USA > Pennsylvania > Book of biographies; This volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of the Seventeenth congressional district, Pennsylvania > Part 68
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
Charles S. Rogers is a dentist of Towanda and married Mary Marsden, by whom he had three children: Stanley, Marsden, and Helen. George Arthur Rogers was born March 28, 1873, and is a graduate of the School of Electricity of Washington, D. C. In 1897 he bought out B. W. Fawcett of Forksville and
671
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
now conducts a jewelry store. He is a mem- ber of Lodge No. 522, I. O. O. F., and is also past grand of the same. On January 17, 1899, he was united in marriage with Mazie Shafer, a daughter of Jesse Shafer of Forksville.
Our subject is a strong Republican in poli- tics, as are all his sons, and served as post- master thirty-one years; he has also been school director and overseer of the poor. He was treasurer of the Home Insurance Com- pany, but resigned in 1897, having held that office for eighteen years. In 1876 he was elected associate judge of Sullivan County and held the office for a period of five years. His associate on the bench was F. B. Pom- croy of Dushore, now deceased. In 1884 he was alternate delegate to the national con- vention in Chicago which nominated James G. Blaine. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist Church and has served as trustee, steward and superintendent of the Sunday School. Socially he is a member of I. O. O. F.
ยท ERNEST DAVIS is classed among the solid and substantial business men of the town of Berwick, Pa., and is su- perintendent of the Berwick Electric Light Company. He was born at Jersey Shore, Ly- coming County, Pa., July 16, 1869, and is a son of Thomas H. B. Davis, a well-known carpenter and contractor of Summer Hill, Briarcreek township, Pa.
For many years our subject had charge of the C. R. Woodin electric light plant on the Heights, where he proved himself to be an efficient electrician and attracted the atten- tion of the officials of the Berwick Electric Light Company, who offered him the super- intendency of their plant, which position he accepted, succeeding W. E. Boyce. This com-
pany was organized in 1892 and immediately built, on the site of the Freas Bros.' foundry, a brick plant, 45 by 50 feet, with a boiler and engine room 30 by 40 feet, and in addition an office and work-rooms. The plant has two engines, one of 100-horsepower, the other of 150-horsepower, two 1,200-light machines. a Westinghouse and a Warren dynamo, one 60- arc light and two 30-are light machines. The town of Berwick is well illuminated by forty- five arc lights on the streets which are well distributed throughout the borough, and be- sides furnishing lights for many dwellings and nearly all the stores of the place, the com- pany supplies the lights for the mammoth works of The Jackson & Woodin Manufac- turing Company which are in the town.
Mr. Davis chose for his life companion lola Miller, a daughter of John F. Miller, a promi- nent citizen of Wilkesbarre, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Davis reside in their handsome residence at No. 408 East Front street, which was for- merly the property of the Berlins. Mr. Davis performs his work in such a manner as to win the confidence and esteem of his superior officers. As a citizen he stands high in the estimation of his fellow-men and is one of the most prosperous and highly-respected cit- izens of Columbia County.
OHN H. KREITZER, wholesale and retail grocer, of Milton, Pa., is virtually a self-made man. He was born in Mil- ton, Pa., October 24, 1858, attended the pub- lic schools of his native place, and when four- teen years of age became a driver on the tow- path. At the close of the season he found em- ployment at William Price Hull's grain and coal office for two years, after which he at- tended school until 1877. In choosing a vo- cation he preferred mercantile pursuits for his active mind. Accordingly, he was a clerk for
672
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES.
Albert Cadwalder from April 1, 1877, until August 12, 1879, when he was appointed su- perintendent of James Buoy's grocery store on Mahanoy street, where he remained until January 11, 1881. At that time he purchased a half-interest in the business, and it was con- ducted under the firm name of Buoy & Kreit- zer, and operated under that name until May, 1883. Mr. Kreitzer then purchased his part- ner's interest, and conducted the business alone.
Our subject's career has been one of prog- ress. Starting out, a young man with no cash but a large amount of energy and upright principles, he has risen to the topmost round of the ladder and is now the largest wholesale and retail grocer in his section of the state. He now owns a fine brick block. Mr. Kreit- zer has improved and enlarged this building and has built a three-story warehouse at- tached to it. The warehouse was built in 1891, and since its erection Mr. Kreitzer has dealt in groceries, provisions, crockery, wood- en and willow ware, grain, hay and feed. Ad- joining his grocery store he built a wholesale confectionery store. The confectionery busi- ness is operated under the firm name of The Kreitzer Wholesale Candy Company, and the firm is composed of the following members: J. H. Kreitzer. president and treasurer; M. C. Kreitzer, assistant treasurer; and M. E. Kreit- zer, secretary, and they are wholesale dealers of confectionery, fruits and nuts. Mr. Kreit- zer deals largely in country produce and ships to nearby markets, employing ten men to as- sist him. He is the owner of a fine stable and keeps six fine horses for general use. John H. Kreitzer is a son of Washington and Cath- erine (Lore) Kreitzer and a grandson of Bal- sar and Mary (Zimmerman) Kreitzer.
Balsar Kreitzer was born in Myerstown and
was a direct descendant of Peter Kreitzer, who came from Germany and settled in Tulp- chocken, Berks County, Pa., in 1762. About 1826-27 Balsar Kreitzer went to Milton, Pa., and was largely interested for many years as contractor for lumber jobs, cleared off most of the heavy timber around Milton, and rafted most of it to market. His principal business was lumbering. He purchased the old Luth- eran Church on Mahanoy street and remod- eled it into a dwelling, which is now the resi- dence of Samuel Fletcher. Mr. Kreitzer was a Whig and later a Republican. He held minor offices in the township and was a mem- ber of the Lutheran Church. He died in 1878 at the age of seventy-eight; his good wife sur- vived him until 1884, when she, too, laid down the burden of life, at the advanced age of eighty-two. Their children were as follows: Washington, our subject's father; John; Sar- ah; Jacob; Reuben; William; Adam; and Moses, who died in early childhood.
Washington Kreitzer, father of our subject, was born at Milton, Pa. At the age of ten years he drove a canal team and considered himself a man. He was very energetic and quite handy with horses. Later he drove a packet team and in winter a stage coach, also carrying the mail up and down the river for many years. Thus in various ways he accu- mulated in the course of a few years money enough to try a business venture for himself. He associated himself with Conrad Cares, un- der the firm name of Kreitzer & Cares, and engaged in the butchering business in Milton. Later he was associated with Charles Hoye in the same business. After a short time he sold out his interest and served as assistant for William P. Hall, dealer in coal and grain. He subsequently carried on the dairy busi- ness. He served two terms as street commis-
673
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
sioner. During his last years he assisted his son, the subject of this sketch, in the gro- cery business. He possessed a strong consti- tution and was a hard worker; previous to the illness which caused his death he had often re- marked that he had not paid twenty-five dol- lars for medicine during his lifetime. On June 17, 1898, in his seventieth year, he died with dropsy. Catherine Lore, daughter of J. Lore of Iola, Pa., became his wife and survives her husband. She resides in Milton, aged sixty- six years. The following are their children: Mary Catherine, who married John Byres, of South Milton; John H., our subject; Eliza- beth, who became the wife of William Cowles, of Muncy, Pa .; Abraham, who died young; Addie, who married Augustus Berger, of Watsontown; William Washington, now de- ceased.
February 11, 1886, our subject was united in marriage with Mary Catherine Ettla, a daughter of Capt. George H. and Amanda C. Ettla. One daughter now blesses the home of our subject, Mary Elizabeth. Both he and his family are of the Presbyterian faith.
Mr. Kreitzer, besides being an active man in business circles, has done much to advance the interests of Milton. From 1893 to 1896 he served as chief burgess of Milton; for three years as councilman of the borough; for three years as auditor; as judge of election for two terms, and in other minor offices. He is a di- rector of the Milton board of trade, and is financially associated with the Milton Knit- ting Company and the Milton Driving Park & Fair Association. He is also a stockholder in the Milton Trust & Safe Deposit Company. Socially he is a member of the Royal Arcanum and has served as secretary and treasurer of the Baptist Church and Sunday School for nine years.
A NDREW ROBERTSON. The active experience as a coal operator of the gen- tleman whose name heads this re- view covers a period of over half a century in the anthracite coal fields of Northumber- land and Schuylkill counties, he having been in the business longer than any man now liv- ing in either county who is in the business at the present time.
Our subject was born April 23, 1826, near a place called Johnson, in Scotland, and his parents were George and Agnes (Aiken) Rob- ertson. In 1831 or 1832 his father, desiring a wider field for the cultivation of his talents and the exercise of his energies, emigrated with his family to Nova Scotia, British Amer- ica. He removed to that country as a super- intendent of mines for a foreign corporation operating what were known as the Sidney Morris Mines. He remained there until about 1836 when he came to Pennsylvania, locat- ing near Pottsville where he embarked in coal operating, continuing in that business the re- mainder of his active life, dying in 1849 at the age of forty-six years.
Andrew Robertson had but limited advan- tages for securing an education so far as the schools were concerned, as his school-boy days were included in that period just prior to and following the adoption of the present common school system. Most of his educa- tion has been obtained in the great univer- sity of practical business operations. His ini- tial experience in coal mining was secured when, as a boy, he was engaged about the mines of his father as a picker of slate and in other jobs such as fell to boys about a mine. His father died when he was young and An- drew learned the trade of a blacksmith which he followed in the vicinity of his birthplace about three years. He carefully husbanded his earnings and at the end of that time he
674
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES.
had accumulated sufficient money to go into the coal-producing business on his own ac- count on a very small scale. This he did at New Philadelphia, about six miles east of Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pa., where he remained about three years and then went to St. Clair, and entering into partnership with William Littlehales, took charge of an old colliery, repaired it, and operated it for a short time, when he sold out and returned to New Philadelphia where the firm started a new enterprise known as the New Philadel- phia Shaft, operating it about two years when it was sold. About this time, or in 1853, the gold fields of California seemed to offer un- usual advantages to the ambitious and enter- prising, and, yielding to the strong impulse, Mr. Robertson resolved to try his fortunes on the Pacific coast. There for two years his fortunes were cast among the miners, part of the time as a searcher after the precious metal and part of the period as a blacksmith, a trade which at that time and under the circumstances stood him in very good stead. After this experience on the Western Slope he returned to Schuylkill County and for one and a half years was employed as superintend- ent of the coal operations of Rhoades & Shoullenberger of New Philadelphia. He then formed a business partnership with Thomas Beddall and opened a colliery about one mile from New Philadelphia known as the Lick Run Colliery. They successfully operated this enterprise for a period of about two years when misfortune overtook them and the colliery was burned. Their next opera- tions were at the Eagle Hill Colliery with which they were connected from 1861 to 1865 when they sold out to eastern capitalists.
In 1866 Mr. Robertson removed to Shamokin, Northumberland County, and first became identified with the eastern
anthracite coal fields. He formed a part- nership with Henry Guiterman and Thom- as Gorman and built the Greenback Col- liery, which they operated until 1869, when Mr. Robertson sold his interest to his part- ners. In the meantime the same firm had leased the Henry Clay Colliery and Mr. Bed- . dall and Mr. Robertson opened a colliery at Helfenstein in the Mahanoy Valley. The lat- ter enterprise, however, did not prove a pay- ing one and was abandoned. About the time he was operating the Henry Clay Colliery our subject formed a copartnership with Alex- ander Fulton and entered into a contract to mine and deliver coal for the McIntyre Coal Company of Elmira, N. Y., operating in Lycoming County, Pa., near Ralston, about twenty-seven miles north of Williamsport. This contract covered a period of four years. at the end of which time he returned to Sha- mokin and has since made that town his head- quarters for his extensive coal operations. He formed a partnership with C. W. Kings- ley of Cambridge, Mass., and purchased a half interest in the Excelsior Coal Company in 1880 and it has continued in active opera- tion ever since. In 1886 the same company opened the Corbin Colliery and has operated it in connection with the Excelsior Colliery. These enterprises are of considerable magni- tude giving employment to a force of about six hundred and fifty men. Having two out- lets the firm always has given steady employ- ment and been noted for the generous treat- ment of its men.
Mr. Robertson's operations have not been confined to the anthracite region, but since 1890 he has been largely interested in devel- oping the bituminous districts of Virginia and West Virginia. In the above year the Sha- mokin Coal & Coke Company, consisting of himself and other capitalists, was organized
675
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
and the company is extensively engaged in the mining and shipping of coal and the man- ufacture of coke at Mayberry, West Virginia. The mines are in the celebrated Pocahontas field. Of this company our subject's son, George W., is vice-president, and his son, Andrew D., a director.
In connection with his two sons, Andrew D. and George W., Mr. Robertson bought a large interest in the same region in the Tur- key Gap Coal & Coke Company, one of the most extensive and best-equipped plants in that section of the state. He also is inter- ested in the Bottom Creek Coal & Coke Com- . pany, being active as a director in both com- panies. He also is a stockholder in the Clinch Valley Coal & Coke Company of Virginia. Mr. Robertson is one of the several capitalists who built and equipped the first electric light plant in the United States outside of New York City, in which city the Edison Electric Company had equipped a plant. The plant referred to is that built in Shamokin, and was the first in this country, outside the me- tropolis of New York State, to be used for illu- minating a residence, a church or an opera house. This fact certainly speaks highly for the public spirit and enterprise of the gentlemen at the head of the Shamokin corporation. Of this company, the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Shamokin, Mr. Robertson has been an active director since its organization. He also is a director of the Shamokin Gas Light Company and of the Shamokin Pow- der Company.
Testimony of the highest sort to the ex- perience and the thoroughness of Mr. Robert- son in mining is the fact that he was some time ago appointed and now serves as a mem- ber of the state board of examiners whose duty it is to examine for fitness and experi- ence all applicants for appointment as mine-
boss in the anthracite feld. To this work of great importance Mr. Robertson gives much attention and to his wise oversight is consid- erably due the fact that mine-bosses are men of experience and caution, resulting in mani- fold benefits both to the mine-owners and the mine-workers.
Religiously Mr. Robertson is a member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Potts- ville, Pa., where he resides, although he is con- sidered, practically, a resident of Shamokin, with whose commercial interests he is so close- ly identified. Fraternally our subject is a member of Pulaski Lodge No. 216, F. & .1. M., Mt. City Chapter, R. A. M., and Con- stantine Commandery, Knights Templar.
Mr. Robertson has been three times mar- ried. His first marriage was with Phoebe Barlow and was blessed by the birth of four children, William, Phoebe and Nathan, all de- ceased, and Andrew D., a sketch of whom ap- pears elsewhere in this work. Mr. Robert- son married as his second wife Malinda Bar- low, sister of his first wife, and to their union were born: George W., who is interested in business with his father; Phoebe, wife of F. G. Clemens of Pottsville. Pa .; and Ida, de- ceased, and a fourth child who died in in- fancy. Mr. Robertson was united in marriage for the third time to Mrs. Rose Barlow, nee Randall.
To few men has been accorded the privi- lege of such a long and successful business career as that of Andrew Robertson. His life record, contemporaneous almost with the history of the anthracite coal industry. is in- deed an inspiration to every young man who would succeed in life. It is a lesson of in- dustry, honesty, perseverance and pluck, and clearly demonstrates the possibilities of our American youth when backed by these quali- ties of head and heart. His is a mind in which
676
BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES.
the power of construction and generalization are highly developed, while he possesses that executive and organizing ability which is so essential in carrying out enterprises vast in conception and far reaching in their influence. Successful and honorable has been his career, and as Mr. Robertson looks back upon its conquests it is with that happy conscious- ness of having faithfully performed every duty entrusted to his care in such manner as to win the confidence and respect of all who have had business or social relations with him.
Being possessed of quite a fortune Mr. Rob- ertson is enabled to exercise his charitable propensities with lavish hand, but in this com- mendable inclination, as in all other matters, his unostentatious spirit prevails and is a dis- tinguishing characteristic of his many good deeds of which the general public knows little. In this he follows literally the Biblical injunc- tion: "Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand doeth." So unassuming is the man, and so plain and unaffected is his man- ner, that it was impossible to obtain from him- self information concerning his charitable and kindly deeds, but the facts were made known by those who have been intimate for years with Mr. Robertson in business and in social relations.
HOMAS J. EDWARDS, inside-fore- man of the Pennsylvania Colliery, is one of the most enterprising men in Strong, Mount Carmel township, Northum- berland County, Pa., and has always been one of that town's most active workers. He is a man of upright principles and excellent char- acter and has a host of friends in the county. He is a son of Richard and Elizabeth (John) Edwards, and was born September 18, 1840, in Glamorganshire, Wales.
Our subject's mother died when he was a child, and his father immigrated to America in 1854 and located at Pottsville, Pa., where he followed the trade of a tailor, but it was onty a short time until he moved to Summit Hill. Carbon County, Pa., and there remained the rest of his life, dying in 1860.
Thomas J. Edwards, the subject of this biography, came to America at the age of fif- teen years, and in October, 1855, located with his father in Pottsville, Pa. Previous to his coming to this country he had worked in the mines for six years, and after his father's re- moval to Summit Hill he began work in De- cember as a driver of mules, and then worked as a laborer, and later as a miner. It was in this way he obtained the positions of fore- man and finally that of inside-foreman in Lu- zerne County, and he has remained in that position ever since. His first position as fore- man was under the employ of Judge Leiser- ing of Mauch Chunk; next, for the Buck Mountain Coal Company, and in July, 1894. he entered the employ of the Union Coal Company at Hickory Ridge, and remained there until 1898, when he went to the Penn- sylvania Colliery. He has always given en- tire satisfaction to all of his employers and has steadily advanced in the business.
Mr. Edwards has always been a stanch Re- publican, taking an active interest in political affairs. He is one of the most active mem- bers of the Baptist Church and is one of the trustees of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Welsh Association. He is also a member of the Welsh Baptist Church in Mahanoy City, there being no organization of the kind in his home. Mr. Edwards enlisted in the Civil War August 15. 1861, in Company A, 4th Reg., Pa. Cavalry, and also served as private for three years in the Army of the Potomac. He is a member of several fraternal organi-
HYMAN P. HALL.
679
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
zations, including Lodge No. 357, F. and A. M .; Mapeth Chapter, R. A. M .; Lodge No. 617, 1. O. O. F .; Knights of the Golden Eagle; and Royal Arcanum, all of Mahanoy City. He is a member of and the present chap- lain of Lincoln Post No. 140, G. A. R., of Shamokin, Pa.
In May, 1860, Mr. Edwards was united in marriage with Margaret Richards, and they are the parents of several children, namely : Richard, who was killed in a coal breaker; Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas H. Kooms of Mahanoy City; Jane, the wife of John HI. Bernard of MacAdoo, Pa .; Polly, the wife of Harry Mengel of Mahanoy City; Richard, motorman between Mahanoy City and She- nandoah; Thomas J., who was killed by ac- cident; John, who is clerking at Hickory Ridge, married Hannah Frank, and he and his wife live with the subject of this sketch; Oliver P., at home; Maggie, and James A. Garfield, both living at home.
AMUEL HALSEY DEAN, one of the educators in Northumberland County in recent years, is superintend- ent of schools at Mount Carmel.
YMAN P. HALL, the popular station- agent and operator at the village of Sonestown, on the Eagles Mere Di- vision of the W. & N. B. R. R., in which ca- pacity he has served since 1890, and a much respected citizen of that village, is a repre- sentative of one of the prominent and indus- trious families which has long been connected with the growth and development of Sulli- van County. Our subject was born at Fair- field Center, Lycoming County, Pa., May 14,
1853, and is a son of Richard and Hannah (Johnson) Hall.
Richard Hall, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a native of England and immi- grated to the American Colonies prior to the Revolutionary War; little is known of him. but he located in the state of New Jersey and carried on farming, and Richard Hall, the grandfather of our subject, was born in that state.
Our subject's grandfather located in Ly- coming County at an early date and pur- chased from the government a large tract of land which extended from Montoursville to Hall's. He sold many farms from his pur- chase and made a settlement at Hall's, which was named in honor of him. His farm is now known as the Stover farm. His vocation was always that of an agriculturist and he was very successful, being the possessor of a hand- some fortune at his death, which occurred at the age of seventy-five years. He was burie 1 in Montoursville Cemetery. He was the father of ten children, six of whom were named as follows: James: Louis, who was killed at the battle of Lundy's Lane in the War of 1812; Jonathan: Samuel; Hannah (Rogers); and Richard, Jr.
Richard Hall, the father of our subject. was born and reared on his father's farm in the village of Hall's and although he was reared to agricultural pursuits early in life he engaged in the lumbering industry, which he followed for a number of years. Later he purchased a farm in Shrewsbury township. Lycoming County, and there carried on gen- eral farming until death claimed him at the age of seventy years. His farm is now owne 1 and operated by his son, William C. Hall. Mr. Hall was joined in matrimonial bonds with Hannah Johnson, a daughter of Robert John- son, who immigrated to this country from
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.