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 26
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departments and later as superintendent and engineer in charge of the Wyoming Valley Water Company, subsidiary of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company. In 1917 he joined the army and at the time of his discharge held the rank of major in the Field Artillery. He was in the service for a period of eighteen months during the years 1918 and 1921. He was general manager of the Peerless Steel Company at Ardmore, Oklahoma, and entered the oil business in 1921. He is now presi- dent of the Simpson-Fell Oil Company and Lacardo Oil Company at Ardmore, Oklahoma. He married Georgie Simpson of Ardmore, Oklahoma, January 8, 1919. They have two daughters, Frances-Alice and Elizabeth Simp- son Fell. He is now lieutenant-colonel of the Federal Army Reserves, commanding the 359th Field Artillery.
(2) Daniel A. Fell, III, now of Winfield, Kansas, attended Harry Hillman Academy of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Mercersburg, Academy, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, La- fayette College and Princeton University. Whlle at Lafayette he was corporal of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, during the war. He is an engineer and chemist by pro- fession, now in the employment of William S. Barnickel & Company of St. Louis, Mis- souri, and is at present engaged in the oil field, treating oil for said firm. He married Ruth Dillworth of Ardmore, Oklahoma.
(3) Alexander Gray Fell, II, attended pub- lic school and Harry Hillman Academy of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the United States Navy, June 22, 1918 and was stationed at Bremerton Navy Yard, Puget Sound, Washington. He is now en- gaged in the general insurance business at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
ALEXANDER P. O'MALLEY, M. D .- More than forty years of successful medical prac- tice in Wilkes-Barre brought to Dr. Alex- ander P. O'Malley the profound respect of the entire community, the high regard of his fellow physicians, and the sincere friendship of the many people to whom he was able to bring, in hours of trouble and distress, the relief that only a kindly and sympathetic, as well as intelligent, doctor can bring. Dr. O'Malley belonged to the old school of medicine who believed that their prescrip~ tions were more efficacious if made with an understanding of the patient's personal idio- syncracies as well as his actual physical ailments.
Alexander P. O'Malley was born in Ireland in 1852, the son of James and Louise (Sproule) O'Malley, natives of Westport, County Mayo, who came to America while their son was still a child. Dr. O'Malley entered the academic course at Yale Univer- sity. Upon deciding to become a physician, he commenced the study of medicine in the medical department of New York University. Here he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1876 and shortly there- after opened an office for practice at Plains, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It was not long, however, before he located in Wilkes- Barre, beginning his two-score years of faith- ful service to the community.
While Dr. O'Malley was more interested in his profession and in his home life than in the club life of the community, he always gave generously to all movements for the social and civic betterment of the city. In religion Dr. O'Malley was a Roman Catholic, a member of St. Mary's Church.
Dr. O'Malley married (first) Kate Frances Walsh, of Brooklyn, New York, to which union were born two children: 1. Andrew W. O'Malley, M. D., of whom a biography
follows. 2. Henrietta Frances, who became the wife of James C. Cornell, of Detroit, Michigan. Mrs. O'Malley died November 15, 1885, and Dr. O'Malley married (second) Amelia Regina Mckay, daughter of Hngh Williamson and Cecilia (McDermott) Mckay of Jersey City. By this second marriage there were two children: 3. Regina Cecilia. 4. Marguerite Elizabeth, who is the wife of John T. Mackenrow. They are the parents of Jane Amelia and Margaret Elizabeth Mackenrow.
The death of Alexander P. O'Malley oc- curred December 12, 1914, bringing deep sorrow to a wide circle of friends, in addi- tion to the members of his devoted family. Ties that have been forty years in the mak- ing cannot be quickly broken, particularly if they be the deep attachments that the sterling worth of a man such as Dr. O'Malley was would inspire. He was an influence for good in the social group of which he was a part and he can never be forgotten by those who were privileged to know and love him.
ANDREW W. O'MALLEY M. D .- A native son of whom Wilkes-Barre is justly proud is Dr. Andrew W. O'Malley, noted medical specialist and son of Dr. Alexander P. O'Mal- ley who, for forty years prior to his death in 1914, practiced medicine in the city. Dr. O'Malley is a recognized leader in his field and enjoys the highest regard of his fel- low-professionals among whom he is active in organization work. He plays his part ably in the civic life of Wilkes-Barre and has extensive fraternal and social affiliations through which he has built up a wide circle of friends, in addition to those people who have come to know and respect him through professional contacts.
Dr. O'Malley was born in Wilkes-Barre, November 5, 1883. His father, as stated above, was Dr. Alexander P. O'Malley, a biography of whom precedes this; and his mother, before her marriage, had been Kate Frances Walsh, of Brooklyn, New York. Her death occurred November 15, 1885. The son spent his boyhood days in Wilkes-Barre where he attended the parochial schools, and Harry Hillman Academy; then completed his preparatory work in the lower form classes at Notre Dame University in Indiana. For his college work he matriculated at Ford- ham University, New York City, graduating in 1903 with the degree Bachelor of Arts. After that came the Medical School of the Illinois Medical College of Chicago from which he received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1907. During the two succeeding years he served as resident-physician in Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, New York City, then associated himself with the re- nowned Mayo brothers of Rochester, Min- nesota, with whom he worked and studied until Jannary, 1910, when he came to Wilkes- Barre and opened an office. He engaged in general practice, though specializing in gynecology and proctology, fields in which he had done particular research.
Though Dr. O'Malley had carried his studies much further than do the majority of med- ical men he still was not satisfied and, in 1911, he went to Vienna, Berlin, and Dublin where he attended clinics and observed the work of some of the most renowned men in the profession on the continent, Since his return to Wilkes-Barre he has been kept constantly occupied with his rapidly grow- ing and lucrative practice. Dr. O'Malley is identified with the various medical associa- tion units. He is politically Democratic and fraternally affiliated with Wilkes-Barre Lodge, No. 109, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Wyo-
Hexauda O'clearly Un.
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ming Valley Country Club and the Valley Country Club at Hazleton, and is past presi- dent of Wilkes-Barre Exchange Club. Dr. O'Malley is one of the original sponsors of the Wyoming Valley Air Port. His religious affiliations are with St. Mary's Roman Cath- olic Church.
On August 30, 1911, Dr. O'Malley married Anna M. Boland, daughter of C. G. Boland, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, who was, before his death, president of the Lackawanna National Bank at Lackawanna, New York. They be- came the parents of five children, Mary Cath- erine, Elizabeth Ann, Andrew P., J. Chris- topher, and Grace Celestine.
REV. EDWARD AUGUSTUS WARRINER- In devoting his life to things of the mind and of the spirit, the late Rev. Edward Augustus Warriner was shaping his life In accordance with the traditions of a family important since the founding of America and representative of the finest ideals of this country. He was an Episcopal minister and a writer of prose and poetry who caught in words the beauty and goodness of much in the universe and conveyed these qualities to his fellows less gifted with perception and appreciation. His home was long in Mont- rose, Pennsylvania.
The American progenitor of the Warriner family was William Warriner, who came to America in 1638 and was one of the proprie- tary settlers of Springfield, Massachusetts. Other notable names are associated with the history of the Warriner family, includ- ing that of Philip Sherman, descendant of Thomas Sherman, of Norfolk, England, who joined Roger Williams in Connecticut, where he was elected secretary or recorder in 1638. The Whitings were, dating from 1641, treas- urers of Connecticut for three generations; the Pynchons were founders of Springfield, Massachusetts, which they named for their English home; the Wyllys family, in England friends of Shakespeare's, in this country produced George Wyllys, governor of Con- necticut in 1642, whose son, grandson and great-grandson held in succession the office of secretary. Space forbids the mention of other notable names interwoven with the family history of the Warriners.
Edward Augustus Warriner was born in Agawam, Massachusetts, February 19, 1829, son of Ruel and Anna C. Warriner. He was reared on the farm and graduated from Union College, in New York, in 1855, going from college into the teaching profession for a time. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in Springfield, Massachusetts, Where he practiced for three years. The church made a powerful appeal to him, how- ever, and caused him to fit himself for service as a minister. He studied theology and was made deacon in 1867 and priest the follow- ing year. In 1867 he began on the long pastorate of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Montrose, Pennsylvania, which occupied forty years of his life.
His mind was rich in literary lore, his soul filled with a love of beauty and inspired with faith in his own country and its historical elements. He was a writer of significant works, including "Victor La Tourette," a theological novel published in 1875: "Kear," a poem in seven cantos, published in 1882, an excerpt from which is given below; "I am That I Am, The Idea of God," published in 1887; "The Gate Called Beautiful-An Insti- tute of Christian Sociology," 1898. All these works were characterized by sincerity, grace, and beauty, and all were widely read. The opening stanzas of "Kear" read as follows:
Proud Susquehanna rolls his waters on, Scarce mindful of the changes time has brought;
The Delaware and Iroquois have gone,
And every work by Nature's children wrought, Yet the same spirit which her children caught From cloud and sunshine, wood and mountain stream,
And which the laws of life and virtue taught, Still lingers on his shores, and still the theme Inspires of ancient legend and of poet's dream.
Hidden, remote, in Pennsylvania's hills, Thy vine-clad cottages, O fair Montrose!
Thy fields of green watered by mountain rills, And the pure sparkle of thy winter's snows, No romance of forgotten years disclose; Yet here strange legends of the past abound, Here hostile ashes side by side repose,
For thine was once "the Dark and Bloody Ground,"
Where heroes strove for fame and graves of glory found.
Edward Augustus Warriner married (first) Louisa Voorhis, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He married (second), in 1881, Esther Bolles, of Montrose. She was descended from an old and distinguished family in England, where the name has been traced through several forms of spelling to Bole, meaning the stem or trunk of a tree. This derivation appeals strongly to those of the line who are lovers of the great out of doors and consider trees one of Nature's most useful and beautiful gifts to man. The name is written on the Roll of Battle Abbey, which is a list of every person of consideration that fought under William the Conqueror. Mrs. Warriner is ninth in descent from Joseph Bolles, who came to Maine before 1640, and whose son, Thomas, was prominent in the early life of New London, Connecticut, doing effective work to broaden the narrow laws of the church. Six sons and two daughters rounded out Mr. Warriner's family circle. Samuel D., president of the Lehigh Coal and Naviga- tion Company, of Philadelphia; R. C., a con- sulting mine engineer, of New York City; Edward V., in the automobile business in Springfield; Louise, who married Dr. S. Calvin Smith, of Philadelphia; J. B., vice-president and general manager, Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, Lansford, Pennsylvania. P. B., a farmer in Luzerne County; Paul Sherman, whose record accompanies this; and Anna Chaffee, wife of Marshall Good- heart.
Mr. Warriner died in the spring of 1907, at the advanced age of seventy-eight. His long and happy life was an harmonious ful- fillment of his ideals and ambitions and was spent in the service of the mind and spirit.
PAUL SHERMAN WARRINER-As super- intendent of the Wyoming Division of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, Paul S. War- riner is well known in the city of Wilkes- Barre. His offices are in the Lehigh Valley Coal Company Building No. 133 North River Street. Mr. Warriner has been identified with this concern for about twenty years.
The branch of the Warriner family of which Mr. Warriner is a member is one of the very old New England families, tracing back to William Warriner, who came to this country from England in 1638, and settled in Springfield, Massachusetts. Descendants of his were early settlers in Pennsylvania, where the traits of character which had aided in the early progress of New England con- tributed much to the development of this State. Rev. Edward Augustus Warriner, father of Mr. Warriner, was for many years
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a prominent Protestant Episcopal minister at Montrose, Pennsylvania. He married Esther Bolles, whose ancestors also were among the early English families to settle in the colonies, long before the period of the Revolution, See preceding biography for a brief review of the life of Rev. Edward Augustus Warriner, and the names of his children.
Paul S. Warriner was born in Montrose, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1887, and re- ceived his education in the public schools of Montrose and in Lehigh University, class of 1910. After leaving college he engaged in the bridge building and contracting busi- ness, which he continued for some years. About 1909 he entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, as a chainman in the engineering department, and later he was made a division engineer. Finally, after having gained the necessary experience and having demonstrated his ability, he was made superintendent of the Wyoming Division of the company, which position he is filling at the present time (1929). He is skilled in his field, and is well known among a large group of business men. He is a Republican in politics, and is a past member of the Rotary Club. His religious affiliation is with the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Warriner married (first), on August 30, 1919, Louise F. Bryden, of West Pittston, who died in the following year. On August 20, 1927, he married (second) Clara Jane Lape, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lape, and is the father of one child, Lois Lape Warriner, born August 9, 1929.
JEFFERSON PAWLING BIEHL, M. D .- A reputation for dependability and efficiency, and humanity that not only withstood the tests of time but was augmented with each passing year, had Dr. Jefferson Pawling Biehl, for forty-six years a practicing physician in and about Plymouth and a Pennsylvania all of his life. He began his work as a doctor in the days when modern conveniences and the ease of transportation had not yet made a physician's work largely activities that may be carried on within his own office. Dr. Biehl's practice took him about over the valley a great deal and among its older resi- dents he was looked upon as a trusted and long-tried friend. His abilities were rec- ognized to the extent that he received a number of appointments as medical examiner for industrial concerns and served on the Plymouth Board of Health.
Dr. Biehl was born January 29, 1857, at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, the son of James and Rebecca (Pawling) Biehl. He received his early education in the Lewisburg schools and was graduated from Gettysburg College. He then took up the study of medicine at the Jefferson Medical College where he received his degree in 1883. The following year he commenced practicing his profession in Plym- outh where he continued to serve the ill and afflicted to the utmost of his really exceptional ability throughout the remainder of his life. His practice extended over a period of forty-six years but for forty-nine years he had resided continuously in the same house. He was at the time of his death the oldest living member of Chapter 144, Free and Accepted Masons, of Lewisburg. His professional organization was the Lu- zerne County Medical Society and as medical examiner he was associated with the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. Dr. Biehl was a devout member of the Plymouth Pres- byterian Church where he gave his serv- ices freely when he might be called upon to
do so. As a community service he held mem- bership in Firc Company, No. 1 of Plymouth.
In 1884, the year he commenced his prac- tice in Plymouth, Dr. Biehl married (first) Carrie V. Davenport, daughter of John and Mary (Koontz) Davenport. To this union were born two daughters, who later became Mrs. J. Stanley Rineheimer, of Kingston, and Mrs. Laurence W. Bevan, of Dallas. The death of Mrs. Biehl occurred May 9, 1909, and in 1913 Dr. Biehl married (second) Marin Sally Edmunds, daughter of Philip and Emma Edmunds.
Profound sorrow was felt throughout the valley when the death of Dr. Biehl occurred August 26, 1929, for during his long years of work among its people he had made a host of friends who cherished for him a deep and personal regard. Perhaps it is inevitable that a doctor, who by reason of the type of work he does meets people during their hours of sorrow and suffering when emotions are near the surface, should have a minimum of casual acquaintances and a higher per- centage of close relationships with his fel- lows than does the average man. But also by reason of the fact that his work is so vital, a doctor must meet his daily tasks with greater courage and skill than are asked of most people and he who carries on a med- ical practice over a long period of years during which he is held in universally high regard, has proven his mettle, indeed. Dr. Biehl was a courageous and a skillful man. More, he was a man of high ideals, a man of devotion to his profession and of human- ity and sympathy toward those who came to him in trouble. He will long continue to be missed among the people of the com- munity to which he gave his life in service.
HAZLETON NEWSPAPERS-Of the numer- ous daily and weekly papers launched from time to time in Hazleton, but two dailies and a few weeklies survive. The dailies still in the field are the "Standard-Sentinel," morning, and the "Plain Speaker," evening, jointly owned by Henry Walser and John R. Dershuck.
The city's first newspaper was the Hazle- ton "Sentinel." It was established as an evening publication by John C. Stokes and the first issue appeared January 18, 1866. He was associated with Fred A. Lauderburn, a prominent merchant, who withdrew from the venture within a year. In the summer of 1868, the paper passed into the hands of W. A. M. Grier, of the banking firm of Pardee, Markle and Grier, and then was bought by Henry Wilson, who retired at the end of eighteen months and purchased a half inter- est in the "Wayne County Citizen." Subse- quently the paper was bought by Edwin Moore, proprietor of a music store in Hazle- ton, and Jerry A. Sander, of Berwick, pub- lisher of the Berwick "Gazette," who later took over Mr. Moore's interest and carried on the business for a number of years. The paper was consolidated in 1875 with the "Daily News" and "Anthracite Record," the latter a weekly, which had been issued by the "News." The weekly was discontinued at the consolidation.
After the consolidation, the name of the "Daily News" was dropped and the paper continued under the name of the "Daily Sentinel." The Hazleton "Sentinel," a weekly was published in conjunction with the daily for many years. In 1879, the "Sentinel" was taken over by Charles B. Snyder, who had the backing of W. A. M. Grler, banker. In 1884, George B. Markle, of the Markle Bank- ing & Trust Company acquired the paper,
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which continued under his control until 1888, when it was leased by R. Norman Wallace, George Maue and Terrence McCloskey. Mr. Wallace died a year later and the business was taken over by Mr. Maue, who conducted it until 1892, when the Sentinel Printing Company was formed, with John McCarthy, editor; C. F. Paul, business manager; and George Maue, superintendent. In 1905, Fred Cuyle and George Maue bought the plant and carried on the publication until the death of Mr. Cuyle in 1912, when the paper was pur- chased by Henry Walser of Hazleton, and George T. Kirkendall, of Dallas. In 1917, Messrs Walser and Kirkendall bought the "Daily Standard," morning, and merged it with the "Sentinel" under the name of the "Standard-Sentinel," morning. In 1924, Mr. Kirkendall sold his interest to Mr. Walser, who became sole owner. In 1926, the "Sen- tinel" was consolidated with "The Plain Speaker," Mr. Walser becoming joint owner of the merged properties with John R. Der- shuck.
"The Plain Speaker" was founded February 6, 1882 with John Dershuck and Mr. Lewis as the owners and editors, and Dominic F. Sweeney as business manager. It was the successor of the "Independent Democrat," which was established in 1880 by John Der- shuck. It made its first appearance as an afternoon paper but was later turned into a morning publication. In July 1882, Mr. Lewis severed his connection with the enter- prise and John Dershuck became sole owner. He continued the paper until 1886, when his brother, William C. Dershuck, became asso- ciated with him and the firm name was changed to Dershuck Brothers, which lasted until September 1, 1887, when Dominic F. Sweeney purchased William C. Dershuck's interest, changing the firm name to Dershuck and Sweeney. This co-partnership existed until March 9, 1889, when Mr. Dershuck, owing to continued ill health, was obliged to retire. His interest was sold to James L. Morris, a Wilkes-Barre attorney, and a new firm was created under the title of Dominic F. Sweeney, editor and proprietor, although Mr. Morris was half owner. On April 20, 1889, John Dershuck died at the age of thirty- three years.
After the death of Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Morris continued the business for a time and then sold the paper to William C. Dershuck in 1894, who owned and conducted it up to the time of his death, May 15, 1923. He changed it into an evening paper in September, 1900. Some time before his death, he turned over an interest in the paper to his son, John R. Dershuck, into whose control it came after the passing away of his father. In 1926, the paper was merged with the "Standard- Sentinel."
The "Daily Standard" was started as a semi-weekly paper March 25, 1885, by the Standard Company, the proprietors being L. G. Lubrecht and Henry A. Buchenau. Mr. Buchenau retired after three months and his interest passed into the hands of William C. Lubrecht. On March 23, 1892, it became a daily. The Lubrecht brothers owned the paper for thirty-five years and sold it in 1917 to Messrs. Walser and Kirkendall, who merged it with the "Sentinel."
The "Daily News" was first issued on Sep- tember 15, 1870, by J. C. Fincher, who came to the coal regions from Philadelphia, where he had been connected with a trade journal. In 1875, it was merged with the Hazleton "Sentinel."
The "Middle Coal Field Advertiser" made
its appearance September 19, 1874, under the ownership of George Mancy, as a weekly. On December 10, 1878 it was succeeded by the "Daily Bulletin," which was launched by George Maue, who had been connected with the printing business in Hazleton since the early part of 1867. The "Bulletin" was pub- lished until 1883, when it was merged with the "Sentinel."
The Hazleton "Volksblatt," German weekly, was launched April 16, 1872, by Moore and Sanders, who continued its pub- lication until October 20, 1872, when Mr. Moore retired. Mr. Sanders remained in charge until April 1, 1873 when Peter Der- shuck and R. F. Stutzbach bought it. In 1874, Mr. Stutzbach retired from the firm. On October 1, 1877, it was changed to a semi-weekly, but a year later it went back to a weekly. In 1882, Anton Schneider be- came owner of the "Volksblatt." He sold it in July, 1891 to Peter Schneider, who has since discontinued it.
The Hazleton "Journal," another German weekly, was established in July, 1876, by R. F. Stutzbach, who remained in charge until his death. Several years afterwards it ceased publication.
The "Mountain Beacon" was established by John C. Stokes, of Hazleton, October 25, 1877. In August of 1879, Alfred F. Stokes became publisher and editor. It has passed out of existence.
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