History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 156

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

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HARRY P. KOSEK, proprietor of the "Brookside Hotel," and cider manufacturer, was born in Pittston, Pa., October 6, 1867. He was reared and educated in Wilkes- Barre. When twenty-two years of age, he had charge of his father's store; has been manager of the Wilkes-Barre & Kingston Bridge Company since April 1, 1890, and proprietor of the "Brookside Hotel" since April 1, 1891. January 26, 1890, Mr. Kosek married Miss Emma M., daughter of Jacob M. and Margaret (Beline) Schappert, of Wilkes-Barre, and by her has two children, Hilliam and Harry. Mr. Kosek is one of the most popular and enterprising young men in the city. He is a member of the Catholic Church, of the K. of P., C. M. B. A., St. Francis Pioneer Corps, St. Joseph's Society, German Young Men's Benevolent Association, Concor- dia, and Sangerbund. In politics he is a Democrat.

JOHN KOSEK (now deceased), who in his lifetime was a well-known and prominent merchant of Wilkes-Barre, was born in Bohemia, Austria, April 7, 1842, and was a son of Vincent and Barbara Kosek. He was reared in his native country, and in 1866 came to America, locating in Wilkes-Barre, where he was employed in a tannery two years.

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In 1868 he embarked in general merchandising, in which he continued successfully until his death, February 10, 1890. He was the prime mover in the building of the Wilkes- Barre & West Side Street Railroad, and one of its heaviest stockholders, also an ex- tensive dealer in real estate. He was an attorney in his native place, and engaged in selling exchange to enable friends in the Old Country to immigrate to this country. He built the Greek Church on Main street, and advanced the money therefor; he erected thirty-seven houses in different parts of the city, also was the prime mover in building Brookside; was also engaged in the Terra Cotta Works of this city, and the Scranton Works. He was a promoter and one of the largest stockholders of the Wilkes- Barre & Kingston Bridge Company, and at the time of his death he was one of the leading and enterprising citizens of Wilkes-Barre. On November 25, 1870, he was married with Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Joseph and Mary (Dahm) Warnicke, of Pittston, formerly of Germany. Dr. Warnicke was for many years a resident of Pittston, and a prominent physician of his day. Mr. Kosek was a member of the St. Nicholas German Catholic Church, and politically was a Democrat. His widow and six children-Harry P., Mary T., Josephine, Frank, John and Carl-survive him.

J. R. KREIDLER, blacksmith, Sweet Valley, was born in Wilkes-Barre, March 22, 1861. He is a son of Thomas A. and Mary J. (Burr) Kreidler, the former born in Northampton county, Pa,, the latter in Wilkes-Barre. Thomas A. was the son of Jesse Kreidler, also a native of Northampton county, who removed to this county with his family when Thomas A. was a small boy. He was a blacksmith by occupa- tion, and located in Wilkes-Barre, where he worked at his trade. He lived a long and useful life, and reared a family of seven children. Thomas A., his son, followed in the footsteps of his father and learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he worked in Wilkes-Barre. In 1862 he removed from Wilkes-Barre to Dallas, where he re- mained nineteen years, and in 1881 removed to Hanover township, where he now resides. He is fifty seven years of age and still works at his trade. Thomas A. was the father of ten children, five of whom are now living. J. R. is the eldest of the family and was reared and educated in Dallas, learning the blacksmith's trade of his father, at which he has worked ever since. He removed to Ross township May 3, 1892, where he has ingratiated himself into the full confidence of the public. He is a first-class mechanic, well acquainted with the anatomy of the horse's foot, which knowledge has won for him a large and increasing custom. In 1881 he married Miss Elnora, daughter of George Putubaugh. To this union have been born six children, four of whom are living: Fanny J., Herbert W., Ethel M. and Pearl. Mrs. Elnora Kreidler was born in Mehoopany, Pa., in 1865.

AMANDES M. KRESGE, lumber dealer and farmer, Bear Creek township, P. O. Miners Mills, was born in Chestnut Hill township, Monroe Co., Pa., April 20, 1841, a son of Adam (a farmer) and Elizabeth (Dorshimer) Kresge, both of whom were born in Monroe county, of German descent. They reared a family of seven children, five of whom are yet living, Amandes M. being the second eldest. Our subject attended the common schools for but four months, as early in life he had to go to work on his father's farm, and here he remained until he was seventeen years old, when he gave up agriculture and went to lumbering on the Lehigh river. This he followed until March, 1864, when he enlisted in Company L, One Hundred and Twelfth Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, which was afterward attached to the Second Division, and he remained in this company during the war. Mr. Kresge participated in the battle of the Wilderness, the bombardment of Peters- burg, and in several other important engagements. After the war he again engaged in lumbering, until 1868, when he accepted the position of foreman in A. C. Bryen & Co's sawmill at Moosic, Luzerne Co., Pa. By hard work and economy he managed to save enough money to purchase, in 1875, a large tract of timber land in Bear Creek township, whither he at once moved, and where he now resides. At the time of his moving to Bear Creek township, he was obliged to haul enough lumber with him, wherewith to construct a shelter for his family and stock. During

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his second year's residence in Bear Creek he built a sawmill, and found a ready sale for his lumber; doing, in fact, good business until 1882, when disaster befell him by his mill taking fire, and it, together with all the lumber he had in stock, as well as his barns and outhouses, was destroyed. He then paid more attention to clearing up his land, having now almost eighty acres of it under cultivation. Besides his possession in Bear Creek township, Mr. Kresge is the owner of several properties in Wilkes-Barre and Miners Mills. In politics he is a Republican, and he has held the office of school director in Bear Creek township, nine years. On March 16, 1867, Mr. Kresge married Catherine, daughter of Aaron and Margaret (Sheets) Holzshizer, both natives of Pennsylvania and of German descent, and to this union have been born four children, as follows: Ira K., Florence D., Agnes M. and Nette R. The entire family belong to the Presbyterian Church.

GEORGE BRUBAKER KULP, Wilkes-Barre, is a lineal descendant of the Mennonite minister, Rev. Henry Kolb, who settled in this State in 1707, perhaps earlier. Rev. Henry Kolb, Rev. Martin Kolb, Tielman Kolb, Rev. Peter Kolb and Jacob Kolb (or Kulp) brothers, were natives of Wolfsheim, in the Palatinate, Germany, and emi- grating to this country were the pillars of the second oldest Mennonite Church in America. The first Mennonite preacher in Pennsylvania was Willem Rittinghuysen, or Rittenhouse. Rev. Henry Kolb was the second Mennonite preacher in America. The maternal grandfather of the brothers was Peter Schumacher, who arrived as an emigrant in Pennsylvania October 12, 1685, bringing four children: Peter, Mary, Frances and Gertrude, and his cousin Sarah, locating at Germantown, where he remained until his death in 1707, when he was aged eighty-five years. Rev. Henry Kolb's mother was buried in Wolfsheim, in 1705, at the age of fifty-three years. The father died in 1713, aged sixty-four, and is buried at Mannheim. Rev. Henry Kolb died in 1730, leaving seven children: Peter, David, Tielman, Mary Karsdorp, Dorithy Gotshalk, Annie Swarts and Agnes Kolb. Peter, the eldest, died in 1748. His eldest son, Jacob, was born March 7, 1740, died June 28, 1818. He had children as follows: Abraham, Jacob, David C., Elizabeth, Lloyd, Catherine (Mrs. Abraham Sellers), Mary (Mrs. David Reiner), Susannah (Mrs. Christian Stover) and Nancy (Mrs. John Snare). The above-mentioned Abraham Kulp first married Barbara Sellers, daughter of Leonard Sellers, and granddaughter of Philip Henry Soller (now written Sellers), who emigrated to this country from Weinhein, Germany, land- ing September 11, 1728, with his wife and four children, and died near Sellersville, Bucks Co., Pa., at the age of sixty-five years. Abraham Kulp died February 11, 1847, near Linden, Lycoming Co., Pa. Eli Sellers Kulp, second son of Abraham Kulp, was the father of George Brubaker Kulp, whose name opens this article, born in Kulpsville, Montgomery Co., Pa., February 2, 1800, died July 6, 1849, of cholera at St. George's, Del., having attained eminence as an educator. The mother of George B. Kulp is Susannah Breneiser Kulp, daughter of Samuel Breneiser, and granddaughter of John Valentine Breneiser, who came to this country from Germany, September 5, 1730. Mrs. Kulp is still living at the age of eighty-three years.

George B. Kulp was born in Reamstown, Lancaster Co., Pa., February 11, 1839. He suffered the loss of his father at the age of ten, but he sought self-support, and found employment on the canal and then on the railroad. His studious energy fitted him at the age of seventeen to teach school, and while teaching he read law in the office of Lyman Hakes, of Wilkes-Barre; then formed a law partnership with Hon. W. G. Ward, of Scranton, Pa. Before he was twenty-two years of age he was elected register of wills of Luzerne county for the term of three years, and in 1863 was elected for another term of three years. In 1864 he was chosen a school director, taking hold when there were but three ramshackle school buildings in Wilkes-Barre, 187 pupils, and remained in that office for twelve years, and until school affairs in that city became the pride and boast of the people. The Wash- ington, Conyngham and Franklin school buildings were erected during his term. He was attorney for the county from 1874 to 1879, with a short intermission; in 1867 be was appointed assistant assessor of internal revenue by the Secretary of the

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Treasury, and June 11, 1867, he was appointed specially by the commissioner of internal revenue to make assessments for all taxes imposed on legacies and distribu- tive shares of personal property in the county of Luzerne. In 1876 he was chosen to the city council, where he continued until 1882, being one of the conspicuous members of that body. In January, 1872, he established the "Luzerne Legal Register," a leading law publication of which he is editor and proprietor. In Feb- ruary, 1877, he, in company with Joseph K. Bogert, established a weekly Democratic newspaper which they named the Leader, which in 1879 absorbed the Luzerne Union, and it became the Union Leader. - A daily edition was started in October of that year. In 1880 Mr. Kulp retired, selling his interest to Mr. Bogert. With all these irons heating, Mr. Kulp was always blessed with time to exercise his strong literary abilities, and is the author of a " Digest and Titles of Local Laws and Titles of Cor- porations in the County of Luzerne from 1700 to 1874;" also " Rules of the Court of Common Pleas, Quarter Sessions and Oyer and Terminer of Luzerne County," 1879; also "Families of the Wyoming Valley, Biographical, Genealogical and His- torical" -- three volumes of 1,422 pages; "Historical Essays-Indians, Teedyus- cung Discovery and Early Settlement of Wyoming Valley-Old Forge Early Methodism-Coal and its Antiquity, and Sabbath-Sunday." These make a book of 155 pages, published in 1892. He is the editor and publisher of the "Luzerne Legal Register Reports," of which six volumes have been issued. Then his "In Memoriam of John Stewart-Elizabeth A. Stewart," 75 pages, and a sketch of the "Life and Character of George W. Woodward," 42 pages, published in 1875, and some able discussions on the leading economic subjects of the times. He is an active member and historiographer of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. In political matters he is a Democrat, full of the outspoken courage of his convictions; has again and again proven himself one of Wilkes-Barre's most influen- tial and valuable citizens; in his social life, genial as the spring sunbeam; warm in his friendships, his devoted friends are legion; and with a generous plenty of this world's goods, he is liberal and just to all as well as his family and friends. Start- ing from the first round of the ladder of life -- a self-dependent orphan boy-his easy ascension marks him distinctly as one of those whose well-rounded life it is pleasant to know. Mr. Kulp is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is the president of the board of trustees of the Fourth M. E. Church of Wilkes- Barre. George B. Kulp and Mary E. Stewart were joined in wedlock October. 4, 1864. She is a daughter of the late John Stewart, of Scranton, in whose memory was recently dedicated the Stewart Memorial Church at Old Forge, and of this mar- riage were born six children, three of whom are now living, two sons and one daugh- ter, as follows: John Stewart Kulp, M. D., who was educated at the Wilkes- Barre Academy, Yale College, and in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, was graduated in the class of 1889, the next year taking a post- graduate course in the same institution and in 1891-92 pursued his medical studies at the University of Berlin, Germany; Harry Eugene Kulp, married Miss Hetty D. Brower, of Factoryville, Pa. (they reside at LaPlume, Pa .; he is a farmer, and was edu- cated at the Wilkes-Barre and Keystone Academies, and at the Pennsylvania State College). The only daughter is Mary Estelle Kulp, who at the present writing is spending her school vacation with her family. Sergeant Thomas Williams, a con- spicuous figure in the early history of Wyoming, was the maternal great-grand- father of Mrs. Kulp.

HENRY KUNKEL, M. D., a physician and surgeon, of Kingston, was born at New Ringgold, Pa., October 9, 1861. He is a son of John and Mary (Long) Kunkel, natives of Pennsylvania. Dr. Kunkel received his earlier education in the common schools; later he attended the State Normal School at Kutztown, Pa., and taught a few years in public schools. While attending school at Kutztown, and during the time he was teaching, he prepared to enter the Sophomore class at La Fayette Col- lege, from where he was graduated in 1887, and from which he has since received the title of Master of Arts. During the last year of college life he assiduously

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applied his spare moments to the reading of medicine, which he continued afterward at Reading, Pa., and attended lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Baltimore, Md., from where he was graduated in medicine in 1889. The Doctor began the practice of medicine in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he remained about six months, and in the fall of 1890, he came to Kingston, where he has since established a large practice. The Doctor is a member of the Luzerne County Medical Society, the Lehigh Valley Medical Association, and the Pennsylvania State Medical Society.

CHARLES D. KUNKLE, farmer, P. O. Kunkle, was born January 2, 1845, in Dallas township, son of Conrad and Sarah Jane (Oakley) Kunkle, the former of whom was born in Warren county, N. J., and the latter in Orange county, N. Y. Conrad was a son of Philip, who was also a resident of New Jersey, and who moved to this county in 1817, locating in Dallas township, on the place where L. O. Oakley now resides. His farm numbered 150 acres, which he improved as a man of tact and industry only can. He was a consistent Christian man, whose home was always open to preachers of the Gospel; whose heart always beats in sympathy with their glad tidings, and who was always liberal of his means in the support of church work. His house was often a temporary meeting-place for the early pioneers of Dallas. Philip Kunkle was a stanch Democrat. His family consisted of five children, one of whom is now living. He died in 1852, at the age of seventy-three years. Conrad Kunkle began life in Dallas township in 1854, on the road lead- ing from Dallas to Kunkle, on a farm of 750 acres. He was an extensive farmer and lumberman, and in 1864 built a sawmill, in which he manufactured his own lumber. He was a man of influence, not only in society, but also in the church. He was justice of the peace for ten years, an office he filled with credit. He died in 1869, at the age of fifty-nine. His family consisted of fifteen children by three marriages, eleven of whom are now living. Charles D. is a member of the family by the second marriage. He was reared and educated in Dallas township, and began life in Kunkle, where he has always lived, and has always confined him- self to agricultural pursuits, being a true son of the soil. On November 16, 1870, he was united in marriage with Miss Hester A., daughter of Uriah and Margaret Baird, by whom he has had five children: Nellie, Maggie J., Stephen O., J. Stanley and Frederick P. Nellie is married to Fred Makinson, a mechanic. In 1862 Mr. Kunkle showed that spirit of patriotism that had always slumbered in the bosom of the Kunkles, in offering himself a sacrifice on the altar of his country. He became a member of Company G, One Hundred and Forty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for the term of three years. He served to the close of the war, having participated in the following principal battles: Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (where he received a severe wound), Wilderness, Spottsylvania (where he was again wounded), Weldon R. R., etc. He was honorably discharged, and now draws a pension. Politically, he is a Democrat, and has held several offices in the town with credit.

CHARLES A. KUSCHKE, merchant tailor, Plymouth. This venerable gentleman was born October 29, 1821, at Hamburg, Germany, and is a son of John H. and Frederica (Smith) Kuschke, the former of Saxon blood, the latter a native of Mecklen- burg, Germany. The subject of this sketch came to America in April, 1851, and located at Wilkes-Barre. He was educated in Hamburg, and early in life learned the tailor's trade which he followed after coming to that city, being employed by Simon Long as cutter for nearly one and a half years. He then removed to Plymouth, where he established the merchant-tailoring business, and he has followed that trade in the building where he first started, at No. 100 West Main street. At the time our subject and his family came to Plymouth, it was but a small hamlet con- taining about 800 inhabitants; they came from New York to Wilkes-Barre in the old stage coaches that in early times made those overland trips, and Wilkes-Barre at that time was but a country town of 2,500 population. Mr. Kuschke was married in Hamburg, Germany, May 18, 1845, to Louisa, daughter of Bernard and Caroline (Boichers) Schraeder, natives of Brunswick, Germany, and seven children were born

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to this union, as follows: Henry C .; Caroline, deceased; Christian B .; Margaret, wife of Gotleib Ruff, of Wilkes-Barre; Minnie, wife of Hugo Staedler, music instructor at Wyoming Seminary; Matilda, wife of Charles Gennsel, of Beaver Meadow, Carbon Co., Pa., and John A. Mr. and Mrs. Kuschke attend the Lutheran Church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.

CHRISTIAN B. KUSCHKE, butcher, Plymouth, was born at Hamburg, Germany, March 2, 1850, and is a son of Charles A. and Louisa (Schraeder) Kuschke, also natives of Hamburg, Germany. Christian B. was the youngest in a family of six children, and was educated at the public schools of Luzerne county and at the Wyoming Seminary, where he received a liberal training. Soon after completing his education he was employed by C. Shaffer, a butcher, for a short time, afterward working in Weil's market for two years. £ He then went to Philadelphia, and worked one and a half years in a market on the corner of Twelfth and Market streets, going thence to New York, where he remained one year; and afterward went to Chicago, where he remained two years, working there at the time of the great fire. He returned at the end of that period to Plymouth, where he entered the services of his old employer, Mr. Weil, for one year. He then went into business for himself, buying out Daniel Brown's butcher shop, where he carried on business for some time, afterward erecting the large brick block in which everything has been especially arranged and equipped for a first-class butchering business, where he is now to be found, conducting an extensive trade. Mr. Kuschke's wide experience as a butcher, together with his finely arranged market, fully enables him to furnish his many customers with a large variety of meats. Mr. Kuschke was married December 18, 1873, to Miss Margaret Llewellyn, a native of Wales, and eight children have been born to this union, viz .: Charles, Carrie, Maude, Harry, Arthur, John, Helen and Albert. In political matters Mr. Kuschke adheres to the Democratic party; the family attend the Christian Church. It seems needless to say, in looking over Mr. Kuschke's place of business and noting his large trade, that he has been an eminently successful man in his line, and has, by his thrift and enterprise, done much to make Plymouth what it is, a typical business town.

ROBERT KYTTLE, farmer, P. O. Kyttle, was born in Ross township, July 31, 1854, being a son of Hiram and Mary (Davenport) Kyttle, the former of whom was born in Lehman, the latter in Fairmount township. Hiram is a son of Ephraim and Abigail Kyttle, and began his active business life in Ross township, as a farmer. He is a worthy gentleman, highly respected by his citizens, and is now enjoying life in Ross township. His family consisted of five children, two of whom are living: James and Robert, the latter being the third by birth. Our subject has always been a resident of Ross township, where he confines himself to agricultural pursuits. On January 25, 1877, he married Miss Allie, daughter of Daniel and Lucinda Wesley, and of this union were born five children, four of whom are living: Luther, Clara, Martha and Tacy. Mrs. Kyttle was born in Ross township in 1860. Mr. Kyttle has since 1875 owned a farm of 130 acres, and is a promising young man, enjoying the full confidence of his neighbors. Politically he is a Democrat, and has held the office of postmaster since 1886.

WILLIAM E. KYTTLE, farmer, P. O. Kyttle, was born in Lehman township, June 27, 1839. He is the son of Ephraim and Abigail S. (Fletcher) Kyttle, the former of whom was born in Rhode Island, November 11, 1795; the latter in Connecticut, August 19, 1797. They removed to this county in June, 1832, locating in Wilkes- Barre, where they remained long enough to build on a tract of land he purchased in Lehman township. As soon as his log house was in readiness he removed thither with his family, and resided there a number of years, finally removing to Ross town- ship, where he owned two hundred acres of land, seventy-five of which he brought under subjection to the plow. He was a hard-working pioneer, who did much in Ross township for the advancement of agriculture. Like all the old settlers he had fish and game in abundance, his place being a regular deer pasture. Mr. Kyttle was a man of influence in his township, and held several prominent offices. He died

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February 14, 1876, aged eighty-one, his wife, November 19, 1878, also aged eighty- one. Their family consisted of nine children, eight of whom grew to maturity, and four of whom are now (1892) living. William E. is the youngest of the family. He was reared and educated in Ross township, being two and one-half years of age when his father moved there. In early life he worked at the carpenter's trade, but is one of nature's mechanics. Mr. Kyttle has always been a resident of the town- ship and county. He lived at home until he was twenty-eight years of age, when, in 1856, he married Miss Nancy, daughter of William and Mary Miller. To this union were born nine children. Six of these grew to maturity, five of whom are living (1892): J. L., Henry R., Armanda, Rachel E. and Martin. Mrs. Nancy Kyttle was born in Ross township in 1836. Mr. Kyttle owns a neat farm of sixty-four acres of valuable land. He is a wide-awake farmer, keeping well abreast of the times, and is practical in everything he does. He is of a genial nature, whose house and table are at the disposal of the wayfarer. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Democrat.

REV. JOHN LABAR, retired Methodist minister, of Wyoming. borough, was born November 5, 1825, in Pittston township. He is a son of Jacob and Margaret (Fox) LaBar, natives of Pennsylvania and of French and German extraction, respectively, who reared a family of seven children, four of whom are living. Our subject was fifth in the order of birth, was educated in the common schools, and at the age of twenty-three rented a farm at Hanover, Pa., following agricultural pursuits for five years, during this time preaching occasionally. In 1854 he joined the Wyoming Conference, and has been minister-in-charge at the following places: Newton (two terms), Northmoreland, Trucksville, Factoryville, Wyoming, Carverton (two terms), Plymouth, Lackawanna, Dunmore and Forty Fort. He retired in the spring of 1880 and moved to Wyoming, building his fine residence in 1881, where he has since resided. Since his retirement, he has preached two years at Scranton, six months at Plymouth, four months at Wilkes-Barre, and two months at West Pitts- ton. Mr. LaBar was married December 31, 1846, to Mary A., daughter of Lorenzo and Mary (Bennett) Ruggles, natives of Pennsylvania and of English origin. This union was blessed with nine children, five of whom are living, viz. : Mary Margaret (Mrs. Frederick Atherton), Pauline (Mrs. James Lindslay), Lorenzo G., commission broker, Scranton; William S., painter, Wilkes-Barre; and Reuben N., a hardware merchant, Lock Haven. Mr. and Mrs. LaBar attend the Methodist Church, and Mr. LaBar is a member of the F. & A. M .; he is a Republican in principle, but votes independently.

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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 156

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