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 64
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Mr. Stull married, October 31, 1889, Mary Edie, of York, Pennsylvania, a daughter of the Reverend James
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WV. and Josephine ( Logan) Edie, the first-named de- ceased, the mother living, aged ninety-one years. There are three children: 1. Josephine Edie, is a cafeteria manager. 2. Robert Alan, ice merchant at Wilkes-Barre. 3. Arthur, a research chemist, New York City.
THOMAS HENRY MAYS, M. D .- The medical fraternity of Luzerne County is ably represented by one of the younger group of practitioners, Dr. Thomas H. Mays, of Freeiand, who has made his influence felt for the good of the profession and for the patients to whom he so efficiently ministers. His intense interest in edu- cational affairs is expressed through his activities in the school board. He does a great deal of industrial work among the operatives in the hard coal inines of the region, and is a former deputy coroner of the county. Dr. Thomas Henry Mays was born in Philadelphia, May 23, 1885, the son of Dr. Thomas J. and Agnes ( Tice) Mays, both parents natives of the Quaker City and now deceased. His father was a graduate of the Jefferson Medical College and spent his professional career in Upper Lehigh, Sandy Run and Philadelphia, located in the latter city from 1884 until 1918, in which year he died at the age of seventy-two. He was a specialist in diseases of the heart and lungs and a member of the American Medical Association, Pennsylvania State Mcd- ical Society and Philadelphia County Medical Society.
The preparatory education of Dr. Thomas H. Mays was received in the Philadelphia public schools and he was graduated from that system in 1905. His academic and medical training was taken at the University of Pennsylvania from which he received his degree of Doc- tor of Medicine on graduation in the class of 1910. He served his interneship at Cooper Hospital, Camden, New Jersey, upon the completion of which he became an asso- ciate of Dr. George Wentz in Drifton. Dr. Mays settled in Freeland in 1910, where he has ever since given his attention to general practice. The numerous demands upon his services in both office and calling practice are indicative of his ability and popularity. He is assistant surgeon to the Lehigh Coal Company at Drifton and Eckley, and occupies a similar position in connection with the Jeddo Highland Coal Company. Civic affairs of Luzerne County and Freeland hold the sustained and active interest of Dr. Mays, and he finds time to devote to those interests in spite of the exactions of his prac- tice. His service as deputy coroner of the county was rendered for the term of 1916-18. He was elected to the Freeland School Board in 1922 and has served continu- ously since that date. His professional organizations are the American Medical Association, Pennsylvania State Medical Society and Luzerne County Medical Society. His religious fellowship is with the Presby- terian Church at Freeland.
Dr. Thomas Henry Mays married, in 1910, Katharine Carter Brookes, of Philadelphia, daughter of Edward Brookes. Their children are: Dorothy and Thomas Henry, Jr. Dr. Mays and his family have their residence at 612 Main Street, Freeland.
WILLIAM E. MARTIN-From breaker boy in coal mines of Hazleton and vicinity to prosperous merchant of Freeland is the succinct record of William E. Martin. yet between those bare lines may be read one of the vitally interesting stories of ambition achieved and indus- try rewarded through conscientious effort and upstanding honesty of character. One of a large family of chil- dren, he was imbued with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and position among his fellows, and endowed with natural intellectual qualities that enabled him to advance along the road with steady stride toward the goal of his ambition. Devoted to the development of all worthy enterprises in the district, he took an important part in civic affairs, as well as commercial, and served in public office with distinction and satisfaction to those who reposed in him their confidence. Additional to these associations he is fraternally affiliated with men of promi- nence in several organizations and has commercial inter- ests outside his own line that engage his attention in cooperation with leaders of business activity. He was born in this district, March 17, 1862, a son of William and Mary (Allen) Martin, his father and mother hav- ing been natives of England. Coming to America when a young man, the elder Martin became engaged in min- ing and rose to a foremanship at Laurel Hill, afterward becoming superintendent at the Latimer mines at Hazle- ton, where he remained until within.two years of his death in the early nineties at the age of sixty-four years. He had been a member of the select council of Hazleton and was continued in that office when the borough
became a city. He also served as. treasurer of the town- ship of Hazleton, having been elected by the Republican vote, of which political party he was an ardent member. His church of worship was the Methodist Episcopal. Mrs. Martin died in 1898. She and her husband were the parents of the following children: Richard T., deceased at sixty-five years ; Robert L., deceased at sixty- five years; William E. of whom further; Althela M. ; Edith, widow of Dr. W. L. Hutchison; Jennie A., deceased, wife of Dr. John Leckey; Edwin A., phy- sician at Hammond, Indiana ; Eva A., a teacher in the city schools of Hazleton ; Harry L., a clerk in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Hazleton.
William E. Martin was educated in the public schools, Williamsport Seminary, and at Bloomsburg Normal School, having graduated from the last-named institution with the class of 1887. In his boyhood he had worked in the breakers and in the coal mines, rising to the posi- tion of foreman with the Lattimer Company, leaving that to obtain higher education, upon completion of which he taught school in Hazleton and Foster Township for thirteen years. It was at this period that he determined upon still broader education, a decision that resulted in his appointment as principal of the Miners' and Me- chanies' Institute, a position he held until 1900, when he abandoned it to engage in mercantile work. He began with the hardware business, succeeding William Wil- liamson in that line in Freeland, which he has continued to the present time, its location now being at No. 524 'Center Street, Freeland, which is also his residence. In local office he has served as burgess for three years. and for eight years as school director and auditor of the borough. He is a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America; Independent Americans; Arbutus Lodge, No. 611, Free and Accepted Masons; Lehigh Consistory, Ancient Scottish Rite Masons, and No. 1145, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a director of the First National Bank, and helped to organize the Washington Silk Company, of which he is now the president. His church is the Methodist Epis- copal.
William E. Martin married, in 1892, Anna Beisel, of Hazleton. Their children are: 1. Robert Allen, asso- ciated in business with his father, married Barbara De John and they are the parents of William E., Elizabeth Jane, and Evelyn A. 2. Edith Lenore, married William Larson. of Laurel Springs, and they are the parents of Evelyn and Lenore. 3. John B., married Virgel Stew- art, and they are the parents of John B., Jr. The mother of the aforementioned children and grandchildren died, and Mr. Martin married a second time, in 1903, Anna Morgan, of Freeland. Their children are: 1. Wil- liam E., Jr., a dental student at Temple University, Philadelphia ; married Dorothy Lehr, and they are the parents of Mary L. 2. Evelyn A., a supervisor of music in the schools of New Jersey. 3. Meredith G. Mrs. Martin is an active worker in the Civic Club, and in the Order of the Eastern Star.
DR. WILLIAM J. McHUGH-One of the younger members of the dental profession in Freeland, Pennsyl- vania, is Dr. William J. McHugh, who since 1925 has been building up a very satisfactory practice here. He is a graduate of the Dental Department of Temple Uni- versity, and has his offices in Rooms 4-5 of the Knights of Columbus Building. He is a veferan of the World War, having been in active service overseas.
Dr. William J. McHugh was born in Freeland, Penn- sylvania, January 5, 1896, son of James and Mary (Bro- gan ) McHugh, both of whom are deceased (1928). The father, a native of Buck Mountain, Carbon County, Penn- sylvania, was in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Rail- road Company, as station agent at Freeland, for some thirty years and for many years served as a member of t'ic local School Board. He was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Knights of Columbus, and held membership in St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church. Ife and his wife were the parents of twelve children, of whom three: James, Mary and Thomas, died in infancy ; the others being . Margaret, Catherine, died of influenza in 1918; Edward, Marie, William, Sadie, James, Elizabeth and Charles.
William J. McHugh attended the public schools and the Mining and Mechanical schools of Freeland, and then, when school days were over, entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, with whom. he remanied for five years as telegrapher at Freeland. He had always desired to enter professional life, and after five years as telegrapher became a student in the Dental Department of Temple University, at Philadel-
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phia, where he completed his course with the class of 1925. After graduation he located here in Freeland, and since that time he lias been giving his attention to the building up of his practice. He has already established a reputation for thorough and careful work and for businesslike methods, and is taking care of the dental needs of a large number of people in Freeland and viein- ity. He is a member of the National Dental Society, and the Hazleton Dental Association. During the period of the World War, Dr. MeHugh served as a member of the 106th Ammunition Train, entering service in March, 1918, going overseas in September of the same year, and being mustered out of service January 10, 1919. He is a member of the American Legion. Fraternally, he is identified with the Knights of Columbus, and his religious membership is with St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church. He makes his home at No. 219 Washington Street, in Freeland.
JOSEPH A. WILLIAMS-One of the best known and most popular insurance men of the Central District of the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, of Baltimore, Maryland, is Joseph A. Williams, general agent, with offices at No. 204 in the Miners' Bank Build- ing, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Mr. Williams has been associated with this company since shortly after the be- ginning of 1916, serving as a part time agent while attending to the duties of his official position as deputy treasurer for Luzerne County. Since 1920 he has been a general agent and he is handling a volume of business which places him at the head of the list of those who are leaders in the field.
Joseph Williams, father of Mr. Williams, was a native of England, but came to this country and settled in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, about 1886. He and his wife, Mary were the parents of six children : Mrs. Harry Colvin, of Wilkes-Barre; Joseph A., of further mention ; Charles, of Wilkes-Barre; Edward, a resident of Wilkes- Barre; Leo, of Wilkes-Barre; and Mrs. George Mat- thews, a resident of Swoyersville Borough.
Joseph A. Williams, son of Joseph and Mary Williams, was born in England, July 20, 1880 and was brought to this country by his parents when he was six years of age. He attended the public schools of Luzerne County until he was eleven years of age, but the death of his father made it necessary that he should at that early age contribute his share to the resources of the family. He became a slate picker at a coal breaker, at the coal mines of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, and so continued until he was sixteen years old, when he entered the employ of the Hazard Manufacturing Company as a wire rope maker. For a period of five years he remained in this position, giving his best energy to the work and saving what he could, but all the time keeping a look-out for some better opportunity. That opportunity came in the form of a connection with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New York, at Wilkes-Barre, with whom he remained for seven years. He then enlarged his experience by making another change, this time identifying himself with the Pennsyl- vania Power and Light Company. One year later, how- ever, he was made deputy tax collector for Luzerne County, in which social position he served a term of four years. In 1914 he was appointed deputy county treas- urer for Luzerne County, under Joseph F. Gillis, and in this office also he completed a term of four years. It was during this time that representatives of the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company located Mr. Wil- liams as a good prospect for future use in the com- pany, and began calling his attention to the possibility of building up a lucrative business of his own as a general agent in their employ. Their trade journal later stated that their first advances were nict with "not a flicker of interest" from Mr. Williams, but that they continued to "drop in" and talk to him because they "scented in him qualifications for an insurance agent and were impressed by a personality" which would be valu- able to their company. That same journal stated that they found in him more than the average energy in the direction of his duties and with it all a spirit of helpfulness toward every person with whom he asso- ciated. Eventually they persuaded him to use part of his time as an agent in their employ, while still serving as deputy treasurer, and finally, after several years of giv- ing part time to this work, he opened his present office in the Miners' Bank Building in Wilkes-Barre, where his success was immediate. From a small volume of busi- ness totalling a couple of hundred dollars a year, he has brought his total up to a volume in all lines which places him among the leaders in his State. A hard
worker, quiet, easy in manner, sincere and unassuming, taking defeat quietly as a part of the day's work, and success as also all in the day's work, he is said never to have lost his mental equilibrium .in any transaction, and his circle of friends in Luzerne County is very large. Politically, Mr. Williams gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Democratic party. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Al- hambra Club, the Concordia Society, the Franklin Club, the Wyoming Valley Country Club, and the Martz Club, and fraternally, is identified with Monockonock Lodge, of Blakeslee Lake, Monroe County, Pennsylvania; and with Wilkes-Barre Lodge, No. 109, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His religious affiliation is with St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church, of Ashley, Lu- zerne County, Pennsylvania.
In addition to his success as an insurance man, Mr. Williams has found time to contribute several articles to various insurance journals. He has written articles on the writing of surety bonds, published in the "Weekly Journal" and in the "United States Insurance World," and articles of his have also been published in "Rough Notes," a magazine of Indianapolis, Indiana, and other insurance journals of the United States have made favor- able comments upon his work and his writings. He has always been deeply interested in athletics especially hand-ball and was considered the best hand-ball player in the three counties of Luzerne, Lackawanna and Carhon ; he also plays a good game of golf.
Joseph A. Williams married, February 12, 1912, Helen Leech, of Ashley, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, daugh- ter of William and Helen ( Simons) Leech, and they are the parents of five children : Mary G., Helen, Joseph A. Jr., Jane and Gertrude.
DR. J. ALBERT NORSTEDT-Following a thor- ough course of preparation for the medical profession, in which he added to the usual courses a term in European study, J. Albert Norstedt came to Nanticoke, where he established himself in practice and where he has made himself indispensable as a member of the local profes- sional ranks. He is possessed of a high skill in medicine and is a citizen of unimpeachable integrity, his activities in his own special field being coupled with helpful inter- est in civic, fraternal and social affairs, all of which endear him to his fellow-citizens. He comes of a line of hardy Norsemen, his father and grandfather having been natives of Vesterlik, a Swedish port on the Baltic Sea, where the elder worked as a jeweler and where his son, J. Albert, learned the trade, bringing it with him to America in 1872. Here he settled in Mt. Carmel, Penn- sylvania, establishing himself in the business which he continued for forty years at that place. There he mar- ried a daughter of David J. Lewis, a veteran of the Civil War and first postmaster of Mt. Carmel, also a justice of the peace for thirty-five years and one of the pioneer coal operators of the State. On the maternal side the ancestry went back to the Huguenots of France. J. Albert died in Mt. Carmel in 1914. He had been for more than forty years one of the substantial citizens of the community, industrious, quiet and home-loving. He was a Lutheran in religion and a Republican in politics, beloved by the people of all faiths and all occupations.
J. Albert Norstedt, son of J. Albert Norstedt, was born in Mt. Carmel, May 13, 1885, the second of seven children of his parents: 1. Carl Adolph, born in 1883, a superintendent of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, educational department, United States Army. 2. J. Albert, of further mention. 3. Gustave H., born in 1892 ; died at Camp Upton, New York, March 15, 1918, a first lieutenant, United States Medical Reserve Corps. 4. Carl Magnus, born in 1893. 5. Freda, born in 1894; a graduate nurse of the University of Pennsylvania Hos- pital, who served in France with the American Expe- ditionary Forces. 6. Sigrid, born in 1896. 7. Albin, born in 1898.
The second of these children, J. Albert Norstedt, was educated in the elementary schools of Mt. Carmel and graduated from the high school there, after which he worked as a clerk in Mt. Carmel and also made a study of pharmacy. He passed the State examination in this profession and received his diploma, but this was not the work he intended to do and he entered the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the class of 1908. From 1908 until 1910 he was an interne in the King's County Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, then making special studies in London, England. Returning to the United States thus equipped profes- sionally, he settled in Nanticoke, Luzerne County, where
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he is still actively engaged in practice. He is a mcm- ber of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and of the Luzerne County Medical Society. In fraternal circles he belongs to University Lodge, No. 610, Free and Accepted Masons, of Philadelphia, and to the Scranton, Pennsylvania, Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. Other affiliations are with the American Medical Association and with Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a Republican, in religion an Episcopalian.
Dr. Norstedt married, May 31, 1911, Anna Evans, of Brooklyn, New York. Their children: 1. William Albert, born March 3, 1912; died June 4, 1915. 2. Doro- thy, born May 23, 1915. 3. Ruth Elizabeth, born April 1, 1917.
CARADOC REES-At the early age of thirteen years Caradoc Rees began his independent life as a wage-earner. From the lowly position of door boy in the mines he worked his way up to the arduous life of a full fledged miner, and then joined the forces of those fighting for better conditions, being active in the United Mine Workers of America and serving officially in its local organizations. Eventually, he left the mines and engaged in the contracting business for himself, building sewers, paving streets and sidewalks, and constructing roads. He has been very successful in this line of activity, and has completed numerous important pieces of constructive work. He is prominent in the Masonic Order and in other fraternal organizations, and is also active in civic affairs.
Morgan Rees, father of Caradoc Rees, was a native of South Wales, and a descendant of one of the oldest families of that country. He was a miner in his native country, and after his marriage he left Wales and came to this country, bringing with him his wife and sev- eral children. Settling first in Frostburg, Maryland, he worked in the mines for several years, and then came to Janesville, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where he still worked in the mines. About 1886 he again changed his place of residence, this time removing to Nanticoke, where he died in August, 1913, at the age of sixty-riine years. Though he worked as a miner during the early years of his residence in this country, he later was asso- ciated with M. J. Rees in the grocery business. He was an active member of Bethel Congregational Church, and was highly esteemed among his fellow-citizens. He and his wife, Ann, were the parents of a family of six children: John, James, Elizabeth, Idvis, Caradoc (of further mention), and William.
Caradoc Rees, son of Morgan and Ann Rees, was born in Frostburg, Maryland, February 27, 1879, but was brought to Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, from Janesville, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, when he was about seven years of age. From that time until he was thirteen years old he attended the public schools of Nanticoke, but when he was thirteen he began work in the mines as a door boy. At time passed he was advanced and became a regular miner, and he continued in the mines for a period of seventeen years; that is, until he was thirty years of age. During this time, however, Mr. Rees was not merely doing his day's work and receiving his pay. He was intel- ligently and zealously working to right some of the wrongs and to eliminate some of the handicaps and dis- advantages under which he and his fellow workers labored. He was very active in the affairs of the United Mine Workers of America, and when vigorous action was necessary in order to secure attention he was ready to take his share of responsibility and of risk. He served as secretary of the Nanticoke strike organization and later was president of the Bliss local organization. As time passed, however, and his knowledge of life and its con- ditions enlarged, he resolved to change his occupation. Accordingly, he engaged in business for himself as an independent contractor, specializing in sewer construction and street paving. He secured contracts for nearly all of the sewer and street-paving work in Nanticoke, and as his experience and skill increased, added road building to his special business, constructing thirteen and a half miles of the Lackawanna Trail, froin Clark's Summit to Nicholson, and six miles from Dunmore to Elmhurst. Mr. Rees has also completed contracts for a large amount of municipal work in various towns and cities, includ- ing Oliphant, Scranton, Avoca, Pittston, West Pittston, Newport Township, and Allentown, and he built five miles of the State highway from Shickshinny to Hunt- ingdon Mills. These are a few of the completed works of Mr. Rees, and he is at the present time working on many uncompleted jobs covering a wide territory. He has done a large amount of contract work for the various
coal companies, constructing roads and doing other work, and he long ago established a reputation for sound con- struction work and honest business methods. He is a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Nanticoke, which position he has held since 1916, and he is very active in civic affairs, giving his support and his hearty interest to every plan of a progressive nature. He has avoided public office, though often impor- tuned to accept nomination, but his service to the com- munity is none the less valuable because performed unofficially, as a private citizen. He is a member of Nanticoke Lodge, No. 541, Free and Accepted Masons : of Nanticoke Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Keystone Consistory ; and of Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also identified with John Bunyan Lodge, No. 137, Knights of Pythias ; and is a member of the Craftsmen's Club. He holds member- ship in the organization known as the General Contrac- tors of America, and in addition to his general contract- ing business he is also president of the Tilbury Land Development Company, which is handling some thirty acres in West Nanticoke. In all his various business connections Mr. Rees has displayed ability and sound judgment of a high order and his opinion is valued by his associates. A man of vision, he combines with imagination which is constructive the practical ability to convert dreams into realities, and this combination spells success wherever it is found.
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