Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 23

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1026

USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 23
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 23

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

5. Mrs. George W. Cross ; her husband, now deceased, was president of the Cross Engineering Company at Carbondale.

6. Mrs. Herman Warner ; her husband is a merchant in Decorah, Iowa.

7. Charles, engaged in the oil business in Pittston.

8. Robert M., treasurer of the Pennsylvania Coal and Coke Company at Philadelphia.

9. Anna N., living at home.

IO. James C., treasurer of the Illinois Tele- phone and Telegraph Company at Chicago, a corporation controlling the subways of that city.

Mr. and Mrs. Law celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on November 25, 1904, and the occasion was one of the notable social events of the city. They were made the recipients of various valuable and significant gifts, and a his- tory of the family was read to the assembled company. Among their descendants were mem- tioned grandchildren to the number of twenty- two.

Archibald F. Law, eldest child of Charles and Ellen (Atwater) Law, was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, June 21, 1856. He was educated in the public schools, and by private tutors in preparation for a college course, but diverted himself to an active career by entering the em-

ploy of the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Coxton, in the capacity of weighmaster, and subsequently was similarly engaged at Pittston for a period of six years. In 1879 he became cashier for the Canada Southern Railway at Buffalo, and con- tinued in that occupation until in 1885. In the latter year he became associated with Simpson & Watkins, coal operators at Scranton, as cashier and confidential man. He found the occupation most congenial, became familiar with all depart- ments of the business, and acquired an interest therein. When the interests of the firm were merged into the Temple Iron Company, in 1899, Mr. Law was made secretary, later added to his duties those of treasurer, and was subsequently made vice-president and given entire charge of the business, which responsible position he has sinc occupied to the present time. As general manager he has under his control the furnaces at Temple, with eight collieries in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties-the Northwest, the Edgerton, the Babylon, the Mount Lookout, the Forty Fort, the Sterrick Creek, the Harry E., and the Lack- awanna, having the direction of eight thousand men. In addition to all these weighty responsi- bilities he is actively connected with various other important interests-the Cross Engineer- ing Company, manufacturers of mining machin- ery, of which he is president ; the Wyoming Electric Light and Power Company, of which he is manager : the Title Guarantee and Trust Com- pany of Scranton ; the Scranton Trust Company ; the Lackawanna Mining Company : the Peckville National Bank; the Forty Fort Silk Company ; the Lytle Store Company, of Minersville, Penn- sylvania ; and the Mears Mining Company of Joplin, Missouri. In caring for these multifar- ious interests Mr. Law bears himself as can only one who is self-contained, with intimate know- ledge of all departments of each business, and whose systemization brings all things to his thought with that clearness which justifies instant decision. His personal equanimity and geniality are attested by his popularity with the army of workmen who are gathered about him. Between him and them no labor dispute has ever arisen to destroy those pleasant relations upon which sub- stantial business is permanently based; and, so far as he and they are concerned, coal commis- sions and boards of arbitration have been wholly unnecessary.

Given to literary pursuits with an earnestness almost amounting to a passion, Mr. Law finds his principal recreation in his library, covering all fields of literature, and containing many rarely valuable editions, among them many almost im-

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possible of duplication. With all his diligent reading, he has escaped that utter absorption which leads so many book lovers to selfish self- immersion, but has ever delighted to share his pleasures with others. In such a spirit he was primarily the founder of the A. F. Law Library Association, which was given his name in recogn- ition of his generosity and public-spirit. This institution, at Jessup, was dedicated January 24, 1905, in the presence of more than one thousand deeply appreciative and grateful people. To it he contributed upwards of one thousand care- fully selected volumes, and Jessup prides itself upon having the possession of the finest public library to be found in any village of its size in the entire valley. He is identified with all the principal social organizations-the Scranton Club, the Green Ridge Club, the Country Club, all of Scranton: the Westmoreland Club, of Wilkes-Barre, and various others. He is a Ma- son of high rank, having attained the thirty-sec- ond degree of the Scottish Rite. He served for three years in an independent company of the National Guard of New York, the Buffalo City Guards. In politics he is a stalwart Republican. He is a member of the Green Ridge Presbyterian Church. His personal traits are such as well become the real gentleman, drawing to him in firm friendship all with whom he is associated.

Mr. Law married Miss Eva G. Brenton, a daughter of Joel Brenton, of Pittston, and of this marriage have been born three children, two of whom are living: Frank E., a senior in Yale University ; and Grace B., a graduate of Mrs. Sommers' School in Washington, D. C.

HON. WILLIAM J. LEWIS, deceased, of Scranton, for many years occupied a foremost place among the men of large affairs in his city and county. He was a prime mover in various important financial and commercial enterprises which redounded to the great advantge of the community. In public affairs he exerted a wide and beneficent influence, and his personal life was an exemplification of all that is becoming to the irreproachable citizen and the sincere christ- ian.

He was of Welsh ancestry, a grandson of David J. Lewis, who came from Wales and died in Carbondale at the age of seventy-six years. The parents of William J. Lewis were John D. and Anna (Hopkins) Lewis, both natives of Wales. The father was a practical miner, and was of great assistance in the development of the coal industry, which was then in its incipiency in the Carbondale region. He was for some years

a trusted employe of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and in 1858 abandoned mining and turned his attention to farming in Clifford township, Susquehanna county. In 1866 he re- tired from active pursuits and again took up his residence in Carbondale. His wife died there in March, 1876, at the age of seventy-six years, and he came to Scranton, where he passed his last years in the home of his son, William J. Lewis, dying in May, 1880, aged seventy-three years. lo him and his wife were born seven children: David, who went to California in 1852; Lewis, died in 1860: Gwennie, died in 1856; John F., who is with the American Safety Lamp and Mine Supply Company in Scranton; Thomas, who re- sides in San Francisco, California, as does his sister, Margaret E. Kenvin ; William J. Lewis.

William J. Lewis, youngest child in the fam- ily last named, was born in Carbondale, August 27, 1843. He attended the local schools until he was nine years old, when he began working in the mines. This labor was distasteful to him, and he took employment on a farm some distance from home. Subsequently (in 1858) his father purchased his farm in Clifford township, Susque- hanna county, and young Lewis returned to the family and assisted in farm work. He was so engaged until the fall of 1862, when, the Civil war being at its height, his patriotism moved him to enlist in Company B., One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volun- teers, for a term of nine months. His service was principally in Virginia, in the vicinity of the Dis- mal Swamp, made famous by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's story of "Dred." His regiment made a forced march to join the Army of the Po- tomac when the battle of Gettysburg was impend- ing. It did not reach the ground in time to take part in that conflict, but aided in pursuing the rebel army southward, being a portion of General Slocum's corps. Mr. Lewis was honorably dis- charged with his regiment in September, 1863, having served with fidelity and courage.

After returning home, Mr. Lewis for some time taught in the neighborhood schools, and with much success. His early educational advantages had been but meagre, but he had given much time to private study, and had gained a broad general knowledge which afforded him ample equipment for school room work, in which he would doubt- less have made an excellent record had he elected it as his life occupation. As it was, labor was scarce in the coal mines, and workmen were lib- erally paid, with the advantage of steady em- ployment as against short term school employ- ment, and in 1864, with his brother John F.

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Lewis, he engaged in mining in Jermyn. Two years later (in 1866) he came to Scranton and engaged in a general mercantile business in that part of the city known as Providence. He soon disposed of this, and opened a hardware establish- ment in the same neighborhood, and for two years was a member of the firm of Lewis & Fish, after which he continued alone for five years. This venture was unsuccessful, and, without capital, he engaged himself as an insur- ance agent and conveyancer, building up a large business which he continued with much success until 1886, and it was now that he entered upon that larger career of usefulness which made his name familiar throughout the entire region.

In 1875 Governor Hartranft had appointed Mr. Lewis paymaster of the Ninth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania, a position which involved large responsibilities, without more than nominal emolument, but was a testimonial to his honor and ability. In 1879 the same executive named him as one of the first auditors of Lack- awanna county, but he declined the position. On the separation of the county from Luzerne he was elected associate judge, and with Judges Hand- ley. Hand and Moffit held court for five years in Washington Hall, in Lackawanna avenue. At the end of this period the office was abolished under the provisions of the new constitution. In the fall of 1885, after a warm contest, he was nominated on the Republican ticket for sheriff, and his popularity was significantly attested by his election by a plurality of nearly one thousand, while his predecessor. Randolph Crippen, a Dem- ocrat, had been elected by a plurality of seven- teen hundred, and his successor, Robinson, also a Democrat, was elected by a plurality of more than two thousand. Mr. Lewis entered upon his duties January 1, 1886, and during his three years term of service made a record for efficiency and integrity second to that of none other similar officer in the commonwealth. In 1889, after the failure of the Scranton City Bank, Judge Lewis, as the representative of the depositors, and Dr. Throop, representing the stockholders, were ap- pointed trustees of the property then known as the "Jessup leases." and it was largely due to his watchfulness and sagacity that the claims of the depositors were speedily paid. Having thus strongly demonstrated his ability as a financier, on October 1, 1890, Mr. Lewis was offered and accepted the responsible positions of a director and the general manager of the New York, Sus- quehanna & Western Coal Company, which con- trolled the output of eighteen breakers, and he served in this two-fold capacity until the prop-

erties passed into the hands of the Erie Com- pany. He was prominently identified with var- ious other great enterprises of more than local importance. In 1896 he was one of the incor- porators of the Susquehanna Connecting Rail- road Company, of which he was chosen president. He was one of the leaders in the organization of the North Scranton Bank, was its first president, and served as such until his death. He was also president of the Lackawanna Telephone Com- pany of Scranton, a director in the Dime Deposit and Discount Bank, and was connected with var- ious other institutions and industries in and about Scranton.

While Mr. Lewis was thus deeply engaged in practically all the concerns that made up the ma- terial importance of the city, he devoted himself in large degree to those higher interests which give to a community moral and intellectual strength. A sincere christian, he was one of the most earnest and active members of the Provi- dence Presbyterian Church, which he served for fifteen years as a member of the board of trus- tees and chairman of that body, this period of service including the time of the building of the new church edifice. He was among the most liberal contributors to the support of the church and to its benevolences, and, in addition, he ma- terially aided many outside benevolent causes, as well as the distressed in the community. Among the tributes to his memory at the time of his de- cease, it was said of him that "he was a regular, devout and reverent worshipper in God's house on the Sabbath day, and until within the past year or two he was seldom absent from the ap- pointed place at morning and evening service. He was a christian man of a rare type of excel- lence. His fervent belief in God and Christ, and his faith in prayer, were real things to him. He practiced religion in his daily walk and conversa- tion." His first vote was cast for Abraham Lin- coln in 1864. and he remained a steadfast Re- publican throughout his life, taking an active part in support of its principles and policies, serving at various times upon its county and state com- mittees, and sitting as a delegate in its conven- tions. He was not, however, desirous of official preferment, and was in no sense an office seeker. He was an active member of Griffin Post No. 139. Grand Army of the Republic, and his sympathy and aid were ever freely extended to those un- fortunates who had proved their fealty to their country by army service. In Masonry he had at- tained to the thirty-second degree, but in later years had only retained affiliation with Hiram Loxlge, No. 261, of which he was a life member.

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He aided in the organization of the North End board of trade, of which he was president for several years and until he declined a re-election. He was a man of fine social qualities, and culti- vated tastes, and derived much pleasure from his large and well selected library.

December 31, 1863, shortly after his return from army service, and while engaged as a school teacher, Judge Lewis married Miss Adeline Wells, who was born in Susquehanna county, and who died there April 14 of the next year. At Scranton, in March, 1867, he married Miss Cas- anda Bloss, daughter of William Bloss, a con- tractor and builder, and a member of an old Penn- sylvania family. She died May 30, 1877, leaving two children : William J. Jr., and Effa, who be- came the wife of Arja Powell. William J. Jr., graduated from Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and for some years has been assist- ant general inspector of the New York, Susque- hanna & Western Coal Company. June 2, 1882, Judge Lewis married Miss Mary Griffith, a na- tive of Wales, who survives her husband. Three children were born of this union, all boys, one of whom died at two years, one at the age of three, and the surviving child is Walford C. Lewis. Judge Lewis died January 25, 1902, after an ill- ness of ten weeks. His removal was a distinct loss to the community and bitter bereavement to his family. The local press and the various bodies in which he held membership paid touching tribute to his great worth. It was said of him that in no instance throughout his career did he fail to win and hold the respect and esteem of anyone with whom he had relations of any kind ; that his wise counsel will be sadly missed in the various enterprises in which he was engaged, and that the memory of his services to the community will keep him in remembrance for many years. At his funeral the Rev. George E. Guild, D. D., de- livered a glowing eulogium. The last rites were performed by the Masonic fraternity, and the Grand Army Post of which deceased was an hon- ored member. The character of the lamented dead was fittingly summed up in the following resolutions adopted by the board of directors of the bank of which he was so long the head :

"A manly man, a christian gentleman, the president of this bank, is dead-William J. Lewis, for many years a resident of North Scran- ton. We all knew the life he led. To this com- munity it was a benediction, and to all of his neighbors an inspiration. Right minded, strong and courageous in his convictions from a proper sense of duty, he never wavered. Bright and cheerful in disposition, his presence on any oc-

casion was grateful, his unexpected or enforced absence invariably deplored. Rare, indeed, was his personality. The heart and the head each seemed to play an equal part, the one compelling respect and admiration by the exercise of its powers : the other inspiring love and devotion by the exhibition of its virtues. As a neighbor he was hospitable to all, and kind to the poor. A man of affairs, and exceptionally wide exper- ience, in both private and public life, he was hon- est and true to the best and highest ideals.

"From the organization of the North Scranton Bank until the hour of his untimely death, he was president of the institution. A member of our board of directors, he was sagacious and con- servative in consultation. The highest executive officer of the bank, no detail of its business es- caped his notice, nor did any matter appear too. trifling to claim his attention. Not a little of the bank's present highly satisfactory condition, not a little of its promising future, is to be attributed to his indefatigable and unselfish devotion to its interests.

"And now, finally, it may be said of him that he was a man of many friends, and no enemies."

WV. H. OLMSTEAD, M. D. No calling or profession to which man turns his attention is so fraught with interest and responsibility as that of the physician. No student needs more thor- ough or painstaking training than does the man who takes up the science of materia medica. The successful physician must be quick of percep- tion, prompt in action, capable, tender and sym- pathetic. Dr. W. H. Olmstead was born in Dundaff, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, August 22, 1862, a son of Dr. Johnson C. and Dency (Woodward) Olmstead, and grandson of Osborn and Violette Olmstead, natives of Con- necticut, who migrated to Wayne county, Penn- sylvania, about the beginning of the nineteenth century, where Osborn Olmstead divided his at- tention between agricultural pursuits and the operation of a tannery. Their family consisted of thirteen children, nine of whom attained years of maturity.

Dr. Johnson C. Olmstead (father) was born in New York in 1819. He was a graduate of the University of New York, and for the long period of forty-six years was successfully engaged in the practice of medicine, in Susquehanna county. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. In 1846 he married Dency Wood- ward, daughter of Jonathan K. Woodward, and the sister of Warren J. Woodward, judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. Four children

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were the issue of this union, Dr. W. H. Olm- stead being the only surviving member at the present time (1905). Dr. Johnson C. Olmstead died in 1887, aged sixty-eight years. He sur- vived his wife many years, her death occurring in 1864.

In the schools of his native village Dr. W. H. Olmstead obtained the rudiments of his edu- cation, and the knowledge thus obtained was supplemented by attendance at the Keystone Academy, Factoryville, and at Sprague's Busi- ness College, Kingston. In 1887 he took up the study of medicine, the same year entered the Long Island Medical College, later was a stu- dent in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1890 was graduated with Medical College, Columbus, Ohio. The same the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Columbus year he opened an office in Dalton, Pennsylvania, where he remained two years, and then located in Fleetville, where he remained four years. In March, 1896, he located in Taylor and since then has devoted himself exclusively to his profession and the best interests of his patients. He is a member of Acacia Lodge, No. 597, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and the Royal Arcanum.

In 1883 Dr. Olmstead married Miss Sallie Brownell, daughter of Daniel and Hester Brown- ell, and three children have been born to them : Kate, Nina, and Hawley.

FULLER FAMILY. Edward Fuller was one of the passengers on the "Mayflower," and became the progenitor of the family in America. He and his wife Ann had a son, Samuel Fuller (2), who married Jane Lathrop, and their son Samuel Fuller (3), married Ann Miller, and afterward Mary Ide. Samuel Fuller (4), son of Samuel Fuller, married Dorothy Wilmarth.

Samuel Fuller, of the fifth generation in America, was born and lived at Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He was three times married, his wives being successively Susan Harton, Waity Ormsbee and Hannah Lake. His children by his second wife were Nathan, Ruth, Dolly and Waity. The children of his third marriage were Sam- nel, Jacob, David, Jesse, Nathaniel, Daniel, Susan, Louis, Hannah and Rhoda.

Jesse Fuller (6), fourth child of Samuel and Hannah (Lake) Fuller, was born at Rehoboth, February 14, 1752, and died January 17, 1832. He was married in March, 1776, to Lydia Miller, who was born August 25, 1760, died November I, 1830. Jesse Fuller resided in the western part of Rehoboth, near Palmer's river, and not far from the Taunton pike. He attended the Palmer

river meeting house, and his remains together with those of his wife lie buried in the cemetery at Diamond Hill, town of Cumberland, Rhode- Island. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary. war, enlisting from Rehoboth in Captain Syl- vanus Martin's company under Colonel Carpen- ter. He participated in the battle of Bennington, coming out unhurt, and assisted in drawing from the field the cannon captured from the British. An anecdote is related of him that can be found in the history of Rehoboth. It seems that in 1776 a company was raised under Colonel Thomas Carpenter to join Washington's army at White Plains. The British advanced to that point, and in the skirmish attacked the Americans and retreated. In the American army there was a soldier by the name of Fuller, and when the- enemy retreated he was one of the foremost in pursuit, and, coming up with the British soldiers, who were just leaving a house in which they had delayed for refreshments, he leveled his musket at them and called out in a most determined tone, "Throw down your guns, or I'll shoot you. through." They, either from fear or some other motive, instantly obeyed, and Fuller, in all real pride and triumph, led back two gigantic British prisoners to the colonel, who surveying the Go- liathlike dimensions of the prisoners, and, con- trasting them with the inferior stature of their- captor, inquired of Fuller how he managed to take them. Fuller, who stuttered at times, an- swered, "Well, Colonel, I sur-sur-rounded them." The name of Jesse Fuller appears on a list of men in Captain Nathaniel Carpenter's company- stationed at Brookline six weeks, and was dis- missed January 15, 1776. (Extract from Massa- chusetts Muster and Payrolls, vol. 53. page 236). His name appears on a list of men in Captain- Carpenter's company in Colonel Simeon Cary's regiment and General John Fellows' brigade at New York and White Plains. His term of ser- vice at that time was five months, and he was. dismissed December 1, 1776. (Massachusetts Muster and Payrolls, vol. 53, page 236). His name appears as that of a private in the muster- and payrolls of Captain Sylvanus Martin's com- pany of Colonel Thomas Carpenter's regiment for service in Rhode Island, December 8, 1776, time of service sixteen days. Again his name ap- pears in a list of men in Captain James Hibt's. company. Colonel John Daggett's regiment, at Bristol, for three months, from December 28, 1776. ( Massachusetts Muster and Payrolls, vol. 53. page 25). He also did service according to. the muster and payroll of Captain Israel Hicks under command of Colonel John Daggett, in-

A.C. Fuller.

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Rhode Island, the time of his enlistment being January 2, 1778, and his term of service three months, the roll being sworn to at Rehoboth. (Rhode Island Service, vol. 19, page 199). He appears with rank of sergeant on the muster and payroll of Captain Jacob Taylor's Company. Colonel John Jacob's regiment, for service in Rhode Island, time of enlistment May 1, 1778, the term of enlistment to expire January 1, 1779; time of service eight months and one day : town to which soldier belonged Rehoboth. ( Rhode Island Service, vol. 2, page 49).

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 23

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1026