USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 39
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 39
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
was a counsellor and friend. He was drawn to deserving young men with a peculiar sympathy, and in countless instances he aided them materi- ally in making an honorable and promising be- ginning in life, and many such who now occupy positions of importance and enjoy homes of their own, owe to him in large degree the foundation upon which they builded their character and fortune.
In 1850, the year in which he came to the superintendency of the Pennsylvania Coal Com- pany, Mr. Smith removed with his family to Dun- more, and from that day until the end of his life he was known as its foremost citizen. He allied himself with every community interest, and ren- dered aid with his influence, counsel and means to every object which could contribute to its ad- vancement, whether in material, moral or social lines. He aided in the organization of the Pres- byterian church, and was ever numbered among its most exemplary members and most liberal sup- porters, advancing its interests and usefulness through every channel of effort. He also aided in organizing the Dunmore Cemetery Associa- tion, and was a member of its first board of trus- tees, and served in that capacity throughout the remainder of his life. He was also an honored member of the fraternities of Free Masons and Odd Fellows, affiliated with the local lodges of both these orders.
Mr. Smith died January 16, 1895. Although well advanced in his seventy-ninth year, his mag- nificent physique and strong mental powers ena- bled him to devote himself to his many and large activities up to almost the very moment of his decease. His death produced an intense feeling of sorrow among all classes of the community, to all of whom he was personally dear for his de- lightful personal traits, his warm sympathies and his ever ready and unstinted benefactions. Busi- ness in the village was suspended during the hours of the funeral, and the services were at- tended by practically the entire populace. The officiating clergyman paid touching tribute to his worth of character, and especially as a christian gentleman ; righteousness was his guiding star, and, like the sunshine of heaven, his life was bright and pure. The directors of the Dunmore Cemetery Association adopted resolutions of more than usual import upon such occasions, ex- pressing their sorrow in the loss of a friend and benefactor whose wisdom and sagacity, strong will, distinguished individuality and untiring en- ergy of character, marked integrity, keen sense of uprightness, and unstinted benevolence, made him
a power for good among all classes of the com- munity, in all their relations, material, industrial, social and religious. The personal character of Mr. Smith was dwelt upon with peculiar force by the local press. A leading newspaper said that, although conservative and assiduous in bus- iness affairs, he grew many-sided, and to his last days was in cordial touch with the best and truest sentiments and agencies of the day. His con- stant industry left him little time (even if he had disposition), for the shams and conventionalities of life. Selfmade, he invariably estimated others at their intrinsic, not their extrinsic, value. This habit grew upon him with his years, awakening deeper affection and reverence on the part of those immediately about him, and who knew him ; but impressing the stranger with an idea of blunt- ness or brusqueness. Such were, however, false to the character of this truly ideal christian gen- tleman, beneath whose old-time ruggedness of exterior lay warmest sympathies, and a disposi- tion the kindest, the most charitable, and the most generous.
CHRISTIAN JANES. Throughout the length and breadth of Lackawanna county no better or worthier type of the German-American citizen can be found than Christian Janes, one of the best-known residents of Scranton. He is de- scended from mining ancestry, his grandfather having been a seeker for ore in the mines of the Fatherland.
Faulding Janes was born in Germany and there passed his entire life as a miner. His wife, Katherine Janes, bore him seven children, among whom was a son Christian, mentioned hereafter. Of this family only two emigrated to the United States.
Christian Janes, son of Faulding and Kather- ine Janes, was born in Germany, where from boy- hood he worked in the mines, as his father and grandfather had done before him. In 1854 he came to the United States and settled in Schuyl- kill county, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1858, when he migrated to the Lackawanna Valley. In that region, where he has ever since made his home, he engaged for thirty-three years in contract mining. While following the tradi- tions of his family by working as a miner, Mr. Janes at the same time turned his attention to other lines of endeavor. He became the pro- prietor and owner of a general store in the sixth ward of the borough of Taylor, where for over thirty years he has conducted a flourishing busi- ness. For the same length of time he has been
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the proprietor of the only hotel in the sixth ward, and has attracted an extensive patronage by rea- son of his admirable system and courteous de- meanor as a host. He has prospered financially and is to-day a man of wealth and influence, a popular and useful citizen. His connections in the sphere of politics are with the Independents. He is a member of the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Janes married in 1851, Katherine Laner, also a native of Germany, and before they left the Fatherland one son was born to them, Christian, who is now a miner. After coming to the United States they became the parents of another son, William, who is also a miner. Mrs. Janes, the mother of these sons, died in 1861, and in 1862 Mr. Janes married Mrs. Katherine Sipple. By this marriage he is the father of the following children : Jolin, George, Dorothy and Maggie, who is the wife of J. Jennings. Mrs. Janes is the mother of three sons by her former marriage.
CONRAD SCHROEDER. The strong, true men of a people are always public benefactors. Their usefulness in the immediate and specific labors they perform can be defined in metes and bounds, but the good they do through the forces they put in motion and through the inspiration of their presence and example is immeasurable by any finite gauge or standard of value. The late Conrad Schroeder was such a man, and so deep- ly did he leave his impress upon the industrial, civic and business life of the city of Scranton, where he long maintained his home, that no word of eulogy is demanded for him so far as regards those who knew him and his works. It is impera- tive, however, that a memorial tribute to the man be entered in a publication of this province that the record of his life may be perpetuated.
Conrad Schroeder, who was summoned into eternal rest August 6, 1903, was for many years the leading contractor and builder of the Lacka- wanna Valley, and there remain as perpetual monuments to his memory, as well as to his abil- ity and fidelity, many of the finest buildings in Scranton and other parts of this section of the state. Among the more noteworthy buildings erected by him in Scranton may be mentioned the court house, Hotel Jermyn, the high school, public library and the Elm Park Methodist Epis- copal Church. He was distinctively a man of affairs, conducting operations of wide scope and importance and affording employment to a large number of men, his average corps of assistants numbering as many as four hundred. His hu- manitarian spirit was shown in no one particu-
larly more pronounced relief than in his giving employment to his men at times when such action implied financial loss to himself. He was a man of broad sympathies and marked intellectual ac- tivity, and his forceful individuality permeated every undertaking or enterprise with which he identified himself, be they public or private. He was president of the South Side Bank at the time of his demise, and was also a member of the directorate of the Builders' Exchange, the Lack- awanna Trust Company and the Lackawanna Hospital, while he had numerous other interests of capitalistic order and was one of Scranton's most progressive and honored business men and public-spirited citizens, ever standing ready to lend his aid and influence in support of measures for the general good of the community and the advancement of the city in which he took a deep pride.
In politics Mr. Schroeder gave an uncompro- mising allegiance to the Republican party, and though he took an active interest in its cause he was never a seeker of public office of any de- scription. His religious faith was that of the Catholic Church, under whose teachings he was reared. He was an appreciative member of the time-honored fraternity of Free Masons, being identified with the lodge, chapter and command- ery in Scranton and also with the local temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the. Mystic Shrine.
Conrad Schroeder was born in Guntersblum,. Germany, May 25, 1846, and in the excellent schools of the fatherland he secured his educa- tional discipline, which was of most effective or- der. He was a son of Conrad and Charlotte Schroeder, who passed their entire lives in Ger- many, having been folk of sterling character. Of their children three sons came to America, Frank, Adam and Conrad, Jr., the last named being the subject of this memoir. In his native land our subject served a thorough and exacting appren- ticeship at the trade of stone mason, and to the fact that he thus became a skilled workman may be attributed the marked success which he gained in the world of industrial endeavor, for his ability in the line reserved as the foundation on which he based his efforts upon coming to America, while in the immediate connection his entire business career was directed. In 1865, when nineteen years of age, Mr. Schroeder severed the home ties and emigrated to America, believing that here was to be found better opportunity for gaining in- dependence through individual effort, while then. as ever, he was animated by the most pronounced'
2-13
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honesty of purpose and by a determination to make the best of his opportunities and personal powers. He made his way to Hawley, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, where he remained a short time, after which he removed to Murphysboro. Jackson county, Illinois, where he was employed at his trade for a few months. In 1866 he re- turned to Pennsylvania and took up his abode in Scranton, where he ever afterward made his home and where he rose to prominence in the business and social life, as has already been shown in this context. He was employed at his trade until 1870, when he initiated his independ- ent career as a contractor, and his success was thereafter certain and substantial. He continued. to be actively engaged in business until his death, and the entire community felt the loss of one of its stanchest and truest citizens, while to his fam- ily and business associates the sense of bereave- ment was such as only can come when they are deprived of one whose life was of signal purity, unselfish devotion and appreciative sympathy. He left to his family the heritage of an unspotted rep- utation, and his name merits a high place on the roll of the honored and useful citizens of Lacka- wanna county.
May 4, 1869, Mr. Schroeder married Caroline Seidler, who was born and reared in Hawley, Wayne county, this state, being a daughter of Frederick and Margaret (Schafer) Seidler, both of whom were born in Germany, whence they came to America in 1844, locating in Hawley, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Of their twelve children five are living and are residents of the Lackawanna Valley, namely : Louisa, Barbara, Mary, Caroline and Jacob. Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder became the parents of seven children, concerning whom we enter brief data in concluding this sketch, all being residents of Scranton or vicinity, while Mrs. Schroeder abides in the beautiful home provided by her honored husband at 1516 Sanderson avenue. Francis, the eldest of the children, married Elizabeth Hiller and they have two children, Conrad and Caro- line : Mary G. is the wife of Percival J. Morris : Cecilia S. is the wife of Frank Hummler and they have two children, Herbert and Constance : Eugene A. married Elsie McWilliams, and they have one child, Jeanne; Charlotte C., Madaline L. and Dorothy T.
JOSEPH H. STEELL, of Scranton, was for more than a third of a century one of the fore- most business men of that city, actively identified with various important enterprises of magnitude,
which were large factors in its development and prosperity. He died when he had but reached the zenith of his powers, and when the immediate future seemed to hold out to him exceptionally bright prospects for even larger successes than he had already achieved. His life had been so useful, his conduct so exemplary, his companion- ship so elevating and enjoyable, that those who knew him best through their intimate association with him in business and social relationship, united in the expression that the city of Scranton had lost one of her best and noblest citizens, and the community one of its most loved and honored members.
Mr. Steell was born in the village of St. Clair, Schuykill county, Pennsylvania, December 2,1846. He was there reared and educated. and entered upon his active career. All this was, how- ever, but preparation, and his real record may be dated from 1878, when, at the age of thirty- one years, he located in Scranton, which was destined to be thenceforward his home and the scene of his earnest endeavor. At his coming he became a member of the firm of Beadle & Steell, which established and conducted an extensive grocery business on Lackawanna avenue, on the ground now occupied by the old Grand Central Hotel. Later the business was removed to the corner of Penn avenue and Center street, and was there carried on until a few years ago, when the general store firm of J. H. Steell & Company was organized, with offices in the Traders' Bank building in Scranton. This corporation, with Mr. Steell as manager, operated six stores at one time, located at various commanding points in the anthracite region, and the success attending the enterprise is altogether to be credited to his wise foresight and excellent managerial ability. He also was actively concerned in various other large commercial and industrial ventures. He had early become interested in the Hillside Coal and Iron Company, and it was his connection there- with that led him into the large mercantile under- taking of the Steell Store Company. He was one of the most extensive lumber operators in the Lackawanna Valley, connected with two of the largest corporations in that trade. He was presi- dent of the Allegheny Lumber Company, operat- ing plants at Bellhaven, North Carolina, which were the very extensive dressing mills formerly owned and operated by the Bellhaven Lumber Company, one of the most important of its class in that great pine-producing region. Mr. Steell was among the incorporators of the Lackawanna Lumber Company of Scranton, of which he was
JEY _ HIGHALL NEW YORK
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president, and his colleagues cheerfully conceded the fact that the prosperity attending that enter- prise was due in the largest degree to his energy, intelligence, sagacity and wise judgment. At all times extraordinarily industrious, he was equally resolute and determined, and he quailed before no opposition or obstacle, but resolutely pursued his purposes to entire success. He was promi- nently identified with many of Scranton's most important enterprises, which to name would in- clude nearly all upon which rests the commercial and industrial fame of the city. If one among them be singled out, it may be the Traders' Bank, in which he was a director, and where, among his business colleagues, he numbered some of his most trusted and closely attached personal friends. Essentially a man of affairs, he held association with but few fraternal or social bodies, such relationship being restricted to the Scranton Club and the Country Club. He was tenderly de- voted to his home and family, and could rarely be drawn away to aught in which his wife and chil- ·dren were not privileged to participate with him. In his extreme youth, when a lad of only fifteen, he gallantly responded to the call of his country and as a volunteer carried his musket, acquitting himself with soldierlike courage and fidelity.
Mr. Steell died March 9, 1900, in his fifty- fourth year, survived by a devoted and sorely stricken family, comprising the wife of his youth and their four daughters: Nellie, Leila, Kath- ·erine and Ruth. The sad event brought a deep sense of personal loss to all with whom the de- ceased had been in any way associated, and their feelings of regret and of sympathy for the afflicted family found expression in various fer- vent and touching forms. The directors of the Traders' Bank referred to him as one of their most esteemed members, and one whose vacant place was not to be easily filled, and continued : "He was a man of excellent judgment, honest, upright, warm-hearted, and ever more willing to give than to receive. Many business institutions of the city will miss his wise and timely counsel." The directors of the Allegheny Lumber Company placed upon its records and before the public equally fervent tribute : "In the loss of our pres- ident we part with one who has been energetic. intelligent, and has shown great sagacity and good business judgment as the chief officer and manager of the affairs of this company. The business community also mourns the loss of one who has largely helped to mould and shape many successful business enterprises of this flourishing city." The same body, at the same time and in
the same manner, touched a responsive cord in every heart in the community, by its touching phrasing of the personal worth of the friend whom they mourned :
"His private life was without blemish, and at the time of his death he enjoyed the confidence and respect of his business associates, neighbors and closest friends. We desire to express to the bereaved family our sorrow in the loss of a be- loved husband and father, and commend them to Him who is the Father of the fatherless and the widow's God. Life is, as Prospero says :
"'such stuff As dreams are made of. And our little life Is rounded with a sleep.' "
CORNELIUS COMEGYS. of Scranton, a lawyer of excellent professional standing, and whose public spirited effort has contributed in large degree to the advancement of the intellect- ual and material interests of the city of Scranton, is descended from ancestors who came from Lex- mont, Holland, in the early colonial days.
The emigrant, whose christian name is borne by Mr. Comegys, settled in Kent county, Mary- land, in 1670. By his wife Willamenti he had two sons, Cornelius and William, from whom have descended all of the name in the country. The great-grandfather of Mr. Comegys was an ensign at Braddock's defeat in the French and Indian war, and during the Revolution was a member of Captain Dean's company in the Maryland line, in the battles of Brandywine and White Plains. He lived in Queen Anne county, Maryland.
Cornelius Comegys, grandfather of Cornelius Comegys, was a man of large affairs-a mer- chant, ship owner, and large land holder. He was twice married. John Boon, maternal great- grandfather of Mr. Comegys, was the first state senator elected from that section of the eastern shore of Maryland. "Marblehead." the old home- stead and family seat of the Boon family, erected by Senator Boon shortly after the Revolution, a handsome structure in the old colonial style, stood on a large estate, and was the scene of much of the famous hospitality of the "Eastern Shore."
Dr. Henry C. Comegys was born April 7, 1833. in Greensboro, Maryland, son of Cornelius and Eleanor M. Comegys. At the age of sixteen. after attending the schools of his native village, he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Penn- sylvania, where he completed his literary educa- tion. After reading medicine for a year under
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the preceptorship of Dr. Goldsborough, of Greensboro, he entered the medical department of the University of Maryland, and graduated in 1854, at the age of twenty-one years. Locating in his native town, he there built up a large and profitable practice. He entered largely into the life of the community, and was a leading spirit in the educational affairs, serving as one of the three school commissioners in Caroline county. During the Civil war he served a year in the United States medical corps, as assistant surgeon in the Hamon General Hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland. In 1881 he took up his residence in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he continued in the active practice of his profession until within one week of his death, which occurred Novem- ber 29, 1904, after a highly useful professional career covering the unusual period of a full half century. He was a pension examining surgeon during President Cleveland's first administration, and was a leading member of the County Medical Society. His entire life was upright, clean and honorable, respected and esteemed by all, and held in peculiar regard by his intimates, in appre- ciation of all those traits of character which stamped him as a citizen of the noblest type. In 1858 he married Miss Helen A. Boon, daughter of John Boon, and a native of Maryland. His widow yet survives, with their two children : Cor- nelius and Mary G., the last named residing at home with her mother.
Conelius Comegys, only son of Dr. Henry C. and Helen A. (Boon) Comegys, is a native of his ancestral state, Maryland, born at the old family seat, Greensboro, October 25, 1858. He began his education in the public schools, and at the age of fourteen entered St. John's College, Annapolis, from which he graduated with the class of 1877, at the age of nineteen. After a three years' course of law studies under the pre- ceptorship of Edward Ridgely, of Dover, Dela- ware, he was admitted to the bar in April, 1882. at Denton, Maryland. After a few months spent in travel in quest of a desirable location, Mr. Comegys located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he was admitted to the bar at the October term of court in 1883. Shortly after entering upon the practice of his profession he was se- lected by the district attorney, Edwards, as assist- ant district attorney, a position which he filled with conspicuous ability for a period of five years, when the exactions of a large and constantly in- creasing private practice made it expedient for him to resign. He has since devoted himself en- tirely to his profession, in which he has attained
a position of acknowledged prominence. With ample equipment and mental faculties of a high order, he is recognized as the peer of any of the brilliant array of lawyers who grace the bar of the Wyoming Valley. While thus devoted to his profession, Mr. Comegys has at the same time always been an important factor in the affairs of the community, into which he has ever entered with the keen interest which marks the public spirited citizen who has at heart a pride in the city which is his home, and a personal regard for his fellows, yet bearing himself with becoming modesty and lack of unseemly self-assertion.
A Democrat in politics, he holds an influential place in the councils of his party, and exercises a potent influence before the people in the discussion of political principles and policies. He is moderate in his partisanship, and conservative in his views, and in his address he is logically persuasive, en- tirely free from passion and that overly aggres- sive form of speech which breeds antagonism in- stead of compelling the intelligent attention of the auditor. His name has been frequently men- tioned in connection with congressional and other political nominations, but he has persistently de- clined all such overtures, preferring to devote himself to the profession which he regards with a genuine enthusiasm.
In 1889 Mr. Comegys married Miss Sarah J. Bevan, daughter of Thomas D. Bevan, of Scran- ton. Of this marriage have been born four chil- dren : Margaret Bevan, Cornelius Breck, Helen Augusta, and Jessie. The family attend the Presbyterian Church.
ARETUS HEERMANS WINTON, son of the late W. W. Winton and his wife Catherine, was born November 17, 1838, at Scranton, Peni- sylvania. He received his preparation for col- lege at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsyl- vania, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachu- setts, and Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts. He was graduated at Mount Washington College, the valedictorian of his class. After graduation he read law with David R. Randall, Esquire, and on August 22, 1860, was admitted to practice in the several courts of Luzerne county, and in due time to the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and the various courts of the United States. He became an accurate shorthand reporter, but declined the appointment of court reporter when tendered to him by the Honorable John N. Conyngham. His system- atic business habits, and arrangement and care of papers and dockets, won the admiration of clients
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