USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 9
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He was kind and considerate, very gen- erous, charitable organizations having in him a liberal friend, and when his will was read it was found that Wilkes-Barre City Hospital, Mercy Hospital, United Charities, Nanticoke Hospital, Wilkes- Barre Home for Friendless Children, the Florence Crittenden Shelter and Day Nursery, and the Ladies' Aid Society of
St. Nicholas Church, all of Wilkes-Barre, had been generously remembered, as had the Home of the Good Shepherd, St. Pat- rick's Orphanage, and St. Patrick's Foundling Home, of Scranton. During his life he served as a director of the City Hospital, knew its needs, and did his full share there as elsewhere in relieving suffering. He was a member of St. Nicholas Church (Roman Catholic) and was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, who after a solemn high mass of requiem in the church conducted final services at the Stegmaier mausoleum in Hollenback Cemetery. He was also a member of the Franklin Club and the Concordia Singing Society.
The following resolutions were adopted by the directors of the First National Bank and faithfully reflect the high regard in which Mr. Stegmaier was held by his associates.
Whereas, our friend and associate, Fred J Stegmaier, has been removed from our circle, and
Whereas, the directors of the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, desire to record the appreciation and esteem in which Mr. Stegmaier was held; now, therefore,
Be it Resolved, by the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre, Penn- sylvania, that it is with sorrow that they have learned of the death of Fred. J. Stegmaier, who for many years, following in the footsteps of his father, Mr. Charles Stegmaier, and his brother, Mr. George J. Stegmaier, served this bank as a valued director; and further that it is with a feeling of distinct loss and grief that we now pay this tribute to his memory.
Mr. Stegmaier was a safe counsellor, a loyal official, an zealous in promoting the interests of this institution. A man of the highest integrity, generous impulses, considerate of his neighbors, just in his business relations, and sincere in his friendships.
Be it further Resolved, That the deep sym- pathy of the directors and officers of this bank be hereby extended to the bereaved family and that a copy of these resolutions be engrossed
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and presented to the family as a more permanent memento of our enduring affection and regard. WILLIAM S. MCLEAN, President.
Frederick J. Stegmaier married, Janu- ary 14, 1890, Millie, daughter of Peter and Sophia (Schmidt) Schappert, of Wilkes- Barre, who survives him. Children : Frederick J. (2), Charles E., and Amelia, wife of Cloyd Pool, of New York City.
GOFF, Warren Fox,
Progressive Business Man.
Eighty years was the span of life al- lotted to Warren Fox Goff, and of these years forty-six were spent in Wilkes- Barre, to which city he came in 1869, floating down the river from Tunkhan- nock on a canal boat with his young wife and household goods, no railroad having then been built to Wilkes-Barre. His first home was on Hanover street, and for nearly half a century that early site was his residence. Business success and public honors came to him, and in return he gave to his adopted city rich service as a business man and citizen. He was one of the oldest lumber dealers in the city, one of its best known men, and had a wide acquaintance in every part of Lu- zerne county. For thirty years he was a partner of the lumber firm of Sturtevant & Goff, and for eleven years was associ- ated with his capable son, William S. Goff, in the Goff Lumber Company. To this son, whom he reared in the strong light of worthy example, he leaves the proud heritage of an unsullied name and the record of a useful life that the son worthily emulates. Long life was vouch- safed Mr. Goff and his bride of 1864, and for fifty-one years they traveled life's paths most happily, celebrating the golden anniversary of their wedding day in 1914. Then the strong arm on which she had leaned for half a century failed,
and the pure soul floated away on the dark river where she could not follow. But in the old home on Hanover street to which she came nearly half a century ago, she continues her residence, happy in the love of her son and of many friends.
The Goffs came to Pennsylvania from Connecticut, settling first in Bradford county, where Goffs and Deckers were pioneers and prominent in the early set- tlement of the county. William Goff, founder of the family in Pennsylvania, was born in Connecticut and became a pioneer settler of Bradford county, Penn- sylvania, owning a large tract of land in that county which he cleared and im- proved. He died when about ninety- eight years of age, his wife at the age of ninety-four. Thus length of years spent in honorable activity is a heritage of the Goff name.
William (2), son of William Goff, the pioneer, was born in Bradford, and there lived most of his years, eighty-two. He was a farmer and landowner all of his active life, but a few years prior to his death moved to Canal Dover, Ohio. He married Anna Decker, whose father was one of the first surveyors in Bradford county, which was laid out according to his surveys. Anna (Decker) Goff died aged seventy-three years, the mother of nine children.
Warren Fox Goff, son of William (2) and Anna (Decker) Goff, was born at Durell, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1835, died in Wilkes-Barre, full of years and honors, April 6, 1915. He obtained a good common school edu- cation and passed the first twenty-six years of his life at the homestead. As he grew to years of helpfulness he became his father's assistant on the farm, and until 1861 remained with his parents. His ambition was for a business career, and when the way opened in 1863 he
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went to New York City and took sub- contracts for the construction of sewers in that city and in Brooklyn. The country boy knew his business, and for three years he successfully competed with men older and with city experience. He then returned to Pennsylvania, locating at Mahoopany, Wyoming county, where he continued in the contracting business, one of his operations being the construc- tion of three miles of the roadbed of the Lehigh Valley railroad near Tunkhan- nock. In 1864 he married, and until 1869 resided in upper Pennsylvania, engaging in lumbering, merchandising, and milling operations, meeting with unvarying suc- cess. In 1869 he packed his household goods on a canal boat and made the trip to Wilkes-Barre on the Susquehar.na. Business opportunities meeting with his now matured judgment, he permanently located in Wilkes-Barre, where he opened a lumber yard on the site of the present Lehigh Valley passenger depot. He con- tinued in business alone for three years, then formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Colonel S. H. Sturtevant, and established a lumber yard on Hazel street, where for thirty years the firm of -Sturtevant & Goff continued a prosper- ous business. This firm was only dis- solved by the death of the senior partner. In the year 1900 the firm of Morgan & Goff, lumber dealers, was organized, the firm consisting of Charles Morgan, Ben- jamin Morgan, and William S. Goff. In 1904 the Morgan interests were purchased, and the firm reorganized as the Goff Lumber Company, with yards on South Pennsylvania avenue. Mr. Goff and his son were the sole owners, and for eleven years continued in business together. When the close fellowship that had ever existed between them was severed by the hand of death, the son, William S. Goff, continued the business, which has always
been a large and prosperous one. Besides his large lumber interests, which included a planing mill, Mr. Goff had other busi- ness connections outside of Wilkes-Barre. He was one of the oldest lumber dealers in the city, and retained active interest in the Goff Lumber Company until his death, although the heavier burdens of management were borne by his son. He was a thorough master of the business, and for a half a century followed it with diligence and industry. He was thoroughly upright in all his dealings, his name being everywhere spoken with deepest respect.
On coming to Wilkes-Barre, he and his wife became members of Central Metho- dist Episcopal church, being among the very oldest members of that congrega- tion. Mr. Goff served a long time as trustee, and when the present beautiful church was erected he was a member of the building committee in charge of the work. He shaped his life according to the teachings of the Divine Master, and was a true disciple of the great Wesley, the father of Methodism.
In public affairs he bore his full share of civic responsibility. He represented the Fifteenth Ward in Common Council for six years, that body being composed of but fifteen members when he first took his seat. He served on committees on fire and streets, and was chairman of the public property committee having in charge the erection of the City Hall, his name heading the list of the committee preserved on the memorial tablet in the main corridor. He was true to his own high ideals of citizenship, and gave to every public trust committed to him the same strict and careful supervision that he bestowed upon his private affairs. So in usefulness his long life was spent, shirking no duty, asking no personal advancement, but always on the firing
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line, ready to lend a hand anywhere for the public good.
On January 6, 1864. Mr. Goff married Harriet Morely Sturtevant, who survives him with an only son, William Sturte- vant Goff, one of Wilkes-Barre's repre- sentative business men and loyal citizens. She is a daughter of Liveris D. and Ada (Morely) Sturtevant, of Braintrim, Wyo- ming county, her father one of the lead- ing men of that section until his death. In 1914 the aged couple celebrated their golden wedding, surrounded by a host of friends who spared no effort in their de- sire to honor the occasion or to bear testi- mony to the love they bore their hosts.
William S. Goff, only son of Warren Fox and Harriet Morely (Sturtevant) Goff, was born April 9, 1866, and since his third year has been a resident of Wilkes-Barre. He was educated in the public schools, Harry Hillman Academy, and Wyoming Seminary, entering busi- ness life as clerk for the lumber firm of Sturtevant and Goff, his father's firm. He mastered every detail of office and yard, continuing with his father until en- tering the employ of Alfred Lewis, the large lumberman of Bear Creek. In the year 1900 he became a member of the lumber firm of Morgan & Goff, and when four years later his father bought the Morgan interests, formed with the latter the Goff Lumber Company, of which he is the present head. He inherits the sterl- ing qualities of his sire, and is one of Wilkes-Barre's progressive and promi- nent business men. He is a director of the Hanover Bank of Wilkes Barre, presi- dent of the Pennsylvania Lumbermen's Association (1915), president of the Franklin Club, and a trustee of Central Methodist Episcopal Church.
William S. Goff married, October 15, 1895, Mary E. Morgan, who died March 14, 1907, daughter of Charles E. and Ellen
Morgan. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Goff, Warren Morgan, Eleanor, and Mary. Mr. Goff married (second) October 20, 1909, Maude, daugh- ter of Richard A. Whiteman, and has a son, Richard.
DOUGHERTY, General Charles B., Distinguished National Guard Officer.
Major-General Charles Bowman Dough- erty was born in Wilkes-Barre, Septem- ber 3, 1860. His paternal grandfather was born in County Donegal, Ireland, having been expatriated from Ireland by reason of his activities in the "Young fre- land Movement" in the early part of the nineteenth century. He emigrated to this country and located in Albany, New York, where the father of General Dough- erty was born. The grandfather and his son, Charles Dougherty, came to the Wyoming Valley early in the life of the latter, and settled at Nanticoke.
On his maternal side, General Dough- erty is a descendant of John Blackman, who was born in England and came to America prior to 1640. John Blackinan took up land at Dorchester, Massachu- setts, now a part of Boston. His third son, Joseph Blackman, married at Dor- chester, November 12, 1685, Elizabeth Church, daughter of Joseph Church, of Little Compton, a brother of the redoubt- able fighter and lively chronicler, Captain Benjamin Church, who on August 12, 1676, with his gallant band pursued King Philip, the son of Massasoit, and ended the life of that crafty barbarian, as well as King Philip's war. * Joseph and Ben- jamin were sons of Richard Church, a soldier in the Pequot war, which ended in the extermination of the Pequot In- dians and their raids on the settlers. The wife of Richard Church was Elizabeth Warren, daughter of Richard Warren,
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one of the passengers on the "May- flower," which landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Richard Warren was one of the forty-one signers to the compact drawn up on the "Mayflower" before landing, and said to be the first constitutional covenant ever written by man for the government of a people.
Elisha Blackman, one of the nine chil- dren of Joseph Blackman, whose wife was Elizabeth Church, was the father of Elisha Blackman, Jr., who emigrated to the Wyoming Valley in 1772. He was a lieutenant in the company commanded by Captain William Hooker Smith, of the Twenty-fourth Connecticut Line, sta- tioned at Fort Wilkes-Barre, in the public square, at the time of the Wyoming Mas- sacre. His son, Elisha Blackman, was in the battle of Wyoming, escaped the mas- sacre and swam the river and fled to Wilkes-Barre, where he joined his father, the only man left in the fort at Wilkes- Barre, the others having gone with the women and children to the mountains to show them the way towards Stroudsburg and Connecticut. In the afternoon of the same day, father and son followed. In August young Elisha returned to Wyo- ming with Captain Spalding's company, and in October helped to bury the dead at Wyoming. A younger brother, Eleazer Blackman, was thirteen years old at the time of the invasion of the valley in 1778 by the British and Indians under John Butler, and assisted in building the fort at Wilkes-Barre by hauling the logs. Eleazer Blackman afterwards became prominent in the militia. In September 1800, he was elected and commissioned captain of the "First Troop of Horse," Second Brigade, Eighth Division, Penn- sylvania Militia. This position he held for a number of years, and in 1812 he attained the rank of major in the militia. From 1801 to 1803 he was one of the
commissioners of Luzerne county; and from 1808 to 1810 treasurer of the county. He lived in Wilkes-Barre township, on a tract of land where the Franklin mine is now located, upon which he opened a mine known as "Blackman mines"-now known as Franklin mines. He died Sep- tember 10, 1843, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He was very promi- nently identified with Masonry, and was worshipful master of Lodge No. 61 from 1804 to 1809. His daughter, Melinda Blackman, married Daniel Collings on October 7, 1813. Daniel Collings was born of English parentage at Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1793. He learned the trade of clockmaker, and early removed to Wilkes-Barre, where he carried on his trade and engaged in other business pur- suits for many years. An old clock now preserved in the rooms of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society is a specimen of his handiwork, and for many years did service as "town clock" of Wilkes-Barre in the window of Mr. Col- ings' jewelry shop on North side of Public Square. Mr. Collings was postmaster, at Wilkes-Barre, for a number of years.
Samuel P. Collings, Esq., second child of Daniel and Melinda (Blackman) Collings, was born in Wilkes-Barre, in May, 1816, and from 1835 to 1852 was editor and proprietor of "The Republican Farmer," newspaper of Wilkes-Barre. For purity of language, boldness of style. and cogency of reasoning, few men could excel him. Samuel P. Collings was a cadet at West Point, but resigned owing to ill health. In the fall of 1854 he was appointed United States Consul General at Tangier, Morocco, for which place he immediately sailed with his wife, two of his children, and his wife's youngest sister, Miss Eleanor Beaumont. He died at Tangier, June 15, 1855, of fever and congestion of the lungs, after an illness
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of three days. The State Department at Washington received from the Emperor of Morocco an autograph eulogy on the character of the late consul, showing the high esteem in which he had been held by the Emperor.
Eleazer B. Collings, fourth child of Daniel and Melinda (Blackman) Collings, was born at Wilkes-Barre in 1820. When the "Wyoming Artillerists" were organ- ized, in 1842, he was made second ser- geant of the company, and subsequently he became first lieutenant and captain. In 1846, upon the outbreak of the war with Mexico, the "Wyoming Artillerists" en- listed in the United States service as Company I of the First Regiment, Penn- sylvania Volunteers. Francis L. Bow- man, heretofore referred to, was commis- sioned major of the regiment. Edmund L. Dana was the captain of the company, and Eleazer B. Collings first lieutenant. After the surrender of Vera Cruz, in 1847, Lieutenant Collings being in ill health, was mustered out of the service at Vera Cruz, Mexico, 9th day of April, 1847. He was postmaster in Wilkes-Barre from 1845 to 1849, and from 1858 to 1861, and was clerk of the courts of Luzerne county, 1861 to 1867. He was postmaster at Wilkes-Barre two separate terms.
George Collings, seventh child of Daniel and Melinda (Blackman) Collings, was born at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1828. He enlisted in Company I, First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served as a corporal in the same company in which his brother, Eleazer, was lieu- tenant in the war with Mexico, and was mustered out with the company at Wilkes- Barre upon its return from Mexico. In the Civil War he entered the service October 10, 1862, as second lieutenant, Company G, One Hundred Forty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer In- fantry, and was promoted to first lieu-
PA-Vol VII-5
tenant, November 1, 1863. He was com- missioned a captain in the same company, November 20, 1863, but was not mustered in as a captain. He was discharged Sep- tember 7, 1864, as first lieutenant.
Joseph Wright Collings, the eleventh child of Daniel and Melinda (Blackman) Collings, was born in 1838, and he en- listed as a musician in Company C, Eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, April 22, 1861, and was discharged on the muster-out of the regiment. He after- ward served in another Pennsylvania volunteer regiment and was a tele- grapher for General Ulysses S. Grant during the time he was in command of the Army of the Potomac. He died in 1878 of yellow fever at New Orleans, Louisiana.
Charles Dougherty, the father of Gen- eral Dougherty, was born at Albany, New York, in 1835. He married Julia Beau- mont Collings, daughter of Daniel and Melinda (Blackman) Collings, May 30, 1858. He was consul at Londonderry, Ireland, 1866-1867. He died at Wilkes- Barre, March 14, 1893.
James Dougherty, a younger brother of Charles Dougherty, and uncle of Charles Bowman Dougherty, served as a private in Company D, Eighth Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteers, during the Civil War, enlisting April 22, 1861, and served until the muster-out of his regiment, July 29, 1861. He again enlisted in Company F, Two Hundred and Third Regiment In- fantry, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Septem- ber 1, 1861, and served until the muster- out of the regiment at Raleigh, North Carolina, in June, 1865.
Charles Bowman Dougherty enlisted as private in Company B, Ninth Regiment Infantry, National Guard of Pennsylva- nia, August 1, 1881. He was detailed as regimental clerk, August 12, 1881; ap- pointed principal musician, July 27, 1882 ;
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sergeant-major, May 9, 1883, reappointed November 7, 1884, and June 20, 1885; commissioned first lieutenant and in- spector of rifle practice, April 28, 1887, and reappointed June 23, 1890. He was elected major of the regiment, November 3, 1892; lieutenant-colonel, June 22, 1894, and colonel, July 14, 1897, and was re- elected, July 14, 1902.
At the outbreak of the war with Spain, Colonel Dougherty received from General J. P. S. Gobin, commanding the Third Brigade, telegraphic orders April 26, 1898, to assemble the Ninth Regiment and proceed to Mt. Gretna. At nine o'clock, p. m., two days later, the regiment left its armory, and arrived at the rendezvous next morning at six o'clock. On May 4th it was paraded to admit of its members declaring their intention as to volunteer- ing for active service under the general government, and eight companies, num- bering thirty-four officers and four hun- dred and seventeen men, volunteered for war service.
May 12th, Colonel Dougherty reported to the adjutant-general of the army that his regiment had been properly mustered into the service of the United States, and the next day he received telegraphic orders to proceed to Chickamauga, Georgia, where upon its arrival, May 20th, Colonel Dougherty was assigned to the command of the Third Brigade, Third Division, First Army Corps, which com- mand he held until July 4, 1898, being re- lieved by the assignment of Brigadier- General John N. Andrews, who had lately commanded the Twelfth United States Infantry. General Andrews served dur- ing the War of the Rebellion with dis- tinction in the regular army. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers by President Mckinley, and succeeded Charles Bowman Dougherty as com- mander of the Third Brigade, Third
Division, First Army Corps, in 1898. Colonel Dougherty resumed command of the brigade on August 25th, retaining it until his regiment was mustered out.
Under the second call of the President (McKinley) for troops, the Ninth Regi- ment recruited through its own officers an additional battalion, bringing its total strength up to one thousand three hun- dred and twenty-three officers and men.
August 25th the regiment marched to Rossville, near Chattanooga. The regi- ment was now reduced to thirty-two officers and nine hundred and eighty- four men present, on account of the prevalence of typhoid fever. August 26th the command took train for Camp Hamil- ton, five miles from Lexington, Kentucky, arriving there August 27, 1898. The war was now practically over, and prepara- tions were made for the muster-out of the regiment under orders from the War De- partment. September 17th it took train for home, its strength being thirty-five officers and eight hundred and sixty-five men, ten officers and three hundred and ninety-six men being absent, sick or on furlough. The mortality of the regiment from the 2nd of July until the 22nd of October, 1898, was twenty-nine deaths, twenty-six of which were from typhoid fever, one from typhoid and pneumonia, one from pneumonia, and one from ap- pendicitis. Of these twenty-nine deaths, three were captains, viz: Captain Darius L. Miers, Company F; Captain Dennison Stearns, Company B, and Captain Oliver Hillard Bell, Company D. The sufferings of the regiment, by reason of the pre- valence of typhoid fever, was severe in- deed. These men gave up their lives for their country as surely as they who fell at San Juan, El Caney and Santiago. Death came not upon the battle-field, it is true, but in line of duty in the service of their country in a war for humanity,
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they fell with an honor which comes to men who serve their country well.
September 19th the regiment arrived in Wilkes-Barre, and was warmly greeted by the citizens. Leave of absence of thirty days was given the officers, and the men were furloughed for the same period. During this time the regiment (on Sep- tember 27th) participated in the Peace Jubilee in Philadelphia. It was finally mustered out of the service of the United States on October 29, 1898, after a term of service of about six months.
The regiment was reorganized and re- entered the service of the National Guard of Pennsylvania early in January, 1899. Colonel Dougherty was unanimously re- elected colonel of the regiment at expira- tion of his commission, July 14, 1902. He was promoted brigadier-general by Governor Pennypacker, April 9, 1906, to succeed General Gobin, who was pro- moted major-general, and on September 30, 1910, was promoted major-general by Governor Edwin S. Stewart, and assigned to the command of the division of the Na- tional Guard of Pennsylvania, succeeding Major-General Wendell P. Bowman, re- tired.
C. B. Dougherty has taken a very great interest in the progressive work of the National Guard, and has followed the new school, as modeled by the War Col- lege, at Washington, D. C. He is a mem- ber of the Westmoreland Club and Wyo- ming Valley Country Club, of Wilkes- Barre, and the Scranton Club, of Scran- ton, Pennsylvania. He is a Democrat in politics. General Dougherty is a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution by virtue of descent from Elisha Blackman, who was lieu- tenant of the Twenty-fourth Regiment, Connecticut Militia, member of the Mili- tary Order of Foreign Wars, and the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish-
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