USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 12
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 12
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to be performed under the most disadvantageous circumstances. The equipment of the hospital department was necessarily most meagre. Wounds must needs be treated and amputations made on the spot, under a tree at the side of the road, or in a fence corner, and the injured man, no matter how desperate his condition, must be put in an ambulance or army wagon and conveyed with the troops scores of miles, perhaps hun- dreds, until a point was reached from which he could be sent to an established hospital. At the close of the active campaigning and when the rebel armies were about to be disbanded, Surgeon Everhart found his first comparative respite, be- ing assigned to duty as surgeon-in-chief of the Military District of Lynchburg (Virginia), which position he occupied until he was honorably mus- tered out of the service of the United States, August 11, 1865, four months after the cessation of hostilities.
Following his retirement from the army, Dr. Everhart, in company with his brother, Dr. James M. Everhart, made an extended tour of Europe, visiting all the important industrial and art cen- tres. In 1868 he returned and took up his resi- dence in Scranton, where he entered upon the practice of his profession and in which he has continued with marked success and signal use- fulness. His standing in his profession found recognition in his being soon called to various im- portant positions-as a member of the medical staff of the Scranton State Hospital, and of the Scranton Board of Health, and as surgeon of the Ninth Regiment of Pennsylvania State Militia, with headquarters at Wilkes-Barre. He is largely interested in anthracite coal lands, and is president of the Everhart Coal Company, a di- rector in the Scranton Forging Company, and with his nephew. James E. Lechel, operates the Everhart Brass Works.
It is in the field of science however, that Dr. Everhart has attained his principal distinction, and to it he has devoted his entire attention since his retirement from his profession a few years ago. Fond of outdoor occupations. his long travels, and his tramps afoot with gun or rod, have brought him, as his chief recreation, into communion with nature and her visible forms, bringing ever new delight to himself, and real and enduring benefits to the scientific world. He has ransacked his own state for the discovery of its . beauties of field and forest, and in 1893 made an extended tour through Mexico, the Pacific coast and Alaska in similar quest. A skillful taxi- dermist, his collections of mounted animals and birds, made during a period of forty years, in-
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clude nearly every known species found in Penn- sylvania, besides very many from other states. He has also made a very extensive collection of the native woods of Pennsylvania, which he has prepared in such a way as to display their every beauty of structure, and which are housed in an edifice adjoining his residence, specially con- structed for the purpose. Perhaps his most la- borious and painstaking achievement is the work which now mainly engrosses his attention-the gathering and classification of the seeds of every form of vegetation native to Pennsylvania, which will soon represent more than a thousand varieties and is a most interesting collection of its kind. These invaluable collections Dr. Everhart pur- poses to devise to some scientific institution, where they will be of real and ever increasing value as the years go by, and types of the animal and vege- table life disappear forever from the earth, as dis- appear many of them will. In this great life- work Dr. Everhart has, without such purpose in view, reared to himself a monument of wonderful significance. Of immense intrinsic worth as an ·educational force, it will also stand as a revelation of The Man Himself, of his serenity and rever- ence in his "looking from Nature up to Nature's God." and of his sympathy with all mankind.
In 1871 Dr. Everhart married Miss Annie Victoria Ubil, and to them was born a son, Edwin Ellsworth Everhart, in 1873. Mrs. Everhart died in 1898, after a protracted illness borne with touching patience and resignation. She was a woman of refinement and nobility of character, and left a deep impress upon society. Beautiful in her home life, great of heart and sympathetic bevond most. her strong personality and exalted principles brought to her general esteem and ad- miration. Through all the years of her residence in Scranton she was among the foremost in its charitable work. As head of a committee of the Woman's Guild of St. Luke's ( Protestant Epis- copal) Church, of which she was a devoted mem- ber, she had especial charge of seeking out and relieving the necessities of the poor of the parish, and her gentle ministrations extended to the suf- fering wherever they were to be found. One of the most pathetic incidents of her illness was the tender and solicitous inquiry constantly made of her by those who had been the objects of her ten- der care. The Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation also lost by her death one of its most de- voted and capable helpers. She was vice-presi- dent of this body for some years, a director from its inception, occupying that position at the time of her death, and was also chairman of the gym- nasium committee. She was business manager
of Our Woman's Paper during the year of its publication, and mitch of its success was due to her intelligent and zealous effort. She left a fragrant memory to be deeply cherished in the dear familiar places where she made sunshine and gladness, and to bring forth fruit in other lives through the seeds of charity and loving kindness sown by her in life. Until a few months before her death she was possessed of excellent healtlı, but a series of peculiarly distressing family afflict- ions gave to her sensitive nervous system a shock which marked the beginning of a complication of disorders which would not yield to the best of medical skill and the most devoted care of her husband and son, and other dear ones. In May preceding her decease, her brother-in-law, James Everhart, who made his home with her family, died suddenly in the arms of his brother, her hus- band. Another brother, Samuel, who had come to attend the funeral, also died at the home of Dr. Everhart a month later. It is a remarkable coin- cidence that both these fatalities and others that followed occurred on the 14th day of the month. William, a brother of Dr. Everhart, had died the 14th of December previous, and on the 14th of February occurred the death of Mrs. Everhart. This last bitter sorrow visited upon an already deeply afflicted family, intensified the general grief beyond the power of expression, and the funeral services held over the remains of the lamented wife and mother were pathetic beyond the telling, but left a sweet though sorrowful con- solation in the thought that the pathos of her death gave a richier and deeper meaning to the lesson of her lovely life.
JAMES MARION EVERHART. deceased. of Scranton, was one of the most widely useful men of his day, a master of large affairs, a leading manufacturer, industrialist and capitalist. He was a strong factor, also, in the higher life of the community, devoting his effort and means to whatever was of advantage to his fellowmen, and leaving behind him a memory fragrant with gen- ial influences and kindly deeds.
He came of a German family of royal blood dating from the thirteenth century. The original name was Eberhart, which was changed to its present form by James Everhart, of the Revolu- tionary period. Eberhard. "the Noble," was born in Wurtemberg, March 13, 1265, was one of the most daring warriors of the soldier race from which he sprang. The family records show that he was of large frame, well proportioned, of great dignity of carriage, and educated beyond his fel- lows. Forceful and ambitious, he conceived the
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
idea of creating Wurtemberg into a kingdom, and, notwithstanding the discouragements of friends and the threats of enemies, he carried his purpose into effect, although at the end of a forty- year war. He died June 5. 1325, in the sixty-first year of his age, leaving as his monument the yet existing kingdom of Wurtemberg, with its famous capitol, Stuttgart. Of his three sons, only the youngest survived-Ulrich. His reign was short, and he was succeeded by his son Eber- hard, called "the Groaner," also "the Rushing Beard," who was a man of might and a brave sol- dier, of whom it was said he could contend with "five of the best warriors they could bring." He died March 15, 1392. aged sixty-seven years. His son, Ulrich, in love with the sister of a duke who was at enmity with Eberhard, spent much time in her company and in the enemy's land, which so enraged Eberhard that he erased the name of Ulrich from the family record. Ulrich subse- quently returned to the assistance of his father, and commanded a division of troops in the battle of Reuttingen, where he suffered repulse and was slightly wounded. His father, not thinking he had well acquitted himself, with his sword cut in two the table cloth between them, thus indicating their complete separation. Ulrich, determined to redeem himself, as soon as his wounds were healed returned to the field, and in a desperate battle at Doffingen gained a great success against large odds, but in the moment of victory was slain from behind by three miscreants, to the great sorrow of the father, who was found weeping in his tent and not to be comforted. This scene is commemorated in famous paintings in the Cor- coran Art Gallery in Washington City, in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and in the museum in Rotterdam, where is also a painting represent- ing the cutting in two of the table cloth.
Eberhard, "the Mild," came to the throne about 1392 and reigned twenty-five years. He ac- complished much in raising the kingdom to a high state of culture and refinement, and was esteemed throughout Germany. He died May 16, 1417. He was succeeded by his son Eberhard, "the Younger," born August 23, 1388, who married Henrietta, a woman of wealth, of the royal line of King Sigesmund. Eberhard died July 2, 1419, leaving three children-Ludwig, Ulrich and Anna. His widow ascended the throne. but proved so unpopular that in the seventh year of her reign she abdicated in favor of the eldest son, Ludwig, who was succeeded by Eberhard. "with the Beard," who was born December II, 1445, and died February 24, 1496. He was succeeded
by his nephew, Count Eberhard "the Young," born February 1, 1447, died in 1504. Duke Eberhard III began his reign in 1633, and ruled forty-one years. He encountered great difficul- ties, coming to the throne with the beginning of the Thirty Years War, when nearly all Germany was laid waste. After a vigorous struggle he was defeated in 1634, out of an army of 31,000 leaving 12,000 dead on the field, and losing four thousand prisoners. After four years' banish- ment he returned to find a ruined country-40,000. vineyards and 288,000 farms had been destroyed. and schools, churches, and even entire villages had been swept away. He gradually built up the waste places, and died after a useful life, July 2. 1674. His son, Duke Leopold Eberhard, was the last of his family to reign. He agreed to relin- quish all claims for himself and family in favor of Duke Eberhard Ludwig, who was recognized as the next legal heir, for a certain annual pay- ment, but this plan was frustrated by a more dis- tant relative. Duke Charles Angen, who became Duke of Wurtemberg.
The foregoing narrative, derived from well authenticated German authorities, brings us to the planting of the Eberhard family in America. The emigrant was Frederick Eberhard, who landed in Philadelphia, March 30, 1737. He came direct from Wurtemberg, where he be- longed to the nobility, and he was often heard to say that he was "next to the Prince." He set- tled in Chester county, Pennsylvania. His son Christian, born 1728, died 1777, was a man of im- portance, and held a commission under the British crown. Of his nine children seven attained ma- turity, and of these was James, who changed his name to Everhart. He was born in Chester county in 1760, and was a farmer. During the Revolution he served under Washington, and passed the memorable winter of 1777-78 at Val- ley Forge. He was a man remarkable for ac- tivity, strength, and a robust constitution ; was one of the foremost men in the community, and his judgment was often sought in the settlement of disputes. He died in 1852, aged ninety-three years, leaving three sons, William. John and James.
James, youngest son of James Everhart, was born on the homestead farm in 1789. He was an officer in the war of 1812. and was afterward a merchant at Pughtown, Chester county. He was a remarkably enterprising man and accomplished much in the lines of trade and manufacturing. He took to England a shipload of oak bark (for use in calico printing), and exchanged it for mer-
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chandise ; also engaged in the iron business, and set up a foundry. It was during this time that two four-horse wagonloads of anthracite coal were about to pass his place en route for Phila- delphia, there to be tested as fuel. Becoming in- terested he bought the lot, and made successful use of the coal in his furnace. The next two loads went on to Philadelphia, but the substance was declared to be of no value and was thrown into the street-the difficulty being that the ex- perimenters did not apply an underdraft. In 1820 James Everhart settled in Robeson town- ship, Berks county, where he engaged in farming, at the same time having a tannery and saw mill at the headwaters of French creek. He subse- quently bought the Jefferson furnace in Schuyl- kill county, which he operated for some years, working ore extracted from his own land. In 1828 he was elected to the legislature, and was re-elected by the unanimous vote of both parties -a splendid tribute to his ability and personal worth. He was an earnest advocate of educa- tion, had school houses built in his neighborhood, mainly at his own expense, and later was an ar- dent supporter of free schools, in a day when the system met with strong opposition. In 1817 he married Mary M. Templin, born in Robeson, Berks county, only child of Isaac and Catherine Templin. Of the children born to them, John died in Pittston in 1889, aged seventy-one years ; Mrs. Eveline Heckel in 1885, aged sixty-one years ; Willliam served with emergency troops during the Civil war, and died in 1896, aged sev- enty-one years; James M. is to be further re- ferred to ; Samuel A., resides in Reading : Oliver I., died in 1862; Dr. Isaiah F. is the subject of a following sketch in this work.
James M. Everhart, son of James and Cath- erine (Templin) Everhart, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1828, and was edu- cated in the common schools. On account of im- paired health he suspended his studies to engage in a more active life, and entered his father's tannery, where he gained a thorough knowledge of the business. After recovering his health he became a student at the New London Academy, and graduated with honor when twenty years old. For two years afterward he clerked in the store of an uncle in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and then served for a time in a jobbing house in Philadelphia. In 1853 he went to Pittston to care for the landed interests of his father in that neighborhood, largely increasing the value of the property. During the Civil war he aided the gov-
ernment with his influence and means, partic- ularly at the time of the invasion by the rebel army in 1863. In 1867, in company with his brother, Dr. Isaiah F. Everhart, he made an ex- tended tour of Europe, and during his travels acquired information which was greatly to his ad- vantage during the remainder of his life.
In 1873 Mr. Everhart took up his residence in Scranton and entered actively into the work of promoting its industrial interests. He first pur- chased an interest in the Scranton brass works ; a year later, upon the death of his partner, became sole proprietor, and found abundant opportunity for the exercise of his mechanical skill and in- ventive genius by improving and inventing many appliances which were of vast advantage, and some of which came into general use by the trade. In 1889 he visited Central America to care for mining interests, and in 1891 went to Europe to adjust a complicated mining case in the interest of a company of which he was presi- dent. In 1895 he made an extended trip which included the entire western coast region of the United States and British America, the points of special interest to him being the mining regions, where he made critical inspection of all phases of the industry.
Mr. Everhart's great usefulness was discern- able in many of the most important enterprises entering into the industrial and commercial ac- tivities of the city of Scranton and the Lacka- wanna region. He was president of the Ever- hart Coal Company, and managing director in the Moosic Mountain Coal Company and the Mt. Jessup Coal Company, and was also a director in the Drop Forging Company. To him was due .. the organization of the Traders' National Bank of Scranton, of which he was an incorporator and a director from its inception until his death. He was also an organizer of the Moosic Mountain Railway Company, in which he was a director. Besides all these large interests, to which he gave his close personal attention, he was interested financially in numerous other commercial and financial enterprises, and had large holdings of valuable timber and coal lands. Keenly alive to the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, he bore a full part in supporting all worthy public measures and religious, educational and charitable institutions, but was averse to public distinction, and steadfastly declined to become a candi late for any political position. He was a stanch Re- publican, and exerted a quiet but potent influence in the support of his party. He was a communi-
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cant of St. Luke's ( Protestant Episcopal) Church, a vestryman, and one of the most liberal contributors to its support.
Mr. Everhart died suddenly in the arms of his brother, Dr. Isaiah F. Everhart, and the sad event forms a link in the chain of most curious and distressing coincidences which are narrated in the following sketch in this work. His re- moval was that of a striking personality, a real gentleman of the old school, whose like is not possible in these days of changed conditions. The soul of honor in every relation of life, his business associates found in him one who was as devoted to their interests as he was to his own, and the men in his employ knew him as a personal friend. One of the most sympathetic and tenderest heart- ed of men, he was a ready helper of the needy and distressed, dispensing his benefactions with a charming want of ostentation, as though he would spare the feelings of those to whom he was a helper, and save them from the appearance of dependency. He was loyal to the uttermost in his personal friendships, and a delightful com- panion. Given to much reading, his was a richly stored mind. His extensive travel had expanded his mind not alone along the lines of technical knowledge pertaining to the business interests with which he was associated, but he had acquired a vast fund of general information which afforded him an unusual mental equipment, and made him a most delightfully entertaining as well as in- structive conversationalist. Naturally of a retir- ing disposition, he made no exhibition of his powers, and it was only in his home circle or in a company of intimate and congenial friends that his fine qualities of heart and mind were to be adequately known. He was, indeed, a true, honorable, upright, ideal Christian gentleman. whose entire life was a shining example to the community.
HOWARD C. DOWN, M. D. The med- ical profession of Lackawanna county finds in Dr. Howard C. Down, of Dalton, an able and worthy representative. Dr. Down is the great- grandson of Sylvan Down, a native of Cornwall, England, who in 1770 came to the American colonies and settled at Easton, Pennsylvania.
Charles W. Down, son of Sylvan Down, was born at Easton, but in middle life moved to Pike county, Pennsylvania. He married a Miss Heck, of Easton, and they were the parents of one daughter, Mary. After the death of his wife Mr. Down married Esther Newton, of Sterling township, Pike county. By his second marriage
he was the father of the following children : Maria, Louisa, Russling, Americus H., men- tioned at length hereinafter ; Lillian, Seth, Ozro, and Homer.
Americus H. Down, son of Charles W. and Esther (Newton) Down, was born in Pike county, Pennsylvania, where he has led the life of a prosperous farmer. He married Susan. daughter of Cornelius Dimon and granddaugh- ter of Stephen Dimon, who emigrated from Scot- land and settled in Pike county, Pennsylvania, where his descendants have ever since resided. Mr. and Mrs. Down were the parents of two children : Howard C., mentioned at length here- inafter, and Nina D. Mr. Down, the father, now lives on the old Dimon homestead.
Howard C. Down, son of Americus H. and Susan (Dimon) Down, was born May 20, 1872, near Tafton, in Pike county, and received his primary education at the district school, after- ward attending the Hawley high school. When nineteen years of age he took up the study of medicine under the guidance of Dr. C. T. Rod- man, of Hawley. He subsequently entered Bal- timore University, and in 1893 received from that institution the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. After successfully practicing his profes- sion for five years at Lake Como, Pennsylvania, he took a post-graduate course at the Medico- Chirurgical College of Philadelphia. He then settled in Dalton, where he has an extensive and lucrative practice. Notwithstanding his devo- tion to his chosen profession, Dr. Down finds time to take an active interest in community af- fairs and to act the part of a good citizen. He now holds the office of auditor of Dalton bor- ough. The Masonic fraternity claims him as a worthy member, affiliating with Factoryville Lodge, No. 345, Free and Accepted Masons. In politics he is a Republican. Dr. Down married, in 1902, Imogene, daughter of Byron and Sarah (Clark) Akerly.
HON. LOUIS ARTHUR WATRES, one of the most accomplished members of the Scranton bar, the promoter of many leading business enterprises of the city, and an in- flutential factor in the political circles of the state, is justly numbered among the rep- resentative men of Scranton, and one who has wielded a wide and beneficial influence in her history.
Although little is known concerning the ancestral records of the family, it is definitely known that he is a descendant of the renowned
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Louis Arraères
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TIIE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
James Otis, of Massachusetts, and the name Watres was closely associated with material, intellectual and moral progress in the Lacka- wanna Valley through the nineteenth century. Lewis S. Watres, father of Louis Arthur Wat- res, was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, in 1808, and became a resident of the Lacka- wanna Valley when but twenty-seven years of age. He purchased four hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Winton and turned his atten- tion to the utilization of the timber which he secured through this purchase. He was the proprietor of many of the business enterprises of his locality. To the name belongs the credit of opening up one of the first coal mines of the valley below Carbondale. Prominent in pol- itical circles he served as justice of the peace in Blakely township, and following his re- moval to Scranton in 1865 he was elected ald- erman of the Ninth ward and by re-election was continued in that office until his death in 1882. When the Civil war was inaugurated his deep sympathy for the Union cause led him to recruit a company which was mustered in at Harrisburg and assigned to the Fifty-sec- ond Pennsylvania Infantry, but his own ill health prevented him from going to the front. Later he formed another company which be- came a part of the Fifty-sixth Regiment, and at home he put forth every possible effort to advance the cause of the Union and uphold the war policy of the president. His identifica- tion with moral progress dated from early man- hood. In 1837 he erected the first church in the valley at Pecktown, it being of the Pres- byterian denomination, and he bore the entire expense with the exception of twelve dollars contributed by others. While well fitted for leadership and exerting a strong and benefi- cial influence in public life it was his kindly spirit, his broad humanitarian principles, the depth of his character and his consideration for others that won him not only the friend- ship but the love of those with whom he was associated. He married Harriet G. Hollister, who possessed superior poetic talent and who wrote many poems that became popular and which were published over the pseudonym of "Stella of Lackawanna." Some of these since her death have been published in book form in a volume entitled, "Cobwebs." Mr. and Mrs. Lewis S. Watres became the parents of four children : Mrs. John L. Hull ; Charles ; Louis Arthur; and Carrie, who became the wife of
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