USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 79
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 79
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Mrs. Ira H. Collins was born October 9, 1863, at Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne county, Penn- sylvania, and is a descendant of old families on both the paternal and maternal sides. They were both of German origin. Her paternal great- grandfather was George Oplinger, who married a Miss Rice, and their family consisted of five children : Reuben, Nathan, Aaron, Henry and Mrs. Deiter. Reuben Oplinger (grandfather), son of George Oplinger, was born in Northamp- ton county, Pennsylvania, in 1815. He came to Luzerne county in 1835. He married Ellen Worden, who bore him thirteen children, two of whom died in infancy, and the names of those who grew to maturity are as follows : Mary M., James H., deceased; Ezra W., John H., Lem- uel S., Ellen R., deceased : Anna E., Reuben W .. Thomas M., George W., and Edward F. James F. Oplinger (father), son of Reuben Oplinger, was born in Plains, Pennsylvania, in 1839. For many years he was actively engaged in the lum- ber business, but subsequently became a con- tractor for Mr. Parish, and was also engaged in laying railroad beds, etc. He married, Jan- uary 23, 1859, Mary A. Stroh, and their chil- dren were : John W., Sarah J., Mary E., and Hat- tie E., aforementioned as the wife of Ira H. Collins. James H. Oplinger lost his life by a premature explosion in 1869.
The maternal great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Ira H. Collins was David Stroh, a native of Germany, who came to this country in 1742, locating in New Jersey. One of his sons, Henry Stroh, fought in the war of the Revolution and was wounded at the battle of Trenton. After the termination of the war he removed to North- ampton county, Pennsylvania, and purchased a large tract of land, upon which he erected a saw- mill. He married Christina E. Strauss, who was born in Germany in 1760, and five years later was brought to this country by her parents, who settled at Bethlehem, Northampton county, Pennsylvania. Four children were the issue of this union : Henry, Benjamin, Lydia and Peter. The sons were all millers by occupation ; they removed to Luzerne county in 1825, and the mill of George Hollenback was operated by them. Mrs. Henry Stroh, while visiting a friend, Mrs. Mauller, at whose house the battle of Brandy- wine was planned, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to which place her people had moved, helped to
cook and serve breakfast for General Washing- ton on the day that the battle of Brandywine was fought. Peter Stroh, youngest son of Henry Stroh, was born in Hamilton township. In 1828 he moved to Tuttle's Mill, later to Ross' Mill, and finally to Wilkes-Barre, where with one of his sons, Jolin, he was drowned while crossing the river. His wife was Julia Neyhart, a native of Stroudsburg. Monroe county, Pennsylvania, and to them was born seven children, six of whom grew to maturity, namely: Amos, Henry WV., Elizabeth, Mary A., Sarah A., and Lydia E. Mrs. Mary A. Oplinger and Mrs. Elizabeth Finch are the only survivors.
F. H. KOHLBRAKER, superintendent of the Susquehanna Coal Company, at Nanticoke, is one of the representative men of the Wyoming Valley, a man who has risen step by step to a position of prominence and responsibility, and whose active career is well worthy of emulation. Personally he is a man of genial and affable dis- position, one whom it is a pleasure to meet and who holds a high place in the regard of his fel- low-citizens. He was born in Pottsville. Schuyl- kill county, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1857, a son of George H. and Mary (Bauman) Kohl- braker.
George H. Kohlbraker (father) was a native of Germany, was reared, educated, learned his trade of wheelwright, and was married in the Fatherland, and about the year 1850 emigrated to the United States, locating at Shamokin, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, where for twenty years he served as outside foreman. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Bau- man, a native of Germany, bore him twelve chil- dren : Mary, deceased ; Elizabeth, F. H., Cather- ine, Anna, deceased : George, Ida, Agnes, Gert- rude, Henry, Margaret, and John. deceased. Mr. Kohlbraker lost his life by accident in 1865. His widow is living at the present time ( 1905).
F. H. Kohlbraker, whose name heads this sketch, being the eldest son, assumed the respon- sibility of the family at the demise of his father. Like a dutiful son and a young hero he straight- ened up under the burden and faithfully and manfully took the place of the honored dead. He made suitable provisions for the future useful- ness of his younger brothers and sisters by look- ing after their proper education and by prepar- ing them for a life of profitable service. The public schools of Shamokin, Pennslvania, af- forded him the means of obtaining a practical education which thoroughly qualified him for the duties and responsibilities of life. At the age of
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
sixteen he entered the coal breaker as slate picker, in time being miner, fireman, engineer, holding the two latter positions for sixteen years, breaker boss, outside foreman, and in 1897 was appointed superintendent of the collieries at Sha- mokin, which position he held up to 1901, when he took his present office, that of superintendent of the Susquehanna Coal Company at Nanticoke. He has entire control of the interests of the company, and has under his personal supervision forty-five hundred men. He has been in the em- ploy of this same management (the Pennsylva- nia) from his boyhood up and thoroughly under- stands the wants and requirements of the men. He looks after their comfort and interest, and in return demands from them labor well and faith- fully performed for the company he represents, and by reason of his sterling characteristics is universally admired and respected by the com- pany and men. As a citizen he is active and alert, aiding to the best of his ability enterprises that tend to promote the welfare of the people. He is a director of First National Bank of Nan- ticoke.
On November 28, 1899, Mr. Kohlbraker was united in marriage to Rebecca Morrison, who bore him one daughter, Mary, born March 26, 1902.
JOHN T. THOMAS. There is probably no man in Luzerne county more thoroughly identi- fied with the production of coal than John T. Thomas, of Nanticoke. Mr. Thomas is a son of Thomas Thomas, who was born in Wales, and in 1882 emigrated to the United States and settled in Shamokin, Northumberland county, where he engaged in mining. He was a deacon in the Welsh Congregational Church, but subsequently became a member of the English Presbyterian. His wife was Rachel Jones, also a native of Wales, and they were the parents of nine chil- dren, six of whom grew to maturity : William, Thomas, Rachel, Sarah, Mary J., and John T., mentioned at length hereafter. The life of Benjamin Thomas, one of the deceased sons of this family, affords a striking example of the extent to which force of character may triumph over physical disabilities. While working in the mines he lost his right arm and the left hand, with the exception of the thumb and index finger. In this condition he attended school, passed a creditable examination and graduated from the Shamokin high school. finishing at the Lock Haven State Normal School. He subsequently became principal of the Shamokin high school. He possessed a fine tenor voice, and was in all
respects one of those men of whose personality and attainments it is scarcely possible to speak too highly. His early death was a loss to the community as well as to his family. Mr. Thomas, the father, was a truly worthy man. His death occurred in 1902, in Shamokin, aged sixty- four years, and his widow is still living in Sha- mokin, Pennsylvania.
John T. Thomas, son of Thomas and Rachel (Jones) Thomas, was born April 25, 1856, in pont Berne, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and at the age of ten years began to work in the mines. In 1880 he emigrated to the United States and set- tled at Shamokin, where for some time he was employed as a miner by small individual enter- prises. As soon, however, as his capabilities be- came sufficiently known, he was promoted to the position of fire-boss, which is one of the most responsible in the mines. This he retained for four years, two years in the Henry Clay colliery, and two years in the Garfield colliery. In 1888 he began to work under the management of the Susquehanna Coal Company, and in 1892 was promoted to be assistant mine foreman at the Cameron colliery. In 1895 he was made mine foreman, a position which he held until 1899, when he was advanced to the post of first assist- ant superintendent at Nanticoke, a place which he fills at the present time with the full confidence of the company and the respect of the men. He has under his control four thousand men, also three collieries, the output of coal being twenty- four hundred tons per day of nine hours. The company have fourteen openings producing coal, nine of the openings being shafts, besides seven abandoned openings. One of these is nine hun- dred and ninety feet deep, another one thousand one hundred and seventy feet deep, the other depths ranging from two to seven hundred feet. In discharging the duties of his position Mr. Thomas employs the best that is in himself, and thus draws out the best that is in his men, this being one secret of his great success. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Nan- ticoke.
Mr. Thomas possesses the musical gift so universal among his countrymen, and in 1897, while at Shamokin, organized a Mozart Glee club of thirty voices. Since his residence in Nan- ticoke he has organized and conduets the Nanti- coke Glee and Oratorio Society which numbers eighty voices. Mr. Thomas himself sings both tenor and bass. He is a member of Nanticoke Lodge, No. 541, F. and A. M .. of Shamokin Chapter, No. 265. and also of Shamokin Com- mandery, K. T. He is a strong advocate of tem-
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
perance, and in politics is an ardent Republican. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, in the spiritual and musical work of which he is actively engaged. wile at Shamokin he was for fifteen years leader of the choir, and it may be truthfully said that no better singing could be produced by a choir than that rendered by the choir of the Presbyterian Church at Shamokin. He is president of the Young Men's Christian Association of Nanticoke, in which position he has raised a large sum of money to pay off the debt of the association and place it on a firm financial basis.
Mr. Thomas married, January 15, 1879. Sarah, daughter of David and Mary Davis, and of the six children born to them three are living : David J., Benjamin and Emrys.
JOHN REAP. Among the old residents of Avoca, none is better known or more highly re- spected than John Reap. Mr. Reap is a son of Thomas Reap, who was born in Ireland and mar- ried Bridget Dugan, a native of the same county. Their family consisted of five children, three of whom are now in the United States : Michael, Jr., Martin, and John, mentioned at length here- after. Mr. and Mrs. Reap died in their native land.
John Reap, son of Thomas and Bridget (Dugan) Reap, was born June 25, 1842, in county Mayo, Ireland, and in 1860 emigrated to the United States. He settled first in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where for nearly a year he was employed on a farm. In 1861 he moved to Moscow, Madison township, Luzerne county, and entered the service of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, for whom he worked three years as a track hand. In 1864 the company pro- moted him to the position of foreman of repairs, and in March of that year he was employed by the United States government in the construction of military railroads. This obliged him to follow the movements of the army, in consequence of which he was often under fire of the enemy while in the discharge of his duty. On the records in Washington, District of Columbia, may be seen the following: "John Reap was a civilian as sub-foreman at a salary of $3.00 per day, under Captain F. T. Starkweather, Assistant Quarter- master United States Military Railroads, Mili- tary Division of the Mississippi, from March I, 1864, to May 15, 1865, and as foreman at $100 per month from May 16, 1865, to July 16, 1865. He ranked as first lieutenant."
On his return to civil life Mr. Reap settled in
North Carolina, where he was employed in the construction of a new railroad. In July, 1866, he returned to Moscow, and the same year re- moved to the oil region of Pennsylvania, where he became a member of the civil engineer corps. After a time he secured the position of foreman for a company in Wilkes-Barre, and from that place was transferred to White Haven, where he remained for a short time. In 1868 he removed to Avoca, where in company with his cousin. Martin Reap, he engaged in the general mer- chandise business. In 1871 he was employed by Mr. J. H. Sawyer, a coal operator, and in 1872 entered the service of the Delaware & Hudson Company, as track-foreman, working between Moosic and Pittston. This position hie retained for thirteen years, resigning in 1885, in order to accept a similar position with the Erie & Wyo- ming Valley Railroad Company in whose service he remained for sixteen years. In 1901 he turned his attention to the insurance business, be- coming an agent for the Metropolitan Company. Finding the employment, however, uncongenial, he abandoned it and took a position with the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad Com- pany in its construction department. In 1902 he became a track foreman for the Hillside Coal & Iron Company, a position which he still retains. Some years since he built for himself a beautiful and commodious dwelling furnished with every facility for comfort and convenience. Mr. Reap holds a high place in the regard of his fellow citizens, by whom he has been thrice elected jus- tice of the peace, his terms of office not, however. being consecutive. He has served two terms as school director, and for the last six years has held the office of notary public. He is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Mr. Reap married, in 1869, Maria Grimes, and the following children have been born to them: Catherine, who became the wife of John Early ; Henry E., deceased ; Elizabeth, also de- ceased; Bea, who is the wife of Floyd Porter ; Nellie: John R., an attorney at the Luzerne county bar: Edward J .; Mary P .; James A .; Thomas A. : Frances ; and Agnes C. Mrs. Reap is a daughter of Richard and Ann (Armstrong) Grimes, and was born in Ireland, in 1853. The same year her parents emigrated to the United States. Their daughter, by reason of her tender age, was left in her native land in the care of relatives until 1863, when she joined her parents in their new home. Mr. and Mrs. Grimes now reside on their farm at Elmhurst, enjoying the well earned fruits of long and useful lives.
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
WILLIAM HENRY HOLLISTER. One of the self-made men who are an honor to any community is William Henry Hollister, of Avoca. Mr. Hollister is the son of Amos G. Hollister, a prosperous farmer of Susquehanna county, who married Lydia Tiffany, and became the father of the following children: Amos P., who served three years in the Union army during the Civil war: two daughters who married re- spectively R. K. Baily and A. Woodworth ; Wil- liam Henry, mentioned at length hereafter; Orville D., who is a farmer of Newton township ; and another daughter, who became the wife of Dr. E. A. Kent, and is now deceased.
William Henry Hollister, son of Amos G. and Lydia (Tiffany) Hollister, was born in 1850, in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, and passed his boyhood on his father's farm, receiving his primary education in the public schools. This instruction he supplemented by a course at the high school. In 1877 he moved to Avoca, where on a small capital he engaged in mercantile busi- ness. In this enterprise he was very successful, and in 1889, in company with C. C. Bowman, leased the colliery now controlled by the Avoca Coal Company. Of this company Mr. Hollister is general manager. The mine was first opened and operated in 1872 by J. H. Swayer, who after- ward sold it to the Hillside Company, from whom it was leased by Hollister & Bowman. There is, one shaft seventy-five feet deep and one drift connecting with the shaft. The output of coal is about ten hundred tons per day, the machinery is the most complete in the coal belt, and the working force consists of about five hundred hands. In connection with the colliery is a well- furnished store of which Mr. Hollister is general manager. In addition to his duties in connection with the production of coal, Mr. Hollister finds time for attention to a variety of other interests. In 1898 he became general manager of the Avoca Electric Light & Heat Company, in which he is a heavy stockholder. He has an interest in. the gold and silver producing mines of Colorado, and is a director in the Sterling Mine & Tunnel Company of that state. He is president of the Indicator Construction Company, of Scranton, and also of the Lippincott Steam Specialty and Supply Company. Mr. Hollister is held in the highest esteem by his fellow-citizens, and in 1894 served the borough as burgess. He is a mem- ber of Pittston Lodge, No. 233, F. and A. M., in which he has held the rank of worshipful mas- ter. He also belongs to Chapter, No. 242, of Pittston, to Wyoming Commandery, No. 57, and
to Irem Temple, of Wilkes-Barre. Politically he is a stanchi Republican. He is an active member and a liberal supporter of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and is connected with the official board. Mr. Holloster married, in 1875, Ella Beamer, and they are the parents of two chil- dren : Claire B., born in 1877; and Glenn W., born in 1885, a clerk in his father's store. Both are graduates of Wyoming Seminary, the former in 1898, and the latter in 1904, and Claire B. is vice-president of the Lippincott Indicator In- struction Company, also vice-president of the Lippincott Specialty and Supply Company.
THOMAS R. WILLIAMS, of Glenlyon, one of the oldest and most trustworthy assistant su- perintendents for the Susquehanna Coal Com- pany, in whose employ he has been since 1869, a period of thirty-six years, was born in South Wales, 1845, a son of Reese and Jennie (Jones) Williams, both natives of Wales, in which coun- try they lived their entire lives and where they are laid to rest. They had six children : Thomas R., John, Reese, William, Mary and Jane, Thomas R. being the only one to emigrate to the United States.
After completing a common school education Thomas R. Williams turned his attention to min- ing, and by coming in touch with men of experi- ence became well versed in the art of coal mining. In 1868 he embarked for the United States, and directly after his arrival took up his residence in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where for a short time he was in the employ of the Delaware, Lacka- wanna and Western Company. The following year he entered the service of the Susquehanna Coal Company, beginning as a miner and con- tinuing the same up to 1873, at which time he was promoted to mine foreman. He filled this position for about one and a half years, and at the expiration of this period of time was pro- moted to the office of assistant superintendent of the company's works at Nanticoke. Desiring to be relieved from this he applied to Superintend- ent George T. Morgan, who gave him the choice of any of the collieries of the company under his jurisprudence. Mr. Williams chose No. 2 slope, where he remained ten years, during which time he had under his supervision four hundred men and boys. In 1885, when the Glenlyon colliery was put in operation, he was chosen to place it on a paying basis, and during his sixteen years connection with the same had under his super- vision six hundred men and boys. In 1901, when the company put in operation the Stearns colliery,
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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.
he was transferred to that in order to place it also on a paying footing. His mining experience covers a period of forty-six years.
Mr. Williams served on the borough council one year, and also held the office of school direc- tor of Nanticoke for five years, two years of which time he was treasurer of the board. Dur- ing his residence in Nanticoke he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was steward for many years, also treasurer, and a teacher in the Sunday school. He now holds membership in a church of the same denomina- tion in Glenlyon, of which body he has served as treasurer. He is a liberal contributor to the church, which is evidenced by the declaration from good authority that he and his family have donated three thousand dollars toward the sup- port and maintenance of the same. Mr. Williams is a stanch Republican and a firm believer in high tariff. He is a member of Nanticoke Lodge. No. 541, Free and Accepted Masons. He is the owner of considerable property in Glenlyon, Pennsylvania, and has extensive real estate hold- ings in the state of Oregon. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Nanticoke.
In 1870 Mr. Williams married Mary Ann Jones, of Beaver Meadows, Pennsylvania, daugh- ter of Daniel and Mary Jones, who came to this country in 1819, and a descendant of ancestors who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about two hundred years ago. Daniel and Mary Jones, whose marriage occurred in the United States, had four children : Margaret. Mary A., Daniel D., a veteran of the Civil war, and now ( 1905) one of the leading undertakers of Scranton ; and David Jones. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, Jennie, wife of K. L. Fisher, of Glenlyon, Pennsylvania, and they have four chil- dren : Lillian, Viola, Edison, and Frederick Fisher.
FRANK W. FILER. In the ranks of the electricians of Lackawanna county none occupies a more honorable place than Frank W. Filer, of Dunmore. He is of English parentage. His father was one of the pioneer miners of the Lack- awanna Valley, and one of the number to whom the county is chiefly indebted for the develop- ment of the anthracite coal industry.
George Filer, son of George and Anna Filer, was born August 5, 1821, in Somersetshire, Eng- land. He was one of a family of ten children, and in early youth was thrown on his own re- sources in consequence of the death of his father. His occupation was that of a miner, and in 1841 he emigrated to the United States and settled in
Pennsylvania, drawn thither no doubt by the pos- sibilities which that region holds for men of his calling. After working for one year in Schuyl- kill county he moved to Tuscarora, where he was employed in the mines of the Reading Company. In 1849 he settled at Scranton, where he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, then the largest coal operators in the valley. His duties were sinking shafts and driving tunnels and he also assisted in the general development of the mines. In 1854 he left the Pennsylvania Coal Company in order to develop some mines of his own, having leased some property of S. Spen- cer and others, and in this undertaking he suc- ceeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. In 1862 he became associated with J. R. Davis and J. F. Hunt in the development of the Roar- ing Brook mine. The partnership continued until 1867, when he sold his interest in the mine, and undertook the operation of the Oak Hill col- liery, in Green Ridge, where he remained for five years. In 1870 he sunk a shaft on Carbon Hill which was sold in July, 1872, to the Erie Com- pany, and in 1871 superintended the building of the Spring Brook colliery. In 1873 he opened in Blakely township, about eight miles from Scranton, one of the largest collieries then in the Lackawanna Valley, and known as the Winton colliery. In connection with this he opened the Filer mine, and from these two mines he and partner, Thomas Levey, had contracts to deliver three hundred thousand tons of coal per annum. As a prospector, projector and developer of coal land it is doubtful if Mr. Filer had his equal in Pennsylvania. On these subjects he was re- garded as an authority and his advice was sought by many. He frequently took mines that had been abandoned, re-opened them and made them profitable. For the marvellously long period of sixty-nine years he was actively engaged in min- ing. The last year of his life was spent at Greggsville, New York, where he was devel- oping a salt mine. His political affiliations were with the Republicans. He was a member of no church, but was in sympathy and fellowship with all whose lives were in accordance with the prin- ciples of Christianity.
Mr. Filer married, in 1844, Martha Ashlev. a native of England, and of the fourteen children born to them the following are now living: I. Mary A., married J. T. Taylor, and has four chil- dren : Kate L., George F., Henry D. and Edith M. 2. Elizabeth, married W. I. McCormick. and is the mother of three sons : Howard, George and Francis. 3. Emma D., married J. Coleman, and also has three sons: Eugene, George and
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