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 94
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a.m. George
Robert Love
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Of this banking institution he was cashier until 1911, and during his connection with the bank he aided materially in placing it on a firm business basis. Meantime, how- ever, while still serving as cashier of the First National Bank of Wyoming, he, in 1909, organized the Wyoming Valley Beef Company, at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and served as its secretary and treasurer, both of which offices he retained until 1916. In that year he purchased the holdings of two of the owners and has since served as president of the concern. Mr. Dean is one of the well-known business men of this section of the State, and has won in a very high degree the respect of his business associates. He gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Republican party. Fraternally, he is identified with Valley Lodge, No. 449, Free and Accepted Masons, of Pittston, Pennsylvania; is a Royal Arch Mason; and a Knight Templar; and is also a member of Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Wilkes-Barre. He is a member of Irem Temple Country Club, of the Franklin Club, and the Kiwanis Club, and his religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Dean and his family make their home at No. 314 Horton Street, in Wilkes-Barre.
AARON W. GEORGE-For nearly sixty years, boy and man, the district surrounding Plymouth Township, knew and admired Aaron W. George, one of its most reputable citizens and a figure of importance in the mer- cantile field. He came of pioneer stock in this State and married into one of the oldest families resident here. In business he was an upright dealer, possessed of a code of ethics that forbade unworthy means toward an end, and maintained a standard that might well be taken as a model for the rising generation of merchants. In religion he followed the old school Presbyterian faith and adhered to its tenets with fidelity and devotion. His civic pride was of the highest and he never faltered to lend his aid in the cause of the people of the community, that worthy enterprise might be advanced and the good of the whole body politic promoted. His death occurred in Plymouth, June 8, 1908, an occasion for sincere mourning by a multitude of friends and business acquaintances who had had pleasant dealings with him.
He was born near Allentown, Pennsylvania, June 16, 1849, a son of John George, a farmer of that district, and Mary (Worley) George, and was educated in the pub- lic schools of that city and at Kutztown Normal School, later taking the course at business college in Poughkeep- sie, New York. He then entered the mercantile business in the employ of H. H. Ashley, with whom he continued for many years, afterward conducting an establishment in his own name until his retirement. He was a Republican in politics and a member of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons.
Aaron W. George married, in 1876, Margaret H. Love, of Plymouth, daughter of Robert and Agnes (Hutchison) Love, and they became the parents of four children : Flora MacDonald, Olive, Robert and Worley, the last three deceased.
Robert Love, father of Mrs. Aaron W. George, was a resident of Plymouth and a native of Scotland, hav- ing been born in Glasgow in 1825. He attended school there and in British America, where he came when he was fourteen years of age. When he grew up he taught school for a time and was located at Janesville, Pennsyl- vania, where he augmented his income by keeping books for a coal company. He afterward came to Wilkes- Barre and became associated with the old Black Diamond mines, eventually coming to Plymouth, where he leased the Jersey mines and operated them for several years. From these mines he shipped the first coal that was ever carried by the Lackawanna Division of the D. L. & W. He accumulated a competence and lived in retirement during the latter part of his life. For a number of years he was postmaster of Plymouth.
The following is taken from a local history by Dr. French :
The Jersey coal mine, now under lease by the D. L. and W. Railway, was first opened by Joseph Wright and later operated by my father (French) until the '50s, when it was taken over by Robert Love and Com- pany. They built a gravity railway and plane near the L. and B. Railway. It was from these chutes that the first cars of coal were handled over the L. and B. Railway (now D. L. and W.) in 1855 or 1856.
Mr. Love was a staunch Republican and a member of the Presbyterian Church, having been one of its organizers here. His fraternal affiliation was with the Order of Free and Accepted Masons, the local lodge of
which he was instrumental in organizing, in fact, the first master of any Blue Lodge, which was organized on the west bank of the Susquehanna River.
Robert Love married, in 1848, Agnes Hutchison, of Janesville, Pennsylvania, daughter of James and Margaret Hutchison, both natives of Scotland. They became the parents of seven children : David, Margaret H., Flora, James, Alexander, Samuel and Agnes, all being deceased except Margaret H. and Alexander.
COLONEL STERLING E. W. EYER, whose an- cestors were among the early families that settled in Penn- sylvania, some of them serving in the War of the Revolution, is a son of John H. and Sarah (Pugh) Eyer, both of whom are now deceased, the father having died at the age of seventy-four years and the mother at the age of seventy-five. Colonel Eyer's paterna! grandfather was John Henry Eyer, a native of Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and a car- penter by trade. John H. Eyer, Colonel Eyer's father, was a soldier in the Civil War, and was a member of Company G of the 67th Regiment of Pennsylvania In- fantry in the Union Army. He and his wife, Sarah (Pugh) Eyer, were the parents of four children: I. Frank P., of Wilkes-Barre. 2. Sterling E. W., of further mention. 3. Ida, who is single, and is principal of a gram- mar school in Wilkes-Barre. 4. Lois E., the wife of George W. Houck, one of the district principals of the Wilkes-Barre public schools.
Colonel Eyer grew to manhood in Ashley, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, having attended as a boy the public schools and later having become a student at the Wyo- ining Seminary, of Kingston, Pennsylvania. Then he took a position in a grocery store as clerk, in which capacity he became acquainted with business procedure. Later he was a bookkeeper for the Miner Hillard Milling Com- pany. Finally, about 1908, he became engaged in business for himself, dealing in wholesale grain. Since that time, Eyer and Company has grown steadily, until it is now recognized as one of the real leaders in the business life of Wilkes-Barre.
Not only has Colonel Eyer been active as a business man, however, but also he has taken a prominent part in the civic and social life of Luzerne County. He always has been interested in political affairs, and supports the principles and candidates of the Republican party. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, being affili- ated in this order with Coalville Lodge, No. 474, of Ash- ley, Pennsylvania; the Shekinah Chapter, No. 182, of Royal Arch Masons; the Dieu le Vent Commandery, No. 45, Knights Templar; and Irem Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Wilkes- Barre. He belongs to the Franklin Club and the Irem Temple Country Club; the Travelers' Protective Associa- tion; and the United Commercial Travelers. His reli- gious affiliation is with the Forty Fort Methodist Episcopal Church, and for more than fourteen years he has served as director of the church choir.
In 1917 Colonel Eyer was appointed by Governor Brumbaugh, of Pennsylvania, as colonel of the 2d Regi- ment of the Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry of Militia.
On June 25, 1902, he was married to Catharine Lewis, of Ashley, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John T. and Mary A. (Morgan) Lewis. This marriage has been blessed by the hirth of four children : 1. Eleanor Lewis, who died on January 19, 1916. 2. Catharine Lois, who is . a graduate of the Wyoming Seminary and of Goucher College, of Baltimore, Maryland. 3. Sterling E. W., Jr. 4. Mary Frances. The family residence is at No. 32 Park Place, Kingston, Pennsylvania.
THOMAS F. FARRELL-Throughout his success- ful career maintaining a laudable zeal in behalf of the vital interests of his profession, and having won merited leadership as a trial lawyer before the Luzerne County courts for more than a quarter of a century, Thomas F. Farrell, a prominent citizen of Wilkes-Barre, holds important office as a financier, and renders a civic service of permanent benefit to his community.
Thomas F. Farrell was born November 30, 1874, in the Borough of Sugar Notch, in Luzerne County, a son of Michael and Bridget (McGroarty) Farrell. Michael Farrell was born in County Kildare, Ireland, and when he was eight years old he came to the United States with his parents. As he grew to manhood he gave his attention to large rock-contracting, and at the time of his death he was one of the foremost men engaged in that line of busi- ness in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He was the father of four children: Mary A. Farrell of Wilkes-Barre; Hugh Farrell, of Miners' Mills, Luzerne County; Anna
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Farrell, who married Joseph D. Brennan, of Glen Sum- mit ; Thomas F. Farrell, of whom further.
Thomas F. Farrell attended the public schools of his native place, where he was graduated at the high school in 1891. He taught school for a year at Sugar Notch, and for a similar period in Hanover Township; and in 1895, he came to Wilkes-Barre, where for five years he was a newspaper reporter on the staff of the "Times." now known as the "Times-Leader." In 1898, Mr. Farrell began the study of law in the offices of Judge Gaius L. Halsey and Judge Seligman J. Strauss, and he was ad- mitted to the Luzerne bar July 14, 1900, wherein he has been active in his chosen profession to the present. He is also president of the Liberty State Bank and Trust Com- pany of Wilkes-Barre; and a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Ashley.
A Democrat in his political convictions, Mr. Farrell has been an active factor in behalf of his party for more than thirty years; and he served as a member of the National Democratic Convention that met at Madison Square Garden, in June, 1924, and was also a delegate to the National Convention that met at Houston, Texas, and nominated Alfred E. Smith for President, June. 1928, Mr. Farrell being chosen chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation. He is a member of the Luzerne County Bar Association, and the State and American Bar associa- tions; and he has practiced before the Superior and the Supreme courts of the State.
Thomas F. Farrell married, July 16, 1901, Catherine McGrane, of Sugar Notch, daughter of Patrick and Annie (Boyle) McGrane. Their children: Mary Cath- erine, now wife of Eugene T. Giering, Jr., of Wilkes- Barre ; Margaret M., Anna Clare, Thomas F., Jr., Joseph P., and Michael J.
FRANKLIN B. SPRY-One of the foremost busi- ness executives of Luzerne County and this part of Pennsylvania, is Franklin B. Spry, who is president and general manager of the Howells Mining Drill Company of Plymouth. He has been connected with this company since the days of his appenticeship, his advancement to the head of the firm having been the progress of a superior man. His name is known throughout the world, wherever mining is carried on, as the inventor and per- fector of many of the most famous electric drilling tools now in use. The product of the company, of the rotary auger type, is used throughout America, and is distributed to such countries as Japan, Venezuela, England, Russia, France, China and India. The drills invented by Mr. Spry were awarded the Gold Medal for superior execl- lence at the St. Louis World's Fair of 1004, and have continued to hold a dominant position in their field.
Franklin B. Spry was born in Plymouth, Pennsyl- vania, in the neighborhood of which he has spent prac- tically his whole life, October 6, 1875. His father, Daniel K. Spry, one of five brothers who all fought in the Civil War, now deceased, a native of New York State, was for five years a druggist in Plymouth ; while his mother, Mary A. (Evans) Spy, was born in Plymouth, and has lived here most of her life. Franklin B. Spry attended the public schools in this district, the Wilkes-Barre high school, and then matriculated at Wyoming Seminary, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1897. It was then that he first became engaged with the Howells Mining Drill Company as an apprentice and worked his way through the positions of journeyman, foreman, superintendent and general manager, until in 1902, at the age of twenty-seven, he was elected president, continuing as general manager. The company of which he is now the head was originally established in 1878 and incorporated in 1883. The incorporators are: Frank- lin B. Spry, president and general manager ; Hon. Asa DeWitt, treasurer, and Attorney John A. Opp, secretary. Under Mr. Spry's able supervision and management, the concern has enjoyed increasing volume of business and expanding marketing and distribution of the products, attaining a position of potent force in the trade.
Early in his carcer Mr. Spry began to develop new and hetter electric drills, and as he continued in this work he became known as one of the leading inventors in his field. During the World War he undertook impor- tant invention and development for the government, for which he was awarded the distinguished service citation from the War Department which reads as follows :
This company willingly did development work gratis and its bids were in some instances 1-5 to 1-6 of its nearest competitors. Its business methods were of a high order and seldom equalled.
It is very gratifying to me to be enabled to trans- mit this visible recognition of patriotic war service. GEORGE W. BURR.
(Signed. )
Major General, Assistant Chief of Staff.
That the Howells-Mining Drill Company, of which Mr. Spry is president and general manager, should have received a contract from the government for entrench- ment tools and earth augers during the World War was not unusual. For years the Plymouth plant has main- tained a reputation for excellence of its products that have been used in the diamond mines of Kimberly, the mineral quarries of Italy and Russia, and in the vast operations of similar character in South America, quite as much as in the anthracite and bituminous deposits of America. Electric drills, earth augers and entrench- ment tools furnished by the Plymouth plant were in constant operation on every war front of Europe from the summer of 1917 until the signing of the Armistice, and the type of manufacture was such as to make them recognizable in countless pictures on the motion picture screens of America. The Howells Mining Drill Com- pany was the first industrial concern to receive a certi- ficate of industrial patriotism from the United States War Department, and as the first of its kind issued here it will occupy a place of honor in the executive offices at Plymouth. The War Department by its unusual award of the victory certificate indicated that the drills were of extraordinary importance to the victory achieved. It is a coincidence that Mr. Spry, president and general manager of this Company, is also one of the district draft board whose members are credited with one of the best records of service attained in the entire country. He was ap- pointed to Draft Board No. 6, by Woodrow Wilson, late President of the United States, and also served on boards and committees in charge of the persecution of the con- flict, and was active in the several campaigns of the Lib- erty Loan. At the dedication of the Soldier's Memorial on Armistice Day, Mr. Spry served as treasurer of the committee in charge of the services.
In addition to his activities with this corporation, Mr. Spry is interested in the life of his community. He is, in his political views, a member of the Republican party, whose policies and candidates he supports regu- larly. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which order he is affiliated with Lodge No. 109; the Westmoreland Club; the Pennsylvania Society ; the Kiwanis Club; and the Chamber of Com- merce. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. The well-known business qualifica- tions of Mr. Spry have caused him to be sought as a member of various boards of directors and his public spirit has led him to accept some of these trusts. He is con- nected actively with the First National Bank of Ply- mouth, with which he has been associated for twenty years and of which he now serves as second vice-presi- dent. Mr. Spry is very fond of out-of-door activities and maintains a beautiful summer residence at Lake Silkworth.
WILLIAM STURDEVANT GOFF, the present president of the Goff Lumber Company at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is the son of the late Warren F. Goff, who founded the Goff Lumber Company in 1867, and Harriet M. (Sturdevant ) Goff. Warren F. Goff was born in Monroe Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, April 5, 1835. He was the son of William and Anna (Decker ) Goff, and a grandson of William Goff, a native of Connecticut. William Goff, Sr., of Connecticut lived for many years in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where he cleared and cultivated a large farm in Monroe Town- ship. He lived to he about ninety-eight years old and his wife lived to the age of ninety-four years. They had nine children : William, of whom further ; James, Hiram, George, Warren, Harry, Wellington, Lucinda and Chris- tina.
William Goff, Jr., was born and brought up in Brad- ford County, where he was educated in the public schools and followed farming when he was a young man, when he purchased a farm on which he lived until within a few years of his death when he move to Ohio, locating at Canal Dover. He married Anna Decker, whose father was one of the first surveyors in Bradford County, Penn- sylvania, and the one who laid out the county. William and Anna ( Decker ) Goff had seven children : Miller. Warren F., of whom further ; Maria, Simeon D., Jane, Lucinda, and Rose B. William Goff, the father of these children, died at the age of eighty-two years. His wife, who was noted for her activity in the Methodist Epis- copal Church, lived to be seventy-three years of age.
Their second child, Warren F. Goff, was reared in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where he obtained a common school education and in early manhood engaged in agricultural pursuits, remaining on the farm with his father until he was twenty-six years old. In 1863, he
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Seo. J. Durbin
359
moved to New York City, and for three years was engaged in the business of building sewers. He then removed to Mehoopany, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, and engaged in railroad building contracting for the 1.ehigh Valley Railroad, also he was interested in milling and merchandizing lumber and in this line had much success. In 1869, he removed to Wilkes-Barre and en- gaged in the lumber business in partnership with Colonel Samuel A. Sturdevant. The business established by this firm was carried on for thirty-three years under the name of Sturdevant and Goff. After the death of Mr. Sturdevant, Mr. Goff disposed of his interest and later, in 1900, organized the firm of Morgan and Goff Lumber Company. The personnel of this company was Charles and Benjamin Morgan and William Goff, son of Warren Goff. After four years, Warren F. Goff purchased the interest of the Morgan brothers and with his son, Wil- liam S., formed the Goff Lumber Company in which he was interested until the time of his death. He was one of the oldest lumber dealers in the city of Wilkes-Barre and the enterprise consists of the largest yards and plan- ing mills here, carrying probably the most complete stock. Warren F. Goff was also director in many other com- panies here, including the Lake Transit Boat Company at Harvey's Lake. Politically, Mr. Goff was a Democrat, ' always taking an active interest in the success of the principles of that party, but in his voting he always voted for the man he felt best qualified to fill the office. He was for two terms a councilman of the Fifteenth Ward of Wilkes-Barre. He was an earnest and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a trus- tee of that organization and a member of the building committee of the present beautiful structure, which is probably one of the most beautiful church edifices in the city of Wilkes-Barre. On February 7, 1866, Warren F. Goff married Harriet M. Sturdevant, daughter of L. D. and Ada ( Morley ) Sturdevant. They had three chil- dren: 1. William S., of whom further. 2. Jessic, de- ceased. 3. Dunning, deceased.
William S. Goff was born at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsyl- vania, April 9, 1866. He received his education in public schools, the Harry Hillman Academy and the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston. His first business was in the employ of the lumber firm of Sturdevant and Goff, his father being one of the members of the firm. He entered as a clerk and at the same time became familiar with the different departments of the business in which he con- tinued until he went to Bear Creek with the best known lumber merchant of that place, Albert Lewis. In March, 1900, the firm of Morgan and Goff Lumber Company was formed, with William S. Goff as a member of the firm, and he returned to Wilkes-Barre and became active in that organization. In 1904, his father purchased the interest of the Morgan brothers and became associated with his son in the formation of the Goff Lumber Com- pany, of which William S. Goff is president. Mr. Goff is a member of the Wilkes-Barre Rotary Club; the Wilkes-Barre Lodge, No. 109, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; past president and member of the Frank- lin Club; past president of the Pennsylvania State Lum- bermen's Association; member of the Westmoreland Club; vice-president of the Hanover Bank and Trust Company of Wilkes-Barre; was a member of the first park commission of Wilkes-Barre; is a director of the Wyoming Valley Building and Loan Association ; a direc- tor in the Industrial Loan Corporation of Wilkes-Barre; a member and trustee of the Central Methodist Church, and in politics a Republican.
William S. Goff married Maud Whiteman of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, daughter of Richard and Sarah (Hunter) Whiteman. They have four children: I. War- ren M. Goff, secretary of the Goff Lumber Company. 2. Eleanor Goff. 3. Mary, wife of George Renard, Jr., of Kingston, Pennsylvania. 4. Richard W. Goff, who is a student at the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsyl- vania.
THOMAS (TOM) HART-One of the leading real estate dealers of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is Tom Hart, whose ancestry is deeply rooted in the soil of Ire- land and noted for literary achievements. He is the son of Michael H. and Mary (Cawley) Hart of Wilkes-Barre. Michael H. Hart, who has been a stationary engineer for the past fifty years, is a brother of the playwright, Daniel Hart, and great-grandson of Owen Hart, who was a native of Ireland, and always resided there, and Molly Kane, his wife, and whose grandson, John Hart, came to this country in 1848. Although he landed at New York City, he lost no time in finding his way to Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, where he settled, and on July 26,
1852, he married Mary McDonald the daughter of Patrick and Elizabeth (Edwards) McDonald. John and Mary ( McDonald) Hart had eight children: 1. James. 2. Michael H., born October 10, 1855, who married Mary A. Cawley of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, and they had four children : Gerald M., Clarissa, Gertrude L., and Tom, of whom further. 3. John. 4. Joseph. 5. Thomas. 6. Daniel, the noted writer of plays and mayor of Wilkes-Barre. 7. Mary, deceased. 8. Gertrude, who was a talented musi- cian, now deceased.
Tom Hart, son of Michael H. and Mary A. (Cawley) Hart, was born at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1885. He was educated in the public schools and in Hillman Academy. Immediately after his graduation he began in the real estate business, and for about twenty years he has continued to follow this line of work and is now one of the biggest operators in this vicinity. He is affiliated with a number of business and social organi- zations, among which are the Wilkes-Barre Council, No. 302, Knights of Columbus; Fox Hill Country Club ; Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce; the Wilkes-Barre Real Estate Board; the Pennsylvania Real Estate Association and the National Real Estate Associa- tion. In 1917, Mr. Hart joined the United States Army from which he received an honorable discharge. In 1923, Mr. Hart was president of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Association and in 1926 was president of the affiliated Exchange Clubs of Pennsylvania ; he was president of the Wilkes-Barre Real Estate Exchange for 1924 and in 1925 was president of the Wilkes-Barre Exchange Club, He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church and in politics is a Democrat.
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