History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 137

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 900

USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 137
USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 137
USA > Pennsylvania > Wyoming County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 137

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Fortune did not tavor the doctor in his early years and he was conse- quently the artisan of his own fortune. Being at an early age obliged to look out for himself, he was educated to adversity, which prepared him the better to buffet life's vicissitudes. Hiseducation was limited to the facilities afforded in the old Oxford academy, and his classmates were sneh men as Hon. Horatio Seymour, Hon. Ward Hunt and many others who date their first impulse for honor and position to this alma mater, which still exists and flourishes. There he qualified himself to enter the office of the eminent Dr. Packer, and continued with him until he graduated in medicine in 1832, at the Fairfield Medical College. In February, 1832, he made his professional debut in llonesdale, Pa., a little village then emerging rapidly trom one of the glens of the Dyberry, the terminus of the Delaware and Hudson Canal. There, in spite of the competition of old and able physicians long established in Wayne county, young Dr. Throop, by the aid of a correct knowledge of medicine and of men, rose rapidly to a position at the head of his profession. In 1835 he went to Oswego, N. Y., where he remained for nearly a year. He then opened an office in New York city and continued in the practice of his profession till 1840. In the fall of this year he went to Honesdale to spend a few weeks, and was again beset for his professional services, and had a call to the valley of Lackawanna in counsel; and finding it a field of great interest, not only in his profession, but of much commer- cial promise, he eoneluded to make it his home, and on the 8th of Octo- ber, 1840, located in Providence.

The purchase of Slocum Hollow by the late G. W. and Selden T. Seran- ton, Sanford Grant and others, was made about this time, and Dr. Throop carly became intimately acquainted with them, and married a sister of Mr. Grant's wife. Of five children born to them but twore- main, Mrs. H. B. Phelps and George S. Throop, M. D., residents of Seran- ton. The doctor remained in Providence until 1845, when he was in- dueed to remove to Scranton and was the first to take possession, with the consent of its owners, of land for a homestead; and accepting the offer of Colonel G. W. Scranton he built the first house in Seranton proper, outside of what was owned by the iron company.

The new village of Harrison (now Scranton) was planned on paper, and the doctor, full of the gift of cheer and encouragement which en- auled him to assist others, began to aid in expanding it. In 1833 the doctor, recognizing the prospects of a grand future for the valley, em- barked largely in the purchase and sale of coal lands. Hle sold many very valuable properties and formed mining companies. As communi- cation was opened direct to New York by the completion of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the lands about Seranton enhanced in value, and he made leases of several tracts of coal lands that are now largely productive. As the place grew in population and wealth he made additions to Scranton, Hyde Park, Providenec and Dun- more, and laid out in Blakely the village of Priee, and sold lots to set- tlers at these several localities, and is still settling them as opportunities occur. He has never been charged with oppression by his hundreds of tenants, and has always taken an interest in their prosperity. The New- ton turnpike was completed under his supervision, and is the outlet for a large population beyond the western mountain to the markets of the city. As long since as 185t he spent the winter in Harrisburg, urging the Legislature to authorize the erection of a new county, a long desired consummation which was reached only after years and years of futile et- forts, in 1577; not, however, without the important "sinews of war" freely spent in its behalf, and the doctor was prominent in sceuring the necessary element of success.

When President Lincoln, in 1861, called for volunteers Dr. Throop was the first surgeon in old Luzerne to respond to the call. He was, without solicitation on his part, commissioned surgeon of the 8th Peunsylvania volunteer regiment, April 231, 1861. The laws of hygeine were so thor- onghly enforced by him in his regiment that he did not lose a man by disease while absent from home. He started the liest liek, hospital at Chambersburg in April, IStil, of the late war. The; doctor was ou duty six weeks or more, after the battle of Antietam, as a volunteer surgeon, and established in a forest the Smoketown field hospital, to which all the badly wounded were taken from the various field hospitals of the regiments that were engaged in that sanguinary conflict, and remained with them until they died, or were sent to the north among their friends, or to other government quarters. He followed the army to Harper's

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HISTORY OF LACKAWANNA COUNTY.

Ferry, und though worn ont with care and fatigue was pressed hard to continne his services there, but an attack of typhoid fever obliged him to return home. At this time his business and other engagements drew attention and occupied his time so much that he withdrew from the ac- tive practice of his profession, and he has since acted only in counsel and surgical duties that fell in his way.

During all the years of Seranton's marvelous growth no Christian or Inmane movement has been begun without Dr. Throop's hearty co- operation and substantial aid. He introduced the first general supply of milk, the first livery stable, the first drug store, the first railway package express on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, and was prominent in the establishment of the post-office. He was one of the originators of the Seranton Gas and Water Company, whose charter he framed, Though in principle a firm Episcopalian, he assisted the Pres- byterian church in providing its place of worship, and in many ways generously aided the deserving brethren of other denominations, whose tenets were radically opposed to his own. St. Luke's, one of the most beautiful church structures in northeastern Pennsylvania, stands as an enduring witness of his liberality in the canse of Christianity. He also was one of the foremost in the establishment of the first lodge of Odd Fellows in Seranton.

Thongh retired from active employment in his profession, he has held for a number of years the position of chief surgeon to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, and the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's railroad. By appointment from Governor Hartrautt he was made trustee of the Danville Insane Hospital. a position which at presest he fills with advantage to the institution and honor to him- self. He also established the hospital now known as the Lackawanna Hospital, and at his own expense maintained it for a long time. The number of patients treated and the varied surgical operations per- formed there, gave it prominence, and, largely through the efforts of Dr. Throop, it was liberally endowed by the State.

In private life Dr. Throop is noted for his unsectarian humanity and cheerful hospitality, while his learning, brilliant conversational powers and suave courtesy make him a valued and entertaining companion. Since 1840 he has been a resident of Scranton, where he has been recog- nized and still is regarded as one of the best and most accomplished sur- geons in the commonwealth. Possessing a fertility of resources belong- ing to few others, an aptness and originality in their prompt applica- tion in professional cases that distinguish him as a medical man and make him master of his art, he is always characterized by those broad, independent, original habits of action and thought which render him a character alike eminent and esteemed, and which will make his name re- membered long after twilight has gathered around his final resting place.

IRA TRIPP,

the second son of Isaae and Catharine (La France) Tripp, was born Jan- uary 6th, 1814, in the old township of Providence. Isaac Tripp, his great- grandfather, moved with his family from Providence, R. I., and was one of the first settlers in the Wyoming valley, locating in Wilkes-Barre in 1769. IIe was killed by the Indians, while foddering his cattle. He was a Quaker in his religious notions, and in all his intercourse with the Indians his manner had been so kind and conciliatory that when he fell into their hands as a prisoner, the year previous, at Capoose, they dis- missed him unharmed and covered him with paint, as it was their eus- tom to do with those they did not wish to harm. He was a man of more than ordinary efficiency and prominence in the colouy, and the Indians were often asked by the British why he was not slain, and the unvarying answer was, "Tripp is a good man." In his efforts to protect the in- terests of the Wyoming colony at Hartford, whither he had been sent to represent its grievances, he made himself inimical to the tories, and a double reward was offered for his scalp. As he had forfeited their pro- tection by the removal of the war paint, and incurred their hostility by his loyal struggles for the life of the republic, he was shot and scalped the first time he was seen. His son Isaac settled in the valley about 1774, and took up a tract of land of about 1,000 acres in the heart of the present thriving city of Seranton. His children were William, Amasa, Stephen, Isaac, Holden, Polly, Patty, Betsey, Catharine, Susan and Nancy, all of whom lived to adult age, were married and raised families. By gift from his father, and purchase of his brothers and sisters, Isaac Tripp, the father of Ira, became the owner of 600 acres in the central part of the city of Scranton. By his marriage with Catharine La France, a native of Providence township, he had nine children, as follows: Benjamin, Ira, Isaac, Holden (deceased), Diana (deceased), Phebe (deceased). Maria, Catharine and Mahala (deceased).

Ira Tripp spent his youth on his father's farm, and his educational facilities were limited to the common schools of Providenec. February 20th, 1838, he married Rosanna G., daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Shoemaker, of Wyoming, Pa. She was born September 26th, 1817. The result of this union is: Isaac C., born March 29th, 1839; Leander S., born February 27th, 1841, and Gertie, born January 18th, 1848 (died May 3d, 1874). Abont eight years after his marriage he purchased the interest of his two brothers in the homestead {a view of which may be seen on another page of this work), and moved there. He was appointed by Gov- ernor Pollock as one of his aides-de- camp, with rank of lientenant.

colonel. In istil he enlisted as a private in the 8th Pennsylvania regi- ment, and served nine months as hospital steward. Mr. Tripp was orig- inally a Henry Clay Whig, and afterwards a staunch Republican, but never sought political prefermont. He possesses a genial nature, which, added to his courtesy and affability, makes him a pleasant and entertain- ing companion, and wins him many warm friends.

OMpr/t. Pier

Dr. Pier was born in Warren, Warren county, Pa., in 1822, and was the second child and only son of William and Caroline (Hathaway) Pier. His grandfather came at an early day, and settled at a piace now called Pierstown, in Otsego county, New York. Ilis father was a tanner and currier by trade. After his marriage he moved to Jamestown, Chau- tauqua county, N. Y., where he remained about four years; next to Warren, Pa., where he worked at his trade for eighteen years. In 1837 he moved to Mt. Pleasant, Wayne county, Pa., and in 1839 to Cheuango county, N. Y., first to Guilford Center, then to Oxford. Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., was his next place of residence. He finally settled in Hyde Park, where for a number of years, and till near the time of his death, which occurred there, he filled the position of justice of the peace. His wife survives him, and is still a resident of Hyde Park, at the age of eighty-three years.

The doctor became a student of medicine at Oxford, N. Y., with Dr. William G. Sands; attended medical lectures at Albany College during the winter of 1844-45, and received his diploma from the censors of the Chenango County Medical Society in August, 1815. In October following he opened an office in Hyde Park, being, except. Dr. Throop and the late Dr. Silas B. Robinson, whose daughter he shortly afterward mar- ried, the only physician at this time living between Pittston and Car- bondale.

In 1846 he moved across the Lackawanna and built him a house in a meadow near Joseph Sloeum's, before Ward street had a name or seareely a dwelling between his place and Roaring brook. With but a slight interval he has been a resident of Seranton ever since, devoting his energies and time whoily to a profession in which he has attained pre- eminence as au obstetrician, and earned a character for integrity and plain common sense surpassed by no medical man in the vicinity of the city of Scranton. With him the practice of medicine never sinks down to a consideration of dollars and cents. The dignity of the profession in his hands rises above mere pay. le always attends to all calls, whether coming from the rich or poor.

An incident transpiring in his office some years ago and related by a brother physician, who happened to be present, afforded a beautiful illustration of his generous impulse and love of humanity in this re- spect. A lone woman, pale and thin with suffering, came into his office toward evening, and asked the doctor to visit her child, some miles down the valley, which had been taken suddenly if not alarmingly ill. " You go home and I'll soon be along," answered the sympathizing doctor. As her footsteps grew fainter from the door his professional friend langhed at him for promising to go so far upon such a thankless crrand, where he would probably be the subject of no fee but a " Thank

Ora Tripp TRA TRIPE

438 1

GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL RECORD.

you " or "God bless you, doctor!" " No matter about the pay," re- plied Dr. Pier, with a blunt, unselfish readiness, showing his real charac- ter : " she loves her child, and the thought of having been the means of saving its life will be pay enough for me."

Dr. Pier's popularity is not strictly professional. As a citizen and neighbor he is warmly appreciated through a wide section of country, and when he allows himself to run for any office the number of votes bestowed on him by his fellow voters indicates that he holds a prominent place in the affection of the people with whom he is identified. In 1861 he was elected prothonotary of old Luzerne country, the duties of which office called him to Wilkes-Barre, where he resided until the spring of 1865, when he returned to Seranton. He is now engaged in the practice of his profession, with the same muwavering kindness and assiduity characterizing him in and out of the sick room.

FRANCIS ALLEN BEAMISH.

Francis Allen Beamish, editor and publisher of the Scranton Free. Press, was born in County Cork, Ireland, March 9th, 1845, and married Mary Loftus, of Hanover, Luzerne county. Pa. He served in the army, in 1863-64, as an officer ; was sergeant-at-arms in the House of Repre- sentatives in 1865-66; has been a member of the Seranton board of edu- cation six years, and secretary of the board three years; a member of the select council six years; clerk of city commissioners two years ; a member of the board of charities five years, and loug identilied with local newspapers and political interests.

JOIIN DEKIN.

John Dekin, of Dunmore, was born in London, England, July 10th, 1842. He is now keeping hotel at Dunmore.

LUDWIG WEHLAU, M. D.

Dr. Wehlau was born in Oldenburg, Germany, November 5th, 1851, and was the third child of Johann and Elizse Wehlau. He is the only member of his father's family now living. He received his primary edu- cation at the gymnasium at Aldenburg and Berlin; his medical educa- tion at Geneva, Berne and Zurich in Switzerland, and graduated from the Wurzburg Medical College, Bavaria, in 1874. He practiced his profes- sion for a short time in Witteghausen, in Baden; then accepted the ap-

LUDWIG WEHLAU. M. D.

pointment of physician for the North German Lloyd Steamship Com- pany, in which capacity he served about two years, crossing the Atlantic in that time thirty-one times. He came to America in 1876 and settled in the city of Seranton, where he has since engaged in the practice of medicine, taking high rank among the medical fraternity of that city. Doctor Wehlau married Louisa Conrad, daughter of Andrew and Catha- rine Conrad, of Green Ridge, Scranton, May 15th, 1879.

John Masil

SCRANTON.

GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL RECORD.

438 J

JOHN HOSIE.

Of the various nationalities which have become united in the New World and which make up the American people no nation has contribu- ted a more sturdy or better clement than has Scotland. Wherever, almost without exception, a son of Scotia is found you may be certain of finding an honest and useful citizen, and to no one of their number will the remark apply more fittingly than to the man whose name stands at the head of this sketchi.

John Hosie was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland, June 2nd, 1812, the seventh child in a family of eleven children of James and Jane (Bowie) Hosie. His father was a mason and stone cutter by trade, and was a hoavy building contractor. Ile was a man of decided religious convic- tions, of great firmness of character and of sterling integrity. He died about the year 1837 at the old homestead in Scotland, aged seventy- four. His wife, who was a woman thoroughly devoted to her family and respected by all who knew her, survived him about four years.

Mr. Hosie's education was limited to an attendance at the commnon schools of his neighborhood. As early as at the age of ten years he conceived tho idea of marking out for himself a career which should be independent of all help from his family. To this end, and for the purpose of earning something for himself, having been made a present of a pony by an elder sister, who was landlady of a large hotel, he made good use of it in delivering packages which were given him for that pur- pose by guests of the hotel. He was thus employed, after school hours, for two or three years. At the end of that time he found himself the possessor of about £60, a fact known only to himself. Ile had already decided that when he got sufficient means he would go to America. At tho age of fourteen he went, unknown to any member of his family, to Greenock, a shipping port of Scotland, where he purchased his pas- sage, taking a receipt therefor. He first, told his mother what he had donc, which took the good woman utterly by surprise. "Boy, what could you do iu America?" "I will do something," was the "boy's" reply. "Where did you get the money ?" was the next question. lle satisfied her he had come honestly by it. The father, upon his return at evening, repeated about the same questions, with the same answers.

He told the boy if he would give up going for the present he would give him three years of schooling, and if at the end of the time he still desired to go he would give him money to go with; but no persuasion could turn him from his purpose. Accordingly the clothes for thic journey were got in readiness, to which were added by the thought- ful mother a Bible which had been in the family over a hundred years, and some good Presbyterian books. Everything being in readiness, in the month of March, 1829, at the hour of midnight in order to avoid notice, lic left the old hearthstone for the seaport. Ile was overtaken at Glasgow the next day by his father, an elder brother and a sister, who made another attempt to persuade him to return, but withont success. It was finally decided if John was going his brother Andrew should go too, and thins by the persistence of a boy of fourteen years America gained two good citizens instead of one.

The next day after landing in New York, in company with his brother he went over to Newark and applied for a job of work at a stone cut- ter's. There was something in the appearance and bearing of the lad that pleased the proprietor, and he set him at work at. stone cutting. Ilis brother found work in Newark at his trade asa carpenter and joiner. Our subject remained with his first employer seven months, receiving very nearly the same wages as the men. Ile next went to Philadelphia, where for six years following he was in the employ of an elder brother, James Hosie. llis first work under him was on the masonry of the Columbia Railroad bridge over the Schuylkill river. In 1833 he went to Canton, Mass., where he was employed for nearly three years in super- intending the construction of the viaduct at that place. He superin- tended the masonry work for Dodd, Clark & Co., contractors for the construction of a portion of the Hartford and New Haven Railroad; also for Dodd, Baldwin & Co., on the Morris and Essex Railroad. lle next en- gaged with his brother in building the railroad bridge across the Raritan river at New Brunswick, N. J. Ile then went to Bridgeport, Conn., where ho constructed the masonry on the Housatonic Railroad. For the next six years he was engaged in the construction of the New York city water works, under Bishop & Campbell, contractors. He super- intended the heavy masonry on those works between Tarrytown and Dobb's Ferry, also across Glendening Valley. At the solicitation of the chief and resident engineers he went to Seal llarbor, Maine, and cut the stone for the llarlem high bridge.

In 1845 he engaged, under James Archhald, in the management of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's Railroad from Carbondale to Honesdale, and during the two years he was thus employed he repaired the masonry on the company's canal. In 1845 he accepted the position of assistant superintendent, under Archibald, of the Deluware and Hudson coal mines at Carbondale.

On the 12th of November, 1815, he married Julia A., daughter of

Philander and Louisa Beattys, of Waymart, Wayne county, Pa., and in the following spring commenced housekeeping at Archbald. January 12th, 1846, occurred a most thrilling and memorable event in the life of Mr. Hlosie, which put to the full test the indomitable will and magnifi- cent pluck of the man, so strongly shadowed forth in the boy, and which at the time was heralded to the farthest limits of civilization. About 8 o'clock in the morning of that day he went into mine No. 2 level at Carbondale. He had been in the mine less than an hour when about forty acres of the overhanging rocks and earth caved in. He was alone and very near the center of this fall. Fifteen miners in other parts of the mine were instantly killed by the concussion of the air. Mr. Hosie was saved from instant death by the refuse coal which is ordinarily left on the bottom of the mine. As it was he was pressed between the fallen rocks and the bottom of the minc, with barely space left for his prostrate body. In utter darkness, with nothing but his bare hands to work with, for twenty-four hours, every one of which seemed an age, he dug for his life, throwing behind him the fallen debris and refuse coal upon which the fallen mass rested. His fingers were worn to the bone and still bear the marks of the terrible struggle. At length he reached a place where he could stand up, only to find, how- ever, he was still inside the fall. Heattempted to reach the air shaft, but did not succeed. It finally occurred to him that by following the break in the overhanging rocks inade next to the line of solid coal he might work his way to the main entrance. Following up this thought he finally. after having been literally buried in this living tomb for forty-eight hours, effected his escape. He had been given up for dead, as it was known he was in the very center of the fall, having been scen there by a mule driver as he was passing along just previous to the fall. Ile met a party of miners before reaching the entrance, who had entered the mine for the purpose of digging for his body. Instead, they found a pretty lively corpse in the person of Mr. Hosie himself approaching them. The news of his escape sent a thrill of joy throughout the coun- try. It would not be in the power of pen to describe the feelings of the young wife, who had given her husband up for lost, when the glad tidings were borne to her that he was yet alive.

IIe continued in the employ of the Delaware and Hudson Company until 1850. HIe then became general superintendent for the Pennsylvania Coal Company, taking charge of their mines at Pittston and Dunmore. This position he resigned in the fall of ISst, having taken a contract for inason work and grading on the Michigan Southern Railroad, at Toledo, Ohio. It wasthe year of cholera and the deaths for three weeks among the men employed in the work averaged twelve a day. Of 418 men on the pay roll Mr. Hosie was the only one who was not taken sick during the time.

Returning to the valley he took charge of the works of the North Pennsylvania and the North Branch Coal Companies, making head- quarters at Pittston. He also had an interest in the Pittston Coal Com- pany.

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History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 137

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York Publication date: 1880 Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co. Number of Pages: 900

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 900