USA > Pennsylvania > Sullivan County > History of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania > Part 23
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Our subject received his education in tbe public schools of Elmira, and when eighteen years of age began tending bar at Waverly, New York. For nine years he was thus employed, working in Waverly, Hancock, Lordville, New York city, and in Wyalusing and Dushore, Pennsylvania. In October, 1894, he bought the lease and fix- tures of the Kennedy House, Laporte, Penn- sylvania, and, changing the name to the Commercial House, operated it until June, 1896, when he sold out, and going to Lo- pez purchased the Mark Brown saloon, which he rebuilt into his present commodi- ous up-to-date hotel. He is a model land- lord, giving every branch of his business his personal attention and making all his patrons comfortable and satisfied. He con- sequently enjoys a large patronage and is making a great success in his business.
Mr. McKibbins was united in marriage August 20, 1893, to Miss Mary Sax, daugh- ter of Martin and Elizabeth (Dunkleburg) Sax, of Wilmot, Bradford county, Pennsyl- vania, and to them have been born two children-Henry M. and Maggie. The fam- ily are members of the Catholic church and are highly esteemed by all their acquaint- ances.
T' THEODORE WRIGHT, M. D., a well- known physician and surgeon of Du- shore, Pennsylvania, is one of the younger members of the medical fraternity of Sulli- van county, but his prominence is by no means measured by his years; on the con- trary he has won the reputation which many an older practitioner might well envy.
The Doctor was born in Venango county,
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Pennsylvania, October 28, 1868, and is a son of Theodore and Stella E. (Ferry) Wright, both natives of northeastern Penn- sylvania, the former of Bradford county, the latter of Tioga county. The father is a man of prominence and is now editor-in- chief of the Philadelphia Record. Our sub- ject was educated in a private military academy of that city, and commenced the study of medicine under Dr. M. T. Pren- ' dergast, attending physician to St. Joseph's hospital. In the spring of 1891 he gradua- ted in the medical department of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, and gained a good practical knowledge of his chosen profession by spending one year in practice at the Polyclinic Hospital. Coming to Dushore in the winter of 1892-93, he remained here for five months, but in the spring of 1893 returned to Philadelphia, where he was en- gaged in practice for two years. On the 1st of May, 1898, he returned to Dushore, where he now enjoys a lucrative and constantly increasing practice his, skill and ability being widely recognized.
In 1892 was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Wright and Miss Rose M. Murney, daughter of Captain John Murney, of Phila- delphia, and of this union have been born four children, namely: Theodore, John Bruce, Joseph Singerly and George Dewey.
PF ROFESSOR J. H. THAYER, princi- pal of the Dushore high school, is one of the best known and efficient educators in Sullivan county and is deserving of the high esteem in which he is held, both as a teacher and as a citizen. He has occupied his present position for over a year, having begun his duties at the high school Septem- ber 1, 1897, and during this time has given general satisfaction and proved himself to a
marked degree an able and conscientious instructor.
Professor Thayer was born in New Albany, Bradford county, this state, August 1, 1863, his parents being James and Tempe (Watson) Thayer. His father was of good old Virginia stock and of French descent, and spent his boyhood days in Virginia, where he attended the common schools until sixteen years of age, when he joined the Confederate army under General Lee and served nearly through the entire period of the war. Then he located in Elkland township, and afterward in Brad- ford county. He married Miss Tempe Watson, a daughter of Jairus H. and Re- becca (Van Loon) Watson. In Septem- ber, 1871, he removed to Bernice, Sullivan county, and died February 25, 1896; his wife had died February 24, 1895. They had nine children left by their death, namely: Elizabeth, now Mrs. Heflin; Jairus H .; William N .; Bernice, now Mrs. Shaffer; James M., Jr. ; John W .; Cora, now Mrs. Rutherford; Frank A., and George W.
The subject of this review was well brought up and early learned habits of honesty and industry. While a boy he at- tended the common schools and also pur- sued his studies at home, subsequently at- tending Susquehanna College at Towanda and the State Normal at Mansfield, and when only seventeen years old began teach- ing school during his vacations. For the past thirteen years he has been constantly employed as a teacher, eight years of which he had charge of the schools at Bernice. He is now, as has been stated, principal of the Dushore high school, which contains one hundred and thirty scholars, and he is assisted in. his duties by two ladies, Miss Julia Cronin and Miss Jennie Vaughn. Professor Thayer has been most successful
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in his chosen calling and has gained the affection and respect not only of his pupils but of their parents also, who find in him a capable teacher and a man worthy of their confidence in every respect. He is genial in his manners and popular with all classes of good society.
Professor Thayer was married July 15, 1891, at New Albany, Pennsylvania, to Miss Annie Coyle, a popular and successful teacher of Bradford county. Four children have been born to this union: Frederick William, Francis Ivan, Mildred Engenia and Nellie R.
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C ONRAD KRAUS .- It so seldom hap- pens that the incumbent of a public office reaches that position solely by the force of his own merits, recognized by his fellow citizens and without the use of the machinery so well known to all politicians, that the biographer feels that a sketch of such a one cannot fail to be interesting to residents of his town and county. As an industrious, honest and intelligent citizen and a conscientious and wise judge, Conrad Kraus in his daily private business and in his duties as associate judge of Sullivan county has earned the esteein and respect of everyone, and no more popular or hon- ored man is to be found in his community.
Mr. Kraus, who resides in Cherry town- ship, his post-office being Dushore, was born in Tamaqua, Schuylkill county, Penn- sylvania, December 27, 1858. His parents, Henry and Catherine (Blumenstein) Kraus, were natives of Hesse-Cassel, Germany. The father, after serving five years in the army in his native land, grew tired of inili- tary life and came to America in 1849. In Tamaqua he met and married his wife, Anna Catharine Blumenstein, who, with her sis-
ter Elizabeth, came to the United States in 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, lived in Tamaqua until 1887, when they moved to Sullivan county and located near Cherry Mills. Henry Kraus was a drover and dealt largely in stock. Forty years ago he commenced to drive cattle from Sullivan county to Philadelphia and other markets, and by this, and by dealing in meats, in the course of years he accu- mulated a comfortable fortune, much of which was lost, however, at the time of the panic at the mines in Schuylkill county in the 70's, caused by the protracted idleness of the hundreds of miners working in the coal mines there. These miners Mr. Kraus had long been supplying with meat, and he thought he ought not to desert them in their time of need. The strike lasted long and failed. The miners had no money to pay anything and Mr. Kraus's losses rose into thousands of dollars. Mr. Kraus lived to the good old age of seventy two years and died on October 16, 1896. His wife died on November 4, of the same year, aged sixty-three. They are buried in the Ger- man cemetery at Dushore. Both were members of the Lutheran church, and in politics Mr. Kraus was a Democrat. Mrs. Kraus had three brothers, Peter, and Jacob and Casper (twins). Peter was for many years principal of a school in Rodenburg, Hessen, Germany; Jacob served in the Ger- man army through the entire Franco- Prussian war of 1870-71, and now lives in Prussia, a proprietor of an extensive manu- factory of brick; Casper served in the same war as an officer, and at the historic and bloody battle of Gravelotte was severely wounded. In recognition of his distinguished bravery in this and other engagements he received the decoration of the Iron Cross from the emperor. He is now living a re- tired life in Prussia. The two sisters of Mrs.
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Gramad Wraus
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Kraus are Elizabeth and Doratha. Eliza- beth came to America with Mrs. Kraus, as . already stated, and lives near Hazelton, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. Doratha remained in Germany, where she married a prominent official, Burgomaster Conrad. Weimer.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, also Henry Kraus, passed his entire life in Germany, where he served in the army for several years and subsequently carried on the trade of butcher. His wife's maiden name was Julia Helwig. The children of this couple were Conrad; Henry, father of our subject; William G .; George and Susannah. All came to America, where the sons engaged in droving and the butcher business, and all are now deceased except George, who lives at Tamaqua, Pennsylva- nia.
The family of Henry Kraus comprised five children, of whom Conrad, the subject of this sketch, was the eldest; Elizabeth married Conrad Kæhler, a designer ,for a carpet company at Philadelphia; William H. married Miss Sarah Atherton and car- ries on butchering in Cherry township; his sketch may be found on another page; Henry, who is also a butcher, married Miss Emma Litzelman and lives at Laporte, Pennsylvania; Sophia married Frank Wein- shenk, a baker of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania.
Conrad Kraus, the subject of this sketch, was married May 4, 1880, to Miss Kate M. Hecker, who was born in Philadelphia May 4, 1860, and of their union the follow- ing children have been born, all of whom are at home with their parents: Frederick C., Conrad H., Charles A., Matilda C., Henry C. and Albert S.
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Mrs. Krans is the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Miller) Hecker, who were 22
natives of Saxony and Wurtemberg respect- ively, and who came to this country in 1852. They settled in Philadelphia, which was their home until 1881, when they came to Sullivan county, locating in Cherry township, where they still reside. The children of this worthy couple were four in number: Ernestina, who married David Phillips, and is deceased; John, who died in childhood; Frederick and Kate M., who are now living. A sketch of the Hecker family will be found on another page.
Conrad Krausremained with his parents until reaching the age of eighteen, in the meantime pursuing his studies in the dis- trict and also private schools. He became well acquainted with both German and Eng- lish literature and on leaving school helped his father in the work of driving cattle and also perfected himself in the trade of a butcher. He later went to Philadelphia, where he was for two years in the employ of John Wuster, a pork butcher, and then took charge of two meat and provision stores for Levy & Bloch for about five years.
In 1881 Mr. Kraus removed to Sullivan county with the intention of going into business at Dushore, but owing to the clos- ing down of the tanneries at Laporte and Thorndale he went into the lumber woods, where he worked about two years for Jen- nings Brothers. He subsequently went to Dushore, engaging in the meat business with John Utz, Jr., whose interest he bought two years later; and, sending to Philadel- phia for his brother. William, the two car- ried on the business for five years or more. Mr. Kraus then bought his brother's inter- est and operated a few years by himself, then sold out, and in 1893 removed to his present place, which he purchased from his father-in-law, Charies Hecker. On this
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farm is a large butchering plant. This es- tablishment is fitted out with steam chop- per, tanks and all the necessary appliances for operating an extensive slaughter house. In connection with this he carries on gen- eral farming.
While never an aspirant for office, his private business, occupying so much of his time, Mr. Kraus was induced by friends, who admired his sterling common sense and his upright course in business matters, to accept the nomination for associate judge of the county court, and in November, 1896, he was elected to that office, polling the largest vote ever given to a single candidate in Sullivan county. His straightforward, manly discharge of his duties in that office have justified the confidence placed in him. In politics he is a Democrat, loyal at all times to the principles of his party. He is a member of the Lutheran church and is classed as one of the most thrifty, intelli- gent and popular men in the county. His fine library, well stocked with the best of modern as well as classical works, shows his good taste in literary matters, and he passes as much time with his books as his extensive business and public duties will permit. His combined library and office is a unique sight in a country section. It seems more in accord with metropolitan life, and on its walls are carved heads of various domestic animals wrought out by the clever skill of his father.
Judge Kraus possesses a very social na- ture and enjoys society life. In 1875 he was a member of a junior lodge of the United Order of American Mechanics at Tamaqua. On October 19, 1880, he was enrolled a member of Company B, Second Regiment of the National Guard of Penn- sylvania at Philadelphia, in which he served until he left Philadelphia for Sullivan coun-
ty. He was also a meinber of the Odd Fellows lodge at Laporte, and at present is a member of Union Lodge, No. 108, of Towanda; Union Chapter, No. 161, of To- wanda, and of Northern Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar. In these Masonic bodies, as in all social relations, Judge Kraus is most highly esteemed, and he en- joys a wide friendship with the leading peo- ple of a large extent of country.
REV. JOHN W. KLINGLER, pastor of the Lutheran church at Dushore, is one of the prominent divines of Sullivan county and is active and zealous in the cause of his Master. Ile entered upon his present charge. March 4, 1894, and since then has accomplished much good, both in the church and in the community.
Mr. Klingler was born in Reading, Penn- sylvania, receiving his early education in the public schools of that place and later attending the college at Myerstown and Muhl- enberg College at Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was a very studious youth and excelled in his classes, taking a four-years course at Muhlenberg College, and graduating in the class of 1880 with high honors. He received also the degree of Master of Arts at the Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1883. Although but a little over forty years of age Mr. Klingler is well known as a fine classical scholar and is now conducting two classes in Greek. Since taking charge of the church at Dushore he has been the means of adding one hundred and ninety-two members to its rolls, has baptized one hundred and eighty-four persons and has married forty-one couples.
He is a fine speaker and his congregations are always large and attentive. In politics he is an independent Republican with pro-
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hibition tendencies, and his influence, especially with the younger people in the town, is most beneficial. His aspirations are of the highest and he gives promise of a brilliant career of usefulness.
The marriage of Mr. Klingler to Miss Agnes E. Gruber, of Stouchsburg, Pennsyl- vania, took place May 10, 1887, and they have one child, Caroline. Mrs. Klingler is an intelligent, refined woinan, and ably assists her husband in his church work.
W ILLIAM JOHN LAWRENCE is a well-known contractor and builder of Dushore, senior member of the firm of Lawrence Brothers, of whose skill and abil- ity many notable examples are seen at vari- ous points in this region. Thoroughly re- liable in all things, the quality of his work is a convincing test of his own personal worth, and the same admirable trait is shown in his conscientious discharge of the duties of the different positions of trust and responsibility to which he has been chosen in business and political life. He is now acceptably serving as prothonotary, register and recorder, and clerk of the courts of Sullivan county, and makes his home in Laporte.
William Lawrence, our subject's grand- father, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1803, and came to Sulli- van county about 1828, purchasing a farm in Cherry township, where he was engaged in tilling the soil until his death. He took an active part in the organization of the coun- ty and was one of the commissioners first elected. He married Miss Eliza, daughter of Horatio Ladd, and to them were born four children: Ann, who married Andrew Jackson, of Dushore, now deceased; Celin- da, wife of Freeman Wilcox, of New Al-
bany, Bradford county, Pennsylvania; John H., justice of the peace in Dushore; and Fidelia, deceased. For his second wife he married Mrs. Ann Gage, daughter of Thomas Manley, and to them were born two chil- dren: Ida, deceased; and William T., of East Canton, Pennsylvania.
John Horatio Lawrence, our subject's father, was born in Cherry township, April 11, 1833, was educated in the district schools, and on attaining his majority em- barked in mercantile business in Dushore. Two years later, however, he sold out and bought a farm in Cherry township, which he has since successfully conducted. He has not confined his attention alone to ag- ricultural pursuits, but has again engaged in. merchandising in Dushore, has engaged in lumbering to a considerable extent, and also acted as insurance agent. He has taken quite an active and prominent part in polit- ical affairs, has held the offices of school director, auditor and constable; in 1865 was elected sheriff of the county on the Democratic ticket, and was appointed jus- tice of the peace in 1893 and again in 1898, being the present incumbent. He married Miss Hannah C., daughter of John Dieffen- bach, of Cherry township, and they have become the parents of twelve children: Elizabeth, Mrs. D. W. Pealer, of Lopez, Pennsylvania; Ida E., Mrs. D. H. Larah, of Sonestown, Sullivan county; William J., our subject; Clarence, deceased; Charles T., a contractor and builder, of Dushore; Clinton E., a contractor and builder, of Lo- pez; Jennie F., Mrs. J. P. Little, of Cali- fornia; Howard, deceased; Orville H., a manufacturer, of Waverly, New York; Ce- linda A., a resident of California; Laura, Mrs. A. J. Bradley, of Laporte; and Frank W., a journeyman machinist.
William J. Lawrence was born in Cher-
1
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
ry township, Sullivan county, February 27, 1857. and was there educated in the district schools. At the early age of sixteen years he taught one term of school, and in the spring of 1874 secured a position in the office of a lumber firm in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. A year later he entered the office of Broderick & Company at Luzerne, Pennsylvania, as bookkeeper, remaining in their employ one year. The following two years he worked at the carpenter's trade in the summer and in the mines during the winter, but being injured in the mines he returned to Sullivan county and worked at his trade in Dushore through the summer and taught school during the winter for three years. He then moved to Milton, Pennsylvania, and later to Chester, but in 1884 returned to Sullivan county, and in the fall of the same year he and his broth- er, Charles T., began contracting and building. In the conduct of this business they have been eminently successful and among the prominent buildings which they have erected are the Hotel Eagle's Mere at Eagle's Mere; the Catholic church at Over- ton; the Episcopal church at Laporte; the Catholic churches at Willnot and Laporte; and the court-houses at Troy and Laporte; besides many other public buildings and residences in Sullivan and Bradford coun- ties.
In May, 1877, Mr. Lawrence was united in marriage to Miss Annie B., daughter of Mrs. Harriet Baker, of Luzerne, and to them have been born five children: Bertha G., a successful teacher, who is a graduate of the Bloomsburg State Normal; Eva Blanch; William S. ; Hattie Winifred; and John R.
Mr. Lawrence is a director of the First National Bank of Dushore, and has always been counted as one of the representative
and most enterprising citizens of the place. In the fall of 1889 he was the Republican nominee for sheriff and was defeated by a small majority. He was elected school di- rector at Dushore in 1891, and resigned that position in 1896 on his removal to La- porte. In the fall of 1895 he was elected to the offices which he is now so creditably and satisfactorily filling. Again in 1898 he was re-elected as prothonotary, register and recorder and clerk of the courts. Up- right and honorable in all his dealings and true to every trust reposed in him, he has the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact either in public or private life. and his friends are many throughout Sullivan county.
M ORGAN GAVITT is a well-known and successful educator of Sullivan coun- ty, now holding the responsible position of principal of the Laporte high school and also as deputy county treasurer. He is one of the most reliable, progressive and pop- ular young men of the community, and the success that he has achieved in life is due entirely to his own efforts.
Professor Gavitt traces his ancestry back to William Gavitt, a native of Massachu- setts, who located in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, about the beginning of the nineteenth century. His son, Peter Gavitt. the grandfather of our subject, was born in Susquehanna county, July 10, 1827, and is now a well-known farmer of Laporte town- ship. Sullivan county. In his family were the following children: Temperance, now the widow of William Stone, of Susquehan- na county; Nancy, wife of Daniel Reynolds, of the same county; Prentice, who was killed at the battle of Chancellorsville; Peter, a farmer of Laporte township, Sulli-
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van county; Mary, widow of Francis Rosen- crants, of Susquehanna county; John, a re- tired tanner of the same county; and Thank- ful, wife of Albert Conklin, of Laporte.
Peter Gavitt, Jr., our subject's father, was born in Susquehanna county, received a common-school education and became a tiller of the soil in his native county. In the spring of 1869 he came to Sullivan coun- ty and purchased his present farm four miles south of Laporte. He married Miss Eliza, daughter of John Rosencrants, of Susquehanna county, and to them have been born six children: Polly, wife of E. J. Messenger, of Susquehanna county; Louisa, wife of Troutman Simmons, of the state of Washington; Ruby, wife of William Low, of Laporte township, Sullivan coun- ty; Jennie, wife of J. W. Buck, of Sones- town; Lee R., a farmer on the old home- stead; and Morgan, our subject.
A native of Sullivan county, Morgan Gavitt was born February 28, 1871, in La- porte township, where he attended the public schools, acquiring a good practical education. At the age of sixteen years he commenced teaching school, and has since successfully followed that profession, while for five years he also worked in the luin- ber woods during his vacations. In .1892 he was elected county auditor of Sullivan county, which office he most creditably filled for one term. In 1894 he was chosen principal of the high school of Laporte, where he still remains, and he is acknowl- edged to be one of the most thorough and capable instructors in the county. Although still a young man his popularity is estab- lished on a firm basis, that of his own well- tested merit. Politically he is an active mem- ber of the Democratic party, and socially belongs to Sonestown Lodge, No. 321, I. O. O. F.
On the 30th of May, 1892, Mr. Gavitt was united in marriage with Miss Alda Buck, daughter of Jacob Buck, of Glen Marr, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and to them have been born three children- Lou M., Blake and Fredda.
JAMES McFARLANE, merchant, lum- berman and farmer, of Laporte Tannery, Sullivan county, was born in Arbroath, Scotland, June 10, 1830. He is the oldest of five children born to Rev. James and Elizabeth (Anderson) McFarlane, and was eight years old when his parents came to America and settled in Hudson county, New Jersey, where he received a thorough edu- cation under the tutelage of his father. When eighteen years old he secured a po- sition in a large leather store in New York city, where he remained until 1864, and then formed a partnership with William and Jonathan Thorn, embarking in the hide and leather business at 76 Gold street, New York. Soon afterward the firm purchased an old tannery and ten thousand acres of timber land at Laporte, and, repairing and refitting this plant, began the manufacturing of leather, this branch of this business being under the sole charge of Mr. McFarlane, the latter also attending to the sales depart- ment in New York, by traveling back and forth. In 1883, the manufacturing depart- ment at Laporte having grown to such large proportions, he became a permanent resident of that city and devoted his entire attention to this branch of the business. In 1887 the firm purchased a tract of land at Thorns- dale and there erected a tannery, which also fell to Mr. McFarlane's full inanage- ment. The Hill's Grove tannery had been bought in 1873, but after running for two years had been sold to Hoyt Brothers, and
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