History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 134

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

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Matthews, who emigrated from Wales, England, to Connecticut, in 1671. He was born in Watertown in 1699, and died in 1798 aged ninety-nine years. At the age of forty Thomas Matthews was appointed a magistrate of Watertown, and held the office for forty years, being appointed yearly, and at the age of eighty declined further appointment. Mr. Hakes served in the war of 1812, and was a judge of the county in which he lived. Mrs. Hannah Carr, nee Hakes, sister of Lyman Hakes, Sr., was the grandmother of Hon. C. E. Rice, president judge of Luzerne county. His family consisted of eight children, four sons and four daughters. Of the sons, Harry is the youngest, and Lyman, Jr., for many years a resident and leading member of the bar of this county, the oldest. He was for more than thirty years prior to his death, in 1873, an active practitioner at the Luzerne bar, and very much at the bars of surrounding counties and in the supreme court; and for his genius and liberal tastes and benevolence as a man, Lyman Hakes will be long remembered by the bar and by the people. Homer, another of his sons, died in 1854. Another son of this breeder of big men, Hon. Harlo Hakes, resides at Hornellsville, N. Y. Two of the sisters are still living, one the mother of Lyman H. Bennett, a member of the Luzerne bar, and residing in Wilkes-Barre. The boy- hood of Harry Hakes combined the usual experience of farmers' sons-work upon the farm during the summer, and attendance upon the district school during the brief school term in winter. He had even at that age a habit of study and taste for general reading which made him, as nearly as possible for a boy, a proficient in all the branches taught, and gave him a fairly good English education. Leaving the following of the plow, he entered the Castleton Medical College, in Vermont, from which institution he graduated, in 1846, an M. D., with all the honor that title con- veys, and opened an office at Davenport Centre, N. Y., which soon became the center of attraction for a large population needing medical help, and in which he remained for three years with gratifying financial success to himself, and more than equally gratifying good to his patients.

In June, 1849, when he was but twenty-four years of age, he married Maria E. Dana, eldest daughter of Anderson Dana, Jr., of Wilkes-Barre, who was the uncle of ex-Judge Edmund L. Dana of that city. She died in the December following, unfortunately, and the bereaved husband devoted the year 1850 to the attendance and faithful and effective work in the schools and hospitals of New York City. Then he removed to the, at that time, rapidly-growing village of Nanticoke, in this county, where he continued the practice of his profession for three years. In 1854 he visited the old country, and spent another year of study in the medical institutions of London and Paris. Returning, he married, August 29, 1855, Harriet L. Lape, the daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Lape, both natives of this county. He then resumed his practice as a man of medicine, and, interspersing it with the care and culture of his fine farm in the vicinity of Nanticoke, did good work for himself and his country until the spring of 1857. He has no children living, having lost two in their infancy. Dr. Hakes had succeeded in the cure of the physical ailments of man, but, probably by hereditary. transmission, he had an aptitude for the law. His father, as has before been stated, was a law-giver of no little distinction. His brother was a lawyer of acknowledged repute practicing at our own bar. Another brother is one of the leading lawyers in the Empire State; has been district attorney of his county, member of the Legislature, and register in bankruptcy. Harry began, urged by these influences, the study of the law, in the office of his elder brother, Lyman, in 1857, passed the usual examination, and was admitted to practice, Jan- uary 25, 1860. In 1864 he was elected a member of the Legislature on the Dem- ocratic ticket, representing Luzerne county. During that term, and the succeeding one to which he was re-elected, he secured an appropriation of $2,500 each year for the Home for Friendless Children. He served on the judiciary local, judiciary gen- eral, ways and means, banks, corporation, federal relations and estates and escheats committees. He drafted the bill to prevent persons carrying concealed deadly weapons, the bill for the extension of the Lehigh Valley Railroad from Wilkes-Barre

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to Waverly, N. Y., and the bill for the collection of debts against townships, all of which passed. Although he still keeps up his relations with his brethren of the "healing art," and takes an active part in business and discussions as a member of the Luzerne County Medical Society, his attention and time are chiefly given to the law. Of late years the Doctor has turned his attention almost wholly to literature, wherein is a field congenial to his tastes, and where he has so far met the most flat- tering success. His latest product from the press is " The Discovery of America by Columbus," which has met a most cordial reception from the press of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The work is timely and meets the great demand of this Columbian era, probably better than any of the many volumes now coming from the press on the subject. The Doctor is a life-long, earnest Democrat, and is always ready, both in public and private, to give a reason for the faith that is in him. He is a member of the American Medical Association, and is often a dele- gate from the Luzerne County Medical Society. He is frequently called upon to make speeches on medical, agricultural and scientific subjects. He is not a member of any Christian Church, but is a Methodist in religious belief. Dr. Hakes is a genial friend, and a public-spirited citizen.

D. N. HALE, farmer, Reyburn, was born near Pittston in February, 1838, son of John and Martha (Day) Hale, the former born near Pittston, the latter in Yorkshire, England. John is the son of Joel, a native of Connecticut, who removed from there to this county when a young man, and when the country was in its infancy. He was a man of marked ability, of keen perception and wide and deep conception. He taught school for a number of years with great success; he owned considerable property in Yatesville, and was not only a man of learning, but a practical farmer. His pure life and temperate habits were the means of considerably lengthening his days. Joel Hale rsared a family of seven children, two of whom are living. His son, John, began his business career in Pittston, where he always resided, living a quiet and uneventful life. John Hale died in 1882, aged seventy-four years. He reared a family of seven children, five of whom are living. D. N. is the fourth of the family in order of birth, and was reared and educated in Jenkins township, learning the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for seven years. In 1861 he was mustered into the U. S. service as a private in Company H, Eighth P. V. I., for the term of three months. He served his time faithfully and well, was honorably discharged, and re-enlisted, for three years in the One Hundred and Forty-second P. V. I. army of the Potomac, participating in the battles of Fredericksburg, Thoroughfare Gap, Rappa- hannock, Mead's retrograde movement, Weldon R. R., Hatchers Run (first) Dabney's Mill, Hatchers Run (second), Fort Steadman, Boydton Plank Road, Five Forks and Appomattox. He received a wound at Fredericksburg, but served to the close of the war, and was honorably discharged; he now draws a pension. Mr. Hale married in 1880, Miss Anne, daughter of Peter and Louisa Naugle. He removed to his present place of residence the same year, where he has made for himself a beautiful home. Mr. Hale is a stirring man, of fine appearance, and makes a good and lasting impression on his auditor. He is a member of the G. A. R., and has held several important offices in the township. He is a practical farmer, devoting his time to general farming. Mrs. Anna (Naugle) Hale was born in Parsons, in 1843. They have no children. Politically, he is a Republican.

ISAIAH H. HALE, merchant and farmer, P. O. Cease's Mills, was born March 20, 1836, and reared and educated at the common school at Pittston (now Yatesville). He is a son of John N. and Martha (Day) Hale, the former of whom was born in Pittston township in 1808, the latter born in Manchester, England, in 1811. John N. Hale was a son of Joel Hale, who came from Connecticut about 1790, and located at Lackawanna, where he took up a farm of fifty acres of land (whereon now stands the borough of Yatesville), which he improved, at the same time teaching school. He lived to be sixty-four years of age, and his family numbered nine children. John N. Hale, his son, settled in what is now known as Jenkins township, where he lived an uneventful, but honest life, dying in 1883 at the age of seventy-

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two years. His family consisted of seven sons, six of whom grew to maturity, Isaiah H. being third in the family. In his early life our subject taught school with marked success, and also studied photography in its various branches, proving him- self an adept in that branch of science. Mr. Hale is a self-made man, having commenced with nothing, and is now surrounded with all the necessaries, and even the luxuries, of life. He owns forty acres of land, on which is erected a neat and tastefully constructed house, with out-buildings to correspond, showing both culture and refinement. In 1887 he built a storehouse which is stocked with a full line of country goods, which enterprise has proved a success. Mr. Hale has lived on his present place for twenty-five years. In 1859 he married Miss Annie, daughter of · William and Sarah Lerch, of Pittston, and by her he had eleven children, nine of whom are living, viz .: George A., D. N., Eugene B., J. W., Rosa M., I. H., Elmer, Charles S. and Adrian A. Of these, George A. married Miss Clara Case (he has followed the example of his father, and has taken up the photographer's profession); Adrian A. married Miss Minnie Cragle (he is a carpenter of some repute). Mr. I. H. Hale has been honored with nearly all the offices of the town; he is a man of true principles, one who follows closely the "golden rule," and is a strictly temperate man, who has yet for the first time to drink a glass of spirituous liquor. He is a con- sistent member of the M. E. Church, of which he has been steward and trustee. Politically, he is a Prohibitionist. On October 21, 1890, his wife departed this life at the age of forty-nine years.

WILLIAM HALE, mine foreman, No. 1 Colliery, Jeansville. This experienced miner and mine foreman was born in Gloucestershire, England, September 24, 1852, and is a son of John and Eliza (Smith) Hale, also natives of England. He was reared and educated in the land of his birth, and at the tender age of twelve years began working in the mines, which occupation he followed in England until 1879, when he came to America, locating at Lattimer, Pa. Here he worked as a miner until 1885, when he was given the position of mine foreman at No. 3 Colliery, operated by Pardee, Bros. & Co. He was there for one year, when he began blasting coal. In 1887, be came to Jeansville and took charge of No. 1 Colliery operated by J. C. Hayden & Co., which position he now holds. He has charge of about one hun- dred and fifty men. Mr. Hale was united in marriage, March 28, 1874, with Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Churchill, a native of Gloucestershire, England. Mr. Hale casts bis vote and sympathies with the Republican party; he is a member of the Sons of Temperance and of the Episcopal Church.

W. D. HALE, retired carpenter, Yatesville, was born in Jenkins township, April 15, 1831, and is a son of John and Martha (Day) Hale, natives of Luzerne county, Pa., and of New England origin. They reared a family of seven children, of whom William D. is the eldest. Our subject received his education in the common schools, and at an early age became engaged on public works. In 1850 he was employed on a canal boat, and in 1857 as a carpenter in the mines; from 1864 to 1872 he was pro- prietor of the first and only hotel in the borough. He then returned to his trade, at which he continued until his retirement in February, 1892. Mr. Hale was united in marriage January 3, 1856, with Elizabeth, daughter of William and Sarah (Sleigel) Lerch, natives of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, respectively, and this union has been blessed with the following children: Laura J., born April 24, 1860, married December 24, 1879, to Leferd D. Schuler, carpenter, Yatesville; Francis H., born November 17, 1862; George W., born September 27, 1865; Cyrus B., born April 3, 1867; William L., born January 20, 1870; John H., born February 13, 1875; Sarah M., born March 14, 1877; and Clara R., born January 22, 1881. Our subject is a member of the M. E. Church, and of the I. O. O. F. He is a Republican, and has held the offices of tax collector and treasurer of the borough council, at present serving his second term on the school board.

WILLIAM WALTER HAMILTON (deceased) was born November 3, 1830, and was a son of Walter Hamilton, of Glasgow, Scotland. Our subject came to America in 1858, locating at Tamaqua, Pa., and worked in the mines there until 1862, when he

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removed to Plymouth and engaged in mining, a business he followed until his death, which occurred November 23, 1870. Mr. Hamilton was married to Mrs. Young, widow of Thomas Young, by whom she had six children. By her marriage with Mr. Hamilton she had one child. Politically, Mr. Hamilton adhered to the princi ples advocated by the Republican party. He attended the Presbyterian Church Mrs. Hamilton occupies the homestead on East Main street, her daughter living in a part of the house with her.

C. G. HAMMOND, carpenter, West Pittston, was born in Orange county, N. Y., June 10, 1847, and is a son of Theodore and Maria (Hill) Hammond, natives of Orange and Sullivan counties, N. Y., and of English and Irish origin, respectively, the former of whom was a harness-maker and carriage-trimmer. They reared two children, Charles G: and Elizabeth (Mrs. Joseph Ellison, deceased). The father went to Ohio in 1854, joining an Ohio regiment, and was killed in the battle of Port Hudson, La. Our subject remained in Orange county with his grandfather, Richard Hammond, received an academic education, taught school one winter, and then enlisted at Middletown, N. Y., October 31, 1862, in Company G, One Hundred and Seventy-sixth New York Volunteers, was discharged February 23, 1864, re-enlisted August 25, 1864, and was discharged as sergeant June 16, 1865. He was taken prisoner at Brashear, and paroled ten days later. He then returned to Orange county, and engaged in farming one year, after which he was bookkeeper in New York City two years. He then returned to Orange county, where he worked at the carpenter's trade and taught school till 1872, when he went to Paterson, N. J., and again worked at his trade two years. He worked on the lower bridge at Pittston in 1874, taught school in Orange county in the winter of 1874-75, and in the latter year came to Pittstou, where he has since lived. On September 16, 1867, Mr. Ham- mond enlisted in Company G, Thirtieth New York Regular Infantry, and was dis- charged in April, 1869, by a general order to reduce the army. Mr. Hammond worked in Brown's store, Pittston, six months during the winter of 1887-88, but with these exceptions he has followed his present calling. He was married January 25, 1877, to Miss Addie, daughter of Charles F. and Ruth (Fuller) Herrmann, natives of Germany and Orange county, respectively, and of German origin. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond have four children, viz. : Archibald, Nellie, Frank and Rosa. Our subject is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in his political views is a Republican.

MICHAEL J. HAMMOND (deceased) was born in Luzerne county, Pa., February 19, 1857, and was a son of Patrick and Elizabeth (Barrett) Hammond, the former of whom was a miner. They reared a family of seven children, six of whom are liv- ing. Our subject worked about the mines till he was eighteen years old, and then began working on the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, holding the position of con- ductor for four years. He lived in Parsons one year, Miners Mills two years and Indiana two years. He then returned to Miners Mills, where he was killed, after having saved a woman and child from being run over by a carload of pig iron which had been put on a flying switch in the yard in Wilkes-Barre; he had pushed them out of danger, and was about returning to the engine when by an improper manipulation of the switch the loose car jumped from the track and crushed him to death almost instantly. His widow purchased her present home in 1887, and the following year built the store which she has carried on successfully since. Mr. Hammond was married, January 27, 1881, to Miss Margaret, daughter of Patrick and Bridget (Sweeney) Moran, natives of County Mayo, Ireland. His three daugh- ters, Elizabeth, Mary and Theresa, live to never appreciate a father. Mr. Ham- mond was a member of the Catholic Knights of America, and while in Indiana was a member of the Emeralds and corporal of the Ninth Regiment of National Guards. The family, as was Mr. Hammond, are members of the Catholic Church.

CHARLES HAMPEL, retired, P. O. Sybertsville, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger- many, April 18, 1820, and is a son of Weigand and Elizabeth (Wagner) Hampel. He was reared and educated in his native country, served two years' apprenticeship 53

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at the tailor's trade, and for ten years was a private in the German army. In 1852 he came to America, and in 1853 located in Hazleton, Pa., where he worked at his trade as a journeyman, two years. In 1855 he embarked in the merchant tailoring business for his own account, in which he continued up to 1891, when he retired. In April of that year he located in Sugar Loaf township, where he still resides. In 1844 Mr. Hampel married Margaret, daughter of John and Anna (Wagner) Hampel, of Germany, and by her had three children who grew to maturity: Elizabeth, Charles and Pauline; of whom, Elizabeth is now Mrs. Thomas R. Martin, and by her first husband, John Zuschnett, had four children living: John, Alice (Mrs. Will- iam M. Froehlich), Ida P. and Katie. Mr. Hampel is a member of the Lutheran Church, and of the I. O. O. F .; in politics he is a Democrat.

GEORGE HAMPTON, engineer at No. 4 Slope, for the Susquehanna Coal Company, Nanticoke, was born in Monmouthshire, England, October 18, 1843. He received his education in his native county, and began life working on a farm in England, which he followed for two years, and, at the age of eighteen, he went to work in a machine shop, where he remained until he had completed his trade, at which time he commenced running a stationary engine. Following this business a short tims, he went to Mountain Ash, Glamorganshire, South Wales, where he followed the same business about three years. In 1859 he came to America and located at Mill Creek, this county, where he remained a short time, and then went to Pleasant Val- ley, same State. He remained there about three years in the employ of Patton, and then entered the employ of the Lehigh Coal Company. Remaining there a short time, he was transferred to Exeter, where he sojourned a short time, and then was sent to the Prospect Shaft, from there to the Henry Shaft, during all of which time he was employed as stationary engineer. He then went to Moosic, and entered the employ of the Hillside Coal & Iron Company, remaining there a short time; then proceeded to Colorado and entered the employ of Murphy & Co., mine opera- tors in Jefferson county, that State. After working there a short time, he went to Gold City, for William Lovelind, remaining in his employ until 1882, since when he has chiefly heen engaged in the employ of the Susquehanna Coal Company, having made stationary engineering the principal occupation of his life. Mr. Hampton was married to Miss Sina Watkins, of Glamorganshire, South Wales, and they have five living children, namely: David, Martha, Oliver, Sina and Eva. Mr. Hampton is a member of the F. & A. M., and his political principles are of a decided Republican cast.

WILLIAM HANCOCK, retired merchant, Wyoming borough, was born August 2, 1831, in Plains township, a son of James and Mary (Perkins) Hancock. James was a son of Jonathan Hancock, a native of Snowhill, Md., who came to Wilkes-Barre when the city was in its infancy, dying there in 1829, when sixty years of age. James Hancock was twice married. He removed from Plains township to Wilkes-Barre, and finally to Wyoming, where he died in 1880. He left a family of six children, of whom the following is a brief record: Jonathan married Elizabeth Reynolds, of Peoria, Ill., where he resided (he was a member and president of the Peoria Board of Trade; he died in 1891; Elizabeth R., his only daughter, married William W. Arnett, of Philadelphia); William is the subject of this memoir; David P., a graduate of West Point, served through the late war, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel (he died in 1880); Sarah P. married Dr. B. F. Miles, of Peoria, Ill. (she died in 1881); James D. is a resident of Franklin, Pa; Elisha A. is a resident of Philadelphia (he was a soldier in the late war, where he- lost a leg; he retired with the rank of major; he was colonel on Ex-Governor Hoyt's staff. He has been twice married, and has one son). Our subject, William Hancock, was reared on a farm, educated in the common schools, and at the age of sixteen engaged as clerk with John S. Yost, of South Wilkes-Barre, in a general store, where he worked two years. He also worked two years for Oliver, Jones & Granger, of New York City. Being in poor health he went to California, where he remained fifteen years. He came back to Wyoming, but again went to California for another two years. He then

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returned to Wyoming and opened a general store, continuing the business for twenty-two years, when he retired. Mr. Hancock was married September 25, 1873, to Isabell, danghter of Rev. Abel and Phebe A. (Brown) Barker, natives of Pennsyl- vania, and of English origin. This union was blessed with three children, viz. : Anna M., at school at Wyoming Seminary; William J. and Louise B. Mrs. Han- cock is a member of St. James Episcopal Church, of Pittston. Mr. Hancock was the first burgess of Wyoming borough; he was auditor of Kingston township for a number of years, having been elected to that office several times, and has also been a member of the council; he has also been president of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Wyoming.

ISAAC PLATT HAND, Wilkes-Barre, was born in Berwick, Columbia Co., Pa., April 5, 1843, and is a son of Rev. Aaron Hicks and Elizabeth (Boswell) Hand. His first ancestor in America was John Hand, of Maidstone, Keut, England, who came to this country in 1648, and settled on Long Island, where he died in 1660. The paternal grandfather of subject was Aaron Hand, whose wife was Tamer Platt. Aaron was the son of John, the son of John, the son of John Hand, above mentioned as the first ancestor in America. The Rev. A. H. Hand, father of subject, was born in Albany, N. Y., December 3, 1811. He was graduated from Williams College, Mass., in 1831; from Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, in 1837, and preached the Gospel in various sections of the country until his death. His wife was a daughter of Capt. John L. Boswell, of Norwich, Conn. Our subject was graduated from La Fayette College in 1865. During the Civil war, he was a mem- ber of Company D, Thirty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, serving from June 30, 1863, until his discharge, August 7, 1863. From 1865 to 1867 he was principal of the Hyde Park public schools, and from 1868 to 1870 was clerk of the city council of Scranton. He read law with Hand & Post, of Scranton, was admitted to the bar of Luzerne county November 15, 1869, and in December, 1870, returned to Wilkes- Barre, where he has since resided, in the active practice of his profession. He served on the school board several terms, and subsequently was secretary of the board, and presiding officer. He has been secretary and treasurer of the Wilkes- Barre Academy, trustee of the Wilkes-Barre Female Institute, and is at present trustee of La Fayette College. He has been grand commander of the American Legion of Honor, for the State of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Presby- byterian Church; in politics, an active Republican, having served as chairman of the Republican City Committee, four years; and was chairman of the Republican County Committee in 1880 and 1892. Mr. Hand married, May 30, 1871, Mary L., daughter of J. L. Richardson, a native of Vermont, who located in Luzerne county in 1843. Mr. and Mrs. Hand have eight children living: Kathleen, Isaac P., Bayard, Laura, Richardson, Joseph H., Emily and Phillip Lyman.

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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 134

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