Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 21

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 2390

USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 21
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 21
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 21
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 21

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Mr. Staples comes of honorable pioneer an- cestry, being a great-grandson in the maternal line of Jacob Weiss, assistant quartermaster-general in the Revolutionary army, and the founder of Weiss- port, Penn., while on the paternal side he is a great- grandson of Sergt. John Staples, one of the first settlers of Northampton county. This worthy pioneer was born May 18, 1754, in Islington, Eng- land, and came to America in 1775, landing in An- napolis, Md., in June of that year. In June, 1777, he enlisted in the first regiment raised at Annapo- lis, known as the Maryland and Virginia Artillery, under Capt. Brown and Col. Charles Harrison. In December of the same year he re-enlisted for three years in that regiment, and it seems that he remained at Annapolis until sent with his regiment to the historic camp at Valley Forge to join the park of artillery. As Gen. Washington went into winter quarters at Valley Forge about December 18, 1777, it is likely that Sergt. Staples was trans-

ferred there about that time. On the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British (June 18, 1778), the regiment marched across New Jersey in the direc- tion of New York City, and on June 28, an ex- cessively hot day, they overtook the enemy at Mon- mouth, N. J. After pursuing them to New Bruns- wick, N. J., the division to which our sergeant be- longed was ordered to other service, and crossed the Hudson river at White Plains, N. Y. In June, 1779, he was stationed at Chester, Orange Co., N. Y., but in October of that year he was detached and ordered to Fort Stanwix, now Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y., and in December, 1780, at the expiration of his term of three years, he received his discharge at Philadelphia. In his application for a pension under the act of 1818, he made no mention of any service prior to 1777, but that was not necessary to establish his claim under the act, which provided exclusively for Continental soldiers. His widow, however, stated in her application (which was made in May, 1843), that he served in the Maryland State Artillery under Capt. Brown, and that he was in the battle of Long Island (August 27, 1776) and at Trenton on December 26, 1776, when 900 Hes- sians were captured, and at Brandywine, Del., being wounded in one of these engagements. On leav- ing the army Sergt. Staples settled in this section, in what is now Monroe county, then a part of Northampton county, and about 1818 he was re- siding in Hamilton township. His death occurred February 2, 1843, in Monroe county, in Smithfield township, now Stroud township. On May 2, 1779, he was married at New Germantown, Somerset Co., N. J., to Margaret Teeple, who was born July IO, 1760, and was reported in a letter to have died August 17, 1848. They had the following children : Rachel, John, Mary, Rebecca, William, Jacob, Francis J., Luke, Elizabeth, George Mc., James, Richard and Horatio N. Upon the tombstone of the old hero, in the cemetery at Stroudsburg, we find the inscription: "In memory of John Staples, a Revolutionary soldier, who was born in London, May the 18th, 1754, and died February 2, 1843. He was married to Margaret Teeple, 1779. He had fourteen children, one hundred and thirty-three grandchildren and fifty grandchildren married and one hundred and ninety-five great-grandchildren and two on the fifth generation. For forty-four years he was a follower of the meek and lowly Savior. He died in the full triumph of faith and went home to rest."

William Staples, our subject's grandfather, was born January 31, 1786, in Smithfield township, now Stroud, and became a prosperous lumberman, owning, with his son, Richard S., the sawmill at Spragueville, known as Staples' mill. He was a Democrat in politics, but did not take an active share in partisan work. His wife, Elizabeth Long, died in 1844, and his own death occurred at Spragueville June 9, 1847. They had ten children : Margaret, Mary Ann, John L., Sallie, Richard S., Eliza, Amanda, Nelson, Rachel and Daniel.

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Hon. Richard S. Staples, our subject's father, was born January 27, 1818, in Smithfield township, Monroe county, and after acquiring a common- school education he became a clerk in a store at Stroudsburg, owned by the firm of Stokes & Brown. A year later he purchased Mr. Brown's interest, and for seven years he remained in partnership with Judge Stokes, taking the entire management of the business. He then bought out the Judge's share, and for a quarter of a century he conducted the store alone. On disposing of it in 1862 he engaged in lumbering, and this with various other lines of enterprise occupied his attention in later years. For some years he operated an ochre mill in Luzerne county, and as one of five partners he built the Stroudsburg street railway, serving as president of the company until he sold his interest. Together with the same gentlemen he organized the Monroe County Savings Bank, now the First National Bank of Stroudsburg, of which he was president until 1885. He was also the first president of the Stroudsville Woolen Mills, and for a number of years he was at the head of the Monroe County Fire Insurance Company. In 1883 he purchased an interest in the Trenton China Company, and his well-known ability led to his election soon after- ward to the post of president and manager of the company. In early manhood he became an active supporter of the Democratic party, and at different times he was chosen by his fellow citizens to posi- tions of trust and responsibility, and in 1872-73 he served as a member of the lower house of the Leg- islature, in which he was appointed on five com- mittees, his energy and sound judgment being con- spicuously displayed in the discharge of his duties. At the age of thirteen he united with the Meth- odist Church, and for many years he served as steward and trustee, while for thirty-two consecu- tive vears he was superintendent of a Sunday- school. Wherever he was known he gained an en- viable reputation as a man of sterling integrity and rare executive talents. On May 20, 1840, he mar- ried Miss Deborah Coolbaugh, daughter of Cor- nelius and Margaret Coolbaugh. She died in 1846, and in November, 1848, he married Miss Mary Ann Thompson, daughter of Dr. John Thompson, who died in Mauch Chunk, Penn., during the cholera epidemic. By his first marriage he had three chil- dren: Theodore, Daniel and Mary, and by his second union there were seven children: John, Ella, Charles B., Stogdell S., William, Mary and May.

CAPT. JUSTIN NILIS, who is now living retired on a part of the Nilis homestead at Silver Lake, in Delaware township, Pike county, was for a number of years one of the successful farmers of that locality, and he is now enjoying his declin- ing years in well-deserved repose, which after his long and busy life he can fully appreciate.

Capt. Nilis is a native of Belgium, born May II, 1820, and is a son of Peter and Antoinette

(Petit) Nilis, of the city of Mons, who came with their family to America in 1842, settling in New York City. The father was an artist by profession. He died in 1852, at the age of sixty years, the moth- er in 1848, and both are buried in New York. Justin was the eldest of their three children. Paul enlisted in a Connecticut regiment for service in the Civil war. Mary (now deceased) married a Mr. Duswee, who was killed while serving in the Civil war.

Justin Nilis received a thorough education in his native country, after his preliminary training entering the Brussels College, a school of arts and manufactures, where he studied for several years. He came to America with his parents, with whom he lived for the most part during their lifetime, and while in New York he taught school, though some- what irregularly, for a period of about twelve years, part of the time in a French college con- ducted by Peugnet Bros. in Bank street. His first marriage, to Miss Isabella Montgomery, daugh- ter of John and Rebecca (Rowg) Montgomery, was celebrated in New York City, January 1, 1847, and there he continued to reside until his enlist- ment, on September 25, 1861, for service in the Civil war. He formed Company D, Nineteenth New York Volunteers, and was made captain of same and he served faithfully for his term of three years, when he received an honorable discharge from the hospital at Annapolis, Md .; he did not re-enlist on account of disability. Capt. Nilis saw a great deal of active service, taking part in numerous en- gagements, skirmishes, etc., notably the siege of Port Hudson, the Red River expedition, the opera- tions in the Shenandoah Valley, and others. Though never wounded, he suffered exceedingly, along with others of his command, from typhoid and yellow fever, his regiment losing eight officers and one hundred privates from the latter disease alone, and the Captain was in the Annapolis hospital for three months previous to his discharge. His army record is indeed an honorable one, and he is one of the venerated members of the G. A. R. Post at Mil- ford, in whose welfare he takes a warm interest.

During his absence at the front Cant. Nilis' family removed to Pike county, Penn., in Februarv, 1864, settling on the homestead at Silver Lake which has ever since been occupied by them, and here he returned at the expiration of his term, taking up farming, which he continued to follow for some time : then he accepted a position as teacher in the Charlier Institute, the foremost and largest French school of the City of New York, where he acted as head-master and conducted the institute during the principal's absence in Europe. Capt. Nilis is a highly intelligent man, a good conversationalist, well informed on matters of general interest, and after his removal to Delaware township he was one of its active public-spirited citizens, in course of time becoming well known in the neighborhool of his adopted home. By thrift and good manage- ment he succeeded in acquiring a comfortable com-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

petence, and it is the wish of all who know him that he may have many peaceful years in which to enjoy the result of his early toil. He has lived in his pres- ent home, at Silver Lake, since 1890. Capt. Nilis is a Republican in political sentiment, but he has never been active in party affairs except as a voter. To Justin and Isabella (Montgomery) Nilis were born children as follows: Montgomery, De- cember 16, 1847, who died November 9, 1861 ; Rebecca, July 31, 1849, died April 15, 1896; Pierre M., December 1, 1851 ; Rupert P., July 19, 1858; Marian and Eleanor (twins), March 1, 1856, died in infancy. The mother passed away June 16, 1887, at the age of sixty-eight years, on the Nilis home- stead, and her remains rest in the Delaware ceme- tery. In November, 1892, while visiting at the World's Columbian Exposition, Capt. Nilis wedded, at Chicago, for his second wife, Mrs. Julia A. ( Bar- low ) Dennis, a lady whom he met down South dur- ing the Civil war, and with whom he had corre- sponded for some years. She was born in Mobile, Ala., daughter of Aaron and Sarah (Gilchrist) Barlow, and was first married to William C. Den- nis, who conducted a salt works in Key West, Fla. He died in 1864, aged fifty-eight years. They had no children. Mrs. Nilis' father was born in Cul- peper, Va., was reared in Kentucky, and married at Mobile, of which city his wife was a native. They both died there, he in 1841 at the age of fifty-three years, she in 1877 at the advanced age of ninety- one. Julia A. was the youngest in their family of thirteen children.

Pierre M. Nilis, son of Justin and Isabella (Montgomery ) Nilis, was born December 1, 1851, in New York City, and came with the family to Pike county in boyhood. The family settled on the site of what is now known as Edgemere, and here Mr. Nilis still resides, acting as manager of the Edge- mere Club at Silver Lake, which is on the old Nilis homestead. This lake is one and one-half miles long and half a mile wide, and is one of the deepest in this part of the country, well-stocked with fish of various kinds ; it was prominently mentioned in the report of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission for 1895 as one of the best stocked lakes in the State. In addition to his duties as manager Mr. Nilis carries on farming on his own account, and he is one of the active citizens of Delaware township, where he is at present serving as justice of the peace and county commissioner. He married Miss Mar- garet Cooper.

GEORGE H. RHOADS, M. D., a prominent and successful physician of Tobyhanna Mills, Mon- roe county, was born in Huntingdon Valley, Mont- gomery Co., Penn .. in 1857, a son of Issachar and Ann ( Hobensack ) Rhoads. The father was a native of the same county, born in 1820, and was a son of Issachar Rhoads. Sr., an old settler of Montgomery county, who died there in 1827. In his family were four children, the others being Elizabeth, who married Abraham Castle, of Montgomery county,

and resides at Harleysville, that county ; John, who married and located in Montgomery county, where his death occurred; and Samuel (deceased), who also married and became a resident of Montgomery county.

Issachar Rhoads, Jr., continued to reside in his native county for some years, and as a contractor and builder successfully engaged in business in Vir- ginia during the oil excitement in that State. In 1870 he removed to Philadelphia, where he pur- chased real estate and made his home until called from this life in 1892. The mother of our subject had died in 1861, and he subsequently married Miss. Harriet Watterman, of Hartford county, Md., by whom he had two children: Victor, who married and located in Philadelphia; and Annie, who mar- ried and located in Frankford, Philadelphia. By the first union there were two sons, George H. and John. The latter attended school at Trenton, N. J., where he received a good classical education, and later took up the study of medicine, graduating from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in which city he is now successfully engaged in practice. He married Anna Day, of that city, and they have seven children : Anna, Bessie, John, Nellie, Miriam, Ella and Frances Margaret.

Dr. G. H. Rhoads obtained his literary educa- tion in the public schools of Delaware and Philadel- phia, and in 1876 commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Morgan, of Philadelphia. Later he was graduated at Jefferson Medical College, and for one year engaged in practice in Philadelphia, whence in 1880 he came to Tobyhanna Mills, where he has since successfully engaged in practice .. He has gained an enviable reputation among his profes- sional brethren as a physician and surgeon of marked ability.

In 1885 Dr. Rhoads was united in marriage with Miss Frances Case, a daughter of Isaac and Harriet Case, well-known and prominent citizens of Monroe county. She was educated in the select schools of Clinton, N. Y. They have four chil- dren, all born in Tobyhanna Mills: Alfred, in 1886; Cornelia, in 1888; Frances, in 1892; and George S., in 1897. As a Democrat, the Doctor takes quite an active and prominent part in local politics, and has been a county committeeman for a number of years. Socially he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men. In religious faith his wife is a member of the Episcopal Church, while he holds to the traditions of his Quaker ancestry.

PROF. GEORGE P. BIBLE, who has been at the head of the State Normal School at East Stroudsburg since its foundation, is one of the most prominent educators of Pennsylvania. Coming to his present post with a high reputation for practical ability, he has gained new laurels by his efficient ad- ministration, and the scores of teachers equipped for work under his instruction give evidence of the value of his efforts.

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Prof. Bible is an American, of which he proudly boasts, although in the paternal line he may be of French origin, as his great-grandfather came from Alsace-Loraine at an early day. Both his grand- mothers, however, were of English descent. Daniel Bible, our subject's grandfather, a leading pioneer of Center county, Penn., married Miss Harriet Pass- more, a native of Lancaster county, Penn., whose family originated in England, and their children were: William H., our subject's father ; Daniel P., editor of the Commercial World, of New York City ; George W., author of "Looking Backward," a his- tory of fashions, and editor of the "Dry-Goods Chronicle," of New York City, a brief history of the Franco-Prussian war, and author of a French and English dictionary (a work on technical French and English used in the dry-goods business) ; Margaret, who married William Stine, of Bellefonte, Penn .; Elizabeth, widow of J. Hutton, residing on a planta- tion near Leesville, N. C .; Jennie, wife of David Edmiston, a railroad contractor, formerly of Center county, Penn., but of late years a resident of North Carolina, and Hettie, who married a Mr. Lahey, and resides on a plantation in North Carolina.

William H. Bible, the father of our subject, was born in 1824, and grew to manhood in Center coun- ty, Penn. He became a railroad contractor, but at the outbreak of the Rebellion he responded to the first call to arms, becoming a member of Company C, 148th P. V. I., with the rank of first lieutenant. He was a man of commanding presence, and as an officer was conspicuous for his courage. During his first engagement, the battle of Chancellorsville, as captain of his company he led his men under the guns of the enemy, and was instantly killed, a fragment from an exploded shell passing through his head. His body was never recovered, being buried in the wilderness. He married Miss Barbara Houser, who was born in Center county November 23, 1828, a daughter of Jacob Houser, a manufacturer of woolen goods and the owner of a large tract of land in Center county. They had the following children : F. E., an attorney, formerly of Charleroi, Penn., now of Port Angeles, Wash. ; Anna, wife of Harry Eyre, a lumberman in the town of Lester, Wash .; George P., our subject, and Elizabeth M., who married A. L. Bird, formerly of Philadelphia, now of Tacoma.

Our subject was born February 26, 1858, at Bellefonte, Penn., and was but four years old when the dreaded war cloud burst over his head which claimed his father as one of its victims. Upon the death of the father the mother moved to Houserville, Center county, Penn., where she inherited a farm, and there George as a boy spent many a day follow- ing the plow, making hay, and in all the duties con- nected with the life of a farmer. It is said with pride by the neighboring farmers, that there was never a "lazy bone in his body." Here he laid the foundation for those traits of perseverance, industry and integrity which so nobly aided him in the strug- gle of life in after years. He attended the county district school, the Centre Hall graded school and

Academy, and, as a result of his own exertions, man- aged to enter the Shippensburg State Normal for a term, after which he entered upon the scientific course at the Pennsylvania State College, which owing to lack of funds he was unable to finish. Subsequently he took a course in the National School of Elocution in Philadelphia, graduating therefrom in 1880. His natural gifts as a speaker and reader had already won for him an enviable reputation, as he had been known as the "boy elocutionist," and his matured and disciplined powers soon commanded even wide fame. On leaving school he began teach- ing in Center county, and at the same time he en- gaged in institute work as a teacher of elocution, meeting with well-merited success. For one year he was deputy prothonotary at Kosciusko, Ind., where he began reading law, and he was afterward employed for two years as a bookkeeper for the American Galvanic Electrical Company, at Chicago,

I11. On returning to Bellefonte he formed a part- nership with his brother, Frank E. Bible, who was then serving his second term as county recorder of deeds for Center county, Penn., and they engaged in publishing the Center Democrat, but after two years he sold his interest and took the position of Profes- sor of Elocution and English in the State Normal School at Lock Haven, Penn., and later he held a similar position in the State Normal School at Indi- ana, Penn. In the meantime he became prominent in institute work in this State.

In 1885 Prof. Bible married Miss Sarah J. Bradley, daughter of Benjamin and Ellen Bradley. She is a native of England and came to America when five years of age. Three children have blessed this union: Helen, Dorothy and Genevieve. Our subject credits much of his success to his esti- mable wife, who is a woman of excellent judgment, culture and refinement, and a fine vocalist. They are both members of the Episcopal Church and act- ive workers in the same. Prof. Bible is a man of broad and liberal views, full of push and energy, and is known far and wide in the State as one of her gifted institute instructors. He has taken spe- cial work in Clark University. He is the youngest principal in the State Normal School of his native State, and has served as principal and organizer since the school opened in 1893.

JOHN B. WILLIAMS, of Stroudsburg, is one of the leading members of the Monroe County Bar, and in his present office of prosecuting attorney for Monroe county he has added new laurels to those gained by his general practice. He is of a strong type of character, promising success in any line of effort, and his many friends anticipate for him a bright future.

The Williams family originated in Wales, and our subject's grandfather. Joseph Williams, a native of that country, made his home in early manhood in America. He married Miss Mary McKinney, a native of Ireland and a Protestant in religious faith, and for some time they resided in New York

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

City, but their last days were spent in South Ster- ling, Wayne county, at the home of our subject's father, having removed to that county in 1818. Mrs. Joseph Williams died at the age of eighty-four, but Mr. Williams lived to his ninety-seventh year, and at that time every tooth was in its place except one which had been broken by a fall from the yard- arm of a ship. For about forty years he followed the sea, and for fifteen years he was in the employ of Stephen Girard, his first acquaintance with that somewhat eccentric individual being marked by pe- culiar circumstances. Having applied for work, he was told to turn a grindstone, and although there was no apparent use in the labor he kept at it faith- fully all day, his employer passing near every hour or so as if to keep watch of his movements. Noth- ing was said that night, but next morning while. at breakfast he received an unexpected visit from Mr. Girard who said: "I see you have plenty to eat, so you provide for your family, and I guess you are in- dustrious," with the further announcement that he could have the position of second mate on one of his ( Mr. Girard's) ships. He had two children : Jeremiah, our subject's father ; and Martha, who married Benjamin Sheerer, and died at the age of eighty-four.

Jeremiah Williams was born in 1811, in the city of New York, and died in 1886 at his farm near South Sterling, Wayne county, where he had fol- lowed agricultural pursuits for many years, having removed to that locality in 1818. He was a Bap- tist in religious faith, and he and his wife won the esteem of their neighbors by their excellent qualities of mind and heart. He married Miss Ruth Bartle- son, who was born January 1, 1815, at Snydersville, Monroe county, and died December 2, 1899, at the old home at South Sterling. They had the follow- ing children : Rebecca, who married T. S. Osborne, of South Sterling; Sarah (1), who died in infancy ; Miss Martha, who resides at home; Susan, de- ceased ; Frances, wife of. Peter F. Osborne, of Ar- lington, Wayne county; Sarah (2), who married Josiah Whitaker, and died in 1886; John B., our sub- ject ; Alice, wife of Edward Kimble, of Lake Ariel, Penn. ; Ella, who died in infancy ; and J. Walter, a resident of Elmhurst, Lackawanna Co., Pennsyl- vania.

John B. Williams was born June 21, 1854, at the homestead near South Sterling, where his edu- cation was begun in the public schools. He also attended an academy at Hollisterville, Penn., and the State Normal School at Trenton, N. J., and later took a course under a private instructor, Prof. John S. Dooley, of South Sterling. In the meantime he had taught school for several terms ; but finding the work unremunerative he secured employment as a bookkeeper in the Stroudsburg glass factory at East Stroudsburg. After two and one-half years the firm purchased a plant at Binghamton, N. Y., and sent Mr. Williams there as assistant man- ager. He remained two years and then, returning to Stroudsburg, he began the study of law with A.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 21

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 2390

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 2390