USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 31
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 31
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Chase Matthias- -
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Brothers. 2. Charles P., to be further men- tioned. 3. Richard J., married Imogene Leach, and they were the parents of six children : Anna, Flora, Mary, Helen, Alice married W. H. Storrs ; Burton, and Imogene, died in infancy.
Robert Matthews was a farmer by occupation. He was a man of most exemplary character, and a devout churchman of the Episcopal faith. His second wife. Anna Henwood, born October 29, 1809, died October 23, 1854, at Scranton. In her later years she was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Charles Pooley Matthews, second child of Robert Matthews by his second marriage, whose birth is above given, was five years old when his parents came to Wayne county, Pennsylvania. He received but a meagre education in the com- mon schools, and when sixteen years of age be- came a clerk in a store in Honesdale, Pennsyl- vania. He subsequently served an apprenticeship to a druggist, and in 1857, having just attained his majority, came to Scranton to take charge of a drug store. The following year he purchased the business, which he made a most successful one. Later he associated with himself his broth- ers, under the firm name of Matthews Brothers, and which style has been maintained to the pres- ent day, although Mr. Matthews retired from it in 1880. In that year he established a wholesale flour and grain business, later taking into part- nership his two sons, under the corporate name of C. P. Matthews & Sons. The foundation and fırın establishment of these enterprises did not bound his activities, and he extended his opera- tions into various fields in which he achieved a high degree of success, not alone to the advance- ment of his personal fortunes, but to the welfare and development of the business of the city. Blessed with a fine physique and indomitable en- ergy, and with all the instincts and habits of the man of large affairs, he has continued his active employment much beyond the age when many retire from active pursuits. He is president of the Clark & Snover Tobacco Company, manu- facturers of chewing and smoking tobacco, the establishment employing one hundred people and transacting an extensive business ; president of the Interstate Brick Company; a director in the 'I raders' National Bank and the Title Guaranty Trust Company ; and holds valuable interests in the Hoosic Mountain and Mount Jessup collieries, the Austin Coal Company, the Scranton Splint Coal Company ; and is also interested in various other enterprises of a commercial and financial character. He is a member of Grace Reformed
Church, and is affiliated with Peter Williamson Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Matthews married, July 10, 1860, Miss Mary Jane Phinney, a daughter of Elisha and Hannah (Hodge) Phinney. ( See sketch of Elisha Phinney, following.) Of this marriage were born four children : 1. William, died at the age of two and a half years. 2. Walter, a member of the firm of Matthews & Sons, and is actively con- cerned in the conduct of the business. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has at- tained the Commandery degrees. He married Miss Jessie Davis, a daughter of the late John R. Davis, who was a prominent coal operator of Scranton. Of this marriage were born five chil- dren-Marion, Evelyn, Ellenor, Hilda and Wal- ter L. 3. Edward. 4. Willard, is also a mem- ber of the firm of C. P. Matthews & Sons. He married Miss Cora, daughter of Reese G. Brooks, a leading citizen of Scranton.
The Matthews family, father and sons, con- tribute in large degree to the commercial and financial importance of Scranton, through the varied industries and other enterprises with which they are intimately connected. They are at the same time effective factors in all relating to the life of the community along all lines which go to the making of a foremost city, and are held in esteem for their usefulness and their excellence of personal character.
GENERAL ELISHA PHINNEY, deceased, through a long and active career known as one of the most enterprising spirits and foremost leaders in the development of the industrial and commercial interests of the Wyoming Valley, and held in high honor for his nobility of personal character, is descended from Irish ancestry. Elisha Phinney, grandfather of General Phinney, emigrated from Ireland in colonial days, and set- tled in Connecticut, where he engaged in farm- ing. He subsequently removed to New Jersey. where he died. He was the founder of the Amer- ican branch of the Phinney family, to whom he transmitted the sterling traits of character pecu- liar to the parent stock.
Gould Phinney, son of Elisha the immigrant, was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, about 1790, and became one of the most enterprising and use- ful men of his day. He was a man of fine per- sonal appearance and possessed excellent business qualifications as well as culture and natural re- finement. In early life he was a manufacturer in Elizabeth, New Jersey. During the war embargo of 1812-14 he succeeded in cornering the tinplate
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
market of New York, and manufactured tinware on an extensive scale. He had agents or peddlers in Pennsylvania and Virginia selling the product of his factory, and built up a mammoth business for that day. In the early '20's he opened a gen- eral store in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on the east side of the public square, which was after- ward called "the old steam mill property." In 1823 he established a store at a place which in his honor was called Phinneytown, and not long afterward he transferred his business to Dundaff, where he conducted general merchandising, also operating a glass factory and wagon making and blacksmithing shops, thus being closely identified with the commercial and industrial beginnings of the town. He also conducted a hotel and oper- ated a stage line, and through his various enter- prises afforded employment to many people. In 1822 he purchased several farms near Dundaff, in Susquehanna county, and established the North- ern Bank there in 1825. He subsequently bought a plantation near Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he passed his closing days. He died at the age of fifty-five years, while on a visit to New York city. He married Jane Price, a native of Eliza- beth, New Jersey, who died in Dundaff, Penn- sylvania, at the age of eighty-five years, having long survived her husband. Her father, Thomas Price, was also a native of New Jersey, and was a farmer and fisherman. During the Revolution- ary war he served in the patriot army, and was captured by the British, who held him prisoner on a prison ship in New York harbor. Gould and Jane Phinney were the parents of five chil- dren. all of whom are now deceased, Elisha, the eldest, having survived all the others. Rachel Badgely, the second child, was married about 18,5 to John J. Phelps, and of their five children one was William Walter Phelps, who became United States minister to Germany. Mary, the third child, died unmarried, and there is no ac- count of the fourth, a daughter. The youngest . child was Thomas P., who married Elizabeth Howell, of Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Elisha Phinney was born April 3, 1814. His childhood years were passed at Dundaff, Penn- sylvania, and at an early age he began to assist in his father's store, remaining with him until he was of age, when he succeeded to the manage- ment. At the first he gave his sole attention to that business, but after a time began the manu- facture of window glass. The destruction of his glass works by fire led him to abandon that enter- prise, and for some years he operated a tannery. In 1856 he took up his residence in Scranton,
where he engaged in a wholesale flour and feed business on Franklin avenue. He was one of the- projectors and first stockholders of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, and. under Colonel George Seranton served as assist- ant superintendent of construction between Seranton and Great Bend. After its completion he- contracted to complete for the same road the tun- nel at Factoryville, twenty-two hundred and fifty feet, which herculean task he successfully accom- plished. He next engaged in operating the Green- wood coal mines, below Scranton, in partnership with E. C. Schott, under the corporate title of the Greenwood Coal Company, and continued in the coal interest for a period of ten years. He then became interested in real estate transactions,. and in various financial institutions. He was. one of the incorporators of the Second National Bank, in which he was a director, and for five- years he was president of the Merchants' and Me- chanics' Bank. His excellent judgment and keen- sagacity were well rewarded, and he amassed am- ple means, but lost the greater part of his fortune through misplaced confidence, without, however,. a stain being left upon his honor. During his later years he passed much of his time in Geor- gia, where he owned mining interests of consid- erable value.
General Phinney gained his military title. from his service in connection with the Pennsyl- vania militia, having entered the service at the age of sixteen, and continuing therein until 1863 .. He rose from the ranks and passed through all the grades from lieutenant to brigadier-general. and serving with honor and soldierlike ability in every station. In politics he was a Republican .. identified with the party from its organization .. and an ardent advocate of its principles and poli- eies, yet caring nothing for political honors, and at various times declining overtures to become- a candidate for important position. He was affil- iated with various bodies of Free Masons and Odd Fellows. But above all other interests he placed those pertaining to Seranton, to the ad- vancement of which, along all lines, material, in- tellectual, moral and social, he devoted his most earnest effort, at the same time contributing lib- erally of his means. His long life of earnest and' useful endeavor elosed June 19, 1897.
General Phinney married, in early manhood, Miss Hannah Hodge, born June, 1817, a daugh- ter of Henry and Mary (Littell) Hodge, born Elizabeth, New Jersey. Of this union were born- two children-Robert and Mary J. Phinney. Robert became superintendent of the mill of
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John D. atherton
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
Charles P. Matthews & Sons. Mary J. Phinney became the wife of Charles P. Matthews. The mother of these children died August 21, 1858, and General Phinney subsequently married Miss Eunice C. Needham, who was born in Kingston, and educated at Wyoming Seminary. Her fa- ther, Benjamin Needham, was a native of Con- necticut, a geologist and mining engineer by pro- fession, engaged in those lines of prominence in the Lackawanna Valley.
ATHERTON FAMILY. Among the early representative citizens of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys are the members of the Ath- erton family, the pioneer American ancestor of which was Col. Humphrey Atherton, a native of Dorchester, England, who early in the seven- teenth century was made a member of artillery and afterward became captain of his company. On the breaking out of the Indian war, about 1637, he emigrated to America, where he was colonial representative for nine years and major- general in charge of the colonial forces. His family consisted of ten children, who subsequent- ly became heads and founders of the various branches of the family. His death occurred in 1661.
Cornelius Atherton, the second lineal de- scendant of Humphrey Atherton, was born in Massachusetts in 1736 and resided near Boston, where he worked in an armory belonging to Samuel Adams, who made guns to be used in the war of the Revolution. Later he moved to West Point, New York, and while a resident of that place the "Vulture," a British man-of-war, anchored near by for the purpose of receiving the American garrison which Arnold, the traitor, had designed to deliver to Major Andre for the sum of ten thousand pounds and a commission as general. While the "Vulture" lay in wait for the return of Major Andre, Cornelius Atherton, knowing it to be an enemy's vessel, procured an old cannon, drew it up a prominence overlook- ing the river and fired on the ship. The result was the departure of the "Vulture," the capture of Major Andre and the establishment of the United States. From West Point Mr. Atherton moved to New Jersey, and from thence to Shawnee, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, where he resided at the time of the massacre of 1778. As the time for the conflict with the Indians ap- proached his eldest son, Jabez, then eighteen years of age, begged to be let go in his place, and accordingly he went, was slain, and his name
now heads the list of killed on the Wyoming monument.
When the news of the defeat reached the set- tlement, Cornelius Atherton tore up the floors of his log house and out of the material made a raft. Upon this frail craft he placed the women and children, also a few necessities, and they floated down the Susquehanna river to Nanti- coke, while his two sons, John and Eleazer, drove the horses and cattle to a place of safety. At Nanticoke they were met by other refugees,. and they at once formed themselves into an or- ganized company. They fled through the wild- est regions of Pennsylvania into New Jersey for. safety, and their sufferings throughout this re- treat were heart-rending. They camped at night in the woods and subsisted on berries, with rye flour made into mush and eaten with milk ob -- tained from the cows they were driving. When peace was declared Mr. Atherton, with his two sons, returned and purchased five hundred acres of land, where now stands the borough of Tay- lor, and on this the two sons settled, Cornelius,. their father, removing to Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York. It is stated on good author- ity that he made the first pair of clothier's shears: ever made in America. He discovered the se- cret of making steel and entered into a contract. with Messrs. Reed, iron manufacturers of New York, but the failure of the manufacturers pre- vented him from carrying out his contract. He was a man of strong traits of character, pos- sessed a remarkable genius, was a very religious .. man, often reading sermons and exhorting the . people to do better. In 1761 Cornelius Ather- ton married Mary Delano, who bore him nine. children, and died in 1774. In 1786 he married a Miss Johnson, who bore him seven children. Mr. Atherton died December 4, 1809.
Eleazer Atherton, son of Cornelius and Mary- (Delano) Atherton, was born in 1764. About 1784 he began to clear the land purchased by his father in Lackawanna county, and for three years resided in the woods alone. He opened the first vein of coal along the Lackawanna river and shipped it by sled to Binghamton, New York. Accumulating a valuable property, be built a large mansion, which is still standing in good repair. He was strongly opposed to the . drink habit and the use of tobacco. In early life he was inclined to Universalism, but later united with the Presbyterian Church. In 1790 Mr. Ath- erton married Martha Kanaan, who was born in New Jersey, in March, 1773. He brought his.
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
wife to his farm on the back of a horse, he walk- ing by her side. She was a consistent Chris- tian, faithful in the performance of her duties, and she was the teacher of the first Sunday school in Lackawanna county, the session being always opened with prayer. Their family con- sisted of nine children : Martha, Mary, Thomas, Margaret, Elisha, Sarah, Joseplı, John and Elea- zer A. Mr. Atherton, father of this family, died March 3. 1852, aged eighty-seven years and three months, and his remains were interred in Taylor. His wife passed away May 31, 1859, at the age of eighty-seven, and was buried by the side of her husband.
John Atherton, son of Eleazer and Martha ( Kanaan) Atherton, was born in Taylor, Penn- sylvania, late in the eighteenth century, proba- bly in the year 1790. He was a prominent and well-to-do farmer, and was respected and hon- ored by all with whom he was brought in con- tact. By his marriage to Catherine Ward the following named children were born: Phœbe, Boyd, Caroline, Sarah, James and Ira C.
Ira C. Atherton, son of John and Catherine (Ward) Atherton, was born in Taylor, Penn- sylvania. May 17, 1819. He was educated at the common schools and acquired a fair educa- tion for the facilities afforded him. When twenty-one years of age he began to work at the trade of carpenter, and this he followed for several years, later turning his attention to team- ing and farming. He took a deep interest in the schools of Lackawanna township and was elect- ed to the office of school director. He also served in the capacity of poor director. He at- tended the Presbyterian Church, was a stanch Republican in politics, and was one of the up- right men who give prominence to a community. On November 28, 1846, Mr. Atherton married Mary J. Pulver, deceased, December 21, 1895, who bore him the following named children : George C., born in 1846; Mary E., born in 1848, now deceased, was a successful teacher for thirty years ; Kate L., born in 1851, now the wife of C. H. Van Horn ; Helen, born in 1854, now the wife of T. R. Bowen and mother of two chil- dren : Atherton and Louise Bowen. Georgiana, born in 1857, is the wife of the Rev. E. L. Santee, a member of the Wyoming conference in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and they are the parents of one son, Ira A. Santee. John D., mentioned at length hereinafter. Willard. born in 1864, who married Margaret Whiteford ; he has served as assessor and is now vice-presi- dent of the Taylor Bank. He is a member of
Acacia Lodge, No. 579, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, the Junior Order of United American Me- chanics, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Atherton surrounded his family with all the comforts of life and his children were given the best educational advantages procurable. His death occurred June 25, 1897, at Taylor, Penn- sylvania.
John D. Atherton, son of Ira C. and Mary J. (Pulver) Atherton, was born in Taylor, Penn- sylvania, June 3, 1860. In 1881, upon attaining his majority, he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and from a small beginning he enlarged from time to time until now his store is one of the leading ones in the richest borough in the state. In 1891, after making some needed and desired changes in the firm, his brother Willard was ad- mitted into partnership, and now the firm of Ath- erton Brothers of Taylor is well known through- out that section of the county. They carry a large line of goods, which are of the best quality and sold at reasonable prices, and their motto is and has been "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Their efforts have been deservedly crowned with success, and they have gained an enviable reputation among their busi- ness associates. As poor director Mr. Atherton rendered his township faithful and effective work. He is an honored member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, Modern Woodmen of America, and the Heptasophs.
Mr. Atherton was united in marriage to Ruth B. Ward, and their children are: Mary M., born December 15, 1895 : J. Carlton, born January 17, 1900, and Willard F., born December 21, 1904.
JAMES NELSON WARNER, D. D. S., a well known dental surgeon of Wilkes-Barre, Lu- zerne county, Pennsylvania, traces his ancestry back to John Warner, of Hatfield, Gloucester- shire, England, who lived in the reign of Charles I, one of the most eventful in English history.
I. Andrew Warner was a son of John Warner, above named. He emigrated to Amer- ica 1630 and settled at Cambridge, Massachu- setts, where he was made a freeman 1632. He removed to Hartford, Connecticut, 1635. He was a member of the Troop of Horse under Maj. John Mason, of Connecticut, 1657-58; was a member of the first church in Hartford, with his son Daniel. Andrew owned land in Hart- ford 1639. His estate was distributed there March 22, 1754. He appears to have sold fif- teen pieces of land there from 1639 to 1679. He was also a trooper from Hadley in Capt.
J. M. Hamur
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
John Pynchon's company, March, 1663. He re- turned to Massachusetts with his son, Daniel Warner. 1659. was selectman of Hadley 1660, 1668, 1674, and settled in the town of Hadley. There he died December 18, 1684, leaving six sons-Andrew, Robert, John, Daniel, of whom later ; Jacob and Isaac.
II. Lieut. Daniel Warner, son of Andrew Warner, born about 1643. settled in Hadley, in that part of the town which subsequently became Hatfield. He married (first) Mary -- , died September 19, 1672. He married (second). April 1, 1674, Martha Boltwood, daughter of Robert Boltwocd. Lieutenant Warner was a farmer and owned much estate. He was select- man Hadley, 1667, and ensign Hadley foot com- pany, October 7, 1674. He died April 30, 1692. His wife, Martha, died September 22, 1710. They had seven sons, of whom the second son was
III. Andrew Warner, second son of Lieut. Daniel and Mary Warner, was born June 24, 1667, in Hadley, where he resided a number of years and became a large land owner. In 1696. in company with Joseph Selden and John Church, he went to Connecticut, and together they pur- chased Twelve Miles Island Farm, situate on the banks of the Connecticut river, in the towns of Saybrook and Lyme. In February, 1695. John Leverett, of Boston (Cambridge), con- veyed above lands to Joseph Selden, who on June 22, 1697, transferred a part of same to Andrew Warner, which lands remained in the Warner family a number of generations. Andrew War- ner married (first) Ruth Clarke, by whom he had three children. She died about the year 1704, and Andrew Warner married (second), April 4, 1706, Hannah Stannard. He died in Say- brook (now Chester ) and rests in Parker's Point burying ground, about half a mile above War- ner's Ferry, on the Connecticut river. The house in which he lived stood on the old road, about a quarter of a mile northwest of where the Mid- dlesex turnpike crosses the Warner Ferry road.
IV. Andrew Warner, son of Andrew and Ruth (Clarke) Warner, born Saybrook, January 25, 1703, married Sarah Graves. Andrew War- ner was a farmer. He died September 23, 1751. His wife died February 10, 1756. They both sleep in the old Chester burying ground.
V. David Warner, son of Lieut. Andrew and Sarah (Graves) Warner, born August 7, 1730, died 1805, married, 1748, Sarah Ward, of Say- brook, who died February 20, 1793. David Warner was a soldier in the Revolutionary war
and served his country faithfully. He enlisted. as a private in Captain Ely's company, of the. Sixth Connecticut Continental Regiment, May 8, 1775, and was mustered out December 18. 1775. He re-enlisted in Major Skinner's troop of Connecticut light horse, June 10, 1776, and was discharged August 3. 1776, and on August 13, 1776, he again enlisted in Capt. Seth Warner's company and served as a seaman on board the galley "Trumbull," of the Lake Champlain flo -- tilla, and was discharged November 25. 1776.
VI. Phineas Warner, son of David and Sa -. rah ( Ward) Warner, born Saybrook, 1749, died Chester, 1812; married Eunice Church, and they had six children : Wealthy, John, David, Sam -. uel, Timothy and Phineas.
VII. Phineas Warner, son of Phineas and Eunice (Church) Warner, born Saybrook, 1777,. married Lydia Clarke, of Chester, October 17, 1799. Phineas Warner, accompanied by his wife and children, with his brothers, Samuel and Timothy Warner, and their families, removed to the wilds of northern Pennsylvania in 1809. These sturdy descendants of Puritan ancestors from the banks of the Connecticut came with their ox teams, wagons, droves of cattle and household goods, through a primeval forest, to the log house of Elder Davis Dimock, a famous Baptist preacher, in Bridgewater township, where, after the gloom of night had again set- tled upon the Susquehanna county wilderness, the tired and hungry pioneers were welcomed with thanksgiving and prayer that preceded a supper, the memory of which tradition has kept alive to this day and generation. The day after the arrival of the new settlers they left the hos- pitable home of Elder Dimock, and with their axes commenced to clear up farms, which are. still in the possession of their thrifty and pros- perous descendants. Phineas Warner died 1824, and his wife, Lydia, in 1840. They sleep side by side in Montrose cemetery.
At the Elder Dimock supper there were pres- ent these three sons of Phineas and Lydia War- ner, Davis Dimock Warner, Nelson Clarke Warner, and Sidney Haswell Warner, of all of whom later. These brothers and many of their descendants afterwards became prominent in civil, military, professional and business life, which is worthy of mention.
VIII. Gen. Davis Dimock Warner, son of Phineas and Lydia ( Clarke) Warner, became a) brigadier-general in the Pennsylvania state mili- tia, member of the house of representatives of
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