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 83
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Henry WTuller
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Hugh W. Griffith
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wide acquaintance with adjudicated cases and his ac- curate understanding of their pertinence. In his rul- ings and instructions as well as in his many written opinions, Judge Fuller has commanded a trenchant, lucid, epigrammatic style, enriching in form as well as in substance the legal literature of the State.
The years of his incumbency have been years of ex- acting demands upon the learning and courage of the judiciary, beyond any former period since the Nation's formative days. Questions of deepest import have been presented for decision, touching most closely broad rights of person and property, and the integrity of the community's life. Very often these questions have been linked with some extraneous accompaniment of public prejudice, forbidding and sinister in character. In dealing with these important matters, whether in judicial decision or publicly before Court and jury, Judge Fuller has displayed an unflinching courage which has maintained the highest traditions of our profession. During his long term he has rendered a brilliant service to the people of Luzerne County, and has written a chapter which is unsurpassed in the history of its Bench and Bar.
No summary of Judge Fuller's judicial career should omit mention of his service in dealing with juvenile delinquents. The law makes these delinquents wards of the Court. Judge Fuller's tender concern for their welfare has made them wards of the President Judge. He has taken these children of misfortune to his heart and in unnumbered cases has turned them from careers of crime to lives of self-respecting usefulness. Here his record is unique.
Judge Fuller's response to civic appeals outside his judicial duties has been very generous. To him the community has turned to voice its deeper feelings in the hour of local or national need: to discern and point out the line of duty: to sprinkle with the Attic salt of his incomparable wit the joys of social occasions. In these avocational activities he has shone with peculiar brilliance. For critical hours he has held up to his neighbors broad views of life, supported by a serene philosophy, presented in limpid language, enforced by sparkling epigram. For their lighter moments he has had a pungent rapier-like wit, an airy, subtle, delicacy of humor, that have, by the magic of the spoken word. captivated his hearers and given them inexpressible delight.
He has been more than a great judge; he has been a great citizen.
Recognizing Judge Fuller's well earned right to relief rom the exacting labors of the Bench, we rejoice that under the law he will still be associated with his judicial colleagues: and by his wisdom, experience, and learned counsels aid them in the Jischarge of their duties. In the continued performance of these lighter yet serviceable and congenial labors to which he has chosen to retire, we earnestly and affectionately pray for him happiness and length of days.
Judge Fuller married, in 1870. at Wilkes-Barre, Ruth H. Parrish. She died in 1923. They had eight children : John J., of Paducah, Kentucky: Esther, died in 1892; Henry M., died in 1908; Charles P., of Montana ; Ruth, wife of John H. Doran, of Kingston, Pennsylvania : Harriet, died in childhood; Emily, wife of John H. Blackman, of Wilkes-Barre, and Joseph M., of Cham- bersburg, Pennsylvania.
WILLIAM B. SCHAEFFER-After twelve years of experience as a bank inspector and seventeen years as an official of the Wyoming Valley Trust Company, William B. Schaeffer was elected president of the last named financial institution, in January, 1927. He is a man of well known ability and of high standing, and helongs to one of the pioneer families of this State.
Charles Schaeffer, father of Mr. Schaeffer, was born in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, son of Daniel Schaeffer, who was a member of one of the early families of Northampton County. He and his wife, Hattie (Steckel) Schaeffer, lived in Northampton County, and became the parents of eight children, of whom five lived to mature years: Rev. O. F. Schaeffer, who for many years was a minister of the Reformed Church; Alice, who lives in Northampton County, Pennsylvania ; William B., of further mention ; Minnie, wife of J. S. Troxell, who is the postiraster of Cementon, Lehigh County, Pennsyl- vania ; and Robert F., who is engaged in the coal business in Cementon. Others died in childhood.
William B. Schaeffer, son of Charles and Hattie (Steckel) Schaeffer, was born in White Hall Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, August 5, 1865, and received his education in the public and private schools of his native district. For five years after completing his education he was engaged in teaching, but at the end of that time he learned telegraphy and for a short time was employed as operator for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Later he was appointed general agent for this company, at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and also as agent for the United States Express Company at the same time. After a considerable term of experience in these fields he was appointed a bank examiner, and served in this capacity for a period of twelve years. In 1912 he was chosen treasurer of the Wyoming Valley Trust Com-
pany, at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and served as vice- president and treasurer until January 1, 1927, when he was elected president. This thrifty and well established institution has a capital stock, surplus, and profits of about $1,800,000, and deposits of $6,000,000, with total assets of nearly $8,000,000. Mr. Schaeffer is well known as a skillful and thoroughly well informed financier, and his long experience in banking affairs has well fitted him for the exceptionally fine service which he is rendering in this capacity. In addition to the experience already mentioned, Mr. Schaeffer was business manager and trust officer of the Wilbur Trust Company of Bethlehem, be- fore he was elected treasurer of the Wyoming Valley Trust Company, succeeding J. N. Thompson, and had a very wide acquaintance among bankers in this section through the weekly visits which he made to Wilkes- Barre while serving as bank examiner. He was actively engaged as a public accountant and auditor for several ycars, and had already established a reputation for in- tegrity and ability. His pleasing personality and his sound judgment make friends for him wherever he goes, and from early manhood he has been filling positions of trust in a most efficient and satisfactory manner. While a resident of Bethlehem, Mr. Schaeffer was active in its civic affairs, was a member of the joint bridge commis- sion created by the Industrial Commission of Bethlehem and South Bethlehem for the purpose of improving both communities, with Charles M. Schwab, president of the Bethlehem Steel Company, and W. A. Wilbur, president of the E. P. Wilbur Trust Company, as associates. He also served for twelve years as a member of the Bethle- hem Board of Education, as a nominee of both political parties. In addition to the business interests already named Mr. Schaeffer is also a member of the board of directors of the Planters Nut and Chocolate Company, of Wilkes-Barre, and of the Bertls Metal Ware Com- pany, of Kingston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Politi- cally, he gives his support to the principles and the can- didates of the Republican party, and is public-spirited in all his dealings. His religious affiliation is with the Reformed Church.
William B. Schaeffer is married to Nellie Fairchildes; and they are the parents of four children: Raymond, Gerald, Violet J., and Marion R., the latter a student in Columbia University, New York City. Mr. Schaeffer and his family make their home at their beautiful country residence at Pine View, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
FRED B. DAVIS, a member of the Luzerne County Bar, with offices at 609 Coal Exchange Building. Wilkes- Barre, and residence at No. 256 Maple Avenue, Kingston, was born in the town of St. Johnsville, Montgomery, State of New York, on February 16, 1872, a son of William C. and Louisa ( Brownell) Davis, both deceased.
Fred B. Davis was educated in the country schools, and the high school at St. Johnsville where he graduated, in 1900; he then entered Cornell University, taking a course in civil engineering and law, and graduated with the class of 1894 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws; he served his apprenticeship with Steele and Prescott, attorneys, at Herkimer, Herkimer County, New York, and was ad- mitted to the State Bar of New York State, in 1806: after admission he practiced at both Herkimer and New York City, in the State of New York ; removed to King- ston, Pennsylvania, spring of 1904, and was admitted to practice here in August. 1904, and has continued in prac- tice here since that date. Mr. Davis is a member of the Kingston Methodist Episcopal Church, is independent in politics, has been a member of the School Board of King- ston Borough for several years.
Mr. Davis married, September 30, 1903, Julie Ette Christman of St. Johnsville. New York, a daughter of George H. and Margaret ( Smith) Christman, members of an old established family of the Mohawk Valley. and their marriage has been blessed with three children : Margaret L., who died April 8, 1928; Richard C., and George B.
REV. HUGH WILLIAMS GRIFFITH-Born in Wales, England, Rev. Hugh Williams Griffith of Plym- outh, is a son of William and Catherine ( Williams) Grif- fith. William Griffith was born in Wales. 1825, spent his career as a farmer, and died in 1901. Catherine (Wil- liams) Griffith was born in Wales also, and died in 1900.
In the public schools of Wales, Rev. Griffith received his earliest academic instruction, then having come to the United States, he attended preparatory school at Ripon College, Wisconsin, and matriculated in Ripon Col- lege. From Ripon he graduated in 1808 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and proceeded to Princeton Sem-
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inary, whence he graduated in 1901 with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. He took also a course of work in philosophy in Princeton University, Princeton, New Jer- sey, and received the degree of Master of Arts in that same year. Thereafter Rev. Griffith visited in Wales, England, and upon his return to the United States accepted the call to the church whose pulpit he now (1928) fills, the Welsh Presbyterian Church of Plymouth. This church was organized in 1868 and the present church on Gaylord Avenue was built in 1873, opened to the congre- gation in December of that year with a membership of about one hundred. As pastor Rev. Griffith has continued through the years succeeding 1901. In politics independ- ent, with a tendency to support the principles upheld by the Republican party, he owns a considerable political influence which he exercises rarely, but always to the good of the people as first consideration. He is chairman of the Ministerial Association of Plymouth, a trustee of the Anti-Saloon League of Pennsylvania, and stated clerk of the Northern Presbytery. He also is a member of World-League against alcohol, the Welsh Missionary Board of the Presbyterian Church in United States; the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce and the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. Rev. Mr. Griffith also has charge of the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in Nanticoke, which is conducted as a mission.
EDWARD EYERMAN, the present city assessor of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Eyerman. Joseph Eyerman was a contractor and builder in Wilkes-Barre for many years and he and his wife were the parents of one son, Edward, who is the subject of this sketch.
Edward Eyerman was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsyl- vania, on March 17, 1875. He grew to manhood here, having received his education in the public schools of this city. At the age of twenty years, he became associated with his father in the contracting business. Then after two years, when he was twenty-two years of age, he went into the contracting and building business for himself and for the past thirty-one years has been engaged in that business. While Mr. Eyerman has been very busy with his contracting business, he has also found time to take part in civic affairs. He is a member of the Republican party and in January, 1924, he was appointed by the City Council of Wilkes-Barre as city tax assessor and on Jan- uary 2, 1928, he was appointed to succeed himself for another term of four years. He is a member of the Lutheran Church; president of the Franklin Club ; men- ber of the Wyoming Valley Auto Club; Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming Valley Chambers of Commerce; director of the Union Bank and Trust Company of Wilkes-Barre ; director of the Wyoming Valley Homeopathic Hospital at Wilkes-Barre; and a director of the Wyoming Valley Building and Loan Association. While Mr. Eyerman has built up his business by his own efforts, he has been very successful and has established a business which has been an asset to the city.
On August 17, 1898, Edward Eyerman married Jose- phine Ferstenfeld, daughter of George and Matilda Fer- stenfeld of Wilkes-Barre. Mr. and Mrs. Eyerman have three children: 1. Edward, Jr., who is now associated with his father in the general contracting business, under the firm name of Edward Eyerman and Son ; he married Freda Painter. 2. Mildred Matilda, the wife of Robert J. Webber of Detroit, Michigan. 3. Robert Alexander, a student at Cornell University at Ithaca. New York. Mr. Eyerman and family live at No. 86 Charles Street, Wilkes-Barre, and Mr. Eyerman has his office at the City Hall of this city.
CHARLES KLEIN GLOMAN-At the age of ten years, Charles Klein Gloman went to work in the coal breaker: in 1024 he became purchasing agent for the M. A. Hanna Company and assistant to the manager of the Susquehanna Collieries Company and the Lytle Coal Company, in which capacity he has since been engaged. with offices in the Miners Bank Building, Wilkes-Barre. Strictly a self-made man, Mr. Gloman's biography will be an inspiration to many boys: the lad who when ten years old went into the hard toil around the mines has become a man who assists in the active direction of three large companies. director of a bank, and a prominent commercial figure in the city.
Charles Klein Gloman was born in Wilkes-Barre on June 18, 1870, son of John B. and Caroline (Fink) Glo- man, deceased. John B. Gloman was the father of five children : Louis J., deceased: Charles Klein, of whom later; Mary A., wife of Charles G. Seigel of Wilkes- Barre; Caroline F., unmarried; and John B. H., also of
Wilkes-Barre. John B. Gloman was a soldier in the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, serving throughout the Civil War; he took a valorous part in many of the most severe bat- tles in that war against the slavery of mankind.
Charles K. Gloman when he was sixteen became office boy for the manager of the Susquehanna Coal Company, was advanced progressively to the position of chief clerk, and in 1924 reached the important position which he has since held with the organization. For thirty-five years he has been a citizen representative of the best and most valued type of business man in the city. His friends are numerous and his interests extensive, and the fraternal organizations to which he belongs include Lodge No. 61 of the Free and Accepted Masons, Caldwell Consistory at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masons of the thirty-second degree; Irem Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Wilkes-Barre; the Irem Country Club, Wilkes-Barre Council No. 161, of the Junior Order United American Mechanics ; the Westmoreland Club, of which he is secretary and treasurer, and the Franklin Club. Mr. Gloman was editor and proprietor of the Chamber of Commerce Journal for ten years to 1916; is a member and ruling elder of the Westminster Presby- terian Church; a Republican, and a director of Hanover Bank and Trust Company.
Charles Klein Gloman married, on June 7, 1893, Alice M. Whittaker of Wilkes-Barre, and they have three sons : I. Irving Stearns, a graduate of Lafayette College, class 1921, and a member and general manager of the South Side Lumber Company of Wilkes-Barre. 2. Charles Klein, Jr., a member of the electrical engineering corps of the Susquehanna Collieries Company, Nanticoke. 3. Robert Whittaker, also a graduate of Lafayette College, class of 1929.
FRANCIS DOUGLAS-The Douglas family, which claims Francis Douglas, cashier of the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre, as an outstanding member, origi- nally proceeded from the Highlands of Scotland, where the Douglas clan yielded little to others in conquest, edu- cation and the arts. The men who first set foot upon American soil as progenitors of this line, William and Charles Douglas, arrived at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in the latter part of the seventeenth century. From 1686 to 1725 others of the same neighborhood appear in the records ; the line proceeds through David Douglas (1715- 1720-1765), of Hanover Neck, New Jersey, married October 29, 1755, Esther Reed, who survived him and married William Ely of Hanover. The descent con- tinues through :
Deacon Nathaniel Douglas, son of David Douglas, born January 24, 1760, at Hanover Neck, died at Cald- well, New Jersey, May 15, 1824, leather manufacturer at Newark. He was a deacon in the First Presbyterian Church. He married, January 15, 1782, Sarah Bates, daughter of Captain David Bates, and she died January 22, 1816.
Major David Bates Douglas, engineer, son of Deacon Nathaniel Douglas and Sarah ( Bates) Douglas, was born at Pompton, New Jersey, March 21, 1700, and died October 21, 1849. He married, December 12, 1815, Ann Eliza Ellicott, daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Brown) Ellicott. He was graduated with a master's degree from Yale in 1813, and in 1814 was brevetted captain for "dis- tinguished and meritorious service during the siege of Fort Erie." On January 1, 1815, he was appointed assistant professor of Natural Philosophy at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. In 1817 he reported on the advisability of extending the defenses of the Eastern entrance of Long Island Sound. He performed notable service to the Government on various occasions as astronomical engineer in the survey of boundaries, particularly the Northeast Boundary which later brought about the Webster-Ashburton treaty, and the country on Lake Superior and the headwaters of the Mississippi River under the command of Lewis Cass, later Secretary of War. In 1820 he succeeded Major Andrew Ellicott, deceased, as professor of mathe- matics at the United States Military Academy, and from 1823 to 1831 served this institution as professor of engi- neering. In 1826 he was employed to make surveys for a canal in Pennsylvania from Conneaut Lake to Lake Frie. and for the French Creek feeder. He then did similar work in Ohio. In 1829 he made a survey and report on the proper terminus of the Pennsylvania Rail- road at Philadelphia. After having surveyed in New Jersey. he directed the reconnaissance necessary to con- nect Pittsburgh with the Ohio Canal by railroad. In 1831 and 1832 he surveyed the Philadelphia, Germantown
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and Norristown Railroad. In 1832 he acted as Professor of Natural Philosophy in New York University. In 1833 he surveyed the route of the Brooklyn and Jamaica Rail- road, and made the initial surveys for suppling the City of New York with pure water. In 1834 and 1836 he surveyed for the Croton Water Works; and in 1836-37 he served as professor of architecture in New York University. In 1837-38 he reported on the hydraulic power possibilities of the Monmouth Purchase, and made a survey of the coal region of the Upper Potomac. In 1838-39 he laid out Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, and was the first president of its corporation. From 1840 to 1844 he filled the position of president of Kenyon College, Ohio. Yale honored him with a Doctor of Laws degree in 1841, and Geneva College, New York, at the same time, and in 1842 he was made an honorary mem- ber of the Phi Beta Kappa scholarship society. From 1844 to 1848 he was engaged in various public and private. projects, including work in Brooklyn and laying out the Albany Rural Cemetery, and the Protestant. Cemetery at Quebec, Canada. In short, Major Douglas was one of the most remarkable men of his time, full of ambition and energy, and applying a fine judgment to all of his projects. He and his wife had eight children.
Colonel Henry Douglas, fifth child of Major David Bates Douglas and Ann Eliza ( Ellicott ) Douglas, was born at West Point, New York, March 9, 1827, and graduated in 1852 from the United States Military Academy, was brevetted second lieutenant in the 7th Regiment of Infantry, United States Army, and served in. Indian Territory. He was promoted lieutenant ( sec- ond) under date of December 31, 1853, in the 8th Infan- try, and served on the Rio Grande River in Texas. He was transferred to the 9th Infantry, March 3, 1855, and served with his regiment in Washington and Oregon territories. He received promotion as a first lieutenant of the 9th Infantry, Sentember 10, 1856. He served as quartermaster with the escort of the Northwestern Boundary Survey from May to December, 1857. Then he was called to the alma mater of his father and him- self, and became assistant professor of drawing and topographical engineering in 1858 at the United States Military Academy, and filled this position with credit until promoted to a captaincy in the 18th Infantry May 14, 1861, and was ordered to the field to comhat the Confederacy in the Civil War. In the first Battle of Bull Run, July 1, 1861, he was in command of a com- pany of the 3d United States Infantry. From September I, to November 30, 1861, he was on provost guard duty in Washington City, and in December, 1861, was assigned to command of Company A of the 18th Infantry. From December, 1861, to May, 1862, he commanded the Ist Battalion of the 18th Infantry, and was acting field officer of this detachment until December, 1863. His service included the Battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1862; siege of Corinth, May 'I to 30, 1862; the skirmish near Chaplin Hills, and Battle of Perryville., Kentucky, October 8, 1862; and the battles of Murfreesboro, Ten- nessee, December 31, 1862, and January 1 and 2, 1863. He was badly wounded on December 31, 1862, and brevetted major for gallant and meritorious service in that battle, On his recovery he was placed in recruiting service and disbursing duty from April, 1863, to 1866, when he was relieved. He was commissioned major of the 3d Infantry July 28, 1866, and was in command from December of that year until May, 1869, at Fort Dodge, Kansas. From November, 1869, to December, 1870, he was superintendent of Indian Affairs for Nevada, and was assigned to the 11th Infantry, January 1, 1871, For a year from May, 1874, he was in command of Fort Concho, Texas, when he was given sick leave of absence from May to November, 1875. On January 10, 1876, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the 14th United States Infantry, and served as commanding officer of Fort Cameron, Utah, at the cantonment on Uncom- pahgre, Colorado, and Fort Townsend, Washington, the same year. He was promoted to colonel of the 10th Infantry, July 1, 1885, commanding Fort Bliss, Texas, and Fort Union, New Mexico, relinquishing this com- mand January 24, 1890, to go on sick leave, and then retired.
It will be seen that these forebears of Francis Douglas on the paternal side rendered conspicuous service to the country in times of its need, but the same was true of his maternal ancestors, notably of Major Andrew Elli- cott, his great-grandfather, whose contact with George Washington and services in laying out the city of Wash- ington deserve some mention at this point. Major Elli- cott was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, January 24,. 1754. He served as major of Maryland Militia and
in 1784 ran the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia, and in 1785 was appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania to act with David Rittenhouse and Andrew Porter in running the western boundary of Pennsylvania. He did other boundary work, and in 1789, under a com- mission signed by President Washington, established the western boundary of the State of New York, and at this time surveyed the height of Niagara Falls, and the descent from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. In February, 1791, he was appointed by President Washington to lay out the District of Columbia and later to make a plan and survey of the city of Washington, within that Fed- eral Territory, and in 1792 was appointed Surveyor- General of the United States. He then assisted in the pacification of the Six Nations of Indians, and in 1795 was appointed by the State to lay out the towns of Erie, Waterford, Franklin and Warren in Pennsylvania, and two years later he began a survey of the lines between the states and the possessions of Spain, and made the first map of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In 1801 he was appointed secretary of the Land Office of Pennsyl- vania ; in 1811 ran the boundary line of Northern Geor- gia ; in 1813 became professor of mathematics at West Point, and in 1817 he went to Montreal to make astro- nomical observations looking to the effectuation of the sixth and seventh articles of the Treaty of Ghent, and erected a stone monument on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. He died at West Point August 28, 1820, truly a remarkable man aand highly respected by all who knew him.
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