USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Genealogical and personal history of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 29
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His first wife died December 6, 1856, and January 12, 1860, he
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married Encie E., daughter of Judge J. W. Maynard, to whom were born two sons, Peter and Henry, both still living.
He induced the Philadelphia & Erie Railway Company to move their passenger station to a plat of ground he gave them, nearly a mile west of the old one. He built several fine houses on Fourth street and close to the station, the Herdic hotel, now the Park hotel. Blocks of buildings sprang up as if by magic, street railways, paving jobs, manu- factories, gas companies, water-works, banks and stores soon followed in the triumphant march. Everywhere he was the busy, mysterious, the energetic, the wonderful Peter Herdic. He was instrumental in obtaining a city charter. In the autumn of 1869 he was elected mayor of Williamsport, and he pushed many of his speculative operations with great vigor and sagacity. He acquired over fifty-four thousand acres in Lycoming, Potter and Cameron counties, of which twenty-one thou- sand are still supposed to contain valuable coal deposits. He built at his own expense the Trinity Protestant Episcopal church, and donated it to the society.
Everything went well until the panic of 1878, when he threw his every energy into his business, but fate had marked his course, and he finally passed through bankruptcy in that year. But he again revived, and in a few years was extensively engaged in many paying enterprises and during his last year was engaged in erecting water-works systems at Selinsgrove, Huntingdon, Cairo, Florida and other sections. He was a very generous-hearted, benevolent man, and naturally greatly mourned by this part of the state. He died as the result of an accident February 2, 1888, by slipping on the ice and falling down an embank- ment, receiving concussion of the head, from which he died within a month. Upon his funeral day most of the business places closed and great sorrow prevailed.
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Frank L. Herdic, nephew of Peter Herdic, born April 18, 1843, at Eddytown, New York, on the shores of Seneca Lake, is the son of Jacob Herdic, who soon after the birth of Frank removed to Addison, New York, where he reared a family of three sons, Frank, James and Charles, and one daughter, Evilin. Jacob Herdic's wife was the second daughter of Thomas Philips of Addison, who, in company with General Rathbone, navigated the Canisteo River in a flat-boat from Elmira at an early day and bought lands on which Addison and Rathboneville now stands of the Indians. Thomas Philips was of old English stock, and a direct heir to the great Jennings estate of England, which millions have been spent in trying to get, but owing to an extracted will having been cut from the parish records the legal line was broken and could not be connected.
Frank L. Herdic worked with his brother James on his father's farm at Addison until he reached the age of eighteen years, and when the Civil war broke out, he being of a restless nature, went to the front as a sutler and saw much of the excitement of that day.
Before he went to the army service he married Miss Kingkade of Courtland county, New York, and his children consisted of one son and one daughter, Carl Herdic, of the firm of McCormick and Herdic, insurance agents at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and Miss Belle Herdic, now the wife of S. T. McCormick, an attorney of Williamsport.
In his way Mr. Herdic was a remarkable man. Jolly and good- natured, he gained many friends and is known from one end of the land to another as one of the best pool auctioneers of his time. He made several fortunes, but being fond of the best things earth affords he lived well and enjoyed life. He has had experience in many lines of work, from an expert base-ball pitcher to the handling of the Krause Herdic Lumber Mill. He then took a forty thousand dollar interest in
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a Texas cattle ranch and when the stock began to die he sold out and invested the proceeds in lands that later on advanced in value, placing him above the losses sustained on the cattle ranch venture. His gen- erous nature could not bear to see another in distress, and many a hungry man has been made happy by him. In his younger days he was an all- round athlete and generally excelled in that line. As a base-ball player he stood "at the head of the class." He was also an expert at billiards and other games. He was the pitcher for the Williamsport club in 1865, '66, and '67, losing but one game during the time. At that date the game was all social and not professional, as at present. Very elaborate gatherings and banquets were held in conjunction with base-ball games.
About 1900 Mr. Herdic was caught between two passing street cars in Baltimore, Maryland, and rolled between the steps the entire length of the cars in only an eight-inch space. This left him on the verge of death, but after one year, more or less suffering from the effects of the accident, he recovered in a measure his usual strength and continued his business with renewed vigor. He is a lavish entertainer and counts his friends by the one name-legion. He is now, 1905, in his sixty-second year and enjoying fairly good health for one of his years and varied experiences.
James P. Herdic, nephew of Peter Herdic, and son of Jacob Herdic, was born at Addison, Steuben county, New York, November 10, 1844. He resided in his native county until he reached the age of twenty years, attending school for a short period, then was set to work on his father's farm and doing odd jobs at team work. At the age of sixteen he took a position in the Erie Railroad depot, handling freight, express and baggage. He was very rugged and athletic, and frequently aston- ished his nearest friends at feats at lifting and handling heavy freight. At one time he threw into an express car five tons of butter in firkins
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and tubs in six and a half minutes. He handed them into the open car door and four men packed them away as they were rolled to him on the platform of the depot by two other men. The butter was piled on the platform at the arrival of the east express train that took it to New York city, and had to be loaded while the train waited. This was con- sidered a remarkable feat. After three years' service in the warehouse he learned telegraphy, and was taken into the office to telegraph and sell tickets, which he did for a year, when he was called to .Williams- port, Pennsylvania, by his uncle, Peter Herdic, and given charge of the line of cars and lumber of the West Branch Lumber Company, which position he held fourteen years, when the railroad company bought up the independent line and Mr. Herdic went to Michigan and engaged in lumbering with S. H. Gray, at Big Rapids. Holding his interest in the firm, he came east and engaged in the lumber business by erecting a mill at Roaring Branch and cutting off a large tract of hemlock, selling the bark to the tannery and shipping the lumber to the general market places. He also operated the Beaver Mills in company with A. W. Curtis. He ran the Roaring Branch Mill one year and sold to Col. Mosser. He then organized a company to handle the Herdic coach lines from Salt Lake City to Maine, covering the entire distance in the three years he was on the road. The coach was James P. Herdic's idea, but was put in financial shape by Peter Herdic and made in Philadelphia. The Herdic Cab & Coach Lines proved very profitable and made a good start towards renewing Peter Herdic's second fortune. When James, in connection with his Uncle Peter, took up the building of the water- works system they began at Cairo, Illinois, in 1886, and their work in- cluded Orlando, Florida. Upon the death of his uncle he took up the management of the same line of work in connection with the sale of lots of the Maynard farm in the city of Williamsport, which line he still
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follows. His work extends to all parts of the nation and his peculiar system of crossing rivers, with large and small pipe lines, has made him famous. In 1904 he combined the Electric Light and Gas plants of Bristol, Tennessee, with the street railway line and the large power plant and water works in one company. He installed a twelve hundred horse power plant eleven miles east of Bristol by damming the river and tun- neling through a hill eight hundred feet to the same river, on its return, thus obtaining a fall of twenty-seven feet. By this turbine wheel power the street railway and electric light plants are operated, and the balance of the power (900 horse power) is sold to Bristol at fifty dollars per horse power. The stock and bonds of this company reach one million five hundred thousand dollars. On an average Mr. Herdic has con- structed four water-works plants each year for several years. He leases and operates the Canton, Pennsylvania, water-works, and has since 1890, besides being secretary and director of the Cairo Water Company, of Cairo, Illinois.
Mr. Herdic was married on the day that Garfield was shot, July 2, 1881. His wife was the daughter of James Jeffries, formerly of West Chester, Pennsylvania, but later of Lock Haven and the widow of the late Colonel Barrows. After taking up his residence on Fourth street, Williamsport, the Pennsylvania Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was organized by Mrs. Herdic, who, like Mr. Herdic, was very humane, and with Mrs. Herdic as secretary, the society grew to be a strong factor in this part of the state and proved a terror to evil doers. Mrs. Herdic proved herself to be a most efficient officer, manag- ing the legal and financial points, as well as the general direction of all arrests and punishments of law violators in that special line. She raised a thousand dollar fund for the erection of a memorial in Vally- mont Park to commemorate the memory of the former president of the.
4.
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society of cruelty to animals. She also secured by subscription five hun- dred dollars, and purchased the city ambulance, a greatly needed article.
Mr. Herdic is a true lover of justice and always takes sides with the weak and helpless, but is an avowed enemy to the cruel and selfish. He is ever prompt in his obligations, financially or otherwise. He is kind- hearted, sympathetic and charitable toward the needy and unfortunate. 1 At sixty years of age he shows as much vigor of body and mind as one half his age. At this time he is promoting several large light and water plants in various parts of the United States, with the same strength and enterprise as of former, earlier years. Having been a temperate man, he has at his three score years a well-preserved body and mind.
N. ROBERT HUBBARD.
N. Robert Hubbard, D. D. S., of Williamsport, has been a resident of the city since the autumn of 1882. He was born in Russell, Massa- chusetts, July 12, 1859, the son of William Henry and Sarah Perkins Hubbard, who were both natives of the same place. His father was a soldier in the great Civil war, a member of the Thirty-fourth Massa- chusetts Regiment, and died in the hospital at Alexandria, Virginia. N. Robert Hubbard was reared in Springfield, Massachusetts, receiving a good common school education and subsequently studied dentistry under two preceptors; took a course at the Philadelphia Dental College in 1881; and graduated from the University of Maryland in 1889. The practice of his profession began at Springfield, Massachusetts, and in the fall of 1882 he came to Williamsport, associating himself with Dr. Mundy until 1885, at which date he established his present office and has ever since held an extensive practice.
In June, 1888, Mr. Hubbard was married to Miss Lizzie, daughter
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of John J. Everett and wife, of Lock Haven. By this union the fol- lowing children have been born to them: Margaret Ethel, born February 5, 1892; Sarah Esther, born May 1, 1893; and Dorothy Elizabeth, born December 28, 1898.
He is a member of Lodge No. 106, F. and A. M .; Lycoming Chap- ter, No. 222, R. A. M .; Baldwin II Commandery No. 22, K. T .; Will- iamsport Consistory of S. P. R. S. Thirty-second degree, Irem Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. While not an old resident of Williamsport, both he and his interesting family have won a firm place in the respect and esteem of a large circle of admirers and in a professional way he is greatly appreciated for his knowledge, skill, and care of each case to the minute detail.
PARSONS FAMILY.
(I) Judge Anson V. Parsons, ancestor of the Williamsport Parsons, was born in Granville, Massachusetts, in 1798. He entered the Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, from which he graduated with high honors. After spending some time in the law office of Andrew Porter at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1824 he located at Jersey Shore, Ly- coming county, Pennsylvania, where he opened the first law office of that place. Here he built up a large practice. No one at the Williams- port bar could gain and hold the attention of a jury more successfully than Mr. Parsons. His arguments were masterpieces. January 22, 1843, he was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth by Governor Porter, serving until February 16, 1844. Later on he was elected state senator, but before the expiration of his term he was appointed president judge of the judicial district composed of Dauphin, Lebanon, and Schuyl- kill counties. He was afterward associate judge of the court of common pleas in Philadelphia, and at the close of this term resumed his practice
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in Williamsport. He was the author of "Parsons' Equity Cases "-a two-volume work of much professional value.
Judge Parsons married Mary, daughter of James Hepburn and wife of Northumberland county. She died in 1853. He died in Phila- delphia, September, 1882.
HON. HENRY C. PARSONS.
Among the distinguished dead of the city of Williamsport, he whose name heads this sketch is certainly entitled to place in this connection. Hon. Henry C. Parsons, lawyer and president of the West Branch National Bank, was born February 10, 1834, at Jersey Shore, Pennsyl- vania, son of Anson V. Parsons. He descended from a highly respected New England family, dating back to the early settlement of this country, of which many members have sustained the fair name and kept sacred the family traits of manly character. He removed with his parents to Williamsport, when but a few months of age. He was educated for college in the high school of this city. In 1851 he entered the sophomore class of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, from which he was graduated in 1854. His tastes and opportunities led him to embrace the profession of law, and after a thorough course of study in the office of his father, then practicing in Philadelphia, he was admitted to the bar in 1857. He returned to his native county in the fall of that year, and opened a law office in Williamsport, where he practiced until his death.
In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil war period, he enlisted and served as sergeant of Company " A," Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and in 1864 he made a second campaign as captain of Company "B," One Hundred and Fifteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers. In 1873-1874,
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a member of the Constitution Convention of Pennsylvania, an honor he shared with the most distinguished talent of the state. In 1881 he was elected mayor of Williamsport, and his administration, covering the years 1882 and 1883, was marked by a business-like conduct of the city's affairs. When he left the office of mayor he carried with him the thanks and best wishes of his fellow-citizens, irrespective of party lines. In 1882 he was chosen the president of the West Branch Bank of Will- iamsport, and vice-president of the Savings Institution of the same city. Mr. Parsons was a hearty supporter of the Republican party and took deep interest in Reno Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He was a vestryman at the Christ church.
He was married October 15, 1865, to Martha, daughter of Dr. William Hepburn, an esteemed, now deceased physician. To this union were born five children : I. Elizabeth H .; 2. Frank, married and had a daughter named Marion H .; 3. John R .; 4. Hepburn ; 5. Henry C., edu- cated at private schools and preparatory school at Lawrenceville, gradu- ating from Princeton College with the class of 1898. He was admitted to the bar October, 1901, and now is an attorney at Williamsport. Mr. Parsons passed from earthly scenes November 21, 1898.
JOHN HANCOCK WATSON.
No name is more intimately associated with the most important interests of Lycoming county than the patronymic borne by John Han- cock Watson, of Williamsport. The family of which Mr. Watson is a representative was founded in America by an ancestor who emigrated from county Donegal, Ireland, presumably at some period in our colonial history.
William Watson was born January 12, 1772, and married Jane, born
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October 8, 1784, daughter of William McMeens and sister of Colonel John McMeens, an early and prominent settler on the "Long Reach " of the West Branch, a few miles west of Williamsport. He was a man of great energy and untiring industry. When a young man his educational opportunities were limited, but in after life he succeeded in supplying their deficiencies. He was one of the county commissioners in 1808, and in 1809 was appointed a state commissioner with Jabez Hyde. of Luzerne county and Samuel Hunter Wilson of Centre county, to super- intend the disbursement of an appropriation made by the legislature to improve the navigation of the Susquehanna river to its mouth. In 1814 and 1818 he was chosen a member of assembly from this district. Gov- ernor Snyder appointed him a justice of the peace and he filled the office creditably. His wife was a Ritchey, and they had three sons : Robert, John and William; and four daughters : Margaret, Elizabeth, Anna and Rosina. Of the sons, Robert became a surgeon in the United States Navy; John emigrated to California and died there; William died in this county. Elizabeth married Dr. Andrew Hepburn, of Williamsport: Anna married Dr. Massey, who died in Kansas; and Rosina and Mar- garet died unmarried. Colonel McMeens was buried at Newberry.
William Watson and Jane McMeens were married March 17, 1803, and the following children were born to them: I. John, born January 21, 1804, died February 1, 1804. 2. John (second), born April 1, 1805, died November 7, 1870. 3. William Washington, born February 15, 1807, died March 25, 1866. 4. James Smiley, born August 13, 1809, died September 9, 1869. 5. Oliver, mentioned at length hereinafter. 6. Sherron, born May 7, 1814, died in Illinois. 7. Mary, born December 29, 1816, died September 29, 1867. 8. Thomas Wood, born August 11. 1819, is still living. 9. David, born March 4, 1821, died about 1850. IO. Stephen, born March 20, 1825, died June 21, 1879. II. Elizabethi,
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born June 17, 1829, died June 23, 1848. Mrs. Watson, the mother of this large family, died February 23, 1846, and her husband survived her ten years, passing away February 17, 1856, at the advanced age of eighty- four.
Oliver Watson, fifth child of William and Jane ( McMeens) Wat- son, was born November 10, 1811, on Lycoming Creek, Loyalsock town- ship, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and at the age of eight years be- came a member of the household of his uncle, William McMeens. In 1826 the family moved to the forks of Pine Creek, where the village of Waterville now stands, and there Mr. Watson remained until 1830, when he entered the service of James Stewart for the purpose of learning the blacksmith's trade. At the end of two years he returned to Pine Creek and attended school for some time, seeking to supply the educational de- ficiencies caused by the limited opportunities of his earlier years. Such was his success that in 1834 he took charge of a school held in a building on the farm of Henry Tomb. He was then induced by the Honorables George Crawford, John Cook and John Gallagher to take charge of a school near the residence of Mr. Crawford, where he taught until 1836. Mr. Crawford advised him to study law, and in pursuance of this counsel he went to Williamsport and entered the office of the Honorable James Armstrong. He made rapid progress in his legal studies, and was ad- mitted to the bar of Lycoming county in 1837. During the time he was reading law he served as clerk in the office of the county commis- sioners, but resigned that office in 1838 to accept the appointment of county treasurer, which office he filled in an efficient and creditable man- ner for three years. In 1841 Mr. Watson entered into partnership with the Honorable John W. Maynard, and the law firm of Maynard & Wat- son was continued for seven years, during which time it attained a wide celebrity. In 1848 Mr. Watson retired from the firm and associated with
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himself A. J. Little. This connection was maintained for two years, when Mr. Little retired, and Mr. Watson practiced alone until 1856. He was then elected president of the West Branch Bank, an office which he held to the close of his life.
In addition to the many other positions occupied by Mr. Watson he served for nearly thirty years as president of the Market Street Bridge Company. He dealt extensively in wild lands, and at the time of his death owned several fine farms. Mr. Watson was a successful business man, an able lawyer, and a sound financier, and acquired through the passing years a handsome competence. He was a staunch Democrat, but took no active interest in political affairs. For over fifty years he held the office of vestryman in Trinity Protestant Episcopal church, of which he had been one of the founders.
Mr. Watson married, November 16, 1843, Marietta, daughter of the Honorable David Scott, of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, president of the first board of state canal commissioners, and president judge of Dau- phin county three years and Luzerne county nineteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Watson were the parents of the following children : I. William Scott, who married Elizabeth A. Wyckoff, of Clinton, New Jersey, and has five children : Marietta, who married C. B. Hazard, of Washington, District of Columbia, and has one son and two daughters; Elizabeth, who married Frank Parsons, of Williamsport, became the mother of one daughter, and is now deceased; Emma, who, after the death of her sister Elizabeth, became the wife of Frank Parsons, mentioned above; Cath- erine Scott, who married Charles Dougle, of Lock Haven; and William Scott, who served in Company G, Twelfth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, during the Spanish war, and is now a student at Lehigh University. 2. Oliver, who married Ella Porter, and has no children. 3. Mary Jane, who is the widow of Charles Rawl and has two children,
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James and Juliette. 4. Emma, who is the widow of Charles Jones, M. D., and has one son, Charles. 5. Thomas, who now lives in Porto Rico, is married and has one child. 6. John Hancock, mentioned at length hereinafter.
Mr. Watson for some years prior to his death endured the great affliction of almost total blindness and his extensive business interests were cared for by his devoted wife. He died at his home September I, 1882, at the age of seventy-one. It was felt that the entire community had sustained a loss, and the sympathies of all went out to his bereaved family. One of the many tributes to his memory was the naming of a township in his honor.
John Hancock Watson, fifth child of Oliver and Marietta (Scott) Watson, was born in Williamsport, where he attended the public schools. The time arriving for him to choose an occupation, he went to Renovo, Pennsylvania, and there learned the machinist's trade with the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company. He had followed this trade for nearly four years, when the death of his father obliged him to return to Williams- port in order to take charge of the estate. He has never since been engaged in active business, his time having been fully occupied in managing the property left by his father. He has been elected director in the bank of which his father was president for so many years.
Mr. Watson is a Thirty-second degree Mason, affiliating with Lodge, No. 106, F. and A. M. He belongs to Lycoming Chapter, Adoniram Council, Baldwin Second Commandery, the Scottish Rite Masons, of Williamsport, and Lu Lu Temple A. A. O. N. M. S., of Philadelphia.
Jack. Brown
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LYCOMING NATIONAL BANK.
This banking house was chartered in March, 1875, succeeding the Lycoming County Savings Bank, organized in 1871. The first board of directors of the Lycoming National Bank was as follows: George Bubb, J. Henry Cochran, Thomas Tozier, J. P. Finley, Adam Follmer, John B. Coryell, A. S. Young, James McConkey, E. G. Fay, David Trainer, H. C. McCormick. The officers were: George Bubb, presi- dent; Charles Gleim, cashier ; R. Ray Smith, teller ; H. C. McCormick, solicitor.
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