Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 44

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 44
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 44

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).

ENDDEY HAT HALLETSOM

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

stanch and loyal patriots during the Revolution- ary period, and in the Civil war furnished nu- merous gallant soldiers, who proved worthy sons of the sires who fought at Lexington and Bunker Hill. Later generations have been conspicuous for sterling worth and great ability in the estab- lishment and conduct of large financial and other extensive business interests.

(I) The progenitor of the family in America was Richard Woolworth, who settled at New- bury, Massachusetts, in 1678, having taken the oath of allegiance at Ipswich, being then thirty years of age. On Christmas Eve following his arrival he married Hannah Huggins, the record of the marriage giving his name in the form of Woolery, while other records of Newbury use the present orthography, Woolworth. It is sup- posed that this Richard Woolworth was a son of that Richard Wooley, born in 1600, who was among the eighty-four passengers of the ship "Plain Joan," which landed in Virginia May 15, 1635. Richard Woolworth, him of Newbury, was one among a hundred persons who received a land grant in Southold, Massachusetts (now Suffield, Connecticut), his land adjoining a tract set off to John Huggins, his brother-in-law. He took up his residence thereon, and died there De- cember 20, 1696, surviving his wife, who died October 19, 1691. Of their children three daugh- ters died in childhood, and a son and daughter survived : the latter, Hannah, born in 1681, was fifteen years old when her father died, and was allowed to administer upon the estate. She mar- ried John Gleason in 1704.

(II) Richard, only son of Richard and Han- nah (Huggins) Woolworth, was born in Suf- field. December 6, 1687. On September 15, 1714, he married Elizabeth Hall, of Taunton, Massa- chusetts, whose name is first on the records of the Congregational Church of Suffield, which she joined by letter June 1, 1716. Eight children were born to them.

(III) Timothy, third son and fifth child of Richard (2) and Elizabeth (Hall) Woolworth, was born May 17, 1722, in Suffield, where he married, June 3. 1747, Mercy Olds, born April 30, 1724, baptized the year of her marriage. Ten children were born to them, of whom three died in infancy, the survivors all being sons.

(IV) Phineas, sixth son of Timothy (3) and Mercy (Olds) Woolworth, was born in Suf- field. October 31. 1754. He, with four brothers, bore a part in the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, and rendered other military service. He was one of twenty-three men of the alarm

party under command of Capt. Nathaniel Hay- den, and enlisted May 13 in the Tenth Company, and was discharged December 17, 1775. In 1781 he married Mercy, born October 10, 1758, daugh- ter of Capt. Simeon and Grace ( Phelps) Shel- don, of Suffield, who was admitted to the First Baptist Church of Suffield on confession of faith on the first Sabbath of September, 1802. She was a granddaughter or Thomas and Mary (Hinsdale) Sheldon, Thomas being a son of Isaac, the first Sheldon in New England. Fam- ily tradition says Phineas and Mercy Woolworth left Granville, Massachusetts, early in 1806, trav- eling with oxen and sleds and leading a cow. They settled in Denmark, New York, and later removed to Pinckney, where the husband died in 1819. His wife died in Lisbon, New York, in 1831, and her remains were brought to Pinck- ney and interred beside those of her husband. They were the parents of six sons and three daughters.

(V) Jasper, fourth son of Phineas (4) and Mercy (Sheldon) Woolworth, was born in Suf- field, Connecticut, March 8, 1789. He was about seventeen when his parents removed to north- ern New York, and he aided in clearing up the homestead farm. He farmed in Pinckney until 1836, when he removed to Watertown, where he resided some years, finally purchasing a large Įfarm. March 1, 1859, he removed to North Adams. He died at Pierrepont Manor, New York. October 8, 1873, well advanced in his eighty-fifth year, having survived his wife, who died there on January 6, 1871, in her seventy- fifth year, and their remains rest together. She was Elizabeth G. Buell, born in 1796, in Hebron, Connecticut, a daughter of Aaron and Beulah (Dorchester) Buell, and a granddaughter of John Hubbell Buell. Her marriage took place in 1816. Jasper and Elizabeth Woolworth were the parents of seven children, of whom the third daughter, Emily, died when a year old. Those who came to maturity were: Horace, died in Rodman, unmarried, aged thirty-six years; John H., to be further referred to hereinafter ; Louisa, who resides near Mannsville, New York, widow of Edwin Andrews; Mary E. and George, twins, and Adelia.

(VI) John Hubbell, second child of Jasper (5) and Elizabeth (Buell) Woolworth, was born in Pinckney, New York, August 16, 1821. He became a prosperous farmer near Great Bend, Jefferson county, New York, where he now lives retired, in his eighty-fifth year. He is a highly respected citizen, taking an especial interest in

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educational affairs, and for many years rendered efficient service as a school trustee. He is an exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In early life he was a Whig in politics. He was an earnest anti-slavery man, and aided in the organization of the Republican party in 1856, and has been one of its most faithful ad- herents from that time. January 14, 1851, he married Fanny McBrier, born at Pillar Point, Jefferson county, New York, April 15, 1829, died February 15, 1878. To them were born two sons, Frank W. and Charles Sumner Woolworth.

(VII) Charles Sumner, second son of John Hubbell (6) and Fanny (McBrier) Woolworth, was born in . Rodman, Jefferson county, New York, August 1, 1856, and was reared upon the parental farm at Great Bend, upon which he re- mained until he was twenty-two years old, and until he was nineteen attending the district schools. With a splendidly developed physique and a good practical education, he left home to become a salesman in the dry goods store of Moore & Smith, in Watertown. He displayed a marked aptitude for mercantile pursuits, and after a year became associated with his brother, Frank W. Woolworth, who had just success- fully inaugurated the five- and ten-cent business. He opened a store at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for his brother, removing it eight months later to York, where he remained three months, these removals being in accordance with the policy at the time, which was based upon the conviction that such a business could only be carried on in an itinerant fashion. After a short sojourn in Lancaster, Charles Sumner located in Scranton to manage a store for his brother, and which he conducted with such success as to fully dem- onstrate its stability. After a few months he be- came a partner in the enterprise, and a year later entered upon the sole ownership. How well he developed the business is evidenced by the fact that at the outset his stock did not exceed six hundred dollars in value, while he now occupies one of the choicest and largest double stores in the city, running through an entire city block, and during this intervening time he has also es- tablished nine other stores of the same character, six in the state of New York and three in Maine. His activities have also been extended to other large commercial and financial concerns, among them the United States Lumber Company, with a capital of six million dollars, operating mills in Pennsylvania and Mississippi, and in which he is a director. He is loyally attached to the city of his residence, and renders efficient aid

in the promotion of its various interests, moral and educational, as well as material. He is vice- president of the Groat Knitting Company of Scranton, and a director in the Traders' National Bank and the People's Bank of the same place. He attends the Methodist Episcopal Church, and liberally contributes to its support and to all be- nevolent causes which appeal to him. In politics he is an earnest supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party. He holds mem- bership in the Scranton Club, and the New Eng- land Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania. To the decision of character which marks the thor- oughly equipped man of large business affairs he unites those traits of genial companionability which give him a congenial footing with men of culture and refined tastes.

Mr. Woolworth married, June 2. 1886, Miss Anna E. Ryals, who was born in Utica, New York, a daughter of Isaac G. and Mary A. (Da- vies) Ryals ; her father, a native of England, re- sides in Utica, and her mother, who was born in New York, is deceased. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Woolworth : Ethel Mae, Fred Everett and Richard Wesley. The family occupy a beautiful residence in Scranton, and enjoy the friendship of a large circle of its. best people.

MELVIN I. CORBETT, deceased, was rec- ognized as one in whose personality were happi- ly combined business abilities of a high order, habits of industry, a strict adherence to the loft- iest ideals of integrity, and a geniality which en- deared him to all about him. His versatility of talent won for him a unique distinction, in that, while he never adopted the law as his exclusive profession, his business brought him so constant- ly into contact with the members of the bar, in the court room as well as outside, that he was admitted to the Lackawanna Bar Association. In that body none took a deeper or more constant interest, or contributed in larger degree to its welfare and to fraternity of feeling among its members. He took an active and intelligent in- terest in the organization, development and main- tenance of the Law and Library Association, and contributed greatly to the success of the social meetings of the body.

Mr. Corbett was born in Corbettsville, near Conkling, New York, December 1, 1848. The- prominence of the Corbett family is indicated in the fact that from it the village derived its name. Mr. Corbett's parents were Ira and Juliet E. (Bowes) Corbett; the father is deceased and

John Silkman

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the mother is yet living, making her residence on the family homestead at Corbettsville. Their children, other than Melvin I. Corbett, were : Marshall, a broker of New York City ; William, a merchant in West Virginia, and four married sisters-Ellen, Anna, Mary and Addie.

Mr. Corbett received a liberal education in the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, Pennsyl- vania. In 1868 he located in Scranton, which was destined to witness the development of his powers and become the scene of his useful ac- tivities. He entered the employ of the Delaware and Western Railway Company in the capacity of confidential clerk for W. H. Storrs, general manager of the coal department, and conducted himself with such industry and fidelity that he was repeatedly advanced to larger and more re- sponsible duties. Meantime his studious dispo- sition had led him to the study not only of these subjects which were immediately connected with his avocation, but also to that of the law, and after passing a creditable examination he was admitted to the bar of Lackawanna county. Shortly afterward he was made attorney for the coal department with which he had been so long connected in clerical and other capacities, and at once demonstrated his fitness for the important place to which he was called. Nor were the duties thus devolved upon him such as a tyro might perform. They were of the most arduous nature, requiring incessant care, entire accuracy, and a thorough knowledge of real estate and cor- poration law, involving the preparation and exe- cution of all the deeds, leases and other legal in- struments connected with the coal lands of the great Lackawnna Railway Company's coal sys- tem, their custodianship, and a voluminous cor- respondence in connection with all transactions in his department. His close attention to all these details won for him the continued esteem and con- fidence of the company ; at the same time these business relations brought him into constant as- sociation with the most prominent men of af- fairs in Lackawanna and adjoining counties, and with whom his relations were always intimate and agreeable. His excellent personal qualities made him a treasured companion in all the social cir- cles with which he was identified. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and also of the First Presbyterian Church, as is his wife.

Mr. Corbett married Miss Catherine T. Chit- tenden, daughter of Dr. W. A. Chittenden, of Scranton, who survives her honored husband, and with her one child, a son twelve years of age.

Mr. Corbett died August 9, 1898. For some

months previous he had been in ill health, but remained at his post until less than two months before his demise. Failing of improvement, in July he went to the sea-shore, hoping for benefit, but returned yet farther debilitated, and he con- tinned to decline until he was obliged to take to his bed about a week before came the said end. His death came as a surprise and a shock to the- many friends who were not immediately at his side, and who, knowing of his illness, were not. prepared to believe that it was of a fatal char- acter. The funeral took place from the family residence on Washington avenue, and interment was made in Dunmore cemetery. The services were attended by a large representative gathering of deeply affected friends, including the members of the Lackawanna Bar Association, and the greater number of the officials of the company which the lamented deceased had served with such conspicuous ability and integrity for so- many years. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. James McLeod, D. D., who pronounced a touching eulogy upon the character of the de- ceased, and gave voice to the deep sympathy for the bereaved family which was experienced by the entire community. At a meeting of the Lack- awanna Bar Association, called for the purpose . of giving expression to the sentiments of that body, feeling remarks were made by Judge Arch- bald and Mr. Torrey. Resolutions expressive of" the same sentiments were adopted, these rehears- ing sincere regret at the untimely demise of a friend and brother who, by his genial spirit, fidel- ity and industry, had made himself beloved and respected by all who knew him, who had well: lived his life, passing away with the peacefulness and resignation of the Christian who approaches his grave without fear or doubt, and leaving to his family the priceless legacy of an honored and untarnished name.

JOHN SILKMAN. One of the best-known. men in Luzerne county is John Silkman, who for sixty-two years has been a continuous resident of Scranton. Mr. Silkman belongs to. a family which was founded in this country by John Silk- man, a native of Germany, who emigrated to the United States in 1776 and took an active part on the side of the colonists in the Revolutionary war. He settled in Westchester county, New York, and his son, also John Silkman, married Hannah Hobby. Their children were: Jacob, mentioned at length hereinafter ; John, Daniel, Joseph and Hannah.

Jacob Silkman, son of John and Hannah

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.(Hobby) Silkman, was born in New York state, and in 1839 moved to what is now known as the "Notch." There he purchased one hundred and forty-six acres of land for which he paid seven hundred and fifty dollars. In 1849 he sold it for eight thousand five hundred dollars, and then moved to Providence and took up his abode on Main avenue. He married Elizabeth Sutherland, :a native of the lake country in New York state, .and the following children were born to them : Myron, David, mentioned at length hereinafter; Aaron, Sarah A., Daniel, Elmira and Joseph. Of these Elmira is the sole survivor. These chil- dren were all born in New York state, the sons following the carpenter's trade.

David Silkman, son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Sutherland) Silkman, was born in 1816. Like the rest of his father's sons he was a carpenter and a good mechanic. He married Laura Hoyt, a native of Westchester county, and they were the parents of four children : John, mentioned at length hereinafter : James, Elizabeth, and Mead. Mr. Silkman, the father of the family, died in 1891, and his wife expired in 1847. Both were good and worthy members of society.

John Silkman, son of David and Laura (Hoyt) Silkman, was born December 5, 1829, in Westchester county, New York and in 1842 ac- companied his grandfather, Jacob Silkman, to the Lackawanna Valley, the other members of his father's family remaining in New York state. There were then but four houses in Providence, five in Hyde Park and six in Slocum Hollow (Scranton). Mr. Silkman learned the carpenter's trade under the instruction of his uncle, Aaron Silkman, serving six years, and is now a pros- perous mechanic, capable of doing all kinds of work pertaining to his trade. In the course of time he became a contractor and builder, his work extending all through the Lackawanna Valley. He is one of the most efficient and careful men in his line of business and his services are in great demand. He enjoys the distinction of hav- ing erected in 1849 the first house ever built on Market street. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which at one time he held the office of steward.

Mr. Silkman married in 1849, Sarah Shaver. of Wyoming, and they were the parents of one son : Joseph, born in 1851, a carpenter by trade ; he married Sarah Bloom, and their children are: George, and Anna, wife of Daniel Keeler, a bookkeeper, and they are the parents of one child. Francis. Mrs. Sarah (Shaver) Silkman died in June, 1900, deeply lamented not only by her im-

mediate family, but by a large circle of relatives and friends to whom she was endeared by her many virtues.

FREDERICK W. BERGE. In the city of Scranton few men are better known or more cor- dially liked than Frederick W. Berge, a son of William and Catherine (Schick) Berge, both na- tives of Germany, who had children: John, de- ceased ; Christopher, deceased; Frederick W., mentioned hereafter ; Odelia, deceased ; and Mar- garet. Of these. John, Odelia and Frederick W. came to. the United States, Frederick W., being the only one of the emigrants now living. Mr. and Mrs. Berge, the parents, died in their native land.

Frederick W. Berge, son of William and Catherine (Schick) Berge, was born March 19, 1838, in Germany, where he received his educa- tion and learned the shoemaker's trade. He set sail from his native country to seek his fortune in the New World. June 12, 1855, and settled first in Carbon county, Pennsylvania, and the fol- lowing year moved to Scranton, where he has resided ever since. For about twenty years he worked at his trade, and for fifteen years was the successful proprietor of the Kizer Valley Hotel. In 1884 he moved to his present residence in Frink street, where he owns four lots and sev- eral bluildings. Mr. Benge belongs to the num- ber of those foreign-born citizens who have taken up arms for the preservation of the Union. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C. Fifteenth Reg- iment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for ninety days. At the close of his term of service he was honorably discharged, and re-enlisted as a musician in Company M. Fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, for three years. After serving his time and receiving an honorable discharge he re-enlisted in the same company and regiment, serving as musician to the close of the war, when he was once more honorably dis- charged. During his military career he ever re- joiced to call his regiment into action and was always eager in the performance of duty except when compelled by stress of orders to sound a retreat. As a citizen he has proved himself 10 less public-spirited than as a soldier, and his neighbors have not failed to testify to their ap- preciation of the fact. For six years he was poor director, and for eight years county assessor, in which office he is now serving his second term. For the last seven years he has. acceptably filled the position of tax collector. He is a member of Griffin Post, Grand Army of the Republic of

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

Scranton, and in politics is independent.

Mr. Berge married, October 6, 1865, Cathe- rine Langen, a native of Ireland, and of their eight children the following are now living: Frederick, William H., a practicing physician of Avoca ; John ; Agnes, wife of a Mr. Andrews ; Josephine, and Anastasia. The deceased children are : George Joseph, died at the age of about two years ; Mary A., died at the age of about six years and ten months.

CHARLES SCHLAGER, a leading figure in the business circles of the city of Scranton, has long been recognized as among the foremost in promoting its development. through real estate and building operations, and has been also ac- tively identified with various industrial and finan- cial interests. While not a native of Scranton, nearly his whole life has been spent there, and it has been the scene of his active career.

His father, John Schlager, was a native of Germany, born in Wiltstedt, near Strasburg, May 25, 1812, and came to America about 1840, while yet a single man. After a brief residence in the Catskills region and at Rondout, New York, he moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, at the time of the construction of the Pennsylvania Coal Company's railroad line. In 1854 he moved to Scranton and engaged in the grocery business on Pennsylvania avenue, between Linden and Mulberry streets, being one of the first to locate in that section of the city. He later removed to a farm at Harford, Susquehanna county, Penn- sylvania, where he remained for four or five years, and then returned to Scranton and en- gaged in the grocery business, which he con- ducted for many years. He was one of the most zealous members of the German Methodist Epis- copal Church, and assisted in moving the "little red church" owned by the English Methodists from the present site of Clark and Snover's to- bacco factory to the corner of Adams avenue and Mulberry street. At that time this section was farm land. Mr. Schlager was a very earnest and active member of the church, and served as trustee to the time of his death. He contributed liberally to the support of the church, and his home was ever open to both resident and visit- ing clergymen. He died in March, 1892, much lamented. His wife, Mary Ferber, was a daugh- ter of Jacob Ferber, and was also a zealous church worker, of happy disposition and char- itable. John and Mary (Ferber) Schlager were the parents of eleven children, of whom five are living: Charles, Sophia C., Alfred, Elizabeth S. and Harriet S. Schlager.

Charles Schlager, eldest child of John and Mary ( Ferber ) Schlager, born in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, March I, 1849. was five years of age when his parents came to Scranton. There he acquired his education in the public schools,. and at an early age set out upon a life of self- support, beginning as a newsboy for Mr. Nor- ton. He later entered the employ of his uncle, Charles Schlager, who conducted a large bakery and cracker manufactory, as a salesman, and during the three years of his employment there frequently acted as general manager of the large plant. He subsequently spent a short time on his father's farm in Susquehanna county, but was induced by his uncle to return to Scranton and accept a position as general distributor of the products of his large manufacturing estab- lishment in Scranton and the Dunmore and Hyde Park districts. This position he filled for two years, and in 1870 became a clerk and general manager of a retail grocery store on Penn ave- nue. Six months later he induced his father to purchase the store, in whose interest he con- ducted it until 1874, when the two became part- ners. Later the son purchased the interest of his father and conducted the business until 1880. In the latter year he engaged in the wholesale produce and commission business on Lackawanna avenue, Scranton, and three years later took a brother and two brothers-in-law into partnership. Becoming interested in the development of real estate he relinquished his commission business and turned his entire attention to real estate and building operations, erecting a considerable num- ber of handsome residential and business edifices, including the Dime Bank building. He soon be- came the prime leader in the development of Scranton real estate, and organized the Traders' Real Estate Company (of which he is the prin- cipal owner), and which has greatly improved the real estate of outlying districts. Mr. Schlager- is likewise interested in a number of other busi- ness enterprises ; he is president of the Clear Springs Coal Company, of Pittston, Pennsylva- nia, one of the large coal operators of that re- gion ; is interested in the United States Lumber Company, which owns and controls immense timber and other valuable interests in Missis- sippi ; and is president of the Dr. D. B. Hand Condensed Milk Company, another large busi- ness concern. He is a director of the Traders' National Bank of Scranton, of the Citizens' Bank of Oliphant, and of the National Bank of Peck- ville. He was one of the active promoters of the Allegheny Company, which purchased one- hundred thousand acres of timber land in North

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 44

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