Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 96

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 96
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 96

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).

Mr. Speicher married, March 24th, 1874, Catherine Lauer, and they are the parents of the following children : I. George, who was born October 12th, 1876, lives at Archbald, and is an engineer on the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. 2. Alfred, who was born October II, 1878, is a plumber in Parsons, and married Louise Chis- ler. 3. Albert, who was born October 18th, 1880, and is a machinist, serving under his father. Edmund, who was born November 22nd, 4. 1882, and is a machinist in the Valley shops in Wilkes-Barre. 5. Leo, who was born October

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12th, 1884, and is station agent at Parsons. 6. Regina, who was born October 22nd, 1886. 7. Jacob, who was born April 21st, 1889. 8. Marie, who was born October 13th, 1891, and is now at- tending school.

Mrs. Speicher is a daughter of Matthew and Katherine (Kugler) Lauer, who spent their en- tire lives in Germany. They had a family of ten children, five of whom are still living: I. Eliza- beth, born in Sarlouis, who married John Miller, of Paris, New Jersey. 2. Anna, who was born in Metz, Germany, became the wife of Carl Oust, and lives in Germany. 3. Maria, who was born in Metz, Germany, married there, and also re- sides there. 4. Harry, who was born in Metz, Germany, married Louise Arch, and lives in Paris, New Jersey. 5. Catherine, who was born April 20th, 1852, and became the wife of Jacob Speicher, as mentioned above.

GEORGE WASHINGTON LEACH, born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1824, is a direct descendant of Lawrence Leach, the Puritan progenitor of the family in America, who came over, with Rev. Francis Higginson in the fleet which sailed from England in the spring of 1629, arriving in Salem harbor, June 29 of that year. In a letter dated at Gravesend, England, April 17, 1629, Governor Matthew Craddock, then at the head of the Massachusetts Bay Co., wrote to Captain John Endicott, the New Eng- land governor of the colony, as follows: "We desire you to take notice of one Lawrence Leach, whom we have found a careful and painful man, and we doubt not he will continue his diligence. Let him have deserving respect."

Lawrence Leach settled on a plantation at Royal Side, in Salem, and lived there until the time of his death, in 1662, at the age of eighty- three years. He held many important offices, and by his public and private life justified the con- fidence placed in him by Governor Craddock. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth, and the fol- lowing children : Robert, who became one of the founders of Manchester, Massachusetts ; Richard and John, who lived and died at Salem ; Giles, born in Salem, 1632, moved to Weymouth, and thence to Bridgewater, Massachusetts, being one of the fifty-six proprietors of that old colony town; James, who settled in New Hampshire ; Samuel, at Marblehead, Massachusetts; an only daughter, Rachel, and another son, Clement, who is supposed to have remained in England.

George W. Leach's line of descent is as fol- lows: Lawrence and Elizabeth Leach, Giles and

Anne (Noaks) Leach, Benjamin and Hepzibah (Washburne) Leach, Joseph and Anne ( Harris ) Leach, Benjamin and Mary (Keith) Leach, Isaiah and Eliza (Kelly) Leach, George W. Leach.

Through Hepzibah Washburne, wife of Benjamin Leach, the line is traced to the May- flower Pilgrims, she being the granddaughter of John Winslow (brother of Governor Edward Winslow) and Mary Chilton, said to have been the first white woman to set foot upon New Eng- land soil. Hepzibah Washburne was also a great-great-granddaughter of Frances Cook, an- other Mayflower Pilgrim.

Mary Keith, grandmother of George W. Leach, was the great-granddaughter of Rev. James Keith, the first minister of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, who preached fifty-six years from the same pulpit. The poet, William Cullen Bry- ant, was very proud of his descent from this famous preacher.

On the maternal side Mr. Leach is a great- grandson of Captain James Wigton, one of the first victims of the Wyoming Massacre, and the descent is as follows: Captain James Wigton and Elizabeth (Shannon) Wigton, Isabella Wig- ton and John Kelly, Eliza Kelly and Isaiah Leach, George W. Leach.

Captain Wigton was of Scotch-Irishi descent, and came into the Wyoming Valley from Bucks county. He was a man of character and intel- lect, and sometime prior to his joining the Con- tinental army had purchased from Colonel Dur- kee, a tract of one hundred and ninety six acres in Wilkes-Barre, the major portion of division 34, as certified by the state to his widow, Elizabeth Wigton. He was also the owner of six acres lying between South Ross River and Franklin streets.

Shortly before the massacre he was a captain, unattached, with Washington, at Valley Forge. He, with a few others, got leave to return to the valley to aid in the defense, and arrived on the scene after the line of battle had been formed. As Rufus Bennett, one of the survivors of the mas- sacre, often related the story: "Just before the advance was ordered some one, looking back, dis- covered him coming up the road and shouted. "Why there comes Wigton !"-and they called out: "Fall in here, Wigton! fall in here!" He was among the first to perish at the hands of the enemy. His wife and two daughters escaped down the river to Fort Augusta. Later Mrs. Wigton returned to the Valley with one daugh- ter, who was a sickly child, and married one of

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Sullivan's soldiers named Gridley. The other daughter, Isabella, went to Bucks county and there married John Kelly, a member of one of the Protestant-Irish families that had emigrated to Pennsylvania. Their first child, Eliza Kelly, the mother of Mr. Leach, was born near Doylestown, in 1799. Another daughter, Mary, was born in Canada whither they, with many others, had emigrated to escape the threatened famine re- sulting from the ravages of the "Hessian Fly." John Kelly died in Canada, and his widow mar- ried one George Morris by whom she had two children. The home of the Morrises was destroy- ed by the American forces during the war of 1812. On the death of Isabella Wigton ( Kelly) Morris, George Morris married again, and the relatives in Bucks county became anxious that the children, Eliza and Mary Kelly, should return to Pennsylvania. Accordingly, an uncle of the girls went to Canada and succeeded, after many vicissitudes in bringing them away. The journey was, at that early day, full of interest and ex- citement. Leaving Buffalo, then consisting of a few log houses, they journeyed, by horseback to Newtown, now Elmira. Here they sold their horses and purchasing a skiff floated down the river to Wilkes-Barre, where they stopped, and sold a lot and partially constructed a building, for fifty dollars. From Wilkes-Barre the three travelers went by boat to Harrisburg, where the girls found a home with William Musgrave, Jr., their uncle, who was a son of William Musgrave; at that time and until his death state librarian. It was here that Eliza Kelly met and married in 1821, Isaiah Leach, father of George W. Leach.

Isaiah Leach, was born in Bridgewater, Mas- sachusetts, in 1786, and left there in 1800, finally settling in Harrisburg. He was a school teacher and a teacher of music as well, possessing "a fine musical talent." He devoted his life to teach- ing. He was a Universalist in religion. Al- though an ardent Whig, he never interested him- self in active politics and never held public office.

The children of Isaiah Leach and Eliza Kelly were seven in number, five of whom were living at the time of his death in 1837. A few weeks after his death the widow with her five children left for Wilkes-Barre, where lay the estate of her grandfather, Captain Wigton, and to one-fourth of which she was the legal heir. Here she lived until her death, in 1878, a woman whose nobility of character, gentle disposition and kind heart have become a sacred memory. One old lady has often said of her: "I never heard grandmother Leach say a single unkind word of any living per- son in all the years I knew her." The family ar- 33

rived in Wilkes-Barre on the first day of May, 1837, coming by packet as far as Nanticoke and from there to their destination in a Concord coach driven by John Rainow. They stopped at the Black Horse Hotel, kept by Archippus Par- rish, for two days, until they could find a home, and then moved into a house owned by Joseph Slocum, corner of North Main and North streets, where they lived for eleven years.

George W. Leach, the eldest of the boys, was at this time thirteen years, and it was necessary for him to help provide for the young family. For the first year he was mainly employed by J. J. Dennis and attended school during the winter. Following this he started to learn the carpenter's trade with Washington Oliver, but was not ro- bust enough to keep at it. Not to be daunted he went to Adam Behee with an idea of taking up blacksmithing. Mr. Behee soon convinced him that this work was beyond his strength, and he went to Marcus B. Hammer to become a cabinet maker remaining with him four years. Owing to an accident he was unable to do cabinet work and spent most of the time at finishing. Following this he went into C. B. Fisher's store, and April 1, 1846, started for Pottsville, where he remained two years as a painter, at which he had become proficient while working in Hammer's shop. The sign writer for Bowen & Malloy, of Pottsville, noticing the lettering on Mr. Leach's trunk, ad- vised him to quit house painting and become a let- terer. Years afterward ( 1875) a prominent sign writer and decorator of Philadelphia said to the- writer: "I would like to know Mr. Leach for- his roman lettering is the finest I have ever seen."

From Pottsville a trip as far west as Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, without presenting any ad- vantageous opening, was taken, and he returned' to Wilkes-Barre, where he immediately went into the painting business, his first job being the Bap- tist church. Sometime during the second year as a painter Mr. Leach bought a machine and the patent therefor for making sash and blinds by foot power. Foot power proving inadequate, horse power was tried, but as it was impossible to control the speed it had to be discarded. An- other and later machine was purchased, which was eventually sold to Stetler and Easterline. Mr. Leach was, however, the first manufacturer of sash and blinds by machinery in Luzerne county. During this time Mr. Leach had kept up his busi- ness as a painter. About 1851 Easterline and Wilson, who had succeeded William C. Gilder- sleeve as dealer in general merchandise, made a· proposition to sell their stock of wall paper to; Mr. Leach, which was accepted, and the wall?

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paper and painting business was carried on from that time until his retirement in 1901, terminating an active and honorable mercantile career of over fifty years.

Mr. Leach cast his first vote for Henry Clay, and has been a consistent Republican ever since without any political aspirations. Brought up in the faith of his parents. Universalism, his creed has been one of liberality and charity tinctured with enough Presbyterianism, an inheritance from his Puritan ancestors, to lead his children into that faith. An early and lifelong believer in tem- perance he was, as early as 1844, a member of the Sons of Temperance.

Mr. Leach married, at. Wilkes-Barre, Penn- sylvania, March 31, 1850, Mary Van Loon, born at Plymouth, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1828, daugh- ter of Thomas and Susannah (McKeel) Van Loon. Their children, all horn at Wilkes-Barre, are as follows: Edward Russell, died in infancy. George W., Jr., an artist, married, August 24, 1880, Mary J. Cary, born January 17, 1859, New York city, died October 30, 1886, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Their children are: Bessie Lin- wood, John Horton, Helen Bradley. Frank Van Loon, a bookkeeper with I. C. S. Scranton, Penn- sylvania, married, June 22, 1881, Ella G. Hand, born July, 1859, at Providence, Pennsylvania, died March 14, 1904, Elmhurst, Pennsylvania. Their children are: Arthur Lloyd, Jessie Alice, Marion Linwood, Lois Starr. Mary, a teacher. Jessie Fremont. Nellie Keith, a teacher. Isaiah M., a contractor and builder. Stella Dorrance, married, August 29, 1895, Albert H. Welles, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, at present time (1906) principal of Scranton high school. Al- bert H. Welles is grandson of the Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, a sketch and portrait of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Welles has one child, Anna Hunt Welles. Silas, died in in- fancy. Eva Herbert.

Mr. Leach has two brothers living at the pres- ent time '(1906) : Oliver, of Wilkes-Barre, born September 25, 1827. Isaiah Musgrave, of Oak- land, California, born November 5, 1829. Silas Leach, a younger brother, born April 16, 1836, died at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, June 2. 1902. H. E. H.

WILLIAM WHYTE HALL, a promi- nent and public-spirited citizen of Pittston, Pennsylvania, and one who has done much to further the interests and improvements in that town, traces his ancestry back to Eng- land. being a representative of the fifth gen- eration in this country.

(I) Theodore Hall, the pioneer ancestor of this branch of the Hall family, came with his brother, Jacob Hall, at an early age from England to America. It is not definitely known whether they were accompanied by their parents or not. They settled in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Theodore for a number of years con- ducted a grist mill, and later removed up the Delaware river and settled in Kingwood on the east bank of the river, nearly opposite Blacks Eddy. The mill owned and conduct- ed by Theodore Hall was located on the op- posite side of the river. In going to and fro between his home and the mill he was obliged to cross this stream, which could generally. be done with safety. One day, however, the river was swollen by a freshet, and as Theo- dore, with his son Samuel, was about to bring back the canoe this was upset near the Penn- sylvania shore, and Theodore was drowned. Samuel managed to swim to the short. While living near Philadelphia he became acquaint- ed with Gertrude Gooden, born near the Rari- tan river, in Middlesex county, New Jersey, in 1710, whom he married in 1729. After the death of her husband Gertrude (Gooden) Hall married again and was again left a widow. By this second marriage she had no children. She died in 1809, at the age of ninety-nine years and nine months. Mr. and Mrs. Theo- dore Hall had nine children, who all attained maturity.

(II) Jesse Hall, fifth son of Theodore (I) and Gertrude (Gooden) Hall, was born in the year 1752, and grew to manhood in King- wood township, Hunterdon county, New Jer- sey, whither his parents removed in 1759, when he was about seven years old. He mar- ried, December, 1779, Elizabeth Heath, daugh- ter of Andrew and Magdalena Heath, of Am- well township, the former having died during the Revolutionary war. Jesse and Elizabeth Hall continued to live in Kingwood after their marriage, and it was at that place that their children were born, namely: I. Goodwin,

born August 12, 1780, married Elizabeth Tem- ple, of Kingwood, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. He died in New York City, April, 1848, at the age of sixty-eight years, and his wife died April 5, 1856. 2. An- drew. December 29. 1781, died May 20, 1832; married Amelia Palmer, of Vermont, who died in December, 1831, aged fifty-three years. 3. Jesse, October 20. 1783. 4. Sarah,

City Hall

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March 20, 1785 removed to the city of New York, in 1828, married Edward Larre, :a native of England, with whom she moved to Burlington, New Jersey, where he died in November, 1836, his death being occasioned by being thrown from a wagon, the horses taking fright and running away. 5. Heath, November 17, 1788, died in New York City, March 30, 1854 : his wife, Katherine Hall, died October I, 1865, aged eighty-four years. 6. John, April 25, 1791, married Elizabeth Sausman, of Sussex county, and had ten chil- dren. 7. Asa, of whom later.

(III) Asa Hall, son of Jesse (II) and Eliza- beth (Heath) Hall, was born June 30, 1795. While yet a lad he came to New York City and learned the trade of a hatter with his brother, Andrew Hall, which business he con- tinued for the residue of his life. At the time of his death, which occurred May 23, 1849, Mr. Hall was considered one of the wealthy men of his community, having been extremely successful in his business. He married, in 1818. Catherine Sausman, of Sussex county, New Jersey, sister of Elizabeth Sausman, wife of his brother John, and had ten sons and three daughters, among whom was Asa, men- tioned hereafter.

(IV) Asa Hall, son of Asa (III) and Catherine (Sausman) Hall, was born in New York City, 1837. He married Fannie Ford, of Long Branch, New Jersey, and they had eight children: I. Arline, deceased. 2. Har- riet. 3. Asa. 4. William Whyte, of whom later. 5. Louis. 6. Lillian, died in infancy. 7. Alice ; and 8. Ethel.

(V) William Whyte Hall, second son and fourth child of ' Asa (IV) and Fannie (Ford) Hall, was born in Brooklyn, New York, Au- gust 4. 1878, and, was named after Major William Edward Whyte, of West Pittston, Pennsylvania.

Major William Edward Whyte was born in Wales, May 17, 1826, and after receiving a common school education, entered upon a sea- faring life. For thirteen years he followed the sea, making voyages to all quarters of the globe and gaining much useful and varied in- formation. In 1855 he emigrated to America and settled in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in business. Later he re- moved to West Pittston, where he resided un- til his death, which occurred in 1888. In 1867 Major Whyte, accompanied by his wife and 'one of her brothers, made an extended tour

of Europe, visiting England, France, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Upon his return he wrote a book, "O'er the Atlantic," which described this trip in a very interesting and entertaining manner. He also took a great interest in local affairs, and wrote a history of Luzerne county in 1876, which he revised in 1886.

William Whyte Hall lived in Brooklyn until the age of ten years, attending the pub- lic schools of that city until the death of Major Whyte in 1888, when he came to West Pitts- ton, Pennsylvania, and resided with the ma- jor's widow, who was his aunt (being the sis- ter of his father, Asa Hall,) and continued his studies in the schools of that borough, and at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania. Later he attended the School of Law of Co- lumbia University, New York City. Upon his admission to the bar of Luzerne county, March 17, 1902, he began the practice of law in that place, opening an office in the city of Pittston, and was admitted subsequently to the supreme court of Pennsylvania, April II, 1904. He became associated in the practice of law with A. J. Barber, of Pittston, and has been active in a number of enterprises. He. together with Mr. Barber, was instrumental in building the beautiful new Broad Street Theater, in Pittston, a building of which the city had long been in need. It was also due to his efforts that the Union Savings & Trust Company of Pittston was organized, and the People's Savings and Trust Company of Ha- zleton is another organization furthered by him. Soon after his admission to the bar he was elected as attorney for the borough of West Pittston, his home town, and rendered efficient service in that capacity. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member and vestryman of Trinity Episcopal Church, of West Pittston, with which his wife is also connected. He is a member of Valley Lodge, No. 499, Free and Accepted Masons, of Pitts- ton. Mr. Hall married, July 6, 1899, Isabelle L. Miller, daughter of Kennard Stark and Delna (Worden) Miller, of Pittston and Fac- toryville, respectively, and they had one child which died in infancy.

A. J. COOPER. One of Duryea's sub- stantial and respected citizens, and a man whose skill and genius have contributed large- ly to the production of anthracite coal, is A. J. Cooper, a son of Joseph and Hannah Coop- er, natives of England. Their family con-

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sisted of three sons: A. J., mentioned here- after, and two who died in infancy. After the death of the mother Mr. Cooper and his son emigrated to the United States and settled at Pittston, where the father of the family en- gaged in agricultural pursuits.

A. J. Cooper, son of Joseph and Hannah Cooper, was born October 14, 1853, in Glous- tershire, in Chipping Sudbury, England, and in 1871 accompanied his father to the United States. In Pittston, where they made their home, he learned the blackskmith's trade, at which he continued to work until 1884. He then established himself in business as a man- ufacturer of mining machinery, and now con- ducts a thriving and extensive trade. The superiority of his workmanship so commends itself to the miners as to cause a demand throughout a large portion of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys. In addition to his mechanical genius Mr. Cooper's inherited ten- dency toward agricultural pursuits has caused him to feel a special interest in one branch thereof, and he maintains as a source of both profit and pleasure some of the finest pens of poultry in his section of the valley. In these pens can be seen various strains, the owner's favorite being the "Exhibition Barred Rock." These fowls command fancy prices and are always in demand. Mr. Cooper mar- ried, August 2, 1882, Hattie E. Marcy, and they are the parents of one child, Nellie I., born May 15, 1883.

Mrs. Cooper belongs to one of the pioneer families of the Wyoming valley. Her great- grandfather, Ebenezer Marcy, was born in 1741, in Connecticut, and before the Revolu- tionary war made his home in this, one of the most beautiful regions of Pennsylvania. About the time of the Wyoming massacre he and his wife, alarmed by the hostility of the Indians, decided to return to their old home. They had gone but a few days' journey eastward when a girl baby was born to them, who was named by the grateful parents Thankful. By the time they were ready to resume their journey, the Indians having assumed a less hostile at- titude, they retraced their steps and again took up their abode in their home in the Wyo- ming valley. Two years later, in 1780, a son, Ebenezer, was born. This son was the father of Joseph Marcy, who was born in 1818, and married Ellen D. Helme. They were the par- ents of a daughter, Hattie E., who became the wife of A. J. Cooper, as mentioned above. A

large tract of land, including a part of what is now Duryea borough, was owned by the Marcy family, and it was in honor of them that Marcy township received its name. The fam- ily has been represented in many offices of trust and responsibility.

MOSES COOLBAUGH, one of the most prominent and prosperous citizens of Pitts- ton, Pennsylvania, has had a financial and commercial career which is well worth re- cording.

John V. Coolbaugh, father of Moses Cool- baugh, was a farmer and large land owner on the Delaware river near Easton, Pennsylva- nia. He was a firm adherent of the Demo- cratic party until the time of the Civil war, when he entered the Republican ranks and remained in them until he died. His religious. faith was Presbyterian. He married Mary Ellenberger, daughter of Andrew Ellenberger, and they had eleven children: I. Elizabeth, married Charles Peters, deceased ; she resides. in Bushkill, Pike county, Pennsylvania. 2. Andrew J., died at Willow Glenn, Penn- sylvania, on the homestead. 3. Abraham. Van Campen, died at Stroudsburg, Pennsyl- vania. 4. Sarah, deceased, married Darwin Martin, deceased. 5. Van Campen, died in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, married Clara Kendig, of Middletown. 6. Susan, married Daniel Peters, deceased ; she resides in Phil- adelphia. 7. Cornelia, single, resides in Bush- kill. 8. Margaret, married Luke W. Broad- head; both deceased .. 9. Moses, of whom. later. IO. Emma, married Rev. Charles Evan Allen ; residence in Middle Smithfield, Monroe county, Pennsylvania. II. James C., died 1885, in Middle Smithfield. Pennsyl- vania.

Moses Coolbaugh, fifth son and ninth child of John V. and Mary (Ellenberger) Cool- baugh, was born November 12, 1841, near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. His early years. were spent at Willow Glenn, where he re- ceived his education in the public schools. While still very young he began work on his father's farm, and followed the occupation of a farmer for about thirty years. He then en- tered the employ of the Pennsylvania Coal Company at Plains, Pennsylvania, acting as superintendent for a period of eight years. At the end of this time he established himself in business in Pittston, Pennsylvania, where he opened a large grocery store, which he

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carried on with great success for many years. Having amassed a large fortune by his va- rious business undertakings, he retired to pri- vate life. Part of his time is spent in Pitts- ton and part at Lake Carey, where he has a beautiful and commodious cottage on the shores of the lake. Mr. Coolbaugh is an en- thusiastic sportsman and spends a large part of his time in fishing and hunting expeditions. In 1903 he made a trip to California, where he spent more than three months in his fa- vorite pastimes. He. is president of the Stark Land Company of Moosic, Pennsylvania, a company named after its organizer, John M. Stark, father-in-law of Mr. Coolbaugh. Mr. Coolbaugh's political affiliations are Repub- lican, and he has been repeatedly offered the mayoralty of the town, but does not care to hold political office. His religious belief is that of the Presbyterian Church.

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 96

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