Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 66

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 66
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 66
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 66
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 66

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JOHN E. MANDEVILLE. The subject of this review has through his own exertions attained an honorable position and marked prestige among representative business men of Hawley, Wayne coun- ty, where he is now holding the responsible position of master mechanic for the Belmont Silk Mill. He has been actively identified with a number of the most important business enterprises of the city, and in this way has been an important factor in its up- building and prosperity.

A native of Wayne county, Mr. Mandeville was born at Cherry Ridge, September 26, 1837, a son of David W. and Phoebe D. ( Miller) Mandeville, who were born, reared and married in Orange coun- ty, N. Y., whence they came to Wayne county in 1827, locating at White Mills. There the father worked at the tailor's trade for five years, then re- moved to Cherry Ridge township, and in 1839 to Honesdale, entering the employ of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co., with which he was connected throughout the remainder of his life, though his last days were spent at White Mills. While the canal was being enlarged he served as section fore- man. He was a public-spirited citizen, taking a deep interest in all enterprises for the public good, and for many years efficiently served as school director and in other local offices. Politically he affiliated with the Democratic party, and he was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Honesdale. He was born in 1803, and died in Feb- ruary, 1873; his wife was born in 1805, and died in 1878, being laid by his side in the cemetery at Indian Orchard, Wayne county. The paternal grandfather of our subject, George Mandeville, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was a farmer by occupation and spent his entire life at Wallkill, Orange Co., N. Y. There the maternal grandfather, George Miller, who was also a farmer, made his home throughout life.

The subject of this sketch is fourth in the order of birth in a family of five children, the others being as follows: Mary is the wife of Harvey Bishop,

superintendent of the canal between White Mills and Hawley. Caroline is the wife of William Elli- son, who is lock tender at White Mills, where she lives in the house in which she was born. Benja- min is a carpenter in the employ of the canal com- pany, and resides at Leonardsville, Wayne county. Joseph H. is working for a gas company in New York City.

Until sixteen years of age John E. Mandeville attended the public schools of Wayne county, and then began working with pick and shovel as a la- borer for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co., re- maining with them until 1857. He then served a three-years' apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade with W. W. Halbert, of Indian Orchard, after which he went to Middletown, N. Y., where he worked at housebuilding until his marriage in 1864. Locating at White Mills, he erected most of the buildings for C. Dolphinger at that place, where he made his home until 1869. He then built the mills for Collenwood & Co., at Wilsonville, where he re- mained until 1880, at which time, with M. W. Simons he took the contract to erect the Belmont Silk Mills at Hawley, which were begun in June of that year, and completed in the spring of 1882. The factory was destroyed by fire August 18, 1894, · but by the following January our subject had re- placed it by a new structure built of stone, five stor- ies in height, with power and electric light furnished by water power. Since building the first mill he has. been in the employ of the company, and is now serving as master mechanic. With their permission he superintended the erection of the electric light plant built by a Scranton firm at Hawley, and has done all the millwright work on the Paupack stream for the past twenty-eight years.

At Indian Orchard, Wayne county, Mr. Man- deville was married December 25, 1864, to Miss Helen Beardslee, a Baptist minister officiating. She was born at that place May 17, 1842. Mr. and Mrs, Mandeville have four children: Emery, who mar- ried Nora Kerkendall, and is superintendent of the weaving room at the silk-mill in Hawley; Edna, at home; Harry, who also works in the mill and lives at home; and George, at home.

Socially Mr. Mandeville affiliates with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows at Hawley. He is a recognized leader in the Democratic party in his community, and in 1893 was their candidate for the office of county commissioner. Although he did not leave his business to take an active part in the can- vass, he was defeated by only one vote out of the 5,000 that were cast. He has been a member of the school board six years, served as its president two years, was a member of the town council three years, and was assistant assessor one term, the du- ties of which positions he discharged with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the gen- eral public. As a citizen of the community where he has long made his home, he is highly respected, enjoys the confidence of all who know him, and is regarded as a man of excellent business judgment.

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

HON. EDGAR PINCHOT. Various ele- ments have entered into the warp and woof of Am- erican citizenship. It is a subject for national con- gratulation that political convulsions in various countries of Europe have been the occasion for di- recting to America men of remarkable force of ' character, who in the old world, amidst the Titans of mental and moral strength, wielded potent in- fluence, but who by the adventitious circumstances of fate found migration from oppression to a land of freedom highly desirable. The blood of America has thus been enriched not only from Puritan Eng- land but from all the continental nations.

During the tense political struggle of France, early in the present century, there lived at the in- land village of Breteuil, situated some sixty miles from Paris, a prominent merchant, Constantine Pinchot by name. He had married Marie Augus- tine Gilmah, and had two children, Cyrille and Hortense. The son was born in 1798. He imbibed the warlike spirit of the time, and warmly espoused the cause of Napoleon Bonaparte, the "man of destiny." He wished to enlist under his victorious banners, but was too young. The defeat of Water- loo brought no solace to the Bonapartists, and when the gloom of Bourbonism spread over the land an active persecution was commenced. Kinship was not respected in the fierce and unrelenting party spirit then engendered. Cyrille's cousin, an un- compromising Bourbon adherent, reported to the dominant powers the Napoleonic predilections of the young man, and taking the cue from ominous occurences about them Constantine Pinchot thought it politic to leave the country with his son and fam- ily. They departed in 1816, sailing for New York, and bringing with them the father's stock of mer- chandise. Constantine remained in business at the young metropolis for three years, then removed to Milford, Pike Co., Penn. While yet in New York Mr. Pinchot had purchased four hundred acres in Dingman township, still known as "the French lot." He did not occupy the farm, but lived at Mil- ford, clearing the ground where he built his house. His store was in a long building, part of which is still standing. Constantine Pinchot did not long survive, passing away in 1826. His wife Marie survived until 1837, and both were buried in Laurel Hill cemetery, Milford. The daughter Hortense married George Stoll, a son of Judge James Stoll, of New Jersey, and after his death she became the wife of John I. Westbrook, of the firm of West- brook & Stoll, of Port Jervis.

Upon the death of his father Cyrille assumed the management of the extensive business. The impetuous spirit which in his youth had led him to espouse the cause of the great commander was now directed along mercantile and industrial lines, and soon placed him on the highway to signal finan- cial success. Cyrille Pinchot was passionately fond of farming, and he engaged in the pursuit with interesting industry and upon a magnificent scale. He possessed a great fondness for horses, and his

stables contained some of the finest specimens to be found in the country. As he advanced along the highway of wealth, he very sensibly threw upon the shoulders of his rising sons a share of the labor and responsibility, and thus prepared them for life's battles and success ; but he is remembered best as a man of indefatigable energy and fair dealings, for he never wholly withdrew from the burdens and activities of business life. He was the most ex- tensive farmer and lumberman of Pike county, and in connection with these large interests he conduct- ed a large mercantile business at Milford. Mr. Pin- chot was of Huguenot extraction, and identified himself in August, 1832, with the Presbyterian Church at Milford, while it was yet in its infancy. For over forty years he continued an active and earnest member, and during that long period was one of its most liberal supporters.

Cyrille Pinchot was twice married, first to a daughter of Daniel Dimmick, of Milford. She died early in married life, without children, and later Mr. Pinchot married her cousin, Miss Eliza Cross, daughter of John T. and Julia Ann (Smith) Cross, the former of whom was a prominent member of the Milford Bar. The five children of John T. and Julia Ann Cross were: Martha, who married Theo- dore Buchanan; Cordelia, wife of Levi DeWitt; John T., who married Helen Wallace; Eliza ( Mrs. Pinchot) ; and Ann, wife of Rasselas Searle. Both Mrs. Eliza Pinchot and her cousin Miss Dimmick, first wife of Cyrille Pinchot, were grandchildren of DeAearts, whose father was Lord of Opdorf and Immerseele, in Belgium. Five children were born to Cyrille and Eliza Pinchot, as follows: Edgar, subject of this sketch; James W., a retired mer- chant of New York City; John F., a retired mer- chant, unmarried, at Milford, Penn .; Mary A., wife of George W. Warner, an attorney of Bridge- port, Conn .; and Cyrille H., who died at the age of twenty years, while a student at Union College. The father died at Milford in 1874, at the age of seventy-six. His wife died in 1885, aged seventy- six years. Both are buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Milford, Pennsylvania.

James W. Pinchot, the second son, married Mary J. Eno, daughter of Amos R. Eno, one of the wealthiest residents of New York.

Edgar Pinchot, subject of this sketch, was born at Milford, April 1, 1826. He was reared in his na- tive village, and in his youth, in addition to the usual education, he took a course in the study of law with a view of following that profession. But he had inherited tastes for an active life, and at the age of nineteen years associated himself in the mer- cantile trade with his father. Here he remained three years, and then sought a wider field in New York City, where he embarked in the wholesale grocery trade with George Smedes, under the firm name of Smedes & Pinchot. Three years later the firm sold its grocery business, and Mr. Pinchot then became senior member of the firm of Pinchot & Bruen, wholesale druggists. After a profitable and

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active business association of sixteen years in this line Mr. Pinchot spent two years in traveling abroad. Returnng to his native town, he was ap- pointed associate judge of Pike county, by Gover- nor Hoyt, resigning this office in 1880 in order that he might qualify as a Presidential elector, and cast the vote of his district for James A. Garfield. Judge Pinchot also served as Presidential elector in 1888 when he voted for Gen. Harrison. He was for a number of years a member of the Republican State Central Committee for Pennsylvania, and has re- peatedly served as chairman of the Republican County Committee of Pike county. In religious affiliation he is a member of the Protestant Episco- pal Church.

Judge Pinchot was married in July, 1861, at Cannonsville, N. Y., to Marie A. a daughter of Darius and Lucy (Lilly) Maples, of Delaware county, N. Y., who had a family of six children. Darius Maples was a nephew of Gen. Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary fame. His parents had emigrated to Rhode Island, from Lincolnshire, England, in an early day. To Judge and Mrs. Pin- chot were born four children, three of whom, Cyrille, Edgar, and Marie, died in childhood. Lucy, the surviving daughter, married Dr. H. M. King, a physician of Grand Rapids, Mich., and has two children, Constance Pinchot and Adalaide Maxon.

Judge Pinchot now lives in partial retirement from active life, but still gives his personal super- vision to the management of the one thousand acres of land which. he owns in Pike county. He occu- pies an elegant residence at the corner of Fifth and Ann streets, Milford, and enjoys the merited consideration and deep respect of the community in which he lives. In a library whose shelves are richly and judiciously filled with the best thoughts of the world he finds restful diversion, but he has not lost close and sympathetic touch to human kind, and his kindness to those in need, his sage, unob- trusive helpfulness, gives natural coloring and adds permanence and luster to a name historic in the annals of Pennsylvania.

JOHN K. WRICK, a well-known and highly esteemed citizen of Tunkhannock township, Monroe county, who has throughout life been identified with the lumber interests of the county, is a representa- tive of an old and honored family of this section of the State.

His paternal grandfather, Philip Wrick, was born in western Pennsylvania, and when a young man removed to Hunterdon county, N. J., where he purchased a farm and made his home throughout the remainder of his life, his time being devoted to farming and lumbering. He was a stanch Demo- crat in politics, as was also his father. In early life he married Miss Mary Butterfoss, a daughter of Andrew and Rebecca (Johnson) Butterfoss, and a native of Bucks county, Penn. Her father lived for many years in northeastern Pennsylvania, along

the west branch of the Susquehanna river. At the age of seventeen years he enlisted in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war, and for two years drove cattle, but for the remaining five years of that long and glorious struggle he served with the regular troops and participated in many of the most important engagements of the war. At one time he was wounded. After the war he located in northeastern Pennsylvania and built a hotel far- ther down the river, but after conducting it for some time he moved to New Jersey and spent the last twelve years of his life with the grandfather of our subject. He died at the extreme old age of one hundred and seven years, and his wife also died in New Jersey at the age of eighty-one. They were the parents of twenty-one children, of whom twenty reached man and woman hood, the grandmoth- er of our subject being the oldest. She passed away in 1870, aged seventy-seven years, and her husband died the same year, aged seventy-eight. The children born to this worthy couple were: Jo- seph, a sawyer by trade, who lived in Bucks county, Penn., and died in 1896; Rachel, who was born in 1813, is the wife of William Horn, of Mercer coun- ty, N. J. ; Ann, wife of Peter Orr, of the same coun- ty ; William, a shoemaker and laborer of Lamberts- ville, Hunterdon Co., N. J .; Rebecca, deceased wife of Charles Pitcock, of Bucks county, Penn .; An- drew, father of our subject; Mary, wife of George Trimmer, of Mercer county, N. J .; and Kate, wife of Abner Tomerson, of Mercer county.

Andrew Wrick was born in Hunterdon county, N. J., February 28, 1822, and was sixteen years of age when he came to Tunkhannock township, Mon- roe Co., Penn., where he was first employed in a sawmill. In 1868 he purchased 400 acres of land, much of which was still in its primitive condition, but to the work of improvement and cultivation he at once turned his attention, and now has seventy acres cleared. He has cut much of the valuable timber on the place, and throughout life has en- gaged in lumbering. He is one of the most prom- inent and influential men of his community, and has served as supervisor of his township for two terms and school director three terms to the entire satis- faction of all concerned. Politically he is a Demo- crat, and religiously is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In Tunkhannock township he married Miss Sarah Keiser, a daughter of John and Fannie (Merwin) Keiser. She was born in that township in 1827, and departed this life October 20, 1882. To them were born three children, name- ly : Philip, who died young; John K., our subject ; and Kate, who was born November 1I, 1850, and is now the wife of Malcolm McLeod, who is living in St. Peters, P. E. Island,

John K. Wrick was born in Carbon county, Penn., May 7, 1849, but was reared in Tunkhan- nock township, Monroe county. He received a good practical education, graduating from the dis- trict school near his boyhood home. At the age of sixteen years he began life for himself as an employe

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in the lumber woods, and his principal occupation through life has been lumbering. During his youth he assisted in the farm work on the old homestead, and also engaged in lumbering on his father's orig- inal purchase, getting out pulp wood for the paper- mill at Delaware Water Gap.

In Luzerne county, Penn., Mr. Wrick was united in marriage with Miss Amelia Fenney, a native of Monroe county, and a daughter of Adolph and Caroline ( Vogt) Fenney, who were born in Ger- many and came to America during the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Wrick have an interesting family of five children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Varley, June 25, 1881 ; Philip, September 29, 1883; Will, October 21, 1886; Caroline, May 14, 1891 ; and Anna, August 29, 1896.

At the polls Mr. Wrick usually supports the men and measures of the Democratic party, but is somewhat independent in politics. He has never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office, 'but was once elected auditor of his township, and .served for one term against his inclination. Re- cently he has joined Effort Lodge No. 1102, I. O. O. F. He has in his possession an old and inter- esting paper, a copy of the Ulster County Gasctte, published at Kingston, N. Y., January 4, 1800. The male representatives of the Wrick family are ex- perienced and successful hunters, and our subject has ample opportunity to indulge his love for that sport, as abundance of game is still to be found in the immediate vicinity of his home. As a business man and citizen he commands the respect and es- teem of all with whom he comes in contact.

HON. FRANKLIN FRASER, late of the Montrose Bar, was born April 23, 1819, at Montrose, Susquehanna county. He was graduated at Union College, read law with Hon. William Jessup, and was admitted to the Susquehanna County Bar in 1842. After practicing at Montrose for a time he went to Florida, where he became one of the three Supreme Judges of the State. Resigning from the Bench he returned to Montrose, where he died in 1879.

Judge McCollum, of Montrose, says of him : "He was regarded as well educated and disciplined in the law, possessing superior qualifications as an office lawyer, but he was never in the enjoyment of a large law practice here."

NAHUM NEWTON, a former lawyer of Sus- quehanna county studied with Bentley & Richards, and was admitted to the Bar August 19, 1845. Judge McCollum, in review of the lawyers at the Montrose Bar, on his coming to it in 1858, said: "Nahum Newton was then struggling for a place in the front rank of his profession where it was his ambi- tion to be. He was of studious and thoughtful habit, zealous in the interests of his clients, and was tenacious of his opinions when formed. He never voluntarily surrendered a position that he had once deliberately taken, and if driven from it, rarely,

if ever, recognized the justice of his defeat. He was a kind-hearted, sensitive and sympathetic man, and by the few who knew him well was regarded as a true friend and worthy citizen.'

EDWARD G. OAKLEY. The Oakley family has been prominent in the history of Susquehanna county, not only for the material prosperity which they attained, but also for the high moral character wihch has marked their lives through the three or four generations which constitute the history of white settlements in the county. The subject of this sketch, a well-known farmer of Lathrop, is a worthy representative of the family.

Jotham Oakley, grandfather of our subject, was born in Connecticut in 1770, the eldest child in a large family, whose parents moved to Dutchess county, N. Y., and a few years later in 1783 to Thornbottom, (now Nicholson), Penn. Jotham Oakley, in 1793, married Sarah Milbourn, and two years later purchased a woodland tract of 130 acres of land in what is now Harford township, Susque- hanna county. To that wilderness home he re- moved, and there throughout his active life he re- mained. He reared a family of five sons and three daughters, and to each of his sons before his death he gave a farm. He was drafted in the war of 1812, but his son Thomas went as a substitute. His chil- dren were: James, father of our subject ; Thomas, a resident of Brooklyn township; Daniel, of Har- ford township; Betsey, who married Sylvanus Wade and moved to Greenbush, Wis .; Millbourn, of Harford township; Polly who married Daniel Chubbuck, and died in Iowa; Cyrus, who died in Brooklyn; and Sarah W., who married Virgil Tif- fany, and removed to Minnesota.

James Oakley, the eldest child of Jotham, and the father of our subject, was born in 1794, and was reared in Harford township. He married Vashti Bacon, who came when a child to Susquehanna county, from her native State, Connecticut. James located on a farm of 105 acres in Brooklyn town- ship, where he remained an active and prosperous farmer through life. He was a Christian by pro- fession, and his life was a practical illustration of the truths he believed, for his every act was marked by integrity and charity. In politics he was a Democrat. He died in 1851. His family consisted of eleven children, of whom we have mention of the following : James Alonzo, deceased ; Betsey, wid- ow of George Bronell, of Linn county, Iowa; Jotham, deceased ; Emeline, widow of Charles Tif- fany, of Kingsbury, Penn .; George, a farmer of Central City, Linn Co., Iowa; Paulina, who died young ; Daniel, deceased; and Edward G.

Edward G. Oakley, our subject, was born in Brooklyn township, December 24, 1828. He at- tended the district schools, and until he was of age he remained on the home farm. In 1849 he purchased a farm of 105 acres of wild land in Springville township. He cleared about forty acres of the land, and then sold the farm. Mr. Oakley

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was married September 21, 1850, in Wyoming county, to Miss Jerusha Hewitt, daughter of Gor- don and Elizabeth ( Stephens) Hewitt. The father was a native of Connecticut, the mother of Wyom- ing county, Penn. Their children were: Jerusha, wife of our subject, born August 6, 1829; Jedadiah, deceased; William, deceased; Jefferson, of Sinna- mahoning, Penn .; Decatur, also of Sinnamahoning ; Helen, who married Daniel Oakley, brother of our subject, and who died in Iowa; Marian, who mar- ried Theo Stark, of Mill City, Penn .; Martha, who lives in Iowa; Wallace, a butcher of Binghamton, N. Y. ; Byron, deceased ; and Francis.

To our subject and wife have been born chil- dren as follows: Elnora, who died young; Vashti, who married (first) Hosiah Tiffany, and ( second) C. Carpenter, of Hopbottom, Penn .; William, of Brooklyn township; Elizabeth, widow of Albert Fessenden, of Montrose, Penn .; and Edwin, de- ceased.

Mr. Oakley lived in Springville township for ten years. He then removed to New Milford, where he lived for six years engaged in farming and the butcher business. On September 28, 1862, he en- listed in Company B, 17th Pa. Cavalry, under Capt. Donahue, and served until mustered out in May, 1865, at the close of the war. He was on scout skirmish duty, and on the butcher detail, also herd- ing cattle for the army. Soon after the close of the war Mr. Oakley purchased 1812 acres of land in Hopbottom, where he made improvements and settled, and where he has since been engaged in general farming and stock raising. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a member of Capt. Lyons Post, G. A. R., at Glenwood, Penn., and is among the highly esteemed citizens of Lathrop township.

JOHN RIEFLER. Our German-born resi- dents constitute a most desirable class of citizens, and in the career of this well known business man we find illustrated in a striking way the character- istic industry, thrift, and sound judgment of his race. Coming to America as a poor boy, without capital or influential friends, he has made his own way in spite of all obstacles, and for many years he has been regarded as one of the leading business men of this section. At present he resides in Honesdale, Wayne county, where he has built a beautiful home in Main street, which compares favorably with any residence in the county, wealth and good taste combining to make it attractive. While his attention is given chiefly to his lumber interests, he is also identified with other important enterprises, and his real-estate holdings include several farms, and thousands of acres of timber land.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 66

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