Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 26

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 26
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 26

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HON. ALFRED HAND, lawyer and jur- ist, and through a long career actively identi- fied with leading religious, educational, indus- trial and financial affairs in Scranton and vi- cinity, is a representative of one of the oldest families on Long Island. His emigrant ances- tor, John Hand, came from Stanstede, Eng- land, to America, in 1644, and was the pro- genitor of a long line of shipbuilders and men engaged in the whaling trade, men whose names are yet familiar throughout the length of Long Island. John Hand was in 1648 one of the company from Southampton, Long Isl- and (where he was recorded on the whaling list ) that founded the new settlement at East- hampton. From him the line of Judge Hand is traced through Stephen, died 1693 : Stephen, junior, born 1661, died 1740; John, born 1701, died 1755: John, born 1754: John, born in Athens, Greene county, New York, married Mary Jones, March 6, 1778, and died May 30, 1809.

Ezra, son of John and Mary (Jones) Hand, was born August 9, 1799. in Rensselaerville, Albany county, New York. His life was prin- cipally passed in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1875. He married, June 2, 1829, Catharine Chapman, born at Durham, Greene county, New York, February II, 1808. and who long survived her husband, living to the age of ninety-one years. She was a lineal descendant of that Robert Chapman who in 1635 emigrated from Hull, England, to Boston, in the Massachusetts Bay colony. November 3 of the year of his arrival he was one of a com- pany of twenty-one men sent out by Sir Rich- ard Saltonstall to make settlements near the mouth of the Connecticut river under the pat- ent of Lords Say and Seal. It thus appears that in both parental lines Judge Hand traces his lineage to some of the earliest New England families.

Alfred Hand, son of Ezra and Catherine (Chapman) Hand, was born at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, March 26, 1835. He was fav- ored with excellent educational advantages. He entered Yale College at the age of eighteen, and graduated in 1857. He read law under the office preceptorship of William and William H. Jessup, at Montrose, Pennsylvania. and was admitted to the bar of Susquehanna county in November, 1859, and to that of Luzerne county on May 8. 1860. He was for a short time a member of the firm of Jessup & Hand, but in

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1860 removed from Montrose to Scranton, and six years later formed a partnership with a former fellow student, Isaac J. Post, and this association was continued until March, 1879, when Governor Hoyt appointed Mr. Hand to the position of judge of the eleventh judicial dis- trict of Pennsylvania, comprising the counties of Lackawanna and Luzerne. He took an ac- tive part in the creation of the new county of Lackawanna, and upon its organization was appointed to the judgeship. In 1880 he was elected to the same position for a full period of ten years, but before its conclusion (July 31, 1888), was appointed by Governor Beaver to a seat upon the supreme bench of the state to fill the unexpired term of Judge Trunkey, de- ceased. He served with distinguished success until the end of the term, January 1, 1889, and at once resumed the practice of his profession, in which he has continued to the present time, devoting his attention principally as counsel for important corporations. In the field of his profession he is recognized as the peer of any with whom he has been at any time associated, whether before the bar or on the bench.

Judge Hand has been closely identified with many of the leading institutions entering into the business life of Scranton and vicinity. From 1872 until 1879 he was president of the Third National Bank, and was instrumental in the organization of the First National Bank. He has been a director of the People's Street Railway of Luzerne County, the Jefferson Rail- road Company, the Dickson Manufacturing Company, the Lackawanna Valley Coal Com- pany, the Oxford (New Jersey) Iron and Nail Company, the Davis Oil Company of New York, and is a member of the coal firm of Will- iam Connell & Company. He is deeply in- terested in educational and charitable institu- tions ; has served as a trustee of Lafayette Col- lege; is president of the Pennsylvania Oral School for Deaf Mutes, the first school of the kind established in the state; has been presi- dent of the Scranton Free Library from its foundation ; and for many years has rendered efficient service as president of the Lacka- wanna County Bible Society, a director of the Lackawanna Hospital, and president and a director of the Scranton Young Men's Chris- tian Association. He is a Presbyterian in re- ligion. Since 1866 he has been an elder in the First Church of Scranton, and has represented the presbytery of Lackawanna in six sessions of the general assembly of the denomination, serving on important committees of that body.

In politics he is a pronounced advocate of Republican principles, but has never sought official position, and the only public stations he has occupied were +hose within the pale of his profession.

Judge Hand married, September 11, 1861, Phebe A., daughter of the distinguished jurist, Hon. William Jessup, of Montrose, Pennsyl- vania. She died April 25, 1872, and Judge Hand married Helen E., daughter of Frederick Sanderson, of Beloit, Wisconsin, and a native of Williamstown, Massachusetts. To Judge Hand have been born eight children: Horace E., a graduate of Yale, class of '84, a member of the law firm of Jessup & Hand, Scranton ; William J., a graduate of Yale, class of '87; Alfred, a graduate of Yale, class of '88, and of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, class of '92, now practicing his profession in Philadelphia; Harriet J., Char- lotte; Miles T., a graduate of Williams College and Cornell University ; Helen S., and Ruth B. Hand.

HON. HENRY M. EDWARDS, a distin- guished member of the Pennsylvania bar, now serving as president judge of Lackawanna county, is of Welsh nativity, born in Monmouth- shire, South Wales, Great Britain, February 12, 1844, a son of John and Margaret Edwards, na- tives of South Wales.

His early education was obtained in the pub- lic schools and at the Normal College, Swansea, South Wales, and he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at London University. He was twenty years of age when in 1864 he came to America in company with his parents, the family home being established in Hyde Park, now a part of the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania. His superior education qualified him for professional work, and for a few years he directed his ener- gies along literary and journalistic lines. He was for a year (1865) on the editorial staff of the New York Tribune, and for three years he published in Scranton the Baner America, a Welsh newspaper, of which he was managing editor. His writings were graceful and forceful, and attracted favorable attention.

While thus engaged, he devoted much of his leisure time to reading law, first merely be- cause of a personal interest in the science, but later resolved upon this profession as a life work, and became a student in the office of the late Hon. Fred W. Gunster, early in 1871. In later years he was a colleague of Judge Gunster on the bench of Lackawanna county. He was

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admitted to the bar of Luzerne county, Pennsyl- vania, October 18, 1871, and entered upon prac- tice, soon demonstrating his comprehensive knowledge of the basic principles of the science of law and his correct application thereof to the points in litigation. In 1875 he formed a part- nership with the late Judge G. W. Ward, which continued for five years, after which he continued alone in active practice. In 1885 he was elected district attorney of Lackawanna county, re- elected in 1888, at the close of his first term of three years, and declined a third term in 1891. In 1893 he was chosen by popular suffrage to the office of additional law judge of Lackwanna county for a term of ten years, in 1901 became president judge of the court of common pleas of Lackwanna county, and in 1903 was re-elected to the same office for a term of ten years, without opposition, receiving the unanimous nomination from both political parties. In both capacities, as lawyer and judge, he has brought to his duties the best qualities of his profession and is held in well deserved esteem by both bench and bar. In politics he is a Republican, and is recognized as a most earnest and capable exponent of the prin- ciples and policies of his party.

Judge Edwards married, November 3, 1870, Miss Jennie Richards, a native of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Thomas Rich- ards, who came from Wales to Carbondale, Pennsylvania, in 1832, moving to Scranton in 1868. Their children are: John R., mentioned hereafter: Margaret (Mrs. E. W. Thayer) ; May, Anna, Henry M., Jr.

John R. Edwards, a member of the Lacka- wanna county bar, is one of the coming young men in the Republican party of Lackawanna county. He was strongly urged for district at- torney of Lackawanna county by an influential element in the last county campaign, with good prospects of nomination and election. He is well schooled, bright, intelligent, but modest withal. He is particularly qualified for success in poli- tics by reason of his large acquaintance and his fine tact in making and keeping friends. He is a staunch, unwavering Republican and has all the qualifications for advancement as a representa- tive of the party.

FRED. J. BISHOP, M. D. Of the numerous professions in which men may rise to eminence, there is none known to the professional world that claims a higher place in the esteem of all than does the science of medicine. Dr. Bishop, a young and progressive physician of Scranton,

Pennsylvania, is well qualified by nature and edu- cation for his profession, and his technical study and successful practice entitles him to a position second to none in the city of his adoption. Dr. Bishop was born in Archibald, Pennsylvania, in 1875, a son of Justus and Dora ( Neimeyer) Bis- hop, and grandson of William and Maria (Brandt ) Bishop. The Bishop family emigrated to this country in 1850, settling in Archbald,. Pennsylvania, and the Neimeyer family emigrated in 1866, settling in what is now known as Jessup.

William Bishop (grandfather) was born in Germany, from whence he emigrated to this coun- try in 1850, accompanied by his wife, Maria. (Brandt) Bishop, and two children-George, born in 1844, married Louise Neil, who bore him five children, and died in 1898-and Justus, born in 1847, mentioned at length hereinafter. Mr. Bishop located in Archbald, Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as an active and useful citizen, and where he resided up to the time of his death in the year 1865.

Justus Bishop (father) was born in Germany,. in 1847, and when three years of age was brought to this country by his parents. He attended the common schools in the neighborhood of Arch- bald, and later entered into partnership with his- brother George in the tinware business. This proved a lucrative means of livelihood, and their trade increased in proportion to the amount of energy expended. After a short period of time had elapsed they opened a branch store in Car- bondale, which also prospered greatly from the beginning, both stores becoming in due course of time established hardware centers. This co- partnership was continued until 1884, in which year it was dissolved by mutual consent, George taking the store in Carbondale, and Justus the one. in Archbald. Justus Bishop was one of the in- fiuential citizens of Archbald, standing high in the estimation of all with whom he came in contact, either in business or social circles. For a number of years he held the office of borough treasurer, his administration being noted for integrity and efficiency. For eight years he served in the capacity of superintendent of the Archbald Water Company. He is a member of the Order of Hep- tasophs. In 1868 he married Dora Neimeyer, a native of Germany, who bore him six children, namely : William, Fred J., George, Arthur, Ruth, and Harry, deceased.

Dr. Bishop obtained his literary education in the common schools of his native town, Archbald, and the Mansfield State Normal School, from which he was graduated. In 1896, immediately-

2-9

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after his graduation, he entered the Chirurgical Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1899, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The same year he opened an office in Scranton, where he has since put to a practical test the theoretical knowledge gained during his collegiate course. He has established an extensive prac- tice, this being due to his skill in diagnosing care- fully and treating successfully the various cases which have come before him. He keeps thor- oughly in touch with medical thought and progress by membership in the Scranton Clinical and Pathological Society, the Lackawanna County Medical Society, the State Medical So- ciety, and the American Medical Association. Socially he is affiliated with Peter Williamson Lodge, No. 323, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Royal Arcanum.

Dr. Bishop was united in marriage September II, 1901, to Estella Vista Hunter, and they are the parents of one son, Bruce H. Bishop.

EMMETT HOUCK. Among the progres- sive business men of the younger generation whose enterprise contributes so largely to the financial prosperity of Lackawanna county, Em- mett Houck, of Scranton, holds a foremost place. He is the grandson of George and Frances (Kurtz) Houck, residents of Stroudsburg, Mon- roe county, Pennsylvania.

'Andrew Houck, son of George and Frances (Kurtz) Houck, was born in Monroe county, and was a well-to-do farmer and a man of influence in the township. He married Catherine, daugh- ter of Samuel and Lucy (Kintz) Newhart. The former was a prominent agriculturist of Monroe county, who died at the age of eighty-two years on the farm which had been his birthplace. Mr. and Mrs. Houck were the parents of the follow- ing children : Emmett, mentioned at length here- inafter : Martha, Nettie J., Joseph H., Elmer, who was a carpenter, met his death by falling from a building, October 25, 1904; Irvin, John S., and Samuel R., who is deceased.

Emmett Houck, son of Andrew and Catherine (Newhart) Houck, was born June 29, 1865, near Stroudsburg, Monroe county, where he was edu- cated at the common schools. In early life he began to learn the carpenter's trade, and after his removal to Scranton, which took place March 3. 1887, completed his course of training. For seven years he worked for Frank Mayer, and in 1894 went into business for himself as a contractor and builder. In this enterprise he was very suc- cessful, owing in part to the thorough training which he had received and in part to mechanical

genius and executive ability. Not only is he a skilled mechanic, but also a master builder, who works from draughts and is capable of making those draughts himself. He has superintended the erection of nearly all the houses in his neigh- borhood, which is a new part of the city. In politics he is an advocate and supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. Houck married, December 25, 1890, Mary C. Mackpeek, and the following children have been born to them : Verna C., Harry E., Hazel H., Orval W., Grace A., Walter E., who is deceased ; Carl D. Mrs. Houck is a daughter of Horatio Mackpeek, born in New Jersey, of Scotch de- scent, and a stonemason by trade. More than forty-five years ago he came from New Jersey and settled in the Lackawanna valley. He married Mary E. Coss, of German descent, and their chil- dren were: Henry, who is deceased ; Charles W., who is also deceased ; Jerry B .; Malinda G., who is deceased ; Loretta B .; Mary C., who was born September 29, 1873, in Scranton, and became the wife of Emmett Houck, as mentioned above ; Minnie M. ; and Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Mack- peek, the parents of these children, are now resi- dents of Peckville, Pennsylvania.

HON. LEMUEL AMERMAN, deceased, of Scranton, an accomplished lawyer, and an ideal citizen, who filled various important stations both in the line of his profession and in political life, and who bore an active and conspicuously useful part in promoting the highest interests of the community, was a native Pennsylvanian, and a descendant of one of the oldest and most hon- ored Dutch families of the early colonial period.

The founder of the American family in America was his great-great-great-grandfather, Derick Amerman, who came from the vicinity of Amsterdam, Holland, to New York, before the country passed under English rule. In 1695 and for some years thereafter he owned and operated a ferry between the city of New York and Hoboken, New Jersey. His son Albert was reared in New Jersey, and was a farmer. Albert was an intense patriot, and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war abandoned his farm, turning over to the continental authorities his horses and cattle for army use, and also enlisting as a sol- dier, participating in numerous engagements, in- cluding the famous battle of Monmouth, where he lost his knee-cap from a wound. In 1800 he removed to Pennsylvania, settling in Northum- berland county, where he lived until his death in 1821. His son Henry, who was a small lad when

LEmuel Amerman

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his father came to the state, married Susanna Cook, a native of Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania.

Jesse C. Amerman, son of Henry and Sus- anna (Cook) Amerman, was a farmer and mer- chant in Cooper township. Montour county. He was a man of sterling character and excellent business ability. He represented his county in the state legislature in 1873-74. December 2, 18.45, he married Caroline Strohm, daughter of Abraham Strohim, whose ancestors came from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania about 1765, She died April 19, 1869.

Lemuel Amerman, son of Jesse C. and Caro- line (Strohm) Amerman, was born October 29. 1846, near Danville, Montour county, and was reared upon the paternal farm. He inherited a fine physique, and was trained to habits of in- dustry and thrift. In his youth he was in turn a laborer and driver on the Pennsylvania canal and clerk in a store. During these years he was pos- sessed of an ambition to enter upon a more active career, and to prepare himself therefor l'e bent every energy to the acquisition of a liberal edu- cation. Having laid a substantial foundation in the public school, he prepared for college at Danville Academy, after which he taught school for two years in order to earn the means for further instruction. In 1866, at the age of twenty years, he entered Bucknell University at Louisburg, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with honor in the class of 1870. The scope of his attainments is discerned in the fact that he was at once called to the pro- fessorship of ancient languages and English literature in the State Normal school at Mans- field, Pennsylvania, and that he filled the place with acknowledged ability for a period of three years. It is to be here noted that he developed such an aptitude for educational work as to afford ample assurance that he would have risen to its higher walks had he devoted him- self solely to it. He had other purposes, how- ever.

After leaving the college lecture room Mr. Amerman engaged in the study of law in the office of the late Lewis C. Cassidy, ex-attorney general of Pennsylvania, and Pierce Archer, Jr., of Philadelphia, where he had for fellow- ·students Hon. Robert E. Pattison, who became governor of the commonwealth: Hon. James Gay Gordon, who became judge of the court of common pleas of Philadelphia ; and Hon. Will- iam F. Harrity. He was admitted to the bar December 24, 1875. In the following year he Jlocated in Scranton, and entered upon a prac-

tice which became very extensive in all the courts of the district, and included some of the most important litigation connected with coal mine ownership and operation, and with large industrial and manufacturing interests, fields in which he was peculiarly well equipped and resourceful. A keenly analytical and scholarly mind, coupled with a remarkable intuitive knowledge of human nature, and the many other qualities which combine to make the suc- cessful lawyer, soon brought him to the front rank of the legal practitioners of Pennsylvania. He was recognized as a thorough student, an indefatigable worker, and unusually quick of application. Once he evolved an opinion, it was as good as law ; once he prepared a case, he was ready to successfully defend it against any opposition, with incontrovertible knowl- edge of the applying law, and, withal, ingenu- ously and with entire avoidance of aught not justified by the most stringent standards of personal and professional honor.

Mr. Amerman was early called into public life. In 1878, two years after he had taken up his residence in Scranton, he was elected county solicitor of Lackawanna county for a term of two years, and on his retirement from the position he was (in 1881) elected to the house of representatives of the state. During his two year term he formulated various im- portant laws relating to anthracite coal min- ing, and was primarily instrumental in effect- ing their passage. In 1886 Governor Pattison appointed him reporter of the decisions of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and he entered upon his duties with intelligence and enthus- iasm which found their fruit in some most salutary innovations. Departing from the cus- tom then in vogue of delaying reports until a year and more after the decisions were handed down from the bench, he made in- mediate issuance, to the great advantage of judges and lawyers alike, who gave cordial expression to their satisfaction with the new order which he had established. The encom- iums from the bench were peculiarly appre- ciative. Said Chief Justice Mercur, "Your promptness is very commendable"; Justice Gordon, "Your work as a reporter is well done, and the dispatch with which you have pub- lished the reports is worthy of all commenda- tion"; Justice Paxson, "Your promptness has not been excelled or equalled, and is entirely novel": Justice Trunkey, "Your promptness must be pleasing and advantageous to the pro- fession, and you have shown that the author-

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ized reports of cases may be placed in the hands of the profession within less than three months after the decision"; Justice Green, "I appre- ciate highly the promptness with which the reports are printed under your supervision, and also the thoroughness with which the cases are prepared and arranged. You are certainly deserving of great credit for your work in these respects.

Mr. Amerman was elected controller of the city of Scranton in 1887, and during his two years term of office he inaugurated and suc- cessfully carried out many salutary reforms in the auditing of the public accounts and the dis- tribution of the municipal funds. He was elected to a seat in the fifty-second congress, and in that body proved himself a most useful member, and took an active part in the enact- ment of legislative measures of unusual im- portance, among them being the act requiring railroads to equip their cars with automatic couplers and air-brakes.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Amerman was a recognized power in the district, and his fine gifts as a public speaker were frequently dis- played in support of the principles and policies of his party. He was a Baptist in religion, and for seven years was superintendent of the Penn Avenue Baptist Church Sunday school. His personal qualities were such as mark the ideal citizen and christian gentleman. Possessed of ample means, he used them generously in the promotion of various important enterprises which contributed to the development of his home city and made its name celebrated as an industrial and commercial center. He was a prime factor in projecting, building and operat- ing water-works and trolley lines. He was president of the Lackawanna Valley Traction Company and the Blossburg Water Company ; and vice-president of the Spring Brook Water Supply Company, the Scranton and Pittston Traction Company, the Brookside Coal Com- pany, and the Mansfield Water Company. He had for an associate in various business enter- prises ex-Lieutenant Governor L. A. Watres. The confidence reposed in him was evidenced by his choice as an executor of the immense estate of the late Judge Handley, and which trust passed to his wife after his death. He was an earnest supporter of and liberal con- tributor to many charitable and humanitarian institutions, while his personal benefactions were ever bestowed upon those individuals whose con- dition appealed to his deeply sympathetic nature.

Mr. Amerman married, September 24, 1879,

Miss Susan Wallaze, a daughter of Laurens. Wallaze, and a member of an old Virginia family. Her death occurred only four months. after her marriage. Mr. Amerman subse- quently married Miss Mary C. Van Nort, daughter of Charles F. Van Nort, a native of Abington township, and then a resident of Scranton. She died February 7, 1886, leaving two children, Ralph and Mary. Her sister,. Ella May Van Nort, became the wife of Mr. Amerman on July 2, 1890.

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 26

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