History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II, Part 61

Author: Schalck, Adolf W.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: State Historical Association
Number of Pages: 700

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Bands higher anyag his own people than does he, and he is a broad minded, liberal, Laval and public-spirited citizen. He is a member of the Lithuanian Liens society, a beneficial order. and is also atthated with Aerie No to3. Fraternal Order of Ligles Mr labor was one of the leading spirits in the organiza tion of St George's Lithuanian Catholic church, of which he and his family are jealous . municant. He was one of a commit- I'd of three who visited Bishop Ryan and secured permission to organize the parish, he was also a member of the committee which purchased the grounds and had charge of the creation of the church echtice, which is one of the finest in this part of the state. Oct. 15. 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Tabor to Miss Mary V. Ambrose, who was born in Shenandoah, Sept. 8. 1874, a daughter of Louis Ambrose, who is now living retired in this place. They have two children, Clemens J. and Alberta.

Taggart, David, M. D., of Frackville, Pa., where he enjoys the distinction of being the oldest established practitioner in his noble profession, was born in Northumberland, Pa. Dec. 1. 1856. a son of Captam James and Sarah (Cowden) Taggart. both of whom were natives of Northumberland county, this state. of Scotch Irish and Swedish descent. The paternal grandfather of the doctor was John Taggart, who in turn was a son of David Taggart, and his maternal grandfather, John Cowden, was for many years agent for the Philadelphia & Reading railroad at line Grove. Schuylkill county. Captain James Taggart gave valiant service to his country during the Civil war, as Captain of Com- pany R., 5th Pennsylvania reserves and was killed at the battle of Charles City Cross Roads, Va., in 1862. Dr. Taggart was reared in Northumberland, in whose public and private schools he received his elementary education. Later he attended the Friends' central school in Philadelphia and Swarthmore college, Delaware county, l'a. He took up the study of medicine in Northumberland in 1875 and later entered the medical depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, from which famous in- stitution he graduated in 1879, with the well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. He first located in Shenandoah for the practice of his profession in the fall of 1879, but in the spring of 18So he removed to Mahanoy Plane, remaining there. however, only until the fall of the same year, when he located in Frack- ville where he has resided until the present time and where he enjoy- a large and lucrative practice and has the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. In 1888 he established and has since conducted a drug store in the same city, and under his able management the enterprise has prospered from its initiation. The doctor is a member and active worker in the Schuylkill county medical society, the medical society of the state of Penn- sylvania and the American medical association. He is also a member of District Lodge. No. 823, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Royal Arcanum. He gives stanch allegiance in the principles of the Republican party and has served as school

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director of Frackville for two terms. On Apr. 30, 1883, was sol- emnized the marriage of Dr. Taggart to Mary Grant, a daugh- ter of William and Jane (Gibbs) Grant, of Shenandoah, and they have two sons, James and William, the former of whom is a civil engineer by profession.

Tallman, Henry, whose death occurred on Feb. 1, 1891, was widely and favorably known as the proprietor of the Brookside hotel at Sheridan. He was of German ancestry, his parents, Ja- cob and Amelia (Beller ) Tallman, having come from Germany to America in the early '3os and settled near Gratz, in Dauphin county, Pa., where the father engaged in farming and working at his trade of stone-mason. He also operated the first hotel at Wiconisco, and he conducted the same for thirty-seven years. He and his wife died there. They were both members of the Lutheran church, and were the parents of eleven children, five of whom grew to maturity, viz .: Jacob, Matthew, John, Henry and Amanda. Henry Tallman received a common-school education. In 1865 he married Mary A., daughter of Henry and Catherine (Satzler) Schreffler, of Dauphin county, where her father was a farmer and carpenter. Both her parents were members of the Lutheran church and both died in Dauphin county. They had seven children. Sarah married John Ballou and lives in South Dakota ; Elizabeth married Edward Muench and lived at Pilot Mound, Ia .; Mary A. is now Mrs. Henry Tallman; Catherine is the wife of John Good, of Boone, Ia .; Jolin is a retired farmer living at Polo, Ill .; Ellen married John Wolf and she and her husband are both deceased; and Louis died in childhood. Five years after his marriage Henry Tallman removed with his family to the western side of Porter township, Schuylkill county, bought the Brookside hotel and a farm of eighty-six acres, and lived there for the remainder of his life. In politics he was an earnest advocate of Democratic principles and held a number of local offices, among them a place on the school board. He was a mem- ber of the Lutheran church. Since his death the widow and some of the children have continued to live upon the farm, where they are engaged in the dairy business. They had thirteen children. Harry, John E., Edwin, Minnie L., Kate R., Charles C., John P., Bessie, Lulu E., George O., Andrew, William and Lettie A. Harry and Edwin are in the hotel business at Lykens, Pa .; Charles is clerk in the Grand hotel at Schulkill Haven; John P. is principal of the high school at Hamburg, Pa .: George lives at Northampton, Pa .; Kate is the wife of John Reinhard, a merchant of Tower City; Minnie died at the age of four years; Bessie died in May, 1906; Lettie died when she was thirteen years old ; and the others live with their mother. In 1891 the mother and her sons built the house in which they now live. The barn was built the following year, and in 1897 they started in the dairy business. They have a well equipped dairy, with fine Jersey stock, and their product finds a ready sale in Tower City. The

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family is one of refinement and they have many warm friends in the community where they live.

Taylor, E. W., superintendent of the Pine Grove schools, was born in this county on May 9, 1871, a son of Rev. William and Mary (Williams) Taylor. The father was born in England and came to America in 1866. He obtained employment as a mine foreman and worked at it until his death, in 1891, at the age of fifty-seven. He was a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church and his voice was often heard in the pulpits of the sur- rounding boroughs. His death was not only a loss to the family and his friends but to the whole community, in which he was recognized as a man of ability and deep piety. His widow is a resident of Donaldson. Professor Taylor, the subject of this sketch, is the eldest living of the eight children in the family. Richard R. died in 1883 at the age of thirteen; Henry died in 1884 at the age of eleven years. Dr. Mary M. Taylor, the oldest daughter, is assistant surgeon of the Polyclinic hospital and in the Woman's hospital of Philadelphia. John W. is a graduate of Harvard university and is principal of the high school at Dan- ville, Pa., Bessie is at home, Alice W. is a student in the college of pharmacy at Philadelphia and Anna W. is at home. The pro- fessor acquired his first scholastic knowledge in the schools of Millersville and graduated at the normal school there in the ele-

mentary and scientific courses. Subsequently he graduated at the Zanerian art college of Columbus, Ohio. His first charge as teacher was at Oneida, where for two years he was in charge of the schools. During the following nine years he was principal of the schools in Donaldson and in Sept., 1906, he assumed his present position. Although his residence in Pine Grove has been of rather short duration he has won for himself a large place in the hearts of the community, by his genial, courteous manner, his ability and his grasp of intellectual affairs. He gives prom- ise of bringing the schools up to a standard never before at- tained. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Luth- eran church.

Taylor, Frank, the principal and proprietor of the Pottsville business college, was born in Cayuga county, N. Y. He comes from the original Massachusetts, and New York Dutch stock. His parents were Ebenezer G. and Hester J. (Stevens) Taylor, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of New York. The father, who was a merchant, lived to be eighty-two years of age: the mother died in her sixty-sixth year. The professor is the youngest of the four children of the family who attained to maturity. He received his preliminary education in the Port Byron public and high schools after which he engaged in teach- ing in the public schools of his native county for several years. He then attended the Rochester business university, now known as the Rochester business institute, from which he graduated in due course. After this he taught for several years in the graded schools of his native county in the capacity of principal. At this

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time he decided to take Horace Greeley's advice and went west as far as Valparaiso, Ind., where he took special work in the Valparaiso university, after which he engaged in high-school work in Michigan and Minnesota, the whole taking up about ten years of his life. He first became engaged in commercial teach- ing at Buffalo, leaving that place to accept a lucrative position in a Jersey City institution. After he had taught in Jersey City for some time, he removed to Wilmington, Del., and for a period of five years was principal of the commercial department of the leading commercial college of that city. The professor's resi- dence in Pottsville dates from 1899, when he purchased the busi- ness college formerly conducted by Prof. J. G. Gerbarich and became its principal. The courses offered at the institution are the same as those offered at all similar schools of high standing. The success met with has far exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine, and the graduates, who are qualified to fill highly important positions, are in general demand in this and surround- ing territory. In 1902 Professor Taylor married Miss Elizabeth R. Clark, a native of Wilmington, Del. In politics the professor is absolutely independent, exercising his right of franchise as his best judgment dictates. Fraternally he is associated with the Improved Order of Red Men at Wilmington. Although a com- paratively recent acquisition to the social and commercial life of Pottsville he to-day fills a large and prominent place in the re- spect of the citizens of the community.

Terrill, Frederick Elmer, grocer and justice of the peace, of Llewellyn, was born in that town, on Apr. II, 1864, a son of John and Mary (Ferris) Terrill, both natives of Cornwall, Eng- land. The father came to this country in early life and located in Branch township, where he followed his occupation of miner until his death, which occurred at Llewellyn on Jan. 18, 1893. He had a family of fourteen children, nine of whom grew to ma- turity, and seven are yet living. John and Stephen F. died after reaching manhood; Mary A. is the widow of Robert Jones ; Elizabeth is the wife of John H. Zimmerman ; and the other sur- viving children are James R., Francis, Edwin W., Frederick E., and William. The maternal grandfather of Frederick E. Terrill was Stephen Ferris, native of Cornwall, England, who was among the pioneers of Branch township. He was a civil engineer by profession and lived in Schuylkill county all his life after coming to America. Frederick E. Terrill was educated in the public schools and at the age of eight years became a breaker boy in the mines. Subsequently he became a miner, and he followed that occupation until 1898, when he engaged in the grocery busi- ness at Llewellyn, where he has since continued in that line of activity. In his political opinions he is an adherent of the Demo- cratic party and he takes an interest in all questions of public policy. He served one term as school director and in 1897 was elected a justice of the peace for Branch township. Since then he has been twice re-elected and he is now serving his third term of

NHU YLKILL COUNTY

Byen4 m that ofhu He is a supporter of the Methodist Isegal church and belongs to the Mechames In una Mr. Terri partied Al Ameha, daughter of William Adams, of birth of, and they have one son, Lester W.

Thomas, Thomas L., junior member of the wholesale grocery Ir 1 of Van Horn & Thomas, has been a resident of Mahanay "i Ence 124, in which year he accompanied the parental fam- I's tren Minersville to that place. He was graduated from the public sches of Mahanos City in the class of 1% and two Years later received his diploma as a graduate of Eastman's busi- news college of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Mr. Thomas entered the cuples of David E. Focht, as bookkeeper in Sept., 1882. (in No 1. 180, David E. Focht was succeeded by Daniel Stall & (a, the new firm being composed of Hamel Stull and D. L. Van Horn, and Mr Thomas remamed with the firm in the same posi- tion that he had filled with Mr. Pocht. In 1900, at the death of Mr Stall. a copartnership was formed, the interested principals bring Mr Van Horn and Mr. Thomas, who took over the entire business of Daniel Stall & Co., the firm name being changed to Van Horn & Thomas, as it remains to-day. Mr. Van Horn and Mr. Thomas are the sole proprietors. They transact a general wholesale grocery business, supplying the retail trade throughout a large area of surrounding territory, as well as in Mahanoy City. Twenty-five years of continuous existence and operation along honorable and aggressive business lines have brought them many friends and patrons. The founder of this business, David F. Focht, deceased, was a son of the late James Focht, of Pottsville.

Thompson, Heber S .- The well known family, of which the subject of this review is a member, has been represented in America since the year 1730, when two brothers, John and James Thompson, arrived from County Antrim, Ireland, and established homes at Cross Roads. Chester county. Pa. They later moved to Hanover township, in the same county that now in Lebanon county), and from there to a farm ten miles distant from Ilar- risburg, near Derry church. James Thompson, the paternal great-grandfather of the subject of this article, settled near South Mountain, in Franklin county, where some of his descendants live at present. William Thompson, grandfather of Heber S., was born in Cumberland county, in 1754. Fle served in the war of the Revolution, and participated in the battles of Brandy- wine and Germantown. By occupation he was a farmer and merchant. He married Jane Mitchell, of Chambersburg. Pa .. and they had a family of six sons and three daughters. One son. Samuel, being the father of William, Lewis C., Heber S. (subject of this sketch), and Emily. Samuel Thompson was born in Thompsontown. Dauphin county, in 1792, and died in Potts- ville. l'a . March ;. 1851. Samuel Thompson was twice married : first to Inn Aricks, of Harrisburg, who died .Aug. 27. 1828. in less than a year after marriage. Aug. 6. 1833. he married Eliza- beth Cunningham, of Newton Hamilton, Mifflin county. Pa., and

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she was the mother of the four children named above. She sur- vived her husband until . Oct. 5, 1874, when she died, in her seventieth year. Col. William Thompson, the eldest of the four children born to these parents, needs no introduction to the peo- ple of Schuylkill county. He was for many years identified with the Miners' National bank, in the capacity of director and president ; served throughout the Civil war in the 17th Pennslyvania cavalry and was mustered out at the close of the war as lieutenant colonel of his regiment. Lewis C. Thompson, a well known merchant of Pottsville, also served in Company A, 27th Pennsylvania emer- gency regiment, during the invasion of Pennsylvania by Gen- eral Lec, in 1863. Emily J. became the wife of Major Edward C. Baird. Major Heber Samuel Thompson was born in Potts- ville, Aug. 14, 1840. He acquired his elementary education in the schools of his native town, and he finally entered Yale uni- versity, where he pursued a classical course, being graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in the class of 1861. Ten years later he received from the same institution, the honorary degree of Master of Arts. During his college course, the war-cloud had settled upon the country, and Mr. Thompson promptly of- fered his services. He enlisted Apr. 16, 1861, as a private soldier in Company H, of the 25th Pennsylvania volunteers, and was one of the first to reach the national capitol in response to the presi- · dent's call for "three months' volunteers." His term of enlist- ment expired the last of July, 1861, and in October, of the same years, he re-enlisted, as first lientenant in Company F, 7th Penn- sylvania cavalry, in which he was promoted to the captaincy on the first of May, 1863. March 18, 1864, Captain Thompson was placed on detached service, as acting inspector-general of the First brigade, second cavalry division, in the Army of the Cum- berland, and served in this capacity until Aug. 20, 1864, when he was captured as a prisoner of war. Being released on parole of honor, and unable to effect an exchange, he resigned his com- mission in the army, and was finally discharged Jan. 24, 1865. The military record of Major Thompson is one of thrilling ex- periences and long and active service. He participated in many of the hard-fought battles of the war, among them being Perry- ville or Chaplin Hills, Ky .; Stone's river or Murfreesboro, Mc- Minnville and Shelbyville, Tenn., and Chickamauga, Ga., while un- der Generals Don Carlos Buell and William S. Rosecrans. After- ward he was with Gen. W. T. Sherman in the Atlanta campaign and took part in the engagements at Noonday creek, Kenesaw Mountain, about Atlanta, Jonesboro and Lovejoy's station. After participating in twelve engagements on this campaign, Major Thompson was taken prisoner at the battle of Lovejoy's station, Ga., Aug. 20, 1864, and this ended his career at the front. He was in prison at Macon and Augusta, Ga., successively, and finally was taken to Charleston, S. C. He was paroled from the pris- oner's hospital at Rikersville, a suburb of Charleston, Dec. 18. 1864. Major Thompson has always taken an active interest in

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the cause of the veterans of the Civil war, and promptly allied hunselt with the fraternal organizations intended to perpetuate the memory of the far away days of the tus. He is a member of the Sogets of First Defenders, Lowen Post, No. 23. Grand Arm of the Republic, Pottsville Encampment. I'mon Veteran Legion : and the Loval Legion of the L'inted States He is president of the board of trustees of the state hospital for the injured, a mem- ber of the county visiting committee of the state board of char- ities, and a member of the state committee on lunacy. He is ex- president of the board of directors of the Edison Electric If- lummating Company, director and ex president of the Miners' National bank, and interested in many other local institutions. Of the learned and technical institutions, he is a member of the American Philosophical Society of l'Iladelphia, of the Historical Societies of Pennsylvania and of Schuylkill county, and of the American Institute of Mming Engineers Since 1874 Major Thompson has been engineer and agent of the Girard estate in Schuylkill and Columbia counties. He was married Jan. 23. 1800. to Miss Sarah E ... daughter of Isaac and Margarette Beck, of Pottsville, l'a. Their four children are Emily, widow of the late J. Parker Hood, of Philadelphia; Samuel Clifton, a graduate of Yale university, class of 18t, and of the School of Mines, Colum- bia university, class of 1803. now a mining engineer in South Africa, Margareta, wife of Col. James Archibald ; Heber Harris of Pottsville, and Eleanor, deceased.

Thompson, James W., the genial manager of the Western Union Telegraph company and agent of the United States Express com- pany at Ashland, was born in that borough on May 5, 1864. He is a son of James W. and Esther M. Jones) Thompson, the former a native of Durham, England, and the latter of Wales. The father came to the United States with his mother and his stepfather in 1845, and located in St. Clair, where he remained until 1856. In that year he came to Ashland with his mother's family and entered the employment of the Philadelphia & Read- ing railroad. He was lever-man and timekeeper at the Big Mine Run Plane for a period of thirty-seven years, until the plant was abandoned by the company, and then he retired. His last days were spent in the home of his son James W. and his death occurred in April, 1902. in his sixty-fith year. Three chil- dren grew to maturity of whom the subject of this sketch is the second in order of birth. The others are John C. and Elizabeth. the latter being the wife of William Smail, of Shenandoah. James W. Thompson, of this sketch, has always lived in Ashland. His educational advantages were those of the public schools of that borough and while still a youth he entered the employ of the telegraph company as messenger. Then by study and practice he became an operator and in 1885 he was employed as such in the Ashland office of the company. In 1887 he was made Ash- land manager for the company and in 1806 became the agent at Ashland for the United States Express company. That his

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service has given satisfaction to his employers is evidenced by his continued retention in the offices. July 11, 1890, Mr. Thompson was united in marriage to Miss Lulu Bailey, of Mahanoy City, a daughter of William H. and, Priscilla (Haldeman) Bailey. This union has been blessed with three daughters-Ethel, Grace and Lulu: the last mentioned died at the age of three years. The family are cummunicants of the Protestant Episcopal church, and for several years Mr. Thompson has been a member of the ves- try. He is prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of Ashland Lodge, No. 294, Free and Accepted Masons; Griscom Chapter, No. 219, Royal Arch Masons; Prince of Peace Com- mandery, No. 39: Knights Templars; the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Reading; the Royal Arcanum; and Camp No. 84 of the Patriotic Order Sons of America. Of the last named organization he was state Master of Forms in 1904 and at the present time he is state vice-president. He is also a member of the Ashland board of trade and is a director of the Locust Mountain Saving Fund association. In politics he is a Republican, but has never sought public office.

Thurlow, Stephen A., is a prominent educator and was for many years principal of the high school at Pottsville, Pa., and is now superintendent. He was born at Raymond, Cumberland county, Maine, July 18, 1842. He is a son of Robert and Nancy (Smith ) Thurlow, of Raymond, Maine. His ancestry dates back to the colonial period of our country, the originators of the family on both sides having come from England in an early day. Mem- bers of the family took part in our colonial wars, and paternal and maternal great-grandfathers were wounded in the struggle for inde- pendence at the battle of Bunker Hill. Professor Thurlow received his elementary education in the schools of his native village and after having been a student at Hebron academy and Edward Lit- tle Institute in Maine, he pursued a course at Amherst college, in Massachusetts. With the exception of a brief military serv- ice during the Civil war, in which he was a private in Company K, 5th Massachusetts volunteers, Professor Thurlow has devoted his entire active career to the noble profession of pedagogy, in which he has risen to a high rank. While a resident of Maine, he served as superintendent of schools, an elective office in that state. He was principal of the high school of Pottsville for more than a quarter of a century, which in itself bespeaks his pro- ficiency as an educator. He is not only an instructor, but a friend and companion as well to all his pupils and many of the younger generation among the business and professional citizens of Pottsville to-day remember with pleasure and reverence the master who guided their footsteps and aided in the moulding of their character when he and they performed their daily tasks together in the schoolroom. As a mark of esteem in which he is held by. the graduates of his school, Professor Turlow was presented Iv them with a purse of $2,000 at the expiration of twenty-five years of service as principal of the high school. This, Professor Tl:nr-

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History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II, Part 61

Author: Schalck, Adolf W. Publication date: 1907 Publisher: State Historical Association Number of Pages: 700

Author: Schalck, Adolf W.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: State Historical Association
Number of Pages: 700