USA > Pennsylvania > Sullivan County > History of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania > Part 29
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Lena, who married John Bartch; Savilla, who became Mrs. Arth; Jacob, who mar- ried Kate Gerhart; and Barnett, who mar- ried Sarah Shaffer. Of these, Elizabeth is the only survivor.
Emanuel G. Hieber was born in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, August 23, 1830, and lived at home until twenty-nine years of age, when he purchased a portion of his present farm, comprising seventy acres, from Joseph Stackhouse. This was at the time wild land, which he at once set to work to improve, and which became so profitable that he was able to add to it at various times until he now is the owner of one hundred and ninety-three acres of val- uable land. He has worked hard, has ac- cumulated a comfortable share of this world's goods, and in his present commodi- ous home is enjoying the results of his labor. He has been roadmaster for a good part of the past twenty years, and was school di- rector for two terms. He is a Democrat in politics, a member of the Lutheran church, and a man who is well thought of and highly respected in his community ..
Mr. Hieber has been twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth Nuper, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Nuper, to whom he was united December 23, 1859, and who died in the brief space of one year, aged twenty-three years. His second marriage was to Miss Maria Houser, and of this union the following children were born: John, who married Miss Kate Messersmith, and lives in Bradford county; George, who is unmarried and resides with his parents; Carrie, who is the wife of G. Robinson, and lives in Bradford county; William, who is unmarried and is a farmer; Frank D., Emma, Lena, Milton, Jacob, Ida, Oscar, Lula, Ollie; Elizabeth, who married Jacob Schrenn, of Bradford county, Pennsylvania;
and Mary, living with her sister in To- wanda, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Hieber was born in Cherry town- ship, January 5, 1842, and is the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Houser, natives of Germany, who came to Sullivan county in that year. Her father was accidentally killed while working on a canal at Wyalu- sing, this state, in 1842. at the age of twenty-four years. His wife died in Cherry township, in 1891, at the age of seventy years; both are buried in Thrasher's cem- etery. The children of this couple were: Catherine, who died when eighteen years of age; and Maria, wife of our subject. Mrs. Houser married the second time, her hus- band being John L. Heilman, who died in 1859, aged sixty-five years. The children of this second marriage were: Henry, who was a soldier in the Civil war and lives in Towanda; John, living in Dushore; Barbre A., who married Charles Biddle and lives in Dushore; Mollie and George, deceased.
S AMUEL JACKSON, who for many years was connected with the business - interests of Sullivan county, was a represent- ative of one of the old and honored families of the state. His ancestors came to Penn- sylvania with William Penn, locating in Chester county. For many years represent- atives of the name resided in Catawissa, and then removed to Toronto, Canada. Through many generations they were also connected with the Society of Friends or Quakers. The parents of our subject were . Samuel and Hannah (Davis) Jackson, and to them were born eleven children, namely: John, born May 15, 1785; William D., December 12, 1787; Samuel, April 4, 1789; Josiah, May 8, 1791; Mary. December 20, 1793; Elizabeth, May 23, 1796; Isaac, Au-
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gust 2, 1798; Joseph, December 21, 1800; Charles B., February 23, 1803; Elisha D., September 10, 1805; and Hugh S., Febru- ary 28, 1809.
Samuel Jackson, whose name begins this sketch, was born in Catawissa, Penn- sylvania, April 4, 1789, and in his youth learned the hatter's trade of his father, who followed that pursuit as a life-work. He accompanied the family on their removal to Toronto, Canada, and engaged in the man- ufacture of hats until the war of 1812, when he joined the army and participated in a number of engagements, including the battle of Lundy's Lane. He held the rank of cap- tian and did loyal and effective service for his native country.
When hostilities had ceased and peace was restored, Mr. Jackson removed to Ber- wick, Pennsylvania, where he followed his chosen vocation until 1819, when he re- moved to what was then Lycoming county, but is now Sullivan county. In Dushore he opened a store and hotel, carrying on the dual business until his death. In both departments he received a liberal patronage, and was recognized as one of the leading, progressive and enterprising men of the town.
On the 29th of September, 1814, Mr. Jackson was united in marriage, in Berwick, Pennsylvania, to Miss Hannah Shiner. Ten children were born to. them, as follows: Gains Scott, who was born October 7, 1816; Andrew, January 2, 1819, and followed farining; Eliza A., April 12, 1821, and in 1842 married George Ellis, who was pro- prietor of a hotel; Mary M., who was born October 17, 1823, and died May 27, 1832; Susan L., born September 6, 1826; Ange- line R., who was born November 17, 1828, and died May 16, 1832; George W., who was born March 12, 1831, and is a farmer
by occupation; John P., who was born De- cember 31, 1832, and is an engineer; Hugh D., who was born December 14, 1834, and has always carried on agricultural pursuits; and Samuel J., who was born August 24, 1839, was proprietor of a store in Dushore, and died February 14, 1867.
The father of these children was a Quaker in his religious belief, and his life was an exemplification of the principles which actuate that kindly people. He died January 25, 1840, and thus passed away one who was prominent in the public life of Dushore in the first half of the nineteenth century.
REV. J. A. ENRIGHT, one of the most prominent representatives of the Cath- olic clergy in this section of Pennsylvania, for a number of years has labored among the people of Sullivan county, his efforts proving most effective in the upbuilding of his church. A man of scholarly attain- ments and great force of character, his services in behalf of Catholicism have been crowned with excellent results and he has won the love of many, both within and without his church.
He was born in Allegany, New York, June 7, 1863, and after acquiring his pre- liminary education in the public schools at- tended St. Bonaventure's College and Sem- inary in his native town. That school is conducted by the Franciscan fathers, and is celebrated for its thoroughness and excel- lence. After eight years of close applica- tion to his college duties, in which he gained a broad and general as well as comprehen- sive theological knowledge, he was ordained to the priesthood, at the age of twenty-four years, by the bishop, the Rt. Rev. Will- iam O'Hara, of Scranton, Pennsylvania,
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
. and in 1888 was appointed curate at Du- shore. In a most earnest and zealous man- ner he entered upon his work there, and his fine attainments as a priest, gentleman and scholar won him many friends, including Protestants as well as Catholics. During the year in which Father Kaier was in Ger- many for his health, Father Enright had en- tire charge of the parish and made so many improvements in the church and its sur- roundings that the appearance of the place was completely changed. For nearly four years he remained in his first charge and was then transferred, in 1892, to St. Patrick's church in Scranton, where he remained for two years. At that time Bernice, Laporte, Lopez and Eagle's Mere were erected into a separate parish, and at the earnest re- quest of the people Father Enright was inade its rector. He went to Bernice in 1894 to take charge of his parish, at which time there was no Catholic church in which to hold services and no parochial residence. His energy and ability, however, soon worked a wonderful transformation in the condition of affairs. After arranging ten- porary places of worship, he undertook the task of building a church at Laporte, 'and the work was successfully accomplished in the dedication at that place of the church of the Sacred Heart, July 4, 1895. It was an occasion of great rejoicing among the people, and Father Enright may well have felt a thrill of pride as he watched the large number of people who assembled to witness the services. Many representative clergy- men of the church participated in the cere- monies. High mass was celebrated, and in the afternoon the sacrament of confirma- tion was administered by the Rt. Rev. Bishop to a class numbering one hundred and twenty-seven.
On the completion of the Church of the
Sacred Heart, Father Enright immediately began the erection of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi and the parochial residence at Bernice. With him to attempt a thing is to succeed in the undertaking, and ob- stacles and difficulties serve but to bring forth the latent strength which carries him steadily forward. The beautiful church of St. Francis was dedicated Sunday, August 2, 1896, by the Rt. Rev. Michael J. Hoban, Bishop of Scranton. The spectacle was a brilliant and imposing one in an ecclesiasti- cal sense and brought together the largest assemblage in the history of Bernice, probably four thousand people gathering to witness the ceremonies of dedication. At half past ten in the morning the procession of clergy and acolytes passed from the parochial residence, and after prayer was said in the temporary chapel the procession gathered at the corner-stone, which was duly consecrated, and then they passed en- tirely around the church three times, bless- ing each corner. Then high mass was celebrated and the Rt. Rev. Bishop, Michael J. Hoban, delivered a most able and eloquent sermon. Vesper services were held in the evening and a large class was confirmed. Special music furnished by the choir rendered the services most beauti- ful and impressive, and thus the church of St. Francis of Assisi was dedicated to its holy purpose. It stands upon a command- ing eminence just outside the village of Mildred, which is really a part of the larger mining town of Bernice; it is one hundred by fifty feet and is built in Gothic style, while its height from the ground to the top of the gilded cross is one hundred and seven feet. Its furnishings are most complete and tasteful and were mostly supplied by various societies of the church and by in- dividual members. The church is in a
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
most flourishing condition, with well organ- ized working societies for the men, the women and the younger members, and is doing a great work in the locality in which it is situated. All is under the guiding hand of Father Enright, who is loved and esteemed by all who know him. His mag- netic power, his consecrated life, his kindli- ness and his uniform courtesy have made him popular with all, and the name of Father Enright is one which everywhere commands respect.
R OYAL H. OLIVER, a prominent rep- resentative of the agricultural interests of Sullivan county, extensively and success- fully engaged in general farming in Colley township, is a man of marked energy and enterprise who has so conducted his busi- ness affairs as to attain a good degree of success, winning thereward of well directed and honorable effort.
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A native of the Keystone state, Mr. Oliver was born in Wyoming county, on the 25th of October, 1843, and is a son of David M. and Betsy (Geary) Oliver. The father was a native of Orange county, New York, and during his boyhood removed to Wyoming county, this state, where he was employed on a farm. After having arrived at years of maturity he married Miss Betsy, daughter of Andrus Geary. His death oc- curred in Bradford county, April 15, 1898, when he had attained the age of seventy- three years, and his wife died February 7, 1878, at the age of sixty-one years and fourteen days. Their children were Mary, widow of Ed Ralboof, of Bradford county, Pennsylvania; Charles, who was killed in the battle of Fair Oaks, while serving in the Union army during the Civil war; Porter, a farmer residing in Wilmot township, Brad-
ford county; G. W .. a lumberman of Wyoming county, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Henry Smith, of Colley township, Sullivan county, and died at the age of twenty-eight years; Royal, of this review; W. D., who is engaged in the oil business in Bradford, Pennsylvania; and Dustin, a farmer of the Empire state.
The subject of this review spent the greater part of his youth in Sullivan county, and is indebted to the common-school system for the educational privileges he received. At the age of seventeen he began working as a farm hand in the neigh- borhood, and when by his industry and economy he had acquired some capital he purchased a farm in this county, in 1864. The previous autumn he was married and brought his wife to his new home, where he has resided continuously since. His first tract comprised one hundred acres of unim- proved land, but with characteristic energy he began its development and soon placed much of it under a high state of cultivation. He has since made other purchases, adding at one time fifty-seven acres and at another eighty acres. He has cleared three hundred acres of land, and now has a valuable prop- erty, constituting one of the highly-in- proved and desirable farms of the county. In connection with general farming he also engages in blacksmithing to a limited ex- tent, and so manages his business interests that they have brought him a good financial return.
On the 19th of November. 1863, Mr. Oliver was united in marriage to Rebecca Page, a daughter of Warren and Lerinda (Schartz) Page. Her father, a farmer by occupation, was a native of Broome county, New York, and died in Bradford county, Pennslyvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Oliver have been born the following children: Ed-
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
ward, who was born November 7, 1866, and is now a resident farmer of Bradford coun- ty; Flora E., who was born February 24, 1868, became the wife of Ed Geary, and died August 4, 1888; David W., who was born October 22, 1869, and is engaged in the lumber business in Wyoming county; Royal F., who was born April 27, 1871, and aids his father in the operation of the home farm; Wilbur C., who was born December 2, 1873, and follows farming in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania; Wynbert P., who was born October 6, 1874, and died March 9, 1880; John S., who was born May 24, 1877; Levina E., born October 1, 1879; Retta, ยท born April 10, 1883; and Lena G., born June 9, 1886. The four youngest children are still at home with their parents.
In his political associations Mr. Oliver is a stanch Democrat, who zealously advo- cates the principles of his party. He has held a number of local offices, was assessor for three years, was treasurer of Wilmot township, Bradford county, for one year, and school director for three years in that township. His duties have ever been dis- charged with promptness and fidelity, and he has thus proved a capable official. In 1887 he became a member of the Odd Fel- lows lodge, of Mahoopany, and among his brethren 'of the fraternity, as well as in other circles, he enjoys the highest regard. All who know him esteem him for his ster- ling worth, and is justly numbered among the leading farmers of Sullivan county.
T EWIS MARTIN .- Both for the long duration of its settlement in Sullivan county and for the exercise of those sterling manly qualities which count for so much in the life of a community, the Martin family is entitled to much credit and enduring es-
teem. The subject of this sketch, now one of its honored pioneers, is by political affili- ation a Democrat, but in the broader and deeper sense of the word, which means the fellowship and brotherhood of man, he has been pre-eminent. Not seeking to rise above his fellows, he has been content to play the part of a good citizen, possessing and practicing the golden virtues of honest in- dustry and thrift. Endowed with clear vision and right thinking, he has set forth to the present and future generations an example truly worthy of emulation. Lewis Martin is the grandson of Roger Martin and a na- tive of Wales, who toward the close of the last century left his native land and crossed the ocean, here to enjoy the po- litical privileges and blessings of a young nation. He settled in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, where he married and became the father of six children, -four sons and two daughters. Of the sons, William Martin, the father of our subject, was the oldest.
William was born in Columbia county, and there grew to manhood amid the wild surroundings which called forth the latent energies of the pioneers. He was married in his native county to Rebecca Gortner, daughter of Jacob Gortner. This marriage was blessed with five children, as follows: Sarah, who married William Ruser, of Colley township, Sullivan county, and is now deceased; Lewis, the subject of. this sketch; John W., a farmer of Colley town- ship; William, for many years a farmer and clothier of Fayette county, Iowa, and who died in 1897, aged seventy-two years; and Rebecca, who died in infancy. William Martin was a farmer and died in 1826, when our subject was but five years of age. The mother remarried, and by her second hus- band had two children. .
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
Lewis, our subject, was born in Column- bia county, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1821, and the scenes of his boyhood were passed amid the rugged hills of Lycoming county, now Sullivan county, and there were sufficient intervals in the hard, manual requirements of that day to give him a fair coinmon-school education, such as the coun- ty afforded. In 1838, before he attained the age of twenty years, he had identified himself with the material interests of the county by taking up a tract of land of thirty-seven acres, and in 1840 he added to it seventy-three acres. It was all wild land and required many years of tireless appli- cation before it could be reclaimed to culti- vation.
Mr. Martin founded a home by uniting in marriage, April 26, 1843, in Cherry town- ship, with Miss Susan Loretta Jackson, daughter of Samuel Jackson. She was born September 6, 1826. They had ten chil- dren as follows: John, now living on the old homestead; Ralph, a farmer of Albany township, Bradford county, Pennsylvania; Roland, residing on the old homestead; Hannah, a milliner of Elsie, Michigan; Freeman, a farmer of Bradford county, this state; Howard, a barber of Chicago, Illinois; Leonard, a dealer in agricultural imple- mentsin Eureka, Michigan; Libbie, a school- teacher who for many years has followed her life vocation in Sullivan county and also in Clinton county, Mich .; Emma, wife of Wesley Nye, of Clinton county, Michigan; and Anna, a milliner of Towanda, Pennsyl- vania.
Since his marriage Mr. Martin has stead- ily pursued and overcome the task that lay before him, but not all his time has been devoted to his farming; for three years, com- mencing with 1851, he followed blacksmith- ing in Dushore, and at various other times
he has engaged in other enterprises. He at one time owned a sawmill in Sullivan county, and for seven years he followed lum- bering, but general farming has been his permanent calling. His present comforta- ble and attractive home he built in 1878, at at cost of three thousand, two hundred dol- lars. He still supervises the cultivation of the hundred acres of well-improved land which he now owns. He has filled various local offices, including those of supervisor and constable, and is now in the afternoon of life enjoying the rewards of his many well spent years, in the neighborhood which he has helped to beautify and among the many close friends of a life-time.
M RS. CHARLOTTE BIDDLE, a most estimable and highly respected citizen of Fox township, has been a life-long resi- dent of Sullivan county, and is descended from one of the pioneer families who, amid the privations and want which the early set- tlers alone have felt and can understand, helped to lay the foundation of those ster- ling principles which have made Sullivan county what it is to-day. Her grandfather, Marshall Battin, came from Columbia coun- ty, Pennsylvania, at an early day and set- tled upon a tract of wild, unbroken land in this county. He married Mary Hoagland, a native of this county, and together they labored to advance the improvement of their small domain. The country at that time abounded with game of all kinds, and being a good marksman Mr. Battin with his gun often supplied their table with venison or other dainties to help out their homely fare. He cleared off a great part of his land and en- gaged in general farming and stock-raising. He had seven sons and one daughter, as follows: John, the father of our subject;
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
Joseph; Henry; Hannah, wife of George Kilmer; and Benjamin, -all deceased; and Joshua, Samuel and Reuben,-farmers of Fox township. The grandfather passed to his reward December 4, 1875, at the ad- vanced age of ninety-one years, and was joined on December 2, five years later, by his beloved wife, who was then in her nine- ty-first year.
John Battin, the father of Mrs. Biddle, was born March 15, 1810, in Fox township, this county, and spent his entire life in this township, dying March 26, 1890, in the ripeness of age and the consciousness of a well-spent life. He was united in wedlock to Emily Williams, a daughter of Thomas Williams, of New England, and to them were born the following children: Cornelius. born March 30, 1832, and residing in Kan- sas; Jesruth, born January 21, 1834, in business at Laporte; Thomas, born March 30, 1836, a farmer of Washington; Char- lotte, born July 24, 1842, the subject of this memoir; and Allen, born September 26, 1848, and died October 13, 1849. The fa- ther worked at blacksmithing and farming, and was known as a man whose character was above reproach. He made no public profession of religion but chose rather to let his religious convictions show through his daily life. In his politics he was a Democrat, and he served as county com- missioner and justice of the peace for a num- ber of years.
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Charlotte Battin was married October 12, 1870, to George Biddle, a resident of Hill's Grove. He was a son of Richard and Esther (Bird) Biddle, and was born in Forks township, where he resided until he had reached adult years, when he went with his parents to Hill's Grove, this county, where he afterward made his home. His father had extensive interests in farming, lumber- 28
ing and also conducted a hotel, in all of which the son was associated. He contin- ued in these lines of business until his death,' August 3, 1885. They were the parents of four children: Richard, born September 10, 1872, living at home; Cora, born Septem- ber 12, 1876, wife of James Stull, a lumber worker of Glen Union, Clinton county, Pennsylvania; Emma, born Deceinber 21; 1877, at home; and Esther, born May 21, 1881, is a student of the graded school at Hill's Grove.
In politics Mr. Biddle was a Republican but not a politician.
After his death Mrs. Biddle remained at Hill's Grove some three years and then re- turned to the home of her childhood. This farm consists of one hundred and fifty acres and is owned by her. One hundred acres are under cultivation and she realizes a neat income from farming and stock-raising.
F FRANK U. WALTMAN .- The important business corporations of the country, controlling extensive financial interests, will not retain in their employ inefficent men, and it is therefore unmistakable evidence of ability and faithfulness when one has been long in such a service. During more than a decade Mr. Waltman has represented the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company as station agent in Lopez, and is one of the most obliging and efficient men in this depart- ment of the railway service.
He is one of Pennsylvania's native sons, his birth having occurred in Skinner's Eddy, on the 27th of April, 1862. His father, Thomas Waltman, was a lumberman, and in the pursuit of that business industry gained a comfortable livelihood for himself and family. He married Miss Lavina Van- loon, and to them were born ten children,
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
seven sons and three daughters. A brother of our subject, J. E., is also in the railway service, being connected with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at Sayre, Penn- sylvania. The father, Thomas Waltman, died in 1889, but the inother is still living and makes her home in Sayre.
Frank Ulysses Waltman was reared in Bradford county of the Keystone state, and is indebted to the public-school system for the educational privileges which he received. However, reading and study have occupied nuch of his leisure time, and possessing an observing eye and retentive memory he has become a very well informed man. After entering the railway service he was stationed at Dushore for a time, and then, by reason of his fidelity and capability, was trans- ferred to the more important position of station agent at Lopez, where he has re- 'mained for more than a decade. He has the entire management of the railroad in- terests at this place, and discharges his duties in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactorily to the corporation. Consider- able business is carried on at this point, and the shipments are quite extensive, as high as eight hundred car-loads of lumber and brick being sent out from Lopez in a single month. He looks after the company's in- terests as though they were his own, and at all times is straightforward and honorable in his dealings, and genial and courteous in manner. These qualities have won him the high regard of the patrons of the road, and he is a very popular railway official.
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