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 86
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University, Washington, District of Columbia. 3. James Aloysious. 4. Walter Charles now (1929) attending the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. 5. Edward Domnic. 6. Mary Elizabeth. 7. Catherine Rose. 8. Matthew, who died in childhood. 9. Sarah Celestine. 10. Lawrence. 11. Robert. Mr. Casey's family maintain their principal residence in Wilkes-Barre, in which community they are communicants of St. Mary's Catholic Church.
STANLEY MILTON YETTER-An able and ef- ficient public servant who brings to the position of register of wills in Luzerne County a long experience in the business of this office, Stanley Milton Yetter was first elected register in 1924 and has continued in office since that time by successive reelection. Few county offices have ever been run with the smoothness and effi- ciency which characterize his administration, and as an indication of the esteem in which he is held by those whom he largely serves, the petitions for his reelection in 1927 carried the signatures of exactly ninety-five per cent. of the practicing attorneys in the county. Such in- dorsement, it has been well pointed out, has seldom been accorded any official, and it is splendid evidence of what those most concerned think of his services.
Mr. Yetter is a member of a family descended of early German settlers in Pennsylvania, who farmed the land and established many a solid, prosperous community in this section. He was born in Monroe County, Pennsyl- vania, on December 12, 1879, a son of Samuel and Eliza- beth (Bogert) Yetter, now deceased. Both the Yetter and Bogert families came to the State with the first German settlers and Samuel, Mr. Yetter's father, was a farmer who developed the land he had acquired and raised a large family. There were nine children in all : 1. Bertha, widow of P. C. Clark, of Wilkes-Barre. 2. Howard P., lace weaver of Wilkes-Barre. 3. Amy, widow of Merritt Post, of this city. 4. Clarence S., a merchant of Wilkes-Barre. 5. Harry W., now in the printing busi- ness here. 6. Stanley Milton, of whom further. 7. Charles F., deputy registrar of wills for Luzerne County. 8. Archie L., a painter of Tungsten, Oklahoma. 9. Edith, now the wife of Ralph E. Banker, an inspector for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
When he was eight years old, Stanley Milton Yetter came with his parents to Wilkes-Barre, and in the public schools of this city, he received his education. Even as a child he showed a decided bent for creative manual art, and with the completion of his academic training he became interested in the weaving of lace. For eighteen years he worked as an expert lace weaver, but at the end of this time, he turned his attention to the printing business, under the tutelage and with the cooperation of his brothers, Charles and Harry Yetter, proprietors of the Courier-Herald Publishing Company in Wilkes- Barre. This association he continued for a period of eight years, but eventually the confining work began to affect his health, and he sought elsewhere for a suitable field of activity. He found it in the office of William E. Morgan, then register of wills for Luzerne County, which Mr. Yetter entered as clerk and in which he subsequently remained as register. He was first elected to this im- portant office on the Republican ticket in the fall of 1923, but between this time and the date of his first entrance into the office as clerk, eight years had elapsed in which he had become thoroughly familiar with all the business to be carried on and had demonstrated exceptional quali- fication for the higher position. The confidence of the people expressed in his election has been completely justi- fied by his record in office, which has rarely been equaled in able efficiency by any public official in the State.
Mr. Yetter has been a consistent supporter of Repub- lican principles and candidates, while fraternally he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, and many other organizations. In the great Masonic order he is a member of the local Blue Lodge, No. 61 ; of the Shekinah Chapter of Royal Arch Masons: Mount Horeb Council, No. 34, of Royal and Select Masters; Dieu fc Veut Commandery of the Knights Templar; Keystone Con- sistory at Scranton, of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite: Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and John Knox Commandery of the Knights of Malta. He is also a member of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows. and is Grand Monarch of the Shalimar Sanctum, Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans. of the Odd Fellows; a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, and other similar bodies. Mr. Yetter holds
membership in several clubs and associations, including the Irem Country Club, the Franklin Club, the Monarch Club of Wilkes-Barre, of which he is also vice-president, and the Registers of Wills Association of Pennsylvania, of which he is now president. For many years he has been active in the congregation of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre, while his constant support for all worthy movements, whether civic or benevolent in nature, is always assured.
Stanley Milton Yetter has been twice married (first), in 1913, to Kitty Collett, of Wilkes-Barre. After her death in 1916 he married (second), in 1917, Jennie Rob- crts Edwards, of Edwardsville, in Luzerne County, who died during the influenza epidemic of 1918. Mr. Yetter maintains his residence in Wilkes-Barre at No. 61 Eliza- beth Street.
EDWARD ALFRED WAKEMAN-Close applica- tion to the job on hand of a mind especially adapted to engineering brought to Edward A. Wakeman, of Wilkes- Barre, the reward of promotion in a period of four years to the important post of chief engineer of one of the leading electric light and power companies in this section of the country. Ambition did not rest with that, however, for during every year that followed he continued to win the approval of his employers, who showed their appre- ciation by increasing his responsibilities and authority. Today he is considered by his fellow-citizens of the Wyoming Valley as one who holds one of the most envi- able positions in the community, which he has won by his work and by his personality during a residence in Wilkes-Barre of some eighteen years. Exacting as his business life is, it has not prevented him from taking a deep interest in the civic, social and fraternal affairs of the people with whom he has been associated, winning thereby their highest regard as a self-made man of great value to the body politic.
Edward A. Wakeman was born in Batavia, New York, December 19, 1870, a son of Nathan and Eliza (Hays)' Wakeman, the last named deceased, the father a con- tractor at Batavia. They were the parents of four chil- dren : Edward A., of further mention; Frank James, de- ceased ; Eugene Clarence, deceased, and Maria Eliza, de- ceased. The eldest of these acquired his education in the public schools of Batavia, then attending semi- nary. When he was seventeen years of age he ob- tained a position operating a stationary engine for the Batavia Preserving Company. In four years he became chief engineer for the Batavia Electric Company, where he remained for two years, when he was appointed super- intendent of the Batavia Gas and Electric Company, soon afterward becoming general manager, a position he re- tained for fourteen years. In 1904 he became associated with the United Gas and Electric Company, with head- quarters in New York City, by which organization he was named manager of the Glens Falls Gas and Electric Company, at Glens Falls, New York, and of the White Hall Electric Company, located on Lake Champlain. Two years later he was transferred to Terre Haute, Indiana, as manager of the Terre Haute Gas and Electric com- pany, remaining in that post for five years, when he was made general manager for some twenty properties of the consolidation throughout the country, with his headquar- ters in New York City. His administration of this im- portant post brought about his selection as general man- ager of the company for the Wilkes-Barre district, where he has been since 1910.
He is a Democrat in politics, a Baptist in religion, and a member of many fraternal organizations, .among them being the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Masons, in which fast named hody he holds the thirty-second degree. He is affiliated with Senate Lodge, No. 456. Free and Accepted Masons, of Giens Falls, New York; Keystone Consistory, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masons, and Irem Tem- ple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Wilkes-Barre, of which he is trustee. He also be- longs to the Modern Woodmen of America. Other or- ganizations in which he holds membership are the Na- tional Electric Light Association, Pennsylvania Electric Association, Pennsylvania Gas Association. Franklin Club of Wilkes-Barre, and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Wakeman married. Mav 5, 1801, Elizabeth Rad- ford, of Batavia, New York, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Radford, both deceased. They have one daugla- ter, Zilpha Clark, now the wife of C. O. Hanson, of this city.
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MULFORD MORRIS-Remarkable, indeed, was the record achieved by the late Mulford Morris, who attained an enviable reputation as a corporation lawyer in Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County. The superiority of his abinty, the prominence of his standing at the bar, and the great demand for his services by important corpora- tions, constituted elements of his outstanding career which was spanned by less than two-score years.
Gifted beyend many men his senior in age and in the legal profession, Mr. Morris adorned it by a brilliant practice which brought him leadership in the ranks of his colleagues and their associated interests. It is not, per- haps, too much to say that, had his career not been cut short by the Grim Reaper when at the height of his powers as a lawyer, he would have been elevated to a judgeship. With a mind cast in a judicial mould, he was of that type of legal exponent that would be an ornament of the bench.
Rev. E. J. Morris, father of the lawyer, was born in Carnarvonshire (northern district ), Wales, and came to America in 1870 when he was a boy. In due time he entered the ministry, and at the present ( 1929) writing is pastor of the Puritan Congregational Church of Wilkes- Barre. He married Margaret Williams, and of their union were born the following children: 1. Sarah, a teacher in Wilkes-Barre Institute, Forty-Fort, Luzerne County. 2. Margaret, resides at the family home. 3. Mulford, of whom further.
Mulford Morris, only son and youngest child of Rev. E. J. and Margaret ( Williams ) Morris, was born in Wilkes-Barre, November 11, 1889. He received his carly training in the public schools of his native city, and took his college preparatory course at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Luzerne County, from which he was gradu- ated in 1906. In 1907 he entered the University of Penn- sylvania, where he completed his academic education with graduation as Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1910. It has already been indicated that he early made choice of the legal profession, and he pursued his training therefor in the law school of his alma mater, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1912. Admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County in 1913, Mr. Morris at once enter- ed upon the practice of law in Wilkes-Barre, and with the courts of that jurisdiction he was ever afterwards identi- fied, always with increasing prominence, being also a corporation attorney with a very large and growing office practice. He was considered especially skillful in the preparation of cases in important legal actions. His ability drew to his offices large coal companies and other corporations of various purposes and strongly entrenched in their respective fields.
When the United States entered the World War as an associated nation on the side of the Allies, Mr. Morris patriotically decided to abandon his lucrative practice for the time and offered his services to his Government. In 1918 he enlisted and was assigned to a training class in the Infantry School at Camp Lee, Virginia. In the sum- mer of 1918 he was transferred to the Artillery Officers Training School and stationed at Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky, where he remained on active duty in the artillery branch of the army until the close of the war. Returned to civil life, Mr. Morris took up the threads of his law practice and again made corporation law his specialty. He continued to add to his prestige as a coun- sellor par excellence, and his clients increased in num- bers as his proficiency became known through the result- ant success of the cases that came to his hand and of the corporate missions with which he was charged.
Mr. Morris was one of the most influential members of the Luzerne County Bar Association. He was attor- ney for the Dime Bank Title and Trust Company, in which capacities his legal knowledge and broad experi- ence of corporation practice were of recognized value. In the right of his war service, he was affiliated with Wilkes-Barre Post, No. 132, American Legion. Extremely fond of outdoor sports and recreations, he was a member of a number of rod and gun clubs and of the Westmore- land Club. His religious connection was with the Con- gregational denomination.
Mulford Morris married, January 2, 1918. Maude V. Godfrey, of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Children : Mar- garet G., Barbara P., Mulford, Jr., and Maude G.
The death of Attorney Morris, on March 14. 1920. came as a shock to the entire Wilkes-Barre community and Luzerne County. Thirty-nine years of age when suddenly called from a practice which ill could part with his services, it seemed that he should have been spared many years more in which to build himself even deeper in the esteem and confidence of the bench and bar, his clientele and the public at large. The record of his
numerous and signal accomplishments stands out in the annals of the city and county courts, and his memory survives as a rich legacy to family, legal associates and friends, whose number is an host.
FRANK DONALDSON THOMAS, M. D .- Spe- cialist in urology, coroner of Luzerne County for succes- sive terms, veteran of the World War, and an honorable man and valued citizen high in the estimation of the people of Wilkes-Barre, Dr. Frank Donaldson Thomas was born at Forty Fort, Luzerne County, May 27, 1889, son of Dr. Albert D. and Elizabeth ( Denniston ) Thomas, of Scotch descent. Dr. Albert Thomas practiced medicine in Forty Fort for twenty-five years, and is there beloved of a majority of families. Having retired from practice, he is now extensively engaged in real estate operations and the writing of insurance, with offices in Wilkes- Barre. Dr. Albert Thomas married ( first) Elizabeth Denniston, and they were the parents of three children : Ethel Scott, wife of Dr. J. M. Michalis, of Brooklyn, New York; Dr. Frank D., of whom later ; and Albert D)., who died in infancy. The first Mrs. Thomas died, and Dr. Thomas married ( second ) Leah Grover, of King- ston, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of two chil- dren : Duncan Grover, manufacturer, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; and Harriet Scott, married, of Forty Fort. Frank D). Thomas received his early education in the schools of Forty Fort; then, manifesting some interest in business affairs, took a business course at Wyoming Seminary, at Kingston, Luzerne County. Shortly after, however, he decided to proceed with his academic educa- tion, and pursued a course of study for three years in the Harry Hillman Academy, at Wilkes-Barre, enrolling thereafter in Conway Hall, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he graduated with the class of 1908. His studies were aligned as preparatory to the study of medicine, and in the fall of 1008 he matriculated in the Hahnemann Medical College, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From that institution he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1912, then went abroad for special work in the laboratories of Vienna and Berlin. On his return to the United States he began to practice at once, special- izing in urology immediately ; and, since the commence- ment of his profession in Wilkes-Barre, he has changed the address of his office but once : in 1922 he established himself at No. 82 South Main Street. Dr. Thomas served his country in France from June 1, 1918, until February I. 1919, as commanding officer of Ambulance Company No. 25, 5th Division, United States Army, of the Ameri- can Expeditionary Forces.
Professionally, fraternally, and socially, Dr. Thomas has many connections. He is a member of the Luzerne County Medical Society, the Wyoming Valley Homeo- pathic Medical Society, and the Pennsylvania State Medi- cal Society ; he is chief urologist for the Nesbitt West Side Hospital, at Kingston, and for the Wyoming Valley Homeopathic Hospital at Wilkes-Barre; a member of the Greek letter college social fraternity of Pi Upsilon Rho, of Kingston Lodge, No. 395. of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Keystone Consistory at Scranton. Penn- sylvania, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masons of the thirty-second degree, Irem Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Wilkes-Barre ; member of the Irem Country Club, the Craftsmen's Club, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and Black Diamond Post, No. 305. of the American Legion, at Kingston. He is a Republican and a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Frank D. Thomas married on April 5. 1915. Frances R. Pier, daughter of Dr. Pier and his wife, Ruth, of Avoca, Luzerne County. The union has resulted in two children : Albert Duncan, 2d. and Elizabeth Frances. Dr. Thomas and his family reside at No. 12 South Walnut Street, Kingston.
ADAM M. HILDEBRAND-The progress and prosperity of any municipality are most truly shown in its buildings, for in them are the permanent records of growth, expansion of community wealth and elevation or retrogression of the plane of taste. With every consid- crable building erected by Adam M. Hildebrand, builder and building contractor of Wilkes-Barre, the current tastes of the time have been put up in brick and stone, and they remain, markers of a city's advancement. Also. they stand as markers to Mr. Hildebrand's career, illus- trative of its success.
Adam M. Hildebrand was born May 13. 1872, in Wright Township, Luzerne County, son of George and Elizabeth ( Hoffman) Hildebrand. His father, native of Germany, was born in 1834, and at the age of sixteen ycars, 1850, came to the United States. Here, in Luzerne
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County, he engaged in agricultural pursuits, becoming a farmer of large means, and a leader in community ad- vancement. His death occurred in 1901. Elizabeth ( Hoff- man) Hildebrand, who survived her husband, was born June 6, 1846. She too, was a native of Germany, Thus through more than three-quarters of a century the name Hildebrand has been represented in Luzerne County, always honorably.
In the public schools of Wright Township, Luzerne County, Adam MI. Hildebrand secured his elementary and secondary academic instruction, distinguishing him- self scholastically. Though reared on a farm, his ideas of the future did not tend toward agriculture, and while resident in Scranton, Pennsylvania, following high school training, he took a course under the International Corre- spondence School system, meanwhile having undertaken apprenticeship as carpenter. For five years, in Scranton, he followed this craft, became skilled at it, studled its economic structure with thorough comprehension, and in 1895, then aged twenty-three, engaged in business as building contractor. This was the commencement of a career destined to be of note.
From the first, as building contractor, Mr. Hildebrand has operated independently, under the style of his own name. Coming to Wilkes-Barre, he quickly established his own enterprise and builded the ground work of a favorable reputation. Expansion of his affairs has been steady, wholesome, until today he employs twenty men on an average over each year, maintains a planing mill and finishing plant for lumber manufacture at No. 91 Wood Street, Wilkes-Barre, and has to his credit erection of more churches than has any other builder in the Wilkes-Barre area. As contractor here he specializes in construction of banks and school edifices. These, with rare exception, are of enduring beauty, assets of quality to the city at large.
Aside from the central course of his career as builder, Mr. Hildebrand has participated in other business ven- tures with good fortune, and is accounted a well estab- lished financial figure. He is a director of the Hanover Bank and Trust Company, retains other and diversified commercial identities, was an organizer of St. Clement's Episcopal Church (which he supports liberally ), adheres to the principles of the Republican party, and is of prom- inence fraternally. He is a member of Lodge No. 61, Free and Accepted Masons; Shekinah Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; Dieu le Veut Commandery, No. 45, Knights Templar ; Caldwell Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, at Bloomsburg ; and Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine ; a member of Wyoming Lodge, No. 39, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. During America's participation in the World War he was of valued assistance in the several cam- paigns of patriotic appeal.
Mr. Hildebrand married, in 1900, Maude Gouldem, of Wilkes-Barre, daughter of George and Ella (Karcher) Gouldem; and their children are: 1. Robert William, born January 30, 1903, a graduate of Trinity College, of Hartford, Connecticut, class of 1927, degree of Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. 2. Edmund George, March 4, 1904, a graduate of Wyoming Seminary. 3. Maurice Richard, November 4, 1908, a graduate of Don- aldson School, Ilchester, Maryland, a prep school, and now attending the Bliss Electric School, Washington, District of Columbia. 4. Ralph Adam, born July 2, 1915. George Gouldem, father of Mrs. Hildebrand, was born in New England, in 1842. For many years he served as planing mill superintendent. He died in 1890. Ella (Karcher) Gouldem, her mother, was born at Sunbury, Pennsylvania, in 1842, and also died in 1890.
Progressive in business, material contributor to Wilkes-Barre's welfare through its media of, building construction and through continuous activity as loyal citizen, Mr. Hildebrand is one of the city's outstanding men. He is endowed with a genial, sincere manner which endears him to those with whom he comes in con- tact ; and his friends are legion.
GEORGE M. YENCHA, an outstanding figure in political and financial circles, one of Wilkes-Barre's most prominent young men, holding the office of alderman from the Sixteenth Ward and now serving his second term.
Mr. Vencha was born in Wilkes-Barre, June 24, 1900, son of George Yencha, who is living at the age of sixty- eight, and Hanna Yencha, who died at the age of forty- four, both of Wilkes-Barre. They were the parents of five children: Mary, married A. J. Rubiscsak of this city; George M., of whom further; Stephen and John, who died in childhood ; and Michael.
George M. Yencha received his education in the local public schools, and while still a boy, went to work in the lace mills of this city, attending school at night, showing the great industry and ambition which have characterized his entire career. After two years in the Wilkes-Barre Lace Mills, he accepted a position at the Bromley Lace Mills in Philadelphia, where he remained two years. Re- turning to his home, he was employed for two years in the Sheldon Axle Works, and in 1911, he engaged in the hotel business for two and a half years. His next business enterprise followed when he became associated with his brother-in-law, A. J. Rubiscsak, and they conducted a successful partnership for two years. Mr. Yencha then reengaged in the hotel business, becoming proprietor of the Hoffman House on South Main Street, operating this business for three years, catering to a steadily increasing trade. He then joined the Wilkes-Barre police force, un- der Mayor John Kosek and in 1918 was elected to his present position of alderman. In the commercial life of the city, he is a leading factor, being a vice-president of the North End State Bank. In politics, he has always been an active Republican, taking a deep interest in the welfare and progress of his community and at the present time, is president of the North End Taxpayers Associa- tion. In fraternal circles, Mr. Yencha takes a prominent part, being a member of Wilkes-Barre Lodge, No. 100, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, Byers Council, No. 282, Friendship Council, Daughters of America, the Monarch Club and other local organizations, and belongs to the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the Magistrates Association of the United States of America. In religious affiliations, he is a member of the Memorial Presbyterian Church.
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