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 55
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William Dickover received his early education in the public schools of Wilkes-Barre, but the family needed his services at the time, therefore he entered the employ of his uncle, Philip Reimer, at the age of ten years, in the wool-carding and cloth-dressing business in this city, where he diligently applied himself for two years. In 1832, when thirteen years old, he first began to learn his trade of plastering and general masonry with his father. He also worked on his father's farm. mastering many fundamentals that only manual exertion develops in a young man, until, in 1840, at the age of twenty-one years, he completed his apprenticeship. He married Elizabeth Olver, on December 24, 1844, whose father, John Olver (1790-1866), was born in Cornwall, England; married
February 18, 1814, Sarah Aunger. They came to America in 1831, settled at Beach Lake, Wayne County, Pennsyl- vania, where they reared a family of twelve sons and two daughters. Mr. and Mrs. William Dickover started housekeeping on West Ross Street. Seven children were born to them, of whom four grew to maturity: I. Maria. 2. Lavinia (Mrs. Henry L. Moore). 3. George T., all now deceased, the latter of whom further. 4. Hattie (Mrs. John B. Howell) residing in the homestead at No. 22 West Ross Street.
In 1842 William Dickover became one of the organ- izers of the Wyoming Volunteer Artillery, in whose work he took a lively part for many years. His wife's illness prevented him from enlistment at the outbreak of the Civil War, but he joined the militia ( Minute Men) just before the Battle of Antietam at which conflict they were held in reserve and after the retreat of the Confederates were sent home and disbanded. In 1855,, he aided in the organization of old Ross Street, now Central Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was one of the original trustees and continuously a member of the board for fifty-seven years, and for some time president. He was a member of the building committee for both the old and new churches, and held nearly every office in the church. He was poor director for Central District of Luzerne County for three years. He was a member of Sons of Temperance; of Wyoming Lodge, No. 39, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Past Grand in this order. In politics, he was Republican.
William Dickover built the A. C. Laning Foundry on Pennsylvania Avenue about 1850; rebuilt Wyoming Sem- inary, Kingston, after a disastrous fire in 1853; built Wyoming ( National ) Bank on Public Square in 1860, Wyoming Valley Hotel on South River Street, 1864; Music Hall on site of present Hotel Sterling, 1870, and many prominent residences, churches, schools, and other public buildings of his time. In 1870, he began the manu- facture of brick on Maple Street near North River. As Wilkes-Barre began to recover from the effects of the Civil War, the demand for brick increased and he several times removed and enlarged his quarters. In 1875, Wil- liam Dickover formed a partnership with his son, George T., and in 1883, the brick manufacturing plant was in- cluded under the firm name of Wm. Dickover and Son. Business was gradually expanded until it served not only the city, but the surrounding territory as well. Mr. Dick- over retired from business in 1898. In 1905. he won the distinction of being the oldest native born business man in Wilkes-Barre. His vivid recollections caused many interested in early events to seek interviews with him. He died at his home, May 7, 1912, at the remarkable age of ninety-two years, and was buried at Forty Fort Cemetery.
George Tusten Dickover, the only son of. William Dickover, first attended Wilkes-Barre public schools and later was graduated from Wyoming Seminary. During his school days he had worked with his father, and later became a journeyman, foreman, and from 1875 until 1898 a partner in the firm of William Dickover and Son. He lived all his life in Wilkes-Barre, except several months spent in the South during the financial panic of 1873 and about a vear in Kansas City and Atchison, Kansas, where he found employment during the depression of 1870. His firm later erected the masonry of many important build- ings of all kinds in this community, including Kingston Methodist Church, First National Banks of Pittston and Nanticoke, First and Second National Banks, Masonic Temple and Irem Temple in Wilkes-Barre.
George T. Dickover was one of the first members of the National Brick Manufacturers' Association and a vice-president in 1895. He was also one of the first board of directors of the South Side Bank and its president for nineteen years, a position which he filled with great ability until shortly before his death.
In politics, Mr. Dickover was Republican. In 1912, he succeeded his father as a trustee of Central Methodist Church and was for several years president of that board, as well as of the Luzerne County Bible Society. He was also a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, being affiliated with Landmark Lodge. No. 442; Shekinah Chapter, No. 182, Roval Arch Masons; Dieu le Vent Commandery, No. 45. Knights Templar ; and Irem Tem- ple. Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
In Camden, New Jersey, on April 25, 1883, George T. Dickover married Frances Stockton, daughter of Richard and Deborah ( Harrison) Stockton, and a member of a family which was prominent in the country's history be- fore. during and after the American Revolution. Richard Stockton of this family was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Others have for genera-
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tions been active in the life of Princeton University at Princeton, New Jersey, Mr. and Mrs. Dickover had five children, Georgia A. and Gertrude M., both graduates of Syracuse University, William Stockton, and two who died in infancy, Helen O. and Harold R. William S. Dickover married Helen Fancourt. They have three children, George F., Edith F., and Helen F. Dickover. In 1907 William S. Dickover entered the firm, whereupon its name was changed to George T. Dickover and Son.
George T. Dickover's death, which occurred on July 13, 1928, brought to an end a long and useful life which had been valuable to his family, his church, his com- munity and himself. Throughout the later years of his career an active figure in the business and financial affairs of the Wyoming Valley, he represented a type of solid and substantial citizenship of which Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County were justifiably proud.
DR. THOMAS REED GAGION, born in Wilkes- Barre October 2, 1890, was the son of John and Winifred ( Campbell) Gagion. He made his preparation for col- lege in the public schools of his native city, and then matriculated in the Medical Department of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania. From there he went to German- town University, from which he was graduated in 1912 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. This study was supplemented by a year's interneship in St. Francis Hos- pital, New York City. He then went back to his native city and practised for four years until the United States entered the World War. In July, 1917, he enlisted in the Medical Department of the 18th Infantry, Ist Division, and went overseas with his unit. He was wounded in action at Soissons and was in the hospital for a full year. Then he was assigned to duty at General Hospital, No. 32, and Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, where he was mustered out in September, 1920. He returned to the University of Pennsylvania and did three years of post-graduate work in diseases of the eye, ear. nose and throat. He then located in Pittston and since that time has devoted himself exclusively to the treatment of the class of diseases named. Dr. Gagion is a member of the staff of the Pittston State Hospital. He is a member of the Luzerne County Medical Society. the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is also a member of the American Legion.
On December 24, 1917, Dr. Thomas Reed Gagion mar- ried Helen Craig McDonald of Pittston. Mrs. Gagion is an active member of the Woman's Club of West Pittston. The doctor and his wife reside at 906 Sus- quehanna Avenue, and they are members of St. John's Roman Catholic Church.
JOSEPH SWEITZER BITTENBENDER-As proprietor of the J. S. Bittenbender meat brokerage com- pany, Joseph Sweitzer Bittenbender represents a large group of meat packing concerns and sugar refineries in Northeastern Pennsylvania. In addition, he is president of the American Auto Accessories Stores in Wilkes- Barre, which he was largely responsible for organizing in 1010. The two concerns give Mr. Bittenbender ex- tensive contacts in Pennsylvania business circles, mem- bers of which hold him in high esteem for the ability he has displayed in developing his career, as well as for his sterling personal qualities. He is also well known in fraternal circles of the State.
Mr. Bittenbender was born in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, where he still makes his home at No. 6o Church Street, on June 7, 1884, the son of Frederick J. and Matilda (Sweitzer ) Bittenbender, both of whom were natives of Plymouth. The father, born August 25, 1857, was a manufacturer of mining tools, particularly drills; his death occurred July 6, 1895. The mother was born May 22, 1858, and died May 16, 1912. The subject of this sketch attended the public schools of Nanticoke and en- rolled in Bucknell University, which institution accorded him a Bachelor of Arts degree with the class of 1005. For six months he taught in Nanticoke High School, then became associated with the Bradstreet Company in Wilkes-Barre, in which connection he remained for ten years. It was in 1915 that he started the meat broker- age business, which he operates under his own name at No. 35 West Market Street, in Wilkes-Barre. His suc- cess here, with attendant systemitization of the activities involved, made it possible for him, four years later, to divide his time and help organize the American Auto Accessories Stores. Mr. Bittenbender is a Republican and is affiliated with Plymouth Lodge, No. 332, Free and Accepted Masons: Keystone Consistory : Knights Templar, of Scranton, and also Irem Temple, Ancient
Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Christian Church of Plymouth.
Mr. Bittenbender married, on April 24, 1919, Barbara M. Jones, daughter of Gilbert S. and Jean ( Mitchell) Jones, of Dorranceton, Pennsylvania.
CHARLES J. BAAB-An expert in wireless teleg- raphy, having become proficient also in electro-mechanics in a very wide range, Charles J. Baab sacrificed a career in which he undoubtedly would have won great fame, to assist his father in carrying on his sheet metal, heating and plumbing business, which since the death of his par- ent he has conducted alone and is making of it a capital success. Mr. Baab is one of the most substantial business men of Wilkes-Barre, a well-educated man of sound sci- entific understanding, who reflects honor on the city of his birth.
Born in Wilkes-Barre, July 28, 1878, Charles J. Baab is the son of Frank Baab, who was well known in the Wilkes-Barre section as a contractor in sheet metal, heating and plumbing work, and built up a considerable business, which at his death, December 14, 1923, passed to his son, Charles. He attended parochial schools in Wilkes-Barre and took his preparatory course at the Harry Hillman Academy, whence he entered Notre Dame University, and was a four-year student there in the class of 1900. His career at Notre Dame was one of athletic and student excellence, and he was especially prominent in branches of the electrical science. He was called into the laboratory by Professor Green to assist in experiments on wireless telegraphy. He completed the first known wireless telegraph set of its kind, which he put in operation from Notre Dame University to St. Mary's Academy, a distance of about one mile. Later he was called upon to demonstrate his experiments and their results before a number of leading scientists.
Mr. Baah's bent for things electrical led him from the university laboratory, on completion of his studies, into service for the Electro-Dynamie Corporation in Phila- delphia, with which concern he remained six months. He was afterwards with the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company at Pittsburgh for eight years, pursuing a college students' course in the company's shops, and later was connected with its engineering de- partments. His association with that concern was ter- minated at the end of eight years, during which period he gave proof of his capabilities for proceeding on the high- road of the electrical profession.
Filial duty was ever a strong incentive with Mr. Baab, however, and he believed it incumbent upon him to re- turn to Wilkes-Barre and there join his father in the management of the latter's business. This he did, and there has always been a feeling of satisfaction since that he was with his father in his declining years, and was enabled, after his passing, to assume the sole ownership of the establishment without interruption of the business. He has been prospered in having taken this attitude towards his father's affairs and the estate, the business having grown appreciably under his capable management.
Mr. Baab has a double-starred military record to his credit, he having served in the Spanish-American and the World Wars. His politics is of the Democratic persuasion, and he is keenly interested in the fortunes of his party, being favorably known also throughout the community for his cooperation in movements of munici- pal advance. He is prominently identified with fraternal bodies, affiliating with the Knights of Columbus, of which he is a Fourth Degree member; and with the American Legion. His clubs are the Concordia Singing Society, the Exchange Club and the Wyoming Valley Motor Club. He is a devout member of St. Nicholas' Roman Catholic Church and president of the Holy Name Society of that parish.
Charles J. Baab married, in June, 1911, Elizabeth Ruth Horn, daughter of George N. and Mary Ilorn, and they are the parents of five children: Frank Charles, Carl George Benedict, Rita Josephine, George Louis, and Elizabeth Mary.
RUTTER FAMILY-Conrad Rutter was a Prus- sian. On account of religious persecutions he left Prus- sia and went into England to live temporarily, where he married his wife, Jane Douglas, of Scotch descent, and emigrated to America in the year 1683, in the com- pany of which Francis Daniel Pastorius was the guiding spirit. They reached Philadelphia, August 20, 1683, hav- ing made the voyage in the ship "America," John Wasey, captain. He took up land where Germantown, Phila- delphia, now stands, and laid out that town during the
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year of his arrival. He remained there until 1689, then removed up the Schuylkill to where Pottstown in Mont- gomery County now stands, took up lands there and improved them. In 1716 he gave his tract to his son, Andrew, and with his other three sons, Joseph, Peter, and Conrad, Jr., went to what is now Leacock Town- ship, Lancaster County, where he took up five hundred and eighty-eight acres of land. His warrant for these lands bore the signature of Penn's sons, and was dated January 3, 1733. The lands in Lancaster County Conrad Rutter divided in three parts, giving one of these, com- prising one hundred and eighty-eight acres, to his son, Joseph, from whom the Rutter families of the Wyoming Valley are descended.
Conrad Rutter, the pioneer, was a persevering and farseeing man. His descendants in each succeeding gen- eration from his time are classed with the first families of Pennsylvania. When we consider how he was driven from his native land because of his religious views, com- ing to America in 1683, helping to found Germantown, and afterward building for his children in what are now two counties in this great Commonwealth, we can have none other than feelings of veneration for the immigrant ancestor of the Rutter family in America. When well advanced in years he helped to found and build (1729) the first Protestant Episcopal Church in Eastern Lan- caster County. His son, Joseph, progenitor of the par- ticular branch of the Rutter family of which these annals treat, built on his own farm tract at his own expense the first schoolhouse in Leacock Township. It is handed down as tradition in the Rutter family that in this little schoolhouse one of Joseph's daughters educated her future husband, who, with their sons, in later years were prominent persons in the history of Lancaster County. Conrad Rutter and his wife, Jane Douglas were the parents of four sons : Andrew, Joseph, Peter, and Conrad, Jr.
Joseph Rutter, son of Conrad and Jane (Douglas) Rutter, was born in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and married there Barbara Glenn, who bore him three children : 1. Henry, married Elizabeth Shultz, and had fourteen children, each of whom received a goodly inheritance under his will. 2. George, born in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, and died in Salis- bury Township. He married Margaret Lightner, daugh- ter of Nathaniel Lightner and his wife, Margaret La Rue, who was born in France in 1713. Nathaniel Light- ner was one of the prominent early settlers in Leacock Township. Of the nineteen children of Nathaniel Light- ner, two sons and two daughters married two sons and two daughters of Joseph Rutter. George and Margaret (Lightner) Rutter had among other children, Adam Rutter, see forward. 3. Barbara, who became the wife of a Mr. Lightner, and the mother of the late Judge John Lightner.
Adam Rutter, Sr., son of George and Margaret ( Light- ner ) Rutter, was born in Leacock Township in 1763, and died in Salisbury Township, November 25, 1810. He was a farmer by occupation. He married Margaret Skiles, born May 15, 1773, died July. 19, 1859. Their children were: James, born, in June, 1797, married Wil- liam Rhodes; George, born in May, 1801, married Eliza- beth Rutter ; Anna, born July 16, 1804, married Henry McClellan; Nathaniel, mentioned hereafter ; Adam, Jr., born November 26, 1808, married, in 1828, Margaret Skiles; Rachel, born March 15, 1810, married Christian Weldy.
Nathaniel Rutter, fifth child of Adam, Sr., and Mar- garet (Skiles) Rutter, was born in the Pequa Valley, fourteen miles below Lancaster, November 14, 1806, died October 14, 1899, aged ninety-three years. He came to Wilkes-Barre in 1825, and sometime between 1835 and 1840 associated with George M. Hollenback in a gen- eral merchandise business. The management of the busi- ness was in Mr. Rutter's hands until the death of his partner, November 7, 1866, and afterward Mr. Rutter carried on a general hardware store until 1888. He was for years president of the Miners' Savings Bank and of the Hollenback Coal Company, and a director of the Vulcan Iron Works, and was also connected with various other business enterprises. He was at one time a member of the City Council. On coming to Wilkes-Barre Mr Rutter was identified with St. Stephen's Protestant Epis- copal Church, but after his marriage he became a mem- ber of the First Presbyterian Church, and was for many years one of its elders. He was for many years a familiar figure on the streets of Wilkes-Barre, and many persons knew and admired him for his fine traits. Unas- suming in all the relations of life, the spirit of religious culture took hold of his nature and enabled him as a
Christian to fulfill in the community a most beneficent purpose. His example tended to exalt the dignity of man, and raised him in the scale of virtue, while his social and domestic life ever will be a blessed memory.
Nathaniel Rutter married, January 13, 1831, Mary Ann Cist, born December 26, 1808, died March 18, 1846, daugh- ter of Jacob Cist and his wife, Sarah Hollenback. Their children were: 1. Ellen Cist, born October 25, 1831, died unmarried May 21, 1887. 2. Emily Hollenback, born December 16, 1833, married, September 29, 1859, Edward P. Darling, and died January 23, 1882. 3. Margaret, born January 24, 1836, married Eugene Beauharnais Beaumont, and died April 22, 1879. 4. Augusta, born August 23, 1837, married Clarence Michler, and died July 22, 1878. 5. George, died in infancy. 6. James May, see forward. Nathaniel Rutter married (second), Feb- ruary 19, 1850, Ellen Cist, sister of his first wife, and widow of the Rev. Robert Dunlap, born January 7, 1813, died September 20, 1880, whose daughter by her first marriage, Sally H. Dunlap, became the wife of Isaac M. Thomas, of Wilkes-Barre. Mr. Rutter had by his second marriage: Marian Natalie, of Wilkes-Barre; and Her- vey Simmons, who died April 4, 1889.
James May Rutter, youngest son of Nathaniel and Mary Ann (Cist) Rutter, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1841, and died, in December, 1907. He was educated at an academic institution in Wyoming, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Leaving school he was apprenticed to Laning & Marshall to learn the machin- ist's trade, and finished his term of service May 13, 1862. During the Civil War he enlisted as private, August 4, 1862, and was made fifth sergeant of Company C, 143d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The regi- ment was attached to the 2d Brigade, 3d Division, Ist Corps, Army of the Potomac, then operating in Virginia. With that command he participated in the battles of Fitz Hugh Farm, Pollocks Mill, Chancellorsville, Gettys- burg, and the Mine Run campaign. In March, 1864, the Ist Corps was disbanded, and the 143d Pennsylvania Regiment was transferred to the 5th Corps, and afterward took part in the battles of the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Totapotomy, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, the siege and assault of Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Boydton Road, Hatcher's Run and other minor engagements. In 1863 Sergeant Rutter was presented by resolution of Congress with a medal of honor for gal- lantry at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, in which battle he carried his wounded captain from the field and saved him from falling into the hands of the enemy.
(The Congressional Medal of Honor was never be- stowed except upon incontrovertible evidence of conspic- nous gallantry. The record in the case cited shows the following facts: Sergeant Rutter's regiment was in action on the Chambersburg Pike, in front of McPher- son Woods, where General John F. Reynolds was killed. About 4 o'clock, p. m., General Doubleday's corps, to which the 143d Pennsylvania Regiment was attached, being left without support, was obliged to fall back to another line, where the men lay down, the enemy occupy- ing the railroad cut in their immediate front. It was here that Captain (afterward Colonel) Reichard was wounded. Lieutenant John C. Kropp, of Sergeant Rut- ter's company, exclaimed that it was a pity to let Cap- tain Reichard, wounded as he was, fall into the hands of the enemy, and asked that some of the men should bring him off the field. There was no answer, until Sergeant Rutter jumped up and ran to his rescue, about twenty feet in advance of the firing line. Helping the captain to his feet, he brought him to the rail fence, under a heavy fire, where some of his comrades pulled down the rails and George Kinder assisted Rutter in taking the wounded officer to Gettysburg and placing him in a private house. Rutter made every effort to find a surgeon, and in his search narrowly escaped capture, the town being occupied by the Confederates, who fired at every blue uniform. Returning to the house, he reported his non-success to his disabled captain, and then took refuge for the night in the cemetery. In the morning he rejoined his regiment, and on answering at roll call was told by Lieutenant Kropp that he had been given up for dead, and that none of his comrades expected to see him again. The same morning ( July 2d) Sergeant Rutter, with his regiment, was in close action, and on the next day aided in repelling the magnificent but ill- fated charge of General Pickett's division. The regi- ment to which Sergeant Rutter belonged distinguished itself greatly during the entire three days' battle, and came away with its colors, while two other regiments in the brigade lost theirs to the enemy. The monu- ment of the regiment, on the Chambersburg Pike, in
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front of where the brave General Reynolds fell, and near where General Hancock was wounded, marks the line held by it on July .2 and 3. 1863, when the backbone of the rebellion was broken. The facts upon which the Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded to Sergeant Rutter were established by the sworn evidence of Captain Reichard himself, and by Sergeant R. W. Marcy and Private Charles S. Shotten).
After Gettysburg he returned with his regiment to Virginia, near Culpeper, where he was detailed with twenty men to guard the signal station at Poney Moun- tain, which was beyond the Union picket lines. He was transferred to the United States Signal Corps, on March 20, 1864, and when in front of Petersburg, Virginia, shortly afterward, was promoted to sergeant, and was on detached service at corps headquarters under Gen- erals Burnside, Park and Hartranft. He took part in all the battles in which his regiment participated up to General Lee's surrender. He was honorably discharged and mustered out of service at Washington, District of Columbia, June 27, 1865.
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