USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 48
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JOSEPH A. SCRANTON.
HQN. JOSEPH AUGUSTINE SCRANTON, Journalist, Founder and Proprietor of The Scranton Republican, Member of Congress, etc., etc., was born at Madison, Conn., July 26, 1838, and is the eldest son of Joseph H. Scranton, one of the founders of the city bearing the family name. When but nine years of age he became a resident of Pennsyl- vania. He received an academic education and at an early age became interested in politics, affiliating with the Republican party. In 1862 he was ap- pointed by President Lincoln to the responsible position of Collector of Internal Revenue for the Twelfth District of Pennsylvania, and held that office until 1866. In 1867 he founded the Scranton Daily Republican, of which he has since maintained the sole ownership and control. This journal, one of the most enterprising and liberally managed in the State, is energetically Republican in tone, but is also sufficiently broad in its views to include within the ranks of its readers a large number of citi-
Very Truly Yours Art pranton 2.200
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zens of opposite political faith, who admire and desire to sustain a fearlessly honest and, on many points, essentially independent newspaper. It is published every day in the year and a special weekly edition is issued in addition. The plant of the Re- publican office, which includes a complete general printing and binding establishment, and a five-story stone and brick building, forty by one hundred and fifty feet, is reputed to be worth upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In 1872 Mr. Scranton was a delegate to the Republican National Convention held in Philadelphia. Two years later he was appointed, by President Grant, Postmaster of the city of Scranton, reappointed by President Hayes in 1878, and occupied that position nearly seven years, resigning after his election to the XLVIIth Congress. In 1880 Mr. Scranton was nominated for the XLVIIth Congress by the Repub- licans of the Twelfth Congressional District of Penn- sylvania-the Lackawanna-Luzerne District-and was elected by a flattering majority, being the third Republican representing the old Luzerne district during a period of twenty years, and the first Repre- sentative from the Lackawanna end of the district since 1860,-when Colonel George W. Scranton (a cousin) was elected,-with the single exception of Judge Stanton, who served three months of the un- expired term of Hon. W. W. Ketcham. Soon after his election in 1880 Mr. Scranton conceived the project of a United States building for the city of Scranton, and during the year before he took his seat he carefully prepared the way for carrying his plans to a successful issue. At that time the Gov- ernment had not adopted the policy of erecting buildings in the smaller inland cities, and conse- quently the undertaking was attended with greater difficulties and uncertainties than now appear, after the lapse of eight years, when such buildings are being erected in many cities all over the country. Shortly after assuming his duties in Washington, Mr. Scranton introduced the bill providing for a Post-office Building in Scranton, and by careful management and persistent labor secured its pas- sage, thereby attracting considerable attention, both at home and elsewhere in the State and country, it being an unusual success for a new member at his first session. At the second session of the term he was successful in securing an appropriation for the purchase of a site, and never relaxed his persever- ance until the purchase was made and title passed. Another notable success achieved by him during his first term was in securing an appropriation of fifteen thousand dollars for the improvement of the Susque- hanna River, between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston. He was also successful in securing the free mail de-
livery system for both Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. In 1882 he was renominated for Congress from the same district by the Republicans, but owing to the efforts of a faction in Wilkes-Barre, who appear to have been dissatisfied by a local appointment which Mr. Scranton was instrumental in having made, he was defeated. The value of his services was gener- ally appreciated, notwithstanding, and in 1884 the party rallied to his support for the third time and again elccted him by a large majority. In the XLIXth Congress hc repeated his earlier successes. One of the most important local measures of which he sccured the passage was that instituting sessions of the United States Courts at Scranton. In 1886 he received the Republican nomination for the Lth Congress, but the jealousy of the faction in Wilkes- Barre, previously alluded to, which was probably founded in large part, if not wholly, upon the fact that the city of Scranton had won the Government prizes named, operated to bring about his defeat. Never- theless, he was so evidently the man for the place that, in September, 1888, he was nominated by his party for the LIst Congress from the new Eleventh District, composed of Lackawanna County, and was elected, exceeding former majorities by a sur- prising vote. "It is a significant fact," says an ob- servant local writer, in commenting upon Mr. Scran- ton's work, "that whenever, during the past eight years, this district has been represented in Congress by others, the important projects conceived by Mr. Scranton for the interests of the city have been at a stand-still." But Mr. Scranton's usefulness in the National Legislature was not confined to local suc- cess. A sincere "protectionist," he labored earn_ estly in the support of all measures that were cal- culated to uphold and defend American labor and American industries against every foreign encroach- ment and influence. In this he respected the wishes of his constituents and voiced his own earn- est convictions, the result of long study, observation and experience on the subject. As a legislator Mr. Scranton has been loyal to his promises, his con- stituents and his country. His support at the polls has not been limited to members of his party, but has embraced thoughtful men of all shades of polit- ical opinion, who believe in being represented by a thoroughly honest, patriotic and energetic man, in- telligent and broad-minded enough to stifle purely partisan feeling in his efforts to secure the common good. Mr. Scranton was a delegate to the recent Republican National Convention at Chicago (1888). He has repeatedly been a delegate to State and County Conventions, and a successful Chairman of county committees in both Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties. As a journalist Mr. Scranton stands
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high among the profession throughout the State, and the success he has won for The Republican is widely known and appreciated. As a State leader in the Republican party he has achieved notable successes and enjoys an enviable position. His twenty-one years' devotion to his professional and political pursuits are admitted all over the State to have largely contributed toward wresting the natur- ally Democratic strongholds of Northeastern Penn- sylvania from their former affiliations and placing and holding the anthracite counties in the Republi- can column. Mr. Scranton married, June 23, 1863, Ada, eldest daughter of Gen. A. N. Meylert, of Scranton. Two children were born of this union; the eldest, Robert Meylert, is associated with his father in the publication of The Republican, the other, Miss Lida, an accomplished young lady, made her debut in Washington society in 1885-86, during her father's second term in Congress.
EZRA H. RIPPLE.
HON. EZRA HOYT RIPPLE, Mayor of Scranton, and Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania, was born at Mauch Chunk, Pa., February 14, 1842. His ancestors on the pater- nal side for several generations have been Pennsyl- vanians, but are descended from that sturdy Ger- man immigration to which the "Keystone State " is so greatly indebted for her early development and prosperity. His father, Silas Ripple, a shoemaker and tanner in early life, married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Harris, of Mauch Chunk, Pa., and through her the subject of this sketch inherits the blood and traits of character of both English and Irish ancestors. When Ezra was four years of age his parents removed from Mauch Chunk to Buck Mountain, Pa., and at the latter place the boy at- tended school until he was eleven years of age, when he was sent to the Wyoming Seminary, Kings- ton, Pa. In August, 1857, Mr. Silas Ripple engaged in the hotel business at Hyde Park-now a part of the city of Scranton, Pa.,-and his son Ezra left school in order to help him. The opening of the Civil War found him a fine specimen of young manhood. His whole heart and sympathy were with the men who rallied to the support of the Na- tional Government, and he was awaiting with im- patience an opportunity to place himself among them, when the illness and death of his father in December, 1861, threw the whole care of the family and the management of the estate upon him. As soon as he could close up the estate he left the hotel
and engaged in the drug business, but was not suc- cessful in it, as his mind was too much occupied with the stirring events of that period, in which he
burned to take a loyal citizen's part. When Mary- land was invaded by General Lee's army, in 1862, young Ripple's opportunity came. The enemy were approaching the soil of his native State, and no considerations of duty were higher than those which called him to its defense. Responding with alacrity to Governor Curtin's call for troops, he en- listed as a private soldier (under ex-Mayor McKune, who then held the rank of Lieutenant) in Company I, Thirteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, June 16, and marched for Antietam. This campaign was a brief one, and at its close, being honorably mustered out of service with the regiment, he re- sumed business and the care of the family. In 1863, during the second invasion of the State by the Confederates, he enlisted as a private in Company H., Thirteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, commanded by Colonel Monies, of Scranton. His service began June 16 and terminated July 26, dur- ing which period he won the chevrons of a sergeant. Short as was this term it covered the chief opera- tions of the Gettysburg campaign, and although the regiment was not directly engaged in the dreadful carnage of those early days in July, it was constantly under orders within sound of the battle, and did al that was required of it. In the spring of 1864, hav- ing been able to arrange his business affairs satis- factorily, he immediately gave his services to his country, enlisting, March 24, as a private in the Fifty- second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, then commanded by Colonel H. M. Hoyt, afterwards Governor of the State. Mr. Ripple very early in life developed a taste and talent for music, and ac- quired remarkable proficiency on a great variety of musical instruments. This being well known to his comrades led to his being chosen leader of the band of the brigade to which the regiment was attached. He held this position but a short time, owing to the general order abolishing military bands, and there- after did no musical service except on one or two occasions when he went with his regiment as bugler on venturesome excursions up the Ashepoo and Combahee rivers in South Carolina. In the night assault on Fort Johnson, Charleston harbor, July 3, 1864, he was captured, together with about one hundred and forty members of his regiment, includ- ing Colonel Hoyt and Lieutenant-Colonel Conyng- ham, and on the same morning was incarcerated with his comrades in the Charleston jail. From this place he was speedily removed to the stockade at Andersonville, where for three months, in terrible exposure and utter destitution and nakedness, he
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suffered such tortures as only the bravest and the strongest could endure. With three comrades as destitute as himself he burrowed in the sand, sub- sisting on the putrid food furnished by his captors, watching his chances to carry out dead men in order to be allowed to get wood to cook the daily mush. At the end of three months he was taken back to Charleston, but only to be transferred to the stock- ade at Florence, South Carolina, where he spent the ensuing five months, subsisting on no better fare than was allowed at Andersonville. From Florence with eighteen other brave and desperate men, pris- oners of war like himself, he escaped and attempted to reach the Union lines. Tracked by bloodhounds, he was overtaken in swamps within ten miles of the stockade. With his back to a tree and with no means of defense except his poorly shod feet, he fought for his life with those savage beasts. The terribly uneven struggle was terminated by the ar- rival of the pursuers, who called off the dogs, but not until the poor prisoner's limbs were gashed to the bone. In this horribly lacerated condition he was made to trot back before a leveled musket to the burrow in the stockade from which he had es- caped, where under guard he was left without food or relief. The sufferings he endured in that place during his slow and painful recovery are beyond de- scription, and made a permanent and horrible im- pression upon him. Even in recent years, and in the midst of peace, comfort and plenty, the memo- ries of those awful days of misery and suffering suf- fice to both sicken and sadden the gallant soldier. In dreams, as he lias confided to some of his old comrades, he lives over again the dreadful hours when, alone in the swamp, he contended with those fearful dogs and scarcely less savage men. The scars of this bloody conflict are permanent and enormous, although, fortunately, the injuries are of such a nature as not to interfere with locomotion. During the remainder of his imprisonment and in the delirium of his fever he nightly fought imagin- ary bloodhounds. A mere wreck of his former self, he was exchanged about a month after his re- capture. Upon his arrival in the North he was prostrated with camp fever, which both tested and demonstrated his magnificent vitality. After the surrender of Lee (June 30, 1865), he was regularly discharged at Camp Parole, Annapolis, Md. Upon recovering his health sufficiently to permit of study, he entered the Poughkeepsie Institute, New York, where he took a course of study to fit himself thor- oughly for a business career. In February, 1866, he entered the employ of the Susquehanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad and Coal Company, as bookkeeper, under Superintendent William Connell,
and continued with the company until 1869, when he became associated with the firm of F. L. Hitch- cock & Co., of Scranton, in the wholesale and retail crockery and china business. In 1872 he sold out his interest in this firm and engaged with William Connell & Co., of the Meadow Brook and National Mines, in the business of mining coal, in which he still remains. Colonel Ripple has always been a Republican in politics, and on several occasions has been the successful nominee of that party for impor- tant local offices. He was the Republican Presiden- tial Elector in 1888 for the Eleventh District, Penn- sylvania. Widely known as a capable and energetic business man, of strict probity and enlightened views, his candidacy, in 1879, for the office of Treas- urer of Lackawanna County, was warmly supported by his fellow-citizens, irrespective of party, and he was elected by a striking majority. The duties of this important trust were discharged by him with signal ability and success, and he retired from office at the expiration of his term of three years with the respect of the entire people. Having proved him- self such an efficient public servant he was not allowed to remain out of service very long. The Republicans of the city of Scranton, which, with a population of eighty thousand, ranks third in point of wealth and importance in the Commonwealth, nominated him for Mayor in 1886, and he was elected by a most flattering majority. He entered upon his four years' term of office April 5, 1886. In the discharge of the duties appertaining to the May- oralty he has shown a leaning towards business methods and a keen vigilance in the interests of the whole body of the people. Quick to comprehend and alert to take advantage of the improvements which crowd upon one another in rapid succession in this remarkable epoch, his official acts have been marked by great benefit to his fellow-citizens. They have likewise been distinguished as free from any narrowness or bias. Where approval has been given it has been awarded to merit, and where it has been withheld reasons which would strike the ma- jority of honorable men as valid have been frankly stated. No call of duty is ever neglected, for al- though he may excuse in subordinates a slight dere- liction in duty, he is unsparing in his demands upon himself in the city's interests. He is an honest sup- porter of the peoples' rights, a fearless defender of law and order, and an unqualified foe of mob rule or dictation. During the labor troubles of 1877 he was made Captain of the Posse Comitatus, organized and sworn in by his old comrade-in-arms, Mayor R. H. McKune, for the protection of the city. On the formation of the Scranton City Guard he was elected Captain of Company D, August 14, 1877. When
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this command was recruited to a full regiment and placed in the National Guard of the State as the Thirteenth, he was elected Major, with rank from October 10, 1878. Five years later to a day, he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment, and on October 10, 1888, was commissioned its Colonel. There are few men in the city of Scranton who stand higher in the popular esteem than "His Honor," Mayor Ripple. In the business community he has been known as an honorable and earnest worker for fully thirty years. No citizen has labored more earnestly and unselfishly to promote the best interests of the city or to advance the welfare of the large industrial population which constitutes so ex- tensive and important a portion of its inhabitants. In the affairs of the State he has long taken an intel- ligent and conspicuous part, not as an office-holder, but as one of its sons whose zeal in its behalf began early and has since been attested in every period of danger. His devotion to his country has been sealed by his blood, and by days and nights of agony and suffering too horrible to be described. This honor- able man, brave soldier and able and incorruptible public officer deservedly enjoys wide respect and esteem. He is a man with a large frame and a cour- age and will power to correspond. He is tireless in his activity, a born worker, and withal gentle and considerate. Straightforward in all his transactions, private, business and official, he seems to care only to do his whole duty at all times, entirely regardless of obstacles or dangers. He married, April 22, 1874, Miss Sallie H., daughter of Richard M. and Susan Hackett, of Scranton. Five children have been born to this marriage, four of whom are now living.
L. WEBSTER FOX.
L. WEBSTER FOX, M.D., of Philadelphia, was born in Hummelstown, Pa., in 1853. His father, Thomas G. Fox, M.D., was a physician of marked ability, from whom the son inherited his strong power of analysis and his characteristic of individ- uality. The early part of his life was spent under his father's tuition. His school life, up to niueteen years was at Millersville, under the care of Dr. Edward Brooks-one of the most careful instructors in Latin and the higher mathematics of the day. At the age of nineteen Dr. Fox was appointed to a position in the banking house of his uncle, John E. Fox, which position he held for three years, at the same time studying medicine at the Jefferson Medi- cal College, and graduating from that institution in 1878. After his graduation he spent a few months
at his Alma Mater, studying practical surgery. He then went abroad, entered the University of Vienna in the fall of 1878, and devoted his attention in that institution to the study of diseases of the eye. After spending eighteen months in Vienna he took a course on microscopy in the University of Stras- bourg. Dr. Fox now manifested a marked degree of progress and knowledge in the department of ophthalmology, and after devoting some time in traveling over the Continent, on a highly creditable examination, was appointed Clinical Assistant in Moorfields Eye Hospital of London, having been the only American, and one of a very few foreigners, who ever received that appointment. He remained there one year and a half, and in this position of wide opportunity, having taken advantage thereof, he developed into one of the most thorough mem- bers of his profession. He returned to America in 1881, and located in Philadelphia, where he has since established a renowned reputation for thor- oughness in ophthalmology and skill in operation, being one of the most progressive ophthalmic sur- geons of the present day. His improvement on the ophthalmoscope has been of great benefit to the pro- fession. Dr. Fox was much interested in the sub- ject of color blindness, and made valuable develop- ments ou the subject. He made the first attempt in this country to engraft the cornea of the eye of the rabbit into the human eye, which operation was performed with great success at the Germantown Hospital, in April, 1888, and which will be of incal- culable value to science and the blind.
GARRICK M. HARDING.
HON. GARRICK MALLERY HARDING, a lead- ing lawyer of Wilkes-Barre, and from 1870 to 1880 President-Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District of Pennsylvania, was born at Exeter, Luzerne Co., Pa., July 12, 1830. He is a lineal descendant of Stephen Harding who is referred to as a freeman of Providence, R. I., in the records of that city bear- ing date as far back as 1669. The fourth son of this ancestor, also named Stephen, born about 1680, and probably a native of Providence, was a sea- captain by profession, a man of ample means, "and from his acquaintance and transactions, evidently one of the first persons in the Colonies." His third son, born iu 1723 and named after him, removed to Colchester, Conn., about the year 1750, and made his home there for nearly a quarter of a century, during which period his large family of children, consisting of nine sons and three daughters, was
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born. In 1774, following the example of many | other adventurous sons of Connecticut, he removed to the Wyoming Valley-which, under the charter granted to Connecticut by King Charles, was inclu- ded within the boundaries of that Colony-and set- tled on the western bank of the Susquehanna, his farm lying within the limits of what is now Exeter, Luzerne County, and he died there October 11, 1789. He took an active part in the memorable events which occurred in that historical locality soon after his arrival and "commanded Fort Wintermoot in the Wyoming Massacre." His eighth son, John, born about 1765, was the only member of the family who escaped death at the hands of the fiendish Indian allies of the Britishi, in this bloody affair. The Hon. Isaac Harding, a son of this survivor and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Exeter and lived there until 1846, when he removed to Illinois. He was a lawyer by profession and practiced with distinguished success in that State, and was elected a Judge of the County Court of Lee County. He died at Paw Paw Grove, Illinois, in 1854. Garrick Mallery Harding was the fourth son of his parents. He seems to have inherited a love for books and study, and from his earliest years to have paid strict attention to his teachers. His education began in Franklin Academy in Sus- quehanna County, was continued in Madison Acad- emy at Waverly, and was completed in Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pa. In each of these institutions he made an excellent record, and took his collegiate degree with distinguished honors. The profession of law held out the greatest inducements to his tastes, and upon leaving college he engaged in the work of mastering its intricacies under the pre- ceptorship of the Hon. Henry M. Fuller, who was a leading member of the Luzerne County bar. In 1850, just two years later, he was regularly admitted to practice. The bar of Luzerne County at that time was conspicuous for the strength and ability of its members, and to meet them on an equal foot- ing in the courts of law was in itself an experienec of high educational value, as was also the business connection he formed with his preceptor, which lasted six years. The young lawyer had many ad- mirable personal qualities to commend him to public attention. His eloquence was striking and convinc- ing and made him a power before juries. Naturally his practice enlarged, and before ten years had passed he was a formidable rival of his older collea- gues. In 1858 the Republicans placed him in nom- ination for the office of District Attorney of Luzerne County. His opponent was General Winchester, a popular and able Democrat, whom he defeated by a majority of seventeen hundred votes, although
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