History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 135

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

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JOHN A. HANEY, stock-raiser, Bear Creek township, P. O. Bear Creek, was born in Chestnut Hill township, Monroe Co., Pa., July 24, 1838, and is a son of Charles H. and Sarah (Storm) Haney, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Irish descent, the latter of German. They had a family of fourteen children, John A. being the eighth. Our subject was reared on a farm by his grandfather, having lived with him from the time he was a small boy, and was educated in the common schools. He left his grandfather when he was eighteen years old, and then went to work in the woods at lumbering, at which he continued but a short time, when he secured employment from Jay Gould, at the Gouldsboro Tannery. For Mr. Gould he worked about six months, and then commenced driving stage between White Haven and Eckley (then known as Filmore), continuing same till the war broke out. On June 10, 1861, he enlisted in Company F, Fourth Pennsylvania Reserves, remaining in that company till November 13, 1862; he was then transferred to the Fifth U. S., Company C, and was with that company till the end of the war, hav- ing participated in twenty-four important engagements and many small skirmishes. He is a member of the G. A. R., Conyngham Post No. 97, Wilkes-Barre, and a member of K. of P., No. 365. In politics he is a Republican. In 1866 Mr. Haney

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married Emeline, daughter of Jonas and Mary A. (Albert) Christman, and their union was blessed with a family of eleven children, viz .: Sarah, Mary, Arvilla, George, Merritt, Anna M., John T., Laura M., Beatrice, Elsie and Edith, all yet living at home except Mary, who is married. Mr. and Mrs. Haney and family are members of the M. E. Church.

HON. GARRICK MALLERY HARDING, a leading lawyer of Wilkes-Barre, and, from 1870 to 1880, president judge of the Eleventh Judicial District of Pennsylvania, was born at Exeter, Luzerne Co., Pa., July 12, 1830. He is a lineal descendant of Stephen Harding, who is referred to as a freeman of Providence, R. I., in the records of that city, bearing date as far back as 1669. The fourth son of this ancestor, also named Stephen, born about 1680, and probably a native of Providence, was a sea captain by profession, a man of ample means "and from his acquaintance and trans- actions, evidently one of the first persons in the colonies." His third son, born in 1723 and named after him, removed to Colchester, Conn., about the year 1750, and made his home there for nearly a quarter of a century, during which period his large family of children, consisting of nine sons and three daughters, was born. In 1774, following the example of many other adventurous sons of Connecticut, he removed to the Wyoming Valley-which under the charter granted to Connecticut by King Charles, was included within the boundaries of that colony- and settled on the western bank of the Susquehanna, his farm lying within the limits of what is now Exeter, Luzerne county, and he died there October 11, 1789. He took an active part in the memorable events which occurred in that historical locality soon after his arrival, and "commanded Fort Wintermost in the Wyoming Massacre." His eighth son, John, born about 1765, was the only member of the family who escaped death at the hands of the fiendish Indians, allies of the British, in this bloody affair. The Hon. Isaac Harding, a son of this survivor, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Exeter, and lived there until 1846, when he removed to Illinois. He was a lawyer by profession and practiced with distin- guished success in that State, and was elected a judge of the county court of Lee county. He died at Paw Paw Grove, Ill., in 1854. Garrick Mallery Harding was the fourth son of his parents. He seems to have inherited a love for books and study, and from his earliest years to have paid strict attention to his teachers. His education began in Franklin Academy in Susquehanna county, was continued in Madison Academy at Waverly, and was completed in Dickinson College, at Car- lisle, Pa. In each of these institutions he made an excellent record, and took his collegiate degree with distinguished honors. The profession of law held out the greatest inducements to his tastes, and upon leaving college, he engaged in the work of mastering the intricacies under the preceptorship of the Hon. Henry M. Fuller, who was a leading member of the Luzerne county bar. In 1850, just two years later, he was regularly admitted to practice. The bar of Luzerne county at that time was conspicuous for the strength and ability of its members, and to meet them on an equal footing in the courts of law was in itself an experience of high educa- cational value, as was also the business connection he formed with his preceptor, which lasted six years. The young lawyer had many admirable personal qualities to commend him to public attention. His eloquence was striking and convincing, and made him a power before juries. Naturally his practice enlarged, and before ten years had passed he was a formidable rival of his older colleagues. In 1858 the Republicans placed him in nomination for the office of district attorney of Luzerne county. His opponent was Gen. Winchester, a popular and able Democrat, whom he defeated by a majority of 1,700 votes; although the county was largely Demo- cratic. In 1865 he took, as partner in his law business, Henry W. Palmer, a prom- ising student of his, who subsequently rose to eminence at the bar and became attorney-general of Pennsylvania. This connection was maintained until 1870, when, on his fortieth birthday, Mr. Harding received from Governor Geary the appointment as president judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of the Hon. John N. Conyngham. In the fall of the

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

same year this office was one of those the people were called upon to fill by election, and Mr. Harding was nominated for it by the Republican County Convention. His opponent in this canvass was the late George W. Woodward, ex-chief justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and it was a magnificent attestation of the popular appreciation of Mr. Harding's ability and general fitness for the position that he was elected to fill it by a majority of 2,365 votes. " On the bench Judge Harding displayed those active qualities which had been a distinguishing feature of his life, and the promptness with which he dispatched business, the constant attention he gave to the duties demanded, the fearless methods that he employed, all linked with an integrity of purpose that was undeviating, gained for him the highest respect of the bar, and the wide plaudits of the people." Satisfied that he had faithfully and fully discharged his duty to the public, and had earned the right to retire from official life and devote himself to his personal interests, Judge Harding, in the fall of 1879, tendered his resignation as president judge, to take effect on the first of January following. Being assured that it was the Judge's sincere desire to retire from the bench, Governor Hoyt reluctantly accepted, and appointed Stanley Wood- ward, Esq., to fill the vacancy. Upon laying aside the ermine he at once assumed the practice of his profession, and is still absorbed in its duties. In connection with Judge Harding's judicial career, there occurred an incident of such an extraordinary nature as to make reference to it pertinent in this place. This was an attempt at his impeachment, which had its origin, evidently, in personal malice, and which, as the fullest investigation proved to the entire satisfaction of his friends and the gen- eral public, was without a shadow of foundation in fact. It was made in the early part of 1879, and was a complete surprise to the community, and not less so to his political opponents than to the members of his own party. In justice to the former it should be recorded that they viewed the attempt with disgust and contempt. Nearly every paper of importance in the State criticised the movement severely- the editors of the great metropolitan journals joining with those of the provincial sheets in a universal condemnation of it. The petition for impeachment, to judge from the signatures appended to it, emanated from a totally irresponsible quarter, for a prominent member of the Luzerne county bar, well-known for his just and impartial historical writing (George B. Kulp, Esq.) alludes to it as follows: "The petition did not contain the name of a single member of the bar of either Luzerne or Lackawanna county, nor is there to be found on it the name of a single man of prominence, and, with the exception of a very few which were familiar by reason of having been before him (Judge Harding) in the court of quarter sessions, the names were not recognized as those of residents in this section." It is scarcely necessary to comment further. As may be imagined, the lawyer employed to act as prosecutor had great difficulty in getting the petition before the Legislature, as no member of either party from Luzerne county would even touch it. In the opinion of those before whom it was finally brought, "it bore upon its face the open evidence of a malig- nity," and not a few believed it constituted ample ground for a charge of criminal libel against those who presented it. Judge Harding courted the fullest investi- gation, and personally addressed the general judiciary committee of the Legislature, requesting that his accuser be given "the widest possible latitude for investigation." This was done, but no one could be brought forward to swear that the charges of the petition were true. "Not a single one of the charges preferred against Judge Harding was established. Such an utter, complete, absolute failure was never before witnessed anywhere in a proceeding aspiring to a dignity beyond that of broad farce." The Legislative committee's report was a full and complete vindication of Judge Harding. In his personal appearance, Judge Harding is a man of striking proportions, carrying in his physique the evidences of good health and sound ment- tality. In private life he is generous and charitable,- devoted to his family and to his books; a faithful friend and an outspoken opponent. He is one of the incorpo- rators of the Wyoming Commemorative Association, and took an active and prominent part in the proceedings marking the one hundredth anniversary of the Battle and

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Massacre of Wyoming, held in Luzerne county in 1878. On October 12, 1852, he married Maria M. Slosson, daughter of Mr. John W. Slosson, of Kent, Lichtfield Co., Conn., and has three children, one daughter and two sons: Harriet (wife of William W. Curtin, only son of Ex-Gov. Curtin), John S. and Henry M.

JOHN SLOSSON HARDING is a son of Ex-Judge Garrick M. Harding and Maria Mills (Slosson) Harding. Both the Hardings and the Slossons are of English origin; both were among the earliest settlers of New England, and both were represented in the appalling incidents of the early history of the Wyoming Valley, and the accompanying atrocities of the Indians. Stephen Harding was a blacksmith at Providence, R. I., in 1669, and it is believed that one of the family was the wife of Sir Robert Groges, who in 1623 received from the Council of New England a grant of a tract of land in Massachusetts Bay, four miles wide, and extending thirty miles into the interior, together with an appointment as "General Governor of the whole Country." Stephen Harding's grandson (another Stephen) removed to Wyom- ing in 1774, and settled in what is now Exeter township. He was a captain in the militia, and was taken prisoner in Jenkins Fort at the time of the massacre. His sons, Benjamin and Stukely, were the first to be killed by the Indians in their merciless invasion in 1778, and John, a mere boy, saved his life by hiding himself in the water beneath some willows. A brother of these, Benjamin F., removed to Oregon, and after holding many important positions became a United States Senator. Isaac Harding was a son of the boy John, above mentioned, and Garrick Mallery Harding was his son, and the father of John Slosson Harding, and was for ten years president judge of the Luzerne county courts. The Slossons trace back to George Slosson, who was one of the proprietors of the town of Sandwich, Mass., in 1637. Representatives of the family served in the Revolution, and were other- wise distinguished in New England history; Capt. Asath Whittlesy, a descendant, was killed at the massacre.

John Slosson Harding was born in Wilkes-Barre August 29, 1859. He attended the public schools in Wilkes-Barre and the academy of W. R. Kingman in the same city, and St. Paul's school at Concord, N. H., for two years. He subsequently entered Yale College, graduating in the class of 1880. His legal studies were prosecuted under the guidance of his father, Judge Harding, and he became a member of the Luzerne bar November 21, 1882. For six years he was deputy district attorney of Luzerne county, and in 1891 came within one vote of receiving the nomination of the Democrats for district attorney. He has been very active as a party worker in county and city committees. He practices law in connection with his father, is unmarried, and is a member of the Episcopal Church.

MERRIT S. HARDING, contractor and builder, was born in Eaton, Pa., October 21, 1839, and is a son of Steadman and Martha A. (Mitchell) Harding, also natives of Pennsylvania, and of English origin. He is a grandson of Thomas and Martha (McNamara) Harding, and a great-grandson of Thomas Harding, who, with eight brothers, came from Connecticut to the Wyoming Valley some time prior to the massacre of 1778, and two of whom were killed at Exeter the day before that terrible event. In his father's family there were eight children, seven of whom are living, and Merrit S. is the third. Our subject was reared on the farm, educated in the common school, and on April 20, 1861, enlisted at Tunkhannock in Company B, Twelfth Pennsylvania Reserves. He participated in the battle of Drainesville, the seven days' fight on the Peninsula, the second battle of Bull Run, and was wounded in the right wrist while carrying the flag, August 31, 1862. He then passed some time in the hospital and furlough, during which he was enrolling officer, and served notices of draft. On September 14, 1864, at Philadelphia, he joined, as second lieutenant, Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh U. S. C. T., and was mustered out as first lieutenant at Brazos, Tex., October 7, 1865. His two brothers, Anson A. and Horace, fought in defence of the old flag, the former offering up his life for it at the battle of the Wilderness; the latter is living at Kansas City, Mo. When the war closed, Lieutenant Harding returned home and worked on the

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farm summers, teaching school winters. In 1870 he came to Plainsville, where he has since been engaged in his present business. Mr. Harding was married, September 11, 1864, to Martha S., daughter of Joseph and Viletta (Miller) Kishbough, natives of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively, and of German lineage; she is a granddaughter of Sebastian Miller, who was a Revolutionary soldier, and a niece of Margaret Bedillon, who stole away in the night from the house of the British family where she was employed, secured a horse, and carried to Gen. Washington some British plans of movement, which she had sworn under penalty of death not to divulge, and thus saved the American army. This happy union has been blessed with eight children, viz .: Letta, Alberta, Fred, Merrit, Joseph, Hattie, Claud and Mercy. Mr. and Mrs. Harding are members of the Baptist and Methodist Episcopal Churches, respectively; he is a member of the G. A. R., the P. O. S. of A., and the Carpenters' and Joiners' Union; politically he is a Republican, has held office of supervisor two terms, and in 1890 took the census of Plains township.

W. F. HARLOS, farmer, P. O. Dupont, was born in Ransom township, Lacka- wanna Co., Pa., January 22, 1856, a son of Philip and Christina (Miller) Harlos, both natives of Germany. Philip, who was a shoemaker by trade, emigrated to this country in 1834, being then twenty years old. After his arrival here he abandoned his trade and took to farming, owning eighty acres of valuable land. He was married in this country, and his wife bore him ten children, seven of whom grew to maturity, William F. being the seventh in the family. Our subject was reared and educated in his native township, and always followed agricultural pur- suits. He resided at home with his father till April 3, 1883, when he married Miss Lizzie Roderus, who was born April 23, 1857, daughter of Simon and Anna Rodcrus, to whom were born four children: Minnie J. (deceased), born April 20, 1884; Gertrude Y., born August 14, 1886; Edna M., born December 13, 1887, and William F., born October 17, 1889. Mr. Harlos removed to Pittston township in 1885. He purchased a farm of 100 acres, twelve of which were cleared, and twelve more were cleared during his residence there. He is engaged in mixed or general farming, and is a hard-working, industrious man, sure to make his mark in life. On his farm is a very fine quality of stone suitable for building, pavement and sidewalks, which is a source of revenue from which he draws considerable income. Mr. and Mrs. Harlos are both consistent members of the German Lutheran Church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.

C. P. HARNED, merchant, Koonsville, was born in Union township, April 11, 1863, a son of John and Phoebe (Moore) Harned, and is the youngest member of the family. He received his education at the common schools of his native town, and during the first few years of his boyhood life worked on his father's farm. He was afterward engaged as a clerk in a general store in Wilkes-Barre, for a few years. After the expiration of three years he began business for himself at Koonsville, where he keeps a general, well-stocked store, and by his gentlemanly bearing and straight-forward dealing, has established himself in the confidence of the people. This means success. In 1891 there was a postoffice established at Koonsville, and he was appointed postmaster; he has also held the office of town- ship clerk. In August, 1886, Mr. Harned married Miss Lizzie, daughter of J. S. and Jerusha Koons, and to them was born one child, Warren K. Mrs. Lizzie Harned was born in Union township in 1864. Mr. Harned is a promising young man of marked ability and pleasing manners, sure to make the mercantile business a success.

JOHN HARNED, farmer, P. O. Town Line, was born in Union township, July 13, 1825, and is a son of Samuel and Malina (Huff) Harned, both of whom were born in Union township. Samuel is the son of Jonathan, who was a native of New Jersey; he was a grandson of Nathaniel Harned, an Irish nobleman, who emigrated to this country in 1630. Jonathan removed to this county about 1798, stopped at Ply- mouth for a while, thence to Union township, where he owned 100 acres of land. His life was passed as that of other pioneers. He was a hard-working man, whose

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

example for good might well be emulated. He died at an advanced age, having reared a family of fourteen children, all of whom grew to maturity, and one of whom is now living. His son, Samuel, succeeded his father on the homestead, but after his marriage with Malina Hnff, he removed to Ross township, on a farm of 100 acres of virgin soil, which, by hard toil and incessant perseverance, he succeeded in bringing under cultivation. He was a loyal citizen and a stanch Democrat. His family consisted of twelve children by two marriages, all of whom grew to maturity, and eleven of whom are now living. John is the third of the family. He was reared and educated in Union township, and in early life learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for seventeen years. He then took up farming, and since 1852 has been living on his present farm, comprising 117 acres. In 1847 he married Miss Phobe, daughter of Joseph and Ann Moore, to which union have been born four children, as follows: Josephine A., Charles B., Nellie G. and Chester P. Mr. Harned has held several township offices. He is a practical farmer, 'and a worthy man, and much respected in his neighborhood. Mrs. Phoebe (Moore) Harned was born in Union township in 1824. Her father, Joseph Moore, was born in Cecil county, Md., January 21, 1792, and removed to this county in 1799, when seven years of age. Joseph was a son of William, who was born in East Notting- ham, February 13, 1758. ' He was the first of the pioneers of the Moores to locate in this county. William was a son of Sampson, who was of English birth.

ELIAS H. HARRIS, farmer, P. O. Carverton, was born January 1, 1831, the son of Hiram and Mary (Heft) Harris, the former born on Harris Hill, the latter in Carverton, this county. Hiram was a son of Charles Harris, who was born at Forty Fort. and was about nine years of age at the time of the Wyoming Massacre. Charles was the first settler who removed to this side of the mountain on a tract of 800 acres, building himself a log-house and barn; he was obliged to carry his provisions from Wilkes-Barre on his back, after disputing the right of the wolves to his pack. His nearest neighbor's house was in Dallas (there was only one then), and he cleared up a large farm during his lifetime. He reared six children, two of whom are now living: Chester and Hiram. Charles was a son of Elijah Harris, who was a native of Connecticut, and who was one of the first settlers in the Valley. Hiram located on the farm owned by his father, and is now living at an advanced age-a man of pure life and habits, and one of the old pioneer members of the M. E. Church. His family consisted of three sons: 'Elias, Lyman and Lewis. Our subject began life near the old homestead on Harris Hill, and in 1866 removed to Franklin township, where he purchased a farm of 101 acres, which he improved until now it " blossoms as the rose." Mr. Harris is a man of worth in his township, a good citizen, and honored with several offices of trust. In 1865 he married Miss Cordelia, daughter of Jacob and Mary Frantz, and by her he had six children, five of whom are now living: Elizabeth, Charles, Emery, Mary and Amy. Of these, Elizabeth married John Rice; Charles married Mamie Phillips; Emery married Miss Etta, daughter of Levi W. and Sarah M. Rice; Mary married Lawrence Roberts; Amy is yet single. Mrs. Harris was born in Kingston borough, October 22, 1834. The Harrisses were all Republicans up to Elias' time, who, with his sons, are Democrats.

HIRAM HARRIS, retired, P. O. Trucksville, was born, September 8, 1807, reared and educated in Kingston township, on Harris Hill. He is the son of Charles and Martha (Pierce) Harris, the former of whom was born in Orange county, N. Y., in 1768, the latter in Kingston township. Charles was a son of Elijah Harris, who removed from Orange county, N. Y., about 1769, locating at Forty Fort, where he owned a vast tract of what was then considered worthless land. He was a native of Connecticut, and was one of the first pioneers in the Valley, and took an active part in the Indian trouble here. Charles was one year old when his father came to this county, and the first white man who settled north of the Kingston mountain. He was a stonemason by occupation, and was compelled to work in the Valley after he removed over the mountain, while his crops grew, he carried his pro- visions from Wilkes-Barre to Harris Hill on his back, often disputing the right of

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the wolves and bears to share them. He located on Harris Hill about 1800, pur- chasing two hundred acres of land in its natural state, seventy acres of which he cleared during his lifetime. He was a sturdy old pioneer, and should receive much credit for what he has accomplished in cultivating the forest, causing it to yield abundantly. His barn is standing today, the oldest in the county. Charles Harris died in 1864, at the age of ninety six years, having reared a family of nine children, two of whom are now living: Hiram and Chester. Hiram is the fifth in his father's family, and has always confined himself to farming, having always lived on the old homestead on which he now resides, which comprises one hundred and twenty-five acres of fertile land. In 1832, at the age of twenty- five, he married Miss Mary, daughter of Daniel and Lizzie Heft. To their union have been born three children, two of whom are now living: Elias and Lyman. After the death of Mrs. Mary Harris, he married, in 1852, for his second wife, Miss Mary, daughter of Christian and Kate Atherholt, and they have two children, Lyman and Milton. Mr. Harris is a man of marked piety; he was a leading spirit in the M. E. Church, in which body he has held the offices of trustee and class-leader. Politically he is a Republican ..

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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 135

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