USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 66
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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
and the first five years after he had completed his scholastic labors he spent in his father's store He spent his spare time learning teleg- raphy and for four years was a Western Union operator at San Fran- chen. On his return to l'amaqua he entered the employ of the Phila- delphia & Reading Radroad Company, with which he remained for a period of two years For different periods and at different times he was at San Francisco again, in Arizona and other places, and in the fall of the returned to Tamaqua. For three years he was employed by the railroad as a brakeman and for the two years following as telegraph operator. At the end of that time he gave up railroad life and became the Tamaqua agent for the Reading bakery. Besides this he conducts a novelty store. Un Oct. 12. 1x), he married Miss Florence Seitzinger, of Tamaqua, a native of the town, and a daugh- ter of Harry and Sarah Seitzinger. Three children have been born to this union-Herbert Marron, Harold Arlington, and Mac Isabel. The family are all members of the English Lutheran church, and the father, who is regarded as one of the most promising of Tama- qua's younger business men, is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The second son of James Williams is Zachariah, a railroad man living in Tamaqua. He married Mabel Erig, and has a son, Gordon. James Howard is a plumber ; he married Miss Kate Foolk and has two sons, James and Paul. Joseph Taylor married Minnie Walker, and is the father of an unnamed infant son. Ella Williams and Jane Williams are unmarried ; Clayton died at the age of three ; and Emily May and Edgar are at home. . Death annulled Mr. Williams' first marriage in Oct., 1803, and later Miss Amanda Reiner, daughter of William Reiner, a farmer of Schuylkill county, became his wife. Two children-Thomas William and Bessie- blessed this second union. Mr. Williams is a kindly, courteous gen- theman, and one of whom it can be truthfully said that he never knowingly did any dishonorable thing. He is a firm believer in the doctrine of the "square deal." and, what is of vastly more importance, he is a thorough practitioner of his belief.
Williams, Thomas T., warden of the Schuylkill county prison at Pottsville, was born in South Wales on Oct. 15, 1857. a son of Thomas and Catherine ( Williams) Williams. Both parents were natives of South Wales, where the father was born in 1830. They came to the United States with their family in 1861 and located in Minersville, where the father was a miner until his death, in 1875, some two years after his wife's death. The subject of this sketch is the eldest son: Mary died in Wales, at the age of two years; David is engaged in mining at Shenandoah : Mary (IF) died in this county, at the age of three years; Sarah is the wife of John Seiders, of Leb- anon; and John died at Mahanoy City. Nov. 20. 1877. Thomas T. Williams received a limited education in the common schools of his home town and until 1885 was engaged in mining in different branches. In that year he was appointed county tax-collector and served until the law was changed to provide for a new means of col- lection. A year before his appointment he had been elected a mem-
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ber of the borough council and he served a full term. For ten years he was a justice of the peace, carrying on a fire-insurance business at the same time. Another five years was spent as docket clerk of the county, and then, on Apr. 1, 1903. came his appointment as warden of the Schuylkill county prison, to which he has been re-elected by the commission each succeeding year. His position requires the charge of an average of one hundred and seventy prisoners, with terms ranging from ten days to twelve years, and the overseeing of the work of the nine employes of the establishment. The female department is under the charge of Mrs. Williams, as matron, and the warden's home is within the building. Besides this work Mr. Williams is connected with a fire-insurance agency, which is now being carried on actively by a son, and is proprietor of the Williams knitting mills, located at Shenandoah, Pa., in which are manufactured ladies' fine Swiss vests. On Jan. 8, 1882, Mr. Williams married Miss Emily Saeger, a native of Shenandoah, and a daughter of John and Eliza Saeger, the former of whom came to Shenandoah from Eng- land in 1861. Both Mr. and Mrs. Saeger died in Shenandoah. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams have been born three children. Herbert, the eldest, first saw the light of day on Jan. 1, 1883; he is a graduate of the Shenandoah high school and is now an attorney-at-law, located in Shenandoah. Thomas, born Ang. 29, 1884, graduated at the Potts- ville high school, and is now a student in the engineering course of Lehigh university. Emily, the only daughter, was born Apr. 3. 1889, and is a student in the senior class of the Pottsville high school. Mrs. Williams and the children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Williams removed from Minersville to Shenandoah in 1879 and remained there until his appointment as warden, in 1903. when he brought his family to Pottsville. In politics he is a stanch exponent of the tenets of the Republican party and his elevation to public office has always been through the medium of that organiza- tion. He has been a delegate to practically all the county, district and state conventions of his party since he became of age. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. in which he has held membership since 1882. and is a past grand of Lodge No. 591, of Shenandoah. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and of Pulaski Lodge. No. 216, Free and Accepted Masons, of Pottsville.
Willman, George F., who is numbered among the enterprising business men of the city of Shenandoah, where he has passed the major portion of his life, has built up a large and prosperous plumb- ing, roofing and tinning business and in this line holds precedence of no uncertain order. He was born at Oleyline. Berks county, Pa., May 8, 1865, and is a son of Charles E. and Mary E. (Snyder) Will- man, both of whom were born in Berks county, this state. The father was a tailor by trade and in 1871 he located in Shenandoah, where he opened a shop and where he eventually built up a prosper- ous merchant tailoring business. He continued a resident of this city until his death, which occured June 30, 1904, and he was well known
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and highly esteemed as a citizen His wife diel in 1881. of the seven children five are hving: Wilham is agent for the Atlantis Retning Company, at Malanos City, this county ; George F. is next younger : Susan R is the wife of Henry Sampsel, of Shenandoah ; Charles is engaged in the meat market busmess at Mount Carmel. Northumberland county ; and Dora is employed in a grovery store in the city of Philadelphia. The subject of this review is indebted to the public school of Shenandoah for his early educational train- ing, and as a youth he entered upon an apprenticeship at the tinner's trade, in the establishment of Bedell Brothers. From 1887 until Joog he was employed as a journeyman timer, and he then engaged in business for himself, establishing the enterprise which he now conducts, at 117-110 West Coal street. He carries a select line of Stoves, ranges, furnaces, gas heaters, tinware, and other household furnishings, and is the leading plumber and roofer of the city. His ability and his personal popularity in the community have enabled him to build up within a comparatively brief interval a large and prosperous business and he enjoys the unequivocal esteem of all who know him. Mr. Willman is a member of Henry Horncastle Camp, Sons of Veterans, with which he has been identified for twenty -two years. His eligibility for membership is based on the fact that his father served three years as a member of the 179th Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, which was a part of the Army of the Potomac. Two of his uncles. Maberry E. and Franklin E. Willman, were like- wise valiant soldiers of the Union. The latter became a prominent and influential citizen of Shenandoah, where he met a tragic death, at the Keeley Run colliery, July 30. 1880, when he and two com- panions were killed by the deadly carbonic-oxide gas in the mine in which they were employed. The subject of this review also holds membership in the local camp of the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America and in Rescue hook and ladder company. The family are members of Trinity Reformed church in Shenandoah. In politics Mr. Willman is a loyal supporter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he takes marked interest in public affairs of a local nature. He represents the Third ward on the board of education and received the largest majority ever polled by any candidate for this office in his ward. Sept. 29. 1887. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Willman to Miss Eliza- beth Katz, a daughter of George and Frederica Katz, who were then residents of Shenandoah. Mr. and Mrs. Willman became the pa- rents of four children-Mary E. and Evelyn A., who remain at the parental home : and George and Bertha E., both of whom died in carly childhood.
Wilson, Rev. James J. pastor of the parish of St. Peter and Paul. at Tower City, was born at Manayunk. Philadelphia county, Pa .. Oct. 18. 1874. His parents. Francis and Sarah ( Boyle ) Wilson, were both natives of county .Antrim. Ireland. The father was a contractor and builder, and followed that vocation in Philadelphia and Washington, D. C .. for many years. He was killed in an acci-
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dent at Rose Glen, Pa., in 1880, when he was sixty-five years of age. The mother died in 1882, aged forty-nine. Of their seven children two are now living, the subject of this sketch and a sister, Mary, who lives with him. After attending St. John's school, Father Wilson, at the age of fifteen years, entered St. Joseph's college at Philadelphia, a secular institution. Upon leaving St. Joseph's col- lege he was admitted to St. Charles' seminary, Overbrook, Mont- gomery county, Pa., in which institution, after remaining nine years, he was ordained a priest in 1900. He received as first appointment, Minersville, Schuylkill county, where he was associated with Rev. P. J. McMahan for one year and nine months. On Apr. 8, 1902, he took charge of the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul at Tower City, where he has since continued. This church was started in 1896 by Rev. F. M. Ward, who remained in charge for four years and three months. He was succeeded by Father Corcoran, who was pastor until succeeded by Father Wilson. The congregation numbers fifty- seven families-over 300 persons in all-and is in a prosperous and harmonious condition. Since coming to Tower City Father Wilson has made over $5,000 worth of improvements and has otherwise displayed commendable zeal in promoting the interests of the Roman Catholic religion. His genial disposition and public spirit have made for him many warm friends in the field of his labors, and the general hope is that he may remain for many years in Tower City to carry forward his good work.
Wilson, John Miller, foreman of the shops of the Philadelphia & Reading railroad at Palo Alto, is a Scotchman by birth. He is a son of John and Martha ( Miller) Wilson : the date of his nativity was Aug. 18. 1854, and the place Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland. His ancestors for generations back were born and reared in Ayrshire, where the paternal grandfather was a master weaver in the days before machinery came into use, and the maternal grandfather was land stewart of one of the big estates of the district. The subject of this sketch received a limited education in the schools of his native country and entered upon his career as a mechanic in July, 1870, in the James Robertson General and Patentee Engineering works. Just five years later he completed his apprenticeship and left the Robert- son works to enter the employ of the WV. & A. Maconey Company, one of the leading machinery firms of the British Isles. Subsequently he was in the service of many other firms until June, 1882. In that month and year occurred Mr. Wilson's marriage to Miss Christina Clement, a daughter of William and Florence ( Murchie) Clement. He brought his bride to America on their wedding trip. and while visiting his brother. Charles, at Wilkes Barre. Pa., Mr. Wilson was the recipient of a handsome offer from the. Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. He accepted the position and remained with the com- pany for a period of twenty-two years, the first two years of which time were in the Wilkes Barre shops. Then he was made foreman of the wrecking gang on the Wyoming division. in which capacity he served until June, 1887, leaving it to accept the foremanship of
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the Greeting shop of the company, where the locomotives were built, remodeled and repaired. The latter work kept him busy until Aug. 1. 1808, when he received a promotion to the foremanship of the same department of the company at Manchester, N. Y. He also had general charge of the wrecking crews of two divisions, and during his incumbency of the position he served under three master me- chanics and two superintendents on the Philadelphia and New York division, two superintendents and six master mechanics on the Ruf- ialo division, and three vard masters at Manchester. He added ma- terially to the equipment of the shops and oversaw the renovation and remodeling of the engine house and the other buildings. On Sept. 30. 8004. Mr. Wilson left the employ of the Lehigh Valley company and removed to Bridgeport, l'a., to become general foreman of the Philadelphia & Reading company. On March 23. 1005. he was transferred to Palo Alto and assumed the duties of the position which he is now holding. Mr. Wilson is the father of five children-Will- iam ( .. Charles G., Martha Ruth, Mary Christina and John Ronald. Another daughter. Florence, died at the age of two years and ten months. Mr. Wilson's brother, Charles, was until 18h a master mechanic in the employ of the Lehigh Valley railroad company at Wilkes Barre, and left that corporation to accept a similar position in the Nottingham lace mills of Wilkes Barre. His wife was for- merly Miss Margaret MeKinszy, a native of Thornhill. Perthshire. Scotland. Mrs. John M. Wilson has a sister living in this country. Mary, who is the wife of Fred C. Paine, of Canandaigua. N. Y., and who is the mother of one child. Beatrice. The Wilsons are all devout members of the Presbyterian church. In politics Mr. Wilson has always been identified with the Republican party, but the emoluments of public office never appealed to him and he has always refused to become a candidate for positions of official trust. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and was one of the organizers of the Caledonian club. a Scottish organization of Wilkes Barre, which had its birth on Jan. 25. 1883.
Winkelspecht, John F., superintendent of the William F. Tau- bel hosiery mills of Tamaqua, was born in Riverside. N. J., on Ang. 17. 1865. His parents are Felix and Elizabeth ( Kreps) Winkel- specht, the former a native of Germany and the latter of New Jer- sey. The father was born in 1838 and came to the United States in 1858. locating in New Jersey, where he was a laborer all his active life. He is a devout member of the Catholic church and reared his family of nine children, all of whom are living, in that faith. The subject of this sketch attended the public and parochial schools of his native town and after completing the courses offered there he went into a hosiery mill. When he was nineteen years of age he was made a foreman in the mill and since that time he has been either at the head of a concern or a department. His first employment was with the Riverside Hosiery Company, with whom he remained for twenty years. In Aug .. 1002, he came to Tamaqua to accept the superintendency of the Taubel mills, and his retention in the position
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shows that he is at least fulfilling the requirements. Since his com- ing the output has materially increased and there has been little or no labor trouble among the 231 operatives employed-duc in large measure to Mr. Winkelspecht's ability. On Aug. 19, 1885, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Sundermeier, a native of New Jersey and a daughter of John and Margaret Sundermeier, natives of Germany, and now residents of Riverside, N. J. To Mr. and Mrs. Winkelspecht nine children have been born. Agnes, the eldest, is the wife of Thomas Trainer, of South Bethel, Pa., and is the mother of two children, Jerome and Myrtle. Josephine is Mrs. James McLochlin, of Tamaqua. Wilhelmina is an operative in the mill of which her father is the superintendent. The others, Clinton, Irene, Xavier, May, Ora and Phillip, are all at home. The entire family are members of the Catholic church. Although their residence in Tamaqua is of rather recent date they have come to be regarded as valuable social and commercial additions to the community.
Winn, Capt. Samuel, chief of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron police force, was born in St. Clair, Schuylkill county, Pa., July 24, 1844. His parents, Samuel and Mary ( Moore) Winn, who were natives of England, immigrated to this country about 1830. The father was identified with mining interests at St. Clair, but died in middle life. The mother died in St. Clair at the age of sixty- seven. They were the parents of five children, two sons, Samuel and Thomas, being the only survivors. The sisters were: Elizabeth. who married Oliver Wolverton, and died in St. Clair, at the age of seventy-one years; Mary A., who was the wife of J. P. Sherman, and who died at the age of sixty-two years; Agnes, who was the wife of Constantine Hess, a carpenter and contractor, and who died in Omaha, Neb., aged fifty-nine years. Thomas Winn, the survi- ving brother of the subject of this sketch, is a retired mechanic at St. Joseph, Mo., where he has lived for the last thirty-two years. He learned the trade of carpentry in St. Clair, and followed that business for many years before going to Missouri. He has a wife but no children. He served from 1861 to 1865 in the 5th Pennsyl- vania cavalry. Captain Winn left school to answer the call of his country in Sept., 1861, when he enlisted as a member of Company F, 7th Pennsylvania cavalry. His regiment was stationed for the most part in the Western department, attached to the 14th army corps. With this organization he participated in every battle and skirmish in which his company was engaged, but escaped personal injury. He held the rank of quartermaster-sergeant and was dis- charged in 1865, after four years of continuous service. Returning to his maternal home, Captain Winn was unemployed for about eighteen months following his discharge, and was for a like period employed as weigh master at the Port Carbon furnace. He began prospecting for coal and iron in Pennsylvania and New Jersey about 1868, and. incidentally, testing the merits of the famous "Diamond drill," which has revolutionized the old system of prospecting. In 1875 Captain Winn was commissioned by the state as a member of
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
the Coal and Iron Police, and has been connected with this formida- ble organization for more than thirty one years He was appointed " hattenant in 1855, and i tone he was promoted to his present postion, that of captain and chief of the force. This is all organs. zation which has existed in the coal regions for many years, attam- ing the greatest efficiency as protectors of life and property during the reign of "Molli Magireism." It is justered by the state and is composed of brave and fearless men, thoroughly disciplined and inured to the hardships of their perilous work. The primary object is the protection of coal and railroad property during strikes of em- ployes, but the duties do not end there. Many a private citizen has been protected against deadly assault and his property saved from destruction. The Pottsville contingent is a formidable force. equipped with the most approved arms, and ready at all times for any emergency. Captain Winn was a resident of Frackville for twenty -five years and was married there, on Jan. 8. 1880. The lady of his choice was Miss Sadie, a daughter of John and Amelia Har- ris, late of Frackville, where they both died. They had a famik of four sons and four daughters-William (deceased), John. Sammel. Beniamin, Jane, Amelia, Sadie and Mary Ann. Captain and Mrs. Winn became the parents of four children, namely: Mary, who is the wife of Clarence Morgan, of Pottsville: Thomas, who died in infancy: Olive, who is a young lady at home; and John Harvey. who is paying clerk for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company at Pottsville. They also reared and educated an adopted daughter, Miss Sadie Moore, who was a member of the family for sixteen years. She is now happily married to W. A. Nice. a pros- perous business man at Frackville. Captain Winn has been a life- long Republican, but has never aspired to public office. He was a member of the Frackville borough council for about eight years. He is a member of John S. Meredith Post. No. 485. Grand Army of the Republic, and has served in various official capacities in this organization. He is liberal in religious views and has never been connected with any church organization.
Wiszinski, B., a prominent citizen and a leading merchant tailor of Mahanoy City, was born Aug. 15. 1873. in Russia. All the edu- cational advantages he was able to have were acquired in the com- mon schools of his native land, and when he had completed his scho- lastic training. he there started to learn the tailor's trade. Before he had fully completed his apprenticeship. however, he came. in 1800. to the United States. He landed in New York, where he remained about six months and completed his apprenticeship. From New York he came in Pennsylvania. locating near Hazleton, where he worked as a breaker boy and also did some work in excavating cel- lars, for two months and a half. Then he came to Mahanos City and found employment in his vocation until June. 189h. In that month and year he opened a tailoring establishment of his own at 311 West Centre street. directly opposite hi- present place of business, and a year later removed to 323 West Centre street. Since 1808 he has
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been occupying the store he is now in, and it has come to be known as one of the most up-to-date and modern places of business in the city. In 1902 Mr. Wisziniski became financially interested in the hotel business, but it did not prove a paying venture and he disposed of his holdings two years later, since when he has devoted all his time and attention to the development of his merchant tailoring industry. In 1903 he was the successful candidate for election to the borough council, and he is to-day the incumbent of the office of representative of the First ward in the city legislative body. Mrs. Wiszinski was formerly Miss Anna Miloski, a native of the United States, and she has borne her husband three children. Florence, the first born, died in 1903, at the age of two years; Bernard is now three years old, and Edmund is two. The parents are members of St. Joseph's Lutheran church, of Mahanoy City. Mr. Wiszinski is an exemplary type of foreign-born American citizen-frugal, indus- trious and honest.
Woll, Joseph, deceased, a former sheriff of the county and pro- prietor of the Hotel Woll in Pottsville, was born in Pottsville on Nov. 14, 1853, in an hotel on the same lot which the modern hostelry, the Hotel Woll, now occupies. He is a son of Peter and Magda- lena (Young) Woll, the former a native of Prussia and the latter of Bavaria, Germany, both of whom came to this country in their youth and were married in Pottsville. The father learned the shoe- maker's trade, but did not follow it for any length of time, pre- ferring to engage in the hotel business, and for more than half a century he was "Mine Host" in an hotel which stood on the spot which the Hotel Woll now adorns. The father died in 1884 and the mother in 1893. The thirteen children in the family were: Mary, Catherine, Peter, John, Magdalena, Elizabeth, George, Joseph. Philip, Mary (2d),"George (2d), and two unnamed who died in infancy. The living of this number are Magdalena. now Mrs. Bodenfield, of Portland, Ore .; Elizabeth, the widow of Louis Gottschall, of Potts- ville; Peter, who lives in Pottsville: Philip, who is proprietor of the United States hotel at Tamaqua ; and George, now proprietor of the Hotel Woll. Joseph Woll received his educational advantages in the public schools of Pottsville, most of his training being secured in the Bunker Hill school. When he had finished the prescribed scholastic work he learned the trade of blacksmith, at which he worked for about fifteen years, and which he left to engage in the hotel business with his father. This was in 1880, and aside from the three years he spent as the incumbent of the office of sheriff he had no other occupation after that time. In 1895. at the cost of $16.000, Mr. Woll erected a new and modern hostelry on the site of the old building. It is four stories in height, and contains thirty-six guest rooms, besides the offices, dining room, etc. In politics he was a stanch exponent of the principles of Jeffersonian Democracy. and the county convention of that party in 1891 made him its nominee for the office of sheriff. He was duly elected and in Jannary of the following year was installed in the office, where he served a full term
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