USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 74
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 74
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sary of subsistance. In 1897, during the Hazle- ton campaign following the riots and bloodshed at Lattimer, he was in command of the regiment, and in the war with Spain in 1898 he was com- missioned lieutenant-colonel Thirteenth Infantry, Pennsylvania Volunteers, acting as regimental commander during the trying experiences at Camp Alger, Virginia. After the naval battle off Santiago had decided that issue, he resigned from the Federal service and resumed the du- ties of civil life. He is enrolled in the list of retired officers of the National Guard of Penn- sylvania, with rank of lieutenant-colonel, and is rated as a veteran sharpshooter.
November 14, 1888, he was married to Au- gusta H., youngest daughter of Dr. T. R. Crit- tenden, of Dover, New Jersey. They have four children: Margaret L., born March 23, 1890; Lydia Platt, born June 14, 1892; Dorothea W., born October 15, 1894; and Robert Crittenden, born July 8, 1897. The wife traces her ancestry to Alfred the Great. One of them, William Tuthill, emigrated to Boston in 1635, and was a founder of the city of New Haven, Connecti- cut. Another, Dr. Joseph Hinchman. was first physician of the city of Elmira, New York. An- other, Jacob Ford, entertained General Washing- ton at his home in Morristown, New Jersey, the building being now preserved as a "Washing- ton's Headquarters."
Colonel Mattes has been chairman of the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian Church of Scranton for more than ten years. He is a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, a charter member of the Engineers' Club of Scranton, a member of the Scranton Club, a veteran comrade of the Military Order of the Foreign Wars of America, a comrade and past commander of the United Spanish War Veterans, a member of Peter Williamson Lodge of Masons, a companion of Lackawanna Royal Arch Chapter, and a Sir Knight of Coeur de Lion Commandery.
The youngest son of Charles F. is Louis Theodore, born August 21, 1860. He has been engaged in several mercantile and manufactur- ing lines, and is now president of a manufactur- ing company in Philadelphia. He was married, October 19, 1882, to Alice Mulley, of Scranton, daughter of the late Ambrose Mulley, one of Scranton's noted pioneer merchants. They have no children. He served in the Thirteenth Regi- ment more than twenty years, including a term as adjutant during the entire period of the Span- ish war, part of the time as brigade adjutant. He was superintendent of the First Presbyterian
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Sunday school of Scranton several years, also treasurer of the church and elder until removal to Philadelphia.
The youngest child of Charles F. is Cor- nelia Wilson, born of the second wife, Decem- ber 7, 1864. He graduated at Dana Hall, Wellesley, and took a special library course ' at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, and is now assistant librarian at the Albright Library, Scranton. She has long been a worker in church and Sunday school.
AMOS ARTHUR BARTON, M. D. This well-known physician, who has practiced his pro- fession successfully at Plains for nearly thirty years, was born in Apalachin, Tioga county, New York, February 22, 1849, son of the late Johnson J. and Catherine (Lane) Barton. Dr. Barton is of English and Irish ancestry. On the paternal side he is a descendant in the fifth gen- eration of Dr. Lewis Barton, an Englishman, who in company with his two brothers immi- grated to America in the latter part of the eighteenth century. All of them were regularly trained medical practitioners, and they settled in Schoharie county, New York, where they fol- lowed their profession for the remainder of their lives.
Amos A. Barton, M. D., son of Dr. Lewis Barton and great-grandfather of Dr. Amos Ar- thur Barton, was born in Schoharie county. New York, and practiced medicine successfully in the eastern part of New York state. His wife bore him eight children, one of whom, Hon. Johnson J. Barton, was United States senator from New York City.
Leonard Barton. son of Dr. Amos A. Barton and grandfather of Dr. Amos Arthur Barton, was born in Dutchess county, New York, and later moved to Tioga county, same state, where he re- sided until his death at the age of eighty-eight. He married Sarah Allen, of Eastline, New York, who died at the age of eighty-eight, and they had six children : Albert, resided in Apalachin, married Eliza Lane, of Schoharie county, and had two sons : Johnson J., of whom later ; Amos A., died at the age of twenty-three years ; Maria, married Warren Bills, resided in Corry. Penn- sylvania, and reared several children ; Chancilor, of Union, New York, married Mary Warrick for his first wife, and Etta Warrick for his sec- ond, becoming the father of eight children, five of whom were of his first union ; and Susan, be- came the wife of Bradford Patterson, of Corry, Pennsylvania, and has a family of four children.
Johnson Jacob Barton, father of Dr. Amos
Arthur Barton, was born in Schoharie county, New York, February II, 1823. He settled first in Tioga county, later in Binghamton, New York. He married Catherine Lane, born in Tioga county, daughter of James and Jane (Taylor) Lane, the latter a native of the north of Ire- land. James Lane was a prosperous farmer of Delaware. Johnson J. Barton died July 22. 1904, surviving his wife, whose death occurred April 10, 1899. He was a farmer all his life. They were the parents of ten children: Amos Arthur, of whom later; James, deceased, who resided in Corry, Pennsylvania, married Anna Darling, and had two children: Leonard Frank- lin, married a Miss Finch, and had two sons ; Gurdon L., of Corry, married Emma Mercereau, and has one son; Charlotte I., died at the age of fifteen years; Emma J., wife of Ceylon An- drews, and resides in Binghamton, having one child : Samuel Taylor, M. D., a practitioner of Binghamton, married Nellie Allen, now de- ceased ; Egbert, accidentally drowned at the age of seven years; Minnie Eliza, now residing in Jamestown, New York, and Frederick C., of Lestershire, New York, married and has one daughter.
Amos Arthur Barton was reared within the invigorating atmosphere of farm life, the sur- roundings of which are so conducive to the ac- cumulation of physical strength and the stimu- lation of mental activities. His preliminary ed- ucation was concluded at the Corry high school, from which he entered the Wyoming Seminary, of Kingston, Pennsylvania, and his classical studies were pursued at the Syracuse ( New York) University. His professional training was acquired at the Louisville (Kentucky) Medical College, where he was graduated a Doctor of Medicine with the class of 1876. He established himself in practice at Plains the same year, and has resided there ever since. Dr. Bar- ton devoted his attention to both medicine and surgery, and the high reputation he has ac- quired throughout his extensive field of opera- tion evidences the fact that he made no mistake in deserting the farm in order to enter profes- sional life. His professional and fraternal affil- iations are with the Pennsylvania State and Lu- zerne County Medical Societies, the American. Medical Association, the Masonic order, the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Im- proved Order of Red Men. Politically he is a Republican.
Dr. Barton married, May 29, 1877. Carrie A. Clinton, born in Newark Valley, Tioga county, New York, July 27, 1848. She is a
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daughter of George and Lydia (Brooks) Clin- ton, and is of a family of three children, the others being Sarah and Morris Clinton. Dr. and Mrs. Barton have two children : Milton A., M .. D., born March 3, 1878, took his medical degree at Louisville, Kentucky, graduating in 1905 ; and Lydia R., born December 10, 1880. Dr. Barton is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, of which he has been a steward for a period of fifteen years, and Mrs. Barton is also a member of that church.
MALCOM EDWARDS WALKER, whose versatility finds evidence in his highly success- ful career as educator, journalist and lawyer, is a native of Pennsylvania, and a descendant of an honored New England ancestry of the early colonial epoch. He derives his descent from Thomas Walker, of Boston, who died July 2, 1659. Thomas Walker (2) taught school in Sudbury in 1664, and was keeper of an ordinary in 1672. By his wife, Mary Stoner, also of Boston (and who after the death of Mr. Walker married Capt. John Goodenow, of Sudbury), he became the father of ten children, equally di- vided in number as to sons and daughters. Thomas (3), the third son, born in Sudbury, August 15, 1689, married Elizabeth Maynard, June 16, 1717, and they had two sons and a daughter. Of this family Hezekiah (3), born in Sudbury, 1721, married in 1738 Hannah Put- nain, and they had four children.
Of the last named family Hezekiah (4). born in Holden, Massachusetts, February 25. 1747, died December 30, 1837, in 1776 married Lucy Raymond, born 1755, died January 21, 1849. Wrote Kulp: "For upwards of sixty- three years they trod life's pathway together, and were honored by the entire community as having lived without a stain or reproach on their names." They lived to see twelve of their chil- dren, six sons and as many daughters, and more than eighty grandchildren. A characteristic of this family was its extreme longevity. Joel lived to be more than eighty-seven years of age; Eli. more than eighty-three; another son lived over ninety years; two daughters eighty-eight years each ; one eighty-three, and the others, with the exception of one who died at the age of sey- enty-three, lived upwards of seventy-five years.
Jolın Walker (5), seventh child of Hezekiah Walker, born May 20, 1787, in Holden, Massa- chusetts, died August 18, 1866, at Cold Brook Springs, in the same state. Until he arrived at age he worked on the paternal farm, acquiring such education as he could in the common schools
and by reading at home. At the age of twenty- five he began preaching, and was for years the only Baptist minister in Holden, Princeton, West Boylston, Westminster and Leominster, and in each of these places established flourish- ing churches, and made converts by the hundred. During his ministry he was the regularly ordained pastor of churches in Holden, Princeton, West Sutton, Barre and Cold Brook Springs, and was occupying the pastora! relation at the last named at the time of his death. November 29, 1813, he married Eunice Metcalf, who died in 1870, aged eighty years. They were the parents of five sons and two daughters: A daughter who died in infancy; John, a florist of Worcester, Massachusetts ; A. Judson, of Warren, Massa- chusetts, a Baptist minister, and the inventor of a patent hydraulic elevator ; William S., also a Baptist minister, of Newton, Massachusetts ; Eunice M., of Cold Brook Springs; Sylvia J., wife of Henry Wilder, a merchant and farmer of Hubbardston, Massachusetts; and Harvey D.
Harvey D. Walker (6), son of the Rev. John and Eunice (Metcalf) Walker, was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, April 20, 1817. When only ten years old he formed his determination to acquire a collegiate education at whatever cost or sacrifice. Without encouragement from his father he pursued his object. studying dili- gently at night after the labors of the day were ended, his only aids being such few and primi- tive text-books as he could borrow. At the age of sixteen, and a stripling weighing less than ninety pounds, he taught his first school of more than sixty pupils, half of whom were older than he. He was so successful that, the school fund being exhausted. the parents of his pupils sub- scribed further funds and extended his school term six weeks. He was thus employed for four years, his father receiving his wages, and his va- cation months being given to labor on the home farm. When twenty years old his father gave him his last year's time, and he set cut for him- self without a dollar in money, his sole posses- sions being a presentable suit of clothes and a few books. In two years he had earned suf- ficient money to enter Brown University (in 1839, he then being twenty-two years old), from which he was graduated with honor in 1839, and three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of master of arts. Immediately after his graduation he accepted the principal- ship of Milbury ( Massachusetts) Academy. where he served for two years with great ac- ceptability, fitting for college several who came to careers of usefulness and distinction, among
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them being Hon. H. C. Rice, governor of Mas- sachusetts ; Hon. S. P. Bates, state historian of Pennsylvania, and deputy state superintendent of schools ; and Bishop Mallalien, of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. In November, 1845, he took up his abode in Abington Centre, Luzerne county (now Waverly, Lackawanna county), and December I following entered upon duty as principal of Madison Academy, in which posi- tion he rendered most useful and acceptable serv- ice for a period of eight years, during that time having among his pupils several who afterward came to respectable positions at the Luzerne county bar-Garrick M. Harding, Alexander Farnham, D. L. Patrick, George R. Bedford, Jerome G. Miller, A. H. Winton, A. J. Smith, G. Byron Nicholson, and others. In October. 1853, he became principal of the preparatory de- partment of Lewisburg University, and in the second year of his connection with that institu- tion taught Latin in the collegiate course and Greek in the theological course. In October, 1857, he removed to New Columbus, where he reorganized the New Columbus Normal Insti- tute on an academical basis, becoming its prin- cipal. He so labored until December 30, 1861, when he became principal of the Orangeville (Columbia county) Academy and Normal Insti- tute, and continued as such until September, 1869. At that time he became principal of the Bloomsburg public schools, and some months later professor of rhetoric and higher mathe- matics in the normal school at the same place. In October, 1871, he returned to Waverly, and reopened the Madison Academy as the Waverly Normal School. He had taught the parent school here eighteen years before, and he now had as pupils some who were the children of his former scholars. In April, 1880, he became principal of the Huntington Mills Academy and Normal School, and had a similar experience to that men- tioned in connection with his work at Waverly.
Rev. Harvey D. Walker married, April 2, 1844. Miss Electa B. Bates, of Bellingham, Mas- sachusetts, daughter of Otis Bates, among whose children were Lucius R. Bates, of Westboro, Massachusetts, one of the largest straw goods manufacturers in the country; and Rebecca T. Brown, widow of Rev. James Brown, who was a chaplain in the United States army. To Rev. and Mrs. Walker were born two sons and two daughters.
Malcom Edwards Walker (2). son of Rev. Harvey D. and Electa B. (Bates) Walker, was born April 8, 1847, in Waverly, Luzerne (now -Lackawanna) county, Pennsylvania. His father
gave such care to his education, and he was so apt a scholar that at the early age of fourteen he became assistant to the parent in the Orange- ville school, and so continued until 1865, when, at the age of eighteen, he was appointed vice- principal of the Orangeville Soldiers' Orphans' School. This institution had but just opened its doors, its inauguration being due to the ef- forts of his father, who in the preceding year had been induced by Governor Andrew G. Curtin and Hon. Thomas H. Burrows, state superin- tendent of public instruction, to enter upon the work of establishing these schools, and had been commissioned principal of the one at Orange- ville-the first of its class designated in the state, although, owing to untoward circum- stances, the second to be opened. Young Walker remained with this institution until 1868, when it was removed to another place. In the same year he began a course of law reading under the preceptorship of Samuel Knorr, of Bloomsburg, .at the same time ( 1869-1870) serving as clerk for his tutor, who was assessor of internal rev- enue. Mr. Walker was admitted to the Colum- bia county bar December 6, 1870, and the next day became a teacher in the Bloomsburg public schools. April 1, 1871, he was appointed dep- uity postmaster, and served us such until the fall, when he signed and opened a law office. He was soon, however, called to a place in the public schools, and which he occupied from Jan- uary 2 to June 1, 1872. November 25 follow- ing he located in Shickshinny, where he has since continually resided, opening an office and en- tering upon the practice of his profession, hav- ing been admitted to the bar of Luzerne county January 6, 1873. April 8 of the same year he established The Mountain Echo, and conducted it with great ability until 1876, when he sold the property to R. M. Tubbs. In September, 1873, he was solicited to accept the principalship of the West Ward schools. Professor Bates, of the normal school, and other old teachers, were applicants, and Mr. Walker remarked, "Give me twenty-five dollars a month more than any one else asks, and I will accept." Unthinking that his proffer would be accepted, he made no written application, as did the others who sought the position, but was appointed, his salary being fixed at seventy-five dollars, an advance of twenty-five dollars, as he had idly suggested, and the school term extended to eight months. He at once procured a special meeting of the school board and asked to be released, pleading that his law practice and newspaper required all his time. By unanimous vote his declination
Carne
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was not entertained, the board proffering him the privilege of temporarily leaving the school when necessary in order to attend to his legal business. To this he consented, and from Oc- tober. 1873, to June. 1874, he passed the most burdensome period of his life-teaching school. giving his Saturdays to his legal business at Shickshinny, attending court at Wilkes-Barre at least one day during each sitting of the court. and sending in his newspaper matter daily by mail. Since 1876 he has confined himself ex- clusively to his profession and to official duties in connection therewith. His practice soon grew to large dimensions and importance, and in its conduct he is recognized as amply equipped. His legal ability is best attested that, during many years in which he has served as justice of the peace, out of fifteen hundred cases adjudicated by him, only six appeals were taken, in four of which his judgment was affirmed, and not a single certiorari to his records has ever been taken. In 1875 he was burgess of the borough of Shickshinny. A Republican in politics, he was for several years a member of the county committee, and has frequently been a delegate to county and state conventions. A man of great public spirit, he has constantly labored ac- tively and intelligently in behalf of the best in- terests of the community along all lines-ma- terial. moral, intellectual and social. His per- sonal character is unblemished, and he is un- usually temperate in all respects, never having even tasted spiritnous or malt beverages, nor using tobacco in any form.
Mr. Walker married, May 13. 1873. Terressa A. Vannetta, of Bloomsburg, who was for ten years prior to her marriage the principal of the primary department of the Bloomsburg public schools. Three children were born of this mar- riage-Harvey Day. Warren Woodward, and Harry Malcom Walker.
REVEREND THOMAS C. BACHE. One of Nanticoke's most highly respected citizens is the Rev. Thomas C. Bache. The parents of Mr. Bache, John and Hannah Bache were natives of England. Their family consisted of twelve chil- dren, all of whom grew to maturity, and all of whom with one exception remained in their na- tive land. After the death of Mrs. Bache, in 1891, Mr. Bache came to Nanticoke to spend his last days with his son, Thomas C. He survived his wife four years, passing away in 1895.
Thomas C. Bache, son of John and Hannah Bache, was born in 1844, in England, and in
1867 emigrated to the United States. Desiring to enter the ministry of the Primitive Methodist Church, he applied in 1871 to the conference, then in session at Tamaqua, and was received as a probationer. After serving four years as such he was ordained at Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1875. In 1878 he returned to England to take a course in the college at Dudley, where he re- mained eighteen months. On his return to this country he took up his ministerial work, to which he devoted his entire time until 1890. During
this time he was instrumental in erecting churches at Steubenville: Salineville and Shaw- nee, Ohio, and was stationed at Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke. Pennsylvania. During the years of his active ministry he filled the various offices of the annual conference, was elected president of that body, and was secretary of the State Missionary Board. In 1880 Mr. Bache settled in Nanticoke and engaged in mer- cantile business, which he has since carried on successfully and in which he is assisted by his two sons. He is one of the directors of the Nanticoke National Bank, and is actively inter- ested in the improvement and progress of his borough, having served three terms as president of the council and nine years as president of the board of health. He is now serving his second term as treasurer of the borough. He is a mem- ber of Nanticoke Lodge, No. 686, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a stanch Republican.
Mr. Bache married in 1866. in England. Eleanor Greenfield, and they have three children : Benjamin A., George, and Florence, who is the wife of Thomas D. Williams, of Newcastle. Pennsylvania. Both the sons are in business with their father, and at the time of the Spanish- American war George volunteered his services and received a commission as first lieutenant of the Ninth Regiment. He was honorably dis- charged at the close of the war, and is now serv- ing his fourth year as a member of the borough council.
PIERSON A. MECK, M. D. Among the physicians of Nanticoke may be mentioned Pier- son A. Meck. The paternal ancestors of Dr. Meck were among the earliest settlers of Berks county, and it was in honor of the family that Meckville received its name. Charles A. Meck was a patriot soldier of the Revolution, and his son, Dewald Meck, bore arms in the War of 1812. Benjamin Meck. a son of Dewald, was an old resident of Meckville.
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Charles A. Meck, son of Benjamin Meck, was born in Meckville, Berks county, Pennsylva- nia, and was for many years a resident of Schuyl- killhaven, where he conducted three stores and was extensively engaged in the lumber business. He was interested in the production of coal and also operated a box factory, which the estate still runs. He married Priscilla Hartman, and they were the parents of the following children : Jennie, who is the wife of M. F. Nagle, of Sha- mokin ; Harriet, who is married to Addison Hes- ser, of Schuylkillhaven; Catherine, who became the wife of C. T. Derr, of Pottsville ; Pierson A., mentioned at length hereinafter; Harry, de- ceased ; Milton M. ; and Charles Calvin. The death of Mr. Meck occurred in 1901. His widow still survives and. resides on the old homestead.
Dr. Pierson A. Meck, son of Charles A. and Priscilla (Hartman) Meck, was born October 23, 1859, at Schuylkillhaven, and attended the public schools of his native town. In 1874 he graduated from the high school, and the same year entered the Palatinate Preparatory College at Myerstown, from which he graduated in 1876. He then went to the Franklin Marshall College at Lancaster, where he remained two years, and then for one year assisted his father in the lat- ter's various and extensive enterprises. In 1881 he matriculated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which institution he received in 1884 the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The same year he settled at Nanticoke, where for twenty-one years he has practiced his profession continuously, with the exception of six months spent in Buffalo, New York, during which time he was also in practice. The office of president of the board of health has been acceptably filled by him. He is a member of the Modern Wood- men of America, the Order of Eagles, and the college fraternity, Chi Phi. Politically he is a Republican.
Dr. Meck married in 1882, Mary Brennan, of Tremont, and eight children have been born to them, five of whom are living: Marie Lucretia, Charles Francis, Nina Beatrice, Vieta Loretta, and Felix Austin.
EVAN J. WILLIAMS, a business man of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, is a son of Evan F. Williams, who was born in Wales, and in 1869 emigrated to the United States, settling in Tay- lor, Lackawanna county. His wife was Eliza- beth Jones, and they were the parents of six chil- diren of whom two sons and one daughter are
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