USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. X > Part 12
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a brilliant professional career and attain- ing eminence as a citizen, his useful life ending March 29, 1816. Dr. Harry B. Casselberry was one of the most versa- tile of men, and had he not elected the medical profession as his life work, would have attained high literary honors. Even amid the cares of an exacting profession many able articles on medical and other subjects emanated from his pen, and for years his musical and dramatic critiques, written over the signature "The Man with the Opera Glass," were leading fea- tures of the "Philadelphia Press" and "Hazleton Sentinel," he being the dram- atic critic for both journals. He was also staff correspondent for a number of musi- cal publications, and was a most enter- taining as well as a fair-minded critic. He could also have gone far in political life had he so desired, but he forbade the use of his name for State Senator, he being a politician without any desire for public office. He was a lineal descendant of Captain Israel Brundage, through his mother, Amanda (Brundage) Cassel- berry, daughter of Moses S. and Jane (Brodhead) Brundage, and a grand- daughter of Captain Israel Brundage, who came from England prior to the Revolution, settled in New Jersey, and gained a captain's commission in the Continental Army. The Casselberrys are an old Pennsylvania family, Richard Cas- selberry, father of Dr. Jesse R. Cassel- berry, being a native son of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, his wife, Elizabeth (Mil- ler) Casselberry, living to the great age of ninety-four years.
Dr. Jesse Roberts Casselberry, born at Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died at Hazle- ton, Pennsylvania, in October, 1892. After receiving his degree from Jefferson Medical College in 1856, he located in the village of Conyngham, there practicing until 1875. In that year he moved to Hazleton, and there practiced until his
death, specializing in surgery. He was one of the founders, and a director of the Hazleton Gas Company, a trustee of the Presbyterian church, a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He mar- ried, February 21, 1862, Amanda Brun- dage, born in Conyngham, died in Hazle- ton, December 4, 1875, daughter of Moses S. and Jane (Brodhead) Brundage.
Dr. Harry Brundage Casselberry was born in Conyngham, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1863, died en route from Palm Beach, Florida, to his home in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, March 29, 1916. He attended the vil- lage public school until 1875, when his parents moved to Hazleton, where he continued high school study until 1880. He then spent a year at Williston Semin- ary at Easthampton, Massachusetts, there preparing for Lafayette College, which institution he entered in 1881, pur- suing the scientific course. After gradu- ation he began the study of medicine, reg- istering in his father office. Later he was a student at Jefferson Medical College, his father's alma mater, and on April 2, 1886, he was graduated M. D. from that institution. He had devoted special atten- tion to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and after leaving college he con- tinued his studies in these diseases in the Philadelphia Hospital. In the spring of 1887, he went abroad to avail himself of the advantage foreign institutions offered, and in Berlin studied under Professors Schweiger and Hirschberg of the Fred- reichs Wilhelm University, eminent spe- cialists connected with the University. Afterward he spent several months in similar study in London, at St. Mary's College Hospital, under Professors Juler and Critchilt, then returned to Hazleton and practiced most successfully as a spe- cialist until his death.
Although eminent in his profession and
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V.B. Sheeder
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head of a large practice, Dr. Casselberry had important business interests, serving as a director of the Hazleton National Bank, Hazleton Gas Company, Hazleton Regalia Company and the Midland Street Railway Company. He was an ardent Republican, serving as a member of the county central committee, and sitting in many city, district and State conventions. When Hazleton became a city in 1892, he was nominated by the Republicans, and endorsed by the Democrats of the Eigth Ward for Select Council. That body was organized April 4, 1892, and Dr. Casselberry, the youngest member, was chosen president, an office to which he was annually elected as long as he re- mained a member of Select Council, eight years. This was the only office he would ever accept, but any post within the gift of the city could have been his.
While a student abroad, he saw a great deal of Europe, and in after life continued that acquaintance, travel being one of his passions. His last trip abroad carried him to Egypt, in order to pursue scien- tific studies in geology. This was in 1900, but he was forced to return to the United States before his researches were completed. At various times he visited nearly every quarter of the World, his store of knowledge being greatly added to by his journeyings. Many of his writ- ings were upon travel subjects, and all his literary work bore the mark of that culture and polish travel alone can give. His literary talent was undoubted and he occupied an assured position among men of letters. Musical and dramatic criti- cism was his specialty, and the both praised and condemned artists and their work with rare discrimination and fairness. His patriotic ancestry gained him admis- sion to the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, and on his own merits he became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Patriotic Order Sons of
America, and the Junior Order of Amer- ican Mechanics. While at Williston Sem- inary, he with six other students founded the fraternity, "Iota Zeta," now a popu- lar preparatory school order. In 1886, the first annual reunion of the order was held in New York City, Dr. Casselberry being elected Grand President of the Alumni lodges. His college fraternity was Theta Delta Chi. He was a mem- ber of the Luzerne County and Pennsyl- vania State Medical societies.
Dr. Casselberry married, June 29, 1898, Marie Leigh Johns, daughter of George and Ann (Evans) Johns, of Hazleton, her father a prominent coal operator of that district.
SHEEDER, Vincent Bayard, Merchant.
As merchant and business man, Mr. Sheeder is well and favorably known to the business world, while as citizen his reputation is very high. He is known far and near as a man of highest integrity, and numbers his friends wherever known. He has won abundant success through energy, perseverance, and intelligently directed effort. His position in his com- munity has been fairly earned, and in all that goes to make the sum total of an American man of affairs, Mr. Sheeder stands with the most worthy. He is a descendant of Henry Sheeder, born in Nassau, Saarbrucen, Germany, October 23, 1745, died December 2, 1807, who married, August 16, 1774, Dorothea Hel- fenstine, born May 24, 1741, died August 17, 1823. They continued their residence in Germany many years. Their children were as follows: Caroline, Frederick, Catherine, Henry, Philip and Louisa, all born in Germany. In 1793, Henry Sheeder with his family arrived in Phil- adelphia, Pennsylvania, the exact date, November 26.
Pa-10-6
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Frederick Sheeder, eldest son of Henry and Dorothea (Helfenstine) Sheeder, was born in Germany, February 20, 1777, died in West Vincent township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1865. He became a merchant tailor of Philadelphia, after the arrival there in 1793, and was acquainted with President Washington. Later in life he moved to Chester county, where he was a pioneer paper manufacturer, also conducted a saw mill, and there spent many of the last years of his long life. He was a wide reader and a close observer of men, and kept in close touch with current events until the end. In 1846, he wrote a his- tory of West Vincent township, and was an authority on local history. During the War of 1812, he joined the American Army, and was on duty at Marcus Hook. He married, March 17, 1798, Anna Hal- deman, born November 6, 1778, died July 29, 1860, daughter of Nicholas Halde- man. In March, 1860, Mr. and Mrs. Sheeder celebrated the sixty-third anni- versary of their wedding day, the occa- sion being one of exceeding interest to the entire community. In addition to his farming, Mr. Sheeder erected many barns and dwellings on his own and other farms. Frederick and Anna Sheeder were the parents of sons and daughters: Fred- erick (2), Henry, Mary, married Joshua Yager; Samuel, Philip, Caroline, Cath- erine, Sarah, married William Cully; Jo- seph, and Benjamin Franklin.
Benjamin Franklin Sheeder, youngest child of Frederick and Anna (Haldeman) Sheeder, was born in West Vincent town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania, Jan- uary 7, 1823, died in Minersville, Penn- sylvania, September 5, 1879. He was educated in the public schools of his dis- trict, and for a time taught school in Hamburg, Berks county, Pennsylvania. Later in life he moved to Minersville,
Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in mercantile business, and for many years served as justice of the peace. He was a member of the Luth- eran church, and in his political faith a Republican. Benjamin F. Sheeder mar- ried Catherine Wagner, born October II, 1829, daughter of Henry and Barbara (Hoffman) Wagner, of Berks county, Pennsylvania ; she died February 8, 1898, in Minersville. They were the parents of two children who grew to maturity: Vincent Bayard, and Ambrose Ira, of Minersville, Pennsylvania.
Vincent Bayard Sheeder, son of Ben- jamin Franklin and Catherine (Wagner) Sheeder, was born in Hamburg, Berks county, Pennsylvania, November 26, 1857, but when young was taken by his parents to Minersville, Schuykill county. There he was educated in the public schools, and when his school days were over served an apprenticeship with the car- riagemaker, William Scott, of Hamburg, Berks county, who taught him the car- riage and wagon builder's trade. Later he became a merchant, remaining in Min- ersville until 1887, then moving to Ma- hanoy City, there being manager of a store at Buck Mountain. He remained there two years, until 1889, then moved to Alden, where until 1900 he was man- ager for W. W. Scott. In 1900 the firm Sheeder & Scott was formed to open and conduct a general store at Wanamie, Pennsylvania, that store being in charge of Mr. Sheeder as a partnership business until 1911, when he became sole owner under the firm name, V. B. Sheeder. That business is still continued most suc- cessfully by Mr. Sheeder, who has other large business interests in the district. His corporate interests are largely in lumber and construction, he being a direc- tor and vice-president of the Nanticoke Construction Company, and of the Sus-
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHIY
quehanna Lumber Company. His bank- ing connection is with the Nanticoke Na- tional Bank, which he serves as director.
In Free Masonry, Mr. Sheeder holds all degrees of Nanticoke Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; and Shekinah Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; and in Scot- tish Rite Masonry has attained the thirty- second degree. He is a noble of Irem Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Junior Order of American Mechanics; and the Craftsman Club. He is now (1918) serving as a member of the Exemption Board, sitting at Nanticoke, and faithfully performing that patriotic duty.
Mr. Sheeder married, May 20, 1886, Magdalene Gertrude Bauer, born April 15, 1860, daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Wertley) Bauer, of Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Sheeder are the parents of the following children: I. Mary Irene, born October 20, 1887, who married, November 6, 1917, Lou Scott Wilson. 2. George V., born November 4, 1888; educated in the public schools of Wanamie, Wyoming Seminary and the University of Belgium, his course at the last named institution being in music ; after his return to Pennsylvania, he be- came an instructor in violin music at Wyoming Seminary, his present posi- tion ; he married, December 31, 1915, Vir- ginia Bramblette, born September 17, 1891, daughter of William M. and Mary Kane (Baxter) Bramblette, of Carlisle, Kentucky. 3. Vincent Bayard, Jr., born February 3, 1899, now a student at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsyl- vania.
STULL, Arthur Lewis,
Business Man.
While Mr. Stull has reached a com- manding position in the business world in
which he moves, he holds that posi- tion through untiring effort, intelligently directed, and not through a lucky turn of Fortune's Wheel, nor the favor of influ- ential friends. He was a worker from youth, and since becoming head of his own business gives it closest supervision, and is familiar with its every detail. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, has become the seat of his business activity, but the earlier years of his life were spent in another section. He is a grandson of Lewis and Elizabeth (Guinter) Stull, his grandfather a native Philadelphian, his grandmother born in Germany.
Lewis Stull, born in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, in 1797, came to Bucks town- ship, Luzerne county, about 1817, and there resided until his death, upon the farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres which he bought, cleared and improved. Eight of the nine children of Lewis and Elizabeth (Guinter) Stull lived to mature years, five became well-known business men or agriculturists: Lewis (2), of Stoddardsville; John, killed in a battle of the Civil War; Henry, buried at Moosic, Pennsylvania; Albert, a lumberman of Moosic; Mary, married William Hess- ler, of Moosic; Adam, of further mention, and Daniel, a merchant in charge of the Pettebone estate in Wyoming, Pennsyl- vania. Lewis Stull, the father, died in 1867.
Adam Stull, son of Lewis and Eliza- beth (Guinter) Stull, was born in Beau- mont, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1837, died 1913. He attended the township district school, and until 1870 was engaged in lumbering. In that year he became connected with Albert Lewis, at White Haven and Bear Creek, in his lumber and ice business, as man- ager, later going to Harveys Lake and developing the lumber interests of Mr. Lewis, and was associated with him until death. Adam Stull married, 1858, Mel-
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
vina Lewis, sister of Albert Lewis, with whom Mr. Stull was so long associated. They were the parents of: Arthur Lewis, of further mention; Sarah L., married J. F. Glaspy, of Elizabeth, New Jersey ; Frederick A., and Albert A.
Arthur Lewis Stull, eldest son of Adam and Melvina (Lewis) Stull, was born in Gouldsboro, Wayne county, Penn- sylvania, September 30, 1862. He was educated in the village schools, Wyoming Seminary, and Dickinson Seminary, Wil- liamsport, Pennsylvania, completing his studies at the age of eighteen years, and began business life immediately after leaving the seminary, his first position, time keeper, his first employer, his uncle, Albert Lewis, at his lumber and ice bus- iness at Bear Creek, Pennsylvania. He continued with Mr. Lewis in subordinate capacity until 1887. When Mr. Lewis opened the Harveys Lake and Bowman Creek lumber district, July 5, 1887, Mr. Stull accompanied him and was made superintendent of the plant. On August I, 1890, Mr. Lewis organized the Albert Lewis Lumber Manufacturing Company, of which Mr. Stull was made treasurer and general manager, continuing in that capacity until 1907, when the name was changed to Lewis & Stull, which con- tinued until 1913, when all the timber that was owned by the company was ex- hausted, and Mr. Lewis purchased all the Stull's interest and the same day sold back to Arthur L. Stull and his brother, Albert A. Stull, the ice plant at Mt. Spring and farm of 6,800 acres of land ; the property is still in the possession of Mr. Stull and his brother. This business he yet continues with satisfactory results, with headquarters in Alderson, Pennsyl- vania. He is a director of the Miner's Bank of Wilkes-Barre, director of the Preston Lumber & Coal Company of Maryland, and has other interests, includ-
ing the ownership of one of the finest farms in the Wyoming Valley, modernly equipped in every respect and modernly managed. Mr. Stull is a member of the Westmoreland Club of Wilkes-Barre; is a Republican in politics; and a member of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Stull married, October 31, 1889, Mary Edie, daughter of Rev. James M. and Josephine (Logan) Edie, of York, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Stull are the parents of: Josephine E., born June 21, 1891, a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, class of 1918; Robert A., born March 2, 1895, edu- cated in the Wilkes-Barre public schools, Mercersburg Academy, and Lehigh Uni- versity, leaving Lehigh to enlist in the 109th Regiment Field Artillery, United States Army, in which he now holds the rank or sergeant major; Arthur A. (2), born August 28, 1898, educated in the public schools, Harry Hillman Academy, and Mercersburg Academy, now (1918) freshman, Princeton University.
FALK, Sigmund,
Manufacturer.
Prominent among the younger gener- ation of manufacturers who are infusing into the Pittsburgh district the element of youthful vigor and enthusiasm is Sig- mund Falk, vice-president and director of the Duquesne Reduction Company. Mr. Falk has thoroughly identified himself with a number of Pittsburgh's leading interests, entering into their promotion with the same aggressiveness which char- acterizes him in all that he undertakes.
Sigmund Falk was born in Irwin, Pennsylvania, August 4, 1873. He is a son of the late Charles and Sarah (Sand- ers) Falk. His education was received in the public and private schools of his section, and upon its completion entered
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Sigmed Falk
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
manufacturing and mercantile lines of endeavor, in which he has achieved prom- inence. He has been for some years asso- ciated with his brothers, Leon and Mau- rice (whose biographies and portraits are elsewhere in this work) and now holds various official positions in a number of corporations, among them being vice- president and director of the Duquesne Reduction Company. Mr. Falk is a Re- publican in politics, but has never held office, always preferring to concentrate his energy on his business. Of social nature, Mr. Falk holds membership in various clubs, among them being the Westmoreland Country and Concordia. He is a member of Rodef Shalom con- gregation.
NORSTEDT, J. Albert, M. D., Physician.
In Vestervik, a seaport of Sweden, on an inlet of the Baltic sea, Peter Norstedt lived, married and reared a family. He was a jeweler and clockmaker, and Ves- tervik being a town of size and import- ance, his business was profitable, and his position in social life a secure one. He married Regina Anderson, and they were the parents of a son, J. Albert Norstedt, who in 1872 came to the United States, continuing at Mt. Carmel, a borough of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, the business which had long been a fam- ily one and which he learned from his father in his far off Swedish home. In Mt. Carmel he continued the jewelry bus- iness for about forty years. His wife was a daughter of David J. Lewis, a vet- eran of the Civil War, the first postmas- ter of Mt. Carmel, a justice of the peace for thirty-five years, and a pioneer coal operator of that section. Her mother, Amanda (Hill) Lewis, was a descendant of Isaac Levan Hill, a Huguenot, who -
fled from France with his brothers in a time of religious persecution. J. Albert and Kate (Lewis) Norstedt were the par- ents of seven sons and a daughter, the latter and three of her brothers now in the service of their country as volunteers, while a fourth brother, Lieutenant Gus- tave Norstedt, an officer of the Medical Reserve Corps, United States Army, died March 15, 1918. Of such parentage and such environment came Dr. J. Albert (2) Norstedt, one of the most prominent of the younger physicians of the Wyoming Valley.
J. Albert Norstedt, son of Peter and Regina (Anderson) Norstedt was born in Vestervik, Sweden, 1847, and died at Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania, 1914. He learned the jeweler's trade with his father, became an expert in watch and clock work, continuing at his trade in his home town until 1872, when he came to the United States, landing at Philadel- phia, but immediately going to his pre- arranged destination, Mt. Carmel, North- umberland county, in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. He was the first man to there engage in the jewelry busi- ness, and during the forty-two years which intervened ere death claimed him, he was one of the reliable, substantial men of the borough. He was of quiet life and habits, diligent in business, very much attached to his home and family to the exclusion of political office seeking or club membership. In religious faith he was a Lutheran, and in politics supported the Republican party. He was esteemed of all men and lived the mature period of his years, sixty-seven, in the favor of his fellowmen.
Mr. Norstedt married at Mt. Carmel, May 22, 1882, Kate Lewis, who survives him, a daughter of Squire Davis J. and Amanda (Hill) Lewis (of previous men- tion), the latter a descendant of a
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Huguenot ancestor, Isaac Levan Hill, through whom Mrs. Lewis gains her membership in the Pennsylvania Hugue- not Society. Squire David J. and Amanda (Hill) Lewis were the parents of: John J .; William H., a physician; Josephine, who married William Camp; and Kate, widow of J. Albert Norstedt. Mr. and Mrs. J. Albert Norstedt are the parents of the following children: Carl Adolph, born in 1883, a superintendent of the Young Men's Christian Association, edu- cational department, United States Army ; J. Albert, of further mention ; 3 Gustave H., born 1892, died at Camp Upton, New York, March 15, 1918, first lieutenant, United States Medical Reserve Corps; Carl Magnus, born in 1893;5 Freda, born 1894, a graduate nurse, University of Pennsylvania Hospital, now with the University Hospital, American Expedi- tionary Forces, "Somewhere in France ;" Sigrid, born 1896; Albin, born 1898.
J. Albert (2) Norstedt, second son of J. Albert and Kate (Lewis) Norstedt, was born at Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1885, and there completed grade and high school study with graduation. After completing his school years he became a clerk in his uncle's store at Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania, and during the succeeding years made a special study of pharmacy, passed the examinations of the State board, and was awarded a diploma under which he became a registered phar- macist. Pharmacy was not his choice of a profession, however, and finally he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated M. D., class of 1908. The years, 1908-10, were spent as interne at Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, the latter half of the year 1910 being devoted to a five months' course of study in the London hospitals. Upon his return from England, in 1910, Dr.
Norstedt selected Nanticoke, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, as a location, and there began a practice which has grown with the years until it demands his full time and best professional effort. He is a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and the Luzerne County Medical Society, is a member of Univer- sity Lodge, No. 610, Free and Accepted Masons, of Philadelphia; and holds the thirty-two degrees of Scranton Con- sistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. Politically he is a Republican.
Dr. Norstedt married, May 31, 1911, Anna Evans, of Brooklyn, New York, and they are the parents of a son, William Albert, born March 3, 1912, died June 4, 1915, and two daughters: Dorothy, born May 23, 1915, and Ruth Elizabeth, born April 1, 1917.
CONLON, John,
Coal Operator.
Since boyhood John Conlon, of Hud- son, Pennsylvania, has been identified with the coal industry of the Wyoming Valley, beginning a breaker boy and ris- ing through all grades to a superin- tendent's position, stepping from that into the ranks of coal operators. He began in a modest way in 1913, but each day he has grown in importance as a producer, and is fast reaching a position of inde- pendence. He is a worker and has won his own way to the success that he has attained, and to this characteristic must be added a deep love for his home and a devotion to his family rarely exceeded. He is always to be found at home in his hours "off duty" and there finds his greatest happiness. He is a son of Myles and Bridget (Riley) Conlon, both of County Roscommon, Ireland.
Myles Conlon and his wife came from their native Ireland to the United States,
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John Coulon
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
landing in New York City, but a little later going to Ashland, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where Myles Conlon found abundant employment in the coal mines. In the early fifties he moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, there living until after the Civil War period, then moving to Hud- son, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, which was his home until his death. During all his Scranton and Hudson residence years he continued a mine worker, was a good miner and an honest man. He died in 1887, and is buried in Parsons Cemetery, Hudson, Pennsylvania. Both he and his wife, Bridget (Riley) Conlon, were mem- bers of the Roman Catholic church. They were the parents of ten sons and daugh- ters: James; Thomas; Winifred ; Myles ; Cornelius; Mary Ann; John, of further mention; William; Peter, who was for twenty years principal of schools at Plains, Pennsylvania; Annie, married Edward J. Cochran, of Plains, Pennsyl- vania.
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