USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 6
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He was actively interested officially with many other corporations and busi- ness enterprises. From 1876 until 1909 he was treasurer of the Wilkes-Barre Bridge Company; 1891-1910, a director
of the Wilkes-Barre Lace Manufacturing Company ; 1891-1899, a director of the Wyoming Valley Coal Company; 1893- 1898, a director of the Wilkes-Barre Gas Company ; 1895-1910, a director of the Hazard Manufacturing Company; 1895- 1896, a director of the Wilkes-Barre Water Company, and until 1910 a director of the Sheldon Axle and Spring Com- pany.
In 1871 Mr. Bennett was elected presi- dent of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, and a member of the board of managers, serving until 1887, from 1868 to 1870 he was a member of the borough council. From 1870 until 1873 he was a member of the school board, again from 1879 to 1882, and its president in 1883. From 1873 until 1910 he was a trustee of Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsyl- vania; trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Wilkes-Barre, 1874- 1910; and superintendent of the Sunday school, 1868-1910; manager of the Wilkes- Barre City Hospital, 1876-1910; trustee of Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Connecticut, his alma mater, 1888-1910; trustee of Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey, 1888-1910; presi- dent of board of trustees of Wyoming Seminary ; a lay delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Cleveland, Ohio, 1896; vice- president of Pennsylvania Bible Society, 1905 ; a manager of Hollenback Cemetery Association, 1878-1905; and a member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. Mr. Bennett was always a loyal and generous supporter of every worthy enterprise conducted for the business ad- vancement and improvement of his native city, but as the above list shows was equally interested in its charitable, re- ligious, and social institutions. Broad- minded and zealous, he met the biblical description of a man "diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."
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At a special meeting of the board of di- rectors of the Wyoming National Bank held January 3, 1910, the following pre- amble and resolutions were adopted :
The announcement of the death of Mr. Ben- nett has fallen with grave import upon the Wyoming National Bank, over which institution he has presided for fifteen years, and of which he was a director for forty-five years.
His long experience in banking, his conserva- tism, intelligence, high sense of honor, and noble character, eminently fitted him for the position he so faithfully and forcefully sustained, and which aided greatly in maintaining the high standards and position of the bank.
Mr. Bennett's interest in and labors for the welfare of our community raised him to the front rank of our citizens, and his loss to the many varied and important financial and chari- table institutions with which he was connected, is most serious and far reaching.
Beyond and above all this, his work and love for his Church and the religious life for which it stands-to which he consecrated his best efforts, and in which he achieved his noblest success- has made his loss more heartfelt and irrepa- rable.
We wish to express our high estimate of his worth and character, our individual sense of loss we as his fellow directors have sustained, and to convey to those dear to him upon whom the grief and pain of separation fall so overwhelm- ingly the sincerity of our sympathy, and our deep appreciation of their bereavement.
Mr. Bennett married, September 7, 1871, Ellen Woodward Nelson, daughter of Rev. Reuben Nelson, D.D., and his wife, Jane Scott Eddy. Children : I. Martha Phelps, married Lawrence Bul- lard Jones, a lawyer of Wilkes-Barre. 2. Reuben Nelson, A.B., graduate of Wes- leyan University, class of '97; of Law School, University of Pennsylvania, LL.B., class of 1900; chosen to succeed his father as a member of the board of directors of Wyoming National Bank, January II, 1910; member of city council of Wilkes-Barre, 1905-1918; and a mem- ber of the Luzerne county bar, admitted in 1900. 3. Ziba Platt, graduate of Wes-
leyan University, A.B., class of 1903; member of Lewis & Bennett Hardware Company, successors to the business founded by his grandfather, Ziba Ben- nett, in 1826.
Dr. Reuben Nelson was a son of Abraham Nelson, born October 8, 1782, married Huldah Nelson, who bore him twelve children. They lived at Wales, now Delaware county, New York. Dr. Nelson was born at Andes, New York, December 16, 1818, died in New York City, February 20, 1867. He was a man of classical and theological culture, preaching and teaching in New York State until 1844, when he was appointed the first principal of Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, Pennsylvania. He was then twenty-six years of age, a regularly or- dained minister of the Methodist Episco- pal church. From 1844 until 1872, with the exception of one year when he was presiding elder of the Wyoming district, he was principal of the seminary.
As principal, Dr. Nelson achieved suc- cess almost unparalled in the history of seminaries and preparatory schools. His ability as a teacher, his executive skill and financial wisdom, his indomitable courage and preseverance, his moral power, his fervid piety, thoroughly equipped him for his work and made Wyoming Seminary one of the most use- ful and meritorious of educational insti- tutions. In 1872 he was elected an agent of the Methodist Episcopal Book Con- cern in New York City, and treasurer of the missionary societies of his church, an office he held until his death. He was a delegate to the general conference of his church in 1860, 1864, 1868, 1872, and in 1876, leading the delegation at the last three conferences, and in 1876 was chair- man of the committee on the episcopacy. Union College conferred upon him the de- gree of Master of Arts in recognition of his ability as a teacher, and Dickinson
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College that of Doctor of Divinity in recognition of his eloquence as a preacher.
He was a man of great natural energy, yet calm, quiet and undemonstrative. He was systematic and exact in business habits, and by virtue of a strong pleasing personality exerted a great influence over young men. His great work, his life work, was done at Wyoming Seminary, and that school will ever be his monu- ment. In 1883 his widow, "in considera- tion of the desire and purpose to aid and benefit the seminary to which the labors of her husband were for many years de- voted," deeded to the school the house built by Dr. Nelson, and which was their residence until going to New York, in 1872. The gift was in full accord with the noble impulse of the gentle woman, who was her husband's co-worker and shared her husband's interest in the sem- inary. In 1887, Nelson Memorial Chapel was erected by friends of the seminary as a tribute to the memory of Dr. Nelson.
BENNETT, Ziba,
Merchant, Financier, Useful Citizen.
Although not of a pioneer Wyoming Valley family, Judge Ziba Bennett was one of the representative men of his day, was one of the leading merchants of the valley, for sixty years was engaged in business, was a member of the Pennsylva- nia House of Assembly, and was associate judge of Luzerne county. For half a century he was one of the strong pillars of Methodism in Wilkes-Barre, and in all that was good, ennobling, or elevating, this courtly, gracious gentleman of the old school lent his means, his time, and his influence.
Judge Bennett was of Connecticut birth, son of Platt and Martha (Wheeler) Bennett, a descendant of James Bennett, of England, who came with the Pilgrims
and was made a freeman of Concord, Massachusetts, May 13, 1639. Through intermarriage the Bennetts were con- nected with the oldest and best blood of the New England colonies.
Ziba Bennett was born in Weston, Con- necticut, November 10, 1800, and died in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1878. In 1815 he came to Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, at the solicitation of Colonel Mathias Hollenback, and was employed in the principal Hollenback store, then located on South Main street. Seven years later, in 1822, he became a partner with George M. Hollenback in a general store business. In 1826 he pur- chased the Stephen Tuttle store and busi- ness on North Main street, continued that business, and became one of the leading merchants of the Wyoming Valley. At his death after sixty years of mercantile life, he was head of the firm of Ziba Ben- nett & Company, and the oldest merchant in Luzerne county. He developed the soundest business qualities, was a man of unquestioned business integrity, clear- headed, and possessing rare judgment. He was naturally cautious and conserva- tive, but when his judgment was satisfied that success in any venture was possible, he boldly stepped even into untried fields. He was uniformly successful, was associ- ated with many Wilkes-Barre enterprises of his day, and was one of the men who laid broad and deep the foundation of the city's prosperity. He was one of the founders, a director from organization in 1829 and for ten years president of the Wyoming Bank of Wilkes-Barre, and was for years president of the Wilkes- Barre Bridge Company and of the Hol- lenback Cemetery Association. He was one of the incorporators of the Wilkes- Barre Gas Company, Wilkes-Barre Water Company, the Miners' Savings Bank, and founder in 1862 of the private banking
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house of Bennett, Phelps & Company, and its active head until death.
He was one of the founders of the Home for Friendless Children, and of other well-known benevolent institutions, and contributed liberally not only to the support of his own church but to the maintenance of several other religious and charitable bodies. He was for more than fifty years a devoted and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, gave to that church the land upon which the Franklin street church stands, and was equally interested in the spiritual life of the church.
In 1833 he was elected a member of the Pennsylvania House of Assembly, and was one of the legislators who supported the bill giving the State free public schools. He was a member of the Reform Convention that met in Harrisburg in 1834, and took active part in its delibera- tions. In 1842 he was appointed associate judge of Luzerne county. In all his pub- lic service he displayed the same careful interest in the welfare of the State that characterized his private business man- agement, and was faithful to every public trust. Kindly hearted, generous and gra- cious, his life was both a blessing and an inspiration.
Judge Bennett married (first) in Wilkes-Barre, November 25. 1824, Han- nah Fell Slocum, born April 16. 1802, died February 5, 1855. daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Fell) Slocum. He married (sec- ond) November 18. 1856, Priscilla E., daughter of James Stewart Lee, and granddaughter of Captain Andrew Lee, an officer of the Revolution. Children by first marriage: Joseph Platt, died in in- fancy : Martha Wheeler, married John Case Phelps (of mention elsewhere in this work) : George Slocum, of Wilkes- Barre.
PHELPS, John Case,
Man of Large Affairs.
Of Connecticut birth and Puritan an- cestry but a Pennsylvanian and resident of Wilkes-Barre from 1862 until his death. Mr. Phelps as banker and busi- ness man was a well-known, highly in- fluential man of affairs in both New York City and the city of his adoption, Wilkes- Barre. He was one of the potent factors in the industrial development of that city, and in addition to a wonderfully suc- cessful private business life he was mainly instrumental in securing for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rail- road Company those immense tracts of coal lands that are the rock-bed upon which the prosperity of that corporation rests. He was a man of strikingly hand- some appearance, with sterling qualities of heart and mind, kindly hearted, gener- ous, and genial. He won his way upward. beginning as clerk, then merchant, banker, manufacturer, and official, prov- ing his right to rank with Pennsylvania's "Captains of Industry." He was a warm supporter of all measures tending toward Wilkes-Barre's progress, and gave freely of his time and means to aid the cause of philanthropy. For thirty years, 1862- 1892, Wilkes-Barre was his home, and no native son was more genuinely interested in the upbuilding of the city than he.
Mr. Phelps was a direct descendant of William (2) Phelps, baptized at Tewkes- bury, Gloucestershire, England. August 15. 1599, died at Windsor, Connecticut. July 14, 1672, son of William and Dorothy Phelps and grandson of James and Joan Phelps. William (2) Phelps came to America on the "Mary and John," land- ing at what is now Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, March 30, 1630. He came with the forty emigrants led by Revs. John Warham and Samuel Maverick as their
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pastors, all members of a church organi- zation in Plymouth, England, and was one of the only seven men in this church who were entitled to the address of "Mr.," a title then given only to men of scholarship or high position. He was one of the first jury empaneled in New England, 1630, and when in 1636 he moved to Windsor, Connecticut, he was appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts one of the commission to govern the people of Connecticut, holding that position until Connecticut became an independent col- ony. He rose to high position, was Gov- ernor's Assistant, member of the Govern- or's Council, and deputy to the Connecti- cut General Court for fifty-six sessions. He lived for forty-two years in New Eng- land, thirty-six of them in Windsor, "a pillar in Church and State." He married his first wife, Elizabeth, in England, she and five children accompanying him to New England. He married (second) at Windsor, Mary Dover, born in England, who is said to have been a fellow pas- senger on the "Mary and John."
The line of descent from William Phelps. "the Puritan," is through his fifth child, Joseph Phelps and his first wife, Hannah Newton; their son, Lieutenant Joseph Phelps and his third wife, Mary Case. Lieutenant Joseph was deputy to the General Court of Connecticut from Simsbury thirty-six sessions, was justice of the peace, ensign, lieutenant, and cap- tain. The line continues through his son, Lieutenant David Phelps and his wife, Abigail Pettibone; their son, Captain David Phelps, an officer of the Revolution and brother of General Noah Phelps, a captain of the Revolution, major-general of militia, judge of probate, deputy twen- ty-two sessions, and father of Governor Elisha Phelps. Captain David Phelps married Abigail Griswold, of distin- guished ancestry, and had nine children, the line of descent being through Alex-
ander, their seventh child. Alexander Phelps married Elizabeth Eno, and had nine children, of whom Jaman Hart Phelps, father of John Case Phelps, was third.
Jaman Hart Phelps, born August 7, 1799, died in Wilkes-Barre, at the home of his son, John C., August 4, 1885. He moved to Dundaff, Pennsylvania, with his brothers, and there engaged in busi- ness as a tanner, continuing forty years. He then established in the real estate business in Scranton, then made his home with his son, John C., in Wilkes-Barre, until his death. He married, Jannary I, 1823, Abigail Hoskins, born in Simsbury, Connecticut, daughter of Asa and Abigail (Case) Hoskins, a descendant of John Hoskins, who came to New England in the ship "Mary Ann" in 1630. Through this intermarriage the Phelps family is connected with many of the oldest and most prominent Connecticut and Massa- chusetts families.
John Case Phelps, son of Jaman Hart and Abigail (Hoskins) Phelps, was born in Granby, Connecticut, April 20, 1825, died in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1892. He obtained a good practical English education, and when his parents moved to Dundaff accompanied them, being then two years old. Later he went to New York City, there engaging first as clerk, later as proprietor, continuing in successful business operation until 1862. Taking up his residence in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, at that date, he became a member of the banking house of Bennett, Phelps & Company. This firm failed dur- ing a season of severe financial depres- sion, but subsequently paid every dollar of indebtedness in full, with interest. Mr. Phelps won recognition as a man of unusual business capacity and personal integrity, and during his business life in Wilkes-Barre, covering a period of thirty years, had many important connections
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with the large corporations of the valley. He was vice-president of the Lackawanna & Bloomsburg Railroad Company, direc- tor of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, president and treasurer of the Wilkes-Barre Gas Company, vice-president of the Sheldon Axle Company, director of the Wyoming National Bank, director of the Ancora Coal Company, and had other business interests. As representative of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company he made very extensive pur- chases of anthracite coal lands, the securing of these lands the crowning suc- cess of his life, and a transaction which earned him the gratified appreciation of the railroad company. He was a member of the Wilkes-Barre Board of Trade, and as chairman of the committee on manu- factures was conspicuously identified with many movements that aided greatly in the industrial development of the city. He stood for all that was best in civic life, and as a man of force, character, and integrity wielded an influence for great good. He supported church and philan- thropy, serving as secretary for the Home for the Friendless, and giving greatly of his substance.
Mr. Phelps married, in Wilkes-Barre, September 20, 1854, Martha Wheeler Bennett, born August 2, 1833, who sur- vives him. Mrs. Phelps is a daughter of Judge Ziba Bennett and his first wife, Hannah Fell Slocum, and a descendant of James Bennett, of English birth, who was made a freeman of Concord, Massa- chusetts, May 13, 1639. On her mother's side she is a granddaughter of Hon. Joseph Slocum, born April 9, 1777, died September 27, 1855, and his wife, Sarah Fell. The ancestor of this branch of the Slocum family is Anthony Slocum, who was one of the "first and ancient pur- chasers" of Cohannet, 1637, which in 1639
was incorporated as (now) Taunton, Massachusetts.
Children of John Case and Martha Wheeler (Bennett) Phelps: I. Anna Bennett, married, March 31, 1903, Eus- tace Herbert Burrows, of London, son of Major-General Arthur Burrows, of the British army. 2. William George, presi- dent of the First National Bank of Bing- hamton, New York; vice-president of Security Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, of Binghamton, and director of many corporations ; married Caroline Ives Shoemaker. 3. Francis Alexander, head of Phelps. Lewis & Bennett, largely inter- ested in many corporations : married Mar- garetta Darling Brown. 4. Grace Lee, married, November 8, 1887, Henry Bar- stow Platt, son of Hon. Thomas Platt, of New York. 5. Ziba Bennett, married Elizabeth Drown; engaged with the Mutual Life Insurance Company at Binghamton, New York, and is very much interested in charitable organiza- tions.
PHELPS, Francis Alexander,
Prominent Business Man, Financier.
The position held by the Phelps family in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania has been ever an important one, the Pennsylvania branches worthily follow- ing in the footsteps of their long line of distinguished New England ancestors. From Pennsylvania sons of the family have gone out and have risen to eminence in different walks of life, while those who remained have carried high the banner of progress, contributing materially to the upbuilding of their communities. To the latter class belongs Francis Alex- ander Phelps, who, although not native to the city, began and ended his valuable business life in Wilkes-Barre. He was one of the men who by loyalty. devotion.
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and enterprise have given Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley of Pennsyl- vania so proud a name, and while a great monument marks an historical happening of the Revolution, nearby the monument to Mr. Phelps and the builders of Wilkes- Barre is in the city itself, its prosperity and its present importance.
Francis A. Phelps, second son and third child of John Case (q. v.) and Martha Wheeler (Bennett) Phelps, was born in New York City, May 4, 1859, and died at Laurel Run, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, July 6, 19IL. After attend- ance at Wilkes-Barre public schools and academy he prepared for college at East- hampton Preparatory School, then en- tered Wesleyan University at Middle- town, Connecticut, where he completed his years of preparation for the sterner business of life. His rise in the business world was rapid, and at the close of his too short life he had gained an honorable, lofty position in Wilkes-Barre's business activity. He chose the hardware busi- ness, and as head of Phelps, Straw & Company and of its successor, Phelps, Lewis & Bennett, conducted a large and prosperous business until his death. While this business was his chief interest, Mr. Phelps was intimately connected with other corporations, and acquired large holdings of real estate. From 1892 until his death he was a valued director of the Wyoming National Bank of Wilkes-Barre, director of the Hazard Manufacturing Company, director of the Parrish Coal Company, director of the Bayliss Pulp and Paper Company of Binghamton, New York, and Canada, also having other business connections of minor importance. In the management of these corporations he was not a lay figure, but was active in their direction, and was listened to with respect by his associates in board discussions. Amid
the many expressions of regret at his death the following, from the directors of the Wyoming National Bank, with whom he was so long and so harmoni- ously connected, places a just estimate upon his character and worth to the com- munity :
WHEREAS, The Directors of the Wyoming National Bank, having heard with great sorrow the announcement of the death of Francis Alex- ander Phelps, a member of the board since July 20, 1892, and secretary since January 11, 1905, and
WHEREAS, He will be sorely missed from the Board of Directors, as his great business experi- ence, conservatism, intelligence and noble char- acter made him an exceedingly valuable and useful member, and
WHEREAS, He was always faithful and regular in his attendance at meetings and gave strict attention to all business of the bank at all times, and
WHEREAS, He was a Christian gentleman, de- voted to works of charity, and of great benefit to the community; therefore be it
Resolved, That we express our estimate of his worth, the sense of loss we, his fellow directors, have sustained and to convey to his family the sincerity of our sympathy in their bereavement.
Mr. Phelps was a highly regarded member of the Hardware Men's Asso- ciation, and found social relaxation, exer- cise, and the enjoyments of warm per- sonal friendships in the Westmoreland Club of Wilkes-Barre, and the Lauren- tian Club of Canada. He loved the great out-of-doors, and frequently availed him- self of the privileges of the latter club. He was a Republican in politics, a com- municant of the Presbyterian church, and a life member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.
Mr. Phelps married, October 24, 1889, Margaretta Darling Drown, daughter of William Appleton and Elizabeth (Darl- ing) Drown. Children: William Drown, Alice Darling (wife of Dallas Way
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Haines), and Frances Alexander. Mrs. Phelp's mother, Elizabeth (Darling) Drown, was a daughter of Judge William Darling, born in bucksport, Maine, but from youthful manhood a resident of Reading, Pennsylvania, where he read law, was admitted to the bar, and even- tually became president judge of Berks County Court of Common Pleas. He was United States Commissioner to the World's Fair held in London in 1851, and while there delivered a series of addresses on the relations of Great Britain and the United States. He mar- ried Margaret Vaughn Smith, daughter of John Smith, of Berks county.
BUTLER, George Hollenback,
Lawyer, Humanitarian, Patriotic Citizen.
A man's friends may through prejudice over-estimate his talents, his personal graces and worth, but communities do not err in their expressed verdict of the value of a man's life. Known far and near as a wise lawyer, an openhanded humani- tarian, and patriotic citizen, George H. Butler was especially claimed by the Wyoming Valley section as its very own. The feeling held for him throughout the boroughs, cities, and rural communities, many of whom he served in a professional capacity, was best expressed through his home borough, Dorranceton, in a coun- cil and citizens' meeting held to express sorrow at their great municipal and per- sonal loss. It is usual for municipal and business bodies to pass resolutions of respect for a departed associate, but for a community in special meeting publicly to eulogize one whose only claim to such honor was that he had served them well as official, legal adviser, friend, and neighbor, was a touching tribute to the memory of a good man. The resolutions of respect adopted by the borough council
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