History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 142

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

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

FRANK HOLSCHUH is agent and operator for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com- pany at Luzerne, Pa. He was born at Falls, Wyoming Co., Pa., March 22, 1869, and is a son of Adam and Louisa (Wambold) Holschuh, natives of Germany. He received his early education and also studied telegraphy in his native town, and on July 25, 1889, was appointed to his present position. Mr. Holschuh is yet unmar- ried. As regards politics, he is always found in the Republican party. His present position is one that involves a certain degree of trust and responsibility, and, although yet a young man, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company have demon- strated their confidence in Mr. Holschuh by giving him charge of Luzerne station, which is destined to become a busy railroad center.

CHARLES W. HONEYWELL, tax collector and insurance agent, Plymouth, was born at Dallas, Pa., December 30, 1858, and is a son of D. D. and Julia A. (Willis) Honeywell, also natives of Luzerne county; the former was born at Dallas, where he still resides. The family consisted of nine children, the subject of this sketch being the fifth in order of birth; six are still living. Charles W. was educated in the public schools of Luzerne county, and in 1872 came to Plymouth and engaged in shoemaking, which he followed for three years, at the end of which time he launched into the mercantile business, handling dry goods and groceries. This busi- ness he continued until 1889, when he was appointed tax collector by the court. He was subsequently elected to that office for 1890, 1891 and 1892, on what is known as the Citizens' ticket. Mr. Honeywell was united in marriage, February 28, 1883, with Miss Lulu M., daughter of Charles and Keturah (Pringle) Robbins, natives of this county, to which nnion three children have been born, viz .: Leroy K., born January 29, 1884; Myrtle, born July 15, 1885; and Charles H., born July 16, 1891. Politically Mr. Honeywell is a Democrat, and was constable of Plymouth for five years. Mr. and Mrs. Honeywell attend the Presbyterian Church; he is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the P. O. S. of A.

I. T. HONEYWELL, furniture dealer and undertaker, Luzerne, was born at Dallas, Luzerne Co., Pa., in 1856, and is a son of Samuel and Margaret (Frantz) Honey- well, the former a native of New Jersey, the latter of Pennsylvania. The father's voca- tion was that of a farmer, and his family consisted of six children, one daughter and five sons. Mr. Honeywell, after receiving his education, spent four years traveling through the western States. He returned in 1883, and embarked in the furniture and undertaking business at Luzerne, where he has a thriving trade. Our subject was married, in 1889, to Emanda, daughter of Zachariah Nealy, a native of Penn- sylvania, and they have one child, a daughter, Ida A., now (1892) one year and eight months old. Mr. Honeywell adheres strictly to the principles advocated by the Republican party, is a member of the I. O. R. M., K. of P., Daughters of Poca- hontas, and Sons of Patriotic Knights.

L. D. HONEYWELL, farmer, P. O. Carverton, was born in Dallas, May 13, 1861, son of Samuel and Margaret (Frantz) Honeywell, and is the sixth son in a family of ten children, six of whom are living. He was reared and educated in Kingston township, and has always devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, proving himself an adept in his chosen vocation. He removed to Wyoming with his father at the age of thirteen. On February 22, 1883, at the age of twenty-two, he was married to Miss Eleanor, daughter of Jacob H. and Harriet D. Wolf, and to their union have been born two children: Charles and Margaret, the former born February 10, 1884, the latter August 18, 1885. After his marriage Mr. Honeywell removed to his father's farm, consisting of nearly 200 acres of valuable land, situated north of Wyoming borough, to which he devotes his time, giving special attention to hay and potato crops. He is also extensively engaged in the dairy business, having twenty cows of excellent breed.

SAMUEL HONEYWELL, farmer, Wyoming borough, was born April 12, 1828, and is a son of Abraham S. and Lydia (Hawk) Honeywell, natives of Warren county, N. J., and of German and English origin, respectively, the former a farmer by occupa- tion. They reared two sons, of whom our subject is the youngest. He was edu-

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cated in the common schools, and in 1847 he began life for himself as a farmer, on his half of the homestead, where he remained till 1866, when he came to Car- verton, Luzerne county, and engaged in agriculture, having purchased a large farm there in 1865; he remained in Carverton nine years, and then moved to Wyoming borough and built his cozy home in 1875, where he has since resided. He was mar- ried, December 27, 1849, to Margaret, daughter of Jacob and Mary A. (Weiss) Frantz, natives of Pennsylvania and of German origin. This happy union was blessed with ten children, six of whom are now living: Mary E , married to B. W. Brickel, an undertaker in Dallas, Pa., formerly of Bethlehem, Pa .; Ira T., married to Emma Nealey, of Dallas township; Lincoln D., married to Elnora Wolf, of Wyoming; Nelson C., married to Frances Nafus, of Luzerne borough, Pa. ; Clinton G., married to Alphretta Welch, of Dallas borough; and Archie C., mail carrier for Wyoming borough, living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Honeywell are members of the Wyoming Methodist Church. Mr. Honeywell is a sound Republican, and has held the borough offices of school director and judge of election, and was appointed tax collector by the court of Luzerne county for 1892, for Wyoming borough.

WILLIAM J. HONEYWELL, retired, Dallas, was born June 3, 1824, and was edu- cated at the common schools of Dallas, in early life teaching school himself. He has confined himself mostly to agriculture, and although retired, yet owns a farm as . well as a house and lot in Dallas borough. He is a man of influence, both socially and religiously. He holds the offices of town burgess and justice of the peace, and was for twelve years school director. At the time of the erection of the M. E. Meeting-house he was president of the building committee, and he has been on the board of trustees of that church for forty years, being now president. On May 29, 1847, he married Miss Sarah, daughter of James and Mary Perry, and by her had three children, viz. : Hiram, Mary A. and C. D. Of these, Hiram married Miss Martha, daughter of Joseph Shotwell; C. D. married Miss May, daughter of John Ferguson.

William J. Honeywell is a son of Abraham S. and Lydia (Hawk) Honeywell, the former of whom was born in New Jersey, the latter in Dallas. One of the earliest marriages in Dallas was in 1820, thatof Abraham S. Honeywell to Miss Lydia Hawk. Abraham S. Honeywell is a son of William Honeywell who came to Dallas in 1808, and here purchased 400 acres of land (which is on the site of the Dallas Fair Grounds) and here he first put up a log-house, in the following year building a more pretentious residence. He continued to improve and beautify "Old Mother Earth " until the forest came to " blossom as the rose." A man of sterling qualities, honest, industrious, and patriotic in the extreme, William Honeywell was a thor- oughly religious and conscientious man. In those days, when church buildings were scarce, his house was the central place for worship for that country. His heart was in sympathy with the work of the Gospel; his hand was always ready to help, and his hospitable home was ever open to the preacher of the Gospel. He reared a family of eight children, four boys and four girls, who afterward became, the boys sturdy yeomen, and the girls the wives of successful pioneers of the country. Their names are as follows: Joseph, Thomas, Jacob, Abraham S., Grace, Hannah, Betsy and Kate. Abraham S., settled on part of the old homestead which he continued to improve and embellish, having imbibed the same spirit that prompted his father. He was a man of influence in his day; he held the office of constable for twenty years, and held several other offices of trust in the town. In those days of no railroads he was in the habit of hauling goods from Easton to Wilkes- Barre, drawing shingles from the wood country, south, and bringing back supplies. He lived to be ninety-seven years and died in 1889. He reared a family of two children: Samuel and William J., the latter being the subject of this sketch.

JOHN E. HOPKINS, miner, Keystone Colliery, Ridgewood, Plains township, was born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, South Wales, January 1, 1853, and is a son of William and Ruth (Evans) Hopkins, the former of whom was a miner. They reared two children of whom John E. is the elder; his sister, Naomi, married Thomas

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

Jones, a miner in Wales. Our subject followed mining to some extent in his native country, came to America in 1873, and was engaged in mining successively at Church Hill, Ohio, Coal Creek, Ind., Peoria, Ill., Massillon, Ohio and Jeansville, Pa. In 1876 he revisited Wales, worked in the mines there nine months and then returned to this country, locating at Scranton, Pa., where he remained a short time, and was afterward engaged in mining at Kingston, Sugar Notch, Jeansville, Stock- ton and Plains; at the last-named place he mined and contracted in the Hillman, Oakwood, Wyoming, Henry and Pine Ridge Collieries, working in the Henry in all seven years. While in the Oakwood he was severely burned, which disabled him for some time. In January, 1890, he came to the Keystone Colliery, where he is also contracting. Mr. Hopkins was married, October 13, 1872, to Miss Ann, daugh- ter of Thomas and Maria (Jones) Jones, of Wales, and they have had nine children, seven of whom are living, viz. : Maria, Ruth, Rachel, Garfield, Lucretia, Faith and Ralph. Mr. Hopkins is a member of the I. O. O. F., the A. O. K. of M. C. and the I. O. R. M .; in his political views he is a Republican.

PATRICK HOPKINS, locomotive hostler, Ashley, was born in County Longford, Ireland, September 7, 1847, and is a son of Patrick and Margaret (Bardon) Hopkins. He has one older brother, John, who is firing a stationary engine at Ashley. The father died when our subject was ten months old, and the mother afterward mar- ried Bernard Gunning, by whom she had two children: Peter (employed in the repair shops of the Hudson River Railroad) and Mary (Mrs. Bernard McCue, of County Longford, Ireland). Our subject came to America with his brother in 1863, and located at Ashley, where he picked slate in the breaker, three months; carried tools on the railroad, one year; drove mules in the mines, two years; was brakeman on what is now the Central Railroad of New Jersey, three years, and fired, two years. He then was brakeman on what is now the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, three months, after which he returned to Ashley, where he labored in the mines ten months, and from 1873 to 1887 was engaged in mining. He then served two years as supervisor of Wilkes-Barre township, and accepted his present position in 1888. Mr. Hopkins was married October 8, 1869, to Miss Catherine, daughter of Charles and Ann (Caffery) O'Neill, natives of County Longford, Ireland, whence they emigrated in 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins have had born to them ten children, as follows: Charles, who died at the age of ten months; John, brakeman on the Cen- tral Railroad of New Jersey; James, a molder's apprentice, Vulcan Iron Works, Wilkes-Barre; Charles, teamster for his father; Peter, Joseph, Ann, Mary, Margaret and Edward, the last named dying at the age of four years and five months. Mr. Hopkins and family are members of the Catholic Church. He is a member of the B. L. F., and in his political views is a Democrat. In 1890 he built his residence.

GEORGE W. HOOVER, funeral director, with Voorhis & Murray, Wilkes-Barre, was born at Forty-Fort, this county, March 8, 1830, a son of Daniel and Elsie (Space) Hoover. His father was a shoemaker, and a veteran of the war of 1812. He settled at Forty Fort about 1816, where he followed his trade and resided until his death, which occurred in 1836. His wife was a daughter of James Space, who lost a hand in the Revolutionary war; he was a pioneer farmer of Luzerne county and died in Huntington township. Daniel and Elsie Hoover had five children: James, Sarah (Mrs. Simeon Brown), William, Nancy (Mrs. John Norsor) and George W., the subject of this sketch. George W. Hoover was reared in Forty Fort, and educated in the public schools, and served an apprenticeship of five years at the cabinet maker's trade, which he has since followed. He is now superintendent of the cabinet department for Voorhis & Murray, as well as funeral director, and lias been with them and their predecessors twenty-two years, and was, for eighteen years prior to that, in the undertaking business for himself and others. He was married, July 25, 1851, to Jane E., daughter of Samuel and Margaret Montayne, of Wilkes- Barre, and has one daughter living, Blanche (Mrs. Latta L. Brittain; she has one child, Elsie). Mr. Hoover and wife are members of the Baptist Church; in politics he is independent.

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JACOB HOOVER, farmer, P. O. Dallas, was born in Morris county, N. J., in Sep- tember, 1812. He is a son of Peter and Sophia (Beam) Hoover, both of whom were natives of New Jersey, where they lived and died. They reared a family of eight children, all of whom are dead except Jacob, who is the seventh in the family. He was reared in his native county, and educated at the common schools, and in 1827 removed to this county, locating in the Valley, where he resided, a trustworthy and respected citizen, till 1863, in which year he removed to Dallas on a farm of one hundred acres, or more properly, a wilderness of one hundred acres. By hard labor and economy, he has achieved marvelous changes, half of his farm being now cleared and under cultivation. His rude log cabin, which is still standing, has been sup- planted by a more modern edifice. The natural forest has given way to the golden fields of grain; thus, by hard and honest toil, are the agricultural pursuits of the county developed. In 1832 Mr. Hoover married Miss Jane, daughter of Jonas and Catherine (Shaver) DeLong, to which union have been born thirteen children, nine of whom are living: Charles, William, Catherine, Bradley, James, Sarah, Elizabeth, John and Nathaniel. George (deceased) served three months in the militia during the Civil war; Charles served three years in the One Hundred and Twenty-third P. V. I., and fought heroically for the preservation of the Union. Mr. Hoover is a worthy old gentleman, affectionate in his family, and kind and courteous to his neighbors. Politically he is a Republican.

LAWRENCE HOOVER, farmer, P. O. Harding, was born near Hackettstown, N. J., December 25, 1820, in which place he was reared and educated. He is the son of Felix and Margaret (Lance) Hoover, both of whom were born in Morris county, N. J. Felix Hoover was of Dutch parentage, and was a hard-working and industrious man. His family consisted of eight children, two of whom are now (1892) living. Lawrence is the youngest of his father's family; in early life he learned the mason's trade. He came to this county in 1840, at the age of twenty-one years, locating in Exeter township, on a farm of twenty acres, to which at various times he has added thirty-five more. He settled here when the land was unimproved, and, by hard work and an eye to business, he has succeeded in making for himself a beautiful and comfort- able home. In his early life he was an expert hunter, game being plentiful in those days. Mr. Hoover is much respected by his townsmen, and has been appointed to several offices, the duties of which he has discharged with much credit. In 1841 he married Sarah, daughter of Andrew and Nancy Hoover. There were ten children born to them, four of whom are now (1892) living: Alfred, George, Minerva and Izabelle. George and Henry (deceased) were both members of Company F, Fifty- third P. V. I. The latter died from the effects of a wound received while in the service; both served their country well in her struggle for the preservation of the Union. Mrs. Hoover was born in Exeter township, in 1823. Her father removed to this county in 1811, locating in Red Spring Falls, Lackawanna Co., Pa. Mr. Hoover and his sons are stanch Republicans.

MISSOURI B. HOUPT, architect, builder, lumberman, etc., of the city of Wilkes- Barre, was born in Newport, Luzerne county, February 17, 1839, and is the youngest of ten children of Philip and Susan (Arnt) Houpt, who were both born in North- ampton county, this State, in the years 1796 and 1797, respectively, of Pennsyl- vania-German parentage. They were married in that county in the year 1815, and in 1820 removed to Newport township, Luzerne county, where they followed the pursuit of farming with industry and success, until the year 1849, when they removed to Wilkes-Barre. Here they happily and comfortably resided, in the enjoyment of the fruits of their early labors, until the death of Philip in the year 1880, when he was aged eighty-four years. His widow, Susan, still survives, at the advanced age of ninety-five, in the full enjoyment of her mental faculties. Aside from the more than usual financial prosperity of this long matrimonial union, it deserves the hon- orable mention of having contributed to the world four sons and six daughters, who have severally attained the estates of respectable and estimable manhood and womanhood, and of whom all of the sons and four of the daughters are still living.

The son, Missouri B. Houpt, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the

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common schools and at the Wyoming Seminary. At the age of twenty-one years, following the bent of his business ambition to be a contractor and builder, and desir- ing to begin at the very bottom round of the ladder in that pursuit by practical experience to familiarize himself with all the intermediate steps to the top, he went to New York City to learn the trade of a carpenter, and four years later, at the age of twenty-five, returned to Wilkes-Barre, resolved to begin his chosen calling. Very soon his preliminary training, his natural taste for that occupation, and his energy and strict business discipline, gave him both extensive employment and a prominent reputation as a contractor and builder, and for many years, not only in the superior character, but also in the amount of work he has performed, and in the dispatch and satisfaction to his employers, with which he has carried out his undertakings, he has justly ranked as the leader in this vicinity in his line of business. During the later years of his life he has successfully combined architecture with that of building, and has shown himself exceedingly efficient in this added calling. A very large number of churches, public buildings, business blocks, and scores of elegant private dwellings, including his own residence on the corner of Ross and South Franklin streets, are standing monuments to his skill and extensive operations. He never builds a poorer, but always a better structure than his contract calls for. He justly enjoys the reputation of perfect business integrity, and always pays his bills with strict promptitude, whereby those who employ him never fear the entry of liens for material against their properties, and those by him employed are sure of their promised recompense. His large building plant on South Franklin street, equipped with a constant supply of the best lumber, and all the modern machinery and appliances for rapid and yet perfect work, is another attestation of his persever- ance and the large scope of his business industry. He was also, for a number of years, the senior member of the firm of Houpt, Frantz & Cook, painters, paper- hangers, etc., and has been engaged in various enterprises as auxiliary to his gen- eral business. Finally, and within the last year, he has purchased a valuable lot on North Canal street, erected thereon large brick buildings for storage of lumber, stables, offices, etc., immediately connected by a series of switches with the main line of railroad, at a cost of many thousands of dollars, and thus has converted this prop- erty into a lumber-yard, which for location, availability and perfection for receiving, stocking and selling lumber, has no equal in this part of the State. This has been stored with a large quantity of every kind of lumber and hardware pertaining to the lumber business, and so fully alive to the demands of the times, and the impor- tance of supplying at a reasonable cost the wants of his patrons' own building and contracting enterprise, he has still further exhibited an almost unlimited business capacity, and will, no doubt, proportionately increase his present well-earned fortune.

Mr. Houpt was married March 28, 1865, to Sallie Garringher, daughter of Jesse and Catharine (Croup) Garringher, who were born in Hanover and Newport town- ships, respectively, of Pennsylvania-German pareutage. Two children have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Houpt, viz. : Edgar Missouri Houpt (aged sixteen years), now preparing for college, and Harry S. Houpt (aged twenty-six years), yet unmarried, who, with a view of adopting his father's line of business, and having for that purpose supplemented his academic studies by a course of train- ing, first in The Pierce Business College of Philadelphia, and next in the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology, has recently become associated with his father in the different business enterprises, above referred to, which are now and hereafter will be carried on under the firm name of M. B. Houpt & Son. With both his thorough theoretical training at college, and the lessons of practical experience which have been so generously supplied by his father, the son will no doubt greatly relieve the father of many of the latter's former business cares, and in due time, with his younger brother, carry on the extensive business operations to which we have referred.

Mrs. Houpt is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, with which her hus- band, while not a member, is identified, at least to the extent of assisting in its

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financial maintenance. Mr. Houpt is a liberal contributor to public and private charities; he is a prominent Freemason, and, as a stanch Republican, he gives freely in aid of party management, but has never been an office-seeker or holder.

GEORGE L. HOUSER, forwarding agent at Coxton Yards, Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, was boru at White Haven, this county, October 23, 1847, a son of Samuel and Sophia (Andrews) Houser, who reared a family of four children: Edward, George L., Alice and Samuel. Our subject received a public-school education, and at the age of eighteen entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company as manifest clerk in their general office at Mauch Chunk, where he remained until 1874, when he was appointed forwarding agent at Coxton, in which position he still continues. He married, November 13, 1873, Annie L., daughter of A. G. Broad- head, Jr., of Mauch Chunk, superintendent of the Beaver Meadow Division of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The issue of this union was two children, Nellie W. and Romeyn. Mr. Houser is thoroughly conversant with every branch of the business with which he is connected. He is a prominent member of and elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Pittston, he is also a member of the K. of H., and in politics is a Republican.

HORAOE H. HOWE, butcher, was born in Wilkes-Barre, October 20, 1848, and is a son of Nathan G. and Margaret (Robbins) Howe-the father a native of near Boston, Mass., and the mother, of Luzerne county. The father located in Wilkes-Barre about 1840, where he followed the business of general contractor upward of thirty years. He reared a family of five children: Abigail (Mrs. Capt. E. W. Finch), Harriet (Mrs. Capt. I. K. Hammond), Caroline (Mrs. George A. St. John), Horace H. and Lyman. Our subject was reared in Luzerne county, and was educated in the public schools and at Wyoming Seminary. He began active life as a brakeman, and he served as conductor on the Central Railroad of New Jersey fifteen years. In 1888 he embarked in his present business in Wilkes Barre, in which he has since continued. In 1870 Mr. Howe married Bertha N., daughter of John Jenkins, of Wilkes-Barre, and has four children: Horace, John, Gertrude and Stanley. He is a member of the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, and of the F. & A. M., and in politics he is a Republican.

WILLIAM HOWE, miner in the Honora Colliery, Laflin, was born in Ferry Hill, County of Durham, England, October 31, 1840, and is a son of William and Mar- garet (Stockley) Howe, being the eldest of eight children, six of whom are living. Our subject, who had worked at mining and in a steel-rail manufactory in his native country, came to America in 1880 and located in Mill Creek, where he worked in the mines nine years, with the exception of two years, 1886-88, that he was engaged in farming in Potter county, S. D., whither he took his family in 1887. He removed to Laflin in September, 1891. Mr. Howe was married, August 31, 1863, to Miss Mary, daughter of John and Mary E. (Grundy) Hanson, of England, and they have had seven children, four of whom are living, viz .: Joseph, an engineer in Laflin; Mary E., James and Margaret. Mr. Howe and wife are members of the Primitive Methodist Church, of which he has been a local preacher for eight years; he has also held the office of Sunday-school superintendent, class leader, and presi- dent of the board of trustees. He is a Republican in his political views, and in 1892 was elected burgess of Laflin borough.

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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 142

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