USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 51
USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 51
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But greater surprises were in store for them. Alex- ander Campbell was arraigned for trial for the murder of John P. Jones, June 20, 1876, the execution of Doyle and Kelly in the mean time having been stayed by ap- peal to the Supreme Court on writs of error. It was not claimed that Campbell was present and aided in the killing of Jones, but had procured the killing by others. Campbell was justly regarded by the author- ities as one of the most dangerous men in the organ- ization. Smart, ambitions, vindictive, revengeful, and unscrupulous, possessed of considerable means, cool and determined in his purposes, he had ruled the members of his division with a strong hand for years. He had for counsel E. T. Fox, of Easton, David Kalbfuss, and E. Mulhearn.
The Mollie Maguires made a desperate effort in this trial to break down the evidence of Jimmy Kerrigan, the "squealer," and James MeParlan, the detective, who had been used in the trials of the Yost murderers, at Pottsville, in May. One of the jurors sickened and died before the case was ended, so the case of Camp- bell was the third trial of a Mollie for murder. On the question of admitting the evidence of Kerrigan,
the squealer, some of the sharpest tilts between at- torneys that were ever witnessed at this bar took place, Mr. Fox depicting the enormity of admitting the evidence of an accomplice and self-confessed murderer against a man on trial for his life, and Mr. Hughes replying by depicting in the most forceful manner the terrors engendered by the heinous crimes perpetrated by the accused and his co-conspirators, the " wails of widows and the cries of orphans, made such by the sudden taking off of husbands and fath- ers by the command of this horrible society," main- taining that the admission of the testimony was right in law and fully justified in the discretion of the court. The evidence was admitted, and it was clearly proven by both Kerrigan and MeParlan that the murder of Jones was the carrying out of a bargain between Kerri- gan and Campbell in consideration for the killing of policeman Yost.
Campbell was found by the jury guilty of murder in the first degree, to the utter discomfiture of the Mollies, who, it appears, first realized that " an accom- plice before the fact" is equally guilty with the active agents. Soon after this trial a number of the wit- nesses for the defense were arrested and bound over on charge of perjury, thus showing that it was no longer safe to swear to anything this organization die- tated regardless of truth. At the same time the trials were going on in Carbon County the perpetrators of similar erimes in Schuylkill were being arrested and their trials pressed with all possible speed, and as the commonwealth had now testimony that could not be shaken by all the desperate attempts of perjured wit- nesses, conviction followed every trial, "squealers" were multiplied, and the perpetrators of almost forgot- ten erimes were being arrested. At the October term (1876) of Carbon County Court, District Attorney Seiwers called up the cases of John Donahue, Thomas P. Fisher, Patrick McKenna, and Alexander Camp- bell, charged with the murder of Morgan Powel. Cornelius MeHugh and Charles Mulhearn had been arrested for the same crime, but showing " squealing" propensities, were reserved as witnesses. The pris- oners demanded separate trials, and John Donahue was selected by the commonwealth. So demoralized were the Mollies that no attorneys were retained for him, and the court appointed W. M. Rapsher, Fred- crick Bertolette, Peter J. Michener, and James L. Loose, Esqs., for his defense; but no skill could save him. It was clearly proven that on the request of Alexander Campbell, with a promise of one hundred dollars for the job, he selected his men at Tusearora, and, heading the gang, went to Tamaqua, where they met Cornelius Mellugh, who piloted them to Summit Hill, to a place designated by Campbell, when, meeting Fisher and McKenna, they proceeded to near the store of Williamson, where Powel was shot by Donahue, as has been previously narrated. Donahue was a hardened old sinner, having been guilty of several murders, of which he was wont to
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MEDICAL HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY-BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
boast to his companions, but was always especially proud of the shooting of Morgan Powel. On this trial Charles Mulhearn was produced as a witness. He was not a favorable specimen of the genus Mollie, but, as some one has denominated him, "the dirtiest dog in the pack." He told his story with apparent frankness, and detailed his life of crime with a smile of triumph, especially when depieting the sufferings of such victims of his brutality as Mr. Hendrix and Capt. McGinly. Donahue was convicted and sen- tenced. At the January term of court, 1877, Alex- ander Campbell, under sentence of death for the murder of John P. Jones, and in whose case an appeal had been taken to the Supreme Court, was tried for the murder of Morgan Powel, and again convicted. On receiving his sentence he smilingly inquired if he would have to be hung twice. Thomas P. Fisher and Patrick McKenna were tried together. The evidence against the two was about the same. Both had been at the rendezvous and met Donahue and his men when Mellugh piloted them from Tamaqua; had taken charge of them, and conducted them to the place of the killing, and while waiting for their vic- tim toll their grievance against Powel, which was that he had refused to give Alexander Campbell a good place in the mines, and did not give Irishmen as good chance as he did the English or Welsh; they both stood by and saw the shooting, and assisted in the escape of the assassins. The jury found Fisher guilty of murder in the first degree, and MeKeuna guilty in the second degree. John J. Slaterly, of Tuscarora, who had been a witness on the first trial of Campbell, now appeared as a "squealer," having had some sad experience in the Schuylkill County courts, and turned informer to avoid a long session in the penitentiary. The workings of the Mollie Maguire organization, as given by him, are too long for in- sertion here, but may be found in Mr. Dewees' book, before referred to.
The defense of Doyle, Kelly, and Campbell having exhausted all legal means in their behalf, the three, with John Donahne, were executed together by Sheriff Randenbush, in June, 1877.
On the same day six were exeented at Pottsville. Two of the accessories before the fact to the killing of Morgan Powel were tried at Mauch Chunk for murder, and convicted of murder in the second degree. One had taken the message to John Donahue from Tamaqua to Tuscarora informing him that Campbell wanted men sent to do the murder, and the other had been selected as one of the men to go with Donahue, but failed to meet him at Tamaqua, though he was at the place ten minutes after the party had left. They, with MeKeuna, were sent to the penitentiary, Me- Kenna for nine years, the others four and five years. This was not the end of Mollie trials. Several par- ticipants in the murder of George K. Smith had been denounced by the "squealers" and indicted, but most of them were fugitives from justice. One of them,
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MeDaniels, known as the "hairy man," was traced to Wisconsin, arrested, and brought to Mauch Chunk, tried, convicted, and hanged. He had been con- cerned in a murder in Schuylkill County, the more guilty of the party having escaped to Canada. The "hairy man" informed on them, and one at least was returned from Canada, and tried at Pottsville, con- vieted, and executed, MeDaniels being the princi- pal witness after he had been convicted in Carbon County. William Sharp, another acensed of the Smith murder, was arrested and tried, principally on evidence of informers, to whom he had, as they alleged, made confessions. These two were executed at the same time. Fisher had been already hanged, after most persistent efforts by his counsel and friends to obtain a commutation of sentence.
The members of the Mollie Maguire organization having been denounced and excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church, and the branches of the order in the counties where trials and convictions have taken place having been suspended by the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Pennsylvania, it is hoped that this power for mischief is gone forever.
CHAPTER VI.
MEDICAL HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY-BIO- GRAPHICAL SKETCHES.1
No physician resided within the limits of Carbon County previous to the mining of coal and the im- provement of the Lehigh River for the purpose of conveying it to market.
Benjamin Rush McConnell, M. D., a native of Phil- adelphia and a graduate of the University of Penn- sylvania, was probably the first regular physician to locate in the county. He located at Manch Chunk, as the physician of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, about 1824, and lived there until 1840, practicing his profession and also engaged in mer- cantile pursuits for a part of the time; then removed to Summit Hill, where he continued to practice as the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's physi- cian for many years. He died at Summit Hill, in 1861.
Dr. John D. Thompson, a native of Menden, N. J., located at Weissport in 1826. He was for a long time the only physician in the lower part of the county. le removed to Manch Cloud. p. 1810, where he continued to reside and practice natil his death, which occurred from cholera in 1854.
Rensselaer Leonard, M.D., was born April 12, 1821, at Hancock, Delaware Co., N. Y. In 1837 he re- moved with his father's family to Eh Valley, near Wellsville, Allegany Co., N. Y., and in 1841 com-
1 By Dr. R. Leonard, of Mauch Chunk.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Acquaintances formed while traveling induced him to locate in the anthracite coal region, and in Decem- ber, 1847, he removed to Beaver Meadow and became the assistant of Dr. A. B. Longshore, who had the contract of attending the families of the employés at the coal-mines of the region, and also the people em- ployed by the Beaver Meadow Railroad Company in operating their road and in their shops at Weatherly. He remained in the employ of Dr. Longshore until the great fresliet of September, 1850, which nearly destroyed the Beaver Meadow Railroad, and so in- months or more. Most of the men and many whole families seeking employment and homes elsewhere, the doctor joined in the general exodus, and located at Llewellyn, Schuylkill Co., as physician for several of the mining villages in that neighborhood. In 1852, Dr. Longshore removing from Beaver Meadow to Hazleton, Dr. Leonard took his place at Beaver Meadow, where he practiced until the fall of 1854, when two of the physicians of Mauch Chunk, Drs. Thompson and Righter, having died during the cholera epidemic of that year, he removed to Mauch Chunk.
Dr. Leonard takes a deep interest in all societies and associations for the promotion of the interests and efficiency of the medical profession, and has had many of their honors conferred upon him. He is now (1884) a member and president of the Carbon County Medical Society ; also president of the Le- high Valley Medical Association, a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and one of the censors of the Sixth Medical District of the State, a member of the National Medical Association of the United States, and one of the consulting surgeons to St. Luke's Hospital, at Bethlehem, and one of the pension surgeons of Carbon County. The doctor has always been a decided politician, and was elected associate judge by the Democratic party in 1876, served five years, and declined being a candidate in 1881, giving way for the Hon. Harry E. Packer.
The doctor is the seventh in descent from John Leonard, one of the first settlers of Springfield, Mass., the family having a record of residence in that town since 1636. Among other relics of the family the doctor has the military stock, with its silver buckles, worn by his great-grandfather, Col. David Leonard, during the Revolutionary war. The doctor married, January, 1849, Sarah S., oldest daughter of Dr. E. L. Boyd, of Wilkesbarre.
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menced the study of medicine in the office of Dr. G. Philip De Young, a native of Berks County, a grad- uate from the University of Pennsylvania, located B. Jones, of Wellsville, and graduated from the Castleton Medical College in Vermont, Nov. 24, 18-45, ! in Mauch Chunk in 1836, and opened the first drug- part of the last year's study having been in the office store in the county. He practiced medicine and surgery for several years, then removed to Philadel- phia in 1844, where he followed his profession until his death, which ocenfred in 1880. of J .. R. Hartshorn, M.D., at Alfred Centre. After graduating in medicine he practiced for a time with Dr. Jones, in Wellsville, and then traveled for about. one year, giving popular lectures on anatomy and physiology, illustrating the subject with a manikin.
Thomas Drake, M.D., a native of Wilkesbarre, Pa., located at Mauch, Chunk in 1845, residing there for about two years, when his health failing he returned to Wilkesbarre, where he died about 1850. He was a man of much ability, varied learning, and a good surgeon.
Ludwig 1. Flentje, M.D., a native of Germany, located in Mauch Chunk in 1847, as physician, sur- geon, and apothecary, making diseases and operations upon the eye a specialty. He was a man of high cul- ture, varied learning, and fine musical talent. He died in 1882 of cancer of the tongue.
W. W. Righter, M.D., studied in the office of his jured the mines as to suspend all operations for six ; uncle, the late Dr. Willson, of Berwick, Pa., and after graduating practiced successfully in Berwick for sey- eral years. Removed to Mauch Chunk in 1850. Died of cholera during an epidemic of that disease in the summer of 1854. He was a popular and skill- ful physician and surgeon, and a man of fine social qualities.
George W. Masser, M.D., native of Northumber- land County, Pa., located in Mauch Chunk in 1844, purchasing the drug-store and practice of Dr. De- Young. He removed to Scranton in 1854, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1869. He served for a time as volunteer surgeon in the army during the war of the Rebellion.
Dr. A. I. Bross removed from Berwick, Pa., to Mauch Chunk in 1854. His health failing, he re- turned to Berwick, and died of consumption in 1857.
Richard Fields, a native of Yorkshire, England, studied in Edinburgh, Scotland, emigrated to this country, and settled in Mauch Chunk in 1847, where he practiced until 1853, when he returned to Eng- land, and soon after emigrated to Australia, where he died in 1859 or 1860.
Il. R. Linderman, M. D., a native of Pike County, Pa., located in Nesquehoning in 1851, and practiced there till 1853, when, receiving the appointment of clerk in the mint, he removed to Philadelphia. He never practiced medicine afterwards, except to volun- teer his services to Mauch Chunk during the cholera epidemic of 1854. All the resident physicians except Dr. J. B. Linderman, his brother, being stricken and dying of the disease, he was excused from his duties at the mint, and rendered very efficient and acceptable services to the afflicted of the stricken town. He be- came general superintendent or director of all the mints. He died in Washington, D. C., of Bright's disease of the kidneys.
Dr. Bolles located in Beaver Meadow about 1836; removed to Tunkhannock about 1840, and died several
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R. Leonard Auf
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MEDICAL HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY-BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
years ago. He was succeeded at Beaver Meadow by Dr. R. M. Stanbury, who remained there until 1846. He subsequently went to California, where he died. His successor at Beaver Meadow was A. B. Loughran, M.D., a native of Luzerne County, graduate of Jeffer- son Medical College, 1846. He attended all the men and families by subscription or monthly payments, being employed by the operators of the Beaver Meadow mines and Beaver Meadow Railroad, also the em- ployes in the shops at Weatherly and the mines at Jeanesville and Colerain. He resided in Beaver Meadow until 1852, when he moved to Hazleton, where he died in 1875. He was a man of great in- dnstry, and had much experience in treating diseases and accidents pcenliar to mining and the operating of railroads, and treated them with great skill and suc- cess.
A. Zeigenfuss, M.D., a native of Montgomery County, Pa. ; graduated at Jefferson Medical College, came to Carbon County about 1855, and located at Buck Mountain, as assistant to Dr. D. K. Shoemaker, phy- sician in charge of the Buck Mountain Coal Company's inines; practiced with Dr. Shoemaker for three or four years, then removed to Jeanesville, and was assistant to Dr. Redfield, who had charge of the Jeanesville and Audenried mines. Dr. Shoemaker removing to Mauch Chunk in 1859, Dr. Zeigenfnss took his place as phy- sician for the mines, and retained the position until his death, which occurred in 1869.
Michael Thompson, M.D., a native of England, came to America with his father when young; was first a mechanic; afterwards studied medicine, graduating at the Jefferson Medical College in 1861; soon after entered the army as assistant surgeon of volunteers ; resigned his commission, and settled at Summit Hill, Carbon Co., in 1863, where he had an extensive prac- tice until his last sickness and death, in 1876.
Dr. George J. Kost, a native of Germany, located for the practice of medicine at Lehigh Gap in 1841; re- moved to Weissport in 1858, where he died in 1866. lle was a man of great activity, and enjoyed an ex- tensive practice.
J. G. Ohl, M.D., a native of Columbia County, l'a .: graduated at Jefferson Medical College in 1855, and immediately afterwards located at Summit Hill, and | (Gilbert) Zern, of Montgomery County. The former soon obtained an extensive practice. He died in 1863.
Thomas Higgins, M. D., a native of Northumberland County, Pa. ; graduated from one of the Philadelphia medical colleges, and located at Nesquehoning in 1847. He removed from there to Tamaqua, in Schuyl- kill County, in 1850, where he died in 1868.
Horace D. Young, M.D., a native of Northampton County, Pa .; graduated from Pennsylvania Medical College in 1861; soon after located at Goulsborough for one year; then entered the army as volunteer sur- geon, and served through Pope's Virginia campaign, and also at Antietam. IIe left the army, and settled in Mauch Chunk in 1863, where he soon secured a
large practice, which he retained until the time of his death, which occurred suddenly by apoplexy, in May, 1882.
O. A. Rives, M.D., a native of Chatham County, N. C .; graduated from the New Orleans School of Medicine in 1861: located at Parryville, in this county, in 1871 ; removed to Nesquehoning in 1873. His health failing, he removed from the county in 1882, and died in 1883.
Flemming Webster, M.D., a native of Lycoming County, Pa .; graduated from the Albany Medical College, New York, in 1856. He located at Weath- erly in 1859 (the first physician resident in that place), where he practiced until 1869, when he removed, gave up practice, and, leading an irregular life, died in 1882.
Dr. N. G. Warbus, a native of Easton, Pa., located at Rockport as physician for the Buck Mountain Coal Company in 1848. He retired from practice in 1851, and for two or three years kept the Rockport Hotel, then removed to Hazleton, and in 1854 removed to Oregon, and subsequently to Washington Territory, where he died several years ago.
Anthony Dimmick, M.D., graduated from the Jef- ferson Medical College in 1861; located at Audenried as physician for the mines of Audenried, Yorktown, etc., employing one or more assistants for several years. He died of pneumonia in 1880. --
There are a number of physicians, now dead, who have practiced much in this county, of whose ante- ecdents or subsequent career but little can now be learned, among them Dr. Jackson, who practiced in Maueh Chunk in 1836 and 1837, removed to Wilkesbarre, and from there to Sullivan County. He has been dead many years.
Dr. MeConalogue, a native of Ireland, came to Sum - mit Hill about 1850; died in 1875.
Dr. Jacob G. Zern is a descendant, in the fifth gen- eration, of Adam Zern, who emigrated from Ger- many at an early day, and settled in Montgomery County, Pa., where he became one of the pioneers of that now populous and wealthy county. The line of descent is Adam1, Abraham', Abraham3, Jacobs, and Jacob G. Zernº. Ilis parents are Jacob and Sophia has been an active minister of the Evangelical Asso- ciation for over a quarter of a century, and is well known throughout the eastern section of Pennsylva- nia as a man of piety and a useful and valuable min- ister of Christ.
Dr. Zern was born in New Hanover township, Mont- gomery Co., Pa., Feb. 24, 1845. The earlier years of his life were passed in farming pursuits, during which time he also attended the district schools of his native locality until he attained his eighteenth year. lle subsequently received instruction at the State Normal School at Millersville, and, after pursuing his studies at that institution, engaged in teaching school in Lancaster County. In the summer of 1864 he en-
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
listed as a soldier in Company C, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served until the elose of the war. After leaving the army he commenced the study of medicine in the office of Dr. S. B. Detwiler, of Montgomery County, and subsequently attended lectures in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medieine in 1868. Soon after his gradu- ation he located in the practice of his profession at Weissport, where he soon earned a place among the snecessful practitioners of Carbon County, and where he is still in the enjoyment of a large and luerative practice. He has identified himself, also, with the business interests of his locality, and is a director of the Lehigh Valley Emery-Wheel Company, at Weiss- port, and of the First National Bank of Lehighton. He enjoys the confidenee of his neighbors and friends, and has filled many positions of trust and responsi- bility in connection with local affairs. In 1878 he was elected to represent Carbon County in the State Legislature, and was re-elected in 1880. While a member of that body he was appointed to serve on sneh important committees as the Judiciary, Federal Relations, Constitutional Reform, Insurance, and Min- ing, and represented his constituency in an able and satisfactory manner. He is one of the self-made, progressive, growing men of the county, and held in general respect by a large circle of acquaintances. He is a member of the State Medical Society of Pennsyl- vania, and also of the Carbon County Medical Society, of which he was the first president, and takes an earnest and active part in all movements tending to advance the interests of his profession. His wife is Ella M., daughter of the late Abraham and Margaret (Fenner) Edinger, of Monroe County, Pa., where her father was a prominent and enterprising citizen. The two children are Harry and Katie Zern.
Dr. J. C. Kreamer .- On Oct. 6, 1806, in the town- ship of Lower Nazareth, Northampton Co., at Heck- town, was born J. N. Kreamer, the father of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Kreamer followed mer- chant tailoring for a period of over thirty years, when he retired from business cares and settled down to farming, which he continued until the time of his death, which oceurred March 23, 1873. He married Miss Julia N. Snyder, who was born at Lehigh Gap, in the year 1808. Her father, Daniel Snyder, was by trade a tanner and currier. She, as a young lady, enjoyed all the educational advantages that were available in those days. She proved herself to be a most worthy mother. Their married life resulted in the birth of seven children, of whom J. C. Kreamer was the eldest. He was born at the old homestead, at Hecktown, Dec. 18, 1833. His younger days were spent in securing an education. At the age of six- teen, finding a better education needed than could be derived from public schools, he went to Allentown, Pa., where he spent two years at the Reynolds'
Seminary, which was the building now known as the Muhlenberg College. From here, in 1855, he went to Seigersville, Lehigh Co., where he began to read medicine under the instruction of Dr. Josiah Kern. He remained there as a student for two years, when, having prepared himself, he matriculated at the Pittsfield Berkshire Medical College, Massachusetts, where he attended a full course of lectures, gradu- ating from the same in 1859, from which place he returned to Aquashicola, Carbon Co., Pa., his present home. He began practicing here, and has continued until the present time. In 1865 he was elected coroner of Carbon County for a term of three years. In the fall of 1877 the doctor was honored by the county of Carbon in making him their representative in the State Legislature at Harrisburg, Pa., where he served his term of oflive with great credit to himself and his constituents. He has given his personal attention for nine years to the publie schools of his town, which have flourished under his supervision. He is at this time president of the Carbon Industrial Society. He has been a member, since its organization, of the Car- bon County Medical Society. He is also a director and secretary of the Farmers' Fire Insurance Com- pany, of Millport, Pa.
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