USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 33
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 33
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124
1
Ora N. Rithle 1
163
TIIE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
was wired to the sacred gathering in South Beth- lehem, and upon its receipt all business was sus- pended, and every one rose in reverential silence while the prayers for the dead were said. Two days later the church for which the lamented de- ceased had so earnestly labored and which he so truly loved received him for the last time, and the funeral office was most touchingly conducted by the rector, Rev. Frank S. Ballantine, and Rev. Rogers Israel. of St. Luke's. The local press, personal friends, and various organized bodies paid fervent tribute to the dead, but all said of him was exceedingly well epitomized in the reso- lutions adopted by the rector and vestry of the Church of the Good Shepherd, closing with the following :
"In the activities of the life of the church he was ever a leader and ever a safe one. Acquainted to an unusual degree with the history of the church, his opinions, both in conventions and in the smaller circles at home, were always regarded as being based not only upon good motives, but also upon sound learning and intelligence. Pub- lic-spirited, careful to perform every civic duty, rejoicing in the welfare of his neighbor, and sym- pathizing in his misfortune, he filled the full measure of good citizenship. Of the gentler qual- ities that radiated from his Christian nature, few who knew him are ignorant, and not the least of these was charity. He loved children and they loved him. When friends were merry, he was merry ; and when grief darkened the threshold how many have felt their load lightened through his kindly sympathy and activity.
"In recording this inadequate appreciation of our departed friend, we thank God for the exam- ple that his life has been to us, and pray Him that our lives may be the better for it. If they shall so prove, it will be a fitting memorial."
COLONEL EZRA H. RIPPLE, receiving the respect which the world instinctively pays to the successful man whose prominence is not less the result of an irreproachable private life than of accomplishment in the business world, presents in his history several chapters well worthy of thoughtful consideration. The Ripple family came from Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, prior to the Revolution, and located at Lazarus, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. The name was originally spelled Rupple. The original Ripple served in the Revolution as shown in the Pennsyl- vania archives. Peter Ripple, the grandfather. engaged in lumbering along the Susquehanna river, lost his life by accident, or result of a strain,
while thus engaged. He was the father of four- teen children, among whom were: Phoebe, John, Lazarus, Abraham, Isaac, William, Peter, Eliza- beth, Nancy and Silas.
Silas Ripple, the father, was born in Hanover, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and in 1857 came to Scranton settling in that district known as Hyde Park. As proprietor of the White Hotel, which stood at the corner of Main and Jackson streets, he continued in business until his death, which occurred December 4, 1861. His early political support was given the Whig party and on its dissolution he joined the ranks of the newly organized Republican party. He was married, in early manhood, to Elizabeth Harris, a daughter of Abraham Harris, a native of England, who in his boyhood became a resident of the Lehigh valley, where he afterward conducted a meat market and also engaged in the hotel business. His daughter Elizabeth, who was born in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, was a member of the Free Methodist Church, lived a consistent Christian life and died in Allentown, in October, 1894. Silas and Elizabeth Ripple were the parents of three children, but only two reached adult age, the daughter being Mrs. Mary MI. Doster, of Scranton.
Ezra H. Ripple, the son, was born in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1842, and when four years of age was taken by his parents to Buck Mountain, where he attended the com- mon schools and continued his studies in Wyom- ing Seminary, completing his course in 1857. In that year his parents removed to Scranton, and after putting aside his text books he assisted his father in the hotel until the latter's death, when he turned his attention to the drug business, wherein he continued until he enlisted for service with the Union army as a private of the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Infantry, having assisted in raising Company H. This command did good service in the Antietam campaign. In 1863 he joined the Thirtieth Emergency Regiment, and in March, 1864, he became a member of Company K. Fifty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, serving on Morris Island, in the Department of the South. Being captured in a night assault on Fort John -. son. July 3. 1864, he was taken to Charleston, and afterward incarcerated in the military prisons at Andersonville, where he remained for two and a half months. He was then returned to Char- leston and afterward sent to Florence, where he remained until March 1. 1865, when he was paroled after having suffered all the horrors of southern prisons for eight months. At Florence
164
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
he was successful in making his escape, but his absence was noted and bloodhounds were put upon the scent, tracking him to a swamp three or four miles from the prison. He was badly bitten by the dogs, and was sent home to recover from the wounds when prison fever developed. After being paroled he went to the camp at Annapolis, where he was honorably discharged June 30, 1865.
Colonel Ripple at once returned to his home. He had gone to the front a boy and returned a man, with experiences and views of life that broadened his mind and made him a man with all the qualities of endurance, self-reliance and de- termination. Imbued with a desire for a better education, he entered Eastman's Business Col- lege, at Poughkeepsie, New York, and in 1869 he entered a firm of crockery dealers, with whom he continued until 1873, when he withdrew from that house to become the business associate of William Connell in the organization of the firm of William Connell & Company, with whom he has since been associated in coal operations. He is also a director in the Scranton Axle Works and the Tribune Publishing Company, and while controlling important and successful business en- terprises he has at the same time maintained an active interest in public concerns that have had direct bearing upon the development of the city and state.
Some years after the war internal disturbances led him into the National Guard of Pennsyl- vania and he was elected captain of Company D upon the organization of the Scranton City Guard in 1877 .. In 1878 he was chosen major of the Thirteenth Regiment, was elected lieutenant-col- onel in 1883 and colonel in 1888, while in 1893 he was re-elected to the same position, serving until 1896, when Governor Hastings appointed him commissary general, with the rank of colonel. He was appointed assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Governor Stone and is serving at the present time in a similar capacity on the staff of Governor Pennypacker.
In political circles in Scranton, Colonel Ripple has been no less prominent, being recognized as a local leader of the Republican party. He has been president of the Central Republican club and served as chairman of the county committee in 1894. In 1888 he was state elector, receiving the highest vote of any elector in the state and casting his ballot for Harrison and Morton. His fellow-citizens, not unmindful or unappreciative of his efforts in behalf of his party and also his efforts, when setting partisanship aside he has stood as the champion of progressive and bene-
ficial measures, have several times chosen him to positions of public trust and responsibility. When Lackawanna county was formed he was elected, on the Republican ticket in 1879, the first county treasurer and served for three years. In 1886 he was the mayoralty candidate on the Re- publican ticket and was the only mayor who filled the office for a single term of four years. In 1896 he was again a candidate for the position, but dissensions in the local party ranks led to his defeat by a few votes. During his service as the city's chief executive he received a salary of six thousand dollars, and the receipts of his office turned over were nine thousand dollars, an amount far larger than received in any previous administration. He gave his official support to every measure which he believed practical and progressive, and it was during his incumbency that the city was lighted by electricity, the elec- tric car system established and the asphalt-street paving was inaugurated. In 1878 he was elected to the select council, but after eight months re- signed on account of the pressure of private busi- ness interests. He was a member of the board of health for several years and has filled official positions outside the strict path of political pre- ferment, having been president of the Associated Charities of Scranton, a member of the advisory committee of the Home for the Friendless, a men- ber of the board of park commissioners and a member of the board of commissioners of the Soldiers' Orphans' Schools of Pennsylvania. In these relations he has made a study of conditions of life among unfortunate classes, with a view to. their amelioration, and his labors have been far- reaching and beneficial. His present service in behalf of the public is that which devolves upon him in the office of postmaster, to which he was appointed by President Mckinley in 1897, and reappointed by President Roosevelt in 1901.
Colonel Ripple was married in Scranton, in. 1874, to Miss Sarah H. Hackett, born in Carbon county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Richard. Hackett, mine foreman for the Delaware, Lack- awanna & Western Railroad. They are the par- ents of four children : Hannah, Jessie, Susan, de- ceased ; and Ezra H. ; communicants of the Re- formed Episcopal Church. Colonel Ripple has long been an influential member and for a nitti11- ber of years has served as vestryman. He has attained high rank in Masonry, affiliated with the local lodge: Lackawanna Chapter, R. A. M .: Coeur de Lion Commandery, No. 17, K. T. ; and' Cerneau Consistory, at Scranton, thirty-third de- gree Scottish rite. He stands as a representa- tive of a high type of American manhood, com-
Franti C_ Maior.
1
165
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
bining energy and determination with lofty prin- ciples and exalted patriotism, so that his career in business, political, military and social circles has been characterized by laudable ambition and honorable effort, resulting in successful accom- plishment.
FRANK C. MOSIER, prominently identified with the professional, progressive and business interests of Pittston, Pennsylvania, is a son of Daniel Dimmick Mosier, deceased, and Elizabeth Ann ( Ward) Mosier : a grandson of John Mosier and Sarah (Overfield) Mosier, and great-grand- son of Johannes Moeser, a native of Germany, who emigrated to America and settled in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, before the war clouds of the Revolution commenced to darken the political horizon of the mother country's American col- onies on this side of the Atlantic.
John Moeser, paternal great-grandfather of Frank C. Mosier, enlisted in Capt. Abraham Mil- ler's company, Col. William Thompson's Battalion of Riflemen, with Luke Brodhead ( who became a captain in the Sixth Regiment), and others. (See Mathew's "History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania," p. 75). These troops were the first to arrive at Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, and the first to salute George Washing- ton, the young Virginian, under whom many of them had fought years before, on the banks of the Monongahela, when Braddock's army, surrounded on every side by savage red men, would have been slaughtered entire on that horrid field of blood and carnage, but for the courageous soldier whom God had destined to again become their leader. They were backwoodsmen, scouts and Indian fighters of the border, and subsequently became the First Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continen- tal Line, and participated in the siege of Boston, which was raised by the British on the morning of St. Patrick's Day, 1776. The campaign in the East having come to a successful close, Washing- ton marched his forces through Connecticut to Long Island, and soon the soil of New York be- came the zone of military operations. While en- camped on Long Island the term of the enlistment of Colonel Thompson's Battalion of Riflemen was about to expire. Gen. Washington, on April 22, 1776, addressed a letter to the Continental Con- gress, recommending that some method be in- stituted to induce Col. Thompson's Battalion to re-enlist, as the "loss of such a valuable and brave body of men would be of great injury to the service." On July 1. 1776. at Utrecht, Long Isl- and, Col. Thompson's command reenlisted in the Pennsylvania Line, and with other Pennsylvania
troops were formed into a division which was the Old Guard of Washington's army, noted for its steadiness under fire, and for its invincible bravery when it swept across the ice-running channel of the Delaware and surprised the Hessians at Tren- ton, and then onward to Princeton, where it again defeated the war trained battalions of Britain. On June 28, 1778, upon the plains of Monmouth, where Freedom's cause came near being lost by Maj .- Gen. Charles Lee, second in command, who was called "a damned poltroon" by the great Washington, and promptly relieved of his sword in the face of the enemy, Wayne and his brave Pennsylvanians saved the army from annihilation and drove Lord Cornwallis off the battle-stained ground. (See Spear's "Life of Wayne," p. 123). Hours before the morning dawn of July 16, 1779, men from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina followed the battle flag of "Mad Anthony Wayne" up the rocky heights of Stony Point with fixed bayonets, and won another victory for their intrepid leader. On September 25, 1780, Arnold, who had faced death at Quebec, and was the bravest of the brave at Saratoga, was charged with trying to deliver up West Point to the Brit- ish. Wayne was at that time at Tappan with his brigade (the First Pennsylvania) and Gen. Will- iam Irvine with the Second Pennsylvania brigade was with him. In the life of Anthony Wayne by Spears, page 168 et seq., the following appears :
"It is recorded that when Washington finally learned that Arnold was a traitor, he said in a sad voice to Lafayette, "Whom can we trust now?" But. when he came to answer his own question. he turned as if by instinct to the Pennsylvania Line. The garrison at West Point had been scattered by Arnold, and Washington looked to see the British come up the river at any time to sweep the Americans by force from the Highlands. There was need of men who could come in haste and fight at the word. A messenger was sent galloping down the trail to Tappan. He reached Wayne's tent at one o'clock in the morning, and soon the drums were beating the call to arms. The men of both brigades -- Wayne's and Irvine's- sprang up, and, with muskets in hand, formed in line, and when rations for the day had been secured, they marched away through the night."
This shows the high regard the immortal Washington had for the Pennsylvania troops, who were kept on the firing line all the way to York- town, where they stormed the trenches and helped compel Lord Cornwallis to surrender his sword to the Great Commander. After the dawn of peace, Wayne's division was embarked on trans- ports and sent south, where it remained under arms three years. John Mosier, the veteran of ten years service in the armies of his adopted
166
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
country, returned to his home in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and soon after died without having received any pay. It is a matter of his- tory that the same became escheated to the state of Pennsylvania instead of being distributed among the dead soldiers' heirs who can truly and justly say, "Republics are ungrateful."
John Mosier (grandfather ) was born January IO, 1784, near Easton, Pennsylvania, and subse- quently removed to Middle Smithfield township, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, and became an honest tiller of the soil. He married Sarah Over- field, a daughter of Martin Overfield, one of the early pioneers of northeastern Pennsylvania. Sarah (Overfield) Mosier was born November 22, 1790. Her brother, Hon. William Overfield, held the office of canal commissioner of Pennsyl- vania for a number of years, and was also a mem- ber of the Senate of Pennsylvania.
John Mosier died on his farm in Middle Smithfield township, May 5, 1853. Sarah (Over- field) Mosier died August 14, 1888, in Middle Smithfield township, at the old Mosier homestead, near Mount Pocono, in which now resides her son, Samuel Overfield Mosier, who bids fair to pass the century mark on the old farm among the meadows, trout streams, hills and mountains of his boyhood home. The land upon which is lo- cated Sand Hill cemetery, in Middle Smithfield township, was given to the church and cemetery association by John Mosier, who is buried near the little white church, which in summer time, with its green sloping grounds on every side, can be seen for miles around.
Daniel Dimmick Mosier ( father), son of John Mosier and Sarah (Overfield) Mosier, was born in Middle Smithfield township, August 22, 1816, and when about sixteen years old came to the Wyoming Valley. Through the influence of his uncle, Hon. William Overfield, he secured a posi- tion on the North Branch of the Pennsylvania Canal, which with other internal improvements, cost the state of Pennsylvania more than forty- one millions of dollars. All of this great property with its mighty franchises, which would in time have intermingled the waters of Lake Erie with the Chesapeake and made this waterway the grand highway of commerce between the Atlantic sea- board and the West. was sold a few years before the Civil war for a few paltry millions by trusted public servants, who left to future generations in the legislative halls of our state, the record of a public calamity one of the greatest that ever be- fell the people of this commonwealth.
Daniel Dimmick Mosier was employed by the state on the North Branch Canal a number of
years, which gave him a good start in life, for he was enabled to purchase from John Michael Stark a large farm in Pittston township from which hundreds of thousands of tons of coal have been mined, and which is still a great producer of one of Pennsylvania's most valuable minerals. This property is now in the Mosier family.
Daniel Dimmick Mosier was married January 2, 1842, to Elizabeth Ann Ward, a daughter of Victor Ward and Anna (Mills) Ward, and a granddaughter of Thomas Ward and Anna (Wakeley) Ward. Thomas Ward (grandfather) emigrated to America from England and settled in Connecticut before the war of the American Revolution, in which he served as a private in Capt. Samuel Wright's company of Col. Samuel Wylly's Twenty-second Connecticut Regiment of the Continental army, and was engaged in the battles of Long Island and of White Plains, fought in August and September, 1776. He died October 5, 1824. Victor Ward was a son of Thomas Ward and Anna ( Wakeley) Ward. The military records of Connecticut show that Victor Ward was a soldier in a Connecticut regiment during the War of 1812, and was in active service- in 1814, when the towns bordering on Long Is- land Sound were threatened with attack by a combined British land and naval force. Anna (Mills) Ward, mother of Elizabeth Ann (Ward) Mosier, was a daughter of Robert Mills and De- sire (Robinson) Mills, a daughter of Jonathan Robinson, of Weston, Fairfield county, Connecti- cut, who was of Scottish ancestry. He was a soldier in the French and Colonial wars. Eliza- beth Robinson, a sister of Desire (Robinson) Mills, married Thomas Williams, who came at an early day with his father, Thadeus Williams, from Connecticut to Wilkes-Barre, and afterwards en- listed in Captain Spaulding's independent com- pany of Wyoming men of the Continental army, became a sergcant and fought under Washington. During the memorable times when the warwhoop of bloodthirsty savages rang out along the banks. of the Susquehanna and sounded the death knell of many a fearless settler, Sergeant Williams achieved everlasting fame as an Indian fighter. (See Kulp's "Families of the Wyoming Valley," vol. I. p. 157, etc.).
Elizabeth Ann (Ward) Mosier was born No- vember 27. 1821, of English and Scotch ances- try, in Trumbull, Fairfield county, Connecticut. After the death of her father she came from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Plains township, Lu- zerne county, about 1829, with her mother and grandmother, Desire (Robinson) Mills. Soon after their arrival in Plains township they com-
167
THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
menced housekeeping in the farm house of Jon- athan Robinson Williams, on the old main road leading from Pittston to Wilkes-Barre, near the residences of Sergeant Thomas Williams and David Mills (brother of Anna ( Mills) Ward), who had previously arrived from Bridgeport, Connecticut and purchased the land he then occu- pied, from which, in after years, millions of tons of coal were mined. Jonathan Robinson Williams was a son of Sergeant Williams, and lived with him in the old Williams homestead until his father's death, 1839, when he removed to his own farm nearby, where he lived the remaining years of his life.
While Elizabeth Ann (Ward) Mosier resided on the Jonathan Robinson Williams place, Ser- geant Williams often entertained her with stories of his many fights with the British Tories and In- dians. It is very probable that she is now the only living person, who in the long ago was per- sonally acquainted with Sergeant Thomas Will- iams, the famous Indian fighter of the Wyoming Valley.
Anna (Mills) Ward died about 1834, and was buried in the Hollenback family burying ground, located on the Hollenback farm, upon the ridge northeast of the present Hollenback cemetery. Elizabeth Ann (Ward) Mosier has been a con- tinuous resident of the Wyoming Valley for more than three-quarters of a century, and during these years she has seen many wonderful changes. When young in years she united with the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, in which she has always been a faithful charitable worker. In the war for the Union, her brother, Joseph S. Ward (now deceased), enlisted as a private in the Seventh and Twelfth Regiments, Connecticut Volunteers. John Ward, his son, also fought on the side of the Union as a private in the Ninth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers. After the battle of Ap- pomattox both father and son returned to their home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and subse- quently became prominent members of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Daniel Dimmick Mosier during his busy life was elected to many township offices, the duties of which he honestly and faithfully discharged for he looked upon "Public office as a public trust." On Tuesday, May 14, 1889, he passed to his final reward and now sleeps in Hollenback cemetery. The following children were born to Daniel Dim- mick Mosier and Elizabeth Ann (Ward) Mosier : Georgia Mosier, (daughter), born October IS, 1842, married October 31, 1865, to Conrad Sax Stark, son of John Daniel Stark and Ann (Sax)
Stark. John Daniel Stark was born April 26, 1797, and was a grandson of Aaron Stark, who was slain in the battle of Wyoming. July 3, 1778. John Daniel Stark, on February 22, 1828, was married to Ann Sax, a daughter of Conrad Sax, of Shades, Pennsylvania, located on the Easton turnpike. Wilson, the ornithologist, who visited him in 1805, describes him in his work as "a mighty hunter, his home being full of the trophies of the chase." Ann (Sax) Stark was born Feb- ruary 15, 1803. She died November 25, 1855.
John Daniel Stark became a prominent citizen of Pittston township. The last days of his life were spent on his farm located upon the banks of Spring Brook (years ago a noted trout stream) where its waters join the Lackawanna. His life was one of industry and usefulness. He died June 21, 1862, and is buried in the Stark family plot in Marcy cemetery, Luzerne county, near the Brick Church which was erected in the year 1853. Many soldiers of the Revolutionary and other wars repose in Marcy cemetery. The first inter- ments therein were made previous to 1790. The death of Ebenezer Marcy is marked upon his tombstone as having occurred March 20, 1790, at which early time there were more than one hundred unmarked graves in this old burying ground. Marcy township, Luzerne county, was named after Ebenezer Marcy.
Conrad Sax Stark graduated at Union College, New York, 1860, and came to the bar well equip- ped to practice the noble profession of the law. He died at his home in West Pittston, Pennsyl- vania, March 26, 1880, in the strength and vigor of manhood, a prominent member of his profes- sion. The memory of his legal attainments, in- tegrity, Christian life and virtues will never be forgotten. To take action upon his death a meet- ing of the Luzerne bar was held, Hon. Charles E. Rice, Luzerne's able jurist ( now chief justice of the superior court of Pennsylvania) presided, and after paying an eloquent tribute to the mem- ory of the deceased, concluded as follows :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.