USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. X > Part 15
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William Brobst Kistler, son of "Stout" John Kistler, was born at the farm owned by his parents in Kistlers Valley, in 1828, and died in 1904. He came into posses- sion of the home farm and there farmed, raised cattle and became a famous "drover," driving his cattle both East and West, crossing the Alleghenies to Pitts- burgh, and was very successful in his dealings. He became very religious in his later years, joining the Evangelical . church, and a leader in his community. He was a man of strong character, and although his children numbered twelve, each in turn was given a good education. money being furnished to carry them as far as they wanted to go, the only stipu- lation being that it should be paid back when possible. This rule was faithfully followed and the same money used again for the education of the younger children. Honesty, sobriety and uprightness were virtues the father possessed, and these were transmitted to his children. William B. Kistler married Judith Seidel, of a Berks county German family, her great- grandparents being purchasers of a tract of three hundred acres now in the very center of Philadelphia, but the deprecia- tion of Continental money so afflicted
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their fortunes that the deeds were re- turned and the sale broken off. Mr. and Mrs. Kistler were the parents of thirteen sons and daughters, the Kistler home the community educational center of their district.
Dr. Douglas Seidel Kistler, son of Wil- liam Brobst and Judith (Seidel) Kistler, was born at Lynnville, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, July 19, 1872. After ex- hausting the advantages of the village public school, he attended Kutztown Nor- mal School, and after one term taught school for two years in Schuylkill and Berks counties. He then began the study of medicine at Hahnemann Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1893, at the age of twenty-one years, he was graduated M. D. The same year he located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and there has since practiced his profes- sion very successfully. His offices for the first seven years were on South Main street, but in 1900 he moved to No. 307 South Franklin street and there has since remained. He possesses the perfect con- fidence of a large clientele, and is held in high esteem by his brethren of the pro- fession, regardless of school. Dr. Kist- ler was one of the founders of the Wyom- ing Valley Homoepathic Hospital, and is now attending surgeon. He is a mem- ber of the Luzerne County, the Interstate and the Pennsylvania State Homoeo- pathic Medical societies; the American Institute of Homoeopathy ; a trustee of Albright College, Lebanon, Pennsyl- vania; a director of the Fortyfort Land Company of Fortyfort, Pennsylvania ; a member of the United Evangelical church, and organizer of a large Bible class, which in the past fifteen years has enrolled one thousand men as members. He has given of the strength of his man- hood to his profession and to good works,
his record in the community being one of honor and usefulness.
Dr. Kistler married (first) Sallie Kun- kle, born October 16, 1873, died June 19, 1894, daughter of Benjamin and Clara (Hartman) Kunkle. Dr. and Mrs. Kist- ler were the parents of twin boys, Rob- ert B., born June 19, 1894, a graduate of Dickinson College, class of 1913, now a student at Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia; Walter W., born June 19, 1894, a graduate of the same college as his brother, Robert B., same class, also a student at Hahnemann. Both these young men volunteered for service in the United States Reserve Medical Corps, were accepted and sent back to college on furlough to complete their medical stud- ies. Dr. Kistler married (second) Sep- tember 16, 1896, Estelle M. Roll, daugh- ter of Leonard and Esther Jane (Ebert) Roll. Their children are: Marion, born July 15, 1898, now a student at Drexel Institute, Philadelphia; Marjorie, born March 15, 1900, a student at Swarthmore College, near Philadelphia; Douglas S., Jr., died in infancy, and Paul, born March 16, 1906.
HOLLISTER, William Henry, Active in Community Affairs.
The mining borough of Avoca, at the junction of the Lackawanna and Wyom- ing Valley, eight miles south of Scranton, and ten miles northeast of Wilkes-Barre, has since 1876 been the home and busi- ness headquarters of William H. Hollis- ter, who opened a general store there, and for forty-two years, 1876-1918, has been its active head, although he has been engaged in many other enterprises during that period. He is a son of Amos G. Hol- lister, a prosperous farmer of Susque- hanna county, Pennsylvania, a Univer- salist in religion, and a man of strong
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character. Amos G. Hollister married Lydia Tiffany, and they were the par- ents of three daughters and three sons: Eliza, married Dr. E. A. Kent ; Amos P., a veteran of the Civil War, married Har- riet E. Kent; Cora S., married R. K. Bailey; Sade, married Almon Wood- worth; William Henry, of further men- tion; Orville D., a farmer of Newton township.
William Henry Hollister, second son of Amos G. and Lydia (Tiffany) Hollis- ter, was born at Dimock, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, September 29, 1850, and spent the first twelve years of his life upon his father's farm, beginning his education in the public school. At the age of twelve years he was taken to Brooklyn, Susquehanna county, Pennsyl- vania, where he completed his studies in select and high schools, began his busi- ness life and remained there until the age of twenty-three. He then spent three years in Scranton, with the firm of Wood- worth & Mears, and later became a part- ner with Mr. Woodworth in Taylor, Penn- sylvania, and in 1876 located in Avoca, where he opened a general store which grew with the village and is yet under the management of its first and only owner. Avoca has two great interests, coal mining and silk manufacturing, and with both, Mr. Hollister has important connections. His first years were devoted to the development of his mercantile ven- ture, but with that securely established he embraced other opportunities. In 1889 he leased a colliery in company with C. C. Bowman, which was then owned by the Hillside Company, and named the Avoca Coal Company of which Mr. Hollister was the general manager. In 1898 he became general manager of the Avoca Electric Light and Heat Company, holding that position until that company was absorbed by the Scranton Electric Light Company
in 1906. He is now general manager of the Franklin Coal Company of Simpson, Pennsylvania, president of the Mexican American .Lumber Company of Mexico, treasurer of the Old Forge Silk Company, and director of the Reliance Coal Com- pany of Pittston, Pennsylvania. Other companies with which he has been iden- tified in the past are: The Indicator Con- struction Company of Scranton, of which he was president; and the Lippincott Steam Specialty & Supply Company, of Newark, New Jersey. He has ever been rated as one of the able, public-spirited businessmen of his borough, and dur- ing his forty-two years of residence has been one of the vital forces in the up- building of the borough.
He was one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal church of Avoca, and for forty years has been a tower of strength to that congregation. He was chairman of the original building com- mittee, and when the church edifice, erected by the committee, had outlived its usefulness and needed to be rebuilt, Mr. Hollister was chairman of the build- ing committee. He is also president of the board of trustees. In Masonry he holds all degrees of the York Rite, being a past master of Pittston Lodge, No. 233, Free and Accepted Masons ; a companion of Pittston Chapter, No. 242, Royal Arch Masons; a sir knight of Wyoming Com- mandery, Knights Templar; and a noble of Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Wilkes- Barre. In politics he is a Republican, but has never sought public office.
Mr. Hollister married, in 1875, Ella Beemer, and they are the parents of two sons: Claire B., born in 1877, and Glenn W., born in 1885, both educated in Wyom- ing Seminary. Glenn W. Hollister mar- ried Mayme Graham, they the parents of a son, William Henry (2) Hollister.
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FULLER, Henry Amzi,
Lawyer, Jurist.
Judge Henry Amzi Fuller, one of the most prominent and honored jurists of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and a man who has won a State-wide reputation of the most enviable character, comes of a family of lawyers, many members of which have won distinction in the pro- fession and all of whom have upheld the best traditions of the American bench and bar.
He is descended from New England ancestry, his great-grandfather having been Captain Revilo Fuller, of Kent, Con- necticut. Captain Fuller's son, Amzi Fuller, the grandfather of Judge Fuller, was born at the home of his father in Kent, October 19, 1798, and died there September 26, 1847. He had in the mean- time resided for a number of years in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, and it was in that region that his son, Henry Mills Fuller, was born at the town of Bethany. The Hon. Amzi Fuller was admitted to the bar of Wayne county, August 25, 1816, and to the bar of Luzerne county, January II, 1822, and was a prominent attorney at both of these places. His son, Henry Mills Fuller, was born June 3, 1820, in Bethany, and was graduated from Princeton College with the highest hon- ors in 1838, when only eighteen years of age. Having pursued the usual legal studies, he was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, January 3, 1842. His political career was a brilliant one, and he was a staunch member of the Whig party. In October, 1848, he was the candidate on the Whig ticket to represent Luzerne county in the Pennsylvania Legislature and was elected to the office. The fol- lowing year he was nominated and elected a canal commissioner, and in October, 1850, became a representative from the
congressional district comprising Luzerne county to the United States Congress. In 1852 he was a candidate for reelection, but was defeated by the Hon. Hendrick B. Wright. In 1854 Messrs. Fuller & Wright were the opposing candidates once more, and this time Mr. Fuller was elected to the Thirty-fourth Congress by a majority of two thousand and twenty- eight votes. When this Congress con- vened in December, 1855, Mr. Fuller was put forward as the candidate of the Whig and National Know-Nothing party for the office of the speaker of the House of Rep- resentatives. He and Nathaniel P. Banks (afterward Major-General of Volunteers in the Union Army) being the most prom- inent candidates for the office. Nearly two months elapsed before a decision was reached, which in the end was favorable to Mr. Banks. Upon his retirement from Congress in March, 1857, Mr. Fuller and his family removed to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where"his death occurred three years later, December 26, 1860. The Hon. Henry M. Fuller married Harriett Irwin Tharp, a daughter of Michael Rose and Jerusha (Lindsley) Tharp. Mrs. Fuller was born in 1822, and they were the parents of seven children, one of whom was Judge Henry Amzi Fuller.
Born January 15, 1855, at Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, Henry Amzi Fuller was reared to manhood in his native city, and attended for his education the local public schools. He was prepared for col- lege under the tuition of Frederick Corss, M. D., of Kingston. He was almost as precocious in his studies as his father be- fore him, and was graduated from Prince- ton College with the class of 1874, when only nineteen years of age. He then en- tered the law office of the Hon. Henry W. Palmer, an attorney of prominence in Wilkes-Barre, and there pursued his chosen subject, which had become almost
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a tradition in the family. He was admit- ted to the bar of Luzerne county, January 9, 1877, a few days before he had com- pleted his twenty-second year, and almost at once rose to a position of great promi- nence in his profession. While still a young man he became assistant district attorney for Luzerne county and held that position under four different district attorneys, a period which covered ten years. He then returned to private prac- tice and continued most successfully therein until April, 1907, when he was appointed by Governor Stewart, judge of the Luzerne County Court, to fill an un- expired period. Judge Fuller was elected to the same office upon the expiration of this term, and has for many years been most closely identified with the county court. His second term expired in 1917, and he is at the present time a candidate for reelection. In addition to his profes- sional activities, Judge Fuller is a very prominent figure in well nigh every aspect of the community's life. This is especially true in connection with the church, as Judge Fuller is greatly interested in the welfare of the Episcopal church of which he is a member. He is a vestryman and rector's warden of St. Stephen's Protes- tant Episcopal Church at Wilkes-Barre. Judge Fuller is also prominent in the fi- nancial situation, and is a member of the board of directors of the Miners' Savings Bank of Wilkes-Barre.
Judge Henry Amzi Fuller was united in marriage, November 20, 1879. with Ruth Hunt Parrish, and they are the parents of the following children: John Torrey, Esther, Henry Mills, Charles Par- rish, Ruth Conyngham, who became the wife of John H. Doran; Emily Lindley and Joseph Murphy.
There is, of course, no royal road to success. There is no road, even of which it may be said that it is superior to all
others, yet we can scarcely doubt that there are, as it were, certain shortcuts, certain stretches of well travelled way that lead rather more directly and by easier stages to some specific goals than do others, and that it well pays those who would travel thither to take note of their existence. Let us take for example that so widely desired success in public life for which so many strive and so few, if any, attain, putting aside a certain undue influence said to be too frequently exerted to-day in this country, there are few ways, of such direct approach as through the time-honored profession of law. There is certainly nothing astonishing in this fact- and it surely is a fact-because the train- ing, the associations, matters with which their daily work brings them in contact, are of a kind that peculiarly well fit the lawyers for the tasks of public office, many of which are merely a continuation or slight modification of their more pri- vate labors. To step from the bar to pub- lic office is to step from private to public life, yet it involves no such startling break in what a man must do, still less in what he must think, and although there are but few offices in which the transition is as direct as this, yet there are but few to which the step is not comparatively easy. Of course, it is not, as has already been remarked, a royal road, for the law is an exacting mistress and requires of her votaries not merely hard and con- centrated study in preparation for her practice, but a sort of double task as stu- dent and business man as the condition of successful practice throughout the per- iod in which they follow her. Neverthe- less what has been stated is unquestion- ably true as anyone who choses to ex- amine the lives of our public men in the past can easily discover in the preponder- ance of lawyers over men of other call- ings who are chosen for this kind of
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advancement. The career of Judge Fuller, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is a case in point to credit the above.
HUGHES, Richard Morris, Business Man.
A native son of Pittston, Pennsylvania, one of the most active and prominent business men of the city and a lifelong resident, there was no man more interested in Pittston's welfare, nor none more ready to do their part in furthering movements promising benefit to the city than Rich- ard M. Hughes, whose death, November 20, 19II, was sincerely mourned. Not only was he ready to assist in financing local industrial enterprises, but in addi- tion he put into every movement that interested him all of the personal effort at his command. He believed in doing with all his might what he put his hand to, and his chief success in life lay in the fact that he never spared himself. He considered no personal endeavor too great if thereby he could win success for the cause he espoused, whether it was along social, business or political lines. Although he had been throughout his life busy with business and financial enterprises, he had always found time for other movements that appealed to him. He was an ardent Republican, and in addition to contribut- ing liberally to the party campaigns, he was a personal worker. Every election campaign, local and general, found him "with his coat off."
He was of Welsh and English parent- age, son of Hugh R. and Elizabeth (Hague) Hughes. Hugh R. Hughes was born at Holyhead, Wales, and died in Pittston, Pennsylvania, in 1888. He came to the United States at the age of nineteen, located in Pottsville, Pennsyl- vania, where he engaged as a custom tailor, later continuing for many years in
the same business at Carbondale, Penn- sylvania, afterwards coming to Pittston, then in its infancy, and was engaged in many business enterprises, dealing in real estate and was for a time in the wholesale liquor trade and conducted an ale brew- ery on Dock street.
Richard Morris Hughes was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, January 29, 1857, and there died November 20, 1911. He was educated at Wyoming Institute and Bloomsburg State Normal School, begin- ning his business life as his father's assist- ant in the management of the Hughes Ale Brewery. On March 1, 1887, he formed a partnership with Joseph H. Glennon, and purchased the Forest Cas- tle Brewery in Exeter borough, which they conducted very successfully for a number of years under the firm name, Hughes & Glennon. The firm in 1897 dis- posed of its business and real estate to the Pennsylvania Central Brewing Company of Scranton, which had been organized for the purpose of taking over under one head a large number of the breweries in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Hughes was the first president of the Pennsylva- nia Central Company, and later became the vice-president. Until his death he was a member of the board of directors of the company, and was also associated with other industrial enterprises in Northeast- ern Pennsylvania. From 1896 he was a member of the board of trustees of the Miners' Savings Bank of Pittston, and was a director of the Clear Spring Coal Com- pany, the Raub Coal Company, Luzerne County Cut Glass Company, and at the time of his death he was secretary of the Mountain Spring Ice Company.
Although he had been very active in the councils of the Republican party, Mr. Hughes never sought any salaried politi- cal offices. He was elected a member of
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the West Pittston School Board in 1898, and served very efficiently and intelli- gently for six years. For a number of years past and up to the time of his death he was president of the West Pittston Board of Health. Mr. Hughes was espe- cially prominent in Masonry. He was a member of St. John's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Pittston Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Wyoming Valley Commandery, Knights Templar; Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; the Scranton Con- sistory and Royal Arcanum.
Mr. Hughes married, April 16, 1879, Hannah C. Crouse, who survives him, daughter of Andrew J. and Eilen (Barry) Crouse, of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes are the parents of three children: I. Gertrude, married Robert W. Langford; their children: Robert H. and Gertrude Langford. 2. Guy R., born May 3, 1887; educated in Pittston public schools, Wyoming Seminary and the University of Michigan; president of the Mountain Spring Ice Company, of Pittston; married Lois Cutler. 3. Max- ville C., born July 24, 1889; prepared for college at Lawrenceville school, gradu- ated from Yale University, class of 1911 ; married Louise Barring, and has a son. Richard Morris (2) Hughes.
The following resolutions were adopted by the organizations, business and fra- ternal, with which Mr. Hughes was con- nected. The Miners' Savings Bank; St. John's Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons; Wyoming Valley Commandery, Knights Templar ; and Pennsylvania Cen- tral Brewing Company. The Miners' Savings Bank resolution :
Once more the board is called upon to note the passing away of one of its number. If told at our last meeting that one of those that joined in discussing the business of the movement would meet with us no more who could have selected
one of our younger members, one in manhood's prime, full of vigor and life that seemed safely to promise decades of useful work and serv- ice? When on Monday morning tidings came to us that Richard M. Hughes had passed away during the night just gone, it brought a sense of surprise and shock coupled with unfeigned regret that we feel to-day as we note his absence from among us. Our local journals have told the story of Mr. Hughes' useful life with its varied duties and wide business connection. It was this business prominence and acquaintance with men that led to his selection to assist in the councils of this bank, he became a trustee at the election of January, 1896, and has since been a faithful attendant, not only at the weekly meetings of the board, but had held himself ready for special duties when such arose, and his knowledge of property values and of the business capacity of men has often proved invaluable. He has in every way proved himself a faithful friend of the bank, yet, at the same time, one who regarded the safety of depositors as the first principle of correct bankng. Personally, as men, we know of the sorrow that must be felt in the charming home that his business success enabled him to provide for those dearest to him. We extend to his family our heartfelt sympathies, Board of Trustees and Officers, Miners' Savings Bank of Pittston, Pennsylvania, A. A. Bryden, president ; J. C. Reap, vice-president; W. L. Foster, cash- ier; November twenty-second, nineteen hundred and eleven.
To the worshipful master, officers and members of St. John's Lodge, No. 233, Free and Accepted Masons, Pittston, Pennsylvania :
Brethren: Your committee appointed to give expression to the feelings of the members of this lodge in regard to the death of our late brother, Richard M. Hughes, who died at his home in West Pittston, November 20, 1911, submit the following :
With recommendation that it be spread upon the minutes of the lodge, and that an engrossed copy of the same be presented to the widow, daughter and sons of the deceased ..
IN MEMORIAM.
Whereas, The Great Architect of the Universe has again visited our lodge and summoned our worthy brother, Richard M. Hughes, from labor to repose; therefore, be it
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Resolved, That we bow in humble submission to this sudden and mysterious dispensation of an all wise Providence. That through the demise of our late brother, the fraternity has lost a faith- ful member, a wise counsellor, a courteous gen- tleman, a sympathetic friend, and an affectionate brother, That we revere the memory of our late brother and emulate our sympathy to the bereaved family and commend them for consola- tion to Him who is the friend of the widow and fatherless. May the sudden and untimely de- parture of our late brother and friend cause us to take to heart the lesson that we be prepared for our summons to enter that unexplored country from whose bourne no traveler ever returns. LOUIS P. BIERLY, JAMES RYAN, ADAM A. BRYDEN, Committee.
December twenty-seven, nineteen hundred and eleven.
Resolutions adopted by Wyoming Val- ley Commandery, No. 57, Knights Temp- lar :
Again we are admonished that our sojourn here is but of short duration, and that sooner or later the Messenger of Death will receive the mandate to strike us from the roll of the living and we will be called to lay down our armour and learn the realities of the unseen beyond the vail. The lessons of Masonry made a deep im- pression on the mind of our frater, and the Order of Knighthood, with its impressive lessons, had a lasting influence on his life, being naturally of a friendly disposition, his every day conduct served to exemplify its teachings among his fel- lowmen.
In the death of Sir Richard M. Hughes the order has lost a member that was a credit to the community and an honor to the Fraternity. As members of the order we extend to his bereaved family our fraternal sympathy in the loss they have sustained, and can only commend them to Him in whom our brother put his trust, relying upon the mercy of a crucified and risen Saviour.
JAMES RYAN, JAMES C. KIPP, WILLIAM A. HAY, Committee.
Resolutions adopted by Pennsylvania Central Brewing Company.
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