USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 54
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
French and Indian War was a commissary in the service of George III., and whose account books of that service are still in the possession of a son of Joshua Hunt, at Catasauqua. Roger Hunt's wife was an Aston, and from them he came into posses- sion of a tract of land in the borough of Downing- ton, comprising an area of five hundred acres, and known as Aston Terrace. The family mansion, built in 1727, is still in fine preservation and known as the Hunt Mansion. One who knew Mr. Hunt long and intimately speaks of his character and habits as follows :
"Mr. Hunt had marked characteristics, physical, mental and moral. About six feet in height, deep chested and broad shouldered, he gave promise of a long life. His death at sixty-six was a sad surprise to his many friends. He was a man of much men- tal force. He endeavored to look into and all around a matter presented to him for consideration, and whether right or wrong in the conclusion reached, he meant to be right. He was a man of few words, and if called upon to 'make a few remarks' they were sure to be few indeed, yet much to the point. He was sometimes somewhat curt and ab- rupt, yet of a kindly heart and never intentionally unjust. He was sparing in his expressions of per- sonal regard for any one, yet he came promptly to the front in time of need, and most readily extend- ed sympathy and aid when they were most required. He was more a man of deeds than words. As 'a man of affairs' he was capable of having many things under way at the same time, without neg- lecting any one of them. He was not always suc- cessful, but his failures did not weaken confidence in his general ability, His veracity and integrity were unquestioned. Being of Quaker descent he retained many of his Quaker instincts and traits of character long after lie had left that peaceful fold. He was very averse to bickering and strife, and when the signs in any local sky were stormy, he re- mained silent or left the scene. He was careful in expressing sympathy with either side, and, if he had any, showed it more by manner than by words. His hospitality was generous and he was never more happy than when to his own family of nine sons and two daughters there were added chosen friends. When one by one 'the olive branches about his table' were cut down, he still welcomed those who had liis confidence and regard. He was liberal in contributing of his substance to worthy objects, and he especially held dear the church (the First Presbyterian of Catasauqua) where he worshiped, and the pastor whom he first secured to preside over it, and whose instructions he listened to for more than thirty-four years. Hc was closely identified with all church movements and improve- ments, and was the architect who drew the working plans of church and chapel and superintended their construction. He long held the office of a trustee, and at the time of his death he had been an Elder in that church and Superintendent of its Sabbatlı-school for forty years. He was a model of promptness and punc- tuality-and especially so in attendance on the set religious services-very rarely, during all those forty years, was he absent from his place on the Sabbath or at the mid-week service, despite the de-
mands of business; and rarely, if ever, one minute after the appointed time. He died greatly lamented by those who knew his sterling worth."
HOWARD J. REEDER.
HON. HOWARD JAMES REEDER, of Easton, a leading member of the Pennsylvania bar, and Judge of the several Courts of the Third Judicial District of Pa., is the son of ex-Governor Andrew H. Reeder, of Kansas, and was born at Easton, Pa., December 11, 1843. He received the rudiments of his educa- tion at a school in Lawrenceville, N. J., upon leav- ing which he attended the Edge Hill Academy at Princeton, in the same State, where he was prepared for college. He entered Princeton College in the class of '63. The outbreak of the Civil War found him immersed in study, but as the struggle pro- gressed and the need for men became urgent, he patriotically abandoned his books to take up arms under the flag of his country. He entered the ser- vice as Second Lieutenant in the First Regiment U. S. Infantry, (regular army) and served with it on the coast of Florida and at " Island No. 10." Dur- ing the campaign in south-west Missouri he was taken seriously ill. In consequence he resigned his commission and returned to Easton in July, 1862. Upon his recovery he returned to his studies at Princeton. In the fall of 1862, when Lee invaded Pennsylvania, the young student again left college, returned to Easton and re-entered the service as Adjutant of the One Hundred and Fifty-third Regi- ment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. In January, 1863, he was promoted to a Captaincy in the same regi- ment, and was mustered out of the service with that rank in July, 1863, after the bloody repulse of the Confederates. He participated in both the Chan- cellorsville and Gettysburg battles. In the fall of 1863 he began the study of law with Judge Green of Easton, and finished his preparation for the bar at the Harvard Law School. In January, 1867, he was admitted to practice ; and from that date until 1881 was busily engaged in professional work at Easton. In May of the latter year Governor Hoyt, of Pennsylvania, appointed him Judge of the Third Judicial District, to fill a position newly created by an act of Legislature. After the term expired he resumed the practice of law, but in the fall of 1884 was elected to the bench for the full term of ten years. The people's appreciation of his fitness for the position was conclusively shown by the fact that, although he was a Republican and ran in a district which gave Mr. Cleveland thirty-two hundred ma- jority for the Presidency, he was elected by a ma-
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jority of eleven hundred. Judge Reeder's law prac- tice was most extensive and absorbing, and was mainly in the higher State Courts and in the Su- preme Court of the United States. He was Attorney for some of the most prominent corporations in Easton, including several banks. His success at the bar and on the bench has been achieved by intellect- ual ability, diligent labor, faithfulness to duty and high personal character. Judge Reeder is a gentle- man of scholarly tastes, and one of his most valued possessions is his extensive library which, in the department of law, is probably one of the largest in Pennsylvania. He is connected with the Episcopal Church and deeply interested in Christian and phil- anthropic work. He married in May, 1867, Miss Helen Burke, daughter of Mr. William Burke of Easton. He has two children : Miss Lelia Burke Reeder and John Knight Reeder. Justly esteemed in the community for his personal worth, Judge Reeder holds a high social position, which is strengthened by the distinguished career of his es- timable father, and the prominence of his family in historic annals.
FRANK REEDER.
GENERAL FRANK REEDER, of Easton, a prominent lawyer in that city, Brigadier-General of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, and second son of ex-Governor Andrew H. Reeder, of Kansas, was born at Easton, Pa., May 22, 1845. He began his schooling in the Allentown Seminary, continued it at Lawrenceville, N. J., was subsequently for a time under the private tutelage of Dr. McPhail of La Fayette College, and then a pupil at the Edge Hill Academy. He entered Princeton College in 1859, and quitted it, in his senior year, to enter the volun- teer service of the United States as Adjutant of the One Hundred and Seventy-fourthı Regiment, Penn- sylvania Infantry, and was mustered in October 9, 1862. He served with this command until August 7, 1863, and then entered the Nineteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, with the rank of Captain. With the latter regiment he did active duty in the West and South-west, and was brevetted Major for gallantry in the operations of General Grierson in Mississippi, and Lieutenant-Colonel for gallantry at Nashville, Tenn. He became Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment January 26, 1865, and commanded the regiment from that date until it was mustered out of service, June 6, 1866. General Reeder, who is be- lieved to have been the youngest regimental com- mander in the Union Army, was wounded at Cypress
Swamp, Tenn., April 1, 1864, and also at the battle of Nashville, where three horses were killed under him. After his honorable discharge from the army in June, 1866, he attended the Albany Law School, passing through the usual course, and in March, 1868, was admitted to the bar. At first he practiced his profession in New York city, having offices with the late Chester A. Arthur, subsequently President of the United States. In 1870 he returned to Eas- ton, and has since resided in that city. Under the administration of General Grant he held the office of Collector of Internal Revenue for the Eleventh Dis- trict of Pennsylvania, but, with this exception, he had no office ; respectfully, but firmly declining all overtures made to him in that direction, at present preferring the active practice of his profession to any political honors. A staunch Republican and a conservative leader, he is prominent in political affairs, both State and National, and has served with high distinction in the councils of his party. He was a delegate to the National Republican Conven- tion at Chicago, in 1888, which nominated General Benjamin Harrison for the Presidency, and was one of the members of the committee appointed to noti- fy the General of his nomination. He has always taken an active interest in the National Guard, and on July 15, 1874, was commissioned Brigadier General by Governor John F. Hartranft. During the Labor Riots in 1877 General Reeder was in command of the troops at Reading, Pa., and although there was a collision with the rioters in which a number were killed and wounded, quiet was soon restored and order maintained. General Reeder's manners are genial and courteous, and his friends numerous in every walk in life. Unlike the greater number of those who win phenomenal successes in early life, he proves by his conspicuous and independent position in later years, the solid quality of his char- acter and attainments. He has ably sustained the reputation of his family, and justly shares in its dis- tinguished prominence. While residing in New York city, General Reeder married Miss Grace E. Thompson, daughter of Mr. Charles Thompson, a prominent merchant of Boston. He has three chil- dren living, all sons, viz : Andrew H., Frank, and Douglas W.
WILLIAM H. JESSUP.
HON. WILLIAM HUNTTING JESSUP, a distin- guished lawyer of Scranton, was born in Montrose, Penn., January 29, 1830. He was the eldest of five sons of Hon. William Jessup, LL.D., who came
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from Southampton, L. I., in 1818, and made his home and fortune in that place, and for many years was President-Judge of the District composed of the Counties of Luzerne, Wayne, Pike, Monroe and Susquehanna. His next two younger brothers, Rev. Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D., and Rev. Samuel Jes- sup, have been for thirty-three and twenty-six years respectively, missionaries at Beirut, Syria. The next younger brother, George A. Jessup, is Vice-Presi- dent of the Scranton City Bank, while the youngest brother, Huntting C. Jessup, who is also the young- est of a family of ten children who attained man- hood and womanhood, is associated with his oldest brother in the practice of law at Montrose. The sub- ject of this sketch, now familiarly known as Judge Jessup, was educated at Cortland Academy, Homer, N. Y., at that time under the charge of Dr. Samuel B. Woolworth, LL.D., and in 1846, at the age of sixteen, entered the sophomore class of Yale College, where he graduated in 1849, at the age of nineteen. Among his college class-mates were President Timothy Dwight, D.D., LL.D. of Yale College, Judge Fran- cis M. Finch, of the New York Court of Appeals, Rev. Dr. F. W. Fisk, D.D., of Chicago Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. E. D. Morris, D.D., of Lane Theological Seminary, and William F. Poole, LL.D., of the Chicago Library. He chose the law for his profession, and in November, 1851, was ad- mitted at the last term of court held by his father, Judge Jessup, senior, who immediately rc-entered the practice of the law with him and at once intro- duced him to an extensive clientele in all the North- eastern part of Pennsylvania. He entered into his profession with great zeal and earnestness and soon became one of the most prominent and successful lawyers from that section. His practice extended throughout the State, in the State Courts and those of the United States, and he has been everywhere known as an accurate, thorough and able lawyer. In October, 1853, he married Miss Sarah W. Jay, of Belvidere, N. J., and, as the fruit of this marriage, two sons and four daughters have grown up in his home, which is noted for its refined sociability and large hearted hospitality. As a man, Mr. Jessup's character is spotless. At the early age of thirteen he connected himself with the Presbyterian Church of Montrose, was for thirty-six years Superintend- ent of its Sabbath-school, and has been for the last twenty years one of its Ruling Elders. He has been connected with all benevolent and educational move- ments in his community, and is especially active in the temperance cause. In politics he is an ardent Republican, having assisted in organizing the Re- publican party in his native town in November, 1854; and in every campaign since that time he has
taken the stump for the maintenance of its princi- ples, and is known throughout the State as one of the most eloquent and popular political orators. He partially represented his district in the Conven- tion which nominated Abraham Lincoln for his second term; was delegate to the Convention which nominated Gen. Grant for the Presidency in 1868, and was one of the delegates-at-large from Pennsyl- vania to the Convention which named Mr. Blaine in 1884. Though kept from enlisting through the whole War of the Rebellion by the business responsibilities and necessary care of an infirm and aged father, he was unceasingly active in the support of the Govern- ment, both in time and money, and during tlie invasion of Pennsylvania in 1862 and '63, he was in active service as Major of the 28th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia. In 1863 he was appointed by President Lincoln, Assessor of Internal Revenue for the 12th Collection District of Pennsyl- vania, and during the three years while he held the office, there was collected from the two counties, Susquehanna and Luzerne, composing the district, more than one million dollars annually. In 1871 he was commissioned by Gov. John W. Geary, as Major-General of the 10th Division of the National Guard of Pennsylvania. In 1877 he was appointed President-Judge of the 34th Judicial District, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Streeter. He held this office until 1879, and during that time was distinguished for the clearness of his decisions and the rapid dispatch of the business of the vari- ous courts. As a Judge, he was remarkable for his ready comprehension of the difficult points in a case, and his thorough knowledge of the law relat- ing to the same, but not more so than for the strict and unswerving impartiality of his decisions. Al- though a laborious student in his office, Judge Jessup has found time and pleasure in giving atten- tion to the subject of agriculture, and for many years was President and an active promoter of the Susquehanna County Agricultural Society-one of the oldest organizations of its kind in the State. He has been active in the introduction of valuable live stock and all labor-saving machinery and methods in farming. Judge Jessup retired from the Bench to a full and lucrative practice at the bar, which he has continued to the present time (1888). He spends most of his time at his office in the city of Scranton, where his eldest son, W. H. Jessup, jr., and his nephew, Horace E. Hand, are associated with him. The varied business of the great corporations of that city engross the most of his time and legal ability. Personally, Judge Jessup is tall, of commanding presence and has a fine, clear and melodious voice, which attracts and holds the
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attention of all auditors. He is always courteous in his address, and seeks to win by the soundness of his legal propositions and the justice of his case, without descending to the use of any forensic tricks to arouse passion or inflame prejudice. His integ- rity has brought to him the care and management of large estates, which have been administered with fidelity. Judge Jessup is now in the full enjoyment of a vigorous manhood, and fully employed in the practice of his profession. He has always beeu diligent and faithful in his business relations, and personally blameless alike in public and private life.
LAZARUS DENISON SHOEMAKER.
IN the north-eastern section of the State of Penn- sylvania lies a large territory known in Colonial times, first, as the town of Westmoreland, Litch- field County, Conn., and afterwards as the County of Westmoreland in the Colony of Connecticut. This territory included the principal parts of the Coun- ties of Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wyoming, Bradford, Columbia, Montour, Clearfield, Elk and Mckean, and smaller portions of Susquehanna, Northumber- land, Union and Center, and the whole of Sullivan, Lycoming, Tioga, Potter and Cameron. It has a present population of one million inhabitants. This is a goodly domain, and would have made a " solid" little State, twice as large in area and with a greater population than the present State of Connecticut. Three companies of troops were raised there for the Continental service, and were part of the 24th Reg- iment of the Connecticut line. This territory was claimed by both the State of Pennsylvania and the State of Connecticut. The conflict in title gave rise to numerous contests leading to fatal results, aud is known in history as the Pennamite and Yankee War. Promptly on the appearance of peace, after the surrender of Cornwallis at York- town, Pennsylvania, by petition of her President and Executive Council, prayed Congress to appoint Com. missioners " to constitute a Court for hearing and determining the matter in question agreeably to the ninth article of the Confederation." Commission- ers were appointed and met at Trenton, N. J., No- vember 19, 1782. On December 30, 1782, they pronounced the following judgment : " We arc unanimously of the opinion that the State of Con- necticut has no right to the land in controversy. We are also' unanimously of opinion that the juris- diction and pre-emption of all the territory lying within the charter boundary of Pennsylvania, and now claimed by the State of Connecticut, do of
right belong to the State of Pennsylvania." It then became necessary for the settlers, within the dispu- ted territory, to purchase their lands over again, paying from two dollars to eight cents per acre. The great value of the land in controversy was not appreciated, for the district has been found to con- tain nearly one-half of all the anthracite coal in the United States. The Wyoming basin alone is some sixty miles in length by three miles in width, with an average thickness of forty feet of pure an- thracite coal, affording employment and support for a half million of inhabitants, and supplying material for motive power for all purposes, and cheap fuel for the rich and the poor ages to come. And over this wonderful deposit rests the richest soil, watered by streams from the mountain side to the river, pre- senting views of surpassing beauty. In the town- ship of Kingston in the Wyoming Valley, the subject of this sketch, Lazarus Denison Shoemaker, was born on the fifth day of November, 1819. There and in the city of Wilkes-Barre, a few miles distant, he has continued to reside, except when absent at col- lege or in public service. His remote ancestor in the male line was Jochem Schoonmaker, who emi- grated from Amsterdam, Holland, in the year 1680, and settled in Rochester Township, Ulster County, N. Y. He purchased a large body of land in that locality, which he occupied and tilled up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1729. The church records of that locality indicate that he and his family were members of the Dutch Reformed Church, as most of the emigrants from Holland were attached to that Church. His will is recorded in the Surrogate's office in New York County, in Book 11, page 52, in which he distributes his estate among his sons and daughters. In the history of that day he seems to have been a prominent man in the affairs of his county. He left a family of eight sons and seven daughters, and during the Revolution the name of his descendants appear fre- quently on the rolls of the patriot army. One of his sons, Benjamin, moved to Pennsylvania in 1735, purchased a farm near Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and occupied it until his death, which occurred in 1775. While living in Pennsylvania, his name became changed from Schoonmaker to Shoe- maker-the latter being the English of the former. In the Recorder's office at Easton, in Northampton County, Pa., the farm which he purchased is con- veyed to him as grantee, as Benjamin Schoonmaker, while his will, written by him some forty years later, is subscribed by him as Benjamin Shoemaker, and his descendants have so continued to write it. He held several offices of trust in his county and left a competence for liis widow and children. He
L. D. Shoemaker
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maintained his attachment to the Dutch Reformed Church, as did his father, Jochem. His wife was Elizabeth, daugliter of Samuel Depui, who was a son of Nicholas Depui, the first settler at Shawnee, on the west bank of the Delaware River. Nicholas emigrated from Artois, in the north of France, in 1664. Benjamin and Elizabeth were blessed with two sons and six daughters. Of the two sons, Eli- jah, the eldest and grandfather of Mr. Shoemaker, after receiving his share of his father's estate, joined the emigrants from Connecticut on their way to the Wyoming Valley, under the auspices of the Susquehanna Land Company, which was composed chiefly of New England families. This was in the year 1776 or thereabouts, and the journey was one of great hardship, being sixty miles through a dense forest and before any roads had been made. Great courage and endurance were required to ac- complislı it. Before starting out on his perilous undertaking, he married Jane McDowell, a daughter of John McDowell, of Cherry Valley, Monroe Coun- ty, who emigrated from Ireland in 1735, and is reported to have been possessed of considerable property and of great kindness of hcart. In those trying times he earned for himself the gratitude of many worn and weary families on their way from New England to the promised land on the Susque- hanna River. Elijah and his bride were successful in reaching the end of their journey, and became at once permanent and prominent settlers in their new home, and were happy and successful in improving their farm. Their happiness, however, was abruptly terminated; for on the third day of July, 1778, oc- curred the memorable battle in which Elijah, with some three hundred others of the settlers were slain, leaving a widow and an only child named Elijah, six months of age. This, then so cruelly or- phaned infant, became the father of the present Mr. Shoemaker. The widow and child were left in very poor circumstances, for practically everything in their little home had been carried off or destroyed by the British and savages. The mother partook largely of her father's energy and perseverance, and succeeded in caring for her boy until he was old enough to care for her. Before he had attained his majority, the disputed question between the two States had been settled, and he was the owner of a large and valuable farm. This he managed with great skill and ability, adding largely to its acreage. In May, 1800, he married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Colonel Nathan Denison. In 1814 he was elected Sheriff of Luzerne County. A biographer says of him that "he performed the duties of the position with great satisfaction to the people. At that time the settlers were poor, and many of them burdened
with debt. By his leniency in the performance of his duty and by his own individual aid, many were enabled to save their little homes." He was a strong man physically and intellectually, and was brave and fearless in time of danger. Owing to the con- stant peril surrounding the settlers of that day, from predatory bands of Indians, he took special interest in military matters, and was honored by tlie authorities witli a commission of Colonel,-a conspic- uous honor at that time,-and some of the equip- ments pertaining to that position are still lield by his descendants as interesting relics. His education was limited, being only such as could be acquired at the country school ; yet he had sufficient learn- ing and culture to render liim a good and useful cit- izen and an honest man of the olden time. In July, 1829, he was taken with a fever which caused his death in a few days, in the fiftieth year of his age. He left a valuable estate, still owned by his descend- ants, and a family of six sons and three daughters, all of whom are deceased, excepting the youngest daughter, Caroline, wife of Dr. Levi Ives, a distin- guished physician of New Haven, Conn., and the youngest son, the subject of this sketch. The el- dest son, Charles D., was graduated at Yale Univer- sity in the year 1825, and was honored with the ap- pointment as one of the Judges of the Courts of Luzerne County, besides other positions entrusted to him which he filled with fidelity and satisfaction to all parties interested. The other brothers, now deceased, were engaged in agricultural and mercan- tile pursuits, were honest and industrious citizens, and died beloved by all who knew them. The widow, Elizabeth Denison, beloved by her children and by all who knew her, survived lier husband two years. They both rest in the beautiful cemetery at Forty Fort, near the home which knew them so well, and which is fragrant to their posterity with cherished memories of the past. The maternal grand- father of Mr. Shoemaker was Colonel Nathan Deni- son, who moved to this valley from Windham, Conn., in the year 1768, purchased a farm in an eligible location, and began making improvements; and a few years later married Elizabeth Sill, daugh- ter of Jabez Sill, an emigrant from Windsor, Conn. This is recorded the first marriage in the Valley, and their eldest son, Lazarus, the first child born in the district. The Denisons trace their ancestry back some three centuries, to William Denison, wlio was born in England in 1586, and settled in Rox- bury, Mass., in 1631. " A record of the descend- ants of Captain George Denison, of Stonington, Conn., (son of William) with notice of his father and two brothers, and some account of other Deni- sons who settled in America in Colony times," is a
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