USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Families of the Wyoming Valley: biographical, genealogical and historical. Sketches of the bench and bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, vol. II > Part 17
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PERCIVAL COOVER KAUFFMAN.
who served faithfully, and deserve well of their country. Either one would make a good collector. Hoping you will see to it that a good soldier is appointed as my successor, and that it will only be asked of him "have you been faithful to your country ?" I am yours, very respectfully, L. KAUFFMAN,
Collector 15th District, Pa.
Early in 1864 Mr. Kauffman assisted in organizing and became the cashier of the Second National Bank of Mechanicsburg, and held that position until he resigned in the latter part of 1869. The State Guard, a daily newspaper started at the state capital during 1867, was a project of Mr. Kauffman's, and one in which he invested a large sum of money. Not proving a financial suc- cess, he abandoned its publication in 1869. From 1870 until the time of his death, which occurred February 10, 1882, Mr. Kauff- man was engaged in the fire insurance business, having the state central agency of several large companies, his principal office being at Harrisburg, Pa. Mr. Kauffman never hesitated to per- form any duty imposed upon him by his fellow citizens, his church, or society. As burgess, town councilman, school director, and member of the board of trustees of "Irving Female College," he was always on hand to take his full share of work and responsibility. He was noted for his public spirit and local pride in the town of his adoption, and many of the public and private improvements erected in Mechanicsburg were due to his foresight and energy. He was liberal to a fault. For more than thirty years he was a member of the "Church of God," and faith- fully filled the offices of superintendent of the Sabbath school, deacon and elder. He frequently represented his church in the Annual Eldership of East Pennsylvania, and on several occasions was a lay delegate to the triennial sessions of the General Elder- ship of the church.
Mr. Kauffman was a man of strong will, great energy. daunt- less courage ; inflexible in the right, and afraid of nothing but of being wrong; fond of the sports of his children as they were of playing and being with him. While abounding in anecdote, jovial at table, with pleasant voice, it was in harmony with the nature and power of Mr. Kauffman, who was a hero in action in every condition of life, and possessed of a will and energy that fitted him to be a leader in every party to which he belonged.
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PERCIVAL COOVER KAUFFMAN.
Politically Mr. Kauffman, like the other members of his family, was a republican, and assisted in the organization of that party in Pennsylvania. He took a keen interest and active part in the primary and general elections, frequently participating as a dele- gate in the party conventions. In 1864 he was a delegate to the Na- tional Republican Convention at Baltimore, and assisted in the nomination of Lincoln and Johnson. He was, as a republican, closely associated with John W. Forney, Thaddeus Stevens, Thomas E. Cochran and D. J. Morrill, and took a very active part in securing the nomination and election of John W. Geary as governor.
His eldest brother, C. S. Kauffman, of Columbia, Pa., repre- sented Lancaster county in the state Senate from 1878 to 1882. Lieut. Isaac D. Kauffman, his second brother, served faithfully in the war of the Rebellion in the 9th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, and died June 7, 1862, from disease contracted in the service. His brother Andrew J. Kauffman, a member of the bar of Lancaster county, was appointed by President Arthur, in 1882, collector of internal revenue for the Ninth district of Penn- sylvania.
Mr. Kauffman was married February 5, 1856, to Ann Eliza- beth Coover, daughter of the late John Coover, of Mechanicsburg. Mr. Coover was one of the earliest settlers of Cumberland county, Pa. Prominent in church, society and business, he and his descend- ants have always been people of note. He was one of the founders of Mechanicsburg, and was descended from the German family named "Kobar," afterward changed to Coover, who emi- grated to this country as early as 1760. Soon after this date his grandfather, Gideon Coover, bought a large tract of land, being of the " Manor on Conodoguinet." situated by the Cedar Spring, south of Shiremanstown, Cumberland county, Pa. One of his sons, George Coover, was married on October 22, 1764, to Eliz- abeth Mohler, by Rev. Nicholas Hornell, of York, minister of the German Lutheran church, of which both were members. They lived on the plantation at Cedar Spring, and had five sons and four daughters-George, Jr., Henry, Elizabeth, Susannah, Catharine, Anne, Michael, Jacob, and John, the father of Mrs. Kauffman, who was born February 22, 1787. Mr. Coover's early
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PERCIVAL COOVER KAUFFMAN.
life was spent on his father's farm, where he attended such schools as his day afforded. About 1816 or 1817 he removed to Me- chanicsburg, and opened the first important store in that place, becoming thereafter a successful merchant. He was therein engaged until 1849, when he disposed of his stock and retired from active business life, always, however, taking a keen and decided interest in the public affairs of the borough, state and nation. Some years previous to this time he purchased a large tract of land, lying immediately south of the borough of Mechan- icsburg-bounded by the middle of Simpson street-which since his decease has been incorporated into the borough, and laid out by his heirs into town lots, with fine wide streets, and being slightly elevated, is being rapidly built up, and bids fair to become the most beautiful part of the town. On February 4, 1819, he was married to Salome Keller, daughter of Martin Keller, who landed in Baltimore, Md., in 1786, emigrating from the can- ton of Basle, Switzerland. About 1800 he removed to Cumber- land county and purchased a large tract of land in Silver Spring township, known as "Barbace," situated one-half mile north of Mechanicsburg, which is still owned by his descendants. The children of John Coover were six in number, one son-who died in infancy-and five daughters: Susan K., widow of Philip H. Long, M. D .; Sarah, married to Ephraim Zug (who died May, 1862), afterward married to William H. Oswald (who died Janu- ary, 1884) ; Mariamna, wife of Richard T. Hummel, Hummels- town, Dauphin county, Pa .; Ann Elizabeth, married to Levi Kauffman; and J. Emmeline, widow of Daniel Coover. John Coover died May 13, 1862, and his widow January 3, 1883, and they were both buried in the old family grave-yard at " Barbace," by the side of Martin Keller and Martin Keller's wife and mother.
The old homestead built by John Coover, situated on the northeast corner of Main and Frederick streets, Mechanicsburg, and in which he and his wife lived to the day of their death, is still occupied by one of his daughters. Mr. Coover was a quiet, unassuming man, one who made many friends, and of wide influ- ence in his church and society. He was a great reader, and had a fine mind and tenacious memory. His name was a synonym for
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PERCIVAL COOVER KAUFFMAN.
honesty and integrity, and from time to time he filled the various municipal offices, was for many years justice of the peace, and so great was the confidence reposed in him that he was con- stantly sought after to act as executor and administrator in set- tling the estates of decedents, and was guardian for nearly one hundred minors. A consistent and leading member of the German Baptist, or "Dunkard" church, he was kind to the poor, a kind husband and an indulgent father. Generous to a fault, kind hearted and true, he was beloved by all who knew him, and his memory is deeply cherished for his sterling worth and christian character, of which his descendants may well be proud.
Percival C. Kauffman, eldest son of Levi Kauffman, was edu- cated at Lauderbach's Academy, Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, and the law department of the same institution, graduating from the latter in the class of 1879. He read law with Hon. Wayne MacVeagh and George Tucker Bispham, and was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia county in June, 1879. In the fall of that year he located at Harrisburg, Pa., where he practiced his profession until 1882, when he was appointed legal assistant to the president of the Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company of Philadelphia, which position he resigned later that year, owing to a long and dangerous illness. In January, 1885, he removed to Hazleton, in this county, and was admitted to the Luzerne county bar February 26, 1885. In April of that year he became associated with George H. Troutman, also of Hazleton, under the firm name of Troutman & Kauffman.
To no other people is Pennsylvania more indebted for the thrift and energy that have made her in many respects the great- est in our sisterhood of states than to the early German emi- grants who, locating in the southern and southeastern counties, have, with their descendants, furnished many of the brightest and bravest men in the state's history. Coming from this stock, and immediately from a father who, as shown, had always the courage of his convictions to an heroic degree, and of a mother in whose veins flowed equally good blood, Percival Coover Kauffman may safely be set down as "made of good material." Though much afflicted physically for some years, he has nevertheless latterly
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JOSHUA LEWIS WELTER.
shown himself capable of much work and good work, and, in conjunction with his brainy partner, Mr. George H. Troutman, has succeeded in establishing in Hazleton an extensive and lucra- tive practice. Mr. Kauffman is an industrious man, of good moral character, popular politically and socially, and in all respects a credit to the town in which he resides.
JOSHUA LEWIS WELTER.
Joshua Lewis Welter, of Kingston, is a descendant of Henry Welter, who emigrated to this country from Germany either before or during the Revolutionary war. His name is found among the military veterans of that period. After the war he located at Fox Hill, Morris county, New Jersey. He had a son Jacob Welter, who was born at Fox Hill. His wife was Ann Shankle, a daughter of Henry Shankle, also of German descent, and who lived at German Valley, Morris county, N. J. Conrad Welter, son of Jacob and Ann Welter, was born in 1799 at Fox Hill. His wife was Mary, a daughter of Samuel Fulkerson, of Hackettstown, N. J. Joseph Fulkerson Welter, son of Conrad and Mary Welter, was born in 1828, at Hackettstown, N. J. Thirty years or more ago he removed to Luzerne county, and has resided in this county since, his present residence being in Kingston. His wife is Barbara Lawrence, a daughter of John D. Lawrence, who was a son of Samuel Lawrence, one of the early settlers of Pike county, Pa., having emigrated there from Germany. The wife of John D. Lawrence was Mary La Barre, of French extraction, a daughter of Samuel La Barre, of Strouds- burg, Pa. James M. Coughlin, superintendent of the schools of Luzerne county, is a son-in-law of J. F. Welter. Joshua Lewis Welter, son of J. F. Welter, was born at Pleasant Valley, Luzerne (now Lackawanna) county, February 23, 1858. He was edu- cated at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, and Syracuse (N. Y.) University, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1882. After leaving college he removed to Colorado, and was
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687
DANIEL ACKLEY FELL.
for a year an instructor in mathematics in the Colorado State School of Mines, at Golden. He then returned cast, and com- menced the study of the law in the office of E. P. & J. Vaughan Darling, and was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county June 6, 1885.
Mr. Welter is another of the many who have left educational pursuits for the practice of the law. Among those who have made that change are so many of the brightest lights of the legal profession, both of the past and the present, that one is almost compelled to the conclusion that there is something in the dis- cipline of the school room specially adapted to the development of the material of which good lawyers are made. Mr. Welter is quiet in demeanor and unassuming in manner, but apparently studious and earnest, and has first rate prospects of success ..
DANIEL ACKLEY FELL.
Daniel Ackley Fell was born at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., November 23, 1858. He is a descendant of Joseph Fell, who left the fol- lowing account of his birth and life :
A NARRATIVE OR AN ACCOUNT OF THE BIRTH AND TRANSACTIONS OF THE LIFE OF JOSEPH FELL FROM A CHILD TO OLD AGE.
I was born at Longlands, in the parish of Aldrail, in the county of Cumberland, in old England. I was the youngest son of seven children (three sons and four daughters). My father's name was John Fell, my mother's name Margaret Fell. I was born in the year 1668, the 19th day of October. My father died when I was about two years old ; my mother lived about twenty years a widow, and I was apprenticed to one John Bond, a house carpenter and joiner, living at Wheelbarrow Hill, near Carlisle, in Cumberland, where I served four years, and after that followed my trade while I stayed in England. When I was in the 30th year of my age I married Bridget Wilson, daughter of John and Elizabeth Wilson, living at - --- , in the parish of Callbeck, in Cumberland, and we had two sons born in Cumberland, Joseph and Benjamin. After that we moved to this country; took ship- ping at Whitehaven, in Cumberland-Mattheas Gale, captain of
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DANIEL ACKLEY FELL.
the ship. He anchored the ship at Belfast, in Ireland, and we stayed about a week there, and set sail again; and after we left sight of Ireland, in twenty-nine days we came in sight of land near the capes of Virginia, and our ship was called Cumberland, and then cast anchor in the mouth of Potomac river, and we went ashore in Virginia, and then we got a shallop to Choptank, in Maryland, and from there up the river to French Town, and so to New Castle by land; and then we took boat to Bristol, in this county, in the year 1705, and we lived one year in the township of Makefield, where we had a daughter, named Tamer. When she was about seven weeks old we came to Buckingham, where I now dwell, and about two years afterward had another daugh- ter, named Mary. When she was eleven days old her mother died, and I lived a widower near three years, and then married [March 10, 1711] a young woman named Elizabeth Doyle, born in this country. Her father was an Irishman, and her mother was born in Rhode Island, near New England, and we have lived together about thirty-four years, and she is about twenty years younger than I am. I am now myself in the seventy-seventh year of my age, and have eleven children-four by my first wife and seven by my second-and they are yet all living.
I have had it in my mind some years to leave a brief relation of my birth and transactions of life, being they are like to be left by me in a strange land; and as to my living through the world, it has been through some difficulty at times, by losses of crops, but nothing has happened to me but what is common to man- kind, for I have lived in what I call the middle station of life, neither rich nor poor, but by the blessings of God and my indus- try I have not been burdensome to anybody, yet hoping to have enough to carry me to my grave, and then I desire my children may follow my example in the way of living in the world; and I hope they may have a good report among men, and enjoy peace at last, which I daily desire for them all as for myself; and so I shall conclude, and earnestly pray that my wife and children all may fare well when I am gone.
(Signed) JOSEPH FELL. Buckingham, Pa., 6th day of the 12th month, 1745.
Elizabeth Fell, widow of the said Joseph Fell within mentioned, died on the 17th day of April, between eight and nine in the morning, A. D. 1784, in or about the 97th year of her age. .
Thomas Fell, sixth child of Joseph Fell, was born in Bucking- ham township, Bucks county, Pa., and married Jane Kirk, daugh- ter of Godfrey Kirk, of Wrightstown, in the same county. Amos Fell, son of Thomas Fell, was born in Buckingham, and there
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DANIEL ACKLEY FELL.
married Elizabeth Jackson, daughter of William Jackson, of Shrewsberry township, East Jersey. Their marriage certificate is before me, and is dated on the tenth day of the eleventh month, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty- four, and is in the well known words of a Quaker marriage cer- tificate. He was a civil engineer and surveyor, and located in Luzerne county about the same time that his brother, Jesse Fell, removed here. Amos Fell was a farmer also. Although several of the earliest settlements of Pittston township were within the present limits of the borough of Pittston, yet in 1828 there were but fourteen heads of families there, Amos Fell being among the number. John Stewart, sr., father of John Stewart, of Scranton, Pa., was also located there at the same time.
Jacob Fell, son of Amos Fell, was born in Buckingham, and removed with his father to Luzerne county. He settled in Pitts- ton township, and followed the occupation of a farmer; located upon what was a part of the farm of Jacob Fell. The wife of Jacob Fell, whom he married October 8, 1814, was Mary Ackley, daughter of Joshua Ackley, who resided in what is now West Pittston. He subsequently removed to West Finley, Washing- ton county, Pa., where he died. Daniel Ackley Fell, sr., son of Jacob Fell, was born at Pittston, Pa., May 29, 1817. He is by pro- fession an architect, contractor and builder. In his younger days he built or superintended the erection of the old Methodist church (since rebuilt), the Episcopal church (since remodelled), the present Presbyterian church, the McClintock house on River street, and the brick block on east corner of Market and Franklin streets. He also superintended the erection of the present court house and the Wyoming Valley hotel. He is at present the master builder of the Lehigh and Susquehanna division of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, having succeeded to that position from first, the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company ; second, the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad Company ; third, the Lehigh and Susquehanna division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey.
The wife of Daniel Ackley Fell, sr., who was born in Wilkes- Barre, is Elizabeth, daughter of the late Alexander Gray, who was a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, where he was born in 1804.
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JOHN BUTLER WOODWARD.
The wife of Alexander Gray was Jane Russell, a native of Hunt- ley, Scotland. After their marriage they removed to the island of St. Thomas, and subsequently to Baltimore, Md. In 1832 he came to Wilkes-Barre and superintended the works of the Balti- timore Coal Company. He continued in this position until 1862, when he operated the Hollenback mines. He then, in connec- tion with his son, Alexander Gray, jr., John Hosie and S. P. Longstreet, commenced mining operations in Schuylkill county, Pa. He subsequently sold out his interest in these mines to S. P. Longstreet, and then removed to Princeton, New Jersey, where he died.
Daniel Ackley Fell, jr., was educated in the public schools of Wilkes-Barre, the Wyoming Seminary of Kingston, the Law- renceville, N. J., High School, from which he graduated in 1878, the Wilkes-Barre Academy, and College of New Jersey at Prince- ton, from which he graduated in the class of 1883. He read law with E. G. Butler, and was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county July 27, 1885. He is an unmarried man and a republican in politics.
The Wyoming Seminary has had share in the training of per- haps a majority of the members of the Luzerne bar, and as that bar is confessedly one of the best in the state, the faculty of the Seminary have no reason to be ashamed of their handiwork. Mr. Fell has, as will be seen, had the advantages, in addition, of far higher and more ambitious educational institutions, but if he shall do as well as some who call the Seminary their only alma mater, he will have given his friends good reason to be proud of him. He has an apparently correct conception of what successful labor in the law involves, and will undoubtedly go ahead.
JOHN BUTLER WOODWARD.
John Butler Woodward was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., April 3, 1861. He is the eldest son of Stanley Woodward, whose biography has already been given in these pages. J. B. Woodward was educated at St. Paul's Academy, Concord, N. H.,
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JOHN BUTLER WOODWARD.
the Wilkes-Barre Academy, and Yale College, graduating from the latter institution in, the class of 1883. He commenced the reading of the law in the office of Andrew T. McClintock, in this city. He then entered the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, and while there was a student in the office of E. Coppee Mitchell, of Philadelphia. He completed his legal edu- cation prior to being admitted to practice in the office of William S. McLean, of this city. He was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county September 7, 1885. He is an unmarried man, and a democrat in politics.
No Pennsylvania family has done more for the bar and the bench of the state than the Woodward family. Two Supreme judges, both of them men of the highest ability, and one county judge, many of whose opinions on previously unadjudicated ques- tions have already gone into the text books and been widely quoted, constitute a record that is almost if not absolutely with- out a parallel. It is from this stock that John Butler Woodward comes, and it is not too much to say that although but just entered at the bar, he has already given demonstration that he will do nothing to dim its lustre. His preparation, as will be seen, both in general studies and in the study of the law, has been under tutelage than which there is no better. He has undoubted natural talents, which, with the development they have already had, and which increased practice will give them, will carry him to a prominent place in the profession if it shall be his ambition to occupy such a place. The two Judges Woodward who are now deceased had and the one who remains has rare oratorical powers-always more a natural gift than an acquire- ment-and John Butler Woodward has shown that he is similarly endowed. He has a taste for politics-another family character- istic-and during recent campaigns his party has utilized him upon the local stump to the satisfaction of his hearers and the evident benefit of his party's principles and prospects. He is of a genial temperament, and starts professional life, in short, under the brightest of auspices and with every chance of achieving in it both power and profit.
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LIDDON FLICK.
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LIDDON FLICK.
Liddon Flick is a descendant of Gerlach Paul Flick, who was the first of this family who came to America, arriving September 23, 1751, by the ship Neptune. He was a German by birth. (See Rupp's Coll. names of German Immigrants, 1726-1776.) Others of his family came with him. He settled in Northampton county, Pa., and followed his occupation of miller. He lived to be ninety-nine years of age. The longevity of this family is a matter of record, and referred to with pride by their descendants, particularly when it is remembered that they had to undergo the severe trials and hardships incident to the struggle for American independence.
Gerlach Paul Flick had three sons-Paul, Martin and Casper, who were born in Moore township, Northampton county. Cas- per Flick followed his father's business of milling, served through the whole period of the Revolutionary war, and died at the age of eighty-two. He had twelve children, nearly all of whom lived to be more than eighty. John Flick, eldest son of Casper, was born January 1, 1783, and died January 1, 1869, being eighty- six to a day. His early occupation was that of miller. He enlisted and served for a short period during the war of 1812, being mustered out when peace was declared. He was one of the leading citizens of Northampton county, in politics a strong democrat, and was several times elected to prominent offices while that party was in power. He was county commissioner for a number of years when Northampton, Monroe, Carbon and Lehigh constituted one county, and was twice elected to the legislature. In 1813 he married Eve B., daughter of Philip Cas- ter, who also served in the American army during the Revolu- tion, and who at one time lived in the Wyoming Valley, and afterwards settled in Lower Mt. Bethel, Northampton county. Eve B. Flick died in 1858, at the age of seventy-seven years.
The oldest son of John Flick is Reuben Jay Flick, who was born at Flicksville, Northampton county, Pa., July 10, 1816. Born and reared on a farm, his early opportunities were necessarily
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LIDDON FLICK.
limited. In 1838, at the age of twenty-two, he came to the Wy- oming Valley. Here he engaged in mercantile trade, and later in banking. By industry and integrity he has become one of the respected and influential citizens of Wilkes-Barre. He has always been closely identified with the various business and charitable interests of the city. His position as trustee of Lincoln Univer- sity, Oxford, Pa., of the Harry Hillman Academy, Female Institute, City Hospital and Home for Friendless Children evidences his benevolence and the esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens. Though frequently solicited, he has always declined to be a candidate for political office. In 1882, however, yielding to the pressure of friends, he accepted a unanimous nomination as candidate for congress on the prohibition ticket. Though making no personal effort, he polled a large vote, running far ahead of any other name on the ticket. He married, in January, 1858, Margaret Jane, daughter of Adam and Margaret Arnold, of Ham- ilton, Monroe county, Pa.
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