USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 110
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 110
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John K. Berkheiser, son of William J. and Mary (Klinger ) Berkheiser, was born June 7, 1849, in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and passed his boyhood in Weldon, near Pottstown. It was in this place that he received his edu- cation in the common schools. At a very early age he began to work in the mines, where one of his first occupations was that of a fan-turner. the fans of to-day being unknown. He was next promoted to the position of mule-driver, after which he became a full-fledged miner. The first company for whom he worked was the Philadelphia & Reading Iron & Coal Company, bv whom he was, after filling more than one responsible position, finally promoted to be fore- man over a gang of miners. In 1888 he was transferred to the Burnside colliery in Shamo- kin, Pennsylvania, where he remained one year, and in 1889 engaged with the Lehigh & Wilkes- Barre Coal Company at Plymouth. While in the service of this company he became foreman in the Nottingham colliery, a position which he re- tained for two years.
In 1891 he moved to Blakely, where he be- came inside foreman for the Lackawanna Coal Company, and in 1895, while retaining this of- fice, accepted the same position with the John- son Coal Company. When the New York, On- tario & Western Company bought out the Lack- awanna and Johnson Companies, Mr. Berk- heiser was retained in his old position, the work and responsibility gradually increasing until he became inside foreman for the Riverside, Ray- mond, Ontario, Richmondale and Johnson mines. The care and responsibility involved in the su- perintendence of these mines may be estimated when it is remembered that the number of men employed amounts in all to two thousand seven
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hundred and seventy-five. The simple fact that Mr. Berkheiser fills this position with satisfac- tion to his employers and credit to himself is a sufficient testimony to his ability and integrity. In an occupation necessarily involving so much peril it is remarkable that the only accident through which Mr. Berkheiser has passed dur- ing a period of forty years was a gas explosion which occurred while he was engaged at Plym- outh. The pressure of business leaves him lit- tle time for social enjoyments, and the only fraternal organization to which he belongs is the Masonic order. He is a member of Kings- ley Lodge, No. 466, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he has been master.
Mr. Berkheiser married in 1868, Rebecca A. Spotts, and three children were born to them: Charles ; William, who is foreman for the Tem- ple Iron Company ; he married a Miss Richards ; and Harvey. After the death of his wife Mr. Berkheiser married in 1874 Margaret Patton, and by this marriage became the father of the following children: Catherine, who is the wife of William W. Jones, editor and proprietor of the Olyphant Gasette; Alfred L., who is an en- gineer ; and Mary E., who is the wife of James Webb. Mr. Berkheiser has five grandchildren.
FRED A. WRIGHT, the efficient and suc- cessful business manager of the Olyphant branch of the Peck Lumber Manufacturing Company, whose main office is located in Scranton, Penn- sylvania, enjoys a reputation for strict integ- rity, correct business principles and fidelity to all interests entrusted to him. He was born in Afton, Chenango county, New York, October I. 1874.
William A. Wright, father of Fred A. Wright, is a native of Delaware county, New York, where he was reared and educated. He served an apprenticeship at the trade of sash, blind and door manufacturing, and by persist- ent and close application to all details became an expert mechanic, thoroughly qualified to fill any position along those lines. He changed his place of residence to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he secured employment with the Peck Lumber Manufacturing Company, performing his duties with the utmost satisfaction. For a number of years he conducted a sash and blind factory at Afton, New York, in which town he now ( 1904) resides. By his marriage to Sarah A. Pierce, also a native of Delaware county, New York, two children were born: Fred A. and Hannah Wright.
The common schools of Afton, New York,
and the Afton Academy afforded Fred A .. Wright ample opportunity for acquiring an ex- cellent preliminary education, and after the re- moval of his parents to Scranton, Pennsylvania, this was supplemented by attendance at the Scranton Business College, from which he grad- uated fully equipped for an active business ca- reer. In May, 1894, he accepted a position in the Peckville office of the Peck Lumber Manu- facturing Company, where he remained until 1898, during which year the company opened a branch office in Jermyn and placed Mr. Wright there as manager. He performed the duties of the office satisfactorily to all concerned, and in February, 1904, was transferred to his present office in Olyphant ; this branch of this extensive business was established in 1902 with William W. Peck as manager. The buildings and lum- ber yard cover several acres of ground, and their stock comprises all kinds of lumber used for building purposes, both inside and out. Mr. Wright is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is unmarried.
BRYCE R. BLAIR, who now occupies the position of city engineer in Carbondale, Pent- sylvania, comes from sturdy Scotch stock. Bryce Blair, grandfather of Bryce R. Blair, was born in Scotland, April 4, 1776. He was a weaver by trade, and pursued that occupation all his life in the city of his birth. He married Mar- garet Clide, born in Edinburgh, December 18, 1778. They had seven children, as follows : Will- iam S., Frank, Robert, James Bryce W., Anne and Mary.
William S. Blair, oldest son and child of Bryce and Margaret (Clide) Blair, was born May 24, 1804, in Redfordshire, Scotland. He received a good edducation in the town of his birth, and while still very young turned his at- tention to business pursuits. He began as a merchant and manufacturer, and being pos- cessed of great executive ability and keen ob- serving powers was very successful in his choice of a life work. He married Margaret Stewart, born May 24, 1803, in Scotland, daughter of John and Anne Stuart. Mrs. Blair was con- sidered a very talented and clever woman. Will- iam and Margaret ( Stewart) Blair were the par- ents of three children : John, Margaret, and Bryce R., of whom only the last named is living.
Bryce R. Blair, son and youngest child of William and Margaret (Stewart) Blair, was born in Scotland, and received his education in the common schools of the city of his birth. He was ambitious and enterprising, and thought that
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a better fortune was awaiting him in the new world than he could possibly acquire in the old, so, at the early age of twenty years, he came to the United States and settled in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. He remained there for some time and then went to Kingston, Pennsylvania, and surveyed the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg rail- road, in 1854. This was the first railroad in this section and the work was of the greatest im- portance. He remained with this company until 1865. when he removed to Plymouth, Pennsyl- vania, and accepted the position of superintend- ent with the Nottingham Coal Company of that place, and remained with them about four years. In the fall of 1868 he came to Carbondale, Penn- sylvania, and has since made that city his resi- dence. He was the engineer in charge of the building of the Susquehanna railroad to Susque- hanna, and was the chief engineer there for about two years; he then became their super- vising engineer. He is now engineer of the city of Carbondale, and is a man whose judgment is considered of great weight. Mr. Blair is very popular socially, and is a member of Mount Horeb Chapter, No. 213. of Plymouth, Penn- sylvania, being past high priest of this body; he is a member of Plymouth Lodge, No. 332, Free and Accepted Masons, of Plymouth, Penn- sylvania, is past imaster of this and is the only surviving charter member; and a member of Crusade Commandery, No. 12, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Blair married, January 17, 1858, in Shickshinny, Pennsylvania, Emma Tubbs, born at Hazleton, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1833, daughter of Williams A. Tubbs, born 1807. and his wife, Elizabeth (Henritzie) Tubbs, born 1812, in Slatington, Pennsylvania. Mr. Tubbs was a farmer and carpenter by occupation, and was a captain in Company F. One Hundred and Forty-third Regiment, Colonel E. Dana com- manding. Bryce R. Blair and Emma (Tubbs) Blair were the parents of eleven children : £
1. William (twin), born in Kingston, Pennsylva- nia, died in infancy; Maggie (twin), born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, died in infancy ; Bryce, born January 26, 1860, at the age of twenty went west and is now living in Colorado; Rev. Williams T. Clyde, born in Kingston, Pennsyl- vania, October 30, 1862, died 1881 : Robert S., born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, 1864, is a ma- chinist in the city of Carbondale and lives at home with his parents; Frank, born April 13, 1865, in Kingston, Pennsylvania, married Mat- tie Tallman, of that city, and is the father of five children: George, Beatrice, Clyde, Bessie
and Bryce; Frank Blair is the foreman of the Long Island Railroad shops at Richmond Hill, Long Island; Stanley, born 1867, died in in- fancy; Josephine, born December 30, 1868, died May, 1882; Charles, born August 15, 1871, ed- ucated in the schools of that city and is now in Olyphant, Pennsylvania ; he married Clara Yar- rington, daughter of H. L. Yarrington ; Ralph Wadhams, born January, 1873, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, married Carrie Tallman, of Thompson, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania ; they have one child. Reginald ; Ralph Wadhams Blair is a machinist and has his residence in Carbondale, Pennsylvania.
Williams T. Blair, third son and fourth child of Bryce R. and Emma (Tubbs) Blair, was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1861. When he was eight years of age his parents removed to Carbondale, Pennsylvania, and he received his early education in the common schools of the latter place. He was studiously inclined and proved himself to be possessed of remarkable natural aptitude as a pupil, always striving to be in the front rank and holding that position. Upon leaving the common schools he entered the high school and graduated from that institution with high honors. In 1878 he en- tered the employ of the Delaware and Hudson Company as a shipping clerk, and remained with that company for a period of about eleven years. He then entered the Wyoming conference and was ordained in 1892. His first field of work was in Bainbridge. Niagara county, New York, where he remained for a year and a half engaged in active work; he then went to Cooperstown, New York, remaining for three years, and from there to Mount Upton, where he labored for five years ; he then removed to Whitney Point, New York, remaining for two years, and then to Lehman, Pennsylvania, remaining for one year. In 1901 he received a call to come to Wyoming, Pennsylvania, which he followed. Under his careful supervision the Methodist church has taken a new lease of life. Owing to his energy and enthusiasm funds have been raised sufficient to permit of the remodeling and refitting throughout of the building. Eight thousand dollars were raised for this purpose and the church now has a new organ, is steam heated, and is one of the finest churches in Wyo- ming valley.
Rev. Williams T. Blair is a man who seems specially fitted for the vocation he has selected. He'is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of true religion, and is ever ready to listen to a tale of suffering and to alleviate that suffering as
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
much as is in his power to do so. His ever- ready sympathy and words full of hope and cheer have helped many an unfortunate and gained for him a host of friends. He is an elo- quent preacher, with a ready flow of words and a fine delivery. Rev. Williams T. Blair is a member of Norwich Lodge, No. 302, Norwich, New York; Harmony Chapter, Norwich, New York ; Osage Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Lehman, Pennsylvania; James F. Clark Camp, Sons of Veterans,: Cooperstown, New York ; and secretary of the Wyoming Camp Meeting Association, Wyoming, Pennsylvania.
He married, September 13, 1883, Mary J. Strickland, born September 13, 1861, in Roscoe, Illinois, daughter of Hugh and Eliza (Hen- drick) Strickland. Mrs. Blair has two sister and one brother, as follows: Mrs. Eva M. Smith, of Carbondale, Pennsylvania ; Miss Rose Strick- land, of Carbondale, Pennsylvania; James J. Strickland, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Rev. Will- iams T. and Mary (Strickland) Blair have four children : Josephine S., born January 30, 1884 ; Alice B., born April 6, 1886; Bryce Wadhams, born April 11. 1889; Mary, born November 29, 1891. Mrs. Williams T. Blair died April 10, 1905, in Wyoming. Pennsylvania.
THOMAS HOWELL, deceased, for many years a well known and prosperous contractor of West Pittston, Pennsylvania, making a spe- cialty of drilling and testing for coal and ar- tesian wells, was one of those men whose native energy help to bring wealth and influence to the city in which they dwell.
John J. Howell, father of Thomas Howell, was the founder of this family in America. He came to the United States when very young and settled in Carbondale, Lackawanna county, Pennsylvania. He subsequently removed to Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. He mar- ried, before he left Europe, Ann Jane Morriss, born in Europe. They were the parents of six children: 1. John, Jr., deceased, was a soldier in the Civil war; he married and had three daughters and one son and resided in Hyde Park, now Scranton, Pennsylvania. 2. Will- iam, deceased, married Mary Jermyn, and had six children, one of whom is deceased : Benja- min Frank, William Lincoln, William Charles, Ida May, Wesley Breese ; they resided in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. 3. Daniel, married - -. resides at Pittston, Pennsylvania. 4. Thomas, see forward. 5. David, married Jane Airo, and had two children ; resides in Pittston. 6. Ann
Jane, married Thomas Thomas, of Hyde Park, and had two children.
Thomas Howell, fourth child and son of John J. and Ann Jane ( Morriss) Howell, was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1843. His parents removed to Pitts- ton when he was very young, and he spent the greater part of his life there. He attended the public schools of Pittston. After leaving school he became clerk in the general store in Pitts- ton, where he also made himself useful as book- keeper. Later he held a similar position with David Blanchard, also of Pittston, where he continued for about two years. He then entered the lumber business of James Weare, of Pitts- ton, and remained with him for some time. Later he formed a business connection with J. E. Patterson, with whom he continued for about six years, and then for the next six years was superintendent of a pistol factory at Sterner- ville, Pennsylvania. He then commenced busi- ness for himself as drilling contractor, making a specialty of drilling and testing for coal, ar- tesian wells, etc., in the vicinity of Pittston, and continued this business actively until his death, which occurred April 13, 1903, at his home in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. He was a man of great force of character and much natural and acquired executive ability. His close attention to all the details of business, however insignifi- cant, were not without results, as the fortune he amassed conclusively proves. He was deliberate and thorough in all his undertakings, and this conduced not a little to his success. In political faith he affiliated with the Republican party, and was director of the schools of Pittston for a period of three years. He was a member and regular attendant at the Presbyterian Church at West Pittston. He was interred in the Odd Fellows burying ground in West Pittston. He was a member of the Knights of Honor, Knights of Pythias and Improved Order of Red Men.
Mr. Howell married, March 27, 1867, Elinor Cassidy, born December 24, 1840, in Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, daughter of John and Mary (Connor) Cassidy, both deceased. Mr. and Mrs Cassidy had six children as follows: Mary, died in infancy; Patrick, died at the age of forty- two years in Inkerman, Pennsylvania; Annie, married James Harkins Rindes, resides in Ink- erman, Pennsylvania ; Elinor, married Thomas Howell; John, whose residence is at Reading, Pennsylvania ; James, died in infancy. Mrs. Thomas Howell is a member of the First Pres- byterian Church in West Pittston, of the For-
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eign and Home Missions, of the Ladies' Aid Society, and of the Sunday school. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Howell had the following named children : Clara May, born October 26, 1869 : Frank, born February 4, 1871; both reside at home. He was educated in the public schools and the high school of West Pittston, was em- ployed by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in the freight department for some years, at Coxton, then in his father's employ in the contract busi- ness until the latter's death, when Frank suc- ceeded to the business. He is also associated in partnership with others under the firm name of the Hitchner Bakery Company in West Pitts- ton. His political faith is Republican. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the Or- der of the Elks, and of the Exeter Country Club.
THOMAS JOHNSON BIRKBECK, one of the pioneer settlers of Freeland, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, a promoter of the Free- land water works, and an extensive and suc- cessful real estate dealer, was born June 6, 1845, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Johnson) Birk- beck.
Joseph Birkbeck (father) was a native of Westmoreland, England, born May 2, 1802. He married Elizabeth Johnson, born at Buck Hill, Stainmoor, England, February 12, 1804; the marriage was celebrated at Broough's Church. England, in 1826. They emigrated to the United States, landing in New York City in 1834, whence they immediately proceeded to Miners- ville, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. After about two years residence in this place, during which time Mr. Birkbeck was employed in the mines, they removed to Hazleton, where he sunk the first slope in 1838 for Ario Pardee. Two years later he purchased a tract of land com- prising four hundred acres in Denison township from Edward Lynch, which later became Foster township and is now the site of Freeland bor- ough. He constructed a rude log house on this land, into which he and his family removed. The surrounding country was a vast uncultivated wilderness, and Mr. Birkbeck's purchase pos- sessed all the characteristics of a pioneer farm. During the winters the family spent their time in lumbering, clearing the forest, and manufac- turing handmade shingles, which were carried to Conyngham, where they were exchanged for the necessaries of life, no cash being paid for such transactions at that time. In 1844 Mr. Birkbeck sold fifty acres of his land to Aaron Howey, who was closely followed by many other
settlers, but not until 1866 was the dense forests converted into excellent farming land. Not long after this coal fields were developed in the neigh- borhood, and new arrangements became a ne- cessity owing to the rapidly increasing popula- tion. Mr. Birkbeck surveyed his land, convert- ed it into town lots, which he sold to the new- comers, thus making the first move in laying out the towns of South Heberton and Freeland. Joseph Birkbeck was the first to prove coal at Highland and Upper Lehigh, being well versed in the anthracite coal strata in the vicinity. Hc was the builder of many roads, and was pre- eminently the leading figure in the development of the new country. He and his family were subjected to all the trials, hardships and vicissi- tutdes incident to a pioneer life, and a story is told of how Mrs. Birkbeck, during one of those early, trying days, with no other weapon than an axe, killed a full grown buck deer.
The children of Joseph and Elizabeth (Johnson) Birkbeck are as follows : John. born September 5. 1827, died in infancy : Mat- thew, born June 28, 1829, deceased; Joseph, born December 27, 1830, a sketch of whom ap- pears elsewhere in this work; Jane, born Oc- tober 31, 1832, deceased ; John (2), born April 26, 1834, deceased; Matthew (2), born January 7, 1836, deceased; Margrett, born October 6, 1836, wife of William Johnston, of Freeland ; Betsey, born May 14, 1840, deceased ; William. born October 26, 1843, died February 11, 1846; his was the first death in the town of South Heberton ; Mary E., born January 25, 1845. de- ceased ; hers was the first birth in the town of South Heberton ; Thomas J., born June 6, 1845, mentioned hereafter; Agnes, born August 4, 1848, deceased ; Anna Victoria, born May 12, 1850, deceased. Joseph Birkbeck, the father of these children, died April 19, 1872, and his wife died May 31, 1887.
Thomas J. Birkbeck obtained his educational training at Eckley, attending school during the winter months and assisting with the farm work during the summer. The coal mines were opened at Eckley when Thomas J. was about ten years of age, and there he entered upon his first regular employment, that of picking slate at a salary of twenty-five cents per day. He left the mines in 1859 and entered the employ of Frank Person, a drover, of Troy, Pennsyl- vania, and for two years worked at driving cat- tle. At the expiration of this period of time he became associated with his brother, who was then following his trade of butcher in Eckley, and for the following two years was engaged
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in learning the butcher business. In June, 1863, when the great Civil war was in progress. Mr. Birkbeck responded to the urgent call for vol- unteers, enlisting in Company G, One Hundred and Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and serving until the cessation of hostilities. After his return to civil life he was occupied in the blacksmithing business for a short time in Foundryville, from whence he removed to Audenried, where he found employment in the butcher establishment of Herman Hamburger. He embarked in the butcher business on his own account at South Heberton in 1866, and the following year removed his business to Upper Lehigh, where he successfully conducted the same for the long period of twenty-one years. He removed to Freeland in 1886, and for a short period of time was engaged in droving, after which he turned his attention to the hardware business, which he has continued up to the pres- ent time (1905) and in which he is eminently successful.
Mr. Birkbeck was one of the promoters of the Freeland water works and the Citizens' Bank of Freeland, in both of which institutions he is a heavy stockholder. In addition to these va- ried business enterprises Mr. Birkbeck is inter- ested in real estate, being the owner of over forty valuable properties in his section, and hav- ing a personal interest in several cottages at the celebrated summer resort, Wildwood, New Jersey. Mr. Birkbeck is pre-eminently a self- made man. Beginning life in a very humble way, with no capital except those success-bring- ing qualities-honesty, industry and perse- verance-he has reached an enviable place in the business world and accumulated for him- self and family a handsome competency.
Mr. Birkbeck married, November 1, 1866, Margaret Sneddon, of Audenried, born April 18, 1845, daughter of William and Jessie Sned- don. They are the parents of the following named children: Joseph, William, Thomas. Lil- lie May, Jessie, Margaret, and Daisy. Mr. Birk- beck is the owner of a beautiful home in St. Augustine, Florida, where he and his family spend the winter months.
ROBERT KENNEDY LAYCOCK, of Wyoming, named in honor of Hon. Robert Ken- nedy, who represented Warren county, New Jersey, in the legislature in 1839, was born in the village of Kennedyville, Warren county, New Jersey, January 24, 1839, died October 27, 1905, son of Jacob and Christianna (Young) Lay-
cock, and grandson of Jacob Laycock, who was a prosperous agriculturist.
Jacob Laycock ( father) was also a native of Warren county, New Jersey, born in 1811, and was a descendant of an English ancestry. He was a shoemaker by trade, but for a number of years prior to his death, which occurred in May, 1854, was the proprietor of the "American House," at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He mar- ried Christianna Young, now deceased, a de- scendant of a German origin, about the year 1827 or 1828, and they were the parents of the following children: Jonathan, born 1829, died 1899: Daniel P., born 1834, died 1868; Henry A., born 1836, deceased; Sarah, deceased, was the wife of the late E. A. Dailey; Robert K., born January 24, 1839, mentioned hereafter ; Martha, William, died at the age of sixteen years; Harriet, died at the age of twenty-two years ; and Anna Belle, widow of Isaac Fisher, resides at Wyoming.
Robert K. Laycock was educated in the common schools of his native county, and at the age of fourteen years came to Pennsylvania and entered the carriage shops of Hagge, Brown & Wertman, of Milton, where he remained about one year learning the trade of carriage smith. He then located in Columbia county, Pennsyl- vania, and served two months for Strawbridge & Wilson ; six months for Mathias Appleman, of Rohrsburg; six months for George Stricker, of Catawissa, at the end of which time he moved to Wyoming borough, Luzerne county, pur- chased the business of David Pollen, and later formed a partnership with A. J. Crouse for the manufacture and repair of wagons, sleighs, etc .. the business being known as the Laycock & Crouse carriage factory. At first they gave em- ployment to four men, but in due course of time the business increased to such an extent that they were obliged to increase their force to meet the demand, later requiring the services of seventeen skilled mechanics. At this time the coal industry was new and for many years, during the hard times of 1873, they kept their plant in operation and their people employed, and this enterprise was considered the main in- dustry in the borough. They manufactured mostly light vehicles, and these being of excel- lent workmanship they sold on their merits, as they do at the present time (1905). Mr. Lay- cock served the borough as councilman for three terms, and his administration was marked by the utmost integrity and efficiency. He was an adherent of the principles of Democracy, but in
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