Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 114

Author:
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: New York : Chapman Publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1068

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At the age of fourteen Mr. Hendrick secured a clerkship in a store in Plymouth. When not otherwise employed, he would take the bills of goods purchased by the merchant in New York and would copy the fine and accurate hand- writing. In this way he became an expert pen- man. About this time he was seized with a de- sire for learning and attended a district school one winter and the seminary another winter. Chemistry, philosophy, higher arithmetic and algebra had a fascination for him and he de- voured every book he could get. After having spent a year or more there, he attracted the at- tention of a merchant in Upper Plymouth vil- lage, who offered him the position of clerk in place of our subject's former school teacher. He accepted this place with a salary of $10 per month. His employer, Mr. May, was interested in Sunday-school work and liking the young clerk secured his election as secretary of the Sun- day-school. This was done without the boy's knowledge or consent. When informed of what had been done, he said he could not accept the position, as he had no shoes and no clothes suit- able to wear to Sunday-school. The merchant said in reply that, while in most instances it was wrong to buy clothes until you have earned them, in this case he intended to advance him a suit of clothes, in order that he might accept the po- sition. So it happened that the next Sunday he donned a new tailor-made suit and went to the Sunday-school. When Mrs. May, the mer- chant's wife, saw him in the new suit, she said, "Eli, you will always scratch a poor man's head,"

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The boy inquired what made her think so and she replied, "Because you are too liberal to your- self. You have not paid for the clothes you have on."

When seventeen years of age, having a great taste for mechanical work, Mr. Hendrick en- tered his brother's shop to learn the turner's trade. Later the two started a shop for the man- ufacture of wooden hay rakes and other farm- ing implements. The shop was burned down in 1853, but they rebuilt it and employed a large force of men for some time. The panic of 1857 destroyed the business and it was sold to his former employer, May. Soon afterward he went to Davenport, Iowa, to take charge of a barrel factory, but the farther west he went, the harder he found the times to be. Deciding that the place to do business was where the money was most plentiful, he returned east, having pro- cured the agency for the sale of a new invention, a governor for steam engines. He succeeded in that very well.

While engaged in this business Mr. Hendrick met a man who had originated a new kind of oil, manufactured out of one-half water and the other half oil. Being assured of its merit, be bought the receipt for $10, and spent the winter of 1860- 61 in Michigan, experimenting on oil. He dis- covered the receipt was practically useless, but finding a formula that seemed to have merit, he went to Toronto, Canada, and experimented with it on the machinery of a large rolling mill. It worked to the satisfaction of the owners of the mill, who paid him $50 for the receipt and the right to make it. On his return to Scranton he introduced it in this locality. Going to John B. Smith, superintendent of the Pennsylvania Coal Company's Gravity road, he secured permission to give it a test on the cars of that road, assur- ing him that it would lessen his oil bills by half. After a thorough test extending over several months, they made an arrangement with him for the use of it on the road and paid him on the start $500.

Mr. Hendrick was led to make further experi- ments in the oil business and they proved very satisfactory. Through his efforts with others, the Great Northern Oil Company was organized,

he getting $33,000 in cash and $200,000 of the stock of the company, and he went into the Venango fields to manufacture the oil. It was agreed by the stockholders that none of the pri- vate stock should be put on the market until the $200,000 capital stock for the running of the works was sold. A bull pool was formed in New York in 1864 and the stock was the sensation of the hour. He was offered $120,000 for his stock, but refused to sell it, as the agreement was that it should not be sold until the capital stock was all disposed of. By this time he had used $20,000 of his own money in the company's business, and he called for that sum, but found there was no money in the treasury. Satisfied that there was something wrong, he went to New York and found that while the stock was boom- ing, none of the capital stock had been sold, but that the promoters had broken faith and had been selling their private stock. When he found this was being done he was enraged and threw his stock on the market, causing a collapse of the boom.

Returning to Carbondale, Mr. Hendrick traded $100,000 of the stock to C. P. Wurts for his private residence. For this same stock he had refused $60,000 in cash a short time before. He soon originated another patent which he named Galena oil and sold the patent and factory to Venango County parties. In 1876 he origi- nated still another improved oil and went to Franklin and erected a factory for its manufac- ture. A few years later he sold that out to the Standard Oil Company. Returning to Carbon- dale he erected an oil refinery of eight hundred barrels crude per day. In 1879 he again sold out to the Standard Oil Company for about $100,000, and $10,000 per year for ten years. They made an additional contract with him whereby they paid him $5,000 per year to go to New York and superintend the erection of oil refineries in that city. For several years he continued in that ca- pacity. In 1879 he started a small machine shop in Carbondale, and from this nucleus has sprung the Hendrick Manufacturing Company.

In the rear of his residence Mr. Hendrick has a small shop, where he has done all of his experi- menting and worked out all of his valuable pa-

PHILIP SCHNELL.

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tents, spending years to secure the proper work- ing of a machine and never abandoning his ef- forts until he has perfected a plan. The build- ing up of the Hendrick Manufacturing Company has been, outside of the Delaware & Hudson road and the coal business, the principal factor in making Carbondale the beautiful and thriving city it now is. Aside from his own works, he is interested in nearly all of the enterprises in the city, as well as many out of it. He is con- nected with the Sperl Heater Company and the Pendleton Manufacturing Company; was the promoter and principal stockholder in the An- thracite Hotel, one of the finest in any town of this size in the State; assisted in organizing the Miners '& Mechanics Bank, of which he has been vice-president since its establishment; aided in the promotion of the Ice & Cold Storage Company of Los Angeles, Cal., in which $200,000 is invested; holds the position of president of the Consolidated Carbondale & Forest City Traction Company, and owns an interest in the Crystal Lake Water Company and the Klots silk mill.

Without solicitation on his part, in fact against his wishes, for he has not the slightest ambition for political honors, Mr. Hendrick was elected mayor of Carbondale in 1893. During his term of office many improvements were made; streets were paved and several fine bridges built. He has been lavish in the expenditure of his pri- vate means to benefit the city. It is very rare to find a man starting in life, without means or in- fluence, who achieves the remarkable success he has won. The results speak volumes for his ability and business judgment. He occupies a stately house located in the heart of the city and surrounded by ten acres of grounds, comprising what is known as Hendrick's Park.

At Plymouth, Mich., in 1853, Mr. Hendrick married Miss Caroline P. Hackett, a sister of the wife of Rev. W. B. Grow, a Baptist minister. She died in 1894, leaving two daughters. Mary, the elder, who received her early education un- der Professor Colville, a private tutor, and after- ward was a student in Vassar College. She is now the wife of A. P. Trautwin, the superintend- ent of the Hendrick Manufacturing Company.

Lillian, the younger daughter, received her early education under the same tutor and completed it at the Packer Institute of Brooklyn. She is the wife of Prof. William T. Colville, who is treas- urer of the Hendrick Manufacturing Company and the confidential assistant of his father-in- law.

P HILIP SCHNELL, proprietor of the Key- stone Hotel at No. 626 West Lackawanna Avenue, Scranton, was born in Hesse- Darmstadt, Germany, March 13, 1833, and was one of the six children of Gustav and Elizabeth (Leonard) Schnell, who lived upon a farm at Groelsheim by Bingen. His father died in 1846 and his mother, in Scranton, at the age of eighty- eight. Of the children, Mrs. Elizabeth Schappe . died in Germany and Mrs. Barbara Scheik in Iowa; Henry is a carpenter with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western in Scranton; and Sus- anna is married and resides in Newark, N. J.

Reared upon a farm and educated in the Groel- sheim schools, Philip Schnell left home October 12, 1853, to come to America, being the first of the family to cross the ocean. He first went to Liverpool, where he took a sailing vessel, which after a voyage upon the ocean of ninety days landed in New York January 19, 1854, one hundred days after he had left home. He went at once to Callicoon, Sullivan County, N. Y., where he was employed on the Erie road for three months, and in May, 1854, came to Scranton, securing work at the Diamond drift of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western. Later he was employed at the Pine Brook mine of the Lacka- wanna Iron & Coal Company. His next posi- tion was in the opening of the tunnel of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western at Nay-Aug, after which he was in the rolling mill of the Lacka- wanna Iron, Steel & Coal Company. Learning the carpenter's trade he followed it for twelve years, being in St. Louis for eighteen months of that time, in New Orleans six months, and in the passenger car shop of the Delaware, Lackawan- na & Western for six years. In 1866 he built a hotel on the corner of West Lackawanna Avenue and Seventh Street, and June 28, 1868, opened

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the Keystone Hotel, of which he has since been proprietor. In addition to this building, he owns considerable valuable property in the city.

By his marriage to Catherine Schaeffer, a na- tive of Saxony, Germany, Mr. Schnell has two children living, Katie, wife of J. W. Warnke, and Lovina. Three are dead, Susanna, Philip and Lizzie. In 1884 he took his family to his old home in Germany and also visited Switzerland. Again in 1891 they spent three months in the old country. They are members of Zion Lutheran Church, which Mr. Schnell assisted in organizing. Politically he is a Democrat. He is an honorary member and at one time was trustee of the Scran- ton Hook & Ladder Company. Fraternally he is connected with Schiller Lodge, F. & A. M., German Beneficial Society, Hora Gora, Lieder- kranz and Turn Verein, of which he is trustee.

S TEPHEN P. FENNER, member of the firm of Fenner & Chappell, is an influen- tial and progressive business man of Scran- ton. He possesses good judgment and executive ability and has succeeded in nearly every one of his financial undertakings, varied though these have been.

The grandfather of the above, Joseph Fenner, of the old English Puritan stock, at an early day went from Massachusetts to Rochester, becoming one of the pioneer farmers of that vicinity. Wil- liam, father of our subject, was born in Roches- ter, and in addition to managing his farm en- gaged extensively in real estate. He is still ac- tive and hearty, though in his seventy-eighth year. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Remington, was the daughter of Alva Reming- ton, also a pioneer of Rochester, whither he re- moved from Massachusetts. He bought and sold several farms and became well-to-do. Death claimed him at the close of a long and useful life, he being then ninety-six years of age. Mrs. Sarah Fenner, now in her seventy-fifth year, was the mother of four sons: Fairchild, who resides on the old homestead; Alva, deceased, and at one time a partner of his brother Stephen; Ganson, who is operating a part of the old farm, and Ste- phen P.

Like his father before him, Stephen Fenner was born in Rochester, the year of his birth be- ing 1859. Attending the public schools and the normal at Brockport until he was fifteen years old, he received very good advantages for that day. In 1878 he entered the grocery depart- ment of Jones & Fenner's general store at Wilkes- barre, and thus learned the rudiments of busi- ness by practical experience. It was in 1880 that he came to Scranton, being offered a place in the general store of John Jermyn on Penn Ave- nue, and taking charge of the grocery depart- ment. In 1883 he took a similar position with the same firm in their store at Priceburg, which they had established previously. In 1885 he re- signed, and after a few months of investigation decided to open a store on his own account. This he accordingly did May 1, 1886, in Providence Square, Scranton, the firm being Fenner & Chap- pell. His brother, Alva, was the silent partner in the new concern, until his death in the follow- ing year. By degrees the business increased, and it became necessary to move into larger quar- ters. Soon their double store proved insufficient and another one was added. This great estab- lishment was the pioneer in strictly cash stores in this valley, and its proprietors have demonstrated that their plan is the best to be found. A full line of general merchandise, groceries, etc., is carried, and these goods are sold in botlı whole- sale and retail quantities. Mr. Fenncr attends to all the buying in the grocery department and ex- ercises a watchful care over the whole business.

When the Traders and Bankers Mutual Life Association was incorporated Mr. Fenncr was elected its president, and still holds that post. He is greatly interested in the development of the mineral wealth of this section, and has money invested in coal land. With four others he leased several thousand acres of land in Wayne County, where there appears to be gold, silver and cop- per in paying quantities. He was one of the foun- ders of the Elect City Land Improvement Com- pany, and is still a director in the concern. His fine residence at No. 606 Clay Avenue was built under his own supervision. With all these varying fields of activity, it is not to be expected that he finds much time for politics, but, never-

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theless, he is a loyal Republican and always dis- charges his duties as a voter and citizen.

While living in Rochester Mr. Fenner married Miss Cora Search in 1885. She was born in that city and was a daughter of Lewis Search, a re- tired farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Fenner have two chil- dren, Bertram and Jennie.

A LFRED HARVEY, proprietor of the Har- vey silk mill and the originator of the silk industry in Scranton, was born in Ash- ford, Windham County, Conn., October 20, 1848. The family of which he is a member came from England and settled in Connecticut, where his grandfather was a Congregational minister until death. His father, Alfred Harvey, was born in Hadden, Hartford County, Conn., and for years was a successful tanner in Ashford, where he died at the age of fifty-seven.

The mother of our subject, Dolly Kneeland, was born in Hartford County, Conn., where her father, Joseph, engaged in farm pursuits. She was a descendant of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Since 1873 her home has been in Scranton, where her three sons also reside: Joseph K., a retired busi- ness man; Alfred, and Albert, superintendent of the silk mill. These are the only survivors of the family that originally comprised four sons and two daughters. The subject of this sketch attended the high school in Ashford, but at the age of seventeen left school and began to learn the machinist's trade with a brother-in-law in the Atwood Machine Company's works at Williman- tic, Conn. There he became familiar with the construction of silk machines. Later he was em- ployed in New London, Conn., one year.

The first mill operated by Mr. Harvey was es- tablished in Central Village, Conn., in 1871, and of this he acted as superintendent. In 1872 he came to Scranton as superintendent of the Scran- ton Silk Company and built a mill in the summer of that year, opening and starting what is now the Sauquoit mill. This was the first mill built in eastern Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. After six years the company went into liquida- tion and an assignee was appointed, the property being sold to the present company. Mr. Har-

vey then started a mill in Hyde Park, and after- ward moved to South Washington Avenue, where he built his present mill, 140x40 feet, three stories high, with engine and boiler of one hun- dred horse power. The capacity of the plant is three thousand pounds per week, and employ- ment is furnished about two hundred and seven- ty-five hands. A great many useful devices have been originated by Mr. Harvey and utilized in the operation of the plant.

In addition to the silk mill, our subject has other interests. He is a director in the West Ridge Coal. Company, the Hawley Coal Com- pany and the Scranton Vitrified Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company, and assisted in the or- ganization of the East Ridge Coal Company, of which he is president. Outside of his business interests he has taken genuine pleasure in driving fast and standard-bred horses, of which he owns a number. In his stables were raised the two horses, Medium Boy, by Sharmon's Medium, 2:24 I-2, and Prince M., by William M., 2:29, and at one time he owned the pacing mare, Nada, by King Medium, that made a record of 2:25 at three years. For some years he was a member of the Driving Park Association. In his political views he is a Republican.

The marriage of Mr. Harvey, in Willimantic, Conn., September 18, 1873, united him with Miss Marietta Babcock, who was born in Columbia, Tolland County, Conn., the daughter of Hon. Jaynes M. and Lovisa (Hovey) Babcock, natives respectively of Columbia and Willimantic, Conn. Her grandfather, Stanford Babcock, a farmer of Columbia, married a Miss Robinson, and died when his son, J. M., was young. The great-grand- father, Simon Babcock, was a soldier in the Revo- lutionary War. The family originated in Eng- land, whence Henry Babcock came to America in the "Mayflower" and settled in Massachusetts.

A successful farmer and the owner of consider- able property in Connecticut, Hon. J. M. Bab- cock represented his district in the state legisla- ture for two terms and served as county commis- sioner for two terms. He was one of the promi- nent members of the Republican party in his lo- cality. During the Civil War he offered his ser- vices, but was rejected by the medical examiners.

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For some time he was a captain in the Connecti- cut militia. For a number of years he made his home in California, but late in life returned to Connecticut, where he died in April, 1895, at the age of seventy-five. He married Lovisa Hovey, daughter of Capt. Orra Hovey, a business man of Willimantic, Conn., and a captain in the state militia. Captain Hovey's wife, Aura Dorchester, was a member of an old Connecticut family of English descent. By the first marriage of J. M. Babcock he had three children, but only two are living, Mrs. Harvey and Gilbert P. Babcock, a business man of Tolland, Conn. The only child of his second marriage died in California. Mrs. Harvey was reared in Tolland and received an excellent education in Willimantic Institute, after which she taught several terms of school. She is a refined and cultured lady, and her taste for the beautiful is evinced in the artistic arrangement of the furnishings of her home. Two children bless the marriage, Dolly Myrtle and Lura Nor- laine.

C HARLES F. WAGNER came to Scran- ton at the age of nineteen years, and has since been an influential resident of this city, bearing a worthy part in life as a private citizen and serving with ability in positions of trust. He has been called upon to fill various offices, and in every duty has proved capable, faithful and eminently trustworthy.

The Wagner family is of German extraction. Frederick, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Tübingen, Wurtemberg, and about 1848 took passage in a sailing vessel at Havre, landing in New York City after a voyage of twen- ty-eight days, and from there joining a brother in Philadelphia. He possessed a talent for music, and through study became a skilled musician. For some time he was engaged as a music teach- er in Philadelphia, but left there to accept the appointment of musician in the Marine Band at Annapolis. On the expiration of his term he re- turned to Philadelphia, but after a few years lo- cated in Wilkesbarre, where he became the leader of bands in that place and surrounding towns.

During the war Professor Wagner's band en-

listed with the Fifty-second Pennsylvania In- fantry, and as its leader he was given the rank of lieutenant. He was present in the various bat- tles of the Peninsular campaign, but after a year was honorably discharged, when the war depart- ment issued the general order to muster out all regimental bands. Meantime, his son, C. F., hav- ing obtained a position in Scranton, he also set- tled in this city, where he followed his pro- fession until advancing years rendered advis- able his retirement from active labors. He continues to make his home in Scranton, where he is identified with the Lieut. Ezra S. Griffin Post No. 139, G. A. R. His wife, Wilhelmina Strahle, was born in the suburbs of Ludwigsburg, on the River Neckar, and died at Scranton in February, 1890. Both were connected with the Lutheran Church, in which they were confirmed before leaving their native land.

The earliest recollections of Charles F. Wag- ner are of the village of Ludwigsburg, his native place, and the Neckar River that flowed near by. He was born October 16, 1843, and was less than nine years of age when his parents brought him to America. In the public and private schools of Annapolis he gained a good education. About 1859 he secured a position in the office of the Baltimore Coal Company at Wilkesbarre, and remained for a time with that firm as bookkeeper. In 1862 he came to Scranton, where he was book- keeper in the store department of the Lacka- wanna Iron & Coal Company, and later held a position in the provost-marshal's office under Lieut .- Col. D. C. Poole, until the abolishment of the office. He next ventured in business for him- self, establishing a retail coal trade, in which he met with fair success. At that time paving was being introduced here, and for several years he- operated a quarry near Nay-Aug. On retiring from that business, he entered the office of Filer, Marsh & Reiley, coal operators, with whom and their successors he remained nearly ten years.

After the election of George Farber as the first register of deeds for Lackawanna County, that gentleman appointed Mr. Wagner as his deputy, which position he filled during the term. In 1884 he was made an employe in the commis- sioner's office, later became assistant clerk, and

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January 1, 1892, was appointed clerk of the board of county commissioners, which position he has since held. He served as a director in the old fourth school district, until the act of 1874 con- solidated the school districts, after which he was for ten years a member of the board of school control. At this writing he is a member of the select council, having been elected from the tenth ward on the Republican ticket. Besides being chairman of the committee on pavements, he is a member of the police committee and others. Active in the Republican party, he has served on both the city and county committees.

In religious belief Mr. Wagner is identified with the Lutheran Church. Fraternally he is past chancellor of Fairview Lodge, K. P., and past commander of Petersburg Lodge, Knights of the Mystic Chain. He is a charter member of the Relief Engine Company, in which he has been president and secretary. In Scranton he mar- ried Miss Amelia, daughter of the late Charles Engel, of this place. Mrs. Wagner was born here and died at the family residence, No. 1900 Gibson Street, in October, 1895, leaving eight children, Minnie, Katie, Emma, Charles, Clar- ence, Louisa, Oscar and Gertrude. In whatever position Mr. Wagner has been placed, what- ever duty he has been called upon to perform, in . all his official and social connections, his course has been one of integrity, and he is known as one of the honorable business men of Scranton.

E DWARD W. WESTON. In the death of Mr. Weston Scranton lost a typical citi- zen. Starting in life with nothing but his own talents and upright character with which to make his way, he achieved remarkable success in estate, in reputation and in that which he val- ued above all else-in the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. Uncompromising where principle was concerned, energetic in action, firm of will, his death deprived the community of a valuable promoter of its prosperity.

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Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 114

Author: Publication date: 1897 Publisher: New York : Chapman Publishing co. Number of Pages: 1068

Author:
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: New York : Chapman Publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1068