History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 102

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.)
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1532

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THOMAS R. CALLARY, general merchant, East Main street, Nanticoke, was born at Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland, March 3, 1861. He began life for himself in the grocery business in 1875, at Dublin, Ireland, and in 1880 emigrated to America and engaged as clerk for John M. Ward & Co., on the public square in Wilkes- Barre, where he remained until 1883. He next went to Plymouth, where he and

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his brother, P. P. Callary, conducted an extensive business in the general merchan- dise line, and in 1885 they opened a branch store in Nanticoke, and four years later T. R. took sole charge of the store at the latter place, and has since continued to do a good business. His stock embraces everything in the general mercantile line, and of him it may be truthfully said that he is one of Luzerne county's most pro- gressive business men. He was married in February, 1891, to Miss Lillie McGann, one of Wilkes-Barre's most popular and respected young ladies. This union has been blessed by one child, a son, born March 3, 1892. Mr. Callary is a member of the St. Aloysius Society and the A. O. H. At the national convention of the latter, held in New York City in May, 1892, he was elected national treasurer of the Order, which position he now holds. He takes an active part in the best interest of the town. He ie an ardent worker in St. Francis Catholic Church, of which he is a member.

JOHN I. CALLENDER, a prominent farmer, Huntington township, P. O. Hunting- ton Mills, was born December 28, 1845, on the farm he now owns. He is the son of Edmond and Maria (Ide) Callender, natives of Pennsylvania, of English origin; the father was a farmer by occupation; he died December 30, 1873. His parents, Darius and Lydia (Woodworth) Callender, were natives of Connecticut, and came to this section about 1796. John I. is the only child of his parents; he was reared on the farm he now owns, being educated in the common schools and Wyoming Sem- inary. He worked for his father on the farm until the latter's death, when the property became his, and he has since operated same. He married December 30, 1866, Miss Esther A. Hartman, daughter of Fredrick and Sarah (Steel) Hartman, natives of Pennsylvania, of German and English origin, respectively. This union was blessed with three children, viz .: Edmond E., born March 10, 1869. a clerk at Pottsville, Pa., (he married Mattie Wolf, and they have one child, Daisy L.); Fred- rick W., born March 16, 1871, clerk in a store at Dunkirk, N. Y .; and Florence L., born June 22, 1873. The family attend the M. E. Church. Mr. and Mrs. Callen- der are members of the P. of H., and he is serving as school director. The Callender farm contains one hundred and ten acres, and is situated one mile north of the Huntington Mills postoffice. Politically, Mr. Callender is a Republican.

CHARLES P. CAMPBELL, assistant clerk, Orphans Court, Shickshinny, was born at Beach Haven; Luzerne Co., Pa., January 13, 1862, a son of William A. and Alice (Post) Campbell. He was reared at Shickshinny, educated at State Normal School, Bloomsburg, Pa., where he graduated in 1877, and at Swarthmore College, where he was graduated in 1882. After that he spent nine years in his father's store at Shickshinny, and since January 1, 1891, he has held his present position. On June 3, 1891, Mr. Campbell married Florence F., daughter of Lot and Irene (Fellows) Search, of Shickshinny, and they have one daughter, Irene Alice. Mr. Campbell is a member of the, Presbyterian Church, and of the F. & A. M. ; in politics he is a Democrat.

J. HIRAM CAMPBELL, collector for the Pennsylvania Canal Company, Beach Haven, was born in Nescopeck township, this county, March 4, 1843, and is a son of Joseph and Catharine (Kester) Campbell. He was reared in Salem township, educated in the common schools, and took a commercial course of instruction at a New Haven (Conn. ) business college. Mr. Campbell began life as a clerk in the office of the commissioners of Luzerne county, and later learned the wagon-making trade, which he followed seven years at Shickshinny and Hobbie, this county. In 1875 he was appointed foreman of the canal, by the Pennsylvania Canal Company, continuing as such ten years, and has held the position of collector for the company at Beach Haven since 1885. He took part in the Civil war, enlisting August 18, 1862, in Company F, 143d P. V. I .; was orderly sergeant of the company two years; was wounded at battle of Gettysburg and the engagement at Weldon Railroad, and was honorably discharged June 12, 1865. On May 30, 1868, Mr. Campbell married Melissa, daughter of Lewis and Mary (Benscoter) Post, of Union township, this county, and they have five children living, viz. : Frank (who married Ida Eddy, and

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

has one daughter, Irene), Bertha, Gertrude, Edmund D. and Earl. Mr. Campbell is a member of the M. E. Church and of the G. A. R. In politics he is a Democrat, and is now serving his second term as school director of Salem township, and has been the secretary of the board since elected in 1889.

JACOB W. CAMPBELL, carpenter, P. O. Berwick, was born in Nescopeck township, November 3, 1841, and is a son of Joseph and Catharine (Kester) Campbell. [For genealogy of Campbell family, see sketch of William A. Campbell, Shickshinny. ] He was reared in Salem township, educated in the common schools and Wyoming Seminary, and at the age of eighteen taught school. He followed teaching as a vocation eight years. At the age of twenty-six he began the carriage-making trade, under instructions, and followed the business seventeen years, at Shickshinny and Beach Haven. In January, 1883, he located at Berwick, where he was engaged as foreman of the foundry of W. B. Freas & Son five years, and since 1888 has been in the employ of the Jackson & Worden Manufacturing Co. On April 12, 1862, he married Margaret J., daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Rabert) Thomas, of Salem township, and has five children living: Harry E., Samuel T., Elizabeth (Mrs Walter Sult), Ella and Thomas B. Mr. Campbell is past master in the F. & A. M., and in politics he is a Democrat.

JOHN CAMPBELL, supervisor, Duryea, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, January 12, 1835, and is a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Hart) Campbell, natives of the same place. They reared a family of fifteen children, of whom our subject is second in order of birth. He was educated in a private school, and was employed as a loco- motive fireman, and later as an engineer. In May, 1870, he came to America, and settled in this county, where he worked first as fireman, and afterward as engineer at the mines until 1876, when he was employed as a miner until 1890, in which year he retired. He was united in marriage February 28, 1857, with Agnes, daughter of James and Lillian (Gilbraith) Stuart, natives of Scotland, and their union has been blessed with the following issue: Lillian, born December 29, 1857 (married May 8, 1875, to William Jones, a miner of Scranton; he died June 30, 1879, and she after- ward married November 10, 1884, Owen Burleigh, a miner in Wyoming Territory); Robert, born October 17, 1859; James, born Angust 7, 18 -; John, born September 1, 1863; Elizabeth, born October 8, 1865 (married August 17, 1883, to Johnson B. Randall, a carpenter in Lackawanna); David, born April 22, 1868; Agnes, born May 10, 1870 (married August 3, 1889, to Rudolph Gottwalls, a wheelright in Lack- awanna); Ellen, born July 2, 1873 (married August 27, 1890, to John White, a teamster in Lackawanna); Alexander, born June 7, 1874; William (deceased at the age of fifteen years, ten days); Jane (deceased when six months old), and Joseph, (deceased when an infant of two days). Our subject is a member of the M. E. Church, and in politics is a Republican.

JOSEPH W. CAMPBELL, contractor and builder, No. 112 Gaylord avenue, Ply- mouth, was born in Chester county, Pa., March 1, 1850. He is a son of William and Harriet (Butter) Campbell, both of whom were also natives of Chester county, the former of whom was a cabinet-maker by trade, thoroughly conversant with his craft. He was a son of William Campbell, who was a native of Scotland, and who came to this country to enjoy the freedom so much loved and coveted by Scotia's sons. William Campbell, father of our subject, had a family of ten children, nine of whom are now living, Joseph W. being the eighth. He was reared in Chester county, educated at the common schools of his district. In early life he was a farmer boy until his country called for volunteers, then his young heart beat with enthusiastic patriotism; but youthful years debarred him the privilege of striking for freedom until 1864, when he was permitted to enter Company B, One Hundred and Eighty-seventh P. V. I., for the term of three years. Here he displayed the heroism characteristic of his ancestors, who fought for liberty amid the "High- lands" of their native land. Although a boy, Mr. Campbell took the place of a man in the army of the Potomac. He showed his undaunted courage as he faced the enemy in the following severely contested battles: Wilderness, Cold Harbor,

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

Petersburg, Weldon Railroad and many other engagements of minor importance. At the close of the struggle he was honorably discharged, and came home to adorn society as a citizen of the commonwealth he fought to defend. After his discharge Mr. Campbell served at the carpenter's trade in York county, Pa., where he became an adept in his profession. He first came to Plymouth in 1871, and worked in the planing-mill for Harvey Bros. for ten years. He then conceived the important idea of being his own master, and if there were any profits in business he would reap those profits. He succeeded even beyond his most sanguine hopes. Beginning at the first round in the ladder of success with nothing but two houest hands and a young and buoyant heart, Joseph W. Campbell has made himself independent, thus showing to the world what a young man can do by close attention to business, and the observance of those principles which make business a success, namely: honesty, energy, economy and a large stock of " go-aheadativeness." He now owns six double houses on Gaylord avenue, a street which he was the means of making and beautifying. He also owns five single houses on Randell street. Mr. Camp- bell is yet a single man. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Politic- ally he is a Republican, and has acceptably discharged the office of councilman for two terms.

LOFTUS CAMPBELL, retired, Sebastopol, P. O. Inkerman, was born December 25, 1832, in County Carlow, Ireland, and is a son of Andrew and Ester (Hagar) Campbell, natives of the same place, and of Scotch and English extraction respectively. The family came to this country and settled in Carbondale, Pa., in 1847. Our subject was educated in the common schools, and in 1850 went to work as driver in the mines, where he stayed until 1852, and then proceeded to Cali- fornia. In those days it was a more difficult matter to travel to California than it is at present. Mr. Campbell drove an ox-team twelve hundred miles of the way, and rode the remainder on a wild mule, which the party had captured on the plains. They were five months on the road from Carbondale to Sacramento, in which latter city our subject remained, working in the gold mines until 1860. He then returned home and went to work for the Pennsylvania Coal Company, on the Grav- ity road. In 1862 he once more visited California, where he stayed until 1864; he then returned home and once more took a position with the Pennsylvania Coal Com- pany as train dispatcher on the Gravity road. Shortly afterward he took charge of No. 6 Breaker for the same company, which position he held until his resignation early in 1892. Mr. Campbell was united in marriage, November 12, 1878, with Louisa, daughter of Gideon and Mary A. Cadman, natives of Wolverhampton, England; she died May 17, 1886. Our subject is a member of the Episcopal Church; is a member of the F. & A. M., and in politics is a Republican.

WILLIAM A. CAMPBELL, hardware merchant, P. O. Shickshinny, was born at Nescopeck, this county, August 13, 1837, a son of Joseph W. and Catherine (Kester) Campbell. His paternal grandfather, who was of American birth and Scotch parentage, was a pioneer of York county, Pa. Joseph W. Campbell was a native of York county, Pa., and settled in Luzerne county about 1830. For twenty-five years he was division superintendent of the Pennsylvania Canal, and was for several years engaged in farming in Salem township, but spent the last twelve years of his life at Nanticoke. His wife was a daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Washburn) Kester, and granddaughter of Daniel Washburn, who came from Connecticut to Luzerne county prior to the Revolution, and carried a musket at the Wyoming Massacre. Daniel Washburn was at that time a resident of Plymouth, but after the massacre spent some time in Northampton county; he later removed to Nescopeck, this county, and died, in what is now Conyngham township, when over ninety years of age. The children of Joseph W. Campbell were William A., Charles H., Jacob W., Joseph and Sarah (Mrs. Wrighter Thomas). Our subject was reared in Luzerne county, educated in the common schools and Wyoming Seminary, and from 1855 to 1872 taught school. In 1872 he was elected superintendent of schools for Luzerne county, and served two terms (six years). In 1879 he embarked in the hardware

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business at Shickshinny, in which he has since successfully continued. He was married in January, 1861, to D. Alice, daughter of Lewis and Mary (Benscoter) Post, of Union township, this county, and has six children: Charles P., Bruce, Kate, Blanche, John and Grace. Mr. Campbell is a past master of Sylvania Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 354, and past grand of Shickshinny Lodge, No. 180, I. O. O. F. He served four years as postmaster of Shickshinny, under President Cleveland's administration, and has held the office of school director fourteen years; in politics he is a stanch Democrat.

MICHAEL CANFIELD, proprietor of restaurant, and supervisor, Plains, was born in County Galway, Ireland, in October, 1830, and is a son of John and Bridget (Cochran) Canfield, the former of whom was a farmer. They reared a family of three children, of whom Michael is the youngest. Our subject came to America in 1859, and engaged with a farmer in Dutchess county, N. Y., to work eight months; he then went to Charleston, S C., where he remained six months, after which he proceeded to Elizabethport, N. J., where he worked on the coal docks three years. He then came to Plains, this county, and mined in the Port Bowkley Shaft five years, and twelve years in the Henry Shaft; then was twelve years engaged in out- side labor at the same place. He then loaded coal at the Enterprise Shaft two years. In 1879 he embarked in the saloon and boarding-house business. Mr. Canfield was married, May 1, 1856, to Miss Bridget, daughter of Henry and Bridget (Ward) Burk, natives of Ireland, and they have had born unto them ten children- five sons and five daughters-six of whom are living, viz .: John, in the West; Michael, driver-boss at the Henry Shaft; Hannah, married to Frank Hailey, of Elizabethport, N. J., by whom she has had five children, four of whom are living, and Delia, Ella, Catherine, all three living at home. Mr. Canfield and family are members of the Catholic Church; he is a member of the A. O. H., and politically he is a Democrat. He built his present place of business in 1874.

B. J. CANLAN. This well-known Pittston man was born in Jenkins township October 21, 1858, and is a son of Peter and Winifred (Lovelle) Canlan, natives of Ireland, the former of whom came to this country in 1854, working chiefly in the lumber business, and now resides at Pittston; the mother died in 1892. In the family there were two children: B. J., and Patrick, who died at the age of seven years. Our subject was educated in the public schools of Luzerne county, and at the age of fifteen went to Scranton and served an apprenticeship at tinning and plumbing, and learning the general hardware business. After this he took a course in the Wyoming Seminary, and Millersville State Normal School. He was then engaged in teaching in Lancaster county, where he remained one year, at which time he came to Pittston as principal of the Oregon schools, and there remained three years; then was principal of the Junction schools four years. In 1888 he engaged in the hardware business in Pittston, which he has since successfully con- ducted. On August 29, 1887, he married Miss Ellen Manly, of Plains township, and they have two children: Anna M. and Ellen. Mr. Canlan is treasurer of the Pittston Industrial Co-operative Association, is a very active member of the Father Mathew Society; is a member of the Catholic Benevolent Association, and in politics he is a Democrat.

MICHAEL CANNON was born March 22, 1844, at Inniskeel, County Donegal, Ireland, and was less than a year old when his parents came to this country. His father was James Cannon, an early settler at Summit Hill, Carbon Co., Pa., having located there in 1832. In September, 1839, having previously declared his intentions, he became a citizen of the United States, and the following year he revisited Ireland and married Rosa, a daughter of Hugh McAloon, and who is the mother of the sub- ject of this sketch. Mr. Cannon subsequently returned to this country, and resided at Summit Hill and Hazleton up to the time of his death in 1892. Michael Cannon was educated in the public schools and subsequently became a teacher in the borough of Hazleton and in Wilkes-Barre, studying law in the meanwhile in the office of the late David R. Randall and Michael Reagan, of Wilkes-Barre. He was

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admitted to the Luzerne county bar January 25, 1873. In January, 1865, Mr. Cannon enlisted in the United States navy, doing duty on the monitor steamer "Canonicus," and was at the storming of Fort Fisher. He married, November 25, 1873, Nettie McDonald, youngest daughter of the late Patrick McDonald, of Wilkes- Barre City, Luzerne Co., Pa., she having been a teacher for several years in the schools of said city. Mr. and Mrs. Cannon have six children: Nettie, Stella, Laura, Edna, Celestine and Regina. Mr. Cannon, it will be observed, is another of the numerous class of attorneys who began active life in the school-room. He is a rep- resentative, also, of those who have got along in the world without other education than that afforded by the common schools. The disadvantage arising from lack of college or university training is often more than compensated by the spirit of inde- pendent self-reliance that has its birth and growth in those exigencies that come with dependence upon our own energies for a livelihood. Mr. Cannon was a worker as well as a teacher, and in the latter capacity achieved an enviable reputa- tion, as those who knew him, and had an opportunity of judging his qualifications and estimating the result of his effort at the time, freely attest. His enlistment in the nation's service, when he was not yet quite of age, brought him experiences which have, doubtless, been valuable to him in later life. In the practice of his profession Mr. Cannon is noted among his brethren for both application and energy, qualities that are certain to unlock the repositories of the legal knowledge necessary for the successful prosecution of a client's cause. He is a Democrat in politics and a fair orator, and has been frequently called to effective service on the etump in his party's behalf.

PATRICK J. CANNON, proprietor of the "Homestead Hotel," Sugar Notch, was born in County Donegal, Ireland, March 14, 1864, a son of James and Catherine (Maloney) Cannon. The family came to America in 1864, and located in Frenchtown, this county, where the father died; the mother lives with our subject's sister Margaret. The family consisted of eleven children, six of whom are living, viz. : Bridget (Mrs. Patrick Dawson, in Ireland), Mary (Mrs. Frank Gallagher, in Wilkes-Barre), John (who resided in Hazleton), Margaret (Mrs. James Clair, in Wilkes-Barre), Patrick J. and Catherine, the latter of whom lives with her mother; James died while a student in college and Francis was killed in a breaker. Our subject was educated in the public school at Frenchtown and Audenried, and then worked nine months in No. 9 Breaker, after which he became an athlete, and for a long time was the swiftest runner in the Wyoming Valley. ' In 1882 he took a clerkship in the Com- pany store at Audenried, where he remained two years, and then engaged in the hotel business in Wilkes-Barre for three years, after which he tended bar in Shen- andoah, Pa., two years, and then returned to Wilkes-Barre, where he was engaged in the saloon business with John Lehman for eighteen months, at the end of which time, in 1892, he embarked in his present business. Mr. Cannon was married, January 20, 188-, to Miss Mary, daughter of Peter and Mary (McGeehan) Dufey, natives of County Donegal, Ireland, and they have two children, James and Peter. Mr. Cannon and family are members of the Catholic Church, and in his political views he is a Democrat.

THOMAS F. CANNON, baggage master on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, was born in Carbondale townehip, Lackawanna Co., Pa., February 7, 1853, and is a son of James and Ann (Clark) Cannon, natives of County Mayo, Ireland, whence they emigrated to this country in December, 1850, and located in Carboudale township, Lackawanna county, in January, 1851, where the father died December 13, 1885; the mother died February 8, 1886, at Ashley. In their family there were ten children, eight of whom died young, the surviving two being Thomas F. and Walter J., the latter of whom is firing a stationary engine at Mayfield, Lackawanna county. Our subject was educated at the public schools of his native township, and there worked for Poor & Mille in the lumber woods for three years; then for John Jermyn, loading coal at his breaker No. 2, at Jermyn; then went to work as laborer in the mine at Powderly's slope for John T. Jones and Michael Cearney, of Carbondale,

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Pa., continuing there three years, or until May, 1872. Leaving Carbondale, he proceeded to Ashley, and worked on the Plains one month, then, in June, 1872, commenced braking on the coal cars, in which he continued until June, 1880, when he was promoted to brakeman on a passenger train, and then, May 22, 1872, was further promoted to his present position. On February 20, 1879, Mr. Cannon was married to Miss Johanna, daughter of Daniel and Johanna (McMahon) Doyle, natives of County Clare, Ireland, and they have had six children, viz .: James A., Daniel E., Mary, Walter, Joseph (who died at the age of three years, three months and five days), and Gertrude. Mr. Cannon and his family are members of the Catholic Church, and in his political views he is a Democrat.

WILLIAM HARRISON CAPWELL, publisher of the Plymouth Tribune, is a native of Clinton township, Wyoming Co., Pa., and first saw the light on March 25, 1843. His father was Jabez G. Capwell, who came of Rhode Island stock. His grand- father, Frederick Capwell, came into that part of the country from Rhode Island in 1801, and was a member of the second family who settled in Clinton township. The mother of our subject was a daughter of David S. Niver, of Broome county, N. Y., and was of Dutch extraction. W. H. Capwell was brought up on a farm and received a fair common-school education, commencing to teach at the age of seventeen and following that profession for several years. When sixteen years of age he had a severe attack of rheumatism, which developed into a white swelling which crippled him for life, and this perhaps caused him to devote his time to teach- ing and journalistic and other pursuits. He learned the printer's trade, and is considered a good job printer, having been foreman of an office for some years. In 1885 he purchased the Nanticoke Tribune, and carried it on successfully until July 1, 1891, when he removed the office to Plymouth and established the Plymouth Tribune. In politics he is a Republican, but of sufficient independence to support only those whom he deems most honest and best qualified for office. Mr. Capwell has been, for a number of years, a member of the M. E. Church, and also takes a great interest in the Young Men's Christian Association, having been the first presi- dent of the Nanticoke Y. M. C. A. Mr. Capwell, amid the duties of a busy life, found time to fall in love, and on August 11, 1867, was married to Miss Alpha S. Wells, daughter of John Wells, Esq., of Factoryville, Wyoming Co., Pa., who has proved a worthy partner in the ups and downs of life. No children have blessed their union, but an adopted daughter, Gertie, now fourteen years of age, holds a loving place in their affections. His home is at Kingston. The Plymouth Tribune was established by William H. Capwell in July, 1891, the first issue bearing the date of the 17th of that month. It was the outgrowth of a desire of the publisher for a better field than Nanticoke, where for nearly six years he had published the Nanticoke Tribune, a seven-column folio, founded in 1883 by Minott C. Andreas. The Plymouth Tribune is a six-column quarto, devoted to home and general news; it has a fair circulation among the most intelligent people in Plymouth, Nanticoke and other towns in the lower end of the Wyoming Valley. Its pages are well filled, and its advertising patronage shows that its work is appreciated. A good job office in connection adds to the income of the proprietor. It is provided with a heavy Cottrell cylinder press, a Washington hand press, once owned by " Brick Pomeroy," and two job presses.

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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 102

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.) Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1532

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.)
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1532