History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 94

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424

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ALEXANDER FULTON was for many years one of the best known and most prominent operators in the Shamokin coal region, and is recognized as one of the successful, enterprising citizens of his adopted home. He comes from the land of Burns and Walter Scott, and possesses many of the characteris- tics that distinguish the Scotch race. Born at Hamilton, near Glasgow, Scotland, May 9, 1829, son of David and Catharine (McDonald) Fulton, his youth was passed on his native heath until the year 1848, when his parents immigrated to Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where Alexander com- menced working in the mines. In 1850 he was placed in charge of the underground work in the mines owned by Frank McDonald, at Branchdale, Schuylkill county, which position he filled about two years. In 1852 a com- pany was formed at Nevada City for the purpose of tunneling a spur of the Rocky Mountains to turn the South Yuba river and supply the mining dis- tricts with water, and Mr. Fulton was placed in charge of the work. Though

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the company failed in the project, he completed his part of the contract, which took him about two years. Returning to Pennsylvania he engaged in operating Locust Mountain coal mines near Mt. Carmel in 1855. He sold out in 1859 to Schall & Donohoe, and became associated with J. Langdon & Company, then the most extensive operators in this locality. Owing to a misunderstanding with the railroad company Langdon & Company trans- ferred their operations to the Lackawanna coal region; Mr. Fulton went with them, and had charge of their business until the breaking out of the Rebellion cut off the Cumberland coal supply and necessitated a new field of operations. A company was then organized, composed of Joseph Scran- ton, Thomas Dickson, Joseph Albright, J. Langdon, Alexander Fulton, and Samuel A. Barnard to operate in the coal fields of Nova Scotia. Mr. Ful- ton was selected to manage the mining operations in that field, and he remained in Nova Scotia until the close of the war. After his return he was employed by John Jacob Astor, Franklin Delano, and a Mr. Kennedy to open up the New Boston mines. But in 1867, the difficulty between the railroad company and J. Langdon & Company having been adjusted, he resumed his old position in that firm. From that time they produced and purchased from one thousand to five thousand tons of coal per day, which included the surplus product of individual operators in that locality. He was connected with this firm until he retired from active business in 1885.

During his operations he was interested in the following collieries: Locust Mountain, Big Mountain, Old Henry Clay, New Henry Clay, Hickory Ridge, and Stirling. Of these he opened Hickory Ridge, New Henry Clay, and Stirling, the last named being owned and operated by Fulton & Kendrick. He also owned the McIntyre bitumen mine, which he operated in partner- ship with Andrew Robertson, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Among other enterprises Mr. Fulton was one of the principal organizers of the Miners' Trust and Safe Deposit Company of Shamokin, and was subsequently identi- fied in establishing the First National Bank, of which he was vice-president and a director up to 1889, when he disposed of his stock in that institution. He has filled the position of president of the Shamokin Cemetery Company twenty years, and was president of the Shamokin Water Company ten years.

Mr. Fulton was married, December 31, 1851, to Elizabeth, daughter of William Muir of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, who has borne him eight children: Margaret, deceased wife of George Marshall, of Shamokin; Kath- erine, who died in infancy; Elizabeth, wife of George Marshall; Clara A., deceased; Clara C. J., wife of George Robertson, of Shamokin; David; Flora, and William. At the age of eighteen Mr. Fulton was made a Mason by dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Edinboro, and was initiated in Lodge No. 4, Hollytown, Scotland. He was doubtless the youngest man ever admitted to the order, and it occurred because he belonged to the Ma- sonic band, and, his services being needed with the band, all of whom were

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Masons, in the lodge room, the lodge petitioned for a dispensation on these grounds and it was granted. Politically he is an ardent Republican, and has been an elder in the Presbyterian church for over twenty years. He has given generously of his means towards the support of the Shamokin church, and much of its present prosperity is due to his liberality.

CONRAD GRAEBER was born at Spiesen, in Otweiler, Prussia, January 16, 1826, son of John Graeber, and one of a family of fourteen children. He received a limited education; at the age of fourteen, his father having died the year previous, he entered his mother's grocery store to assist in main- taining the family. One year later he commenced an apprenticeship at inspecting, numbering, and assorting glass and glassware, and received a diploma at the age of eighteen. Not feeling satisfied with the outlook for the future he concluded to come to America, landed in New York City, May 25, 1845, and made his way to Patterson, Pennsylvania, where he had rela- tives. The first employment he obtained in this country was to remove the dirt from the coal screens at one of the collieries; becoming dissatisfied with the remuneration, he found employment as a laborer in one of the mines. In the spring of 1846, in partnership with Samuel Heilner, he took a con- tract to sink a shaft one hundred forty-five feet deep and drive a gangway west. He was unfortunate in his first undertaking, for they soon struck the workings of an abandoned mine, when water entered the gangway and they narrowly escaped with their lives. He again found employment in the mines. Feeling satisfied that the advantages of the United States were superior to those of his native country, for working people, he concluded to go home for the purpose of inducing his mother to emigrate with her family. He went to Germany in the fall of 1846, and returned, July 1, 1847, with his mother and the entire family, excepting an older brother and sister. He then went to Patterson, Pennsylvania, and resumed work in the mines, where he remained one year, when he removed to Tuscarora, Pennsylvania, opened a confectionery store, and after two years added a restaurant and boarding house. In 1853 he was elected constable for Schuylkill township, serving two years, and was at the same time engaged at the huckster business. In 1854 he opened a general grocery store and also conducted a hotel. In the same year Mr. Graeber was elected a member of the school board, which position he filled nine years, serving in the office of president five years, and as treasurer two years. In the spring of 1856, in connection with Jacob Wagner, he commenced his first operation in coal; the enterprise not proving successful they dissolved after a partnership of two years. Mr. Graeber had still kept in operation his grocery business, and in 1860 was appointed post- master for Tuscarora.

In 1863 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent Schuylkill county in the legislature. During this session Mr. Graeber was instrumental in causing the passage of the act to prevent the payment of laborers' wages in

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store orders. The following year he was re-elected by a very large majority, which showed the appreciation of his services by the people of the county. In 1867 he received the nomination for sheriff, but, owing to defection and duplicity in his own party, he was defeated by thirty-seven votes. If this was considered the death of his political aspirations it was also the birth of a successful business career. He continued in the grocery business until 1868, when, owing to the abandonment of the collieries on which the pros- perity of the mercantile business depended, he decided to engage in coal operations. He was offered a one-third interest in a colliery at Mahanoy Plane providing he would assume the entire charge of the management of the same, but not being satisfied with the prospects he refused.

Disposing of his mercantile business, he formed a partnership with John Kemple of Pottsville, under the firm name of Graeber & Kemple. They then purchased the A. S. Wolf and Locust Gap collieries of Locust Gap, Northumberland county, leased from the Locust Gap Improvement Company one thousand acres upon which these collieries were situated, and commenced the mining and sale of coal, and also opened a general store at Locust Gap under the firm name of Graeber, Kemple & McCarthy. In 1869 the firm name was changed to Graeber, Kemple & Company, by the admission of Daniel Shepp, a prominent business man of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. In the same year Mr. Graeber became a resident of Shamokin, where he was soon recognized as a prominent and influential citizen and a man of unusual busi- ness ability, and won the confidence of all who knew him. In 1871 he suf- fered a heavy loss in the destruction of the Locust Gap colliery by fire.

In connection with a number of other citizens Mr. Graeber founded the Shamokin Banking Company in 1871, and was one of the original directors. In 1873 he was elected president of the bank, which office he filled for more than ten years. This institution was the only financial one in Shamokin that weathered the panic of 1877, and to him is largely due that creditable result. In April, 1871, in partnership with Matthias Ludes, he established a general mercantile business in Shamokin, which was a successful enterprise and was continued until November, 1872, when Mr. Ludes retired from the firm and the business was conducted with Mr. Graeber's eldest son, John S., as a partner. In 1873, in connection with Reuben Fagely, William H. Mar- shall, and others, he obtained a charter and organized the Shamokin Water Company, and was elected one of the board of directors, and in 1878 he was elected treasurer of the company and filled the office three years, when he resigned. October 5, 1875, the new breaker built by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company was destroyed by fire, and a colliery was immediately built by the firm of Graeber, Kemple & Company to take its place. In 1876 the firm name was changed to Graeber & Shepp, Mr. Kemple retiring. In 1877 John S. Graeber retired from the mercantile business of C. Graeber & Son, Mr. Graeber continuing the business in his own name.

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In 1881 he was a delegate to the Democratic State convention. In 1883, after an active business life extending -over a period of thirty-five years, he disposed of his entire business interests and retired, but soon tiring of inactivity he became the guiding spirit in the organization of the First National Bank of Shamokin, and was its first president, which office he filled up to his death.

Mr. Graeber was twice married; his first wife was Catharine, daughter of Francis C. and Katharine (Hartman) Mause of Buhlen Brage, Oltenburg, Germany, who died, May 1, 1855, leaving three children: John S., of Sha- mokin; Carolina, who became a Sister of Charity, and is now deceased, and Jacob F., a resident of Shamokin. June 12, 1856, he married Sarah, daugh- ter of Joseph and Mary (Dindinger) Mayers, natives of Stundwailer in Alsace, France, and by this marriage they were the parents of nine children, six of whom are living: Edward N .; George C .; Charles A .; Albert W .; Mary A., and Frederick R. Mr. Graeber's death occurred, January 21, 1888, dying as he had lived, a faithful member of the Roman Catholic church, to which denomination the whole family belongs. His widow survives him and resides in the family homestead. Though a close dealer and very economical in his habits, Mr. Graeber was recognized as a man of the strictest honor and integ- rity. Possessing a well-balanced mind and sound judgment, he usually suc- ceeded where other men failed, and accumulated a large and valuable estate which his children inherited at his death.

GEORGE C. GRAEBER, cashier of the First National Bank, was born in Tuscarora, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, February 18, 1859, son of Con- rad and Sarah (Mayers) Graeber. He received part of his education at St. Vincent's College, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and also received a one year's course at Bryant and Stratton's Business College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1877. In the same year he took charge of his father's mercantile business in Shamokin, where he remained until 1881, when he removed to Locust Gap, Pennsylvania, and assumed charge of the mercantile business of C. Graeber & McCarthy, remaining with them two years. He was one of the corporators of the First National Bank of Shamokin, which was organized in the summer of 1883, and at its first meet- ing was elected one of the directors and appointed cashier, which office he still fills. In 1881 Mr. Graeber married Mary M., daughter of Jacob and Lydia A. (Thomas) Hehr, of Shamokin, and by this union they are the par- ents of five children: Conrad R .; Clarence M .; George H .; Marion St. C., and Sarah C. Politically Mr. Graeber is a Democrat, and is a member of St. Edward's Catholic church.

ROBERT . GOODWILL, coal operator, was born at Lone End, Northumber- land county, England, October 7, 1827, son of Anthony G. and Margaret (Fleeman) Goodwill. At the age of ten he began the life of a miner at Bel- ford, England, where he remained seven years. He then went to Scotland

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and followed mining until the age of twenty-seven, when he immigrated to this country. His first employment in America was at Gold Mine Gap, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, where he remained three years. He then came to this county and obtained a contract at the Lancaster colliery, which he worked fourteen months. He next went to Trevorton and was engaged in mining there for many years. In 1864 he formed a partnership with A. A. Heim, under the firm name of Heim & Goodwill, and worked the Bear Valley colliery until November 15, 1877, when it was sold to the Philadel- phia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. In connection with his partner, A. A. Heim, they leased the Diamond Gas and Coal Company's colliery, and the Pentcost, located at Reynoldsville, Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, which they operated ten years. In December, 1869, they purchased a quarter in- terest in the Monitor colliery from Richard B. Douty, and in March, 1870, another quarter interest was obtained. But in September of the latter year they sold their interest in the Monitor. During 1877 Mr. Goodwill occupied the position of superintendent with the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. In 1878 he built the Carson colliery and operated it three years, and then retired from active business. In 1886 he again entered busi- ness, organized the Goodwill Coal and Coke Company of Flipping, West Virginia, and leased a colliery from the Blue Stone Coal Company, and in connection with it has in operation fifty coke ovens. Mr. Goodwill is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was a trustee fifteen years. He also was trustee of the Second Methodist Episcopal church four years. Politically he is a Republican, and is one of Shamokin's most sub- stantial citizens. He was married, July 27, 1847, in England, to Catherine, daughter of Philip and Margaret (Jures) Wake, and by this union they have had five children, three of whom are living: Anthony G., a merchant of Shamokin, and Philip and William, members of the Goodwill Coal and Coke Company of West Virginia.

ISAAC MAY, SR., was born in Cornwall, England, March 18, 1819. His parents, Joseph and Anna (George) May, emigrated from England to this country, located in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and subsequently re- moved to Canada, where they died. The subject of this sketch was employed in the coal mines of Schuylkill county, and later in the lead mines of Galena, Illinois. He returned to Schuylkill county and again found employ- ment in the mines. In 1864 he located at Shamokin, and under the firm name of May, Patterson & Company, commenced operating the Buck Ridge colliery, which they worked ten years; it was subsequently continued by May, Audenried & Company. He afterward leased the Burnside colliery, which he operated six years, when it was disposed of to the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. Under the name of Isaac May & Com- pany he leased and operated the Morris Ridge colliery for several years, and then retired from active business. Mr. May has been connected with many

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of the enterprises of Shamokin. He was one of the directors of the North- umberland County National Bank, president of the Miner's Trust and Safe Deposit Company, one of the originators of the First National Bank, and its second president. He married Mary, daughter of John and Sarah Sterling, of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and to this union were born fourteen chil- dren, eleven of whom are living: James; Elizabeth, widow of H. W. Mor- gan; Isaac, Jr .; Emma, widow of A. D. Allen; Jennie, wife of A. A. Heiz- man; Ida, wife of J. F. Graeber; Susie, wife of W. W. Ryon; George; Jo- seph; Carrie, and Laura, wife of D. D. Driscoll. Mr. May is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife and family belong to St. Edward's Catholic church of Shamokin, in which faith Mrs. May was born and reared.

MAJOR JAMES MAY, coal operator, was born in Schuylkill county, Penn- sylvania, December 4, 1843, a son of Isaac and Mary (Sterling) May, natives of England, and Berks county, Pennsylvania, respectively. The subject of our sketch was reared in his native county and received a common school education. In 1861 he enlisted in Company E, Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and participated in the following engagements: Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness (where he was commis- sioned second lieutenant), Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg Mine, Knoxville, London, Campbell Station, and Petersburg. He was there com- misioned first lieutenant, and served until the close of the war. After his return home he was engaged in the mercantile business until 1871, when, in connection with his father, he began operating the Burnside colliery. He subsequently was interested in the Morris Ridge colliery, of Isaac May & Company, which is now operated in the name of May, Troutman & Company. In 1867 Mr. May joined the National Guard of Pennsylvania, and was ap- pointed first lieutenant of the 'Shamokin Guards; later he was commissioned captain, and then major, serving twelve years. He was married, January 31, 1866, to Mary G., daughter of John A. and Catherine Snyder, and by this union they have had twelve children, ten of whom are living: Katie: Louise; Lizzie; Maggie; Charlie; Samuel; Richard; Jean; Eleanor, and James I. Mr. May has served in the borough council three years, and is treasurer of the Home Building and Loan Association. He is also a mem- ber of the Loyal Legion, and Lincoln Post, No. 140. G. A. R. Politically he is a Republican, a member of St. Edward's Catholic church, and one of the leading and respected citizens of Shamokin.

COLONEL ALEXANDER CALDWELL was one of the bravest and most efficient soldiers that went out from this county in defense of the Union during the dark days of civil strife. He was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 19, 1840, son of Alexander and Martha Caldwell, early settlers of that town. Alexander grew up in his native place, and received such education as the schools of that time afforded. He taught school at intervals and

H.W. Morgan

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attended academies at Millville and Tuscarora, Pennsylvania, several terms. He was a well-read man, and possessed a very retentive memory. Returning from school to respond to the first call for troops, he enlisted in Company A, Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served as a drummer boy in the three months' service. He re-enlisted, August 20, 1861, in Company K, Forty- sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, for three years, was mustered in as first sergeant, was promoted to second lieutenant, November 1, 1861, to first lieu- tenant on the battlefield of Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862, and to captain of his company, November 1, 1862. He served in all the battles and cam- paigns of his regiment, and, veteranizing at the expiration of his three years' service, he took part in the closing scenes of the war, and participated in the grand review at Washington, D. C., May 24, 1865. He was mustered out of service with the rank of captain, July 16, 1865. Returning from the war he located in Shamokin, where he was married, September 11, 1867, to Mary L., eldest daughter of Richard B. Douty, of which union five children were born: Richard A .; Katherine; Grace, deceased; Frederick C., and Ralph M. Colonel Caldwell raised a company in Shamokin which was mus- tered into the National Guard, and he afterwards rose to the rank of colonel of the Seventh regiment, N. G. P. For several years he was the local agent of the Northern Central Railway Company at Shamokin, and afterwards filled the office of notary public and pension agent very successfully up to his death. Politically he was a stalwart Republican, and was a thorough soldier in thought and deed. He died, December 15, 1886, and a monument to his memory and gallant deeds has been erected in the Shamokin cemetery by his comrades of the G. A. R.

CAPTAIN HARRY W. MORGAN, one of the best known and most prominent coal operators of Shamokin, died at his home in that borough, October 22, 1885, in the forty-fifth year of his age. He was born in Abew Vale, Mon- mouthshire, South Wales, March 17, 1841, son of William and Sarah Morgan, also natives of South Wales. His father died in his native land, and when twelve years old our subject came with his mother to Port Carbon, Schuyl- kill county, Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood. His mother died in Shamokin several years ago. Our subject was a machinist and engineer by trade, which he followed until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted at Philadelphia in the Anderson Troop, Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and participated in all the campaigns of his regiment until the close of the Re- bellion brought peace and harmony to a united land. During the riots at Pittsburgh in 1877 he served in the Pennsylvania National Guard as pay- master of the Seventh regiment with the rank of captain, whence he derived that title. Coming to Shamokin in 1865, he entered the employ of Isaac May, Sr., and for the succeeding ten years looked after that gentleman's coal operations, principally at Buck Ridge colliery. Being a son-in-law of Mr. May, he then became a member of the firm of Isaac May & Company, and

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operated the Burnside colliery until its sale to the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, when he became associated with William Beury in the timber business, and subsequently was engaged in the manufacture of fire brick at Queen's Run, Clinton county. He then obtained an interest in the Morris Ridge colliery under the firm name of Isaac May & Company, with which he was connected up to his death. Captain Morgan was married, October 1, 1865, to Lizzie, eldest daughter of Isaac and Mary (Sterling) May, of Shamokin, who bore him a family of three children: Caroline, wife of James Nagle, of Shamokin, and Susannah and Isaac, both of whom died in infancy.

Captain Morgan came to this country when but a mere lad, filled with a laudable ambition to succeed, and so well were his hopes realized that his success furnishes a striking illustration of what the humblest can accomplish in this land of freedom by industry, honesty, and perseverance. Without neglecting his legitimate business he sought every opportunity to cultivate his mind and enlarge his field of knowledge, and by close application made rapid advancement in the practical branches of mathematics. Although, in a measure, self-educated, few business men were better informed upon all useful subjects. He was a genial companion, an interesting conversationalist, and a conservative counselor. Captain Morgan was an expert miner, inti- mately acquainted with the coal measures of this region, and by careful man- agement amassed a handsome fortune. Shortly before his death he united with St. Edward's Catholic church, and died solaced by the sacraments of that denomination. In all the relations of life, as a citizen, husband, father, and friend, he proved true and steadfast, and in his death the community lost one of its most respected members. He was a sincere, unostentatious, and liberal- hearted man, and was always deeply interested in all that pertained to the welfare of the town wherein his fortune and reputation were established.

A. A. HEIM, superintendent of the Shamokin Gas Light Company, is a son of John J. and Christina (Winegardner nee Mannel) Heim, natives of Alsace-Lorraine, and Würtemberg, Germany, respectively. His father im- migrated to this country in 1826 and located in Philadelphia, where he worked at his trade of silk weaver. He subsequently lived in Lycoming, Montour, and Columbia counties, finally settled at Dushore, Sullivan county, and purchased a small farm adjoining the borough limits, which he laid out in lots, and it now comprises a part of Dushore. He was three times mar- ried; his first wife died upon the voyage to this country. By this marriage he had one son, Jacob J., who lives at Freeport, Illinois, engaged in farming. By his second wife, Christina Winegardner nee Mannel, who died in 1854, he had five children: A. A .; Margaret, deceased; William, deceased; Sophia, deceased, who married Samuel Gulick, of Danville, Pennsylvania, and Caro- lina, wife of M. G. Shults, of Montour county. His third wife was Anna M. Barge, who died without issue.

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History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 94

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829- Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424