Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 54

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 988

USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 54
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 54

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).

IRA E. HARTWELL, a well known civil engineer of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, who has held many positions of importance, traces his descent back to Solomon Hartwell, the founder of the family in America. Solomon Hartwell was a native of England, who landed in Massachu- setts and finally settled at Concord, New Hamp- shire. He married Abigail Davis, and they had a number of children, of whom were Solomon and John.

Solomon Hartwell was born in Concord, New Hampshire, married Tabitha; Hill, and had a numerous family. John, son of Solomon and Tabitha (Hill) Hartwell, married Jane Whitney, of Central, New York, and they raised a family of twelve children, one of whom was Nathan Hartwell, who was educated in the public schools of Chautauqua county, New York, and upon leaving school was apprenticed to a blacksmith. He learned this trade thoroughly and followed it all his life very successfully. He lived in Chau-

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tauqua county, New York, until 1861, when he removed to Hammonton, New Jersey. Nathan Hartwell married Almina Lake, of Chautauqua county, New York, daughter of Luther and Lu- cinda (Walker) Lake, of Chautauqua county, formerly of Vermont. The Lakes were also one of the old pioneer families of New York and some of their ancestors settled near Standing Stone, Bradford county, Pennsylvania. Nathan and Almina Hartwell had three children : Allen, born 1843, who was a lieutenant in the Wyoming Artillery and enlisted at the beginning of the Civil war in the One Hundred and Forty-third Regiment Infantry of Pennsylvania and served until the close of the war with great bravery, and rose to the rank of captain. He married Sadie Webster, of Daleville, near Moscow. Pennsylva- nia. Allen and Sadie Hartwell both died in Ham- monton, New Jersey, and are buried in that town. They had no children. 2. Ida E. (twin), born November 27, 1849. married Alborn War- ren, of Chautauqua county, New York, and had two children-Maud and Daisy ; Maud residing in Washington, District of Columbia, married F. Bradbery, of Hammonton, New Jersey ; Daisy died 1895 at Hammonton, New Jersey. 3. Ira E. (twin). the subject of this sketch. Nathan Hartwell and his wife both died in Hammon- ton, New Jersey, and are buried there.

Ira E. Hartwell, second son of Nathan and Almina (Lake) Hartwell, was born November 27, 1849, in Chautauqua county, New York. He lived in the town of his birth until the year 1861, when he removed with the family to Hammonton, New Jersey. Here he was educated in the pub- lic schools, and upon leaving them went to the East Cleveland (Ohio) Seminary and continued his education there. At the age of nineteen he commenced his business career in Cleveland, Ohio, obtaining a position with the city engineer, a position which he held for three years. He then came to Wilkes-Barre and entered the em- ploy of William V. Ingham, then in business for himself as civil engineer, now city engineer of Wilkes-Barre, remainng with him for one year. At the end of this period he obtained a position with James P. Weller, county surveyor, and held this for two years. He then accepted employ- ment with William H. Sturtevant, also a civil engineer, and remained with him until 1879. when he commenced business in the same line for himself, and has carried this on up to the present time. Mr. Hartwell has been actively connected with many public undertakings, among them the Wilkes-Barre and Harvey's Lake Rail- road, now known as the Lehigh Valley; the

Wilkes-Barre and Eastern Railroad from Wilkes- Barre to 'Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, which Mr. Hartwell built alone, and which is now known as the Susquehanna and Western; the first elec- tric road in Wilkes-Barre, and the electric road from Wilkes-Barre to Luzerne borough, includ- ing the North street bridge, Wilkes-Barre; the Binghamton Southern from Binghamton, New York, to Williamsport, Pennsylvania; the road from Lofty, Pennsylvania, to the Allegheny river near Kittanning, Pennsylvania. He was also identified with a number of preliminary sur- veys for railroads. From about 1883 to 1893 he- made a specialty of mining engineering, being associated with P. Butler Reynolds, of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hartwell was a mem- ber of the Vulcan Lodge, No. - , Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he belongs to the Republican party. His family are Pres- byterians. Mr. Hartwell has held the following offices : School director for Wilkes-Barre for three years; chief engineer and director of Wilkes-Barre and Harvey's Lake railroad ; chief engineer and director in Wilkes-Barre and Wil- liamsport railroad ; chief engineer and director in Wilkes-Barre and Eastern railroad : president of the Midway Connecting railroad. Wilkes-Barre to Nanticoke ; chief engineer and director in Peo- ple's Railway, Wilkes-Barre to Port Jervis, New York: president of the Westminster Coal Com- pany of Wilkes-Barre.

Mr. Hartwell married, July 14, 1875, Mar- garet Jenkins, born April 29, 1848, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, daughter of Thomas and Mary Jenkins, both deceased, of Pottsville. Pennsyl- vania. Mrs. Hartwell tvas one of seven children. Mr. and Mrs. Ira E. Hartwell have had six chil- dren : I. Clarence Lake, born April 29, 1876, who graduated from Cornell University, is now en- gineer for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad, stationed at Topeka, Kansas : 2. Ethel M., born October 12, 1877, died June II, 1905, at Wilkes-Barre: 3. Addison W., born July 3, 1879. died January 26, 1887, at Wilkes-Barre; 4. Jessie C., born August 27, 1883: 5. Natalie, born February 8, 1886; 6. Frances V., born Au- gust 30 1889, H. E. H.

CHARLES W. SPAYD, M. D., of Wilkes- Barre, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery, is a native of the state of Pennsylvania, born in Philadelphia, March 3. 1840, a son of" John E. and Catherine Ann (Bibighause) Spayd. who were respectively natives of Germany and Pennsylvania.

He comes of a most honorable ancestry in

le. W Spayed Mit.

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both parental lines. His paternal grandfather, John E. Spayd, came to this country a practical gunmaker, and made firearms for the colonial troops during the Revolution, and directed others in the same work. He subsequently returned to his native province of Saxony, served in the Prus- sian army, was taken prisoner by the French army under Napoleon, in 1797, and was kept in captivity for three years. His health was much impaired by his incarceration, and he died at the age of fifty-nine years. In 1802 his widow came to the United States, bringing her family of three children, and lived to the great age of one hun- dred years, dying in 1846.

John E. Spayd, son of the parents before named, was a child when he came to the country with his widowed mother. He was reared in Philadelphia, and studied for the ministry, and later for the medical profession. He did not enter upon either of these callings, however, hut be- came interested in the manufacture of planes. In 1854 he was incapacitated by a stroke of paraly- sis, but lived until 1873, when he passed away at the age of seventy-five years. His sister Martha married George Ott, and made her home in the west, and the other sister, Mary, married George Frey, and resided in Wisconsin. John E. Spayd married Catherine Ann Bibighause, born in Tinicum, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Henry Bibighause. Her father was a native of the Rhenish Palatinate. who came with his father to the United States in the sloop "Sally Ann." Dr. Bibighause taught school in Nazareth, Northampton county, Penn- sylvania, and later located in Philadelphia, where he studied for the ministry. He entered upon pas- toral labors with the German Reformed Church of Salem, and was subsequently called to St. John's Church, Philadelphia, with which he re- mained a beloved and successful pastor for the long period of thirty years, and there died in 1851. His children were: Jacob, a marble cutter in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, who died aged eighty-eight years ; Charles, a physician, who died in Philadelphia from cholera, in 1854; John, also a physician, practicing in Middles- burg, Snyder county, and came to his death by accident at the age of fifty-eight years ; Samuel H., a wholesale hardware merchant in Philadel- phia, who died aged seventy-eight years ; Thomas, a lawyer, who was elected to congress from the Lebanon county district, and died at the early age of thirty-seven years ; William, a sculptor of na- tional fame, who died in Philadelphia, aged sev- enty-six years: Catherine Ann, who became the wife of John E. Spayd ; Elizabeth, who married

John A. Bell, of Philadelphia; Mary A., who . married Dr. John A. Pifer, deceased, of Mifflin- burg : Martha, who married Dr. Henry Wiler,. D. D., of Ohio: and Henrietta, who became the wife of Dr. William Piper. To John E. and Catherine Ann (Bibighause) Spayd were born ten children, of whom six came to maturity : Amelia, who became the wife of Michael Davis, and died aged seventy-eight years ; Rev. Henry E. Spayd, D. D., a graduate of Princeton Uni- versity, and in ministerial connection with the church in Plains, Luzerne county ; Amanda W., who died unmarried ; Henrietta, who married George Monroe, of Philadelphia ; Dr. Charles W. Spayd, of whom later ; Mary Ann, who married Casey Stark, deceased, and now resides with her brother. Dr. Spayd. The mother of this family died at the age of seventy-one years. She and her husband were members of the German Re- former church.

Charles W. Spayd, M. D., ninth child of John E. and Catherine Ann ( Bibighause) Spayd, at- tended the public schools of Philadelphia, and after passing through the high school entered upon the study of medicine in the Philadelphia Medical College, and completed his professional studies in the Pennsylvania Medical College, to which his instructors removed, and remained there until 1861, completing a two years course. in addition to his previous studies. At the out- break of the Civil war, in the same year, he suc- cessfully passed examination before the United States medical board and was commissioned as- sistant surgeon, and assigned to duty in the- United States General Hospital at St. Louis, Missouri. Later he was transferred to the hos- pital steamer "Empress," serving with the army of General Grant on the Tennessee and Missis- sippi rivers, and served in that capacity until August 16, 1862, when he was granted leave of absence on account of disability contracted in the line of duty, having had arduous labors devolv- ing upon him in the care for the sick and wounded from the battle of Shiloh, and the operations. about Memphis and elsewhere in the strenuous campaign of that year. Returning home for re- cuperation, on recovery he received authoriza- tion to accept the commission of assistant sur- geon of the Fifty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and later was promoted to full sur- geon with the rank of major. He was connected with the Army of the Potomac in the various battles and operations beginning under the lead- ership of General Joseph Hooker, in 1863, and ending with the dramatic ending at Appomattox,. an incident of his experience being the opera --

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tions leading up to Gettysburg, the great battle there, and the pursuit of the discomfited enemy- scenes which left an indelible impression upon his mind. He received an honorable discharge on June 30, 1865, his services being held in requisi- tion for nearly two months after the collapse of the rebellion, this long retention after the great mass of the medical corps had been mustered out of service being the highest possible attestation to his ability. Returning to Philadelphia, Dr. Spayd entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated April 4, 1866. Shortly afterward he located in Wilkes-Barre and engaged in practice in which he has continued to the present time, en- joying a wide reputation for ability, and partic- ularly in the field of surgery. In 1885 he estab- lished the Spayd drug store, at 159 East Market street, which he conducts in connection with his practice. He has served long and faithfully in various official positions in the line of his pro- fession, as county physician from 1867 to 1872, and as coroner from 1881 to 1884. He is medi- cal examiner for a number of the leading life in- surance companies, including the Travelers' New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, and the United States. He was for some years a member of the Luzerne County Medical Society. He is promi- nent in Grand Army circles, and was a charter member of Conyngham Post, in which he has long served as surgeon, and a member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. A Democrat in politics, he exercises a potent influ- ence in behalf of the party, advocating its prin- ciples with ability and vigor. Dr. Spayd mar- ried, March 3, 1868, Miss Barbara J. Hay, daughter of Charles and Mary (Cridler) Hay, of Scotch and German origin respectively. They had one child, Samuel B., who died an infant. Dr. and Mrs. Spayd attend the Methodist Epis- copal Church. H. E. H.

MARCUS SALZMAN, rabbi of the Bnai Brith Jewish Congregation of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is an earnest, untiring and success- ful laborer in the field he has chosen.

Tobias Salzman, father of Rev. Marcus Salz- man, was born in Germany in 1846, and emi- grated to this country in the early sixties. He had received an excellent education in Breslau, Ger- many, and when he concluded to make his home in Baltimore, Maryland, he accepted a position as cantor in one of the synagogues of that city, and held this position for many years. He mar- ried Frederica Rosenheim, who was born in Hof- fenheim, Germany, daughter of Jacob Rosenheim,

who died in Germany, and they have had five children, of whom three are living: Marcus; Jacob, who is a broker in Baltimore, Maryland ; and Edward, who is an artist in Paris. Mrs. Salz- man died July 31, 1905.

Marcus Salzman, eldest child of Tobias and Frederica (Rosenheim) Salzman, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, December II, 1871. His preliminary education was obtained in the public and high schools of Baltimore, and after his graduation from the latter named institution went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and entered the Hebrew Union College and McMicken University, pur- sting the theological course and being graduated therefrom in 1893. His first appointment was as rabbi of the Jewish Reformed Temple, the He- brew Educational Society, at Charleston, West Virginia, and he ministered to the people of that congregation for two and a half years, faithfully discharging all the duties of his sacred office. He then received a call to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsyl- vania, as rabbi of the Bnai Brith Congregation, worshipping at 115 South Washington street. and he has served these people with the greatest acceptability ever since. The part now filled by Rabbi Salzman has heretofore been filled by cap- able men, namely: Moses Strasser, Herman Rubin, David Stern, Victor Rundbacken, and Israel Joseph, but the present incumbent measures well up to his responsibilities and to those who have preceded him. He is an eloquent speaker, and feels to the full the dignity and vast oppor- tunities of his high calling. Personally he is very popular among his people, taking a keen interest in all that pertains to their material wel- fare and success, and the best interests of the community ever find in him a friend who is ready in the advancement of all enterprises for the pub- lic good. The congregation Bnai Brith was or- ganized for occasional worship in 1840. They dedicated their first synagogue in August, 1849. Prior to 1871 it was the only Jewish congregation in Wilkes-Barre. In that year another congre- gation was organized which in 1881 became the parents of two smaller communities-Bnai Jacob and Holche Yosher. In 1902 a fourth synagogue was dedicated to the use of the youngest congre- gation, Oheb Zedek. Marcus Salzman married, March 1, 1904, Hannah Bloch, born in Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, daughter of Samuel and Re- becca (Levison) Bloch. H. E. H.

DICKOVER FAMILY. In Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne county the Dickover family has been known a little less than one hundred years, but in eastern Pennsylvania the history of the

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

family dates to the Revolution and even earlier, for Henry Dickover, of Mountville, (then called Millersville) Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, was a private in Captain John Withier's battalion of Lancaster County Associators, destined for service in the Jerseys. Henry Dickover's name appears on a muster roll dated Lancaster, August 19, 1776, which bears special remark as to his service. Family tradition tells of the sufferings of the military prisoners confined at Carlisle, where soldiers fought for the clothes of their dead comrades. It is understood that Henry Dickover was one of the guards that escorted the Hessian prisoners to that place, and afterward was probably on guard duty there.

This Henry Dickover had eleven sons and one daughter: Samuel, Lewis, John, George, Jacob, William, Benjamin. Joseph, Falty, Valen- tine, Polly and a son whose name is lost. Sev- eral of the sons removed with their families to Indiana, where they settled and were thrifty and industrious men, some of them raising large families, which indeed appears to have been no- ticeable in each generation from Henry's time down to within quite recent years. Samuel Dick- over, eldest son of Henry Dickover, had seven- teen children, and in 1898 eleven of them were still living, the youngest then being more than fifty years old. Jacob Dickover, also son of Henry Dickover, marris1 three times, and was the father of eighteen children. The family is noted for the longevity as well as the prolificy of its members.

George Dickover, fourth son of Henry Dick- over, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, November 13, 1787, and died December 31, 1864, aged seventy-seven years. He came to Luzerne county and settled in Wilkes-Barre about 1810, being then twenty-three years old. He was a mason by trade. He married Katharine Reimer, born February 16, 1793, died August 3, 1844, daughter of Henry Reimer, and his wife, who was a Miss Correll, her first name now un- known, but her father, Philip Correll, was a sol- dier of the Revolution, and married Catherine Schug. Nine children were born to George and Katharine (Reimer) Dickover: Henry, George, Elizabeth (wife of Peter Stoh) ; William, Kath- arine, (wife of Amos Sands) ; Louisa (wife of Miles Barnum) ; John ; Charles ; Mary, (wife of Oscar Lewis).

William Dickover, son of George and Kath- arine (Reimer) Dickover, was born in Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1819. He was educated in the common schools there, and

at the early age of ten years entered the employ. of his uncle, Philip Reimer, in the wool carding and cloth dressing business in Wilkes-Barre, where he remained two years. The following year he was employed by Ziba Bennett, and in 1832, at the age of thirteen years, first com- menced to learn his trade of plastering and gen- eral masonry in Wilkes-Barre under his father, and continued with him with occasional varia- tions, including working on his father's farm and other labor, until 1840, when twenty-one years of age, when lie completed his apprenticeship and began as a journeyman workman, continuing as. such for ten years. He then engaged in business for himself as contractor at No. 22 Koss street, Wilkes-Barre, where he now resides. His first contract was the A. C. Laning foundry on Canal street, which, with additions, is still standing on the old site. He was closely identified with the business interests and progress of his native city, and built many of the most prominent buildings in his time, several of the structures which front the. square today being monuments of his skill and. ability. In 1853, after the fire, he rebuilt the Wyoming Seminary building; in 1858 the Long- enstein building; in 1860 the Wyoming Bank building : in 1864 the Wyoming Valley Hotel ; and in 1870 the Music Hall building, which has. been replaced by the Sterling Hotel. In 1870 he began the manufacture of brick at North River. and Maple streets, Wilkes-Barre. The demand for brick was constantly increasing, this necessi -. tating rapid enlargement of the plant and sub- sequent removal to more commodious quarters. In 1875, the contracting business having grown: to large proportions, he formed a partnership with his son, George Dickover, and in 1883 the brick manufacturing was also taken in, under the firm' name of William Dickover and Son, which con- tinued until 1898, when William Dickover, the senior member, retired from active pursuits. Among the buildings of note which were erected by the firm were the following: the Laning, the- Welles, People's Bank, Jonas Long's, the Oster- hout, which was burned down, and the public schools of Franklin, South Washington, Wyom- ing and Union streets.

In 1842 Mr. Dickover was one of the organ- izers of the Wyoming Volunteer Artillery of Wilkes-Barre, and a member from 1842 to 1846, also for several years at a later date. He joined' the militia (minute men) just before the battle of Antietam, at which conflict they were held in re- serve, and later disbanded and sent home. About 1850 he assisted in the organization of the Cen -.

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

tral Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilkes- -

George T. Dickover married at Camden, New Barre, was one of its original trustees, and has . Jersey, April 25, 1883, Frances Stockton, daugh- always been on the board, serving now (1905) in ter of Richard and Deborah (Harrison) Stock- ton. The Stocktons of New Jersey were promi- nent figures in American history in the time of the Revolution. . Richard Stockton, ancestor of Frances (Stockton) Dickover, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and otherwise was prominent in national affairs. Five children were born to George T. and Frances (Stockton) Dickover: Georgia A., William S., Gertrude M., and Helen O., and Harold R., both of whom died in early childhood. the capacity of president ; he was a member of the building committee, and has held nearly all the offices in the church. He has always been an earnest advocate of the principles of Republican- ism, and served two years as poor director for the central district of Luzerne county. In 1860 he became a member of Wyoming Lodge, No. 39, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is now past grand. He has also held membership in the Sons of Temperance and United American Mechanics. Mr. Dickover is the oldest native born business man residing in Wilkes-Barre.

William Dickover married, December 24, 1844, Elizabeth Olver, daughter of John and Sarah (Aunger) Olver. John Olver was born in Cornwall, England, September 5, 1790, and on · coming to America settled at Beach Pond, now Beach Lake, Wayne county, Pennsylvania. He married, February 18, 1814, Sarah Aunger, who died in 1870. He died in October, 1866. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dickover : Maria, died February 14, 1897, buried at Forty Fort; Lavinia, wife of H. L. Moore, resides in Wilkes-Barre: George T., married Frances Stockton, resides in Wilkes-Barre; Sarah, de- ceased, buried at Forty Fort ; Abi, deceased, bur- ied at Forty Fort; Helen, deceased, buried at Forty-Fort; Hattie, wife of J. B. Howell, resides in Wilkes-Barre. Mr. Dickover has fourteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

George T. Dickover, only son of William and Elizabeth (Olver) Dickover, was born in Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1849. He was · educated in the public schools of that borough and subsequent city, and at Wyoming Seminary. He learned the trade of bricklayer with his father, worked with him and under him as a journeyman, in the course of time became his foreman and su- perintendent, and eventually his partner in busi- ness. Since his admission to the firm in 1883 the annual output in manufactured brick has in- creased from one million to more than eight mil- lions in 1904. When his father retired from business in 1898, George T. succeeded to the partnership properties, and is now sole proprie- tor. He is also serving in the capacity of vice- president of the Wilkes-Barre Paint Company. He is a member of the Central Methodist Episco- pal Church, and a member of its official board, a director of the Wilkes-Barre Heat, Light and Motor Company, and a member of Landmark Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the : National Association of Brick Manufacturers.

H. E. H.

JOHN CALVIN BELL, of Wilkes-Barre, cashier of the Wilkes-Barre Deposit and Savings Bank, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, on March 23, 1850, a son of Harvey and Eliza- beth Bell.

He attended the public schools of Anderson- town, Pennsylvania, where he acquired a good preparatory education, and pursued the higher branches of study at Millersville Normal School, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1872. After his graduation he taught school at Summit Hill for one year. The following year he was appointed to the principal- ship of the schools at Dauphin, Pennsylvania, which he retained until 1874, when he accepted the position of principal of the Soldiers Orphans' School at McAllisterville, Pennsylvania. In Sep- tember, 1875, he located in Wyoming, Pennsyl- vania, and for two years served in the capacity of principal of the school in that town. In Sep -. tember, 1877, he located in Wilkes-Barre, and during four years thereafter served as principal of the schools of the second district. The career of Mr. Bell as an educator was noted for capa- bility and efficiency. In June, 1881, he accepted a position as bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre, retaining the position un- til April, 1886, when he was elected city clerk, in which capacity he served with credit until Jan- uary 19, 1887. He then entered the Wilkes-Barre Deposit and Savings Bank as cashier, and has, served in that position to the present time, 1905.

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 54

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 988

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 988