History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 147

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

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died, September 19, 1883, and the father, December 24, 1891. Our subject, with but a meagre common-school education, began working in the mines at an early age; he tended door three years, drove mule two years, and has since followed his present occupation. Mr. Jenkins was married, September 8, 1889, to Miss Ann, daughter of David J. and Mary Thomas, natives of Wales, and they have had three children: William E., who died at the age of two years; David E. and Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins attend the Welsh Independent Congregational Church, of which she is a member; he is a member of the I. O. R. M. and the Ivorites, and in his political views is a Republican.

WILLIAM JENKINS, Plymouth. Among the most highly respected citizens of Luzerne county may well be noted the gentleman whose name opens this memoir. He comes from a family of pioneers who can, at least, claim a share of the honor of the early settlement and development of the Wyoming Valley. He is a son of Will- iam and Rebecca (Rickard) Jenkins, the former a native of New Milford on the Delaware (but reared in this county, his parents locating here when he was but five years of age), the latter a native of Spring Mills, Pa. Our subject is the fourth in a family of seven children, and was born at Plymouth April 6, 1818. After receiv- ing all the education that the common schools of his day afforded, he engaged in boat-building. At this time he was about twenty-five years old. He has made the carpenter's trade the chief occupation of his life, although he has also been inter- ested in boating on the Susquehanna, never since he was a young man being with- out a boat on the river between Nanticoke and Wilkes-Barre. He married, for his first wife, Miss Mary, daughter of Dr. Ebenezer and Helen (Van Loon) Chamberlin, natives of Rhode Island and early settlers in this locality. She died in 1848, leav- ing three children: Benjamin, Lucilla and Robert. Mr. Jenkins was next married, in 1853, to Miss Ellen, daughter of Peter and Keturah (Ware) Shaffer, of Dallas, Pa., and to them have been born six children: William, Thomas, Francis M., John, Charles F. and Jessie B. The family attend the Christian Church. Politically, Mr. Jenkins is a Republican. It may here be mentioned that a landmark in the shape of a huge elm tree, still standing on the lawn of the old Jenkins homestead, is reputed by tradition to have been used as a whipping-post by the Indians, in their inhuman freaks of savage cruelty.

MRS. ANN JENNINGS, hotel-keeper, Newport township, P. O. Glen Lyon, is a native of Arless, County Queen's, Ireland, born in March, 1839. Her parents were Matthew and Catherine (Moore) Lenard, also natives of Arless, County Queen's, Ire- land, and County Kilkenny, Ireland, respectively. Matthew Lenard was born in 1782, and died in Pittston at the age of seventy-eight years; Catherine, his wife, was born in 1790, and died in Ireland in 1844. Mrs. Ann Jennings is one in a family of ten children, of whom four are deceased. Those living are: John, Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Michael and Ann. Patrick Lenard met his death October 16, 1879, at the age of forty-nine years; he was a miner and lumberman. The subject of this sketch was married on October 30, 1864; her husband was a miner, and he died in Leadville, July 25, 1891. They had a family of seven children: Peter, Matthew, John, Michael, Mary, James and Alice. Peter, the eldest in the family, is a bottler, doing business in Newport township. Mrs. Jennings came to this country in 1848, landing at New York, where she remained two years, and then spent ten years in Connecticut; she has also resided in Wilkes-Barre; for the past few years she has lived at Newport. Mrs. Jennings is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and was one of the aides in establishing the Catholic Church at Glen Lyon.

RICHARD W. JEREMY, merchant, Wilkes Barre, was born in Glamorganshire, Wales, October 4, 1857, and is a son of David C. and Elizabeth (Lewis) Jeremy, who came to America in 1861, locating in Schuylkill county, Pa., where the father was clerk in and manager of a general store, ten years. In 1871 they located in Wilkes-Barre, where David C. Jeremy embarked in general merchandising, in which he has since successfully continued, being one of the prominent merchants of the

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

city, though he has been a resident of Virginia since 1890. His children are six in number, viz. : Richard W., John H., Arthur L., Ceridwen, Mabel and Deborah. Our subject was reared in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties, and was educated in the public schools and at the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston. In 1877 he located at Emporia, Kans., where he was superintendent of water-works, thirteen years; then returned to Wilkes-Barre in 1890, where he has since managed his father's general store. On September 13, 1888, he married Sarah, daughter of David and Anna Evans, of Newark, Ohio, and by her he had two children: Arthur E. (deceased), and Ruth. Mr. Jeremy is a member of the Puritan Congregational Church, of the A. F. & A. M., Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Emporia (Kansas) Commandery, K. T .; in politics he is a Republican.

JOHN JESSOP (deceased) was born in Yorkshire, near Huddersfield, England, December 6, 1815, the only child of Charles and Esther (Jessop) Jessop, also natives of England. He was educated in his native land, and at the age of twelve years came to America, landing in New York City, whence he soon afterward pro- ceeded to Philadelphia where he resided four years. He then came west to Minney, Pa., where he remained two years, removing at the end of that period to White Deer Mills, Union Co., same State, where he was interested in a woolen factory. At that place he lived for about nine years, going from there to Columbia county, where he became sole proprietor of the Buer Creek Woolen Mills, which he operated two years. At the end of that period he removed to Beach Haven, this county, and kept hotel for four years. He was also in the grocery business for about one and one-half years at Northumberland and Espytown, returning from the latter place to Beach Haven, where he remained but a short time, however, going from there to Fraueler's Rest where he kept hotel for eight years. He then purchased a farm at Espytown where he followed agricultural pursuits two years. In 1859 he came to Plymouth and was engaged in the hotel-keeping at the West End for about eight years, at the end of which time he retired from active business. Mr. Jessop was married January 28, 1838, to Miss Martha J., daughter of James and Margaret Campbell, natives of Northumberland county, and six children were born to this union: Mary Elizabeth, who died February 19, 1839; Hester Margaret, Caroline Alice, Grace Arilla, John Campbell (deceased) and William Riter. The father of this family was called from earth July 14, 1892. In his political preferences he was a Republican.

JOHN A. JOHN, fire-boss, Henry Shaft, Plains, was born in South Wales, and is a son of Timothy and Ann (Griffiths) John, the former of whom was a farmer. They reared a family of eight children, seven of whom are living, and John A. is the third. Our subject came to America in 1863 and located at Locust Dale, Pa., where he was engaged in mining two and a half years; then at Shenandoah a few months, afterward came to Wilkes-Barre, where he worked in Baltimore Shaft, No. 3, eight years; and in 1870 he came to Plains, where he has since been engaged in fire-boss- ing. Mr. John was married, July 29, 1850, to Miss Barbara, daughter of Evan and Mary (Jones) Pugh, and they have had born to them twenty children, five of whom are living, viz. : Margaretta, married to Isaac Evans, a miner in Plains; Mary J., living with her parents; Emma, married to John Watkins, a mine laborer in Plains- ville; Thomas, a laborer in the Henry Shaft, and Ann, living at home. Besides his own large family, our subject took upon himself the additional burden of supporting the five orphan children of his brother-in-law, Jenkins Pugh, who was killed in the mines in Wales, thus shielding them from the training of the poorhouse; and when, after he had been in America a short time, he sent for his own family, four of these little orphans accompanied them to the New World; they were as follows: Jane, married to William Thomas, in Parsons; John, residing in Wilkes-Barre; David, who died in 1885 at the age of thirty-six years; Evan, a miner in Nanticoke, and Daniel, who died in Wales at the age of twenty-two. Mr. and Mrs. John are mem- bers of the Baptist Church at Parsons; he is a member of the A. O. K. of M. C., and in political matters is a Republican.

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JOSHUA T. JOHN, miner, Plains, was born in South Wales, March 7, 1848, and is a son of Joshua and Maria (Twiney) John; in his father's family there were eleven children, seven of whom are living, of whom he is the third. He came to America in 1868, and located at Dutchtown, Pa., where he worked in the mines four months, and in 1869 removed to Plains; here he worked, laboring in the mines a few months, and has since been engaged in mining; he removed to his present residence in 1883. Mr. John was married, August 14, 1869, to Miss Sarah, daughter of Evan and Sarah (Williams) Thomas, natives of Wales, and they have had eleven children, seven of whom are living, viz. : Sarah (Mrs. Daniel D. Powell), Maria (Mrs. John C. Jones), Margaret, Edith, Bessie, Blodwen, and Joseph. This gentleman is a member of the I. O. O. F., and the A. O. K. of M. C., and he is a Republican.

C. BEN (CHARLES BENJAMIN) JOHNSON was born in Philadelphia, January 15, 1847, and is a son of John Marion and Mary (Gwilliam) Johnson, the former of whom was born in Baltimore, Md., and the latter in Shrewsbury, England. C. Ben John- son attended the public schools in Philadelphia, and entered the high school below the legal age, but did not graduate. After leaving school, his father having met financial reverses, he was employed making boys' shoe uppers, serving newspaper. routes and. in stores. In August, 1861, when not yet fifteen years old, he enlisted as a drummer in the One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served three years in that organization; afterward enlisted in the Seventh United States Veteran Volunteers, serving one year, or a little over. After the war he entered journalism, and was for six years editor of the Anthracite Monitor, at Tamaqua, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and The Workingman, at Pottsville, in the same county, both of which were the official organs of the Miners' Associations of the Anthracite Counties. He removed to Wilkes-Barre in 1876, and in 1878 became connected with the Wilkes-Barre Leader, then a weekly paper, owned by the late J. K. Bogert and George B. Kulp. He continued with the Leader and other Wilkes- Barre newspapers until 1883, when he was elected reading clerk of the State House of Representatives. In 1887 he assisted in the re-organization of the Wilkes-Barre Board of Trade, and served as its secretary until 1891. In the fall of 1890 he was the Democratic candidate for member of the State House of Representatives for the District comprising the City of Wilkes-Barre, and though there were Republican, Prohibition and Labor candidates against him, he was elected by a plurality of 239 votes. In the Legislature he gave much of his time to the advocacy of free-school books, and of a bill making it a misdemeanor for candidates or political committees to pay the taxes of voters, or the cost of naturalizing aliens. Mr. Johnson was at one time secretary of the National Labor Union, the first national labor organization of any consequence ever organized in the country. He was secretary of the Revenue Reform Press Association of Pennsylvania, which was organized in the early " eighties" to further the cause of revenue reform in the Democratic party, the press of the party, in Pennsylvania, inclining at that time largely in the other direc- tion. Mr. Johnson's editorial bent has always been toward serious topics, particu- larly those of a politico-economic character. He was secretary of the Democratic County Committee during several years, and is the author of the rules now govern- ing that party, and under which the unseemly quarrels and disorder that used to characterise Democratic Conventions have wholly disappeared. He was commander of Conyngham Post No. 97, G. A. R., in 1890, while the fine large Memorial Hall belonging to that organization was being constructed. He has written many papers on historical, industrial and other topics, and from time to time delivered a number of public addresses, principally of a political character, and with reference to labor matters, or matters incident to the work of the Wilkes-Barre Board of Trade. He is in religious belief a Universalist. On May 17, 1872, Mr. Johnson married Sallie J., daughter of the late Edward Enterline, then a prosperous farmer and lead- ing citizen of Tamaqua, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have had two children: Mary E. and Gertrude C. Johnson, the former of whom, born March 4, 1873, still survives.

DAVID JOHNSON. one of the oldest settlers in Ashley, was born in County Derry,

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Ireland, in 1831, a son of William and Martha (Jameson) Johnson. His brothers, Robert, Jonathan, Hugh and James, came to Ashley in 1840, the remainder of the family in 1846. Mr. Johnson was educated in Ireland and in Ashley. Soon after finishing his education he began working about the mines, an occupation that he followed until 1886, including twenty-eight years mining. He built his residence in 1864. April 27, 1852, Mr. Johnson married Miss Ellen, daughter of John and Martha (Mullen) Williamson, natives of County Antrim, Ireland, and of this union have been born nine children, viz .: Nancy (Mrs. Daniel Eroh); John, who died at twelve; Martha, who died at three; Margaret (Mrs. Edward Space); James, boiler- maker; Elizabeth, who died at three; Mary (Mrs. Edward Wier); Clara, who died at thirteen; and Ellen. Our subject and his family are members of the Presby- terian Church. He is a Republican in his political views, and has held the offices of school director and councilman in Ashley borough.

FRANK P. JOHNSON, grocer, Wilkes-Barre, was born in that city August 27, 1852, a son of Priestley and Sarah (Monega) Johnson. His paternal grandfather was Jehoida Johnson, a son of Rev. Jacob Johnson, formerly of Connecticut, and a pioneer of Wilkes-Barre. He was the first settled pastor of the Congregational Church, afterward organized into the Presbyterian, and erected the first house on the corner of Union and River streets, which was built prior to the Revolution, where he resided until his death in 1797; it was afterward occupied by his son Jehoida until 1826; it was torn down about 1887, and the site is now known as the Ingham property. Rev. Jacob Johnson came to Wilkes-Barre with the Connecticut party, and was a man of rank in his day and generation. Priestley Johnson was born at what is now Parsons, and for several years was engaged in the manufacture of powder kegs there. He later engaged in the hardware business at Wilkes-Barre, where he also, for eleven years, was street commissioner of that city. He died in 1878, at the age of fifty-eight years and six months. His wife was a daughter of Simon Monega, a native of France, who followed the fortunes of the great Napoleon in nearly all the bloody fields of Europe, and who settled in Wilkes-Barre prior to 1820. The homestead is now occupied by the widow and daughter of Priestley Johnson. The latter had four children who grew to maturity, viz. : Henry, Frank P., Lizzie and May. Our subject was reared and educated in Wilkes-Barre. When twenty-one years of age be located in Ohio, and later in Abilene, Kansas. After an absence of eleven years he, in 1884, returned to Wilkes-Barre, and since 1886 has been engaged in the grocery business. Mr. Johnson married September 16, 1875, Martha B., daughter of William and Ann (Sherman) Reinhart, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and has oue child, Robert M. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and P. O. S. of A., and in politics is a Republican.

FREDERICK C. JOHNSON, editor and publisher of the Wilkes-Barre Record, was born at Marquette, Wis., in 1853. He is a son of Wesley and Cynthia (Green) Johnson, and great-grandson of Rev. Jacob Johnson. who settled in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 1772. The father of our subject was born in Wilkes-Barre, December 20, 1819, and died there October 27, 1892. The subject of this sketch was educated at the public schools of Wilkes-Barre, and at Ripon College, Wisconsin. Subsequently he entered the banking house of Bennett, Phelps & Co., afterward the coal office of F. J. Leavenworth, and then was with the Wilkes-Barre Gas Company ten years, meanwhile engaging, at odd moments, in penning voluntary contributions to the local papers, and supplying special correspondence from the coal region for the Chicago Tribune; he also spent a year at reportorial work in Chicago for that paper. He studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and was graduated from there in 1883. Instead of commencing the practice of medicine, however, he embraced an opportunity that presented itself for entering journalism, and pur- chased an interest in the Wilkes-Barre Record, the oldest daily paper in that city. He has conducted every department of the paper in turn-local, editorial and busi- ness management. Mr. Johnson married, in 1885, Miss Georgia Post, a daughter of Joseph H. Post, of Knoxville, Tenn., and two children have been born to them:

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Ruth and Frederick G. Mr. Johnson has actively identified himself with the local life of the community, in various ways congenial to his taste. He is a member of the Board of Trade; an officer of the Historical Society; a director of the Young Men's Christian Association; a member of the Republican County Committee, also of the Luzerne County Medical Society, and the State Medical Society; a member of the F. & A. M., the A. L. of H., the I. O. H., and is one of the standing committee appointed by the State Board of Charities to inspect the public institutions of Luzerne county. He is a member of the State Editorial Association, and was one of its vice-presidents. The Record was purchased in 1883 by C. B. Snyder, F. C. Johnson and J. C. Powell. In 1888 Mr. Snyder retired, and the management of the paper has since continued under the firm name of Johnson & Powell.

HARRIETT S. JOHNSON, Plains township, P. O. Parsons, was born in the house where she now lives, November 27, 1845, and is a daughter of Jehoiada and Priscilla (Scovell) Johnson, natives of Pennsylvania, of New England origin. There were three children in her father's family, viz .: Harriett S., Thomas M. (deceased) and Emily. Her great-grandfather, Jacob Johnson, is known in history as the celebrated "Pioneer Preacher of Wyoming;" he came to the Wyoming Valley from New Eng- land at the dawn of civilization in the Valley to preach the Gospel to the Redmen and became one of the largest land owners in the Valley. He dug his own grave, and was buried on his land, on the present site of the Memorial Church, at Wilkes- Barre, whence in 1870 his remains were removed to the city cemetery. Miss John- son was educated in the common school at Parsons, and is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church at Wilkes-Barre.

HENRY JOHNSON, farmer, P. O. Huntsville, was born in Plymouth, October 26, 1818. He is a son of Nathaniel and Jane (Devens) Johnson, the former a native of Connecticut, the latter born in Plymouth. Nathaniel came to this county about 1812, locating in Plymouth. He was a musician by profession, and was the father of three children: Clark, Hiram and Henry. Henry was reared and educated in Plymouth and Kingston at the common schools, and has always confined himself to farming. On January 9, 1842, at the age of twenty-four, he married Miss Amelia, daughter of Mathias and Temperance Van Loon, by which marriage there were fourteen children, eight sons and six daughters, ten of whom grew to maturity, and eight of whom are now living. For his second wife Mr. Johnson married, January 26, 1887, Mrs. Delia Wolfe, widow of William Wolfe. There were no children born to this union. Mr. Johnson's children are all married and comfortably situated in life. He is a general farmer, a self-made man, who by perseverance and economy, has become the owner of two fertile and productive farms. He is a man of worth and influence in his community, and has held various offices of trust and responsi- bility, serving as constable for the term of eight years. In religious belief he is a Methodist.

HENRY C. JOHNSON, justice of peace, Luzerne, was born in Kingston township, December 10, 1849, a son of Hiram and Mary A. (Hughes) Johnson. The family consists of two sons and three daughters besides Henry C., all of whom are living. Mr. Johnson was educated at Lancaster, Pa., and, returning to Kingston after com- pleting his education, entered the employment of the Wyoming Coal Company in the capacity of foreman, where he remained until a serious accident five years later disabled him for life; He soon after moved to Luzerne where he has held succes- sively the offices of tax collector, burgess, clerk of council and justice of the peace. His term as justice of the peace and burgess has not yet expired. Mr. Johnson married Miss Emma Lamareaux, daughter of Fletcher and Mary (Ransom) Lamar- eaux, and their union has been blessed by one child, S. M. Stanley, who is four years of age. As a politician Mr. Johnson is a decided Republican. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and also of the P. O. S. of A.

MRS. MARY A. JOHNSON, widow of Hiram Johnson, who was in his lifetime a farmer in Luzerne county, was born in Luzerne borough in 1814, a daughter of James and Hannah (Hughes) Swetland, the former of whom was born in Shamokin,

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the latter in Kingston. James was a son of Joseph, who located on a small farm in Wyoming in the early history of the county, where he remained for some time. He then removed to what is now known as Luzerne borough, where he bought a mill property, now owned by Raub & Fuller, which he operated with success for several years. He finally sold out and removed to Susquehanna county, where he died. Joseph Swetland reared a family of ten children by two marriages. His son James began life in Luzerne borough, and was a millwright by occupation, at which trade he worked all his life. He was an educated man of refinement and culture, whose influence was often solicited and always given when justice and righteousness demanded it. He died in 1870 at the age of ninety years. His family consisted of ten children, five of whom are now living: James, Charles, Edward, Margaret and Mary A. Mrs. Mary A. Johnson was reared and educated in Luzerne borough. On May 24, 1840, she was married to Hiram Johnson, to whom she bore eight children, six of whom are living: George, Henry, James, Louisa, Elizabeth and Maggie; all are married and well provided for. Hiram Johnson was born April 3, 1815, son of Nathan and Jane Johnson. After their marriage the parents moved in 1844 to their farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres. At that time it was all unimproved, but by hard and honest toil they succeeded in clearing, beautifying and embellish- ing, until to-day their farm is a model of perfection. In 1858 they built a magnifi- cent stone house. Mr. Johnson was a man respected by all who knew him; during his lifetime he held several township offices. He died November 3, 1890, at the age of seventy-four. Mrs. Johnson is a woman of marked intelligence and refine- ment; she is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

M. G. JOHNSON, farmer, P. O. Huntsville, was born in Jackson township, August 13, 1854. He is a son of Henry and Emily (Van Loon) Johnson, both of whom were born in this county; the father is a hard-working man, who, by close attention to business principles, has made for himself a pleasant home. He has now reached the advanced age of seventy-three. He had fourteen children born to him, of whom he reared eleven. M. G. is the sixth in the family, and was reared and educated at the schools in his native town, and has followed the vocation of his father. When he reached the age of twenty-four he was married, on January 9, 1878, to Miss Emma, daughter of William and Margaret Hoover. Four children were born to them, three of whom are living: Alverenia M., born November 23, 1878; Anna G., born April 5, 1880; and Maggie M., born September 8, 1884. William H., born June 4, 1882, died January 8, 1883. Mr. Johnson is a practical farmer, he is living on a farm of seventy-two acres, once the property of William Hoover. Mr. William Hoover, Jr., the father of Mrs. Emma Johnson, was born about 1834, in Dallas township, where he engaged as a farmer, and then moved to Lehman where he followed the same vocation; he next moved to Jackson township where he engaged in butchering, at which he continued successfully for about eight years. He married Miss Margaret Laudenbury, born about 1837, by whom he had five children, four of whom are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover are now residents of Wilkes-Barre, where they own considerable real estate, all of which he has acquired by his own labor; they receive rent from fifty tenants. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are congenial and hospitable to a high degree, following in this the example of their progenitors.

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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 147

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