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 37
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I. H. Burns was educated in the schools of his native township and at the academy at Great Bend, Pa. He read law with Bent- ley & Fitch, at Montrose, and was admitted to the bar of Susque- hanna county in August, 1864. In 1866 he removed to Scranton and has resided there since. In 1876 he was one of the demo- cratic candidates for the legislature from Luzerne county, but was defeated, owing to dissensions in the party. For the past twelve years he has been the city solicitor of Scranton. Mr. Burns married, January 31, 1867, Eveline F. Barnes, a native of Herrick township, Susquehanna county, and daughter of G. W. Barnes, a native of Gibson township, Susquehanna county. Mr. and Mrs. Burns have a family of seven children-Rose F. Burns, Myrtle E. Burns, May E. Burns, Carlotta L. Burns, Grace Burns, Iris Burns, and Ellery Burns.
JOHN McGINNES RANCK.
John McGinnes Ranck, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., February 26, 1868, is the son of Adam Ranck, and his wife, Jane Martin, of Union county, Pa. Mr. Ranck was born April 19, 1831, in White Deer township, Union county. He was educated at the Milton Academy and Lewisburg Univer- sity, and read law with H. C. Hickok, at Lewisburg, Pa., and was admitted to the bar of Union county, at New Berlin, then the county seat, May 26, 1855. Mr. Ranck, when a young man, taught school for three years, and worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years of age. He practiced his profession for a few years in Lewisburg, and then removed to Scranton, Pa. He married, March 14, 1854, Mary Nancy Dreisbach, daughter of Elias and Rebecca Dreisbach, of Buffalo Valley, Union county;
914
MILO JONES WILSON.
and his second wife, whom he married January 30, 1867, was Emma D. Melick, daughter of John and Martha Jane Melick, of Light Street, Columbia county, Pa. Mr. Ranck has five child- ren living, the eldest, Rebecca J., being married to H. W. Hales, of Ridgewood, N. J. Mr. Ranck resides at Light Street, but has an office in Scranton.
MILO JONES WILSON.
Milo Jones Wilson, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 9, 1868, is a native of Factoryville, Luzerne (now Wyoming) county, Pa., where he was born January 31, 1838. He is a descendant of Joseph Wilson, a native of Rhode Island, who was a sailor on board of a privateer during the colonial war, in which service he lost a leg. He subsequently removed to Bask- ing Ridge, N. J., and from there to Warwick, Orange county, N. Y., where he died. His wife was Elizabeth Rickey. Isaac Wil- son, son of Joseph Wilson, was born at Basking Ridge August 2, 1768. His wife was Sarah Phillips, a native of Pownal, Vermont, where she was born July 29, 1775. She was a daughter of John Phillips, who married Mary Chamberlain. John was a son of Francis Phillips, a native of Rhode Island. At the time of the battle of Wyoming, July 3, 1778, John Phillips was in Port Blanchard with his family. Sarah Phillips was but three years of age at the time. In the Act for erecting Luzerne county, John Phillips was named one of the trustees to "take assurances , for a piece of land situated in some convenient place in or near Wilkesburg, within the said county of Luzerne, for the seat of a court house and of a county jail or prison for the said county, in the name of the commonwealth, in trust for the use and benefit of the said county of Luzerne, and thereupon to erect a court house and prison." After the marriage of Isaac Wilson and Sarah Phillips they removed from Warwick to Pitt- ston, in this county, where they bought a farm on the east side of the Lackawanna river, about a mile above its junction with the Susquehanna. Their children were all born there, Amzi Wilson
915
MILO JONES WILSON.
1
(who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county November 7, 1840) being the eldest. He was born December 17, 1795. John Wilson, son of Isaac Wilson, was born in Pittston, March 22, 1801. He married, March 3, 1830, Elsa Capwell, of Abington, Pa., who was born November 16, 1809. She was a daughter of Jere- miah Capwell, who was born in 1799 in Rhode Island. He was the son of Stephen and Hannah Capwell. The wife of Jeremiah Capwell was Isabella Whipple, a daughter of Joseph and Elsa Whipple, of Rhode Island. John Wilson, the father of the sub- ject of our sketch and the son of Isaac Wilson, was a graduate of Harvard University. He studied medicine with Andrew Bedford, M. D., of Waverly, Pa., and after his marriage settled in Factory- ville, Pa., where he practiced until his death, February 27, 1879.
M. J. Wilson, son of John Wilson, M. D., was educated at the Madison Academy, at Waverly, and the New York Central College, from which he graduated in 1858. He read law with R. B. Little and William M. Post, and was admitted to the bar of Susquehanna county August 20, 1860. Soon after his admission he went to St. Louis, Mo., and was admitted to the bar there in the fall of 1860. He practiced in St. Louis until the spring of 1862, when he enlisted in the Ninety-fourth Regiment Ohio Volun- teers. He was in the rout and retreat from Lexington, Ky., to Louis- ville, and was in the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, and other engagements. In 1863 he was detached and did duty as sergeant major in Fortress Rosecrans until the close of the war, in 1865. He settled in Scranton in 1868, where he still resides. He married, August 29, 1865, Ellen S. Warren, a native of McDonough, Chenango county, N. Y., a descendant of Simon Warren, of Littleton, Mass., where he was born November 21, 1750. He settled in Jaffrey, N. H., about 1773. He mar- ried Martha Harper, of Harvard, Mass., who was born Sep- tember II, 1749. Oliver Warren, son of Simon Warren, married, September 17, 1801, Abiah Stanley, a descendant of Matthew Stanley, who was of Lynn, Mass., in 1646. He had a son Samuel, who had a son also named Samuel. David Stanley, son of Samuel Stanley, jr., was born September 28, 1717, and married Sarah Burton March 1, 1746. Jonathan Stanley, the father of Abiah Stanley, the wife of Oliver Warren, and his wife Lois Ross
916
JOHN ESPY.
1
were of Acton, Mass. The latter's parents settled in Jaffrey, where Abiah was born. Jonathan Stanley was a native of Wil- mington, Mass. Andrew Oliver Warren, son of Oliver Warren, married Sophia Underwood, who was born February 19, 1811. She is a descendant of Joseph Underwood, an early resident of Massachusetts, where he was born in 1681. His wife was Susan- nah Parker. He had a son John, born September 15, 1727, who married Hannah Wright. He had a son Jereme, who was born July 21, 1750, and married Lucy Wheat at Lincoln, Mass., and removed to Jaffrey in 1777. His son Jereme, who was born August 24, 1781, married Nabby, daughter of Daniel and Sarah Gage, of Marlborough, N. H., November 23, 1807. Sophia, daughter of Jereme and Nabby Underwood, became the wife of Andrew Oliver Warren, the father of Ella S. Wilson. Her parents removed to Montrose, Pa., about 1849, and they still reside there. Her father, A. O. Warren, is a member of the Sus- quehanna county bar, as is also her brother, Charles A. Warren. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have no children surviving, two having died in infancy.
JOHN ESPY.
John Espy, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 20, 1868, is a descendant of George Espy, son of Jo- siah Espy, who died March, 1761, in Derry township, Lancas- ter county, Pa., where he was a settler as early as 1729. He was an emigrant from the north of Ireland. He married, in Ireland, Jean Taylor. Josiah Espy, son of George Espy, born in 1718, in the north of Ireland, died in 1762 in Hanover township, Lancaster county. George Espy, son of Josiah Espy, was born in 1749 in Hanover township, Lancaster (now Dauphin) county, and died April, 1814, in Luzerne county, Pa. His father, in March, 1775, conveyed to him a tract of land granted him by the proprietaries in what was then Northumberland county, Pa., to which he re- moved the same year. This tract of land was situated not far from the present borough of Nanticoke, upon which he built a log
917
FREDERICK WILLIAM GUNSTER.
house. John Espy, son of George Espy, was born in 1779, in Han- over township, then Lancaster (now Dauphin) county. He died March 25, 1843, in Hanover township, Luzerne county, Pa. James Espy, son of John Espy, was born in 1811 in Nanticoke, Pa. John Espy was the son of James Espy. (See page 431.) He was born in Hanover township, Luzerne county, Pa., September 21, 1842, and read law in the office of E. B. Harvey in this city. During the late civil war he was a private in Company E of the First Iowa Regiment. He was the first captain of the Wyoming Artillerists as reorganized after the close of the war, and was for eight years aid-de-camp on Major General Osborne's staff, with the rank of major in the National Guard of Pennsylvania. He saw active service in the strike riots at Scranton, Sus- quehanna Depot and Hazleton, Pa. He married, March 23, 1867, Martha M. Wood, a daughter of the late John B. Wood and his wife, Sarah Gore Wood. (See page 435.) Mr. and Mrs. Espy have a family of four children-John B. W. Espy, Lila W. Espy, Maude M. Espy, and Olin Espy. Mr. Espy was educated at the New Columbus Academy and at the Albany Law School, from which he graduated in 1866. In 1879 Mr. Espy removed to St. Paul, Minn., where he now resides. In 1884 and 1885 he was one of the county commissioners of Ramsey county, Minn., and the first named year was secretary of the re- publican state central committee of Minnesota.
Mr. Espy is an active and enterprising citizen of St. Paul. The organization of Mahtomedi Assembly and the Central Park M. E. Church of St. Paul, are largely due to his efforts. He has also erected quite a number of business blocks in the same city. He is a brother of B. M. Espy of the Luzerne bar.
FREDERICK WILLIAM GUNSTER.
Frederick William Gunster, of Scranton, Pa., who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., November 10, 1868, is a native
918
FREDERICK WILLIAM GUNSTER.
of Lockweiler, Prussia, where he was born September 15, 1845. His father, Peter Gunster, a native of Wadern, Prussia, emi- grated to America in 1853, and settled with his family at Scran- ton. The wife of Peter Gunster is Mary Birtel, daughter of John Birtel, natives of Lockweiler. F. W. Gunster was educated in the public schools of Scranton and Williams College, Williams- town, Mass., graduating with honors in 1867 in a class of fifty students, and was selected by the faculty of the college to deliver the philosophical oration. He read law with W. G. Ward at Scranton. He was district attorney of Lackawanna county in
1878 and 1879, and in 1875 and 1876 was a member of the house of representatives of Pennsylvania. He is a director of the Third National Bank of Scranton, of the Meredith Run Coal Company, and of the Pennsylvania Oral School for Deaf Mutes. He has been attorney for the city of Scranton, and for the past fourteen years has been attorney of the school board of the city of Scranton. In 1872 he was one of the electors on the demo- cratic ticket. On August 14, 1888, Mr. Gunster received the unanimous nomination of the democratic party, of which he is an honored member, for additional law judge of Lackawanna county, and the republican county convention gave him an endorsement by refusing to name a candidate against him. Of course he was elected. His term will begin on January 7, 1889. On Novem- ber 15, 1888, he was appointed by Governor Beaver an additional law judge to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Alfred Hand. He will fill this position until his regular term com- mences. Mr. Gunster married, October 16, 1873, Maggie Brahl, of this city. She is the daughter of Christopher Brahl, a native of Fuldau, Prussia, who emigrated to America in 1840, locating in Harrisburg, where he resided until 1843, when he settled in this city, and has resided here since. He was a merchant here for twenty-eight years. He was a director of the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre for eighteen years. He has been for fifteen years a director of the Wilkes-Barre Savings Bank, and is now vice president of the same. Mr. and Mrs. Gunster have a family of four children living-John M. Gunster, Louisa M. Gunster, Marguerite M. Gunster and Elizabeth Gunster.
919
CHARLES GRAHAM VAN FLEET.
WILLIAM H. STANTON.
William H. Stanton, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., November 10, 1868, is a native of the city of New York, where he was born in July, 1843. His father was William Stanton. W. H. Stanton was educated in the public schools and at St. Joseph's College, Susquehanna county, Pa., and read law with W. G. Ward, in Scranton. In the years 1872, 1873 and 1874 he was district attorney of the mayor's court of Scranton. In 1875-76 he was a state senator for Luzerne county, and in 1876 was elected to the congress of the United States to fill the unexpired term of W. W. Ketcham, now deceased. In 1877 he was elected by the labor reform party an additional law judge for Luzerne county for a term of ten years. He served during the year 1878 and then resigned office. He was for the years 1870 and 1871 the editor and proprietor of the Scranton Daily Times. Mr. Stanton married, August 16, 1869, Anna Mary Allen, daughter of James Henry Allen. Mr. and Mrs. Stanton have a family of five children-William H. Stanton, Mary A. Stanton, Victoria A. Stanton, Leroi E. Stanton, and Lenore G. Stanton. Mr. Stanton resides in Scranton, Pa., where he practices law.
CHARLES GRAHAM VAN FLEET.
Charles Graham Van Fleet, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., November 10, 1868, is a native of Benton town- ship, Luzerne (now Lackawanna) county, Pa., where he was born June 3, 1847. He is a grandson of the late James Van Fleet, a native of Minnesink, Orange county, N. Y., where he was born February 9, 1786. He came to Pittston the same year, being brought by his mother on horseback from his native place. The wife of James Van Fleet was Christiana Gardner. She was a daughter of Jesse Gardner, a native of Orange county, N. Y. He was a revolutionary soldier under General Sullivan, and after the
920
CLARK ESEK KING ROYCE.
war ended he emigrated to Pittston. He was the ancestor of B. G. Carpenter, of this city. James Van Fleet removed to Benton at an early date, and was one of its first settlers. The village of Fleetville, in Benton township, derived its name from him. The father of Charles G. Van Fleet, and son of James Van Fleet, was Alva Van Fleet, a farmer of Benton. His wife was Esther Baker, of Clifford, Susquehanna county, Pa. C. G. Van Fleet was educated at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pa., and at the Clinton, N. Y., Liberal Institute. He commenced his reading of the law with Lamberton and Merriman, in this city, and com- pleted his reading with E. N. Willard, in Scranton. Mr. Van Fleet was twice married-first, July 29, 1869, to Isabella C. Wil- son, daughter of John Wilson, M. D., of Factoryville, Pa. (See page 914.) By her he had two children-Edwin Wilson Van Fleet and Nora Belle Van Fleet. He married a second time, September 29, 1887, Ellen Oliver, a native of Troy, Pa. She is the daughter of Edwin C. Oliver, a native of Caldwell, N. J. Mr. Van Fleet resides at Troy, Pa. He has practiced at Scranton, Pa., Troy, Pa., and Boulder, Colorado. In 1879 and 1880 he was mayor of Boulder.
CLARK ESEK KING ROYCE.
Clark Esek King Royce, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., January 23, 1869, is a descendant of Robert Rose, who came to America in the ship Francis, from Ipswich, England, in 1634, with a son named Robert, who settled in Strat- ford, Conn., in 1644. He had a son Samuel Royce, of Walling- ford, Conn., in 1644, who had a son Jacob Royce, born in 1697, died in 1727, who had a son Amos Royce, of Wallingford, Conn., born in 1725, who had a son Jacob Royce, of Lebanon, N. Y., born in 1756, who had a son Ira Royce, of Lebanon, born in 1800 and died in 1874. The name is variously spelled Royce, Rice, Rose and Roise. C. E. K. Royce, son of Ira Royce, was born at Lebanon Springs, N. Y., January 13, 1837. The mother of C. E. K. Royce and wife of Ira Royce was Lucy A. King, daughter of Esek King. Mr. Royce married, February 3, 1864,
921
EMERICH HARRISON PAINTER.
Harriet B. Mitchell, daughter of Edward Mitchell, of Bridge Hampton, L. I., whose wife was Mary Brainard, of New Haven, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. Royce have a family of three children- Frank H. Royce, Robert M. Royce, and Mary B. Royce. C. E. K. Royce graduated from Williams College in the class of 1859. He then attended the Columbia College Law School, and was admitted to the bar of the state of New York, at Albany, in May, 1861. He entered the army in August, 1861, with the Forty- fourth Regiment, New York Infantry, and in November, 1865, was mustered out as colonel of the Twenty-ninth Regiment U. S. colored troops. He commenced the practice of the law at Sag Harbor, N. Y., and in 1868 he removed to Scranton, and was associated for a time with E. N. Willard, under the firm name of Willard & Royce. He subsequently went to San Francisco, Cal., where he now resides.
EMERICH HARRISON PAINTER.
Emerich Harrison Painter, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., February 24, 1869, is a descendant of Jacob Painter, who came from Holland at an early day and settled in Westmoreland county, Pa., then known as the "Wilds of the West." William Painter, son of Jacob Painter, was a native of Westmoreland county, where he was born in 1794. E. H. Painter, son of William Painter, was born in Freeport, Armstrong county, Pa., February 22, 1843. He was educated in the public schools of his native place and at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa., graduating from the latter in the class of 1867. He read law with George F. Miller, at Lewisburg, Pa., and was admitted to the Union county bar in October, 1868. In 1873, 1874 and 1875 he was deputy register of wills of Luzerne county. Mr. Painter married, April 15, 1869, Margaret Marr Derr, a daughter of Jacob Derr, whose grandfather, Ludwig Derr, was the founder of the present borough of Lewisburg, Pa., which in his day was called Derrstown. They have but one child living-Harry Leland Painter. Mr. Painter now resides in Turbotville, Pa.
922
WESLEY H. GEARHART.
WESLEY H. GEARHART.
Wesley H. Gearhart, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 7, 1869, is a native of Rush township, North- umberland county, Pa., where he was born December 8, 1839. He spent his early life on his father's farm, attending school a few months each year. His father died when quite young. This soon made self support and family aid a necessity. Soon there- after he began a five years' clerkship in Danville, Pa., studying in the meantime, and after that attending the Danville Academy and Dickinson Seminary, at Williamsport, Pa., graduating from the latter institution in 1862. He paid for his education from his own earnings. He read law with Hon. Paul Leidy, at Danville, and was admitted to the Montour county bar in De- cember, 1865. He removed to Reading, Pa., and spent three years practicing at the Berks county bar. Mr. Gearhart's reason for leaving that bar is given in his own words: "The German I had learned from the books and the Dutch as she is spoke in Berks county would not mix." He then settled in Scranton, Pa., and soon obtained a fine practice. Before leaving Reading, Judge Warren J. Woodward, before whom he had there prac- ticed, in a letter of introduction to Judge Conyngham, said of him : "You will find Mr. Gearhart to have unusual acquirements and qualifications for his profession, and to be a gentleman of the highest personal character. Such countenances as you may properly give him will be deservedly bestowed." Mr. Gearhart is a democrat in politics, and has been quite active since a voter, "taking the stump" in about every important campaign. He has repeatedly been asked and urged to run for almost every political office, but he has preferred home and family and to re- main by his large and lucrative practice, and to look after his coal mining interests in which he is now and for the past six years has been quite largely engaged. During the late civil war he was about four and a half months in the state service as a private. Mr. Gearhart is of Dutch descent, his ancestors having removed from Holland and settled in what is now Warren county, N. J. His great-grandparents removed to and settled near the banks
923
HARRY T. HULL.
of the Susquehanna river in Northumberland county, Pa. His grandfather, William Gearhart, was a native of the last named county and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1838. His son, Charles Gearhart, was the father of W. H. Gear- hart. The wife of Charles Gearhart was Sarah Mettler, a daugh- ter of William Mettler. She is still living at Danville at the age of seventy-eight. Mr. Gearhart married, May 3, 1866, Mary E. Kipp, daughter of George D. Kipp and his wife Mary (nee. Rus- sell). Mr. and Mrs. Gearhart have a family of four children living -Edwin Way Gearhart, Lilian Gearhart, James Kipp Gearhart and Mary Russell Gearhart. Their eldest child, George Kipp Gearhart, is deceased.
HARRY T. HULL.
Harry T. Hull was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., April 24, 1869. He is the grandson of Robert Hull, a native of Hull, England. Francis Hull, son of Robert Hull, was born at Tolland, Mass. His wife was Fannie Hull, a daughter of Reu- ben Stearns. H. T. Hull, son of Francis Hull, was born May 24, 1847, at Clifford, Susquehanna county, Pa. He was educated at Harvard, Mass., and at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pa., and read law with Wright & Harrington, in this city. He has prac- ticed at Falls City, Nebraska, where he was police judge in 1885, and at Humboldt, Nebraska, where he now resides. Mr. Hull married, May 28, 1872, at Falls City, Lydia M. Power, a daugh- ter of John Power, a native of New Bloomfield, Perry county, Pa., and son of Captain William Power, who resided near that place. The wife of John Power was Sarah, daughter of Joseph Steele. Sarah Steele was a sister of the late George P. Steele, of this city, and of Margaret Steele, who married Edwin F. Ferris. (See page 385.) Mr. and Mrs. Hull have a family of two chil- dren-Orma Lulu Hull and Mary Hull.
924
MICHAEL HEERY.
CORNELIUS SMITH.
Cornelius Smith, who was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., August 16, 1869, is a native of the county Cavan, Ireland, where he was born October 25, 1838. He is the son of John Smith, whose father's name was Cornelius Smith. The subject of this sketch was educated at the New Berlin Academy, in Union county, Pa., and read law with George Hill, at Sunbury, Pa. He was admitted to the Northumberland county bar in November, 1863. After practicing a short time in Sunbury, he removed to Pottsville in 1864, where he practiced until his removal to this county. He served as city attorney of Scranton for one year, and he has been retained in a large number of the important trials in Lackawanna and adjoining counties. He assisted in the defense in the homicide cases of Irving and O'Mara at Montrose, and was attorney for the defense in the so- called rioters' cases in this county which grew out of difficul- ties in the strike of 1877. He married, January 31, 1864, Mar- garet A. Mahon, a daughter of Patrick Mahon. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a family of three children-Mamie Frances Smith, Regina Gabrielle Smith, and John Stanley Smith.
MICHAEL HEERY.
Michael Heery was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pa., August 16, 1869. He is a native of county Longford, Ire- land, and is the son of Thomas Heery. Michael Heery came to this country when quite young. He read law with Michael Re- gan, and married Margaret McGavin. He now resides in To- peka, Kansas.
.
EDWARD BAKER STURGES.
925 .
EDWARD BAKER STURGES.
Edward Baker Sturges, who was admitted to the bar of Lu- zerne county, Pa., August 19, 1869, is a native of Greenfield Hill, Fairfield county, Conn., where he was born February 15, 1845. He is the son of the late Rev. Thomas Benedict Sturges, and grandson of Joseph Porter Sturges, who was a resident of Bridgeport, Conn. (See page 490.) He was educated at the College of New York, and read law with J. D. Alvord, of Bridge- port, and was admitted to the Fairfield county bar in February, 1867. The first time that Mr. Sturges set his foot on Pennsyl- vania soil was with Uncle Sam's rifle on his shoulder and knap- sack on his back. This was in 1863, when he was but eighteen years of age. In 1867 he came to this county to attend a funeral, and was so attracted by the prospects of Scranton that he gave up his intention of practicing law in the city of New York and removed to Scranton. John B. Smith, superintendent of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, was largely instrumental in helping him to get started, and at the end of two years he had a large practice, which soon after probably paid him as well as that of almost any attorney in the county. He retained this large practice until he became so deeply interested in other business matters that he was obliged to surrender a large part of his legal business or lose his health. Mr. Sturges has had as much to do with the development of the city of Scranton as any other person in it at the present time. This has been largely due to his faith and invest- ments in real estate and in electric railways, which an examination in Europe had made him a thorough believer in before they were used practically in this country. Mr. Sturges is a thorough "Puritan," "as his fathers were," and also a strong temperance man, having been a candidate on the prohibition ticket for judge at the time when General Osborne and Judge Handley ran. He has since declined nominations by that party because assured that eventually their candidates would be elected, which was not de- sired in his case. In 1877 he was presented, by a large number of citizens, with a silver service for his efforts and success in convict-
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