USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 15
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lawyer and a man. The whole meeting, thus opened, was a very remarkable one, for the attendance was large and all that was said gave evidence of the deep sorrow felt by all. Henry W. Palmer, late At- torney-General, offered the following resolutions :
Resolved, That the intelligence of the sud- den death of Allan H. Dickson was so unex- pected and shocking as to cast a gloom of un- usual character over the members of this asso- ciation and the whole community.
Resolved, That Mr. Dickson was a man of acknowledged ability, which was exhibited in his profession as a lawyer and in all his respon- sible business relations and in the public and private offices he held. He was possessed of fine literary and artistic taste; was strictly honorable in every post and station; of cour- ageous determination in the defense of what he adjudged right; was a progressive, enterprising member of society; and in every relation of life a good citizen.
Resolved, That we grieve with exceeding great sorrow that his promising career is ended, and extend to his mourning family the assur- ance of our profound condolence.
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to publish these resolutions and to communicate them to his family.
It is impossible to give even a resume of the eulogies that were uttered. Some of the speakers, in addition to Mr. Farn- ham, were Mr. Palmer, George R. Bed- ford, Asa R. Brundage, William S. Mc- Lean, Thomas H. Atherton, E. G. Scott, Edmund G. Butler, Ex-Mayor F. M. Nichols, Judge Lyman H. Bennett, S. J. Strauss (later Judge), Judge D. L. Rhone, Judge Stanley Woodward, and John T. Lenahan. Mr. Dickson's sterling qualities as a man and his characteristic points as a lawyer were presented from every point of view. The speakers gave evidence not only of their personal affec- tion for Mr. Dickson and their genuine sorrow in his death, but in their estimate of his qualities as a lawyer there was re-
markably unanimity. As Judge Rhone remarked, "It is good for a man to de- serve the good opinion of his neighbors." The following excerpts suggest the tenor of the remarks that were made :
Mr. Palmer :- He hated shams and pretenders of high and low degree, whether at the bar, on the bench, or in politics or the pulpit, and had no hesitation in making his opinions known. He never "crooked the pregnant hinges of the knee, that thrift might follow fawning," or drew back from giving an honest opinion of men or measures when to avoid it would show want of courage. In the Independent revolt of 1882 he was active and outspoken, and has never abated a jot or tittle of his contempt for the machine made statesmen who sit in the high places of the state and nation. In truth he was a re- former in politics who looked forward with hope to a time when the control of parties and the possession of places of honor would be secured by men of the highest integrity, learning and ability,-to many an iridescent dream, but to him a high ideal toward which he looked and for which he labored.
Mr. Bedford :- He was a man of broad cul- ture and fine literary attainments. His address on Alexander Hamilton and other addresses that he occasionally delivered gave evidence of most careful and discriminating historical re- search. As a citizen he was progressive and public-spirited. To him more than to any other is due the great stride in municipal improve- ments witnessed in this city. In all his conduct it can be said with absolute truth that he was always actuated by principle and never by policy. Dictates of policy, if they had been given weight, would in a number of instances have stood in the way of acts which redound to his greatest credit. Applause on the one hand or criticism on the other moved him not. Many who at the time differed from him have come to see the justice and wisdom of his course; its honesty they did not question. There was in his life much that was heroic, and now that he is gone all will accord him sincerity of purpose and render tribute to his worth. In my judg- ment, his place in this community cannot be filled. The busy world moves on. Its trials and its triumphs will repeat themselves and other men will come and go, but so long as those re- main who came into touch with him, so long the memory of Allan Dickson can never die.
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Mr. Brundage :- His daily life, in the court house and out of it, was pure and exemplary. His intercourse with the bar was characterized by singular urbanity and kindness. Always the gentleman of kindly impulses, he never compro- mised fidelity or duty, or swerved from coura- geons advocacy of his clients' cause. His pure public and private life has made an impression upon us and the community, and that impress is clean and clear cut. The world has been made better for his having lived in it. He had no patience with the shams of either professional or social life. His standard of private morals was high and he believed that human happiness can only come from a virtuous and well spent life. There was neither cant, bigotry, or hypoc- risy in his composition; he scorned them all.
Mr. McLean :- His resolution, courage, schol- arly accomplishments, and intimacy with the best thoughts of the best authors, joined to a clear and logical mind, made him an able law- yer, one to be respected, and a foeman worthy of the steel of any of us. But more than all, his neighbors respected him, the community trusted him, and all who knew him believed him to be an honest man. Of Kings and Princes and the rulers of men nothing better can be said.
Mr. Atherton :- With these rugged virtues Allan H. Dickson possessed a heart of infinite tenderness. His was an unusual combination of traits. Earnest, bold, aggressive; yet thought- ful and considerate toward others. Deeply ab- sorbed in all the questions of the time, a reader and student, yet a warm hearted, genial com- panion and friend. Loyal to his convictions and bold in defending them, yet tolerant toward the honest opponent. Learned, thoughtful, aggres- sive, yet kind and gentle.
Mr. Scott :- The virtue of Allan Dickson's life was this: That he showed how much good a man can do by remaining faithful to first princi- ples, and how easily and lastingly good char- acter, steadfastness of purpose, and simplicity make the attainment of reputation. We can truly and reverentially pronounce upon him this judgment: Fortiter, Fideliter, Feliciter.
Mr. Nichols :- Touched by these pleadings, the tender, loveful, and loving heart of Mr. Dickson always applied to the wounds of sor- row in others the sweetest cordials of human sympathy and kindness. Yes, with gentle words and cheering countenance he could give con-
solation and hope to the grief-smitten souls of others, but when engulfed in the billows of his own great sorrow, death alone could furnish him a haven of rest. Dear friend, farewell. May the choicest blessings of heaven reward your kindness to your fellow men in this life and the immortal companionship of the spirits of your little children on the farther shore gratify the highest yearnings of your divine affections.
Mr. Bennett :- His noble qualities as a kind and affectionate husband, father, and citizen, have been manifested to some of us in his proffered sympathies on occasions of domestic affliction, the full import of which he, from personal experience, well understood. Those who have thus become best acquainted with the keen sensibilities and sympathies of our depart- ed brother will wonder less at the serious shock he himself received a few days ago in the death of his only son, and the fatal result to him which has called us together to-day. We, both as in- dividual citizens and as members of this bar, may well mourn his loss.
Mr. Strauss :- When he began his work in this community of Wilkes-Barre, twenty years ago or thereabout, he was a stranger to all of us. It was a time when the spirit of progress was advancing in the city; the new blood that came from many quarters was making itself felt. By force of his sense of public duty he naturally enrolled himself with progressive men and from that day until the day of his death he remained a leader among them in this city. Whatever . concerned the community concerned him; whatever concerned any man in the com- munity interested Mr. Dickson if it were right that he should be interested by it. He deemed nothing human foreign to himself. He was ever an earnest man, never a trifler; he was ever a genial man and a gentleman.
Mr. Woodward :- The death of such a man in the full ripeness of his career-immaturity passed, but no decay begun-is a great loss. The community in which he lived knows that he was an unselfish and diligent citizen, who was always at work for the public good when called upon to serve them in a representative capacity. His clients knew that he was a wise and prudent lawyer, learned and honorable, who could never tread in paths that were not straight and clean, and open. The bench and the bar knew him as an exemplary and distinguished
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member of a noble profession, which needs such men to keep its standard high. And we all know and will remember him as a Christian gentleman, with whom we are glad to have been associated and whose character and influence have bettered the world in which he lived.
Such earnest expressions of appreci- ation of a man, given by his closest col- leagues, leave little more to be said.
Mr. Dickson's antecedents were Scotch, his ancestry tracing to David Dickson, born 1583, one of the regents of the Uni- versity of Glasgow. The Dicksons were one of the border clans, one of the mottoes being Fortes fortuna juvat (For- tune favors the brave), another Cubo scd curo (I sleep but watch). The family was known as the "famous Dicksons," and are of frequent mention in Scotch records. The clan is descended from the Keiths, Earls Marshall, one of the most powerful families of Scotland when, with the ex- ception of the royal family, the title of Earl was the highest in the kingdom. The Keith family had so many posses- sions that it was at one time said that they could journey from the north to the south of Scotland and sleep every night in one of their own castles.
. John Dickson, grandson of David Dick- son, the regent, was born about 1673, married Jane Dodd, and settled in Ire- land, in County Down. His eldest son, James Dickson, had a son, Alexander, born in 1776, who married Sarah McKee, and by her had ten children. By a second wife, Margaret Harding, he had six chil- dren. In June, 1837, this Alexander Dick- son came to the United States, bringing his family and settling at Schagticoke, Rensselaer county, New York. In 1837 he moved to Lansingburg, New York, and there died April 2, 1871, aged ninety- five years. Hugh Sheridan, seventh child of Alexander Dickson and his first wife, Sarah McKee, was born in 1813. He mar-
ried Sarah Margaret Stoever, who bore him four children: Elizabeth, married Reverend Samuel T. Lowrie ; Ellen, mar- ried Colonel W. P. Wilson; Frederick Stoever, author of "Dickson's Blackstone", "Dickson's Commentaries", "Dickson's Kent", and an analysis of "Kent's Com- mentaries"; and Allan Hamilton.
Allan Hamilton, son of Hugh Sheridan and Sarah Margaret (Stoever) Dickson, was born in Utica, New York, November 14, 1851, died in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsyl- vania, January 21, 1893. He prepared for college at Wyer's Preparatory School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and entered Yale University in 1868, but in the first half of his sophomore year was compelled to leave the university on account of poor health. After a season of travel in Mexico he returned home, and in 1871 reentered Yale, finishing his sophomore studies. He then went abroad, studied German at Heidelberg, and attended university lec- tures at Berlin. He also toured Switzer- land and Italy, returning to the United States and Wilkes-Barre in 1872. In Janu- ary, 1873, he began the study of law under the direction of Henry M. Hoyt, of the Luzerne county bar, having previ- ously registered as a law student with Wayne MacVeagh in West Chester. On September 14, 1874, he was admitted to the Luzerne county bar, and from that date was actively and prominently identi- fied with that bar. He was duly ad- mitted to the Superior and Supreme Courts of the State and to the Federal Courts of the district, conducting a large practice in all. He boldly attacked cor- ruption in public affairs, and became the open foe of the "powers that prey". He won enviable standing at the bar, and was held in high esteem not less for his great personal worth than for his ability as a lawyer and advocate. He was a member of the bar associations of the
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district, and of various social, philan- thropic and political organizations. No man had warmer, truer friends, and no man ever more truly benefited the com- munity in which he lived.
Mr. Dickson married, November 12, 1874, Kate Swetland Pettibone, born Sep- tember 27, 1851, daughter of Payne (2) and Caroline M. (Swetland) Pettibone, her father a leading banker, business man, railroad official, and churchman. Mrs. Dickson is a descendant of John Petti- bone, of French ancestry, who came from England in 1650 and who settled at Windsor, Connecticut. The Wyoming Valley settler was Noah Pettibone, born April 16, 1714, who settled in the valley in 1769. He married, in 1745, Huldah Williams. His son, Oliver, was in Forty Fort at the time of the massacre, left the valley soon afterward, but returned in 1788 and bought land adjoining his father's. He married, in Dutchess county, New York, Martha, daughter of Dr. Bar- nabas Payne, who bore him thirteen chil- dren, eleven of whom married and reared families. His son, Payne (1) Pettibone, married Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Lee) Tuttle, of the Morris county, New Jersey, Tuttle family. Payne (2) Pettibone, son of Payne (1) and Sarah (Tuttle) Pettibone, was born December 23, 1813, died March 21, 1888. He be- came one of the leading business men of the Wyoming Valley, and was one of the foremost laymen of the Methodist Epis- copal church. He married, October 3, 1837, Caroline M., daughter of William Swetland, banker of Pittston and exten- sive land owner and coal operator. He was a son of Belding and Sally (Gay) Swetland, and a grandson of Luke Swet- land, a Revolutionary soldier, and the first of the Swetlands to settle in the Wyoming Valley.
Children of Allan Hamilton and Kate
Swetland (Pettibone) Dickson : Caro Pettibone, died in childhood; Dorothy Ellen, married Major Frank Darte ; Hugh Sheridan, died in childhood. Mrs. Dick- son survives her husband, a resident of Wilkes-Barre, a lady of culture and fortune.
MINER, Charles A. and Sidney R., Men of Affairs, Public Benefactors.
When in 1858 the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society was formed for the purpose of preserving historical data, sites, and records, Charles Abbott Miner was one of the charter members. During the forty-five years of his life member- ship he filled the offices of vice-president, president, and trustee, his interest and services materially promoting the wel- fare and usefulness of the Society. In 1892 his son, Sidney Roby Miner, was elected a member of the Society and two years later was elected recording secre- tary, an office he held until his death twenty years later. Through legacies left by them, father and son are enrolled upon the list of benefactors, and both, through their pens, left valuable contri- butions to the literature of the Wyoming Valley.
This interest in the preservation of his- tory by her two noble sons was not the only or greatest benefit the Wyoming Valley received from them. Their lives were lives of usefulness and honor, the father a merchant, miller and public offi- cial; the son a lawyer, orator and writer. Both were eminent in their spheres, both were men of sterling character and worth, and both are lovingly remembered.
The Miner ancestry is traced from early New England settlers, among whom stand preeminent Thomas Miner (1630), a captain in King Philip's War; John Ross, of Ipswich, Massachusetts (1635);
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and George Abbott, of Andover, Massa- chusetts (1635). In England the family has been traced to the thirteenth century, to Henry Miner, who died in 1359, a rec- ord of whose services to his king, his coat-of-arms, etc., is preserved in family archives. In the tenth generation of the family in England, Thomas Miner, in 1630, came to America, landing at Salem, Massachusetts. Five American genera- tions-Thomas, the founder; his son, Clement (1) ; his son, Clement (2) ; his son, Hugh; and his son, Ensign Seth Miner, resided in New England, the sons of Ensign Seth being the pioneers of this branch in the Wyoming Valley. Ensign Seth Miner, born in New London, Con- necticut, 1742, died January 15, 1822, and is buried in the old graveyard at Doyles- town, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Susquehanna Land Company, and as such had a claim to land in Pennsyl- vania so long in dispute between Penn- sylvania and Connecticut. His son Charles was deputized to go to the Wyo- ming Valley to look after his father's in- terests, and later he induced his brother Asher to join him. This Asher Miner was the grandfather of Charles A., and the great-grandfather of Sidney R. Miner.
Asher Miner, born in Norwich, Con- necticut, March 3, 1778, was of the sixth generation of his family in America. He was a printer, and after coming to the Wyoming Valley worked at his trade on the newspapers of his day and founded the "Luzerne County Federalist," issu- ing the first number January 5, 1801. He later sold his interest in "The Federalist" to his brother Charles, and moved to Doylestown. There he founded and issued first, July 7, 1804, the "Pennsyl- vania Correspondent and Farmers Adver- tiser," later known as the "Bucks County Intelligencer." He succeeded in estab- lishing this enterprise upon a profitable
basis, and for twenty-one years remained its proprietor and publisher. He was postmaster of Doylestown for several years, having the postoffice in his print- ing house, and also there engaged in merchandising. He resigned as post- master in 1821, sold his newspaper in 1824, and moved to West Chester, Penn- sylvania, there joining his brother Charles in publishing the "Village Record." In 1834 the brothers sold "The Record" and returned to Wilkes-Barre, where Asher Miner died March 14, 1841. He married, May 19, 1800, Mary Wright, who bore him thirteen children.
Robert, the third child of Asher and Mary (Wright) Miner, was born at Doylestown, Pennsylvania, August 17, 1805, died December 10, 1842. He began working in the mill owned by his father at the age of fourteen years, and for a number of years taught school in Plains township. After his marriage he again took charge of the mill owned by his father at Wrightsville (Miner's Mills), operated it until it was destroyed by fire in 1826, and then rebuilt it. In 1833 he bought the "Wyoming Herald ;" in 1837 merged it with the "Wyoming Repub- lican," then being published at Kingston, but, in 1836 entered the employ of the newly created Hazleton Coal Company as clerk. Later he became secretary of the company, also acting as treasurer, and in 1840 he engaged in the mining and shipping of coal as a member of the firm of Pardee, Miner & Company. He mar- ried Eliza, daughter of Stephen and Abi- gail (Searle) Abbott, who bore him three children.
Charles Abbott Miner, eldest son of Robert and Eliza (Abbott) Miner, was born in Plains township, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1830, died in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and was there buried July 27, 1903. After com-
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pleting an academic education at Wilkes- Barre and West Chester he entered the business with which his father and grand- father had been connected, and in turn passed it to his son, Asher. All his active business life was devoted to the milling business, and until his retirement he operated the mill at Miner's Mills, built by his father on the site of the old mill built by Thomas Wright, owned by his grandfather, where flour was made in 1795. He was the first president of the Pennsylvania State Millers' Association, and one of the leading men of the milling industry. In 1890 he prepared and read a most interesting, valuable paper before the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, entitled "The Early Grist Mills of Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania."
While his milling interests were of paramount importance, Mr. Miner was closely identified with many Wilkes- Barre activities of note. For twenty-five years he was a director of the Wyoming National Bank, ranking as vice-president at the time of his death, and for fifteen years he was president of the Coalville (Ashley) Street Railway Company. He was president of the board of directors of the Wilkes-Barre City Hospital from its organization, was at one time president of the Luzerne County Agricultural Society, and president of the board of trustees of Wilkes-Barre Academy (later the Harry Hillman Academy), an institution in which he had deep concern, as he had in all educational matters. For many years he furnished the Miner Prizes for decla- mation at the Academy, and was ever zealous in securing better educational ad- vantages for young men and women. Mr. Miner was a veteran of the Civil War, enlisting in Company K, Thirtieth Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably discharged, ranking as sergeant, July 26, 1863. He was a Re-
publican in politics, serving his party as representative from Wilkes-Barre in the Pennsylvania Legislature from 1875 until 1880. His dignified and able service in the House was endorsed by his district, and in 1881 he was the nominee of his party for State Senator, but was defeated at the polls by his Democratic opponent, Eckley B. Coxe. In 1877 he had served by appointment as a member of the Sec- ond Geologic Survey of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Miner was a charter member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological So- ciety, organized in 1858, and for forty- five years was intimately in touch with the Society and its work. He was chosen president in 1881, was vice-president, 1887-1890, and a trustee, 1887 to 1903. He was a life member of the Society and a benefactor, using his means and his talents to aid the Society in its purposes. A man's contemporaries are the best judges of the value of his life to the com- munity, and the following extract from the "Wilkes-Barre Leader," published on the day of his funeral, July 27, 1903, faith- fully reflects the sentiments of his city :
All that was mortal of Hon. Charles A. Miner was this afternoon consigned to its last resting place. In the death of Mr. Miner Wilkes- Barre has indeed sustained a severe loss. A public-spirited, philanthropic citizen, he was ever ready to help in advancing the welfare of the city and its inhabitants. His personal side was particularly lovable to all who knew him and his business integrity was a strong example to many of the younger business men of the community. The deeds of Mr. Miner will live in this city for many a long day. After all, they are the most lasting tributes to a citizen's memory. But it would not be amiss to erect in the public square or on the river common, or some such appropriate spot-the property of the people-a monument to Mr. Miner's memory, something for boys and girls of coming genera- tions to look up to and to inspire in them the same noble traits and characteristics which made Charles A. Miner one of the best citizens Wilkes-Barre ever had.
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Resolutions of similar purport were passed by the governing boards of the Wyoming National Bank, St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church, Wilkes- Barre City Hospital, Conyngham Post No. 97, Grand Army of the Republic, and the State Millers' Association. The pri- vate outpouring of grief was manifested through hundreds of letters, coming from near and far, to members of the family.
Mr. Miner married, January 19, 1853, Eliza Ross Atherton, born in Wyoming borough (now), March 10, 1831, daughter of Elisha and Caroline Ann (Ross) Ather- ton. Mrs. Miner is a descendant of James (1) Atherton, who settled in Wyoming in 1762, married Elizabeth Borden, and left a son, James (2) Atherton. James (2) married Lydia Washburn, who bore him thirteen children. One of these chil- dren, the sixth, Elisha, born in Wyoming, May 7, 1786, died April 2, 1853. He mar- ried, February 3, 1828, Caroline Ann, daughter of General William and Eliza- beth (Sterling) Ross, who were married October 10, 1790. Eliza Ross, daughter of Elisha and Caroline Ann (Ross) Ather- ton, married Charles Abbott Miner. Chil- dren: Elizabeth, born in 1853, died No- vember 22, 1902, a gentle, Christian lady, greatly beloved; Robert, died young ; William Ross, died young; Asher, mar- ried Hetty M. Lonsdale, he is a leading :, business man, and prominent citizen ; Sidney Roby, of further mention ; Charles Howard, M. D., University of Pennsyl- vania, 1893, Bachelor of Arts, Princeton University, 1890, married Grace Lea Shoe- maker.
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