Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII, Part 31

Author: Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921, ed; Montgomery, Thomas Lynch, 1862-1929, ed; Spofford, Ernest, ed; Godcharies, Frederic Antes, 1872-1944 ed; Keator, Alfred Decker, ed
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: New York, NY : Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 844


USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 31


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Jameson, the third son and sixth child of Elisha Harvey, the Revolutionary sol- dier, was born in Plymouth township, Luzerne county, near what is now West Nanticoke, January 1, 1806, died July 4, 1885. He was a farmer, but in 1828 began coal mining operations, becoming a well- known and progressive operator. He also conducted large lumbering enterprises, and in 1863 turned his mining interests over to his sons and devoted himself chiefly to lumbering. In January, 1869, he moved to Wilkes-Barre, there residing until his death sixteen years later. He married, December 28, 1832, Mary Camp-


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bell, born September 12, 1801, daughter of James and Margaret (Stewart) Campbell, of Scotch ancestry. They were the par- ents of two sons, William Jameson and Henry Harrison Harvey ; and two daugh- ters, Margaret Campbell and Mary Har- vey.


William Jameson, eldest son and sec- ond child of Jameson and Mary (Camp- bell) Harvey, was born at West Nanti- coke, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1838, died in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsyl- vania, June 4, 1907, after a long life of exceptional honor and usefulness. He was educated in those two famous schools of the Wyoming Valley, Wyoming Insti- tute and Wyoming Seminary, continuing his studies at Chase Academy, Middle- town, Connecticut, and at Edgehill School, Princeton, New Jersey. In 1859 he aban- doned preparation for college and began active business life as superintendent of his father's coal mines at West Nanti- coke. Two years later on October 15, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company F, Seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Re- serve Volunteer Corps ; was promoted to first lieutenant, November 7; to adjutant, November 20; and resigned November 25, 1862. It was his intention to reƫnlist in another command, but on his return home he was made to see the necessity of re- lieving his father of a part of his respon- sibilities and, yielding to the paternal de- sires, he again resumed mining operations in the spring of 1863, forming a partner- ship with his brother, and as Harvey Brothers operating the West Nanticoke mine until 1871, when the property was sold. They also conducted a lumber yard in Plymouth, making that their principal business after 1871, trading as Harvey Brothers & Company until selling out in 1886.


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Mr. Harvey first became interested in banking in 1865, as a director of the First


National Bank of Kingston. In 1871 he moved to Wilkes-Barre, where he became and was until his death a director of the Miners' Savings Bank. He was also president of the Wyoming Valley Lace Mills, president of the Wilkes-Barre Opera House Company, and owned large trac- tion company interests. He purchased in 1870, with two associates, a controling interest in the Wilkes-Barre & Kingston Street Railway, took personal manage- ment, and operated it until 1892, when it became a part of the Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming Valley Traction Company, of which Mr. Harvey became a director. He continued active in business until his death, and was one of the successful men of his day.


After moving to Wilkes-Barre, Mr. Har- vey became deeply interested in public affairs. In 1874 he was an independent candidate for mayor, was elected school director in 1875, serving until 1881, five of those years being president of the board ; was elected councilman in 1885, and served until April, 1898, being president of council 1886-1891 and from 1894-1898. In 1892 he was a presidential elector on the Harrison and Reed ticket, and in 1900 on the Mckinley and Roosevelt ticket. He was outspoken in his advocacy of Re- publican principles and candidates, and a tower of strength to any candidate whose cause he espoused.


For over thirty years he was a member of the Masonic order, holding all the de- grees of blue lodge, chapter and com- mandery of the York Rite, and at the time of his death was the oldest past eminent commander of Dieu Le Veut Command- ery No. 45, Knights Templar. He was a noble of Irem Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and was a thirty-second degree Mason of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He was also a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks ;


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Conyingham Post No. 97, Grand Army of the Republic; and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.


Mr. Harvey married (first) December 9. 1869, Jessie Wright, born July 20, 1848, died June 29, 1877. He married (second) October 21, 1880, Amanda Mary Laning, daughter of Augustus C. and Amanda (Christel) Laning. William J. Harvey by his first marriage had four children : William Jameson (2), died in infancy ; Robert Rieman, a graduate of Lehigh University, E. E., class of 1895; Edward Darling, died in childhood; Emily Cist, died in infancy, her mother surviving her birth but two weeks. By his second mar- riage a son, Laning.


Laning Harvey, only child of William Jameson Harvey and his second wife, Amanda Mary Laning, was born at the Harvey home in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsyl- vania, January 17, 1882. He was edu- cated at Harry Hillman Academy, Wilkes- Barre, and the Hill School, Pottstown, Pennsylvania, completing his course and graduating at the latter institution with the class of 1902. After leaving school he at once became associated with his honored father in his various business enterprises, and continued his efficient assistant and representative until the death of William J. Harvey in 1907. Since that time he has engaged in busi- ness along the same lines, succeeding his father as director of the Miners' Savings Bank of Wilkes-Barre, and has since been chosen a director of the Hollenback Coal Company, also managing his own large private estate. He brings to the fulfil- ment of his official duties an earnestness of purpose and an alert mind, trained in the school of experience under an able preceptor, his father, and as the years add the wisdom that nothing else can give, his equipment will be equal to the added responsibilities the twentieth century im- poses upon her business sons.


Mr. Harvey has taken a deep interest in the preservation of game and was ap- pointed by Governor Stuart, a member of the State Game Commission, and was re- appointed by Governor Tener. He con- tinued on the Game Commission until the present administration, when he was re- moved to accept Governor Brumbaugh's appointment as a member of the State Board of Public Charities. He has served two terms as a member of Wilkes-Barre common council, being first appointed to fill the unexpired term of John Hance.


While fully alive to the responsibilities as a citizen and business man, Mr. Har- vey has a full appreciation of the social obligation and is connected with leading organizations of the city. He is a member of the various bodies of the Masonic order, is an Elk and holds active member- ship in the Wilkes-Barre clubs: West- moreland, Country, Franklin and Press, the Union League and Manufacturers clubs of Philadelphia, and Country Club of Atlantic City, New Jersey. He is a Republican in politics and an attendant of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church.


Mr. Harvey married, November 15, 1905, Marian E., daughter of Arthur and Jennie (Abbott) Burgess, of English par- entage. They are the parents of two chil- dren, Laning, Jr., and Robert Burgess Harvey.


WELLES, Edward,


Useful and Estimable Citizen.


When George Welles, a descendant of Colonial Governor Thomas Welles, of Connecticut, led his family to Pennsylva- nia in 1798, he there planted a race that has ever since been prominent in the Wyoming Valley and in Northern Penn- sylvania. Edward Welles, of Wilkes- Barre, to whose memory this sketch is dedicated, was a grandson of George, the


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pioneer of 1798, and of the eighth genera- tion of the Welles family in America.


Thomas Welles, the founder, was a member of the Essex branch of the an- cient and honorable Welles family of England, who traced their ancestry to the year 794, and by intermarriage was con- nected with royalty. Thomas Welles came to America in 1636 as private secre- tary to Lord Saye and Seal. He located in Connecticut, became very prominent in public affairs of that colony, and was Deputy-Governor and Governor for a period of five years, 1655-1659, inclusive. The line of descent from Governor Thom- as Welles to Edward Welles, of Wilkes- Barre, is direct, and through intermar- riage includes many family names noted in the colonial and State records of Con- necticut and Pennsylvania, among whom may be named that of the Puritan hero Lieutenant John Hollister, the Goodrichs, Treats, the Talcotts, Hunts and Hollen- backs.


The line of descent from Thomas Welles is through Samuel, the Governor's fourth son, who married (first) in Hart- ford, Connecticut, Elizabeth Hollister ; Captain Samuel, son of Samuel and Eliza- beth (Hollister) Welles, selectman and captain of militia in Wethersfield, who married Ruth Rice; Thomas, son of Cap- tain and Ruth (Rice) Welles, of Glaston- bury, Connecticut, who married Martha Pitkin; George, the pioneer of the family in Pennsylvania, son of John and Martha (Pitkin) Welles, who married Prudence Talcott; Charles Fisher, of Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, son of George and Pru- dence (Talcott) Welles, who married Ellen J. Hollenback ; Edward, of Wilkes- Barre, son of Charles Fisher and Ellen J. (Hollenback) Welles.


George Welles, of the sixth American generation, was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, January 13, 1756, died in


Athens, Pennsylvania, January 20, 1813. He was a graduate of Yale College, Bache- lor of Arts, class of 1779. He settled in Northern Pennsylvania, at Tioga Point, and soon afterward became agent for the large landed estate owned by Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Maryland. In 1800 he was appointed justice of the peace, and until his death in 1813 was prominent in local affairs.


Charles Fisher Welles was born in Glastonbury, November 5, 1789, died in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, September 23, 1866. He came to Pennsylvania with his father when a lad of nine years, but was sent back to Connecticut to finish his edu- cation, attending Bacon Academy at Col- chester. After completing his education he returned to Pennsylvania, where he was variously engaged until 1812, when under appointment of Governor Snyder he became prothonotary, clerk of courts, register and recorder of the newly or- ganized Bradford county, which offices he held six years, residing at Towanda the county seat. He became deeply interested in local politics, and was part owner of the "Bradford Gazette", an anti-Federal- ist newspaper, and a strong factor in creating public sentiment. In 1818, when his successor in office was appointed, Mr. Welles removed to Wyalusing, where in farming and in the management of his large and varied business interests he ended his days. He married, in Wilkes- Barre, on August 15, 1816, Ellen J. Hol- lenback, born in that city, January 21, 1788, died in Wyalusing, March 14, 1876, of the prominent Hollenback family of the Wyoming Valley, daughter Matthias and Sarah (Burritt) Hollenback.


Edward Welles was born in Wyalu- sing, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1832, died at his home in Wilkes-Barre, March 8, 1914, youngest of the nine children of Charles Fisher and Ellen (Hollenback)


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Welles. He was a student at both La- fayette and Williams colleges, leaving the latter institution in 1851 to assist his brother, John, in the management of the estate of his mother, continuing in the care of the estate until about 1870. When Lee invaded Pennsylvania in 1863, Mr. Welles enlisted for State defense, serving three months. In 1871 he established his home in Wilkes-Barre, there becoming promi- nent in business life and continuing his residence until his death. He was a di- rector of the Second National Bank re- tiring in 1879, and in 1884 became a direc- tor of the People's Bank, a position he held several years. He was also a man- ager of the Hollenback Cemetery Asso- ciation, serving as secretary-treasurer from 1882 until 1896, and was president of the Hollenback Coal Company. In 1888 he built the Welles Building, on the public square, that being the first large office building erected in Wilkes-Barre. He was an active member of the Wyo- ming Historical and Geological Society, and a trustee for many years ; a member of the board of trustees of Memorial Hall, the home of Conyngham Post, Grand Army of the Republic; and was a communicant of the First Presbyterian Church.


This record of business life and public service of Edward Welles gives little idea of his true character; in fact, that was known only to those intimate with him. He was not a man deeply engrossed in business; in fact, did not desire to be numbered with the captains of industry who flourished in his day. He, however, conducted his own affairs well, and al- though he made some mistakes of judg- ment, his investments were generally well selected. He was a man of highest prin- ciple, esteeming his honor and his promise sacred. He held to the old ideas in regard to property, believing it should he held


intact in the family that accumulated it. He was most charitable, giving away probably one-tenth of his income each year, but doing it without ostentation and so quietly that few were aware of the magnitude of his benefactions. A number of schools in the south and in the far west received generous aid from him every year, as did many other institutions. To his old friends whom prosperity avoided, he was ever helpful and to those of his own family not closely connected, his gifts were large and frequent. He was much sought for in counsel and advice, giving freely in that way as well as more substantially. Dif- fident and rather reserved in manner, he cared little for society, but with his old friends he was most sociable and hospit- able. He was a great lover of his home, and was especially fond of his summer home at Glen Summit.


Literature was perhaps his greatest passion, and in his quite extensive library he pursued a wide and varied course of reading. His well cultivated mind be- came a veritable storehouse of knowl- edge, and among his friends he was known as the "walking encyclopedia," and many were the disputed questions of fact referred to him for final settlement. He was deeply interested in historical subjects, especially those relating to the valley in which his boyhood days were spent. He was a clear and interesting writer on historical subjects, and although he never published his writings in book form, he frequently contributed to the local papers. During the last four years of his life he wrote a series of articles dealing with the quaint old characters in the village in which he was born. He also contributed several articles on his- torical subjects and events to the "Penn- sylvania German Magazine," he having long been interested in the original Ger-


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man emigrants to Pennsylvania and their descendants. He possessed a keen sense of humor, and no one enjoyed a good joke more than he. He was not as ready at repartee and joke as some, but if he had a little time to prepare himself could be very witty. But pathos came more readily than wit, and few there are who were present a few years ago at a banquet given Lafayette College alumni, who will soon forget the beauty and pathos of his speech in which he called the roll of his class, all of whom, save himself, had an- swered roll call in the spirit land.


In his religious faith he held to the strict interpretation of the orthodox faith of the Presbyterian church, and he ordered his life in accordance therewith. Honor, uprightness and truth characterized his life, and no descendant of Governor Thomas Welles ever lived a purer, more blameless life.


Edward Welles married, August 26, 1891, Stella Hollenback, daughter of George M. and Julia A. (Woodworth) Hollenback, of Yorkville, Illinois, who survives him, residing at 28 West South street, Wilkes-Barre. Her only child is a son, Edward Welles, Jr., a student at Lafayette College, class of 1916.


WESTERVELT FAMILY.


The Westervelt family was established in this country in 1662, by Lubbert Lub- bertsen Van Westervelt, who settled on Long Island immediately after his arrival in New Amsterdam. The record of his purchase of real estate in Flatbush ap- pears in Volume B, folio 114, of the Hol- land records. About 1676 he removed with his family to Hackensack, New Jersey, and which has ever since been the head- quarters of the family. At the organiza- tion of the Dutch church in that commun- ity, July 29, 1686, Lubbert Van Westervelt and his wife, Geesie (Grace), were charter


members, and for many generations the Westervelts have been identified with the Dutch and Episcopal churches in that and other communities in which members of the family are found. The old Wester- velt house, built by a grandson of Lub- bert Lubbertsen Van Westervelt, still stands at New Hackensack, near Pough- keepsie, New York, to which place he moved in 1744. Lubbert Lubbertsen Van Westervelt and his wife, Geesie, were the parents of numerous children, among them being


(II) Roelof, son of Lubbert, senior ; was baptized in Meppel, Holland, on the Ioth of March, 1659. He accompanied his parents to America, and resided on Long Island during the days of boyhood. When twenty-nine years of age he mar- ried, at Bergen, Orsolena or Wesselena, daughter of Caspar Stymets and Janne- kin Gerrits, of the same town, on the 25th of March, 1688. In 1695, in company with nine others, he purchased from the Lord Proprietors of East Jersey, for the sum of one hundred pounds, a large tract of land embracing some thousands of acres extending from the Hudson river to the Overpeck, or English Creek, and run- ing northerly and southerly a distance of about two miles. Roelof obtained the most northerly portion of the tract and settled upon it, part of said lands still being in possession of his descendants. He became a member of the church at Hackensack in 1687, and was a deacon for many years. He married, at Schraalen- burgh, for his second wife, Lea, the daughter of Jean Demaree and Jacominia Druens. She was the widow of Abram Brower. This marriage occurred on the 15th of May, 1731.


(III) Johannes, son of Roelof, was baptized at Hackensack, July 1I, 1696, and married Egie or Efie, daughter of Peter de Groot and Belitje van Schaick,


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at the same place, October II, 1718. They were the parents of fourteen children.


(IV) Petrus, son of Johannes, was bap- tized at Hackensack, February 18, 1722. He married Catelyntje Taeleman, about 1745, and they had children.


(V) Peter, son of Petrus, was born May 5, 1759. He served in the War of the Revolution, in Colonel Hawke Hays's regiment of Orange county, New York infantry, in the company of Captain Jane- way, the company being made up of the descendants of old Dutch families of New York. (See "New York in the Rev- olution ;" Archives State of New York- "The Revolution".) Peter married twice; marrying (second) Catherine Blauvelt, May 16, 1785. He died in 1801.


(VI) Abraham, son of Peter, was born May 27, 1786. He married Marian Mc- Kenzie, September 22, 1805, and died February 10, 1864. Abraham Westervelt served his country in the War of 1812. He came to Pittsburgh on or before 1830, and was for many years connected with the early business interests of the city. He was a manufacturer of venetian blinds, his factory being located on the corner of what is now Third avenue and Market street. The family was promi- nent in church and musical circles, the Westervelt home being for many years a rendezvous for local musicians, among which were the Tomers, the Mellors, the Rineharts and the McClatcheys.


(VII) Abraham, son of Abraham (VI), was born February 26, 1826. He married Hannah McClatchey, February 15, 1860, and died August 15, 1894. Children of Abraham and Hannah (McClatchey) Westervelt: I. Marian Mckenzie, born June 30, 1861. 2. Ida L., born December 5, 1863, married George Hunt Hutchin- son, March 8, 1894. 3. Harry Clarkson, see below. 4. Lena C., born August 17, 1869.


(VIII) Harry Clarkson, son of Abra- ham and Hannah (McClatchey) Wester- velt, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, April 14, 1867; was educated in the schools of Pittsburgh, and Univer- sity of Pennsylvania ; is practicing medi- cine in Pittsburgh. He married, Novem- ber 7, 1900, Frederica Louisa Ballard (see Ballard line), and they have had children : I. Harriet Clarkson, born February 10, 1902. 2. Frederick Lyman Ballard, born July 31, 1903. 3. Peter, born November 22, 1907.


The arms of the Westervelt family are as follows: Arms-Vert, three fleurs de lis or. Crest-Two arms in armor, ar- gent ; hands natural (ppr) out of a ducal coronet holding a fleur de lis, or. Motto -Per crucem ad coronam.


(The Ballard Line).


(I) William Ballard was born in Eng- land, about 1617. It has been believed by many historians that he is the "Wil- liam Ballard" who shipped for New Eng- land March 26, 1634, in the "Mary and John." He would have been only about eighteen years old at the time, rather an unusual age for a Pilgrim ; but he was as- sociated with several of those who came in that ship at Newbury, Massachusetts (where he owned land in 1645) and An- dover. He married, at a place and time not yet ascertained, Grace - whose name and family are not known. An- dover was the plantation where the greater portion of Mr. Ballard's life in New England was passed. The most ancient entry on the town records of Andover is a list headed "The names of all the free house houlders in order as they came to towne," and the sixteenth name in this list is "William Ballard."


(II) Joseph Ballard, son of the above William and Grace Ballard, was born at date not recorded; married (first) Feb- ruary 28, 1665, Elizabeth, daughter of


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Lewis Historical Fab La.


Facto Da Johnston


OP Carman


ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


Edward and Elizabeth (Adams) Phelps, of Andover; she died July 27, 1692; he married (second) November 15, 1692, Rebeckah, widow of Joseph Horne (Orne) ; she died February II, 1740. He was of Andover.


(III) Josiah Ballard, son of Joseph and Rebeckah (Horne) Ballard, was born June 22, 1699, at Andover; married, Au- gust 7, 1721, Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Stevens) Chandler, born March 8, 1702, died April 3, 1779. He resided at Andover; died December 26, 1780.


(IV) Josiah (2) Ballard, son of Josiah (I) and Mary (Chandler) Ballard, was born at Andover, August 14, 1721 ; mar- ried (intention at Lancaster, March 23, 1743-44), Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Ruth (Phelps) Carter, born November 10, 1725, and died March 31, 1799. He resided at Lancaster ; was a deacon from September, 1781, till his resignation, July 31, 1794. He died August 6, 1799.


(V) William Ballard, son of Josiah (2) and Sarah (Carter) Ballard, was born at Lancaster, March 23, 1764; married, March 19, 1787, Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Wyman) Whitney, born February 14, 1769, died December 7, 1857. He settled in Charlemont about 1789. He was a captain. His death occurred May 25, 1842.


(VI) Josiah (3) Ballard, son of above William and Elizabeth (Whitney) Bal- lard, was born at Charlemont, August 30, 1794; married (first) August 19, 1825, Margaret, daughter of Aaron and Electa (Graves) Lyman, who was born Novem- ber 22, 1800, and died May 2, 1854. He married (second) Mrs. Sylvia R. Warner, mother of Charles Dudley Warner. Resi- dence, Charlemont. He died December 21, 1860.


(VII) Frederic Lyman Ballard, son of Josiah (3) and Margaret (Lyman) Bal- lard, was born at Charlemont, October I,


1837; married, June 10, 1860, Alice Walk- er (see Walker line) ; settled in Athens, Ohio, about 1859; was three years in Civil War; removed to Philadelphia in 1876; died at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1900. Children of Frederic Lyman and Alice (Walker) Ballard : Ellis Ames; Margarette Lyman; and Frederica Louisa.


(VIII) Frederica Louisa Ballard, daughter of Frederic Lyman and Alice (Walker) Ballard, was born at Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1877, and became the wife of Dr. H. C. Wester- velt, of Pittsburgh (see Westervelt VIII), November 7, 1900.


(The Walker Line).


(I) Philip Walker, son of "Widow Walker," who came from England in 1643; died in 1679; married Jane Butter- worth, 1654.


(II) Ebenizer Walker married Doro- thy Abell, born 1676, died 1718.


(III) Caleb Walker, married Abigail Dean, born 1706.


(IV) Comfort Walker married Mehit- able Robinson, born 1739, married 1762, died 1814.


(V) Dr. Ezra Walker married Abigail Manning, born 1766, married 1787, died 1852.


(VI) Archibald Bates Walker married Lucy Willis Ames, born 1800, married 1825, died 1886.


(VII) Alice Walker, sixth child, born 1837; married Frederic Lyman Ballard, at Athens, Ohio, June 10, 1860.


CARMAN, Earle P., Lawyer, Financial Expert.


Conspicuous among those members of the Pittsburgh bar who have become promi- nent within the last decade is Earle Park Carman, well known not only as a suc- cessful lawyer, but also as a financial




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