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 VI > Part 16
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Chapman
M.J. Davison.
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On August 16, 1900, Mr. Chapman was mar- ried to Estella M. Short, a daughter of John and May (Webley) Short, of Prompton, Wayne County, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman are the parents of two sons: 1. Rus- sell J., who is in charge of the car recording department of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, in Wilkes-Barre. 2. George C., a graduate of the Wilkes-Barre High School, and Wilkes- Barre Business College, now connected with Walter C. Williams. Mr. Chapman and his family reside at No. 17 Oak Street, Wilkes- Barre.
FRANK D. HESS-A native of Luzerne County, Mr. Hess has been a resident of Nanticoke since 1886 and since 1891 has been passenger agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad in that town. His long and continuous resi- dence naturally has made him one of the most widely known members of the commun- ity, while his active and effective participa- tion in the various phases of its life has made him one of the most useful citizens. At all times he can be counted upon to give his lib- eral and enthusiastic support to any move- ment tending to advance the development of the community and to further the welfare and prosperity of its people and its institu- tions.
His father, Milton E. Hess, was born in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, a son of Elijah and Margaret (Coleman) Hess and a grandson of George Hess, all of them resi- dents of Columbia County, where the latter was successfully engaged for many years in farming. Elijah Hess was a miller, a trade which was also followed by his son, Milton E. Hess, who came from Columbia County to Luzerne County about 1857 and who died in Michigan in 1898. The latter was the head of a family of ten children, all of them born in Luzerne County: Asinath, now deceased; Feas, now deceased; Rosie, now deceased; Frank D., of whom further; Edward, now de- ceased; Lee, a resident of Massilon, Ohio; Laura, now deceased: Cora, a resident of Michigan; Doile, a resident of Detroit, Michi- gan; and Harry Hess, a resident of Phila- delphia.
Frank D. Hess was born at what is now Register, Luzerne County, November 9, 1863, a son of Milton E. and Harriett (Galder) Hess. He was educated in the public schools and at New Columbus Academy. He then took up the study of telegraphy and after he had acquired a very thorough knowledge of it, entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad, with which he has been connected ever since, a period of almost half a century. After having been a telegrapher for this rail- road for some years, he came to Nanticoke, in 1886, as telegraph operator and ticket clerk. Five years later, in 1891, he was promoted to the office of passenger agent, which position he has held since. Throughout his long resi- dence at Nanticoke he has given freely of his time and efforts to a great variety of civic work. For seventeen years he was a member of the Nanticoke School Board. In 1923 he was one of the organizers of the People's Savings & Trust Company of Nanticoke, of which financial institution he is still a direc- tor. He has also been very prominently active in fraternal affairs, being a member of Nanti- coke Lodge, No. 541, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a Past Master, and in 1927 served as treasurer; Nanticoke Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is a Past High Priest: Plymouth Chapter, No. 214, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is also a Past High Priest: the Commandery, Knights Templar; Keystone Consistory, of Scranton, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; Irem Temple,
Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; the Craftsmen Cluh; and the Kiwanis Club, of which latter he is a director. He is one of the most loyal members of the local Presbyterian Church, of the board of direc- tors of which he was a member for twenty- five years, having served this church also as treasurer and having taken a very active part in its work in many other ways.
Mr. Hess married, in 1889, Lillian Risewick of Nanticoke, a daughter of Wellington and Rachael (Long) Risewick. Mr. and Mrs. Hess are the parents of two daughters: 1. Helen, wife of Eugene Y. Randall of Nanticoke, dis- trict superintendent of the Susquehanna Col- liery Company, and mother of two children: Katharine and Jean Randall. 2. Katherine, a teacher in the public schools at Nanticoke and makes her home with her parents. The family residence is located at No. 139 Arch Street, Nanticoke.
DR. WILLARD ANDREW RIBBLE-With an extensive dental practice about Kingston and Wilkes-Barre, Dr. Willard Andrew Ribble has, during the quarter of a century that he has rendered professional services to the community, interested himself in public affairs and cooperated in civic betterment efforts through his extensive organization activities. Dr. Ribble is a native of Wilkes- Barre. Born January 11, 1882, he is the son of James Irvin Ribble, born at Columbia, New Jersey, 1851, died October 21, 1921, and Anna (Read) Ribble, born in 1854 at Dallas, Luzerne County, died in 1924. The father was proprietor of a shop where harness and col- lars were made for mules in the mines.
Dr. Ribble attended the Wilkes-Barre public schools and, after completing the high school course, went to the Wilkes- Barre and Woods business colleges, then to the Baltimore School of Dental Surgery. Here he received his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery with the class of 1903. He established an office in Wilkes-Barre and practiced there until 1924 when he built his present home and office at 245 Reynolds Street in Kingston where he has conducted a general dental practice ever since. With membership in the Luzerne Dental Society, the esteem of his fellow members is attested to by the fact that he was elected to the presidency of the body in 1923. He had been treasurer of the organization for a number of years prior to that. In politics, Dr. Ribble affiliated himself with the Republican party; he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Rotary Club of Wilkes-Barre. He has ad- vanced far in Masonry, being a member of Lodge No. 61, Free and Accepted Masons; Shekinah Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Dieu le Veut Commandery, No. 45, Knights Tem- plar, and Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Dr. Ribble married, October 3, 1905, Edythe M. Morgan, daughter of Morgan R. and Mar- garet J. (Williams) Morgan of Wilkes-Barre. Their two sons are: Morgan Irvin, born April 6, 1910, now a student at Lafayette College. Willard Andrew, Jr., born July 24, 1913, now attending Wyoming Seminary.
WILLIAM FORESTER DAVISON. M. D .- Prominent in the life of Kingston for many years, Dr. William Forester Davison has achieved a unique position in the affection and esteem of his community. A member of an old Luzerne County family, he has chosen to make his own home there, and his con- stant and faithful attendance upon the sick, his very great professional skill, and fine spirit of public service have endeared him to all those with whom he has come in contact.
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Dr. Davison, besides holding various civic offices, is prominent in the social and fra- ternal life of Kingston.
His grandfather, James Davison, came from New Jersey to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, among the early settlers. He was a butcher by trade, a veteran of the Civil War, and became the father of five children: 1. Charles A. 2. Alfred Gwynne, who was a physician for many years at Cambria in Luzerne County, and a veteran of the Civil War. 3. Lucy, who survives her husband, William Shaw. 4. Elizabeth, deceased. 5. Jennie, now also deceased. Charles A. Davison, who died at the age of eighty-three, married Harriet Augusta Fitzgerald, the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Barney) Fitzgerald. Mrs. Davison is still living although she has also passed her eighty-fourth birthday.
William Forester Davison, the only child of this marriage, was born on December 28, 1867, at Town Hill, Huntington Township, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. He spent most of his childhood at Cambra, attending the public schools there, and later he entered New Columbus Academy at Huntington Mills in Luzerne County. He also attended Wyoming Seminary at Kingston. Having al- ready decided upon the career which he in- tended to follow, Dr. Davison then entered Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, and after pursuing the course of study there, was graduated in 1896 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He came immediately to Kings- ton to begin the practice of his profession, which he has carried on so successfully there since that time for thirty-three years. In point of service he is easily the senior phy- sician of Kingston.
Politically, Dr. Davison supports the prin- ciples and candidates of the Republican party. He is a member of the Luzerne County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and of the American Medical Asso- ciation: also a member of Central Atlantic States Association of the American Dairy Food Drugs. He is also chairman of the Luzerne County Public Health Association, chairman of the Pennsylvania Association of Dairy and Milk Inspectors Association, and a member of the Kingston Board of Health. In 1923 he was appointed State Medical Supervisor, and appointed in 1929 Luzerne County Medical Director. He is a Protestant, and affiliated fraternally with the Kingston Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, and is now a director of the First National Bank of Kingston. During the World War Mr. Davis was appointed by the President as member of the local Examining Board for Division No. 4, Luzerne County. In June, 1917, he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Medical Corps and transferred to Camp Lee as head of the Intelligence Department at the Base Hospital.
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Dr. Davison was twice married (first) to Viola Boultinghouse, of New Jersey, who died in 1910. He married (second) Jessie M. Mulford of Bridgeton, New Jersey, daughter of Clarence J. and Anna R. (Boultinghouse) Mulford, and they became the parents of a son, Wil- liam Forester Davison, Jr., born January 16, 1916, and three who died in infancy. Mrs. Davison is a member of West Side Women's Club, the Nesbitt Memorial Hospital Associa- tion, West Side Visiting Nurses Association, West Side Settlement, Wyoming Seminary Association, and is very active in Kingston Presbyterian Church work.
ROBERT C. TEEL-A follower of the "Art Preservative" since his graduation from high school, in 1894, Robert C. Teel, of White Haven, has continued in this line of en- deavor until the present time, and after many
years as an employee has built up a business of his own here that ranks high among com- mercial enterprises of the town. During his years of experience in printing and publish- ing, Mr. Teel founded, and for some time pub- lished a weekly newspaper. Political, civic, and fraternal organizations are well ac- quainted with the capacity for unremitting labor possessed by Mr. Teel, he being promi- nent among such societies and organizations here.
Mr. Teel was born November 11, 1878, at White Haven, son of Philin and Louisa (Voll- mer) Teel. Philip Teel, a native of Ross Common, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, born December 2, 1845, was connected with vari- ous sawmills as planer operator until his death in 1908. Louisa (Vollmer) Teel, born June 8, 1857, at Lehigh Tannery, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, survives her husband (1928).
Completing his education by graduation from high school, with the class of 1894, Robert C. Teel apprenticed himself in the fall of that year to the printing trade, and throughout his life since that time has been attached, in one capacity or another, with printing. In 1902, he started a concern of his own, on a very modest scale. His first plant was located in his mother-in-law's home and here he specialized in the printing of cards and other commercial work. For six years, while still maintaining his status as an em- ployee, Mr. Teel remained in this location, at the end of which time he resigned his position and moved his business downtown, enlarging the scope of his product and adding a line of stationery for the retail trade. With this modest beginning he gradually developed hls concern until it attained its present high standing in White Haven. His establishment now carries a complete line of stationery, gift articles, electrical and sporting goods, soda, cigars, books, toys, novelties, and radios. Following the trend of business de- velopment, in 1917 Mr. Teel purchased his present store building at No. 408 Main Street, but after three years here, he again became cramped for space, was forced to expand, and
constructed additions to his building, increas- ing the floor space thereof about forty per cent. A résumé of the foregoing review will remove all doubts as to who should have credit for the present development of Mr. Teel's concern, for it has been entirely through his unceasing and unremitting de- votion to business that success has thus favored him. It was in 1922 that the "White Haven Record," a weekly newspaper, was founded by Mr. Teel. He, with others, con- ducted this publication for two years before disposing of his interests therein.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Teel is a de- voted worker for the progress of his com- munity. Among his civic activities may be included the Patriotic Order Sons of America, Junior Order United American Mechanics, the Knights of the Maccabees, White Haven Fire Company and Business Men's Associa- tion. Believing in the community in which he was reared and made his success, he has invested the proceeds of his endeavor in the business life of his town, being financially interested in many of the town's industries and activities.
In 1902 Mr. Teel married Mabel Schutzbach, of White Haven, daughter of Joseph and Emma Schutzbach, and they have two sons: I. Harold, born March 4, 1904. 2. Robert C., Jr., born November 6, 1909. Early in 1927 the two sons were taken into partnership with their father, under the firm name of Robert Teel & Sons; Harold, active in the business at all times, and Robert, Jr., still a student at Temple College, Philadelphia.
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WILLIAM DEXTER JENKINS - Rising, through his own efforts, from a breaker boy at a coal mine to become a leading merchant of his city while still in early middle life, is the achievement of William Dexter Jenkins, of Nanticoke. It may have been the vigor of the Welsh hlood in his veins that partly accounted for this success, but certainly a tremendous amount of perseverance must have been added to enable him to accomplish the results that have rewarded his efforts. Yet he has had time, withal, to take a most active interest in the civic, social, political and fraternal affairs of his community and today is not only one of the leading business men of Nanticoke, but one of the most popu- lar of its citizens.
William Dexter Jenkins was born in Mis- souri, June 19, 1882, hut was reared in Plym- outh, Pennsylvania, where his parents had removed shortly after emigrating to this country from Wales, their native land, prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. His father was Thomas, and his mother, Catherine (Dexter) Jenkins, the first named having been born in 1840 and coming to America when a young man. When the Civil War began and volunteers were called, he enlisted in the artillery for a period of six months, at the close of which service he re- enlisted for three years. He took part in many of the great battles of the war, and returning to civil life he engaged in mining, an occupation he followed to the day of his death at the age of seventy years. William Dexter's mother was a native American, hav- ing been born in Connecticut. She was the mother of nine children.
William Dexter Jenkins was educated in the public schools of Plymouth and at twelve years of age went to work as a breaker boy, following this hard task for more than two years. He then obtained a position in a mer- cantile house, a business which he has since followed. It was not until 1917 that he was able to seriously entertain his desire to establish himself independently, when he set up his own store, which today is one of the outstanding successes of Wyoming Valley, dealing principally in ready-to-wear garments for women. He is a member and past vice- president of the Kiwanis Club, a member of the Craftsmen's Club; of St. John's Lodge, No. 233, Free and Accepted Masons; the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Caldwell Consistory, Knights Templar, of Bloomsburg.
Mr. Jenkins married, September 1, 1915, Elizabeth Thompson, of Pittston. Their chil- dren are: David Fowler, and Anne Watson.
CHARLES J. MeGOUGH-One of the most modern and well equipped automobile sales- rooms in the city of Wilkes-Barre is that of the Wilkes-Barre Buick Company, located at No. 174 South Washington Street. The pro- prietor of this concern is Charles J. McGough, and the company are general distributors for the Wyoming Valley, with associate distribu- tors at various other points in the valley. Mr. McGough is a skilled machinist himself, having learned the trade between the years of fourteen and twenty, and he has been identified with the automobile industry and business since he was twenty years of age. He is president of the Wilkes-Barre Automo- bile and Merchants' Association, and 1928-29 president of the Wilkes-Barre-Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Charles J. McGough was born in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1883, son of J. F. and Anna (Tracey) McGough, both de- ceased. He attended the public schools of Philadelphia until he was fourteen years of
age, and then learned the trade of the ma- chinist, which he followed until he was a young man of twenty. He then identified himself with the rapidly growing automobile industry, using the skill which he had already acquired as a mechanic and adding to his equipment a thorough knowledge of automobile mechanics. In 1918, he became an agent and distributor for the Dodge Brothers motor cars, and continued to sell the products of that concern until 1926. 1n that year he removed from Philadelphia to Wilkes-Barre and became the distributor for the Buick motor cars for Luzerne County. As proprietor of the Wilkes-Barre Buick Com- pany, he is handling a business which is rap- idly growing and which now distributes throughout the Wyoming Valley, having asso- ciate distributing centers at Nanticoke, Plym- outh, Pittston, Dallas, and Kingston. As has already been stated, the showrooms at Wilkes-Barre are beautiful, modern, and well equipped, ranking among the very best in the city of Wilkes-Barre. Mr. McGough has established a reputation as a good business man, and his experience and his general abil- ity cause him to be much in demand for offi- cial service in the various organizations with which he is identified. He is chief executive of the Wilkes-Barre Automobile and Mer- chants' Association, and as president of the Wilkes-Barre-Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce, he has done splendid work for the years 1928-29. He is known as a "live wire," and his associates are ever ready to follow where he leads, having learned from experience that he is able to "get things done." He is a member of the Wyoming Val- ley Country Club, Irem Temple Country Club, Westmoreland Club, and the Franklin Club; director of the Wyoming Valley Automobile Club and director of the Wyoming Valley Playground Association, and member of the Rotary Club. He is well known in Masonic circles, being a member of Jerusalem Lodge, No. 506, Free and Accepted Masons, of Phila- delphia; Siloam Chapter, No. 226, Royal Arch Masons; Frankford Commandery, Knights Templar, of Philadelphia; Keystone Con- sistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in which he holds the thirty-second degree; and Irem Temple, Ancient Arahic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Wilkes-Barre. He is a Republican in politics, and his religious membership is with the Presbyterian Church.
Charles J. McGough was married, October 27, 1909, to Laura L. Thompson, of Tower City, Pennsylvania, daughter of Oliver and Lydia (Goodman) Thompson. Mr. and Mrs. McGough have five adopted children: L. Ruth, Anna E., Blanche E., Mildred C., and I. Arlien.
JOHN HOWORTH, M. D .- One of the well- known men of the medical profession in Wilkes-Barre is Dr. John Howorth, whose offices are located at his home, No. 115 South Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre. Dr. Howorth is a graduate of the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, has had an ex- tended hospital experience, and has given special attention to surgery. He has been one of the surgeons of Wilkes-Barre General Hospital since 1913 and has long been known as one of the skilled surgeons of this city.
James Howorth, father of Dr. Howorth, was born in England, and was brought to this country by his parents when he was a small boy. The family settled in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where James Howorth
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received his education and where for thirty- five years he was employed as a stationary engineer. He was a Republican in his political convictions, and a member of the Presby- terian Church. He married Catherine Wil- liams, in Olyphant, and they were the par- ents of seven children. He died at the age of fifty-six years, and his widow survives him (1929) at the age of seventy-eight. The children are: Frank, deceased; James, Jr., of Wilkes-Barre; Morgan, deceased; Alice; Dr. John, of further mention; Catherine, and George.
Dr. John Howorth, son of James and Cath- erine (Williams) Howorth, was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, December 11, 1879, and was an infant when his parents located in Wilkes-Barre. He attended the public schools, graduating from Wilkes-Barre High School in 1897, and then became a student in the Bloomsburg State Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1898. After the completion of his Normal course he taught in Wilkes-Barre for five years, until 1905, when he matriculated in the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the class of 1909, receiving at that time the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after gradu- ation he returned to Wilkes-Barre, and from 1909 to 1911 he was the resident physician for the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. Since that time he has given special attention to surgery and has been one of the members of the surgical staff of the Wilkes-Barre Gen- eral Hospital. He has built up a very large and important general practice, in addition to his special surgical work, and is well known as one of the specially skilled mem- bers of his profession. Dr. Howorth is a member of the Luzerne County Medical So- ciety, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, and in addition to the professional responsibilities already mentioned he is surgeon for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company and was surgeon for the Sheldon Axle Works of Wilkes-Barre up to the time of its closing out. Fraternally, he is identified with Wilkes- Barre Lodge, No. 61, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a Past Master; Sheki- nah Chapter, No. 182, Royal Arch Masons: Dieu le Vent Commandery, No. 45, Knights Templar; and Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was also a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America, and is a member of the Exchange Club, and is deeply interested in the civic welfare of the city. He has won in a high degree the respect and esteem of his asso- ciates, both in the profession and among those with whom he is otherwise associated, and he is known as one of the representative citizens of Wilkes-Barre.
Dr. John Howorth was married, September 23, 1914, to Florence Loretta MacDaniels, daughter of Seymour and Ida (Morgan) Mac- Daniels, of Wilkes-Barre. Dr. and Mrs. Howorth have two children: Katherine Mir- iam, and Loretta Alice.
FREDERICK C. A. JOB-Descendant of a family of watchmakers, his father and grand- father having followed that profession in England, the home land, Frederick C. A. Job, of Wilkes-Barre, is a natural inheritor of the craft. For thirty-six years he has success- fully conducted such a business here, estab- lished on a firm basis and continued on the highest plane of commercial tradition. Al- though of foreign birth, he has long since become so immersed in Americanism that he is as much a part of the body politic native born as the oldest of American stock. Inter-
ested in every activity that lends itself to the approval of the best citizenry, he is one of the very substantial members of the com- mercial, social and fraternal organization that makes up the community, respected and admired by all with whom he is thrown in contact.
Frederick C. A. Job was born in London, England, in 1864, a son of Frederick and Ann (Baseley) Job. The father is deceased, the mother still living, in Birmingham, England, at the age of eighty-five years. Frederick, the younger, is a self-educated, self-made man. He came to America in 1891 and located in Wilkes-Barre, soon establishing himself in the jewelry business here. The business has continued to grow during the thirty- seven years of its life and is now one of the leading houses of its character in Lu- zerne County, doing a wholesale business. In fraternal circles he is affiliated with the order of Free and Accepted Masons, holding membership in Wilkes-Barre Lodge, No. 61. He is a director of the Dime Bank Title and Trust Company, of Wilkes-Barre.
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