History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 182

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

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THOMAS OLIVER, commercial traveler, Wilkes-Barre, was born in Cardiganshire, South Wales, August 12, 1844, a son of Lewis and Margaret (Peters) Oliver. He was reared on a farm in South Wales, educated in the public schools, and began life as an apprentice in a general store. After three years' service there, he entered a dry-goods house in England as clerk, and remained until 1872, when he came to America. He lived in Philadelphia, Pa., six months, and in Scranton four years, and from there moved to New York, where he was for six years employed in the lead- ing dry-goods houses of that city. In 1883 he came to Wilkes-Barre, where for five years he was in the employ of a prominent dry-goods house, and since 1888 he has been traveling salesman for a leading grocery house of that city. January 25, 1877, Mr. Oliver married Miss Charlotte, daughter of David and Hannah (George) Rich- ards, of Wilkes-Barre, and has three children living: Gertrude, Edith and Alice. He is a member of the Welsh Presbyterian Church, and of the Ivorites. In politics he is a Republican.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN OPLINGER, carpenter in the Laurel Run Mine, Miners Mills, was born in Plains township, March 1, 1828, and is a son of George and Lavina (Rhodes) Oplinger, natives of Easton, Pa., and of German origin. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, soon after which he came to Plains township; he was also in the Mexican and Civil wars. The family consisted of twelve children, nine by his first marriage and three by his second; the survivors are: Margaret (Mrs. Reuben Mock), Benjamin Franklin, George, James, Winthrop and Fannie (Mrs. George Wicks). Our subject was educated in the common schools, and at the age of nine years began working about the mines, which vocation he has since followed, having worked at his trade for the last twenty-four years; in 1848 he built his pres- ent residence, where he has since lived. Mr. Oplinger was married September 1, 1847, to Miss Mary, daughter of Henry Hay, of Plains, where he was an early settler. This union was blessed with fourteen children, six of whom are living, viz .: Sarah (Mrs. Stephen Sink), Media (Mrs. Benjamin Vanderburg), Martha (Mrs. Frank

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

Stocker), Bowman, Nettie (Mrs. Albert Siley) and Margaret (Mrs. Amos Kitchen). Mrs. Oplinger died December 25, 1872, and he was married the second time, on December 16, 1874, to Miss Sarah, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Hootmaker) Myer, natives of Easton, Pa., and of German lineage. To this union have been born nine children, five of whom are living, viz. : Stephen, Henry, Nellie, Stella and Mary. Mr. Oplinger is a member of the I. O. R. M .; he is a Democrat in his political views, and has been a member of the borough council for six years.

LEMUEL SCOTT OPLINGER, farmer, Newport township, P. O. Glen Lyon, is a native of Plains, Luzerne Co., Pa., born July 18, 1847. His parents were Reuben and Ellen (Warden) Oplinger, natives of Bath, Northampton Co., Pa., and New York, respectively. Reuben was a successful farmer in Bath; he was of German descent, while his wife was an American. He had a family of thirteen children-ten sons and three daugh- ters-nine of whom are living, viz .: Mary, Ezra, Henry, Lemuel S., Anna, Reuben, Thomas, George and Franklin. The subject of our sketch was educated in the public schools of Plains, and came to Newton township on the 16th of October, fourteen years ago; for six years he lumbered in Glen Lyon, and has since been farming. He was married, January 12, 1873, to Catherine Ann Belles, the danghter of William and Mary (Bridinger) Belles, both natives of Newport township. To Mr. and Mrs. Oplinger were born eight children-seven sons and one daughter-the names in or- der being: William, Harry, Charles, Walter, Adam, Bell, Arthur and Lemuel Scott, Jr. Mr. Oplinger belongs to the Presbyterian Church, and politically he is a Demo- crat. He also belongs to the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and the Knights of Honor, and is a school director in Newport township at the present time.

WINTHROP OPLINGER, carpenter, Plains, was born in Plains, March 17, 1842, son of George and Betsy (Frow) Oplinger, natives of Pennsylvania, of German origin. The father, who was a cooper by trade, reared a family of eleven children, of whom Winthrop is the eighth. Our subject enlisted at Wilkes-Barre, November 27, 1861, in Company I, Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and re-enlisted in Jan- uary, 1864, in the same company; he was with his regiment in all the important battles in which it took part, and in most of the skirmishes, and was mustered out at City Point, January 24, 1866. After returning from the army, he worked at the carpenter's trade for six months, and for the next twenty years followed mining. In 1886-88 he was supervisor of Plains township, and has since followed the carpenter's trade. Mr. Oplinger was married, November 14, 1864, to Miss Mary, daughter of Abram and Ellen (Courtright) St. Clair, natives of Pennsylvania, of New England origin; they have had ten children, viz. : Lizzie (deceased), Nora, Charles, Winthrop, Willard, Fredrick, Edgar (deceased), Alfred, Roy (deceased) and Olive. He is a member of the A. O. K. of M. C., G. A. R., P. O. S. of A., and the I. O. R. M. ; politically he is a Republican.

BENJAMIN F. ORNDORFF, engineer for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, No. 3 Shaft, Plymouth, was born March 3, 1854, in Dauphin county, Pa., and is the fourth in a family of eight children born to John and Emeline (Nolen) Orndorff, natives of Pennsylvania. Our subject was educated in the public schools of Dauphin county, and at the age of fourteen years began firing for the Lykens Valley Coal Company, continuing with them in this capacity for eight years, at the end of which time he was promoted to the position of engineer, and worked as such for two years under the same company. He followed this occupation in Dauphin county until 1883, when he came to Plymouth, where he worked as a miner one year, fired for two years, and was then given charge of the hoisting engines at No. 3 Shaft, where he has since handled the levers. Mr. Orndorff was united in marriage in 1876, with Miss Lizzie, daughter of John J. and Barbara (Stener) Kramer, the former a native of Germany, the latter of Pennsylvania. Two children have blessed this union: Gertrude and Howard. Mr. Orndorff votes independently; he is a member of the P. O. S. of A. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church.

GEORGE M. ORR, farmer, P. O. Dallas, was born in Dallas, June 13, 1856, and is a son of A. S. and Priscilla (Warden) Orr, both of whom were born in Luzerne

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

county. A. S. Orr is a prominent man in Wilkes- Barre, and a leader in the Repub- lican party. During President Arthur's administration he was postmaster at Wilkes-Barre. During the war of the Rebellion he was connected with the Fifty- third Pennsylvania Volunteers in the capacity of sutler. He is a stirring business man, and has done much to build up Wilkes- Barre. He is now superintendent of the Wilkes-Barre & Ashley Street Railroad Company, an office he has held for twenty years. He is a son of Joseph (II) Orr, a son of Joseph (I), who emigrated to this country in the latter part of the last century, coming from the North of Ireland. He located in the State of New Jersey, subsequently removing to Wilkes-Barre, and in 1809 be purchased of Gen. Ross over 250 acres in Wilkes-Barre township, compris- ing the Gen. Sturdevant and Alexander McLean farms. A. S. Orr is the father of seven children, six of whom are living; two of them, N. M. and George M., have been admitted to the bar; W. G. is studying medicine; A. J. is not yet in business. George M., the subject proper of this sketch is the third member of the family. He was educated in the Dallas and Wilkes-Barre schools and at Wyoming Seminary. In his early life he was in the insurance business, which he followed with marked success; he was deputy postmaster for three years in the Wilkes-Barre postoffice. He began the study of law in the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the Luzerne county bar in June, 1887. He studied and practiced law for four years in McKean county, Pa., and has now retired to his father's farm on account of poor health. He married Miss Helen, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Laird) Easterline, and by her had six children, three of whom are living, viz. : Helen, Prudence and Ralph. The Orrs are stanch Republicans.

HON. EDWIN SYLVANUS OSBORNE, attorney at law, Wilkes-Barre, was born in Bethany, Wayne Co., Pa., August 7, 1839, a son of Sylvanus and Lucy (Messen- ger) Osborne. His paternal grandparents were Cooper and Hannah (Oakley) Osborne, the former of whom was a son of Thomas, who was a son of Jacob, who was a son of Samuel, who was a son of John Osborne, the first ancestor in America, who came from England, and settled in East Windsor, Conn., prior to 1645, and who married Ann Oldage. Thomas Osborne, the great-grandfather of subject, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and was killed at the battle of Monmouth, N. J. The wife of Cooper Osborne was the daughter of Ephraim Oakley, and grand- daughter of Sylvanus Oakley, who died possessed of large estates in New York City and New Jersey. Cooper Osborne was a native of Litchfield couuty, Conn., and his wife, of Scotch Plains, N. J. They were married in 1798, and settled in what is now Dyberry township, Wayne Co., Pa., where Sylvanus, the father of our subject, was born in September, 1812. In 1836 Sylvanus Osborne was married to Lucy, daughter of Cyrus Messenger, of Bridgewater, Susquehanna Co., Pa. Our subject was graduated from the University of Northern Pennsylvania, and from the Na- tional Law School at Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1860. He read law with the Hon. Charles Denison, of Wilkes-Barre, and was admitted to the Luzerne county bar, February 26, 1861. In April, 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Eighth Regi- ment P. V. Subsequently, he was authorized by Governor Curtin to recruit a company, and was mustered in as captain, to rank from August 22, 1862. He served on the staff of Gen. Wadsworth until February, 1863, when, at his own request, he was returned to his regiment, and served with it until August, 1863, at which time he was again detailed for staff duty, and appointed assistant inspector-general. He remained with the First Corps until its consolidation with the Fifth Corps, and re- mained with this command until the close of the war. He participated in all the battles of the army of the Potomac, after he joined it. He was commissioned major of his regiment, and was three times brevetted for meritorious conduct, and soon after the surrender of Lee was appointed a judge advocate, with the rank of major, in the regular army. He was also sent by the War Department to Macon, Andersonville and other points in the South, to investigate and report upon the treatment given Union soldiers, while held as prisoners of war by the South, which investigation led to the arrest and trial of Capt. Wertz, of Andersonville. The charges prepared by

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

the United States were drawn by him, and he prepared the case for trial. After performing this duty he offered his resignation, which was accepted by the Secre- tary of War, and he returned to Wilkes-Barre, where he resumed the practice of law, in which he has since continued. In 1870 he was appointed, by Governor Geary, major-general of the National Guard, Third Division of Pennsylvania, covering the northeastern portion of the State, which position he held ten years. He was in com- mand of the force that quieted the strikes of 1871, '74 and '75. Gen. Osborne was the originator of the system of the National Guards of Pennsylvania, and it was by his efforts that the Legislature, in 1873, repealed the militia tax. He also served as commander of the Department of Pennsylvania, of the Grand Army of the Re- public in 1883. In 1884 Gen. Osborne was a candidate for Congressman-at-large in the State of Pennsylvania, on the Republican ticket, and was elected by a major- ity, in the State, of 75,227. In 1886 he was again a candidate for the same office, and was elected by a plurality of 47,615. In 1888 he was a candidate for Congressman in the Twelfth Congressional District (Luzerne county), and was elected by a plurality of 1,499 votes. Gen. Osborne was married October 12, 1865, to Ruth A., daughter of William and Mary A. (Smith) Ball, of Carbondale, Pa., and a descendant of Edward Ball, who came from England to Branford, Conn., in 1640.

ALBERT S. OrTo, clerk, Hazleton, was born July 4, 1862, son of William B. and Lovina (Reabuck) Otto, natives of Schuylkill county. Albert S. is the only son in a family of eight children, and was reared and educated in Schuylkill county. At the close of his school days he learned the shoemaker's trade, working with his father, who has always followed that occupation. Albert worked at this vocation in his native town until 1881, when he came to Hazleton and followed that trade for three years. He afterward embarked in the meat business here, but at the end of a year he went to Orwigsburg, Pa., where he was employed in a shoe factory. In 1886 he came to Hazleton, and has since been employed by Eugene Wolsey. He be- longs to the I. O. O. F. ; politically, he votes the Democratic ticket. He attends the English Lutheran Church.

HUGH PACE, miner, Inkerman, was born in Carbondale, Lackawanna county, June 20, 1847, and is a son of Hugh and Ellen (Burke) Pace, natives of County Mayo, Ireland; they reared a family of eight children, of whom our subject is the fourth in order of birth. He received his education in the common schools, and came to Luzerne county in 1852. He went to work in the mines in 1857, in 1863 became a laborer, and since 1865 has been employed by the Pennsylvania Coal Company as a miner. Mr. Pace was united in marriage May 6, 1866, with Mary, daughter of Peter and Hannah (Kilmartin) Hunt, natives of County Mayo, Ireland, which union has been blessed with the following issue: Mary, born September 12, 1871; Ther- esa, William, Thomas, Agnes, Alfred and Ellen. Our subject is a member of the Catholic Church, also of the St. John Literary and Benevolent Association, and the A. O. H. In politics he is a Democrat, and has served as school director one term, from 1875 to 1878; he was again elected in 1890 for the term of three years.

THOMAS PARCELL, a prominent citizen and real estate owner, Miners Mills, was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales, August 1, 1833, and is a son of James and Winnie (Morgan) Parcell, the former of whom was a miner. They reared a family of seven children, three of whom are yet living, viz. : Thomas, who is the subject of this sketch; William, living in Wales; and Elizabeth, who married David Morgan, a miner in the western part of the United States. After the death of his father, his mother married John Jones, by whom she had five children. Our subject came to America in 1864, worked about the mines in Wilkes-Barre seven weeks, and then removed to Pittston, where he was employed in the mines six years, and then oper- ated a shirt factory twelve years. In 1864 he came to Miners Mills, and built his present residence, also, afterward, several double blocks. Mr. Parcell was married, October 12, 1857, to Miss Margaret, daughter of William and Mary (Thomas) Will- iams, natives of Wales. Nine children have been born to this union, five of whom

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are yet living, viz. : David, a miner in Mill Creek; Elizabeth (Mrs. Henry Reese); Ishmael, a miner in Oakwood; William, a clerk in Parsons; and Mary J. (Mrs. Thomas Davis). Mr. and Mrs. Parcell are members of the Methodist Episcopal and Welsh Congregational Churches, respectively; in his political views he is a Prohibitionist. For eight years he has lived in retirement.

THOMAS PARK, farmer, Lehman township, was born February 3, 1826, and was reared and educated in the County of Westmoreland, England. He is the son of Joseph and Hanna (Kilner) Park, both of whom were born in England; the father was a thrifty English farmer and lived to be seventy-two years of age, dying in his native country. His family consisted of eight children, all of whom grew to matu- rity, and are now living. Thomas is the youngest in the family, and in early life worked at the mason's trade. He came to this country in 1850, at the age of twenty-four, and located in the State of Indiana, where he remained five years, working at his trade. Not liking the country nor its climate, however, he re- turned eastward in 1855, stopping at Lehman, where he purchased of Abraham Ryman and William Allen a farm of 100 acres, about half cleared. By industry and perseverance he soon conquered the forests and caused the place "to blossom as the rose." He built two new houses, one for himself and one for his son, besides out-buildings. In 1860 Mr. Park married Miss Jane, daughter of James and Elea- nor Shephard, by whom he has two children: Joseph S. and Ella T. Joseph mar- ried Miss Florence A. Park, by whom he has one child. Mrs. Jane Park was born in England in November, 1836, and came to this country when she was about six years of age. Mr. Park is a general farmer, and a prosperous one, but pays special attention to butter making. His stock is fine, consisting principally of Jerseys. His surroundings indicate thrift, good taste and intelligent management. Mr. and Mrs. Park are members of the Church of England. Politically, he is a Democrat.

REV. N. G. PARKE, who was graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in the spring of 1844, and immediately entered on his work, as a minister of the Gos- pel, in the Lackawanna Valley, in connection with the Presbyterian Church, is a son of the Rev. Samuel Parke of York county, Pa., and grandson of Joseph Parke, who was a colonel in the army of Washington, in the Revolution, whose home was in Chester county, Pa., near Parkesburg, the ancestral home of the Parke family. His mother was a daughter of the Rev. Nathan Grier, one of the early graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and pastor for many years of the Brandywine Manor Presbyterian Church, in Chester county; and granddaughter of Robert Smith Esq., who was prominent in public affairs in southern Pennsylvania in colonial times, and by his counsel and money greatly aided the colonies in their struggle for liberty; he was also the grandfather of Mrs. Judge Darling, mother of Dr. Henry Darling, late president of Williams College, and of Mrs. Harris, mother of Joseph Harris, the president of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. Through the marriage of the said Robert Smith to Miss Emma Vaughn, the Welsh and the Scotch-Irish blood was made to mingle in a large family of which N. G. Parke was one. He came to Luzerne county on the invitation of the Rev. John Dorrance, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre; and very much of the success that attended his early ministry was due to the wise counsel and efficient help of Dr. Dorrance, who, with the Rev. Richard Webster, of Mauch Chunk, did for many years efficient pioneer work for the Presbyterian Church in this part of Pennsylvania. The first work accomplished by the young minister was the building of a Presby- terian house of worship in Pittston. This house was 'dedicated in the fall of 1846, and was the first house of worship erected in Pittston township, which at that time embraced the territory between the townships of Plains and Providence. In the fall of 1846 Mr. Parke was called to be the pastor of the Pittston church, which included those attached to the Presbyterian Church order in the Valley of the Lack- awanna, including Scranton. He was at the same time received as a licentiate by the Presbytery of Luzerne, from the Presbytery of Donegal, and ordained and installed pastor of the Pittston church; a position he still holds after a ministry of

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forty-nine years and a pastorate of forty-seven. Believing, as Mr. Parke did, that he was called to preach the Gospel, he has devoted himself to that work while he has had the satisfaction of seeing almost a score of Presbyterian churches grow up around him, and among them some of the strongest churches in the State. His vacations have been spent for the most part in Europe and California and in the South. He, with the Rev. Dr. Hickok, of Scranton, represented the Presbyterian Church of the United States, before the Free Church and the U. P. Church of Scot- land in the spring of 1867, in the days of Guthrie and Candlish and Dr. Duff. For more than a score of years he has been an active member of the board of trustees of Lincoln University, and of the board of trustees of the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute. In 1847 Mr. Parke married Miss Ann Elizabeth Gildersleeve, daughter of W. C. Gildersleeve, a leading merchant in Wilkes-Barre, and son of the Rev. Cyrus Gildersleeve, one of the early pastors of the Wilkes-Barre church. Mr. W. C. Gildersleeve, was a pronounced and fearless Abolitionist, and at one time was mobbed and ridden on a rail through the streets of Wilkes-Barre, for sheltering fugitive slaves in his home. He lived to see slavery abolished. He was born and raised in Liberty county, Ga., and through his mother, who was a Norman, was connected with some of the leading slave-holding families of Georgia. He was a half-brother of Thomas Quarterman. The children of Mr. Parke are as follows: W. G. Parke and Dr. C. R. Parke, of Scranton; S. M. Parke, Esq., of Pittston, and Mrs. T. H. Atherton, wife of T. H. Atherton, Esq., of Wilkes-Barre. Mr. Parke was graduated from Jefferson College in 1840 before he was twenty years old. In 1884 he received the degree of D. D. from his Alma Mater, and now, after a min- istry of almost half a century among the same people, is still active in every depart- ment of parish work. His home is among the pleasant ones that line the Susque- hanna, in West Pittston, and his church, repeatedly depleted by new organizations, is still vigorous with a Sabbath-school numbering between four and five hundred. He was associated with the Hon. George Earle, LL. D., of Washington, D. C., and the Rev. Daniel Hughes, D. D., in the preparation of the history of his college class that appeared in 1890, fifty years after graduation. Those who know the his- tory of Mr. Parke's ministry, and have observed his work, do not hesitate to give a very large share of the credit for his success to Mrs. Parke, who, in her quiet way, has made and still makes her power felt for good in every department of Christian and Samaritan work.

S. M. PARKE, attorney at law, Pittston. This gentleman who stands in the front rank of the young attorneys of Luzerne county, was born in Pittston, May 4, 1859, a son of Rev. N. G. and Annie E. (Gildersleeve) Parke. Of a family of four children he is the third. Mr. Parke passed his boyhood in Pittston, obtaining his rudimentary education in the schools of the place. At the age of seventeen years he entered the Hill Academy, of Pottstown, Pa., where he remained one year. In 1878 he entered Yale College, and in 1882 graduated from that institution with the degree of A. B .; then entered the office of G. R. Bedford, a prominent attorney of Wilkes-Barre, and pursued his legal studies for a period of three years. In June, 1885, he was admitted to the bar, and for about one year was in an office in Wilkes- Barre; then removed to Pittston, and established himself permanently in that city. Being among friends who had known him from childhood, he soon secured a fair practice, and as his careful and conscientious labors in his cliente' interests have rendered him generally successful, his business has been constantly increasing. Coming, as he does, from splendid stock, there is in store for him a brilliant and successful future. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittston; politically he is identified with the Republican party.

CHARLES PARRISH, of Wilkes-Barre, is a descendant of Dr. Thomas Parrish, who was born in 1612, settled in Massachusetts in 1635, and was made a Freeman in 1637; he was a physician of note, and was for a time employed in the custom house; afterward went to Nayland, County of Suffolk, England, where he died. By his wife, Mary, he had five children; one of these, Thomas, was graduated from

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

Harvard College in 1659; another, John, who was an original proprietor of Groton, Mass., was the ancestor of Charles Parrish. He was appointed surveyor of Groton in 1680, a member of the land committee; Sergeant and Ensign of the .Militia, 1683; Constable 1684; Selectman 1686-90; Deputy to the General Court 1693. He moved to Stonington, Conn., 1712, and died in 1715. His son, Isaac Parrish, born 1698, was married March 31, 1720, to Margaret Smith, of Windham county, Conn. He was appointed Lieutenant of the first trained band of Windham county, May 1, 1745, served through the French and Indian wars, and died in 1764. His son, Archippus Parrish, born in Windham, October 10, 1735, was married March 10, 1763, to Abigail Burnap, daughter of Jacob and Abigail (Clark) Burnap, of Windham. Abigail Clark was a daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Huntingdon) Clark, of Lebanon, Conn .; her grandfather, Capt. William Clark, was, with Sam- uel Huntingdon, Representative to the General Court from Lebanon. Capt. Will- iam Clark, who was married in 1680 to Hannah Strong, daughter of Elder John Strong, of Windsor, Conn., was a son of William Clark, of Dorchester, Mass., who was Deputy of that town in 1663, and a Lieutenant in King Philip's/war. Col. Joseph Clark, who was distinguished at Bunker Hill, was a son of Joseph and Re- becca (Huntingdon) Clark. Hon. Samuel Huntingdon, a nephew of Lieut. Samuel Clark, and a cousin of Rebecca (Huntingdon) Clark, was a member of the Conti- nental Congress 1776-80. Archippus Parrish removed to North Mansfield (now Storrs), Conn., about 1766, bought land and established a tannery; here the family stood very high in the estimation of the community, "being much respected," as is found in the church record. By his wife, Abigail Burnap, he had five children, the fourth of whom was Archippus, born in Windham, January 27, 1773. He was married August 12, 1806, to Phebe Miller, daughter of Eleazer and Hannah (Mills) Miller, of Morristown, N. J., who was in the Revolutionary war. She was a granddaughter of Thomas and Margaret (Wallace) Miller, and a niece of Col. Eleazer Lindsley who was distinguished for his service in New Jersey during the Revolutionary war. The family consisted of nine children, four of whom are living, and of whom Charles is the youngest. Archippus Parrish was later en- gaged in business in New York City, where he accumulated a handsome fortune, and in 1810 removed to Luzerne county, bringing with him about thirty thousand dollars which he subsequently lost by bad investment and speculation. He first embarked in the mercantile business, but a few years later became proprietor of a hotel on the east side of Public Square, where he remained principally till his death, which occurred in October, 1847, when he was aged seventy-four years. He was a man of the most sterling character, and died deeply lamented by all who knew him. This house, at the time of its occupation by Mr. Parrish, was the prin- cipal hotel of the town, and furnished the best accommodations in the Wyoming Valley. It was here that the representative men of the Valley, many of them Revolutionary veterans, sojourned when they visited Wilkes- Barre. They came on horseback, for the day of what was called the "Dearborn Wagons" had not yet dawned. And it was at this place that the solid old gentlemen of those days re- hearsed the many thrilling adventures and trials of the early settlement of the Valley.

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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 182

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