USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 7
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and citizens' meeting of Dorranceton tell their own story :
Whereas, our esteemed friend and fellow citi- zen, George H. Butler, has been removed from our midst by the hand of death, and
Whereas, the citizens and town council of the Borough of Dorranceton have met to pay tribute to his memory as one who served this municipality as its first burgess and for many years its valued and efficient legal counselor, and also as one who had the welfare of the entire West Side close to his heart;
Therefore, be it Resolved, That we extend to his bereaved family our sincere and heartfelt sympathy.
The official expression of the value of his life to the community was followed by addresses by prominent men of the bor- ough, who testified to Mr. Butler's worth as a good neighbor and a true friend, as a zealous and untiring worker, as a care- ful, diligent official, as a competent legal adviser, and who spoke of his charity and his interest in borough welfare as official and citizen. To this public expression the legal fraternity, through their associ- ations and other bodies with which Mr. Butler was connected, and a host of per- sonal friends, added both written and spoken eulogy of their long time friend and brother.
George H. Butler was a member of the distinguished family that has made his- tory glorious in the Wyoming Valley. He was a great-grandson of General Lord Butler, famous for his service in Indian warfare, and a great-grandson of Colonel Zebulon Butler, of Revolutionary fame. In every generation men of mark have borne the Butler name, but none more worthily than the twentieth century rep- resentative, George Hollenback Butler. The Butlers of Wyoming Valley herein recorded spring from Lieutenant William Butler, who died in Ipswich, Massachu- setts, August 2, 1730, after a residence there of nearly half a century. He was
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Georgesfollenback Butter
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the owner of considerable land, as was his son, John Butler, of Ipswich, Massa- chusetts, and Lyme, Connecticut, his resi- dence in Lyme dating from the year 1736. John Butler married Hannah Perkins, daughter of Abraham and Abigail (Dodge) Perkins, granddaughter of Isaac and Hannah (Knight) Perkins, great- granddaughter of John (2) Perkins, quar- termaster of Ipswich in 1675, and great- great-granddaughter of John (1) Perkins, who came to Massachusetts from Bristol, England. With the sons of John and Hannah (Perkins) Butler the history of the family in the Wyoming Valley be- gins. Three sons-Colonel Zebulon, John, and Samuel-were in the valley prior to the Revolution ; Samuel, a school teacher in Wilkes-Barre in 1774-75, returning later to Connecticut. The life of Colonel Zebulon Butler, the oldest son, says Charles Miner, "is the history of Wyom- ing. Almost every letter of its annals bears the impress of his name and is the record of his deeds." A tablet erected to his memory in Wilkes-Barre by the Wyoming Historical and Geological So- ciety thus summarizes his remarkable life :
IN MEMORY OF COLONEL ZEBULON BUTLER Born Ipswich, Mass., 1731 Died Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1795 Commanded The America forces at Wyoming, Pa. July 3, 1778. . Ensign, 3rd Regiment Conn. Troops, 1757-1758. Lieutenant 4th Rgt. 1759. Captain 1760-1762. Served in the Havana Campaign. Col. 24th Conn. Rgt., Wyoming, 1775. Lieut. Col. Continental Line, 1776-1778. Colonel Continental Line, 1778-1783. Retired June 3, 1783. Member Connecticut State Society of the Cincinnati, 1783. Member Connecticut Assembly 1774-1776. Justice 1774-1779. Judge 1778-1779.
County Lieutenant Luzerne County, 1787-1790. Erected by Some of His Descendants July 25, 1904.
Colonel Butler was thrice married, the line of descent to William H. Butler being through General Lord Butler, eldest child of the colonel's first wife, Anne Lord, to whom, he was married in Lyme, Connec- ticut, December 23, 1760. She was born April 4, 1736, at Lyme, died in Wilkes- Barre in the spring of 1773, daughter of John and Hannah (Rogers) Lord, and granddaughter of Lieutenant Richard and Elizabeth (Hyde) Lord.
Lord Butler, born in Lyme, Connecti- cut, December 11, 1761, was brought to Wilkes-Barre with the family in 1772, and there resided until his death, March 3, 1824. Again says Charles Miner: "In all his various offices, General Butler maintained the highest character for faithfulness and ability. No public ser- vant ever deserved better of the public. Decided in his political opinions, free in expressing them, his opponents said he was proud. If an unworthy pride was meant, the charge was unjust. He was a man of stern integrity, and lived and died highly respected and esteemed, while in his family and social circle he was justly and tenderly loved."
General Butler was the first sheriff of the county of Luzerne. He was brigadier- general of Pennsylvania militia ; member of the Supreme Executive Council ; pro- thonotary ; clerk of the Orphans' Court and Court of Quarter Sessions; Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds ; was the first postmaster of Wilkes-Barre, resign- ing in 1802 to take his seat in the State Legislature; was a member of the first town council of the borough of Wilkes- Barre, president of that body ; treasurer of Luzerne county, and county commis- sioner. He was one of the incorporators of Wilkes-Barre Academy, and a trustee,
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1807-1824. General Lord Butler married, May 30, 1786, Mary Peirce, third child of Abel and Ruth (Sheppard) Peirce, a de- scendant of Thomas Peirce, who came from England to Massachusetts in 1634. Major Ezekiel Peirce, grandfather of Mary Peirce, was one of the original members of the Susquehanna Company, and one of the original settlers in the Wyoming Valley in 1763. He was named as town clerk and recorder of deeds for the new town of Westmoreland, was an officer of the Twenty-fourth Connecticut Regiment, survived the battle and mas- sacre of Wyoming. July 3. 1778, and died at his home in Kingston in 1779 or 1780.
Abel Peirce, father of Mary (Peirce) Butler, was the eldest child of Major Ezekiel and Lois (Stevens) Peirce. He was a constable of Kingston township in 1772, served at Lexington with a party of minute-men from Plainfield, Connecticut, April 20, 1775. then returned to the Wyoming Valley and served with the Twenty-fourth Connecticut Regiment. He was justice of the peace in Kingston, and was otherwise prominent until his death, May 23, 1814. He married, in Connecticut, Ruth, daughter of Lieuten- ant Isaac and Dorothy (Prentis) Shep- pard, of Plainfield, Connecticut, her an- cestors among the earliest settlers of New London, Connecticut. General Lord Butler and Mary Peirce were the parents of ten sons and daughters, of whom the eldest son and second child was Peirce.
Of Peirce Butler a biographer has said : "He was possessed of an uncommon share of native good sense, and sound. dis- criminating judgment, and a happy benevolent disposition. Few men ever had fewer enemies, and none ever had warmer or more sincere friends." He was born in Wilkes-Barre, January 27, 1789, was a farmer of Kingston township, Luzerne county, died March 30, 1848. He
married, February 2, 1818, Temperance Colt, born December 27, 1790, died May IO, 1863, eldest child of Arnold and Lucinda (Yarrington) Colt, of Lyme, Connecticut, and Wyoming, Pennsyl- vania.
James Montgomery Butler, second son of Peirce and Temperance (Colt) Butler, was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, and there died, December 9, 1861. He mar- ried, March 18, 1852, Martha Lazarus, of German descent, born September 28, 1832, daughter of John and Polly (Drake)' Lazarus and granddaughter of George and Mary (Hartzell) Lazarus, of North- ampton county. John Lazarus moved to Hanover township, Luzerne county, in 1800, there became a large landowner, and died in 1844. Two of the five children of James Montgomery and Martha (Laza- rus) Butler died young. Three sons grew to manhood and prominence-Peirce, of Dorranceton; George H., of whom fur- ther ; and James Montgomery (2).
From such ancestry came George Hol- lenback Butler, born in Kingston town- ship, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 2, 1857, died in Dorranceton, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1914, third child and second son of James Montgomery and Martha (Lazarus) Butler. He ac- quired an education in private Wilkes- Barre schools kept by W. S. Parsons and W. R. Klingman, and after completing preparatory courses in these schools entered Wyoming Seminary, where he completed his classical course and was graduated. He then began the study of law under the preceptorship of Edward P. and J. Vaughn Darling, completing his studies, passing the required examina- tions, and gaining admission to the Luzerne county bar, which he adorned from the date of admission, June 6, 1881, until his death, a period of thirty-three years. He was in turn admitted to the higher courts, and conducted an exten-
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sive business in all, State and Federal. He was attorney for many municipalities, and under his professional guidance im- portant questions affecting municipalities were brought to decisive issue. He loved his profession, delighted in its intricate points, gave special study to municipal law, and was a recognized authority, sought in consultation when not engaged as counsel. He was a hard worker, and his high standing as a lawyer was gained not more through his learning than through his persistent industry. He read, studied, and searched for precedent and light, and never appeared in a cause with- out first mastering its every detail. He won and held the highest respect of the bench and bar, was helpful to the young lawyer, was modest and unassuming, and the friend of all.
He was deeply interested in many forms of charitable work, and as secre- tary and member of the Central Poor Board of the county gave much of his time to judiciously distributing relief to the poor of the valley. He was great- hearted and sympathetic, thoughtful of others, and willing at all times to sac- rifice his personal comfort to alleviate distress. He was actively connected with the United Charities, and in an unosten- tatious way aided in State-wide charity. He introduced a bill in the Pennsylvania Legislature having for its object the relief of deserted or neglected wives. His deep- est concern was ever manifested in the welfare of Dorranceton. He was con- nected with every movement for its progress and betterment, while the legal needs of the borough were in his charge as attorney from the date of incorporation until his death. That he was loved and appreciated, the foregoing resolutions attest. He was a member of the various legal associations of the district and State, and was a member of the Wyoming Com- memorative Association, which he served
as corresponding secretary. He gained admission to the Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the Revolution, through right of descent from Colonel Zebulon Butler, General Lord Butler, Major Ezekiel Peirce, and Abel Peirce, all Wyoming Valley soldiers of the Revolution.
In political faith Mr. Butler was a Re- publican, but his profession was his great passion, and to it he gave his life. He served as director and secretary of the Central Poor District of Luzerne county, not for publicity, but because he loved the work, and served Dorranceton in a pro- fessional capacity because he was genu- inely interested in his borough and de- sired to serve it in the manner in which he could be most useful. In church com- munion he was affiliated with the Epis- copal faith.
Mr. Butler married, May 8, 1890, Ger- trude Taylor Stoddart, daughter of Jo- seph Marshall and Eliza (Fahnestock) Stoddart, and a descendant of Lieutenant Isaac Ashton, of the Philadelphia Artil- lery, 1777, through whose patriotic service she became a member of Wyoming Val- ley Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and of George Mifflin, a member of Philadelphia Common Coun- cil. 1730, through whom she gained membership in the Colonial Dames of America. Mrs. Butler survives her hus- band, a resident of Dorranceton. Chil- dren: John Lord, Georgine Gilbert, and Gertrude Stoddart, the latter dying in infancy.
SCHOOLEY, Harry Barnum,
Financier, Corporation Official.
Harry Barnum Schooley, of Wilkes- Barre, who was born at Wyoming, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1869, is descended from John Schooley, who came from England to New Jersey about the year 1700. Some of the latter's
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immediate descendants early settled in Burlington and others in northern New Jersey, in what is now Sussex county, where the family name is perpetuated by Schooley's Mountain, not many years ago a well-known and popular summer resort.
Jedediah Schooley, a grandson of the above mentioned John Schooley, had a son, Joseph P. Schooley, who was born April 17, 1785, at Greenwich, Warren county, New Jersey. In 1809 he was married in Warren county to Margaret Barber, and in 1818 they removed from New Jersey to Wyoming Valley, Penn- sylvania, taking up their residence in the township of Exeter (near what is now the borough of Wyoming), upon a large farm which Mr. Schooley had purchased. Here they resided until their respective deaths, Mr. Schooley dying in 1875.
Joseph P. and Margaret (Barber) Schooley were the parents of the follow- ing-named children: 1. Jesse Barber. 2. Jedediah. 3. Mary Ann. 4. William. 5. Elizabeth. 6. Mehitable. 7. Joanna. 8. Joseph. 9. Margaret.
Jesse Barber Schooley was born April I, 18II, in Warren county, New Jersey, and removed thence to Wyoming Valley with the other members of his father's family. He was educated in the schools of that section, and there for a number of years, while still under age was em- ployed in various industrial capacities ; in his early twenties he was quite exten- sively engaged in transporting coal and general merchandise by canal-boat on the Morris & Essex canal. Mr. Schooley later became engaged in mercantile busi- ness at Wyoming, continuing in the same for many years, part of which time in partnership with Thomas F. Atherton, who a number of years later became the first president of the Second National Bank of Wilkes-Barre. During this period Mr. Schooley began to invest in valuable coal lands, one of the principal
tracts which he purchased and owned until his death being that upon which the Mount Lookout Colliery and its work- ings have been located for a considerable number of years. He also conducted a general store in Pittston, a few miles from his home, and was engaged in coal mining operations there and the manu- facture of brick. He was postmaster at Wyoming for some years about 1879, but the business of the office was largely managed by his son, Jesse B. Schooley. At the time of his death, which occurred at Wyoming, December 15, 1884, Mr. Schooley was a director of the Second National Bank of Wilkes-Barre.
Jesse Barber Schooley was married, at Wyoming, February 20, 1838, to Eliza J., daughter of John and Jerusha (John- ston) Brees. John Brees was the son of Captain Samuel Brees, and the grandson of John Brees of Somerset county, New Jersey. The last named was born in Hol- land about 1713; located in New Jersey in 1735; was married in 1736 to Dorothy Riggs (born in 1713, and died in 1803) ; served as a private in the Somerset county, New Jersey, militia, in the Revo- lutionary War; died in Somerset county. Captain Samuel Brees, son of the above named John and Dorothy Brees, was born in Somerset county, April 17, 1758; was a soldier in the Revolutionary War ; was married in 1780 to Hannah Pierson (born March 15, 1760, and died April 9, 1817). Samuel Brees, accompanied by his wife and their children, left Basking Ridge in Somerset county, for Wyoming Valley, June 3, 1789. Eight days later they ar- rived at Wilkes-Barre. The following month they removed to Kingston, and 1802 they located at New Troy, where Captain Brees had purchased a farm from Joseph Swetland. In 1815 and later years, Captain Brees was an inn-keeper at New Troy, where he died July 21, 1837, being survived by several children.
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The children of Jesse Barber and Eliza J. (Brees) Schooley were as follows: I. Fannie. 2. Margaret J. 3. Elizabeth S. 4. Joseph J. 5. Jennie E. 6. Kate M. 7. Jesse B. 8. James M.
Joseph J. Schooley was born at Wyo- ming, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1846. His education was ob- tained in the public schools and at Wyo- ming Seminary, Kingston, his course in the latter institution being in the Com- mercial Department, and completed by graduation. He began his business life as a clerk in a general store at Wyoming, and later was employed in a dry goods store at Wilkes-Barre. Then for a time he assisted his father in his farming oper- ations. In 1873 he became mileage clerk in the office of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at Wilkes-Barre, which position he resigned in 1876. Since then he has been engaged in several lines of business activity-chiefly commercial, insurance and investment securities. He has resided for a number of years in Wilkes-Barre, where he is a member of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church, the Wyomr ing Historical and Geological Society, and the Westmoreland Club.
Joseph J. Schooley was married, No- vember 29, 1866, to Evelyn M. Jenkins (born at Pittston, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1849, died at Wilkes-Barre, April 28, 1913), fourth child of Jabez Hyde and Mary (Larned) Jenkins.
Jabez Hyde Jenkins was a great-grand- son of John Jenkins (born at East Green- wich, Rhode Island, February 6, 1728), who in 1750 settled in Colchester, New London county, Connecticut, and later became a school teacher there. In Octo- ber, 1753, he became a member of the Susquehanna Company of Connecticut, under whose auspices some years later Wyoming Valley was settled, chiefly by emigrants from Connecticut. About the years 1762 John Jenkins began to take
an active part in the affairs of the Susque- hanna Company, and as a result became one of the company of settlers who in 1762 and 1763 attempted to establish themselves on the banks of Mill creek, just north of the present city of Wilkes- Barre; and he was there undoubtedly at the time of the massacre of October 15, 1763, when the settlement was broken up, and those who escaped the fury of the savages fled to their former homes. In February, 1769, John Jenkins was one of the "First Forty" settlers who retook possession of the Wyoming lands in be- half of the Susquehanna Company, and to whom the company awarded as "a gra- tuity," what is now the township of Kingston.
John Jenkins was also one of the pro- prietors of Exeter township (laid out by the Susquehanna Company in November, 1772), and there he settled with his fam- ily, within the present limits of the bor- ough of West Pittston. From that period until about the time of his death, John Jenkins filled a leading position in the public affairs of the Wyoming settle- ments, and his name appears many times on the pages of Wyoming's history. He was one of the two representatives from the town of Westmoreland (into which the Wyoming region had been erected by Connecticut in 1774) to the General Assembly of Connecticut held in May, 1776, and in May and October, 1777. From June, 1777, till June, 1778, he held, by appointment of the General Assembly of Connecticut, the office of chief judge of the Westmoreland courts. During the autumn of 1778 and again in the spring of 1783 he acted as clerk of the Probate Court of Westmoreland. When in May, 1784, several hundred Connecticut settlers were expelled from Wyoming by the Pennsylvanians, Judge Jenkins and his family were among those who were thus outraged, and they fled to Goshen,
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Orange county, New York. Near there, in the following November, Judge Jen- kins died.
Judge John Jenkins was married, Au- gust 1, 1750, to Lydia (born March 20, 1727), daughter of Stephen and Frances (Congdon) Gardner, of Colchester, New London county, Connecticut. Stephen Gardner was an early and active member of the Susquehanna Company. Mrs. Lydia (Gardner) Jenkins died in Exeter township, Wyoming Valley, October 22, 1804.
Judge John and Lydia (Gardner) Jen- kins were the parents of six sons and one daughter, all of whom were born in New London county, Connecticut. The eldest of these children was John Jenkins, Jr., born November 27, 1751. He came to Wyoming Valley first in the spring of 1772, and beginning with the year 1776 was closely identified with the public life of Wyoming for many years. In October, 1775, he was appointed by the General Assembly of Connecticut, ensign of the Seventh (or Exeter) Company of the Twenty-fourth (or Westmoreland) Regi- ment, Connecticut Militia. In May, 1777, he was appointed surveyor of lands in and for Westmoreland. In November, 1777, while in command of a scouting party of militiamen which had been sent up the river from Wilkes-Barre, Ensign Jenkins was captured near Wyalusing by a band of Indians and Tories, and carried off to Fort Niagara. After enduring many trials and privations as a prisoner, Mr. Jenkins escaped from his captors and returned to his home in Exeter, June 2, 1778.
During the battle of Wyoming, on July 3, 1778, Forty Fort was garrisoned by a small detail of militia commanded by Ensign Jenkins, who, after the surrender of the fort on July 4, left the valley and joined at what is now Stroudsburg, Penn- sylvania, the company of Continental sol-
diers commanded by Captain Simon Spalding. Mr. Jenkins was given the pro- visional appointment of lieutenant, and served as such prior to and after the arrival of the command at Wilkes-Barre in the following month. In September, 1778, Lieutenant Jenkins took part in Colonel Hartley's military expedition to Tioga Point against the Six Nation Indians, and early the next spring he was commissioned lieutenant by Congress, and regularly attached to Captain Spald- ing's company. He took part with much credit in the Sullivan expedition against the Six Nation Indians in the summer of 1779, after which, until February, 1781, he remained at Wilkes-Barre with his company, forming part of the garrison of Fort Wyoming under the command of Colonel Zebulon Butler. During this period (to wit, in May, 1780), Lieutenant Jenkins was appointed and commissioned one of the justices of the peace in and for Westmoreland.
Early in March, 1781, Captain Spalding and his company, including Lieutenant Jenkins, joined the main army under General Washington at and near New Windsor, New York. In the following October they were present at the sur- render of Lord Cornwallis and his army in Virginia. Returning to New York, Lieu- tenant Jenkins spent the ensuing winter with his company in camp on the banks of the Hudson. He resigned from the service March 1, 1782, and returned to Wyoming Valley. In November, 1785. after the jurisdiction of Connecticut over the Wyoming region had ceased, and be- fore the county of Luzerne had been erected by the Pennsylvania Legislature, the Susquehanna Company's Wyoming settlers organized among themselves a militia regiment, and elected John Frank- lin colonel and John Jenkins, Jr., major. In the spring of 1788, Luzerne county having been duly erected and organized,
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Major Jenkins was elected lieutenant- colonel of the "Second Battalion of Luzerne County Militia." In 1797 he served, by election, as one of the com- missioners of Luzerne county, and in 1803 was elected as one of the two representa- tives from Luzerne county to the Penn- sylvania Legislature.
Colonel John Jenkins, Jr., was married at Exeter, June 23, 1778, to Bethiah (born in Salem, Connecticut, September 14, 1752), eighth child of Jonathan and Rachel (Otis) Harris, Jonathan Harris being the son of Lieutenant James Harris, of New London, Connecticut, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, April 4, 1673.
Some years subsequent to the Revolu- tionary War, Colonel Jenkins became the owner of a large tract of land in Exeter township which had formerly been in the possession of the Tory family of Winter- mute, and upon which Wintermute Fort stood at the time of the battle of Wyo- ming. Upon the site of this fort Colonel Jenkins built a frame dwelling-house, which he occupied with his family until his death, which occurred March 19, 1827. His widow died there August 12, 1842.
Colonel John and Bethiah (Harris) Jenkins were the parents of three daugh- ters and five sons, the third of whom was Harris Jenkins, born July 22, 1784, and died at Pittston, Pennsylvania, August II, 1850. During his long life he was a farmer, school teacher, clerk and mer- chant, being held in high esteem by his friends and neighbors, and exercising much influence in his community. In 1820 and 1821 and other years about that period, he was an inn-keeper in Kingston township. From December, 1845, to December, 1848, he was register of wills and recorder of deeds for Luzerne county, and for a number of years at that period was a justice of the peace. Prior to 1821 he was commissioned a colonel in the
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