Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 36

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 36
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 36

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

.aforesaid colony of Connecticut, who jointly purchased the said Susquehanna tract of land, commonly so called, of the Chief Sachems and Nations, proprietors of the aforesaid country or land, dated 28 January, 1760 ; recorded 8 March. 1760 .. Acknowledged before John Smith, jus- tice of the peace of Voluntown, Windham county, Connecticut." At a meeting of the Sus- quehanna Company held at Windham, Connecti- cut, on the 16th of November, 1762, Ezra Dean was appointed on a committee to sell shares at fifteen pounds each and on the 17th of April, 1763, he was authorized to admit settlers to the number of forty each to the eight towns laid out in the Wyoming valley. It is quite probable that Ezra Dean joined the band of emigrants to the valley in 1763, as his name appears on a list of those early settlers published by Stewart Pearce in his "Annals of Luzerne County." The Indians attacked these settlers October 15. 1763, and massacred twenty of them, the remainder escap- ing, after much suffering, to their former homes. There was no further attempt made by the Con- necticut Company to occupy their lands at Wyo- ming until 1769, when Ezra Dean's name again appears on the list of settlers at Forty Fort. How long he remained here is not known, but it is be- lieved that he never lived any great length of time on his Pennsylvania property or never real- ized any considerable profit from his holdings. His land was disposed of by him and his son Jonathan before its true value was known.

Ezra Dean's children were as follows: Jona- than, born July 9, 1741, died August 2, 1822; Anna was baptized May 1, 1748; James was baptized May I, 1748; Sybil, born August 25, 1747, married Joshua Davis, November 19, 1775, and her children were: Ezra D., Jeffrey, James and Sybil. The last named died December 20, 1829. Elizabeth, born in 1752, died in 1846-47, married David Martin, of Providence, Septem- ber 24, 1769, by whom she had five children : James, Joseph, Sally, Abigail and Elizabeth : Sa- rah, born in 1757-58, died May 24, 1847 ; Alma or Almy, born in 1762-63, died in 1846-47, was married May 20, 1804, to Caleb Williams, of Cranston, Rhode Island; William, Ruth. Five other children probably died young, as there is no record obtainable concerning them.

(V) Jonathan Dean, the only son of Ezra Dean, who lived to rear a family and who was probably the eldest son, died at Abington, Penn- sylvania, in 1822. There is no record of his early life. The first record concerning him is found in the tax list of East Greenwich, Rhode 2-12

Island, where his name appears as a taxpayer in that township for the years 1769-70-71. He was first married to a Miss Nichols, daughter of Thomas Nichols, of North Kingston, Rhode Island. She probably died soon after. Jonathan Dean removed to Abington, Pennsylvania, in No- vember, 1800, being then in his sixtieth year. year. He did not purchase any land under his own name, but his three sons, Ezra, James and Jeffrey, took up land in the same neighborhood under the Meredith & Clymer titles. His sec- ond wife was Mary Davis, daughter of Jeffrey and Abigail ( Scranton) Davis, of North King- ston, Rhode Island. They were married Jan- uary 4, 1775, and their children were as follows : Ezra, born February 15, 1776, died July 29, 1862; Sybil, born April 14, 1777, died February 10, 1830; Abigail, born June 28, 1778, died Jan- uary 21, 1842; James, born May 7, 1780. died February 26, 1844; Jeffrey, born September 16, 1781, died June 29, 1871.

(VI) James Dean, son of Jonathan Dean, was born at Greenwich, Rhode Island, and was a young man of twenty years when he settled with his father at Abington, Pennsylvania, in 1800. He was married December 28, 1803, to Catherine Tripp, of Providence, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Isaac Tripp, the early proprietor of Providence, Pennsylvania, who settled there between 1784 and 1787, and granddaughter of Esquire Isaac Tripp, one of the earliest pioneers. in the Wyoming valley and who was killed by the Indians with his son-in-law, Jonathan Slo- cum, on the present site of the city of Wilkes- Barre, December 16, 1778. This Jonathan Slocum was the father of Frances Slocum, the "lost daughter of Wyoming," who was carried away a captive by the Indians when a child of five years, was reared among them, married an Indian chief, reared a family of her own and when in old age was discovered by her broth- ers near Logansport, Indiana; she refused to return to civilized life and kindred. Catherine Tripp, wife of James Dean, was a first cousin of this Indian captive. James Dean bought a farm comprising over two hundred acres of land of Meredith & Clymer, Philadelphia land specu- lators, in what was known then as Tunkhannock, but later became Abington township, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. It was located about a mile and a half northwest of Dalton, on the old road leading to Factoryville. The farm is still owned by his son, Myron Dean, of Scranton. James Dean became a prosperous farmer, an en- terprising citizen of the town. He was captain

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of a local militia company, and was also active in business affairs. He was a stockholder and director in the Abington & Waterford Turnpike Company, and a toll gate was placed at his resi- dence, and he continued to act as gate-keeper until the road ceased to be a toll road and was made a free highway. He was also associated with George Capwell and others in the erection of a cotton factory at Factoryville, which enter- prise, however, proved unprofitable. They aft- erward erected a saw and grist mill on the op- posite side of the creek from the factory, and Mr. Dean built a still house on the stream. In connection with others he built the first grist- mill in Abington proper and later became the sole owner. This mill was located where Elias Lillibridge erected his fullingmill, which is now

owned by Jasper Shoemaker.

In 1802 James

Dean, with his father and a few others, united with the earliest Baptist church of the neighbor- hood, the second in the Abington Association, under the ministry of the pioneer preacher. Elder John Miller. James Dean died of dropsy, Feb- ruary 26, 1844, aged sixty-three years, nine months and nineteen days.

The children of James and Catherine Dean were: Ezra, born July 10, 1805, died February 20, 1877; Ann Maria, born December 5, 1807, died June 25, 1877; Isaac, born June 9. 1811 ; Nelson N., born July 11, 1814, died June 1, 1879 : Laura W., born September 25, 1817, died April 10, 1848; Amasa, born March 27, 1819, died De- cember 29. 1900; Myron, born November 7, 1822, and Mary Anna, born November 6, 1824.

(VII) Isaac Dean was born in Abington, Luzerne county, now Lackawanna county, Penn- sylvania. The county was then little more than a wilderness with here and there a clearing. Be- ing the eldest son, and his father a heavy man, inclined to dropsy, he engaged in various enter- prises outside of the farm. Isaac Dean early in life became inured to the severe labor of cut- ting down the forests and tilling the newly cleared land on his father's extensive estate. His opportunities for acquiring education from books and schools were meager. A few months' school- ing in the winter with numerous interruptions was the total of his educational advantages, but they equalled those of many of his neighbors. When quite a young man he purchased grain and hauled it to Carbondale and Honesdale, sell- ing it to the Delaware & Hudson Company. He also devoted considerable time to lumbering on his father's land and likewise on his own land, which he bought near Sheik's pond, now called

Lake Sheridan, where he owned and operated a sawmill. Until thirty-two years of age he re- mained at home and was the mainstay of his parents and their large family. In 1843 he mar- ried Polly Searle Heermans, daughter of Henry Heermans, the first merchant of Providence, Pennsylvania. He bought fifty acres of land from his uncle, George Gardner, and bought sixty acres from his father adjoining the home- stead and thus made a home for himself. He supplemented his farming operations by a butch- ering business and by buying live stock for drovers. He amassed a considerable fortune in this way and through judicious investment of his earnings. His wife inherited a good property, which they sold to advantage, making good in- vestments with the proceeds. When the Second National Bank of Scranton was organized in 1863 Isaac Dean was an active promoter of the enterprise under the leadership of his brother- in-law, W. W. Winton, in whose judgment and integrity he placed great confidence. He was also a partner in the banking house of Winton, Clark & Company, which was later chartered in- der the name of the Citizens' and Miners' Sav- ings Bank and Trust Company of Providence. Both of these banks failed, involving the greater part of his fortune. His wife died July 8, 1868.

The children of Isaac and Polly Dean were : Emma Louise, born November 25, 1844, died April 24, 1896; Albert W., born March 12, 1846, married, December 16, 1868, Martha Northup, and has three children : Harry N., born Septem- ber 22, 1869: Walter Clark, born April 11, 1878; Maurice B., born September 13, 1882. Arthuir D., born January 29. 1849. Miranda Evelyn, born May 9, 1851, married, November 3, 1880, George H. Shires, and has two children: Elsie, born October 20, 1881 ; Percy, born January I, 1884. George Edgar. born October 27, 1853, married. April 16, 1889, Josephine Ginsberg, no children. Florence, born February 17, 1857, married, September 29, 1885, M. R. Walter, no children. Isaac Dean died November 15, 1902.

(VIII) Arthur D. Dean, son of Isaac Dean, was born on the farm purchased by his father from George Gardner. He acquired his early education in the district schools, and when fif- teen years of age entered upon a scientific course of study at the University of Lewisburg. later known as Bucknell, which course he completed in 1867. During the winter of 1867-68 he taught school in the district near his home now known as LaPlume. In 1868 he resumed his studies at East Greenwich, and in the fall of 1869 en-

GROSman

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tered the classical course of Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island. There he was graduated in the class of 1872, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts, while three years later the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him. In the fall of 1872 he entered the law school of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and afterward became a law student in the office of Agib Ricketts, Esquire, at Wilkes- Barre. He was admitted to the bar January 5, 1875, and remained in the office of his preceptor the first year after his admission to the bar. He then took offices with Elliott P. Kesner and Frank C. Sturges. In 1879, a year after Scran- ton had become the county seat of the new county of Lackawanna, he removed to that city, where he has since been a constant .practitioner of his profession. He is a director in the United States Lumber Company, which controls large timber interests in Potter county, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and 300,000 acres in yellow pine in Mississippi, where the company owns the Mississippi Central Railroad, with southern head- quarters at Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

On May II, 1882, Arthur D. Dean married Nettie E. Sisson, only daughter of Arnold Clark and Isabel (Green) Sisson, of LaPlume, Penn- sylvania. Their children are as follows: Car- roll Sisson, born March 27, 1883; Russell Heer- mans, March 19, 1885; James Davis, July 22, 1887; an infant son, born July 26, 1891, died August 2, 1891 ; Mariam Isabel, born October I, 1893 ; and Nettie Catharine, November 22, 1901. Mrs. Nettie Dean died November 25, 1901.

HENRY METZ. Among the prosperous and old-established business men of Scranton must be numbered Henry Metz. He is a son of Adam Metz, who was born in Germany and is still living in his native country. His wife was Lizzie Weil, also a native of Germany, and they were the parents of ten children, four of whom are living and are residents of the United States : Henry, mentioned at length hereinafter ; Chris- tine, Kate and Annie. Mrs. Metz, the mother of the family, is deceased.

Henry Metz, son of Adam and Lizzie (Weil) Metz, was born in 1854, in Germany, where he received his education and also learned the tailor's trade. In 1881 he emigrated to the United States and took up his abode in Scran- ton, where for twenty-three years he has con- ducted a flourishing business as a merchant tailor. Both as a citizen and a business man he possesses the fullest confidence and esteem of

his neighbors. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. Metz married. in 1877, Catherine Miller, who was born in 1858, in Ger- many, and five children were born to them : Mary, who became the wife of Charles Snyder and is now deceased. She was of a most lovely and estimable character and was deeply mourned by a large circle of friends: Lizzie; Henry ; Adolph, who married Mildred Meurer and has two children : Elsie and Margaret ; Charles. With the exception of the youngest these children were all born in Germany.

HENRY J. OWENS, a prosperous manufac- turer of Scranton, is a son of Lewis Owens, who was born in Wales in 1833, and was a practical miner. He emigrated to the United States at an early age, where he prospered in his chosen calling. He was one of the sinkers who sunk the Marvin shaft. His wife was Ellen Thorman, a native of England, and they were the parents of seven children : William, Henry J., mentioned at length hereinafter; Sarah, Margaret, Eliza- beth, Fanny and Nellie. The two last-named are deceased. Mr. Owens died in 1878, in Wales, and was survived twenty-four years by his wid- ow, whose death occurred in 1902.

Henry J. Owens, son of Lewis and Ellen (Thorman) Owens, was born in 1865, in Scran- ton, Pennsylvania, and was educated in the com- mon schools of his native city. It was there, under the instruction of William Love, that he learned his trade, which is that of manufacturing and repairing the tools used by mine-workers. He became proficient in the art and for nine years has been in business for himself. His shop is fitted up with the most modern machinery for doing the best work in the shortest time and according to the most approved methods. So firmly has he established himself in the confi- dence of the public that his business is constantly increasing and bids fair to assume before long proportions which might almost be termed phie- nomenal.

EDMUND J. ROBINSON was, two years excepted, during his entire career of great ac- tivity and signal usefulness a conspicuous figure in the commercial and public life of Scranton. He was actively identified with numerous of its most important business enterprises, and was at various times called to high places of honor and trust in which he well subserved the inter- ests of the community at large. He was a man of liberal education and cultured taste, a patron

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of art, and an admirable figure in the social world.

He came from a family originating in Ger- many, and which has been represented in the valley for three generations. His grandfather, Philip Robinson, came to his death by accident, near Moscow, on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. His son, also named Philip, was born in 1841, in Lauterecken, Rheinpfalz, Bavaria. He there learned the trade of brewer, and came with his father and two brothers to Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1854 the father and three sons located in Scranton and laid the foundations of the present and extensive Robin- son brewery. Philip Robinson subsequently (in 1868) purchased the plant in its entirety, and continued its operation until his death in Sep- tember, 1879. He was active in public affairs, was a prominent Democrat, and a member of Schiller Lodge, F. and A. M .; of the Scranton Saengerbund, and of Neptune Fire Company. He married Mina Schimpff, who was also born in Bavaria, and whose father, Jacob Schimpff, was long engaged in business in Scranton.

Edmund J. Robinson, son of Philip and Mina (Schimpff) Robinson, was born March 17, 1868, in Scranton, and there began his education in the public schools, completing advanced studies in the Wyoming Seminary. After leaving the last named institution he went to Philadelphia, where he passed two years learning the trade of ina- chinist. He became a proficient mechanic, but his destiny led him into another career than that for which he had prepared himself. Opportunity came to him in an invitation to enter his father's brewery in the capacity of bookkeeper. This he accepted, and he subsequently became manager, and bore a full part in the development of the business of the house and in the installation of the repeated enlargements of its plant ; and, when the concern was consolidated with the Pennsyl- vania Central Brewing Company, he continued as manager of the old Robinson plant. Mr. Robinson also became prominently identified with numerous corporations abroad as well as at home. He was a director in the Traders' National Bank of Scranton, and the Lackawanna National Bank at West Seneca, New York, as well as a director and large stockholder in various other local in- stitutions ; and was president of the Pomeroy Water Company, at Pomeroy, Ohio.

Mr. Robinson was widely popular, and an influential figure in public life. He was present- ed by the Democrats in 1896 as the strongest and most available candidate for city controller, in

opposition to F. J. Widmayer, in the memorable. Ripple-Bailey campaign. Although reluctant to. enter the race, Mr. Robinson finally consented to accept the nomination, made an active and ag- gressive canvass, and was triumphantly elected, his personal popularity finding attestation in the- fact that he led his party ticket by several hun- dred votes, and secured the election of several other candidates upon his ticket who would have- been defeated had he not headed it. Three years later he was made the Democratic nominee for city treasurer against T. R. Brooks, and was again elected. So efficiently did he discharge the duties of the office that, when the Ripper bill went into effect, Recorder Moir did not disturb Mr. Robinson, and he remained in the treasurer- ship until, later, Recorder W. L. Connell ap- pointed him, the effect being his retention in the office for a year longer than the term for which he was elected. In 1903 he was a candidate for mayor, but, while a majority of the delegates elected to convention were favorable to him, the party management was adverse, and succeeded in defeating Mr. Robinson by effecting the nomina- tion of J. J. Fahy, but only after a most de- termined contest. In all his political transactions. he was as distinctly honorable as in his personal concerns, scorning all that savored of trickery or duplicity.

Mr. Robinson was a man of great liberality and public spirit, and rendered liberal aid to var- ious charitable institutions and organizations, and every worthy cause or deserving individual who appealed to him. He was an active member of many fraternal and social orders, particularly those on the South Side. He was an enthus- iastic patron of athletic sports and on several oc- casions assisted materially in the promotion of professional base ball in Scranton. His own personal pleasure was principally in driving, and he was owner of some of the most stylish and best bred horses in the city. Splendidly edu- cated, he was a lover of art, and was its apprecia- tive patron. His personal character was a splen- did compound of honor, truth, affection, sym- pathy and genuine manliness, and to all these at- tributes added a congeniality of disposition which made him a rare leader of young men, and the soul of whatever social circle he sat amongst. This was the more noticeable because of his en- tire freedom from indulgence in what is so sel- dom disassociated from sociality, intoxicating beverages and tobacco. With all his large wealth he was broadly demonstrative, and was the same considerate gentleman to the working-

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

man that he was to the millionaire. To all these ·admirable traits of character he added a touching devotion to his mother, whom he always consult- ed when considering any momentous concern, whether it affected his personal fortunes or the interests of the community. Hers was a rich reward in the honor which all accorded to hier son, and in the tributes of affection which the city paid to his memory when death claimed its shining mark. During the hours of the funeral, business was practically suspended. Millionaire and laborer alike came to the house of mourning to give expression to their sorrow and sympathy, and a multitude of beautiful floral decorations were brought to the last resting place of the la- mented dead.

Mr. Robinson died June 12, 1904. His fu- neral was attended by a large assemblage of the best citizens, including the city officials in a body, and members of the various societies with which the deceased was connected. The officiating clergyman, the Rev. W. A. Nordt, delivered a fitting eulogy upon the useful life and excellent personal characteristics of the deceased, voicing the public expression in the reflection that his many honors and the high esteem in which he was held, measured the reward he would enjoy in the life to come. Mr. Robinson was survived by his mother and two brothers, Otto and Philip, and a sister Magdalena.

FENWICK L. PECK, numbered among the most active and enterprising men of large affairs in the city of Scranton, is also a representative type of that splendid class of northerners which has contributed so largely to the industrial and commercial development of the far south, his ac- tivities in that region extending along manufac- turing, transportation and financial lines of much importance.

He is descended from an excellent New Eng- land ancestry, whose members were among the early colonists of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and among whom were many who arrived at distinction in the professions and in public life. Mr. Peck traces his descent from John Peck, of Mendon, Massachusetts, who died in 1725. Of his six children the eldest, Simon, born March 27. 1693, was the father of seven children, among whom was Abraham. Abraham was born January 14, 1723, and settled in Col- eraine, Massachusetts, where he died, July 18, 1798. He married Mary Stuart, of London- derry, New Hampshire, born December 21. 1724. Of his eight children, Abraham lived in Col- eraine township, where he died March 1, 1830.

His first wife was Arathusa Bullard, who was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, February 3. 1790. His second wife was a Mrs. Plympston, of Wardsboro, who died in 1843.

Samuel, son of the last named Abraham Peck, was born in Coleraine township, Franklin county, Massachusetts, and was a farmer. He removed in 1820 to Greenfield, Susquehanna county, and about 1829 to Blakeley. In 1834 he located in Lackawanna county, and the place of his settlement received the name of Peckville in his honor. He there engaged in a flour milling and lumber business which he pursued with suc- cess, associating with himself his sons, J. Wilson Peck and J. D. Peck. He was a man of sterling character, and exerted a marked influence in the community. He actively advocated the cause of education and temperance, and salutary reforms along governmental and social lines. He was a Presbyterian in religion, and a trustee in his church, and in politics was originally a Whig. becoming a Republican on the organization of that party. He was three times married. His first wife was Sarah Wilson, whom he wedded December 31, 1816. He married Susan Snidicor June 28, 1845, and Sarah A. Bertholf on March 13, 1862. His death occurred July 7, 1864. He left a valuable estate and his family well estab- lished in life.

J. Wilson Peck, son of Samuel Peck, was born in Massachusetts in 1826, and was eight years old when he came with his father to the site of the present Peckville, the region being then an almost unbroken wilderness. He had little op- portunity for education as the word is now under- stood. He was, however, already well grounded in the fundamental branches, and through his private reading and habits of observation he gathered a large fund of general knowledge. He early developed an aptitude for a business life, grew into familiarity with lumbering, in which his father was engaged, and eventually became his partner. On the retirement of the father, J. Wilson Peck and his brother, J. D. Peck, formed a partnership under the firm name of Peck Brothers, continuing the manufacture of dressed lumber, always with success, and continually de- veloping it into larger proportions. From the partnership grew the incorporation of the Peck Lumber Manufacturing Company, with exten- sive plants at Peckville and Scranton, the active managers being J. Wilson Peck as president of the company, and his son, Edson S. Peck as sec- retary and treasurer. Mr. Peck was also a large owner of timber lands in Potter county, and he organized the Lackawanna Lumber Company, of

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 36

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