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 51
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Samuel McClintock married, July 15. 1806, Hannah Todd, daughter of Colonel Andrew Todd, born in 1752, died in Providence, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1833, and his wife Hannah ( Boyer) Todd, born in 1750, died at Provi- dence, Pennsylvania, May 28. 1836. She was the daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth ( Edwards) Boyer. Stephen Boyer was a farmer near Providence Church. His wife died December 17, 1794. Colonel Andrew Todd was born in 1749, died in 1833, and was an extensive land owner in Trappe, Upper Providence Township. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and was a man of superior mechanical skill. He was a member of old Providence Presbyterian Church, a soldier in the Revolu- tionary army, a justice of the peace, from May 22, 1800
to 1833. Robert Todd, father of Andrew Todd, was born in Ireland, in 1697, died in Providence Township, 1790, married in the County. of Down, Ireland, Isabella Bodley, born in 1700. They had nine children of whom Andrew was the youngest. Robert Todd and his wife, Isabella, and their six children and Andrew Todd, his single half-brother, came from the County of Down, Ireland, to New York, thence to Trappe, Pennsylvania, in 1737. Three of these children were born in Penn- sylvania and when Andrew was born, his mother was fifty-two years old. Robert Todd was the son of John Todd, whose father also was named John Todd. Samuel and Hannah (Todd) Mcclintock had Andrew Todd McClintock.
Andrew Todd McClintock, LL. D., son of Samuel and Hannah (Todd) Mcclintock, was born February 2, 1810, died at Wilkes-Barre, January 14, 1891. He married, May 11, 1841, Augusta Cist, born in 1816, died September 24, 1895, aged seventy-ninc, daughter of Jacob and Sarah ( Hollenback) Cist. Andrew Todd McClintock was only two years old when his mother died. His early edu- cation was acquired in the common schools and also in Kenyon College, Ohio, where among his fellow-students were the late Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, who was Sec- retary of War under President Lincoln; Judge Frank Hurd, who within the last quarter of a century became a conspicuous figure in Ohio politics, on the Democratic side, and Rufus King, who was dean of the Law School of Cincinnati.
After three years of study in college, Mr. McClin- tock returned to Northumberland, and soon afterward began the study of law in the office of James Hepburn, but at the end of about a year removed to Wilkes- Barre, and finished his preliminary studies with the elder Judge Woodward, whose law partner he became imme- diately upon his admission to practice, August 8, 1836. The firm style was Woodward and Mcclintock, and the partnership was maintained until 1839, when Mr. Clin- tock was appointed district attorney for Luzerne County. He discharged the duties of the office with entire satis- faction, but at the end of one year he resigned, and returned to his regular practice. This was the only political office Mr. McClintock ever held. Other and higher honors of a political character were offered him and were easily within his reach, but he declined them all courteously and firmly, for there was that in the char- acter of the man that made the allurements of politics distasteful to him; he even declined the candidacy for the judgeship of Luzerne Common Pleas, and that not- withstanding the united efforts of his warmest friends of the bar and others who knew his quality and especial fitness for the position. He did, however, accept Gover- nor Hartranft's appointment to a membership of the commission charged with the revision of the constitution of 1873, and in the deliberations of that body of eminent jurists and legists he found himself associated with Chief Justice Agnew, Benjamin Harris Brewster, Attor- ney General Samuel E. Dimmick, United States Senator Wallace, Senator Playford, Henry W. Williams, and the judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; and in the proceedings and councils of the commission the opin- ions of Andrew T. McClintock were as great as those of his colleagues.
Mr. McClintock was a corporation lawyer, which mere statement implies that he was thoroughly versed in the laws relating to corporations, and that his clientage was largely drawn from the associations generally known as corporations. Still he enjoyed an extensive general prac- tice, for his understanding of the law was by no means limited in any respect. He chose that branch of the practice which was most congenial to his tastes, and which fort.mately happened to be the most profitable"; hence the natural corollary, a substantial fortune was the result of his earnest endeavors.
From the beginning of his professional career to the time of his death he always manifested an earnest inter- est in the welfare of the city, its people and its institu- tions, and identified himself with many important meas- ures and enterprises, which would advance prosperity. He was a director of the Wyoming National Bank, of the City Hospital and of the Home for Friendless Chil- dren, president of the Hollenback Cemetery Association and of the Wilkes-Barre Law and Library Association ; and elder in the First Presbyterian Church, and was several times a delegate from the Luzerne Presbytery to the general assembly of that church; a member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, of which he was vice-president in 1860, 1864, 1865, 1869 to 1875, and president in 1876, 1889 to 1891. The honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by Princeton College
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in 1870. "His life work and the commanding position he attained at the bar and in the community where he lived, signify more plainly than words the measure of his ability and the nobleness of his character. In stature he was tall, of massive frame and endowed with great strength and endurance, dignified in hearing, yet gentle, genial and sincere in temperament; the grace of his presence and the charm of his manner impressed every one who came within the range of their influence." Mr. and Mrs. McClintock had four children: 1. Helen Grin- nan, born in Wilkes-Barre, January 19, 1846, died January 14, 1894. 2. Alice Mary, born January 31, 1848, died October 12, 1900; married, October 9, 1872, John Vaughan Darling, born July 24, 1844. 3. Andrew Hamilton, of whom further. 4. Jean Hamilton, born February 22, 1855, died April 15, 1891.
Andrew Hamilton McClintock, only son of Andrew Todd and Augusta (Cist) McClintock, was born at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, December 12, 1852; grad- uated from Princeton College, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1872, and the degree of Master of Arts in 1873. He read law with his father, Andrew Todd McClintock, and also with Edward P. and J. Vaughan Darling, of Wilkes-Barre, and was admitted to practice in Luzerne County, January 20, 1876. He began his professional career in Wilkes-Barre in association with his father. As the latter gradually withdrew from the arduous work of the office the son succeeded him and when Andrew Todd McClintock died, Andrew Hamilton McClintock succeeded him and continued the business alone, retaining the old clientage, representing and pro- tecting the interests which in former years had been entrusted to his distinguished father in the capacity of attorney and counsellor at law. Like his father, Mr .. McClintock is a Democrat, but without ambition for political preferment. He is vice-president of the Wyom- ing National Bank, a director of the Miners' Savings Bank of Wilkes-Barre, director of the Title Guaranty and Trust Company of Scranton, a trustee of the Oster- hout Free Library of Wilkes-Barre, member of the Penn- sylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution, and of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, of which he was librarian from 1883 to 1885, and treasurer from 1886 to 1895.
Mr. McClintock married, December 1. 1880, Eleanor Welles, daughter of Charles F., Jr., and Elizabeth (La Porte) Welles. Mrs. McClintock is a descendant on her paternal side from Governor Thomas Welles, of Con- necticut, first treasurer of the colony, and on the maternal side from Bartholomew La Porte, who was a member of the French refugee colony at Asvlum, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Their children are: Andrew Todd, born January 21, 1885. Gilbert Stuart, of whom further. Andrew H. McClintock died October 7, 1919.
Gilbert Stuart McClintock was born December 27, 1886. He completed his education with graduation from Princeton University in 1908 and from there he went to the University of Pennsylvania where he attended the Law School and after completing his work in that sub- ject was admitted to the practice of law in March, 1912. Coming as he does from a family of eminent and bril- liant lawyers, Mr. McClintock naturally falls into the high ideals set hy his forebears and with his own initia- tive and talent is carrying on the expression of those ideals in his profession. Not only in the practice of law, but in taking part in the institutions of the com- munity where he exemplifies the qualities of citizenship as set by precedent of his grandfather and his father. he is identified with commercial, financial, cultural and philanthropic organizations in the capacity of director, trustee or official, thus giving his time and talents to the maintaining of those institutions which are of such value to every city.
He is a director of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company ; the Miners Bank of Wilkes-Barre; vice- president of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society ; Fellow of the American Museum of Natural History ; director of the Osterhout Free Library ; presi- dent, of the Wyoming Valley Society of Arts and Sci- ences : director of the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital ; president (in 1927) of the Community Welfare Associa- tion ; member of the Council of Wyoming Valley of the Boy Scouts of America; trustee for the Home for Friendless Children: trustee and treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre, and he is also ? member of the Westmoreland Club: the Wilkes-Barre Club ; the Wyoming Valley Country Club ; the Univer- sity Club of New York: and the Metropolitan Club of Washington, District of Columbia.
Mr. McClintock is a member of the American Bar
Association ; the Pennsylvania State Bar Association and the Bar Association of New York. In his political affil- iations, he is a staunch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party.
WILLIAM H. JONES-"The children of today are the men and women of tomorrow," is an old expression which is fully realized among the members of the teach- ing profession and in educational circles in general, for upon the proper training and development of the youth depends the future progress and prosperity of this great land. One of the foremost educators in Pennsylvania, William H. Jones is principal of the Kosciusko Junior High School in Nanticoke, having held this responsible position since 1924, while in addition he takes a promi- nent part in all public and political affairs of this com- munity, being tax collector since 1926 for county and poor taxes, and also collector of State taxes for the term 1926-27. Mr. Jones is deeply concerned with every movement which tends to improve or aid the progress of his town and State, while his interest in the proper instruction of the young takes a concrete form in his zealous and untiring activity to give to the school chil- dren under his care the very finest intellectual advan- tages which will fit them for their places in the future affairs of State and Nation.
Mr. Jones was born in Nanticoke, July 29, 1886, son of Henry R. and Margaret (Evans) Jones, both of whom are deceased. Henry R. Jones was a native of Wales and came to the United States when a young man, settling in Nanticoke, where he became associated with the Susquehanna Coal Company and continued with this con- cern until his tragic death, which occurred in a mine explosion, November 8, 1891. During his residence in this town, he took an active and constructive interest in everything pertaining to civic welfare and served as secretary of the borough council, having held this posi- tion at the time of his death. He was also a borough councilman and worked with great zeal to give his fel- low-citizens'all that was best in town management. He was actively connected with the Nebo Baptist Church. Henry R. Jones and Margaret (Evans) Jones were the parents of two sons: David, assistant cashier of the Nan- ticoke National Bank, and William H., of whom further. Margaret ( Evans) Jones, who is now deceased, married (second) Samuel Powell, and they became the parents of two daughters : Leah and Esther.
William H. Jones was educated in the public schools of Nanticoke, graduating from Nanticoke High School with the class of 1904, after which he attended the East Stroudsburg Normal School, graduating from that insti- tution with the class of 1905. He began his educational career in the fall of 1905, as principal of the Honey Pot School, where he remained for two years, after which he was elected principal of the Hanover. School, occupying that office for two more years. Mr. Jones then came to the Washington School, Nanticoke, and served two years, after which he was engaged at the Lincoln School for four years, upon the conclusion of which he accepted the position of principal of the grade schools and filled this office with great success for ten years, until 1924, when he was chosen to fill his present responsible position. In politics he is a staunch supporter of the principles of the Republican party in which he takes an active part, being district chairman of the Fourth Legislative District of Pennsylvania, having been prominent in politics ever since attaining his majority and devoting his attention particularly to local and county political affairs. His pop- ularity in local activities is attested by the fact that he is a trustee of the Stickney Hose Company, and a member of the Knights of Pythias. His professional connections are with the Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association and the National Education Association. His religious adherence is given to the'Nebo Baptist Church.
William H. Jones married Laura Kunkle, of Nanticoke, daughter of John and Minnie Kunkle, and to this union have been born two sons: William and Marvin. Mrs. Jones is prominent in all town activities and is a leader in the affairs of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The family residence is located at No. 225 East Church Street, Nanticoke.
VINCENT BAYARD SHEEDER-In the business and commercial development of Wilkes-Barre and its vicinity, Vincent Bayard Sheeder, of Wanamie, has taken a prominent part, being proprietor of Sheeder's General Store in Wanamie, and also active as a director or mem- ber of several important banking institutions and indus- trial concerns throughout northeastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Sheeder is well known throughout this locality as a busi-
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ness man of the highest principles, having risen to his present successful position in the world of commerce by his strict adherence to the rules of quality and service which he early in life formulated for himself, and has never deviated from them in the slightest degree. In the life of his community he is afways to be depended upon for his aid and support in every campaign or movement for the betterment of conditions or the improvement of the civic welfare of his fellow-citizens.
Mr. Sheeder was born in Hamburg, Berks County, No- vember 26, 1857, son of Benjamin Franklin and Catharine (Wagner) Sheeder. Benjamin Franklin Sheeder was a native of Chester County and his wife was born in Ham- burg, Berks County. He was occupied for many years in the mercantile business.
Vincent Bayard Sheeder was educated in the public schools of Minersville, and after the completion of his formal education, entered upon his business career, hav- ing imbibed the finest ideals and principles from assisting in his father's organization, and with a thorough knowl- edge of commercial conditions he opened an independent business in Minersville in 1879 for the sale of flour, feed and groceries, gradually expanding his enterprise until it reached the proportions of a first-class general store, sell- ing most of the articles and products to be found in a department store today. In 1886, Mr. Sheeder disposed of his trade and became a traveling salesman for Godfrey Keebler & Company, of Philadelphia, and traveled ex- tensively selling bakery products for two years. Accept- ing a position in Mahanoy City in 1888, he assumed charge of a farge mercantile establishment for W. W. Scott until 1889, when he came to Alden and took over the management of a store which occupied his time until he purchased his present business at Wanamie, consoli- dating this with the Alden store. It was in 1900 that Mr. Sheeder came to Wanamie as owner and manager of his present successful organization, which had been founded many years before as an adjunct to the coal industry by the Parish Coal Company, changing hands at various times until it came into Mr. Sheeder's possession. He still continues to conduct the affairs of the business along the lines of the old-fashioned general store, where customers can depend upon him to carry in stock almost any necessary or useful article or commodity. His policy has always been to satisfy customers by products of su- perior quality at reasonable prices, while at the same time giving courteous and prompt attention to his entire pa- tronage. In the financial life of the vicinity, he is a prominent factor being a director in the Nanticoke Na- tional Bank of Nanticoke, the Union Savings Bank & Trust Company and the Industrial Loan Company, both of Wilkes-Barre, the Susquehanna Lumber Company, of Nanticoke, and the Nanticoke Construction Company. fn fraternal circles, he is a popular and well-liked mem- ber of Nanticoke Lodge, No. 541, Free and Accepted Masons and a Past Master ; Nanticoke Chapter, No. 287, Royal Arch Masons; Keystone Consistory ; Irem Tem- ple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America. In social activities, he is a member of the Franklin Club and the Craftsmen's Club. His religious affiliations are with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Wanamie, in which he also acts as trustee.
Vincent Bayard Sheeder married in 1886, Lena Ger- trude Bauer, of Minersville, Pennsylvania, and to this union were born three children: 1. Mary Irene, married Lou S. Wilson, and they have one son, Robert Sheeder. 2. George V., of Wilkes-Barre, a teacher of the violin in the musical department of Wyoming Seminary, married Ruth Johnson. 3. Vincent Bayard, Jr., associated with his father in the latter's business.
JOHN C. HADDOCK, whose courageous personality and business instincts make him long to be remembered in the industry to which he devoted his life, passed away on December 20, 1914. He was born slightly over sixty- four years earlier on November 26, 1850, in the town of Moy, County Armagh, in Northern Ireland. His father had studied the profession of landscape architecture and gardening for many years in Dublin and after his mar- riage felt that the future of his calling lay in Canada, where there was great talk of public buildings, parks and the like. He and his wife, together with their already considerable family, crossed the Atlantic in an old sail- ing ship when the youngster John was but nine months old and arrived in Ontario to find that the optimism with regard to it was vastly exaggerated insofar as a livelihood for the elder Haddock was concerned. After several changes of residence, they settled in Newport,
Rhode Island, where John C. Haddock entered the retail coal business long before he became of age.
The firm of Meeker and Dean were then prominent wholesale coal merchants in New York City and favor- ably impressing the senior partner, Mr. Haddock even- tually became sales manager for them. This pleasant association continued for several years when the possi- bility of purchasing the old Dodson mine by means of financial aid supplied through a banking institution in New York appealed to the young man. At the age of thirty he embarked on a career of independent anthra- cite operation which continued until his death. Four years prior to his resignation from Meeker and Dean, he met and married Jennie Sharpe DeWolfe, whose parents were at that time living in Brooklyn. They had three chil- dren : Courtney, who died as a comparatively young boy ; Mabel and John. The two latter, as well as his widow, are now alive and residents of this section of Pennsyl- vania.
A man of great imagination and business foresight, his belief in the future of the Anthracite industry was so tremendous that he invested up to the limit of his means in proving the efficiency of many functions which today are taken as a matter of course. His development with regard to culm flushing, his attitude towards the rate making situation of the then railroad coal companies, his feeling on behalf of collective bargaining and many other less important but equally fundamental economic features of present day life are all remembered by his business associates and acquaintances. Long before there was any real need for the product obtained, he was iden- tified with a plant for the recovery of coal from the Susquehanna River and made several attempts to make a satisfactory Anthracite coal briquette. During a life which by reason of his temperament in a business way was necessarily marked by brief reversals of prosperity and aggressive and fearless controversy, he never lost the wholesale broad-mindedness which characterized his pri- vate relationships and the sincere affection and generos- ity which he maintained towards his family and friends. Upon his death, a widespread regret in a formal and' informal manner was expressed by the organizations and clubs of which he was a member, and the business which he founded is still continued along the lines that originally characterized it.
GRANVILLE T. MATLACK, M. D .- Although Dr. Matlack conducted a general medicine and surgical practice in Wilkes-Barre, he devoted, throughout his life, special study to the activities and ailments of the thyroid gland, and became noted for the success with which he handled goitre cases. He was asked numerous times to accept professorships in different medical schools : but, electing to stay in Wilkes-Barre, he performed more than one thousand successful goitre operations, received a number of commendations for his skill, including those of the famous Mayo brothers, and won world-wide rec- ognition for his contribution to medical science and to popular health. In the course of his extremely useful career, he gave freely of his time and efforts to study of the problems of his profession; and, for the results that he achieved, attracted the admiration and the praises of many men. His death, needless to say, was a severe loss to the profession for whose advancement he had labored so long and so faithfully and to which he had dedicated his life.
Born on February 5, 1862, in Downington. Chester County, Pennsylvania, Dr. Matlack was a son of Thomas and Thamon Kerlin (Dowlin) Matlack, hoth now de- ceased. The father was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth ( McFarlan) Matlack and a descendant of one of the oldest families in Chester County. Thomas Matlack, Sr., the grandfather, was the father of seven children, six of whom were sons and one a daughter. Four of the sons were doctors of medicine. These seven children were: I. Thomas, the father of Granville T., a farmer all his life. 2. George, also a farmer. 3. William H., M. D. 4. Richard, M. D. 5. James, M. D. 6. Frank, M. D. 7. Jane Ann, who became the wife of Jacob McFarlan. Of these, Thomas Matlack, the father of Dr. Granville T., had nine hildren, seven sons and two daugh- ters : I. James, died in childhood. 2. John D., now deceased. 3. Ida F., who died unwed. 4. Harry, now deceased. 5. Granville T., of whom this is a record. 6. George, died in childhood. 7. William L., now the superintendent of a large agricultural estate near Phila- delphia. 8. Walter, of Oakland, California. 9. Jennie, now the wife of J. Emmert Olmsted, of Petaluma, Cali- fornia.
Granville T. Matlack, the fourth son and fifth child
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of Thomas Matlack, Jr., obtained his early education in the public schools of the community in which he was born. When he was twelve years of age, he entered the Chester Valley Academy, at Downington, Pennsyl- vania, from which he was graduated when he was six- teen years of age. He was then apprenticed to the printers' trade on the Downington "Archive," a weekly news publication of that community. He remained with this paper for about three years, at the end of which time he resigned to enroll as a student at the Jefferson Medical College in the City of Philadelphia. He was graduated from Jefferson Medical College with the class of 1884. when he received his degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. He then spent one year as interne at the Wilkes- Barre City Hospital, and in 1886 removed to Miners Mills, in Luzerne County, where he began the practice of his profession as a physician and surgeon. This proved to be successful, and Dr. Matlack remained in Miners Mills until 1891, when he returned to the larger field of Wilkes-Barre. There his abilities at once made them- selves manifest, and in the following year he was elected a member of the medical staff of. the Wilkes-Barre City Hospital, in which he had served his interneship. From that time onward he rapidly grew in his profession, devot- ing more and more study and performing more important work in that branch of medical science dealing with the thyroid gland, until at length he attained to a position of actual leadership in his special field.
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