USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania; also containing a separate account of the several boroughs and townships in the county, with biographical sketches > Part 36
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 1
sixteen children, and he served for three terms as a member of the board of commissioners of Columbia county.
George W. Miller grew to manhood on his father's farm. He was educated in the public schools and at Greenwood Seminary, near Bloomsburg. Later he pursued a course of study at Lowell's Commercial Col- lege, Binghampton, N. Y.
After teaching school for several terms, he came to Weatherly in 1869, entering the employ of J. G. Eadie as a clerk, and so continuing for a period of ten years. He then purchased the general store which had pre- viously been conducted jointly by Edward Wilson and Edward and Samuel Harleman, in Oak Hall. Three years subsequently he erected a large, modern brick building for the accommodation of his growing busi- ness, gaining a larger patronage than any other mer- chant in the town. In 1904 the Miller Store Company was organized. Mr. Miller is a member of this com- pany, which continues the business he founded.
Aside from this, he has always retained a fondness for agricultural pursuits, and he owns several acres of land on the western verge of the borough which he has under high cultivation, growing truck and small fruits with splendid success.
He has held various offices in the gift of the people of Weatherly, and he served for the term of three years as a member of the directorate of the Middle Coal Field Poor District.
On October 8, 1873, he was married to Sarah, the daughter of Philip Ginter. Her great-grandfather dis- covered coal at Summit Hill in the year 1791. She died in 1894, and on October 8, 1895, Mr. Miller wedded Huldah Gerhard.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
He is a supporter of the principles of Democracy, and is identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the Free and Accepted Masons, being also a member of the Presbyterian church.
Morgan, Morgan 0., general inside foreman of the mines in the Nesquehoning district, is the son of Mor- gan D. and Mary (Price) Morgan, natives of Merthyr Tidvil, Wales.
His parents came to America in 1857, first locating at Ashland, Schuylkill county, Pa. Soon thereafter the family removed to Summit Hill, where the father was killed in the mines in 1861.
Morgan O. Morgan was born at Summit Hill on Oc- tober 7, 1861, becoming a breadwinner in the capacity of a slate picker at the age of eight years. His life since then has been spent in and about the mines of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.
Coming to Nesquehoning in 1887, he was appointed as a mine foreman in 1893. He has held his present position since 1907. Mr. Morgan is recognized as one of the leading practical authorities on mining in this portion of the coal region, and his youthful appearance would scarcely indicate that his experience covers a period of more than forty years.
In 1879 he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Jenkin E. Jenkins, of Summit Hill. Their children are: John, George, Jane, wife of Roy Stowell, of Harris- burg, Pa .; Morgan D., Adella, wife of Roy Reich, of Summit Hill; Stanley and Edith.
Anna, their first-born, died in 1906, at the age of twenty-five. She was a graduate of Kutztown State Normal School, and of the Neff College of Oratory. She was a school teacher and was a talented elocution- ist.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
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Mr. Morgan has taken an active interest in politics, and is well-known in Republican circles, being now a member of the county executive committee of that party. He served for six years as a member of the Mauch Chunk township school board, and was elected for a single term as a member of the board of auditors of the Middle Coal Field Poor District.
Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.
Morthimer, George W., owner and publisher of the Evening Leader, the only daily newspaper published in Lehighton, is a son of the late Harry Vernon Morthi- mer, who for many years was one of Carbon county's prominent journalists. The elder Morthimer was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 17, 1828, coming to the United States at the age of ten years, and locating in New York city. He began life as an assistant steward on a sailing vessel, in which capacity he traversed the seven seas. Returning to the city of his adoption, he entered the newspaper field, serving under Greeley on the New York Tribune and on other metropolitan papers. During the decade of the fifties he came to Mauch Chunk, where he married Elizabeth Williams, a daughter of George Williams.
At the breaking out of the Civil War, Mr. Morthimer enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, serving practically through the whole war as quartermaster sergeant. On the close of hostilities he returned to Mauch Chunk and worked on the Coal Gazette, after which he started a paper known as the Union Flag, a weekly, which was subsequently purchased by General Charles Albright and absorbed by the Gazette. Mr. Morthimer then filled positions as reporter and editor
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
on various publications in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and other towns in the coal regions. In association with George E. Boyle he launched a daily paper in Hazleton termed the Miners' Daily Advocate, which lived for a number of years. Returning to Carbon county he man- aged the Weekly News at Lehighton for a time, estab- lishing the Carbon Advocate in 1872, which paper he owned and published until 1902, when it was sold to P. M. Graul, the present owner.
Mr. Morthimer was the father of thirteen children, of whom the following survive: Harry, William, George, Thomas, Ralph, Melville and Jennie, who is the wife of John Lerch, of Cherryville, Pa.
George W. Morthimer was born April 2, 1866, at Mauch Chunk, and was educated in the schools of Le- highton, becoming a worker in his father's office at the age of ten years. At sixteen he had so far progressed as to warrant his father in placing him in practical charge of the Advocate.
Mr. Morthimer made two unsuccessful attempts to establish an evening journal in Lehighton. For about eighteen months he conducted the Truth, a small week- ly, at Lehighton, one of the features of which was his- torical and biographical sketches of local interest throughout Carbon county. It was absorbed by the Advocate.
The Evening Leader was established by Mr. Mor- thimer July 19, 1902, as a six-column daily, and in six months was enlarged to seven columns. This paper is newsy, well-edited and is popular as an advertising medium.
Mr. Morthimer is of Democratic persuasion, and has been prominent in the councils of his party for years. He was elected as auditor of Carbon county in 1893,
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. 1
and has served as secretary of the borough council of Lehighton and as a member of the school board.
In 1903 he was chosen burgess of Lehighton, while in 1909 he was returned to the same office without op- position. Mr. Morthimer was also assistant postmas- ter of Lehighton during Cleveland's first term.
He is a member of the Masonic order and of the Eagles, while he was one of the organizers of the Le- highton board of commerce.
On December 8, 1891, he was married to Margie I. Hunsinger, of Tremont, Schuylkill county. Guy V. Morthimer is the only offspring of their marriage. He is associated with his father in the conduct of the Leader.
Mulhearn, Dennis C., a Mauch Chunk merchant and a veteran of the Civil War, is the son of John and Annie (Sweeney) Mulhearn, both natives of Ireland, who emigrated to this country in 1835.
The subject of this sketch was born at Mauch Chunk on December 7, 1846, the third of a family of six chil- dren. He early left school to become a slate picker on the breaker at Hacklebernie, later becoming a boatman on the Lehigh Canal.
In 1863 he ran away from home and joined Company E, Thirty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, becoming a drummer boy.
Being discharged from the service at the solicitation of his parents, he re-enlisted in the spring of 1864 as a member of the Third Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, attached to the Army of the Potomac. Sharing the fortunes of his regiment in all its movements, opera- tions and engagements, which included the battles of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Reams Station and the siege of Petersburg, he was honorably discharged on
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
November 25, 1864, as a result of the exercise of the same influence as before.
Returning to civil life, he became a brakeman on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In 1867 he went west, assist- ing in the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Coming back to Pennsylvania, he was employed in the operating department of the Lehigh Valley Rail- road until 1880. He then established himself as a deal- er in general merchandise in the town of his nativity, as he is still engaged.
Mr. Mulhearn occupied his present location on West Broadway in 1883. An old Irish lady, who was a satis- fied customer, designated his establishment as "Stohr Unric," the Celtic equivalent of "honest store." By this name it has since been known, and the aim of its owner has ever been that the name should be expres- sive of the fact.
On December 25, 1870, Mr. Mulhearn was united in marriage to Annie, daughter of James and Bridget McBride, of East Mauch Chunk. Their children are: John and Sarah, deceased; Edward J., Sallie, wife of Patrick Dolan, of Hazleton; Hanna S., the wife of Charles Scott, of Hazleton; Mary A., Bridget and 'Annie, the two latter being deceased.
Mr. Mulhearn is a member and past commander of Chapman Post, No. 61, G. A. R. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church, and is identified with the Knights of Columbus.
Hon. E. M. Mulhearn, the well-known Mauch Chunk lawyer, is his brother.
Mulhearn, Hon. E. M. One of the most widely known of Carbon county's native sons, and one who is everywhere esteemed for his qualities of mind and heart, as well as for his gifts of utterance, is E. M. Mulhearn, Esq.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
He has held many positions of honor and trust with- in the gift of the people of the county and of those of the borough of Mauch Chunk, where he has resided since his birth. He is what is familiarly known as a "good mixer," and, in his youth, had a taste for poli- tics, which he outgrew as the years went by.
It was alone his loss of interest in this direction that cut short a public career of unusual promise, Mr. Mul- hearn, of his own volition, devoting his energies and talents to his large and lucrative law practise rather than follow the beckoning finger of ambition, which earlier in his career pointed so unmistakably to polit- ical success.
He is of Irish descent, his father, John Mulhearn, having been born in County Donegal, Ireland, in 1812. His mother's maiden name was Annie Sweeney, and she first saw the light of day in the Emerald Isle in the year 1808.
The father emigrated to America in 1835, settling in Philadelphia. He and his future bride did not meet until they came to the United States. They were mar- ried in Philadelphia in 1843, subsequent to which event they removed to Pottsville, where Mr. Mulhearn be- came a coal miner.
From Pottsville the family came to Mauch Chunk, Mr. Mulhearn spending the remainder of his active life in the capacity of a miner for the Hacklebernie Coal Company. His wife bore him six children: Hugh, Patrick F., Dennis C., Edward M., John J., and Han- nah V. Dennis and Hannah still live at Mauch Chunk.
E. M. Mulhearn was born at Mauch Chunk June 15, 1849. He attended the public schools, and at an early age picked slate in the breaker at Hacklebernie. He also boated for five seasons on the Lehigh Canal. En- tering Villa Nova College, he graduated in 1871. Im-
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
mediately thereafter he began to read law in the office of Daniel Kalbfus, who was not only a successful law- yer, but a forceful and brilliant orator, and who was in demand as a political campaigner all over Pennsyl- vania and in some of the nearby states.
Later Mr. Mulhearn continued his studies under John C. and Edward C. Dimmick, of Mauch Chunk, being admitted to the bar on June 20, 1873. His rise to prominence in his profession was rapid, his standing as a lawyer being such that when the Mollie Maguire trials came, a few years after his admission to the bar, he was called upon to play a leading part for the de- fense, among his clients having been Campbell, Doyle, Kelly, Kerregan, "The Squealer," and "Yellow Jack" Donahue.
Mr. Mulhearn early affiliated himself with the Re- publican party, serving successively as secretary and chairman of the county central committee for nearly a decade. Chosen as district attorney of the county in 1881, he was re-elected in 1884. In 1889 he was elected to the state legislature, declining a renomination two years thereafter.
He has been the solicitor of the borough of Mauch Chunk for about ten years, while for six years he was the legal adviser of the county commissioners.
On November 10, 1881, Mr. Mulhearn was married to Mary A., the daughter of John and Mary Behrndt, of Mauch Chunk. Their domestic life was one of hap- piness and of mutual helpfulness. Two children were born to them, John B. and Mary D., the wife of Walter 'A. Meekins, of Wilkes-Barre.
Mrs. Mulhearn, who was a member of St. John's Lutheran church, died on February 28, 1891.
Mr. Mulhearn is a member of the Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception. For seventeen years he
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
has been the president of the St. Vincent De Paul So- ciety, of this church, which has done noble charitable work.
He is a charter member of the Pennsylvania Bar As- sociation, and is the president of the Carbon County Law Library Association.
Mr. Mulhearn is fond of out-door life, and he spends his summer vacations on the banks of Lake Harmony, in Kidder township.
Mulhearn, John B., the only son of Hon. Edward M. and Mary A. (Behrnt) Mulhearn, was born at Mauch Chunk, Pa., on September 20, 1882. His early educa- tion was secured in the parochial schools of the bor- ough, which he attended until 1899. He prepared for college at the Swarthmore Preparatory School, finish- ing his general education at Villa Nova.
Entering Dickinson Law School, he graduated in 1909 with the degree of LL.B.
Subsequently he lived the life of a ranchman in east- ern Montana for a time. Returning to Mauch Chunk, he established himself in the general insurance and real estate business, in which he has since been pros- perously engaged.
On November 9, 1911, he was married to Rosa A., daughter of John and Celia O'Donnell, of East Mauch Chunk.
Mr. Mulhearn is a member of the Delta Chi Fratern- ity, belongs to the Roman Catholic church, and is iden- tified with Damien Council No. 598, Knights of Colum- bus. He is one of the active Republicans of Mauch Chunk, and as a member of the fire department of the borough, holds membership in the Marion Hose Com- pany.
Neast, Charles, senior member of the firm of Charles Neast and Company, contractors and builders, of
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Mauch Chunk, and a representative man of affairs, was born in Mecklenberg, Germany, on October 2, 1851.
His father, John Neast, emigrated to this country with his family in 1854, settling at Mauch Chunk.
Charles early left the public schools to pick slate in the breaker at Hacklebernie, later serving as a boat- man on the Lehigh Canal and assisting in the construc- tion of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad as a la- borer. Learning the trade of a carpenter, he soon be- came a contractor and builder, which business he has since very successfully followed.
In addition to the numerous dwelling houses which he has erected, the following well-known Mauch Chunk buildings may be mentioned: The depot of the Central Railroad of New Jersey; the building of the Young Men's Christian Association; both of the public school houses of the borough, the Roman Catholic Church, and the parochial school building. He also erected the Meeds Memorial church, of Nesquehoning; the Epis- copal church and vicarage, of Lehighton; the Reform- ed church, of East Mauch Chunk, and various other .
prominent buildings.
The firm of Charles Neast and Company was organ- ized in 1902, Mr. Neast taking his sons, George and Frank and his son-in-law, Thomas Costenbader, into partnership with himself. In addition to its other in- terests, the firm operates a well equipped planing mill in East Mauch Chunk.
Mr. Neast is the president of the Mauch Chunk Silk Mill Company, of which he was one of the organizers. This company operates mills at Mauch Chunk and at Nesquehoning. He is also president of the Progres- sive Building and Loan Association, of East Mauch Chunk, while being a director of the Mauch Chunk Trust Company.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
He is active in religious circles and is a member of the United Evangelical church. Politically speaking, he is a Republican.
Mr. Neast was married in 1874 to Anna, daughter of Charles Lobien, of Bloomingdale, Carbon county. Their surviving children are: George, Frank, and Mary, the wife of Thomas Costenbader.
Neeb, Henry J., a farmer of Towamensing township, was born there on May 19, 1858. He is the son of Cas- per and Mary (Ruhe) Neeb, both natives of Germany. The father emigrated to America at the age of four- teen years, settling in New Jersey. Going back to the Fatherland, he returned to the United States, about 1848, building his permanent home in Towamensing township, where he became a farmer. His death oc- curred in 1902 at the age of seventy-seven years.
After leaving the common schools, Henry J. Neeb worked on his father's farm for a period, later spend- ing some time in the lumber woods of western Penn- sylvania. Entering the service of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, he was connected with the oper- ating department of the road for thirteen years. In 1893 he purchased the farm on which he now lives, con- sisting of 141 acres.
Mr. Neeb has served both as a school director and as supervisor of Towamensing township. He is a Re- publican.
On August 2, 1884, he was married to Elmira, daugh- ter of Levi Behler of Franklin township. Their chil- dren are: Harry, Charles, Mary, Lillie, deceased; Luella, and Raymond.
Nuss, Lewis C., a Weatherly business man, was born there on May 16, 1868. His father, Joseph Nuss, was a native of Columbia county, Pa. He was a plumber and tinsmith. Early in life he located at Summit Hill,
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Carbon county, later removing to Weatherly, where he spent the remainder of his active years in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. His wife, before her marriage, was Matilda Walton. They became the parents of seven sons, all of whom survive, and a daughter, now deceased. The father died in 1904, at the age of seventy-nine years.
Leaving the public schools in his seventeenth year, L. C. Nuss entered the hardware and plumbing estab- lishment of his brothers, W. A. and H. E. Nuss, as an apprentice. They conducted their business in the build- ing formerly occupied by the Co-operative Store, one of the old landmarks of Weatherly. After a time they sold out to J. F. Kressley, who, in 1889 was succeeded by L. C. Nuss, acting individually. Mr. Nuss erected his present substantial place of business in 1898. He is a dealer in electrical supplies, stoves, roofing and hardware, and his establishment is equipped to furnish steam and hot water plumbing and similar work.
On March 4, 1895, Mr. Nuss was married to Gertrude Koch, a native of Schuylkill county. Carden, a son, and Doris, a daughter, are their children.
Mr. Nuss is one of the trustees of the Presbyterian church of the borough, and he is identified with the Patriotic Order of Sons of America and the Free and Accepted Masons. He is a believer in the principles of Democracy.
Packer, Asa, builder of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, founder of Lehigh University, and one of Pennsyl- vania's foremost men of affairs, was equally conspicu- ous for the dominating influence which he exerted in the development and growth of the Lehigh Valley, for his liberal public benefactions, and for those rare personal attributes which won for him the love and good will of his fellowmen.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Born of humble but worthy parentage at Mystic, Connecticut, on December 29, 1805, his early educa- tion was such as was to be obtained in the district schools of that day and locality.
While the training thus secured might be looked upon as a meagre preparation for the manifold duties and demands of the distinguished position to which he attained in life, the disadvantage under which he labor- ed was more than counterbalanced by his native abil- ities and his strong, virile character.
As a youth of seventeen he bade farewell to the scenes of his childhood, and carrying all his personal possessions on his back, set out on foot for Brooklyn, Susquehanna county, Pa., the home of his cousin, Ed- ward Packer. Having accomplished his wearisome journey, the ambitious boy determined to learn the carpenter's trade under the direction of his cousin. Applying himself to his work with enthusiasm and characteristic thoroughness, he soon became a skilled mechanic.
Having completed his apprenticeship, young Packer went to New York, where he followed his trade for a year. The city held no fascinations for him, however, and he returned to Susquehanna county, locating in Springville township. There he pursued his vocation, and on January 23, 1828, was married to Sarah M. Blakslee. The couple soon settled on a farm. But nature yielded her crops scantily, the markets were distant, and at the end of four years they found them- selves scarcely any better off than when they began.
During the winter of 1833, learning that there was a demand for boatmen on the Lehigh Canal, Mr. Packer drove to Mauch Chunk in a primitive sled, and made arrangements to engage in this work on the opening of navigation in the spring, after which he returned home to close up his affairs.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
As the time arrived for his departure for his new field of endeavor, he walked to Tunkhannock; board- ing a raft there he floated down the Susquehanna to Berwick, covering the remainder of the distance to Mauch Chunk on foot. He at once became the com- mander of a canal boat, and soon gained control of an additional vessel, which he placed in charge of his brother-in-law, James I. Blakslee.
During the summer he brought his family to Mauch Chunk. So well did he prosper that at the expiration of two years he retired from active service as a boat- man, but retained an interest in the enterprise.
Purchasing the large mercantile establishment of E. W. Kimball, which stood on the site now occupied by the Navigation Building at Mauch Chunk, he in- stalled Mr. Blakslee as manager, while he himself es- tablished a boat yard and engaged in the building of canal boats, in which work his training as a carpenter proved quite useful. He took large contracts for the construction of locks on the upper section of the Le- high Canal, extending from Mauch Chunk to White Haven. These he completed with handsome profits in 1839.
In association with his brother, Robert, he, during the ensuing year, began to build canal boats at Potts- ville. This partnership was dissolved at the end of three years. Turning his attention next to the mining and shipping of coal, Mr. Packer operated the mines at Nesquehoning, carrying the output to market in his own boats from Mauch Chunk.
Success had uniformly crowned his efforts since coming to Mauch Chunk, and he had amassed a com- fortable fortune, when, in 1852, he began the greatest undertaking of his career, the building of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. With prophetic discernment he had
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
long foreseen the immense possibilities of this enter- prise, to the consummation of which he devoted years of the most exhausting labor, being often beset by innumerable difficulties and discouragements. After the financial revolution of 1857 he was harassed almost beyond endurance by the perplexities which he en- countered in financing his operations.
But he was resolute in purpose, and even in the dark- est hours of his financial troubles he predicted that the Lehigh Valley Railroad, when completed, and its re- sources under fair development, would be the most successful railroad enterprise in the state, and he lived to see the fulfilment of even his highest hopes. For fully a quarter of a century this road stood first among the railroads of Pennsylvania in point of credit, while enjoying the highest measure of prosperity.
Notwithstanding the many exactions and responsi- bilities of his busy life, Mr. Packer found time to par- ticipate actively in politics. But political honors were thrust upon him rather than sought by him. In 1841 he was elected to the legislature, serving for two suc- cessive terms. Upon the organization of Carbon coun- ty, in 1843, he was appointed by the governor to the office of associate judge, which he filled for five years.
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