USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 29
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 29
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
In 1872 Mr. Scranton was a delegate to the Republican national convention hield in Philadel- phia. Two years later he was appointed by Pres- ident Grant, postmaster of the city of Scranton, re-appointed by President Hayes in 1878, and oc- cupied that position nearly seven years, resigning after his election to the forty-seventh congress. In 1880 Mr. Scranton was nominated for the forty-seventh congress by the Republicans of the twelfth congressional district of Pennsylvania, the Lackawanna-Luzerne district, and was elected by a flattering majority, being the third Republican representing the old Luzerne district during a period of twenty years, and the first representative from the Lackawanna end of the district since 1860, when Colonel George W. Scranton, a cousin, was elected, and with the single exception of Judge Stanton, who served three months of the unexpired term of Hon. W. W. Ketcham. Soon after his election in 1880 Mr. Scranton con- ceived the project of a United States building for the city of Scranton, and during the year before he took his seat he carefully prepared the way for carrying his plans to a successful issue. At that time the government had not adopted the policy of erecting buildings in the smaller inland cities, and consequently the undertaking was attended with greater difficulties and uncertainties than now appear, when such buildings are being erected in many cities all over the country. Shortly after assuming his duties in Washington, Mr. Scran- ton introduced the bill providing for a postoffice building in Scranton, and by careful management and persistent labor secured its passage, thereby attracting considerable attention, both at home and elsewhere in the state and country, it being an unusual success for a new member at his first ses- sion. At the second session of the term he was successful in securing an appropriation for the purchase of a site, and never relaxed his per- severance until the purchase was made and title passed. Another notable success achieved by him during his first term was in securing an ap- propriation of fifteen thousnd dollars for the im- provement of the Susquehanna river, between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston. He was also success- ful in securing the free mail delivery system for both Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.
In 1882 he was nominated for Congress from the same district by the Republicans, but owing to the efforts of a faction in Wilkes-Barre, who appear to have been dissatisfied by a local appoint- ment which Mr. Scranton was instrumental in having made, he was defeated. The value of his services was greatly appreciated, notwithstanding. and in 1884 the party rallied to his support for the
third time and again elected him by a large ma- jority. In the forty-ninth congress he repeated his earlier successes. One of the most important local measures of which he secured the passage was that instituting sessions of the United States court at Scranton. In 1886 he received the Re- publican nomination for the fiftieth congress, but the jealousy of the faction in Wilkes-Barre, previously alluded to, which was probably found- ed in large part, if not wholly, upon the fact that the city of Scranton had won the government prizes named, operated to bring about his defeat. Nevertheless, he was so evidently the man for the place that in September, 1888, he was nominated by his party for the fifty-first congress from the new eleventh district, composed of Lackawanna county, and was elected, exceeding former ma- jorities by a surprising vote. "It is a significant fact," says an observant local writer, in com- menting upon Mr. Scranton's work, "that when- ever this district has been represented in congress by others, the important projects conceived by Mr. Scranton for the interests of the city have been at a stand-still." Mr. Scranton was again Republican candidate for congress in 1890, but was defeated by Lemuel Amerman, who served in the fifty-second congress. Two years later, in 1892, Mr. Scranton defeated Mr. Amerman for the fifty-third congress and succeeded himself in the fifty-fourth congress, to which he was elected in 1894. It will thus be noticed that during a period of sixteen years Mr. Scranton led the Re- publican party continuously as its congressional candidate, having been elected five times and de- feated three times, serving a period of ten years in congress.
But Mr. Scranton's usefulness in the national legislature was not confined to local success. A sincere "protectionist," he labored earnestly in the support of all measures that were calculated to uphold and defend American labor and American industries against every foreign encroachiment and influence. In this he respected the wishes of his constituents and voiced his own earnest convic- tions, the result of long study, observation and experience on the subject. As a legislator Mr. Scranton has been loyal to his promises, his con- stituents and his country. His support at the polls has not been limited to members of his party, but has embraced thoughtful men of all shades of political opinion, who believe in being represented by a thoroughly honest, patriotic and energetic man, intelligent and broad-minded enough to stifle purely partisan feeling in his efforts to se- cure the common good. Mr. Scranton was a del- egate to the Republican national convention at
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
Chicago ( 1888). He has repeatedly been a dele- gate to state and county conventions, and a suc- cessful chairman of county committees in both Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. As a journal- ist Mr. Scranton stands high among the profes- sion throughout the state, and the success he has won for The Republican is widely known and ap- preciated. As a state leader in the Republican party he has achieved notable successes and en- joys an enviable position. His twenty-one years' devotion to his professional and political pursuits are admitted all over the state to have largely contributed toward wresting the natur- ally Democratic strongholds of northeastern Pennsylvania from their former affiliations and placing and holding the anthracite counties in the Republican column. Mr. Scranton was treas- urer of Lackawanna county for the years 1901-'02-'03, having been elected for the term of three years upon the Republican ticket in 1900.
Mr. Scranton married, June 23, 1863, Ada, eldest daughter of General A. N. Meylert, of Scranton. Two children were born of this union : Robert Meylert, the eldest, is associated with his father in the publication of The Republican, and Lida, who made her debut in Washington society in 1885-86, during her father's second term in congress, subsequently became the wife of Captain D. L. Tate, of Third United States Cavalry.
FREDERICK MOESEL. That integrity of purpose coupled with energy and determination will enable a young man to make for himself a place of definite usefulness and prosperity is well exemplified in the career of the subject of this brief sketch. He came to America from a foreign land when a lad of eleven years, and through industry and good management, attained a suc- cess worthy the name and is numbered among the prosperous young business men of the south side of the city of Scranton, where he has a well equipped harness store and shop, the same be- ing located at 433 Cedar avenue.
Mr. Mocsel was born in the town of Neu- stadt-a-Kulm, kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, February 24, 1879, being the elder of the two children of Adam and Catherine (Harberstroh) Moesel. The younger child, John C., is a baker by trade and vocation, being foreman in a lead- ing establishment in New York City. The moth- er of our subject died when he was about three years of age, January 26, 1882, and his father subsequently married a second wife, who died without issue, while of his third marriage were born seven children, of whom four are living,
namely: Anna, George, Mary and Margaret. George is engaged in the bakery business in Scranton, and the other children also reside here. Adam Moesel (father) immigrated to America in 1885, and our subjejct was left in the care of his paternal grandfather in Germany until 1890, when, at the age of eleven years, he too came to the United States, having previously received excellent educational advantages in his native land, while he continued to attend school for some time after his arrival in the new world. He joined the other members of the family in Scranton, and here he has ever since made his home, with the exception of two years passed in the city of New York and six months spent on a visit to his fatherland. In Scranton he soon entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of harnessmaking under the direction of his ma- ternal uncle, Lorenz Harberstroh, and in due time became a skilled artisan at the trade, with which he has ever since been identified. His . ambition led him to engage in business for him- self in 1902, when he established himself at his present location, opening a shop for the manti- . facturing and repairing of harness, while his suc- cess was such that he was soon able to put in a good stock of harness, saddlery, blankets, robes, whips and other supplies, and his well equipped store and shop constitute the head- quarters for a profitable and constantly increas- ing business, while the proprietor has so ordered his course as to gain and retain the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has had dealings. He is a musician of considerable ability, and is a member of the Scranton German Singing So- ciety and the Round X Club. He enjoys marked popularity in both business and social circles.
HENRY F. ATHERTON. The life of Henry F. Atherton affords a conspicuous example of a noble character selfmade and an honorable and useful career selfwrought. Beginning life humbly, without capital, and unaided by influen- tial friends he attained to a position of honor and usefulness solely through his own ability and the exercise of energy and unconquerable determina- tion. At every stage of his effort he faithfully met every requirement with entire loyalty and trustworthy devotion, and his advancement from time to time came to him as the fruit of his own conduct. In all his business relations he was in- tegrity personified, and in his personal character he was an ideal Christian gentleman.
Mr. Atherton came of an excellent ancestry. His great-grandfather, Jonathan Atherton, with
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
a brother, came from England and settled in Franklin county, Massachusetts. Jonathan Ather- ton died November 10, 1813. aged seventy-five years. One bearing the name was a captain in King Philip's war, and was killed in battle. Jonathan, a son of Jonathan the emigrant, was born in Franklin county, Massachusetts, in 1770, and lived in Greenfield. He was a farmer, served in various public offices, and died September I, 1857, at the age of eighty-seven years. He mar- ried Huldah Chamberlain, a native of Durham, Connecticut, and they became the parents of the following named children : Susan, Martha, Alva, Almeda, Ralph, who in 1830 settled in Wyoming (then Troy) Pennsylvania, and later removed to Illinois : Maria, Permelia, Jonathan A., and Zora.
Jonathan A. Atherton was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, April 19, 1810. He attended the primitive schools of that period, and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to a shoemaker, with whom he served a term of five years, and then worked as a journeyman. In Brattleboro, Ver- mont, he married Ellen S. Bennett, a native of that place. In 1835, with his wife and two chil- dren, John R. and Henry F. (the immediate sub- ject of this narrative), Mr. Atherton journeyed in a one-horse covered wagon from Vermont to West Troy (now Wyoming), Pennsylvania, led to the last named place for the reason that Mr. Atherton's brother Frank had previously settled there. In 1838 Jonathan Atherton removed to Hyde Park, where he worked at his trade until 1846. In the latter year he bought coal land in the Keiser valley, occupying it until 1855, when he purchased a one hundred and fifty acre farm three miles south of Montrose, Susquehanna county. This property he greatly improved, and subsequently cultivated through tenants, making his home with his son, J. L. Atherton. Mrs. Atherton died in March, 1861, at the age of forty- six years, having borne to her husband nine chil- dren. Of this family the eldest. John R., was born in Vermont, was a wagonmaker by trade, and died in Hyde Park, in 1851 ; another child died in infancy ; and Fred died in Susquehanna county, August 1. 1873, at the age of twenty-six years. The other children were: Henry F., to be further mentioned : J. L., who became a super- intendent in the coal department of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company : Rosella, wife of Hon. T. H. B. Lewis, of Wilkes-Barre, an attorney, and ex-member of the legislature: Bicknell B., a coal mine superintendent in the employ of the Dela- ware & Hudson, and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western companies; Florence (Mrs. David Sherer), of Susquehanna county ; and Sophia
2-10
(Mrs. H. T. Lake), of Binghamton, New York. Jonathan A. Atherton died in 1898, aged eighty- eight years.
Henry F. Atherton, second son of Jonathan A. and Ellen S. (Bennett) Atherton, was born in Bernardston, Massachusetts, July 30, 1834, and was a year old when his parents came to Susque- hanna county. In his boyhood he attended school at Hyde Park. At the age of sixteen he. became a clerk in the store of O. P. Clark, at that place, remaining three years. He then went to Honesdale, where he took a position with Foster Brothers, merchants. He attained his majority in 1855. and in that year went to Montrose, where he engaged in business in partnership with Frank B. Chandler, a brother-in-law of Judge Jessup. After three years he returned to Honesdale and resumed his former position with Foster Brothers. He was thus engaged when Pennsylvania was in- vaded by the rebel army under General Lee, and Governor Curtin called for a force to defend the state. Mr. Atherton responded with patriotic alacrity, repairing to Harrisburg and entering Judge Jessup's company, which was attached to the Twenty-eighth Regiment of Pennsylvania militia, under Colonel Chamberlain. Mr. Ather- ton was elected second lieutenant, and with his company aided in guarding the pass at South Mountain, and afterward took part in the pursuit: of the rebel army until it had crossed over into Maryland. The services of the regiment being no longer needed, it was mustered out, and Lieut- enant Atherton returned home, having made an honorable record as soldier and officer. After- returning from his military service Mr. Atherton resumed his position with Foster Brothers.
He was soon, however, to enter upon a more active and independent career. He had acquitted himself in such a way as to gain the confidence and esteem of all with whom he was associated, and his business capability was recognized throughout the community. Among others who regarded him with interest was E. W. Weston, superintendent of the coal department of the Del- aware & Hudson Canal Company, who invited him to serve in the capacity of private secretary. Mr. Atherton at once accepted, and took up his residence in Scranton. He subsequently became accountant and assistant paymaster of the com- pany, and served as such until January 1, 1869, when he was promoted to the position of pay- master. His services in the latter capacity con- tinued throughout his life, and only ended with his death, covering the long period of thirty years. His labors and responsibilities were discharged with the greatest efficiency, testifying to his splen-
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
did capabilities as a man of large affairs. His transactions influenced all the various departments of the company's business in railroad, coal, real estate, and sales, aggregating millions of dollars, requiring the most accurate scrutiny and method- ism. In all, he was so thorough and painstaking that at no time did he incur for his company a single dollar of loss. Nor was his position not without its dangers. He had constantly in hand large sums of money, and there were occasions when deeplaid plans of robbery were devised against him, but in every case the purposes of the miscreants became known to him, and came to naught. To these large obligations of duty hie added, for the past twenty-five years of his life, those of secretary and treasurer of the Providence Gas and Water Company. While thus bearing for so many years the burdens of tremendous re- sponsibilities, Mr. Atherton did not permit him- self to be overwhelmed. He bore a full share in the promotion ot community interests and was a foremost agent in forwarding every material and moral interest. He labored efficiently to develop industrial and commercial enterprises, and was the ardent supporter of every educational and religious institution. He was among the most active members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he was an elder, giving his counsel for its good at all times, and aiding in its work. He was charitable in marked degree, but without ostenta- tion. A man of peculiarly strong domestic traits, he was devoted to his home and family, and found his greatest pleasure at his own fireside.
Mr. Atherton married, at Honesdale, October 12, 1864, Miss Abbie Foster Roe, a native of that place, daughter of John F. and Ruth (Sayre) Roe, both of old Long Island families. Her father was for sixty years a leading merchant of Honesdale, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Atherton : Carrie Foster, Annie, John R., who became assistant paymaster of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company ; Thomas S., pay clerk in the same office ; and Henry F. Atherton, Jr.
Mr. Atherton died at his residence in Scran- ton. April 3, 1899, after several months of patient suffering. The end had been expected for sev- eral days, yet there was poignant grief in many hearts when the sad intelligence reached the com- munity, his passing away coming upon it as a public calamity. The funeral services took place at the family residence on the Thursday follow- ing, conducted by the Rev. George E. Guild, pas- tor of the church to which the bereaved family was connected. The minister chose as a fitting text for his remarks the passage, "Behold the
Upright Man, for the end of that man is peace." In his eulogium he but voiced the expression of all who knew the life of him to whom this ap- plication was made: His uprightness stands out clear and distinct amid the other virtues and graces of his life and character. He was genial and sunshiny by nature, full of vivacity and activ- ities. He had a high sense of honor, was reverent and religious, but all these virtues and graces were embraced in and crowned with the Chris- tian's virtue of strictest uprightness and integrity. These were recognized by the world of business in which Mr. Atherton moved, and were conspic- uous. He leaves to his family an unsullied and exceptional record for strictest integrity and up- rightness. He was liberal and gracious in his gifts to the church, to the worthy causes in which he was interested, and to the poor and needy. Oftentimes his greatest delight, apparently, was found in the unostentatious ways which were of his own choosing for relieving the worthy and distressed. These silent and unselfish ministries of his, and which oftentimes only accidentally be- came known to his friends, were like the sweet re- freshing fragrance of good deeds which never lose their charm. Of his silent, thoughtful, ten- der, affectionate and unabating ministries in the little circle of his own family, the circle which for these later years has been for the most part the world in which he lived, these are too sacred to speak of. They are hallowed and fragrant mem- ories for the comfort of the family. Living such a life, in death the departed voyager well might sing :
"For though from out our bourne of time and place The floods have borne me far- I hope to meet my pilot, face to face, When I have crossed the bar."
STILLWELL. The Stillwells of Lack- awanna county are descended from one of the first and most important families which settled in the New Netherlands (New York), while it was yet under the Dutch rule, and many years before the English came into possession.
The family originated in Surrey, England, and its record is traceable from 1324, when sur- names first came into vogue. The story of the life of Nicholas Stillwell, the progenitor of the family in America, rivals in interest and adven- ture that of Captain Miles Standish of Massachu- setts, or Captain John Smith, of Virginia. To escape the persecutions in England he took refuge in Holland, and gave his services as a soldier to Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia, in support of Prot- estantism under Frederick V, elector palatinate. After the defeat at Prague he was one of the
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
'queen's escort in her flight to Breslau, and it is related by some chroniclers that he married one of her maids of honor, Abigail Hopton, but this the family records do not sustain. After the dis- bandment of the army, Nicholas Stillwell came to New Amsterdam, with his brothers, John and Jasper ; his nephew, John Cooke, and his sons, Richard and Nicholas, both born in England, their mother being an English woman whose name is unknown. He located on Manhattan Island, at Turtle Bay, but was driven from there by the In- dian uprising, taking refuge in Fort Amsterdam, and subsequently settling with the Lady Moody colonists at Gravesend, Long Island, where he commanded at the defense of the settlement against the Indians. He commanded a troop of horse against the Indians in Virginia, and after the enemy were defeated aided Governor Clay- bourne, in Maryland. He owned one of the ori- ginal twenty-acre farms in Gravesend, there served as magistrate several terms, and was presi- ·dent of a court martial in Breuckelen ( Brooklyn). He subsequently resided upon two hundred acres of land between New Utrecht and Gravesend. He was lieutenant and commander in charge of the expedition against the Indians in the Esopus war, and after quelling that disturbance returned to the defense of New Amsterdam, where he was the friend and close adherent of Stuyvesant, the last of the Dutch governors, until English supremacy was established. He resided on Staten Island when that momentous event occurred, and was there very active in public affairs. He died De- cember 28, 1671. He married, at New Amster- dam (New York), an English woman, supposed to be Ann Baxter, by whom he had six children : William, Thomas, Daniel, Jeremiah, Anne, Abi- gail.
(II) Captain Nicholas Stillwell, second son of Richard (I), was born in England in 1636, and was brought to New Amsterdam by his father. He resided at Gravesend, Long Island, in 1648. He was appointed a justice in 1664 under the Duke of York : in 1668 was commissioned a jus- tice under James II, and in 1689 received a sim- ilar commission under William and Mary. In 1675, as constable of Gravesend, he made up the assessment rolls; in 1689 was captain of the Gravesend militia, and member of a court mar- tial. From 1691 to 1698 he was a member of the colonial assembly from Kings county, New York. February 20, 1693, in command of the Kings county contingent of fifty men, he joined the Fletcher expedition to Canada against the French and Indians, but was ordered home on the 27th. He was an able and popular man, was honored
with many offices, and had the advantage of a good education, which was an exception at that period. He married Rebecca Baylies; second, Catherine Hubbard ; third, Elizabeth Corwin. In 1715 he died, leaving children: Nicholas, born April 25, 1673 ; Richard, May II, 1677 ; Elias, De- cember 13, 1685; Thomas, May 16, 1688; Re- becca, 1675 ; Anne C., May 15, 1681 ; Mary, 1683.
(III) Major Thomas Stillwell, fourth son of Captain Nicholas Stillwell, resided for some time at Gravesend. He was a farmer and a dealer in real estate. In 1715 he was captain of militia, in 1718 was made major, and was high sheriff of Kings county. In 1739 he established a ferry between Yellow Hook and Staten Island, which was quite noted, and was one of the main lines of travel between New York and Philadelphia. He removed from Gravesend to New Utrecht, set- tling on the shore of New York Bay, at the Nar- rows, on a farm now occupied by Fort Hamilton. He married Ann Hubbard, daughter of James and Elizabeth Hubbard, in 1709; she died soon after 1721, and between that date and 1723 he married Catherine Day. His children were by his first wife: Nicholas, Thomas, John, Christo- pher and Ann.
(IV) Nicholas, eldest son of Major Thomas Stillwell, was born on Long Island about 1712. He was living in New Utrecht, in 1742, removed to Whitehouse, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and died about 1780, in Sussex county, that state. He was a wheelwright by trade. In New York he was a captain of militia. His children were: John, see forward; Samuel; Richard, born May 25, 1742, was a captain in the Revolutionary war ; Ann, born 1743, married Peter Hendrickson; Martha, married Samuel Willetts ; Charity, born 1746.
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