Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 45

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 45
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 45

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).

-222

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

Carolina, and he recently negotiated the sale of its property for the sum of $300,000, in which a number of Scranton's citizens were interested. Mr. Schlager is a stockholder in the Chicago Tunnel Company, the Automatic Telephone Com- pany of Chicago, the Piney Creek Coal and Coke Company of West Virginia, and the Knicker- bocker Coal Company; is president of and a large stockholder in the Escanaba Water Com- pany, of Escanaba, Michigan, and has a number ·of other valuable business and financial interests. While he is thus largely concerned with distant properties, his principal interest centers in the city of Scranton, where he is known as a leader in all important movements looking to the larger :growth and prosperity of the city. He married Tillie S. Patterson, daughter of P. P. Patterson, of Waymart, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of three daughters: Ma- belle, wife of Charles Ezra Scott, who is en- gaged in the steam heating business at Scranton ; Louisa and Jeannette Patterson Schlager, who reside at home on Clay avenue, in one of the handsomest residences in Scranton. Mrs. Schla- ger died June 2, 1905.

WILLIAM T. DAVIS is a fine type of that Welsh character which has contributed in such large degree to the development of the natural resources of Pennsylvania and to the extension of its splendid industrial enterprises. While thuis acting as a prime factor in the accomplish- ment of great results which have largely advan- taged the entire community, he has also accum- ulated large personal interests as the reward of "his own intelligent and industrious effort, pre- serving throughout his entire career a spotless character. Mr. Davis comes of an old Welsh family distinguished for active and clean life and unusual longevity. His paternal grand- father, David Davis, who was a resident of 'Slontrusint, Wales, lived to the age of seventy- nine years, and was the father of a son Thomas, who is still living in Troyerfial, Wales, at the age of ninety-three years, and two other sons, including the father of William T. Davis, are also living, aged more than four score years.

William T. Davis was born in 1849, in Wales, where he received a good practical edu- cation, and was early habitnated to a life of per- severing industry. In 1868, when nineteen years of age, he emigrated alone to the United States, locating in Thomaston, Ohio, near the city of Akron, where he took employment as a common laborer in a bituminous coal mine. In the fol-

lowing year he removed to Scranton, Pennsyl- vania, where the hard coal fields afforded him employment which was more congenial, on ac- count of the mining operations being conducted more after the fashion to which he had been ac- customed in his native land. In 1871 he for- sook this work to take the place of driver of a delivery wagon, and this led him (in 1877) to engage in a general mercantile business as a member of the firm of Carson & Davis, his part- ner being his brother-in-law, George B. Carson, the business having been founded by Mr. Carson in 1870, on Washburn street. Later the firm erected a double store building, the enlargement having become necessary by reason of a con- stantly expanding business, which has been con- tinued to the present time.

Mr. Davis also soon became actively identi- fied with various other commercial and indus- trial interests. He became a member of the Car- son Coal Company, which in 1893 built a wash- ery at Audenried, Schuylkill county, Pennsyl- vania. After having worked this out, the part- ners, under the name of the Bowen Coal Com- pany, built a washery at Winooski, which they operated for five years and until its further working had become unprofitable. During this time Mr. Davis became interested in coal lands in Schuylkill county, which are yet among his holdings. He at the same time engaged exten- sively in real estate operations in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, and in both has erected a large number of buildings for business and resi- dential purposes. He is officially connected with the West Side Bank of Scranton and the Schuyl- kill County Coal Royalty Company, in both of which he is president and director; and the Thuron Coal Land Company, of which he is a director and treasurer. He is recognized as a most capable man of business ; energetic and en- terprising, yet farseeing and judicious ; his judg- ment is particularly relied upon with reference to real estate values ; and he is without a su- perior in his knowledge of mineral lands. His personal qualities are such as have drawn to him a host of friends who hold him in high re- gard for his ability, integrity and congenialty. In his early life in Scranton he was a member of the local Zouave company, connected with the National Guard of Pennsylvania. In politics he is a Republican.

Mr. Davis married Margaret Carson, a daughter of Thomas Carson, a sketch of whom appears in this work. Of this marriage were born two children: Catherine, married Alexan-

CNEDBY HA H HALL NEW

Chat Pauli

223

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

der G. Bender, a merchant of Scranton, and their children are: Margaret, Helen and Harriet ; and Jane, married Edward R. Hughes, who is teacher of mathematics in the Scranton high school, and they are the parents of one child, William T. Hughes.

DOMINICK J. MORAN is among the pop- ular men of Scranton. He is a son of Michael J. Moran, who was born in Ireland, and was an early and worthy settler in the Lackawanna Val- ley. He was a miner by occupation. His wife was Bridget McDonough, also a native of Ire- land, and of the eleven children born to them five are now living: Dominick J., mentioned here- after ; Robert, Alice, wife of John Joseph ; Della, wife of Robert J. Byron ; and Nora. Mr. Moran, the father, died in 1889, and his widow is still living.

Dominick J. Moran, son of Michael J. and Bridget (McDonough) Moran, was born April 28, 1877, in Scranton, and received his edu- tion in the schools of his native city. At the early age of seven he began to work in the mines, and for nine years filled various positions connected with the production of coal. During the fol- lowing nine years he was engaged in the rectify- ing of spirituous liquors, and in 1901 entered the hotel business. He is now the proprietor of the French Roof Hotel which he owns in partnership with J. M. Haley, and also of the Central Hotel in Luzerne street. His unquestioned success as a host is due in part to his administrative ability and in part to his genial manners and obliging disposition. He is a member of the C. M. B. A. and Y. M. I. C. fraternal societies.

Mr. Moran married, November 1, 1900, Cath- erine Healey. Their home is the central point of attraction for a large circle of warm and de- voted friends and is the abode of the most genial hospitality, the traits of character which render Mr. Moran so popular with the public being only the reflection of qualities by which his domestic life is pervaded and animated.

LOUIS CONRAD. One of Scranton's pro- gressive and public-spirited citizens is Louis Conrad. He is a son of Andrew Conrad, who was born in 1829 in Germany, came to the United States and settled in Pottsville, where for many years he has been a teacher of music. He mar- ried Catharine Miller, who was born in 1831 in Germany, and their children are: Matilda, who became the wife of L. A. Raush, of Philadelphia ; William, who lives in Scranton; Louis, men-

tioned at length hereafter ; Charles, who is a res- ident of Scranton; Edward; Emma, who is- the wife of Theodore Hamberger, of Baltimore, Maryland; Josephine, who is married to Dr. L. Wehlau, of Scranton; Louise, who was the first wife of Dr. Wehlau ; and Otto .R.

Louis Conrad, son of Andrew and Catharine (Miller) Conrad, was born November 5, 1861, in Pottsville, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. In 1866 the family moved to Scranton, where he was educated in the public schools. He began his bus- iness career as a clerk in the store of Moses Brown, and after a time opened a furnishing store where he has ever since conducted a very extensive trade. Mr. Conrad is connected with several enterprises of a progressive tendency, among which is the Correspondence Institute of America at Scranton. He was one of the organ- izers of Rocky Glen Park, and is a member of the board of trade. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the order of Elks and the Liederkranz Singing Society.

Mr. Conrad married, October 26, 1886, Eliza- beth Morton, and they are the parents of two children : Paul, born in 1893 ; and Louise, born in 1898. Mrs. Conrad is a daughter of Thomas Morton, who came from England about 1868, and followed the calling of a bellhanger. His wife was Elizabeth Steel, and their family con- sisted of the following chidren: Margaret, who is the widow of Roland Davis, of Scranton ; Will- iam, who lives in Scranton; Emma, who is the wife of Edward Anderson; Anna, who is mar- ried to Thomas Jones : Florence, a resident of Scranton ; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Louis Conrad, as mentioned above ; Thomas, who is a resident of Scranton; and Edith, who is the wife of D. A. Hall.

FRANCIS SCHEINFELTER PAULI, de- ceased, one of the oldest and most highly respect- ed citizens of Scranton, possessed a most notable and honorable lineage. He was of the tenth gen- eration of a line that reached back to the great leaders of the church in the period of the Re- formation, and among his ancestors was a long succession of ministers of the Reformed Church. Through his mother's family he was related to another ancient family, that of Van der Sloats, a celebrated professional family of Virginia.

The Pauli family originated in the famous city of Leipsic, in Saxon Germany. There Adrian Pauli was pastor of Peter's Church, and died in 1611. George, his second son, studied in the Reformed Gymnasium at Dantzic, then at Heid-

224

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

elberg University, and became professor of ethics in the first named of these institutions, and the successor of Fabricius as preacher in Trinity Church. After the death of Fabricius, in 1631, a Lutheran was called to the rectorship of the Gymnasium, with whom he had often to combat in polemics for the Reformed faith. He died in 1650. Reinhold, younger son of Adrian Pauli, was a student at the Bremen Gymnasium under Professor Martinius. He then studied three years at Groentengen and also at the University of Leyden, under the celebrated Professor Coc- cius. In 1663 he went to Heidelberg University, where he received the degree of doctor, and was called to the Gymnasium in Berzstein as profes- sor of theology. He married into the family of the celebrated Reformed minister at Heidelberg. Tossamus (or Toussaint), whose ancestor Peter had been the friend of Calvin and the reformer of Monpelzard. He then went to Marburg Univer- sity, where he became professor extraordinary, and in 1674 regular professor. His daughter married Professor Lewis Christian Meig, of Heidelberg, the other daughter marrying Profes- sor J. H. Hottinger.

Herman Rheinhold Pauli, the son of the latter named, was born the year of his father's death, 1682. He studied at Marburg and Bremen. When hardly twenty years of age he became court preacher, or chaplain, to the widow of Count Adolph, of Nassau-Dilleinberg. In 1705 he went to Brunswick as the first pastor of the Reformed congregation there. He married Elizabeth Meig, and later (in 1709) a daughter of the Bremen professor, Yungst. In 1723 he was called to Frankenthal, in the Palatinate, where his mother had been born. He was then called to the Halle, to the cathedral built by the colonists from the Palatinate. On January 20, 1728, he was named by the King of Prussia as the second minister there, as a pious and learned man, "of great gifts of preaching." ( At Frank- enthal he had published, in 1726, a collection of his sermons, "Die Pfalzische Erstling," also an edition of the Heidelberg Catechismn, and a trans- lation of Placette's book on "The Death of the Righteous," and these works had spread his fame abroad). On May 23, 1728, he was installed at Halle. He also became the first professor of theology in the Academic Gymnasium, which had been established in 1709. When the consistorial scharden died, in 1734, he was made the head minister of the cathedral at Halle, and therefore resigned the professorship of theology. In 1736 he was appointed an inspector of the Reformed churches and schools at Halle, Wettin, Calve and

Aken. A letter which King Frederick William of Prussia wrote to show his high regard for him was dated November 28, 1727, and subsequently followed with thirteen other letters in all. He also published twelve doctrinal lectures to the students after the style of Professor Frank, of the Halle Orphans' Homes. They were full of earnest faith, and deep learning. In 1740 he published an edition of the Heidelberg Cathech- ism. In 1745 he presented the congregation with a hymn book he had compiled, and which con- tained a hymn of eight stanzas written by him- self. "Lobe, lobe meine Herr Zebaoth." The old Dessauer, Count Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, who commanded the regiment of the old Anhalt at Halle, wrote him a letter dated December 15, 1737. He was a biblical preacher and theologian of the type of Coccius, whom he praised to his students as one of the greatest theologians. He was a mild adherent of pietism, yet in all he was most poetical. Great men like the famous geo- grapher Burching and the political writer John Jacob Moser, were especially attracted by his sermons. The King made earnest endeavor to have him be court preacher at the palace in Ber- lin, but he declined. His sermons were publish- ed. He died February 5, 1750. His oldest son, ·Ernest L., became court preacher at Brensberg. The youngest son, George Jacob, became his suc- cessor at the cathedral at Halle.

Philip Rheinhold was born at Magdeburg, and was educated at the Gymnasium at Berlin and the University of Halle. He traveled through Europe, with a wealthy uncle, and then came to America in 1783 as a teacher in the Academy at Philadelphia, where he received the degree of Master of Arts. He preached in Reading, and married Miss Musch, of Easton.

Johannes Pauli was born in Magdeburg, Ger- many, came to America a young man, and settled in Philadelphia, where he became a college pro- fessor. He was a classical scholar and a fine linguist, and was a preacher in the German Re- formed Church. During the war of 1812-14 he went to the front in defense of American inter- ests. His later years were passed in Reading, where he died.

Lewis J. Pauli, son of Johannes Pauli, was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. He was for some years a merchant in his native place. In the early days of coal development he sold his business and located on the present site of Potts- ville, he and others being the owners of that tract. He was there engaged in coal mining for a time, then removing to Philadelphia, and thence to Easton, where he died at the age of sixty-four

&Merrifield

225

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

years, surviving his wife, who died in Philadel- phia. Her maiden name was Sarah Scheinfel- ter, and she was born in Reading. At the time of her marriage she received quite a fortune from her father, who had become wealthy through the manufacture of a copper guard. She was a mem- ber of the Lutheran Church, and her four chil- dren were reared in the German Reformed Church.

Francis Scheinfelter Pauli, son of Lewis J. and Sarah (Scheinfelter) Pauli, was born in Reading, March 28, 1823. His childhood days were passed in the place of his birth, and in Potts- ville and Philadelphia, where he was educated in private schools. About 1843 he engaged in a mercantile business near Pottsville, which he re- linquished after a few years, going to Philadel- phia, and then to New York City, where he was for a year in the employ of Alexander T. Stew- art. In 1857 he took up his residence in Scran- ton, where he opened a store on Lackawanna avenue. Later he built the block at Nos. 225 and 227, on the same street, where he conducted busi- ness until 1881, pursuing a most successful career. Since that time he occupied himself with caring for his property interests, and with such sagacity that he materially increased his fortune, and came to be known as a moderately wealthy man. His family residence, at No. 1554 Sander- son avenue, was one of the first buildings erected in Green Ridge.

As has appeared in the foregoing ancestral narrative, Mr. Pauli "was heir to a quiet, re- served, pious life, which made him a faithful be- liever all his life, and a trusting Christian in his death." In his religious belief he was brought up in the German Reformed Church, and con- tinued steadfast in that faith. Because of the non-existence of a church of his denomination in Scranton, when he first came to the city, he connected himself with the First Presbyterian Church, under the pastorate of Rev. D. Hickok, about 1857. He remained therewith until the Green Ridge Presbyterian Church was projected, in the vicinity of the family residence. It was largely through his generous aid that this church was established and its edifice erected, and he remained one of its most useful and exemplary members through the remainder of his life. In addition, he lent continual encouragement and substantial aid to the church of his boyhood, and Calvary Reformed Church holds a grateful re- membrance of him and his pious deeds. He aided various worthy objects and individuals, dis- pensing his benefactions with the unassuming modesty which was one of his principal charac-

teristics. In politics he was originally a Demo- crat, but when the Civil war broke out, he identi- fied himself with the Republican party under Abraham Lincoln, and was ever afterward an earnest advocate of its principles and policies. He cared nothing for political preferment, was never a candidate for official position, but was always a model citizen, faithfully discharging his duties as a member of the community, and ever setting the example of an ideal christian gentle- man. While in Easton he became a member of the fraternity of Odd Fellows, but relinquished his connection with the order on his removal to Scranton. He was a Mason, affiliated with Union Lodge, No. 291, of Scranton. In all his business relations he was known for his unim- peachable integrity. His personal qualities were admirable, and he was held in high regard by a large circle of closely attached friends, among them the many Paulis and Van der Sloats of southern Pennsylvania. A cousin was that splendid soldier and admirable gentleman (well known to the writer of this narrative in Civil war days). Colonel Joseph Audenried, of General Sherman's staff, and an uncle, Louis Andenried, the celebrated coal operator of Philadelphia.

The death of Mr. Pauli occurred April 20, 1899. He had been ill but a few days, and there seemed no occasion for alarm. But the physical was worn out, and succumbed to the exhaustion consequent upon a long life of ceaseless activity. His end was peaceful, as that of one who, "sus- tained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, wraps the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." Mr. Pauli mar- ried Miss Martha Young, of Easton, who sur- vives him, and with her an only child, Miss Mar- garet F. Pauli.

EDWARD MERRIFIELD, of Scranton, a lawyer of great ability, and a man of broad public spirit and discernment, and who was conspicu- ously instrumental in procuring the creation of the county of Lackawanna, comes from a family which has been identified with the valley from its early settlement. His great-great-grand- father, Robert Merrifield, was a native of Eng- land, born in 1703, who on coming to America settled in Rhode Island. William, only son of the immigrant, was born in Rhode Island, 1752, and was brought by his father to Dutchess county, New York, and lived in that and the ad- joining county of Columbia until his death, in 1836; he was a school teacher by occupation .. Robert, son of William, was born in Columbia. county, in 1778, and in 1819 removed with his.

2-15

226

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

family to Pennsylvania, settling the then town- ship of Providence, subsequently Hyde Park, and established his home, where he resided until his death, at the advanced age of nearly eighty-seven years.

Hon. William Merrifield, son of Robert Mer- rifield, came to be one of the foremost men of his day. He was born in Pine Plains, Dutchess county, New York, April 22, 1806, and was thir- teen years old when his father came to Pennsyl- vania. He assisted in felling the mighty trees and making the home farm. His education was limited to such as was afforded by the poorly equipped schools of that time, yet he made such excellent use of his small opportunities that he became qualified to teach, and for five winters was engaged in that occupation. While teaching in Wyoming he married Almira Swetland,a sis- ter of William Swetland, and soon afterward en- gaged in a mercantile business in Centre More- land, Luzerne county. After a year he located in Hyde Park, where he was appointed postmas- ter, holding the office about ten years ; it is to be noted that the office was established through his effort while he was teaching there two years be- fore, and he had served as the first postmaster. During his residence in Hyde Park the second time, hie erected a store building and successfully carried on business until 1864. He had early foreseen the advantages of the region as a mining and industrial centre, and in 1837 had become joint owner in the principal portion of territory now occupied by the central part of the city of Scranton. Through correspondence and other means he had attracted the attention of capitalists and in 1840 the tract was disposed of to Colonel George W. Scranton and others, by whose energy and perseverance the foundations of the present stirring city were substantially laid. In the per- iod of its development Mr. Merrifield was a prin- cipal factor. He gave the first impetus to the growth of Hyde Park by platting his tract of land into village lots, and aiding the purchasers in the establishment of homes, and he subsequently laid out another tract in the westerly part, known as "Merrifield's plot of lots in Keyser's Valley." He was an ardent friend of education ; served as school director at the time of building the first frame school house in Hyde Park, and occupied the same position during the construction of the succeeding graded school building. In 1870 he became president of the Hyde Park Bank, which under his administration became a flourishing institution, enjoying the confidence of the entire community.

Hc also rendered public services of a more

important nature and in a larger field. In 1843 he was elected to the legislature, and acquitted himself with such integrity and usefulness that he was twice re-elected. As a legislator he was regarded as a safe advisor and capable leader. Besides serving on other committees he was a member of that on ways and means, at one ses- sion was chairman of the committee on banks, and at another was chairman of the committee on in- land navigation and public improvements, at that time regarded as one of the most responsible posi- tions in the house. His efforts for the welfare of the Lackawanna Valley exhibit him on the legislative records as the ablest of all its cham- pions. This is particularly true by reason of the intrigueing attempts made at that time by other sections of the state to burden the anthracite re- gion with onerous taxation. His speech upon this question during the session of 1846 was a mas- terly effort, and was so replete with statistical facts and weighty argument that it virtually ef- fected the defeat of the obnoxious measure aimed against the valley. His greatest effort, however, was in behalf of the creation of the new county of Lackawanna, when he succeeded in securing the passage of an act of assembly in the lower house, though it was defeated in the senate, but by only a tie vote. He was also an enthusiastic advocate of the extension of the North Branch canal, and the project of slackwater navigation on the Susquehanna and Lackawanna rivers, with a view to opening up the Lackawanna coal fields. In 1856 he was elected associate judge of Luzerne county, serving under the presidency of Judge Conyngham, between whom and himself sub- sisted the most pleasant relations. Prior to com- ing to the bench he had read law to some degree for his own information, and this knowledge now stood him in good part, and he acquitted himself with ability and credit in the hearing of import- ant causes in chambers. In each instance he was called to public office without solicitation upon his own part, and so bore himself as to receive the plaudits of his constituents. He was a Dem- ocrat of the old Jeffersonian school, ever desirous of the welfare of the people at large, and a con- scientious advocate of purity in public affairs, re- garding public office as a sacred trust. He was emphatically the architect of his own fortunes. Aside from the business ability which brought him a competency, he was a ripe scholar in all that pertains to an English education. He was a profound historian, and well versed in science and general literature. He was so diligent a reader that a biographer has expressed the conviction that his addiction to this pursuit, after he had

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.

Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 45

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