Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 63

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 63
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 63

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The educational advantages enjoyed by Ed- ward H. Chase were obtained at Union College, Schenectady, New York, from which institution he was graduated in 1855. The following year he was engaged as teacher in the Aurora Acad- emy. now Wells College, at Aurora, New York. He then removed to Pennsylvania, and desiring to become a member of the legal profession ac- cordingly entered the law office of Hon. Edmund L. Dana, and January 4, 1859, was admitted to practice in the courts of that state. He at once entered upon practice and has since devoted his time and attention to a general law business. He is an able advocate, makes a close study of each case on which he is retained as counsel, and there- fore as a result of his preparation his arguments are logical and convincing and win for him a large degree of success, both financial and otherwise. In April, 1865, Mr. Chase was appointed postmas- ter of Wilkes-Barre, but in July. 1866, was re- moved from office by President Johnson. During the years 1868-69-70 he served as clerk and attor- ney for the borough of Wilkes-Barre, and also served in a similar capacity for three more years, 1871-72-73. after the borough had become a city. In October of the latter named year he was ap- pointed United States collector of internal revenue for the district embracing the counties of Brad- ford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Montour, Monroe, Northampton, Pike. Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming. Mr. Chase is a staunch advocate of the principles of Repub- licanism, and since 1862 has been a member of the Republican state or county committee. He is a director of the Wilkes-Barre City Hospital and Wilkes-Barre Academy. and for a number of vears was trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre.

Prior to the Civil war Mr. Chase was a mem- ber of the Wyoming Light Dragoons, and April 18, 1861. when the country was in need of the services of her sons, he left for the seat of war with his company. Four days later they were organized as Company E. Eighth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, were enrolled for three

months, and Mr. Chase was appointed to act as clerk to the colonel. On June 19, 1861, Mr. Chase and Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Bowman were taken prisoners at Falling Waters, on the Potomac river, were removed to Winchester, and from thence to Richmond. remaining in the latter city for two weeks. They were then taken to Raleigh and Salisbury, North Carolina, and Mr. Chase was finally surrendered without exchange on May 22, 1862. Mr. Chase is regarded as one of the representative citizens of the community, and is prominent in professional, political and so- cial circles.

Mr. Chase married, June 18, 1863, Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of the late Hon. Edmund Tay- lor, who was born in Allyngford. County of Here- fordshire, England. was for many years a resi- dent of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and served as treasurer of Luzerne county, and associate judge of the courts. Four children. two sons and two daughters, were the issue of this union.

DR. MERTON ELWOOD MARVIN, of Luzerne, is a liberal descendant of Uriah Marvin, who was one of three brothers who emigrated to this country from Ireland prior to the revolution- ary war, settling in the state of Connecticut. Sub- sequently Uriah Marvin removed to the Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, and was there during, and took part in, the massacre: he also took a con- spicuous part in the struggle between Great Brit- ain and the Colonies. Two years after the Wyo- ming massacre, while still a member of the army of the United States, he died of smallpox. His family consisted of two sons.

Zerah Marvin, son of Uriah Marvin, was born in Plymouth, April II. 1775. Shortly after at- taining his majority he removed from the Wyo- ming Valley. whither his parents moved to during his childhood, to Union township and there pur- chased two hundred acres of land, which he tilled to some purpose. He held the first postoffice in Union township, then called Union. He was a man of deep piety, a practical philanthropist, a preacher of righteousness in the Baptist Church, and his heart and hand was ever ready to help those in distress. He married Rhoda Williams, who bore him eight children, six of whom grew to maturity. He died September 28, 1857, aged eighty-two years, having survived his wife but a few months, her death occurring March II, 1857.

John Marvin, son of Zerah and Rhoda (Will- iams) Marvin, was born in Union township, April IS, 1810. He resided on a portion of the old

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homestead, and was exceedingly prosperous in all his undertakings. He was a man of education far in advance of his day and position, and was appointed to fill several township offices. He mar- ried Eliza Monroe, who was born in Huntington township, July 28, 1813, and their family con- sisted of nine children, seven of whom attained years of maturity. He died March 4, 1859, and his wife, December 27, 1841.

Alanson M. Marvin, son of John and Eliza (Monroe) Marvin, was born in Union township, December 1, 1841. He was reared and educated there, and his active business career has been con- fined to agricultural pursuits. He was practical and progressive in his methods, conducting his operations on seventy-five acres of valuable and fertile land. He held various township offices and was faithful in the discharge of the duties con- nected therewith. During the Civil war he enlisted as a private in Company E, Two Hundred and Third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, in 1864, and served until the close of hostilities, when he received an honorable discharge. He married, April 24, 1867, Sophia Santee, daughter of John and Rebecca Santee, who was born in Union township, November 30, 1841, and five children were born to them.

Merton E. Marvin, son of Alanson M. and Sophia (Santee) Marvin, was born in Muhlen- burgh, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, August 21, 1872. He attended the public schools at Pleasant Hill, Huntington, and Mills Academy, and in the fall of 1893 entered Jefferson Medical College, from which he was graduated May 15, 1896. He served one year as resident physician of St. Mary's Hospital, at Philadelphia, and in Novem- ber, 1897, came to Luzerne and has since built up an extensive and lucrative practice. His office is located at No. 19 Main street. He keeps well in- formed along the lines of his profession by mem- bership in the Luzerne County Medical Society, Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is also a mem- ber of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons, Kingston, and the chapter, temple and shrine at Wilkes-Barre. He atotends the Presbyterian Church, and his political allegiance is given to the Republican party.

THE KITTLE FAMILY, of Wyoming Val- ley, in Pennsylvania, as well as others of that sur- name in various parts of the country, are de- scended from Amos Kittle, who was born some- where in Rhode Island, January 30, 1768, died May 22, 1835: married Thankful Short, born

February 7, 1767, died October 10, 1849. From Amos and Thankful the line of descent is easily traced through each succeeding generation, but of the family history earlier than the time of Amos Kittle little is known. The Kittle ancestor, how- ever, was unquestionably of English birth and parentage, but neither record nor tradition furn- ishes any account of his name, the date of his im- migration, or his place of settlement, hence this narrative must begin with Amos Kittle, of Rhode Island, who married Thankful Short. They had children : Ephraim R., Jeremiah, Bowen, Isaiah, Polly ( Mary), and Susan.

Ephraim R. Kittle, the eldest son, was born in Greenwich, Rhode Island, October 18, 1776, and it is fair to assume that the earlier generations of the family lived in that part of the colony and sub- sequent state. At the age of seven years he was sent to Norwich, Connecticut, to work and to at- tend school, and remained there some years. When nearly fifteen years old he came to the Wyoming Valley and found work on a farm in Wilkes- Barre township, helping to harvest a crop of hay which grew on land where his residence now stands. In the year 1815 he married Abigail Y. Fletcher, of Norwich, Connecticut, a descendant of General Fletcher, by whom he had nine chil- dren : Stephen Y., Amos, Sarah, Hiram, Henry, Priscilla, Celia, William, and Lewis. In 1830 he came to Wilkes-Barre, where he worked at his trade (coopering) and part time farming. In 1831 he went to Lehman township and purchased land, whereon he erected a log house, and this lo- cality is now known as Lake Silkworth. Dur- ing the winter of 1831-32 he attended school in an old building called the "academy," which stood on the public square. Subsequently he purchased land in Ross township, Luzerne county, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1876.

Stephen Y. Kittle, boy and man, has known Wilkes-Barre full three-quarters of a century, and throughout all that long period he has been a part of its life and history. In 1832 he con- structed the patterns for the first steam engine built in the Wyoming Valley. Richard S. Jones, at that time apprenticed as tinsmith, made the castings and put the parts of the engine together. Mr. Kittle became a member of Lodge No. 61, June 16, 1858, and was for several years a mem- ber of the old Wilkes-Barre borough council. Of the persons living in Wilkes-Barre at the time of his settlement there in 1830 only five are there now, and of the old business structures then standing only five remain.

Mr. Kittle married, February 28, 1839, Sophia

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A. Snell, daughter of John Snell and wife Cath- erine Surre, and they had fifteen children: Mary E., born November 29, 1839 : Maria E., born Feb- ruary 15, 1841, wife of Francis Behee ; Sarah L., born July 25, 1842 ; Jonathan S., born October 18, 1843 ; Emily H., born July 13, 1845, became the wife of John B. Withers ; they had one child, Ed- gar B. Withers, who at his mother's death was adopted by his paternal grandparents and took the name of Kittle ; Ephraim H., born May 25, 1847, married Harriet E. Hoover; George I., born January 31, 1849 : Ellen J., born January I, 1851, wife of B. Frank Bennett ; Alice S., born July 20, 1852: Julia R., born October 26, 1853 : John R., born January 20, 1855: Rose E., born June 26, 1856: Susan A., born April 26, 1858; Stephen F., born March 3, 1861 : Clara D., born November 15, 1862, married Charles W. Wein- meyer, and at her death left two children. Ed- gar B. Kittle, aforementioned as the adopted son of his grandparents, Stephen Y. and Sophia A. (Snell) Kittle, was educated in the Wilkes-Barre public schools, and his present occupation is that of mill manager and operator. He married Cora E. Rozelle, daughter of George and Elizabeth ( Harlos) Rozelle, of Mt. Zion, Pennsylvania. Their children are : Mary E., Edgar S., and Alma G. Kittle.

THOMAS WILBUR KYTE, who enjoys the distinction of being the oldest merchant (in point of service) in the town of West Pittston, was born in Franklin township, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1849, a son of Halsey De Witte and Hannah Stoddard (De Witte) Kyte.

Halsey De Witte Kyte (father) was a son of Thomas Kyte, whose family consisted of sev- en children, all now deceased. Halsey De Witte Kyte was born in Deckerton, Sussex county, New Jersey, where he was reared, educated and later gave his attention to agricultural pursuits. Sub- sequently he migrated to Luzerne county, Penn- sylvania, locating in Exeter township, from whence he moved to Franklin township, where he farmed for a number of years, and then took up his residence in Pittston, where his death oc- curred at the age of fifty-six years. Hannah Stoddard (De Witte) Kyte was born in Deck- erton. Sussex county, New Jersey, daughter of Eli and Prudence (Stoddard) De Witte, who were married March 9. 1811, and resided at Wantage, New Jersey, for many years. Eli De Witte was a son of Moses and Margaret De Witte, who were the parents of fourteen children. Moses De Witte was a son of Jacob and Leah

De Witte. Capt. Moses De Witte, above men- tioned, was a captain in the Revolutionary army, participated in the battle of Minisink, 1779, in which he fell. but fortunately escaped the mas- sacre. Afterwards he removed to Wantage, New Jersey, and there resided until his death. He was an able surveyor and a great favorite of the Indians, who greatly lamented his death.

Thomas W. Kyte resided on his father's farm in Franklin township until nineteen years of age, in the meantime attending the public schools in the vicinity of his home, and Mt. Retirement Seminary, in Sussex county, New Jersey, pur- suing his studies in the latter institution during the summer months, and teaching school during the winter term. In 1869, when twenty years of age. he accepted a clerkship in the store of George B. Rommel, Pittston, Pennsylvania, later purchased an interest in the business, and sub- sequently succeeded Mr. Rommel, being at the present time (1906) the oldest merchant in the town. Throughout his business career he has acquitted himself in such a way as to gain the confidence and esteem of his many customers and patrons, and his success is the direct result of his own efforts. He is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, in which he serves as member and secretary of the board of trustees, also steward. He has taken an active part in fraternal affairs, being a prominent member of the following bodies of the Free and Accepted Masons : Pittston Lodge, Royal Arch Masons, in which he is secretary ; Blue Lodge, No. 499; in which he is trustee; Chapter ; Commandery, No. 157: Irem Temple, Mystic Shrine : Eastern Star Association : Grand Association, in which he is a patron of the Grand Chapter and past patron for several years. He is also a member and past officer of Gohonta Lodge, No. 340. In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows; Royal Arca- num ; Heptasophs ; and Maccabees.

Thomas W. Kyte married, September 19, 1871, Elizabeth Jane Brenton, and their children- are: Minnie Brenton, a graduate of Wyoming Seminary, married, September 19, 1890, Sela Harris Van Ness, born Newark, New Jersey, resided until 1892 at East Orange, New Jersey, and since then at Asbury Park, New Jersey, where they own the Lakeland Hotel, and at West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Edith Louisa, a graduate of Wyoming Seminary.

GEORGE W. GUTHRIE, M. D., of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, is a native of the state, born in Guthrieville, Chester county, January 28, 1845, son of John D. and Thamsin McFarlan ( Kerlin)

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Guthrie, and is a descendant of Scotch Presby- terians, who immigrated early in the eighteenth century and settled in eastern Pennsylvania.

He completed his literary education in the Pennsylvania State Normal school in Millers- ville, 1867, and for some years afterward was engaged in educational work, teaching in high schools and academies. Early in 1869, when twenty-four years of age, he took up the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Edward R. Mayer, of Wilkes-Barre. During the college year of 1871-72 he attended lectures at the Belle- vue Hospital Medical College in the city of New York, and was graduated with the degree of Doc- tor of Medicine from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1873. For a few months afterward he was resident physician to the Philadelphia Hospital, and at the conclu- sion of the service located permanently in Wilkes- Barre, where he has since been usefully employed in the practice of his profession, giving especial attention to surgery. He is one of the surgeons to the Wilkes-Barre City Hospital, and president of the staff, and is also consulting surgeon to the Pittston Hospital. His prominence in his pro- fession is attested by the fact that in 1900 he was president of the Pennsylvania State Medical So- ciety. He is also a member of various other pro- fessional and other organizations: The Ameri- can Medical Association : the Luzerne County Medical Society ; the Lehigh Valley Medical So- ciety ; and the American Climatological Society. He has ever taken an active part in the life of his community, and for nearly thirty years past has served with marked ability upon the Wilkes- Barre school board. He is a member of the West- moreland and Caledonian Clubs, both of Wilkes- Barre. A man of literary ability as well as of high professional attainments, he has frequently delivered addresses and read papers before the state, county, and other medical societies, mainly upon surgical topics.

Dr. Guthrie married, September 24, 1879. Sarah Hollenback Wright, daughter of Hon. Harrison Wright. (See Wright family). They were the parents of six children, as follows : I. George Donald, born June 23, 1880, Wilkes- Barre, commenced his education in the public schools of the city, from which he was graduated. He then took a biological course at Yale Univer- sity, from which institution he was graduated in 1901. While at the university he was a member of the Mandolin and Banjo Club. He then en- tered the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in the class of 1905. While at

the last named institution he was president of the Wood Society. 2. Malcolm, born November 28, 1881, received his early education in his native city, graduating from the high school of Wilkes- Barre. He then entered Yale University and was graduated from that institution in the class of 1902. He is now (1905) in the medical de- partment of the University of Pennsylvania, in the class of 1906. He is a member of the Mask and Wig Club, and on the executive committee of that society, and has appeared in several per- formances. 3. Bruce, born March 8, 1883, died April 3. 1883. 4. Kerlin, born October 11, 1884, died April 15, 1892. 5. Jessie Wright, born Oc- tober 24. 1886, attended the schools of Wilkes- Barre and was graduated from the Wilkes-Barre Institute with high honors in 1905. Is now at- tending Briar Cliff Manor, class of 1907. 6. Jean McClintock, born October 13, 1888, now ( 1905) attending the Wilkes-Barre Institute.

CHARLES H. CAMPBELL, of Pittston, is descended from Scotch ancestry. His grand- father came from Scotland, settling in Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he followed farm- ing throughout his remaining days. His chil- dren were: John, James and Brooks, twins; and Eby.

Brooks Campbell, father of Charles H. Camp- bell, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and when a young man removed to Lancaster county, where he married Christiana Zecher. After his marriage he settled upon a dairy farm. and in connection with its operation he had charge of the repairs of the Lancaster and Phila- delphia turnpike. Later he removed to Eliza- beth, Pennsylvania, where he conducted a hotel, followed farming and also teaming, engaging in the latter pursuit on the road to Philadelphia. In early life he was a Democrat, later became a Whig and subsequently joined the ranks of the Republi- can party, with which he continued to affiliate from the time of its organization until his death. He had eight children : Charles H., Brooks, de- ceased : Emanuel, Elizabeth, E. Walter, Cyrus K., and Mary and Samuel, who have passed away.

Charles H. Campbell was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1826, and after attend- ing the common schools continued his education in the academy at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, to which city he had removed with his father. When sixteen years of age he entered the employ of S. C. Simpson as a clerk in a general store, there remaining for three or four years. After

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his father's death he returned to Lancaster and took charge of a store for his mother, conduct- ing the enterprise for two years. He next went to Summit, but after a short time spent in con- tracting there for the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, removed to Pittston in July, 1849. Here he took a contract for grading a road for the Pennsylvania Coal Company, and for a time was foreman in the employ of that corporation. He also had a contract from the state for the building of the acqueduct at Butler Mills Falls and for the grading of the canal. In 1853 he es- tablished a livery business in the rear of what is now the Eagle Hotel at Pittston, but after two years he sold out and accepted a position as fore- man with the Lackawanna & Bloomsburg Rail- road, serving in that capacity for two years. On the expiration of that period he made a contract with a coal company for the mining and deliver- ing of coal, and later he entered the employ of John Loveland & Company, predecessors to the J. E. Patterson Company, with which he re- mained as a clerk and salesman for twenty-four years. In June, 1886, he accepted a position with Mercer, Phillips & Company, lumber dealers, and when the business was re-organized three years later under the name of the Wyoming Valley Lumber Company became one of the partners and continued in the enterprise until 1901, when he sold his interest to Mr. Mercer. He has since given his attention to the duties of a salesman and agent in connection with the business.

Mr. Campbell married Eleanor Kertz, a daughter of Israel Kertz, and they have three children : E. Walter, born November 2, 1855 : Arthur D., May 22, 1858; and Annie P., August 22, 1867. The elder son is married and has four children : Helen, Frederick W., Alford and Flor- ence. The family are of the Presbyterian faith.

GEORGE L. KERN is descended from an old Dutch family, the great-grandfather, Peter Kern, having emigrated from Holland to this country prior to the Revolutionary war. He settled in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and after- ward removed to Plainfield, New Jersey, where Henry Kern, the grandfather, was born in the year 1763. In early life Henry Kern learned and followed the tanner's trade, and in 1815 removed to West Pittston, Pennsylvania, accompanied by his family. There he purchased one hundred and seventy-five acres of land, on which he con- ducted agricultural pursuits until his death in 1835. He married Susan Allshouse, and they became the parents of eight children : John, Henry, Charles, George, Jacob, Susan, the wife

of Benjamin Crispman ; Catherine, wife of Dan- iel Turner ; and Lydia, the wife of Charles Chafin.

George Kern, father of George L. Kern, was born near Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1797, and when a youth of seventeen years accompanied his. parents to Pittston. There he followed farming. throughout his remaining days. He married Elsie Barnes, and they became the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, the wife of John Bardall ; John, Catharine, wife of Simon Bardall ; James W., Gersham B., Charles and Mary, (twins) the latter the wife of William Ives ; Mar- garet, the wife of John Ayers; Caroline, wife of. William Clark : and Alexander H.

George L. Kern was born in West Pittston,. May 7, 1833, was educated in the common schools of his native town, and when twenty years of age- began learning the carpenter's trade with Sam- uel Bardall, with whom he remained for two years. He afterward continued carpentering under the direction of Simon Ritter for two years,. when he began business on his own account, en- tering into partnership with his brother John, as. contractors and builders. In 1860 they built a coal breaker for the Butler Company, and after- its completion George L. Kern took charge of the . breaker, managing the business for over seven years. In 1873 he went to Plymouth, where he took charge of the lumber yards and carpenter- work for the Harvey & Kern Company, thus serving for about six years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Pittston and has continued carpentering and building to the pres- ent time, being now closely identified with the- building operations of the city. In politics Mr. Kern is a stanch Democrat, held the office of tax collector of West Pittston for a time, while in, other local offices he also demonstrated his ca- pability and fidelity to the trust reposed in him. He and his wife were members of the Presbyte- rian Church.

He married Rachel J. Drum, a daughter of John Drum, of Warren county, New Jersey. Their children are : George W., a farmer of Niell City, Pennsylvania ; Mary, wife of Robert Ben- nett, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; and Lewis J., a carpenter of Pittston, who married Mary A. McNamara, by whom he has seven children: Mary, wife of Philip Bennett ; Charles H., Sadie, deceased ; Joseph T., Helen, deceased ; Irene, who has passed away ; and Ireta.

CHARLES IRVIN THOMAS, a leading and substantial business man of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, member of the firm of C. I. Thomas & Company, was born-

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December 25, 1865. in Pine Creek, son of Martin Allen and Mary Katherine ( Weaver) Thomas. Allen (great-uncle ) was a sailor early in life, and became a very wealthy man, found- ing the Allen line of steamships. He died in England and left his entire estate to his heirs in America.

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 63

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