college in the Harry Hillman Academy, at Wilkes-Barre, completing his course there with gradua- tion in 1894, and then matriculated in Lafayette College, at Easton, Pennsylvania, the following fall. In the spring of 1898 he graduated from Lafayette College, receiving at that time the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, and then returned to Wilkes-Barre, where he began the study of law in the office of his brother, Benjamin R. Jones, now Judge Jones. He was admitted to the Luzerne County Bar, July 14, 1900, and for the past twenty- seven years has been one of the leading attorneys of Luzerne County. He is a member of the Luzerne County Bar Association and of the Pennsylvania State Bar Association. Fraternally, he is identified with Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, Sons of Liberty Lodge, Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, of Wilkes-Barre; and is also prominent in the Masonic Order, being a member of Wilkes-Barre Lodge, No. 61, Free and Acepted Masons ; of all the Scottish Rite bodies; and of Keystone Con- sistory, in which he holds the thirty-second degree; also of Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and of the Shrine Country Club. He is also a member of the Wyoming Valley Country Club and of the Westmoreland Club, and his religious affilia- tion is with the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes- Barre.
Evan C. Jones was married, June 6, 1905, to Dorothy Schlingman, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of one daughter, Dorothy Elizabeth, who died in childhood.
HONORABLE JOHN BUTLER WOODWARD
-- For generations one of the prominent families in America, notably in Pennsylvania and Luzerne County, has been that of Woodward, which was established on this continent by Richard Woodward, who sailed from Ipswich, England, on April 10, 1634, in the "Elizabeth," of which William Andrews was master, and brought with him his wife, Rose, and his sons, George and John. From them most of the older families of Woodward in the United States today are descended; and one of the descendants, who for years held a prominent place in the life of Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County, was the Hon. John Butler Woodward, a man of gracious and dignified bearing, a lawyer of note, possessed of rare charm and refinement, and dearly loved by his fellowmen, who keenly regretted his passing.
Before going into the life and works of the Hon. Mr. Woodward, perhaps it would be well to give some account of the family itself, going back to the founder, Richard Woodward, who was admitted a freeman on Septem- ber 2, 1635, and whose name appears on the earliest list of proprietors of the plantation of Watertown. He after- ward acquired many tracts of land, amounting to about three hundred and fifty acres, and by purchase in 1640 came into possession of a mill property in Boston. He lived in Cambridge in 1660, and died February 16, 1664-65, after which his estate was administered by his sons. His wife, Rose, died October 6, 1662, and in 1663 he married (second) Ann Gates, born in 1603, widow of Stephen Gates, of Cambridge. She died in Stow February 5. 1683. From Richard, the Woodward line has been traced through his son George, George's son John, John's son Richard, Richard's son Amos, and Amos's son Enos, the pioneer in Pennsylvania and the great-great-grandfather of the Hon. John Butler Woodward. Enos Woodward, born January 31, 1725-26, removed about 1775 from Con- necticut and took his residence in the wilderness of the Wallenpaupack, in what is now Pike County, Pennsyl- vania, where he was harassed time and again by Indians : he married Mary Bennett. Abisha Woodward was born January 10, 1768, and was about eight years of age when his parents settled in the wilderness of Wallenpaupack, in what is now Pike County, Pennsylvania, about 1775. Here Abisha Woodward grew to manhood with very little chance for an education. After he had married and was yet a young man, while on his way home from a meadow where he had been mowing, carrying his scythe on his back, he was crossing a little brook when he slipped and fell. In throwing out his left hand to break his fall, he brought it against the edge of the scythe and cut it almost off at the joint of the wrist. He was alone, and some distance from home, but he held the mutilated member with his other hand and hurried home as rap- idly as possible; mortification set in, and there being no surgeon in the wilderness, Dr. Hollingshead, who lived in Northampton County, forty miles away, was sent for and amputated the left arm midway between the wrist and elbow. While this painful accident disqualified him for manual labor, it proved in one way a blessing. Owing
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to the lack of schools and the unsettled state of the country, then slowly recovering from the depredations of the Indians during the war, he had had but little opportunity for getting an education, and the long confinement attendant upon his injury afforded him a chance to repair this deficiency. In the year or more of his compulsory retirement from active life he applied himself so diligently to his mental improvement that on his recovery he was able to devote himself to teaching school. Later he held the office of constable, deputy sheriff, justice of the peace, high sheriff, and associate judge. He married, October 6, 1789, Lucretia Kimble, and died on his farm near Bethany, Wayne County, Penn- sylvania, November 27, 1829. They had ten children. One of these, the Hon. George Washington Woodward, born in Bethany, Pennsylvania, March 26, 1809, died in Rome, Italy, May 10, 1875, having sailed from Philadel- phia in October, 1874, to join his daughter; he studied at Geneva Seminary, at Hobart College, Geneva, New York, and the Wilkes-Barre Academy, and read law with Thomas Fuller, of Wayne County, and with the Hon. Garrick Mallery, of Wilkes-Barre; he was admitted to the bar August 3, 1830, and was active in the Demo- cratic party. George Washington Woodward was one of the great men of his time. A book has been written of his life. He was delegate to the Constitutional Con- vention of Pennsylvania in 1837; president judge of the Fourth Judicial District in 1841, also chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania after his resignation in 1867. He was Congressman and delegate-at-large in the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania in 1872-73. He ran unsuccessfully against Andrew Curtin for Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania, and was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States by President Polk, but was vetoed by Simon Cameron, president of the Senate, a life long enemy. He married, September 10, 1832, Sarah Elizabeth, only daughter of George W. Trott, M. D. One of their children was the Hon. Stanley Woodward, father of John Butler Woodward.
The Hon. Stanley Woodward was born in Wilkes- Barre, August 29, 1833; attended the local schools; and was prepared for Yale College at the Episcopal High School, of Alexandria, Virginia, and at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania. At the Wyoming Semi- nary he studied under Professor Henry Martyn Hoyt, who later became Governor of the State, as well as a law partner of Judge Woodward. The professor was an ardent Republican, while the student was as ardent a Democrat ; but the men became, nevertheless, close friends and Mr. Woodward received his first commission to the bench from his former preceptor. After he left the seminary, Stanley Woodward entered Yale College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1855 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was in college the recipient of a number of prizes for excellence in English composition, and was elected editor of the "Yale Literary Magazine." In his last year at college, he studied law at Yale Law School, and after graduation entered the office of his cousin, the Hon. Warren J. Woodward, who later was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Penn- sylvania. On August 4, 1856, he was admitted to the Bar in Luzerne County ; and, as his cousin had just been elevated to the bench, Stanley fell heir to the large law practice of the judge. He attained a high place in his profession, beginning to rise almost immediately; and throughout the greater portion of his carcer was counsel for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad Company, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and the Central Railroad of New Jersey. For twenty-one years he graced the bench of the State for Luzerne County, and from 1879 until his retirement was Presiding Judge of the County Court. During the Civil War, he served with the 3d Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and became captain of Company H. He was later in command of Company A of the 45th Pennsyl- vania Regiment during the celebrated Gettysburg cam- paign. He was a candidate for the State Senate in 1865, and for the United States Congress in 1872. When he retired from the judgeship, Stanley Woodward resumed his private practice, becoming a member of the firm of Woodward, Darling and Woodward, and remained active in his profession until his death, on March 29, 1906. He was one of four men who founded the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society on February 11, 1858, a member of that organization for forty-six years, its vice- president in 1894, and president of it from 1895 until his death. His death caused great sorrow throughout the State, for everyone knew him as a brilliant lawyer and judge and a wise and considerate man. On June 3, 1857,
he married Sarah Richards Butler, daughter of the late Colonel John Lord Butler and great-granddaughter of Colonel Zebulon Butler, commander of the American Forces at Wyoming on July 3, 1778. Her great-grand- father on her mother's side was Captain Samuel Rich- ards, a member of the Connecticut Society of the Cin- cinnati. Captain Samuel Richards was one of the builders of West Point, and shared for six months a log cabin with Kosciusko, the Polish hero. His diary, begun in 1773 and continuing until 1783, began with the Battle of Bunker Hill. It is in the possession of Judge Wood- ward's family, still in a perfect state of preservation and legibility. Mrs. Stanley Woodward was descended from three Colonial governors: Governor Gordon Saltonstall, Governor John Haynes and Governor Thomas Welles. Mrs. Woodward also belonged to the Society of Colonial Governors. Judge and Mrs. Stanley Woodward became the parents of three children. I. Ellen May, born May 27, 1858, died in May, 1860. 2. John Butler, of further mention. 3. George Stanley, M. D., born June 22, 1863, a graduate of Yale University, class of 1887, degree of Bachelor of Arts, received Bachelor of Philosophy degree in the following year, received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1891 ; married, October 9, 1894, Gertrude Houston, daughter of Henry Howard Houston, of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and they had five children: Henry Howard Houston, who was killed in the World War, while in combat with a German aviator, April 1, 1918. He was a member of the Lafayette Escadrille; George, Jr., Stanley, Charles Henry, and Gertrude Woodward.
John Butler Woodward, the second of the three chil- dren of Judge Stanley and Sarah Richards (Butler) Woodward, was born April 3, 1861. He attended the Wilkes-Barre Academy; St. Paul's School. Concord, New Hampshire: and Yale College, from which he was grad- uated in the class of 1883 with a fine scholastic record. Like his father, he was honored with election to the celebrated "Skull and Bones" society, and was a leader in the student body. He entered the University of Penn- sylvania Law School, where he studied for one year, being admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County on September 7, 1885. He immediately began practicing his chosen profession in Wilkes-Barre. Until 1892 he was alone, and then, upon organization of the firm of Wheaton, Darling and Woodward, became the junior partner. His partners were Judge Wheaton and Thomas Darling, both of whom stood high in the legal fraternity in their State. In 1901, when judicial honors fell to Mr. Wheaton, the partnership was dissolved. Judge Stanley Woodward, the father, retired from the bench and became associated with the two remaining partners, he becoming senior member of Woodward, Darling and Woodward. This arrangement continued until 1906, when Judge Wood- ward died. James L. Morris was then admitted, and the firm name became Woodward, Darling and Morris. In 1907 Judge Wheaton retired from the bench and reentered the law firm, which then became known as Wheaton, Darling and Woodward. This form of partnership con- tinued until 1913, when J. B. Woodward was elected Judge of the Luzerne County courts. He was elevated to the bench in 1914 for a period of ten years, and reelected in 1924. Both as lawyer and judge, he was known as a wise leader of his profession, a man of great resourcefulness and splendid intellect, and an impartial judge.
In addition to his activities in his profession and on the bench, Judge Woodward was deeply interested in ' all the public affairs of Wilkes-Barre. Judge Woodward in his early manhood was appointed superintendent of the Luzerne County schools to complete the term of the deceased superintendent. He did most execellent work and won the lifelong friendship of all the teachers with whom he came in contact. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, which he joined in college ; the Malt Club, of Wilkes-Barre; the Westmore- land Club and the Wyoming Valley Country Club, both of Wilkes-Barre; the University Club, of New York ; and the Yale Club, of New York City. When he was young, Judge Woodward was active in military affairs, having been a non-commissioned officer of the 9th Regi- ment of Infantry of the Pennsylvania National Guard and a member of the veteran corps of that regiment. He was vice-president of the Wyoming Valley Historical and Geological Society, founded by his father in associa- tion with other leaders in his day. He was a trustec of the Children's Home, the Wilkes-Barre Institute and the United Charities, and a director of the Deposit Sav- ings Bank of Wilkes-Barre. He was a member and elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre. He
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took a great deal of pleasure in the historic associations of his residence place, his home having been situated on the site selected as the homestead of his ancestor, Colonel Zebulon Butler, a pioneer settler of the Wyo- ming Valley. This land has remained in the possession of the Butler family to the present time. Seven genera- tions of the family have lived on the plot, and five in the present house, at No. 110 South River Street.
On June 6, 1888, Judge John Butler Woodward mar- ried Marion Hillard, only daughter of Thaddeus S. and Esther ( Reynolds) Hillard, of Wilkes-Barre. The chil- dren of this marriage were: 1. John Butler, Jr., born December 30, 1889, died in New Haven, Connecticut, January 13, 1909, while a freshman at Yale University. 2. Marion Hillard, born July 23, 1895, married Bruce Payne, president of the Payne Coal Company, and they have children, Marion, Barbara and Elizabeth. 3. Stanley Hillard, born July 26, 1899, and served in the Naval Avia- tion Department during the World War.
The death of Judge John Butler Woodward occurred suddenly on September 6, 1925, in his summer home at Glen Summit Springs, and brought to an end a life highly useful, a leader in public affairs, and the scion of a noble race. John Butler Woodward was the fourth Judge Woodward in direct descent.
CHARLES HAMRICK BIDDLE, member of the well-known insurance firm of Biddle and Eno, whose offices are located at No. 103 Coal Exchange Building, Wilkes-Barre, was born in that community on July 27, 1885. This Mr. Biddle is a son of Walter S. and Laura M. (Hamrick) Biddle ; and a grandson, on the paternal side, of William Biddle who was also born native to Pennsylvania. William Biddle was the father of five children: Grace, Edward, Clarence, Walter S., and Horace. Walter S. Biddle, the father, was born during the month of May, of the year 1849, in Danville, Penn- sylvania, and he died on May 19, 1919, at Wilkes-Barre. He was for many years prominent in the insurance world of his part of the State, and he was known as one of the thoroughly substantial citizens of Wilkes-Barre. By his marriage to Laura M. Hamrick he became the father of three children : Charles H., of whom further; Walter Sterling, of Wilkes-Barre; and Dorothy, who married Ernest C. Heg, of Pasadena, California.
Charles H. Biddle, the first son and first child of Walter S. and Laura M. ( Hamrick) Biddle, received his early education at the Harry Hillman Academy, in Wilkes-Barre. He later attended and graduated from the Wyoming Seminary, at Kingston, Pennsylvania, the Swarthmore Preparatory School, and the Mercersburg Academy, at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. He later at- tended the University of Virginia. Then, up on the death of W. G. Eno, the junior member of the insurance com- pany of Biddle and Eno, the senior member returned to Wilkes-Barre to become a partner in the business which was then very largely owned by his father, Walter S. Biddle. This concern was founded during the year 1874, and is thus one of the oldest insurance brokerages in the Wyoming Valley. That the present Mr. Biddle has made a success in this type of endeavor is widely con- ceded, for he is, indeed, spoken of as one of the most progressive, alert, keen-minded business men in Luzerne County.
Mr. Biddle has always displayed a keen interest in the civic and general affairs of Wilkes-Barre. In his political views he is a staunch supporter of the Republican party, and as such he is noted for the excellent manner in which he stands behind any movement designed for the welfare or advancement of his community. He has been especially active in the commercial world of Wilkes- Barre, and he is now one of the most prominent members of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce. He has been almost equally as active in his club and social life, for he now holds membership in the college frater- nity of Zeta Psi, of the University of Virginia, and the Kiwanis Club of Wilkes-Barre, the Westmoreland Club, the Franklin Club, the Camera Club, the Wyoming Valley Country Club, the Fox Hill Country Club, and the Valley Club, as well as the Wyoming Valley Motor Club. He has always been fond of athletics and outdoor sports, and he has contributed very substantially to the advancement of athletics in Wilkes-Barre and the im- mediate vicinity.
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