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 59
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George Reynolds Bedford had married, May 19, 1874, Emily Lindsley Fuller, daughter of Henry M. and Har- riet (Thorpe) Fuller, member of a cultured and honored family whose American ancestry is traced back to the earliest settlers of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The line has included many figures of large public character, and Mrs. Bedford was a lady of refined and kindly nature. The marriage ceremony was held in Wilkes-Barre, with the late Rev. Dr. Franklin B. Hodge in charge. In 1924, Mr. and Mrs. Bedford observed their golden wedding anniversary, and on May 8, 1927, Mrs. Bedford died, at the age of eighty years. Said a local publication :
This visitation has suddenly deprived friends and organizations of the steadfast cooperation and assist - ance which Mrs. Bedford had for a long and active lifetime given to good causes. It was a life most un- usual, in that its mental and physical vitality had never been impaired, and the usefulness was continued without interruption. . Another remarkable thing is that, although health allowed such a long record of service, the will to do should have remained always so vital. But this was index of a character whose devotion and loyalty knew no variation.
Mr. Bedford's death, as has been noted, followed that of Mrs. Bedford by one month, to the exact day. They left two children: 1. Paul, of whom follows. 2. Bruce. Bruce Bedford was born November 26, 1876. He gradu- ated from Princeton in 1899, and is now a rubber manu- facturer at Trenton, New Jersey. Bruce Bedford mar- ried Mathilde Hamill, and they have two sons : Hugh and Bruce, Jr.
(V) Paul Bedford, elder son of George Reynolds and Emily Lindsley (Fuller ) Bedford, was born at Wilkes- Barre, June 24, 1875. He secured his early training of preparatory character in the Harry Hillman Academy, of this city, and in 1893 matriculated in Princeton, from which he took the degree of Bachelor of Science, 1897. Meanwhile his interest in the law as a career had strengthened, and in the fall of 1897 he entered the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadel- phia, from it graduating in 1900 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Without delay he returned to Wilkes- Barre, and here, admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County, commenced practice. His firm, in the Miners' Bank Building, makes a specialty of corporation law, and
represents railroads, street traction systems, telephone and telegraph companies, light and power organizations, banking houses, factories, et cetera. The clientele is extensive, and Mr. Bedford is counted one of the fore- most barristers of this part of Pennsylvania. As were his forefathers, he is a Democrat in political adherence, and for twenty years has been active as worker for the party's causes. On one occasion he made a strong con- test for State Legislature, and is of prominence within the party's workings. He has served as member of the city, county and State Democratic committees, and more recently, as member of the Democratic National Finance Committee. From 1913 to 1915 he rendered valued serv- ice to the Wilkes-Barre community as assistant district attorney, and is now president of the Board of Assess- ment and Revision of Taxes, Luzerne County. Mr. Bed- ford is affiliated with Zeta Psi Alumni Association of the University of Pennsylvania; belongs to the West- moreland Club of Wilkes-Barre, Wyoming Valley Country Club; is a member of the Princeton, University and Bankers' clubs of New York City, the Princeton Club of Philadelphia, Nassau Club of Princeton, and' Scranton .Club of Scranton. He is a director of the Miners' Bank of Wilkes-Barre and the United Service Corporation of Scranton. In charitable works he is active, being a member of the boards of the Pennsylvania Association for Blind, the Home for Friendless Children, Osterhout Free Library, and Mercy Hospital of Wilkes- Barre. Communicant of the First Presbyterian Church, Wilkes-Barre, he is one of its trustees.
Paul Bedford married, November 24, 1915, Gertrude T. Vaughn, of Kingston, daughter of Stephen B. and Marion W. ( Preston) Vaughn, descended on both pa- ternal and maternal sides in families long established in the Wyoming Valley.
ALVAN MARKLE-For many generations the fam- ly of Markle has been most prominent in the operation of coal properties and banking institutions throughout this section of Pennsylvania, and to these activities Alvan Markle, president of the Markle Banking & Trust Com- pany, of Hazleton, Luzerne County, has added the con- struction and operation of railway and telephone lines. Mr. Markle has long been president of the concern which bears the family name, and since 1892 he has developed the system which includes the famous third-rail line between Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre. There is still an old Indian trail over the Penobscot Mountain on which' the ancestors of Alvan Markle traveled their weary and dangerous journey over a century ago; and a romantic connection between those romantic days of pioneering and this era of modern progress is the fact that through this mountain is a tunnel almost a mile in length, in which runs the third-rail line originated by Mr. Markle. This tunnel, cut through the mountain by the enterprise of Mr. Markle is directly under that trail traveled by those early settlers, among whom were some of his own direct ancestors.
Alvan Markle was born at the family homestead at Hazleton, August 29, 1861. He attended public and private schools in his native town until he was eleven years of age, when he entered the Alexander Military Institute, at White Plains, New York, where he remained for the space of two years. During the following two years he attended Lauderbach's Academy in Philadelphia, and in 1878 graduated from the Hill School, of Pottstown, Montgomery County. In the fall of the same year he entered Lafayette College, at Easton, Northampton County, but on account of the impaired health of his father, who was compelled to relinquish the management of his extensive mining operations, as well as his bank- ing house and other varied interests, Alvan Markle left college in 1879 and was placed in charge of the mines at Jeddo, Luzerne County. He continued in that capacity until 1887, when he returned to Hazleton, where he assumed the management of the banking house of Markle Brothers & Company, successors to Pardee & Markle. This same year, and while he was living over the bank, he was stricken with typhoid fever and was nursed back to health by his future bride, Mary Dryfoos. In June, 1892, he bought out his brothers' interests in Markle Brothers & Company and at the same time bought the Hazleton Savings Bank charter; then organized the Markle Banking & Trust Company, of which he was elected president, which office he still retains. The charter of the Hazleton Savings Bank was originally granted by the Assembly of the State on May 23, 1871, the original capital being $50,000. This was increased by the Markle Banking & Trust Company to $100,000. On December 1, 1920, this was increased to $300,000, and
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again, on July 1, 1924, to $600,000. The Markle Bank- ing & Trust Company continued to do business in the old Iron Front Building until 1910, in which year the present twelve-story bank building was erected, which is one of the finest business structures in the State. In 1923 a six-story office building was erected beside the existing twelve-story building, and on March 30, 1928 the banking room was rebuilt and renovated, and it is now one of the most beautiful, modern-equipped rooms of its kind to be found anywhere.
Even as late as 1892, electric traction was still regarded as largely theoretical, but Mr. Markle had the fore- sight to realize its great possibilities, and he built the Lehigh Traction Company's lines, thereby forming a connecting link with all the outlying towns in the ter- ritory known as the Middle Lehigh coal region. He personally designed all cars purchased from time to time by the Lehigh Traction Company, and he is the origina- tor of what is known as the "side-door trolley car." In 1902 he organized a company and constructed the Wilkes- Barre & Hazleton Railroad, one which stands throughout in almost every detail as the pioneer third-rail road. He invented the third-rail guard which is now in use on the Hudson & Manhattan Railway, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the subway lines of New York City. Noted engineers from all over the country have been attracted by the original ideas exemplified in the construction and operation of this road, which includes the tunnel through the Penobscot Mountain, previously referred to. Mr. Markle has also ever taken a deep interest in the inde- pendent telephone companies, and is responsible for much of the vast extension of the lines of these concerns. He was the organizer of the Consolidated Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, and its efficient president. He later became president of the Lehigh Telephone Company, which he had also originated and organized.
He was always to the fore in all anthracite labor disputes and settlements, and in 1912, when a sub-com- mittee of operators and miners was formed to bring about a settlement of the labor questions of that year, Mr. Markle was chosen chairman of that body. In 1916, the ability which he had displayed four years before again led to his choice for chairman of the sub-com- mittee, and he has served almost continually since 1909 as chairman of the joint committee of miners and opera- tors. He also held the office of chairman of the gen- eral operators' committee, a post heretofore held by only one man, George F. Baer. Of the many important dis- putes in which he has taken an outstanding part, one of the most notable is the 1925-26 strike, during which he officiated as chairman of the miners' and operators' committee. Throughout his entire career, Mr. Markle has not only been a builder and pioneer of electric light plants, a builder of buildings, a builder of telephone systems, a builder of mines and a builder and backer of civic progress-he has been a builder for the better- ment of labor and the advancement of his fellowmen.
On September 7, 1887, Mr. Markle married Mary Dry- foos, who, as mentioned, had nursed him back to health and strength during his attack of typhoid fever that year. Mr. and Mrs. Markle are the parents of five children, of the following record: 1. Emily, born in Hazleton, June 19, 1888. She was educated at Briar- cliff School, at Briarcliff-on-Hudson, New York, and later at the establishment operated by Miss Spence, at New York City. On October 16, 1915, she married Wil- liam Newell Bannard, Jr., of New York City, then man- ager of the New York branch of Joseph Bancroff Sons, manufacturers of cotton goods. Later, Mr Bannard became a junior partner with the banking house of F. D. Lackey & Company, Wilmington, Delaware. He is at present a partner in the firm of Turner, Halsey & Company, New York City. Their children: A. Mary Markle Bannard, William N. Bannard III, and Emily A. Bannard. 2. Alvan, Jr., who was born at the fam- ily homestead at Hazleton, July 28, 1889, and he received his early education in the public schools of Hazleton; also at the Fay School, Southboro, Massachusetts. He later attended the Hill School, Pottstown, Pennsylvania ; the Lake Placid School, at Lake Placid, New York, and Cocoanut Grove, in Florida. In 1910 he entered the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, at New Haven, Connecticut, graduating in 1913 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. After leaving college he spent about eighteen months with the Guaranty Trust Company, of New York City, and on June 1, 1915, was chose vice-president of the Markle Banking & Trust Company, which position he now holds. He is a director of the latter corporation, and also of the following : the Wilkes-Barre & Hazleton Railroad Company, the Lehigh
Traction Company, the Hazleton Auto Bus Company, the North Branch Bus Company, the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company, the Hazle Brook Coal Company, the Markle Hotel Company, the Fuel Service Company, and the General Coal Company. During the World War he was in service for two years and first lieutenant in the Aviation Scction of the United States Army. He is a member of the Yale Club and the St. Anthony Club, of New York City and the Art Club of Philadelphia. His college fraternity is Delta Psi. He has four chil- dren : Alvan, 3rd., Thomas Vaughan, George B., 4th., and Marian N. 3. Donald, who was born in Hazleton, August 29, 1892, attended the schools of his native town, and later continued his early education at Fay School, Southboro, Massachusetts, and the Hill School, at Potts- town, Montgomery County. He then entered Yale Uni- versity in 1911, graduating from the Sheffield Scientific School in 1914, as a Bachelor of Philosophy, and he took a post-graduate course at Lehigh University in mining. At Yale he played on the football team and later coached the football teams of Lehigh University with great success. On New Year's Day, 1916, his engagement was announced to Miss Mary Orme, of New Orleans. They are the parents of five children, Mary, Donald, Gordon, Eckley and Joan. He is a member of the Yale Club and the St. Anthony Club, of New York City, also of the Delta Psi college fraternity. During the World War he was commissioned a major of infantry in the Ameri- can Forces. He is president of the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company, the Jeddo Supply Company, and the Fuel Serv- ice Company, and is a director of the Hazle Brook Coal Company. 4. Eckley B. C., born in Hazleton, Septem- ber 6, 1894, attended the same schools as brothers in Hazleton, Southboro, Lake Placid, Cocoanut Grove, Pottstown, and the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University. Like his brothers, he has always been promi- nent in athletics. During the World War he was a first lieutenant in the Aviation Corps. His college fraternity is Delta Psi. He is a director of the follow- ing corporations ; Wilkes-Barre & Hazleton Railroad, the Lehigh Traction Company, the Hazleton Auto Bus Com- pany, the Hazle Brook Coal Company, the North Branch. Bus Company, and the Hazleton Manufacturing Com- pany. 5. John, 2d, born in Hazleton, May 22, 1902, attended a private school in his home town and later took courses at the schools his brothers attended in Southboro and Pottstown. He graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University and is now with the Lehigh Telephone Company in an executive capacity. He is a director of the Wilkes-Barre & Hazle- ton Railroad, as well as of the North Branch Bus Com- pany.
MAJOR WILLIAM EVA MANNEAR, postmaster at Wilkes-Barre, and a representative citizen of this city, was born January 9, 1881, at Ashley, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, son of Joseph H. and Lavina (Eva) Man- near, both of whom are now deceased. Joseph H. Man- near was a miner, and by his marriage to Lavina Eva, of Pennsylvania, he became the father of ten children, seven of whom grew to maturity: 1. Alice ( Mackey ). 2. William Eva, of whom further. 3. Lavina. 4. John H. 5. Bertha (Nicholson). 6. J. Harry. 7. Ida (Rogers).
William Eva Mannear received his early education in the public schools of the community in which he was born and in Wilkes-Barre, graduating from the Wilkes- Barre Business College. At the age of thirteen he com- menced work as a shipping clerk, and afterward obtained an appointment as clerk in the United States Post Office at Wilkes-Barre, This was in 1906, and here he has since remained, receiving steady promotion until now (1928) he is postmaster of Wilkes-Barre. In 1912 he was made foreman of the distribution of mails, and in April, 1916, he was appointed assistant superintendent in charge of the delivery system. During the World War, Mr. Man- near's long and continuous service with the post office was interrupted temporarily. On August 27, 1917, he joined the United States Army and was assigned to duty as an assistant quartermaster and stationed at Plattsburg, New York. On December 11 of that year he was made quartermaster in charge at Base Hospital No. 116; and in March, 1918, he was ordered overseas to become a part of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. There he was sent to the front with the quartermaster depart- ment, and on February 14, 1919, he was commissioned major, Quartermaster's Corps, United States Army. On June 10, 1919, he returned to the United States and was permitted to resign from the service, afterwards accept- ing a commission as major in the Reserve Corps. He returned to the post office of Wilkes-Barre, where he
Um. E Manncar
Hans Hat.
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resumed his duties. Thereafter promotion came rapidly, and on September 21. 1921, he was commissioned post- master at Wilkes-Barre. His appointment was approved by the late President Warren G. Harding, and renewed by President Calvin Coolidge. He has since remained in Wilkes-Barre, although now his duties have been con- siderably broadened. In 1922, Mr. Mannear was elected sec- retary and treasurer of the National Association of Post- masters of the United States, and he was also made editor of the "Postmasters' Gazette," official publication of the Postmasters Association. That he has performed these extra duties with marked ability is proven by the fact that he has been reappointed to both offices of each of the succeeding years, including 1927. He is, unquestion- ably, one of the outstanding men of Luzerne County, and one of the most substantial citizens of Wilkes-Barre. He is strictly a "self-made" man of high character, esteemed hy all with whom he comes in contact.
Mr. Mannear is a member of the Landmark Lodge, No. 442, Free and Accepted Masons, of Wilkes-Barre; Keystone Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine, of Wilkes-Barre. He is also a past president of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Rotary Club, and one of the directors of the Chamber of Commerce of that city.
William Eva Mannear married, January 18, 1918, at Wilkes-Barre, Helen A. Lendrum, daughter of Alexan- der and Hyla (Felter) Lendrum, of Wilkes-Barre, and a descendant of one of the oldest and best known fam- ilies of Luzerne County. Mr. and Mrs. Mannear main- tain their residence in Wilkes-Barre, in which com- munity they attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which they are active members. Mr. Mannear has been active in community welfare, serving as a member of the Budget of the Community Welfare Federation for many years, and in 1928, was chairman of the annual campaign which was marked as a great success.
GEORGE J. RUTLEDGE-In the person of George J. Rutledge, of Pittston, there is represented one of the most enterprising business men of this section of Penn- sylvania. In the comparatively brief time he has been engaged in local commerce he has risen with a steady progress from the lowest rung of the ladder to a posi- tion that might well be the envy of those who began far ahead of him. This statement is rather in com- pliment to unusual energy and perseverance on his part than a reflection upon the qualities of others, for there are individuals in every field who display uncommon force in prosecuting their march upward and Mr. Rut- ledge is one of these. His natural abilities may have been no more than the average, but his industry, energy and tirelessness of effort have made him appear in an outstanding place, for he has made his native resources productive of those results toward which he has ever striven for success. Scarcely in the fourth decade of his life, his advance to this time has been so unusual that he may well visualize himself at the very top of the ladder of success before he has reached the pinnacle of his powers. He began work as a laborer in an ice cream manufacturing plant, later going to a packing house as a teamster and in other capacities. But his most out- standing bid for success was to work at night in gar- ages, giving his services free in exchange for the instruc- tion he received in the trade of motor engineering. Seven years after he established his first small garage, he is the owner of four establishments, employing a large force of men, and is sole agent and distributor in this district for some of the leading automobiles and motor trucks.
George J. Rutledge was born in Pittston, August 7. 1892, a son of George and Mary (Gerrity) Rutledge, his father having been a stationary engineer, now deceased. After a period with an ice cream establishment he took a position as teamster with the Cudahy Packing Com- pany, also working for that concern in various other capacities, including salesmanship on the road. He was always interested in auto-mechanics and became mechanic for the Cudahy house, which employed a large number of motor trucks. He was also in the employ of the United States Express Company for eighteen months. During this later period he worked at night, without salary, in several garages, learning the business. In 1920 he opened his first garage. His business grew and he opened another, eventually becoming sales agent for the Reo, Cadillac and La Salle motor cars and the White motor truck, with four garages and salesrooms in various accessible parts of Pittston, his principal house being at No. 206 South Main Street, which was an addition to the original establishment in Water Street. He also
operates a fleet of motor trucks and gives employment to more than a score of expert mechanics, chauffeurs and salesmen. Additional to all this activity, he entered the airplane business in May, 1927, when he purchased a 'plane, which he operates in commercial express work and with which he has associated a school of aeronau- tics. He is an active participant in all civic affairs wherein he may be of assistance to his fellow-citizens and holds membership in the American Automobile Asso- ciation, the Pennsylvania Automobile Association, the Kiwanis Club and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
George J. Rutledge married, in April, 1920, Jennie Dolan, of Pittston. The couple have four children, as follows : Jane, George, William, and James. They have their residence at No. 281 South Main Street, Pittston.
EDWARD S. WICKS-One of the finest jewelry establishments in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania is that of Edward S. Wicks, located at No. 6 North Market Street, West Pittston, where its proprietor has conducted a growing business since it was founded in 1913. Mr. Wicks prepared himself well for his life work, having made a careful study of watch making and then of optometry. Having lived in Pittston from the day of his birth and worked here since manhood, the people have had an opportunity to closely observe his steady advance on the road to prosperity and have acknowledged his worthiness. He has shown an indus- try that should be an example to young men entering upon a life of labor in the commercial world, while his civic interests have commended him to all. In frater- nal circles he long has been an active worker and his religious affiliations have added to his esteem in the hearts of the citizenry of this district. By his own efforts he has erected a substantial enterprise and is carrying it on to still greater development, as occasion demands.
Mr. Wicks was born in West Pittston in 1883, a son- of John and Ellen (Strange) Wicks. His father was a native of Cornwall, England, who came to America when a young man and established himself in Pittston, where he was a successful building contractor at the time of his death here at the age of seventy-one years. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and an active citizen in his devotion to the progress of the com- munity in which he lived and labored. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom Edward was the fourth. the others being : Alexander, William, Robert, Mary, John and Helen,
Edward S. Wicks acquired his education in the public schools of West Pittston, following which he learned watch-making and followed it until his establishment of the jewelry house in 1913, when he became associated with C. H. Snowdon under the firm name of Snowdon & Wicks. Twelve years later Mr. Wicks purchased the interest of his partner, having acquired the business block in which the store was located, and where he now con- ducts his business. The store is one of the most attractive in the valley, twenty feet in width and one hundred and forty-four feet deep and is stocked with a large line of high grade goods, as well as having an optical depart- ment, since the proprietor is a graduate optometrist as well as an horologist, with diploma from the Philadel- phia College of Horology. He is a member of the North East Pennsylvania Optometric Association and a charter member of the Pittston Rotary Club. His other affilia- tions include the Masonic order with membership in Valley Lodge, No. 499, Free and Accepted Masons ; Pittston Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Wyoming Val- ley~Commandery, Knights Templar, and Irem Temple, Anci:nt Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrinc. He also belongs to the Craftsmen's Club, of Pittston, and attends the First Methodist Episcopal Church. The fam- ily residence is at No. 242 Philadelphia Avenue, West Pittston.
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