Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 16

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

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By his marriage to Miss Sarah Weil, who was born in Germany and accompanied her parents to Luzerne County, Pa., Mr. Wormser has six children: Miriam, a graduate of the Lockhaven State Normal; Rose, Charles F., Bernard B., Edith, and Helen.

In 1880 Mr. Wormser was elected, on the Re- publican ticket, a member of the board of school control, the nomination having been given to him

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without solicitation on his part. In 1884 he was re-elected · without opposition, and four years later was unanimously re-elected. In 1892 and 1896 he was again chosen to succeed himself, and will serve until 1900. For three years he was president of the board, and eight times was chair- man of the teachers committee, besides which he has been chairman of every important commit- tee. Since his first connection with the board there have been wonderful changes wrought in the buildings and standard of education in the schools. The present high school building, which would be an ornament to any communi- ty, stands on the corner of Ash and Vine Streets, and contains twenty-one classrooms, with an au- ditorium that seats one thousand. At this writ- ing he is chairman of the new high school com- mittee, a member of other committees, and chair- man over the high and training schools.

For three years, from 1891 to 1894, Mr. Worm- ser was collector of poor taxes, to which posi- tion he was appointed by the poor board. His

. principles led him, upon becoming acquainted with the political situation in this country, to ally himself with the Republican party, to which he has since adhered. He is a member of the Republican county executive committee and the Central Republican Club. In the Linden Street Temple, of which he is a member, he is vice- president of the board of trustees. Fraternally he is past master of Schiller Lodge No. 345, F. & A. M., and for years has been a member of the board of directors of the Leiderkranz.

M ARY A. SHEPHERD, M. D. The field of science is ably represented by Dr. Shepherd, for in the discharge of her professional duties, she has shown herself to be thoroughly versed in medical lore, and that she possesses a natural aptitude for the calling can- not be denied by anyone who has once employed her services. She possesses the sympathetic and soothing manner so essential in a sick room, and has the faculty of gaining the confidence of her patients. During her residence in Scranton she has built up a reputation as a physician that is an honor to her determination and ability as well

as to her sex. She has ably demonstrated the fact that women can gain success in whatever field of labor they may choose to enter, and her example is worthy of emulation by many young ladies who are eking out a scanty existence in the large cities of the United States.

The father of Dr. Shepherd was Stephen H. Heath, a native of New York, who removed to Pennsylvania in early manhood and became a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, but later entered the Baptist ministry. From this state he went to Ohio, but afterward returned here and died in Philadelphia. He was a de- scendant of English ancestry. His marriage united him with Catherine Everett, daughter of John Everett, of an old Pennsylvanian family ;. she was born in Franklin County, Pa., and died in Ohio. She had two children, of whom the son, Gardner E., who was a hardware merchant, died in Wauseon, Ohio.

When quite young our subject accompanied her parents from her native place, Sharon, Pa., to Ohio, where she was educated in Hiram Col- lege, under ex-President Garfield. She was mar- ried in Farmington, that state, to Rev. Z. W. Shepherd, M. D. From early childhood she dis- played a predilection for the profession she now follows, and when only fourteen was so success- ful as a nurse, that she was requested by local physicians to act in that capacity with some of their most serious cases. In 1882 she entered Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, from which she graduated in 1886, with the degree of M. D. From 1872 until 1876 she had resided in Scranton, and was so pleased with the city that she determined to locate here for practice. Ac- cordingly she opened an office at No. 228 Adams Avenue, and has since given her attention to a general practice, though making a specialty of chronic cases. In 1891 she took a post-graduate course in Hahnemann Medical College at Chi- cago, where she gave her attention to chronic diseases.

Fraternally, Dr. Shepherd is identified with the Women's Relief Corps No. 50, of which she has been senior vice-president; Martha Washing- ton Chapter No. 3, Eastern Star, in Hyde Park; and Wanetta Lodge No. 23, Order of Rebekah.

HON. WILLOUGHBY W. WATSON.

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In her profession she is associated with the Homeopathic Medical Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the State Homeopathic Medi- cal Society. She takes a warm interest in the issues of the age, and politically is a Republican. She is the mother of five children, namely: Ad- die K., a graduate of Dana Musical College at Warren, Ohio, and the wife of Rev. Charles E. Kircher, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Alexandria, Ind .; Melvilla, wife of H. L. Hutson, an attorney of Angola, Ind .; R. P., a graduate of Hiram College, with the degree of A. M., a minister of the Christian Church, and now pro- fessor of mathematics in Hiram College; William E., of Scranton, now taking a course in the School of Mines, and employed at Leggett's Creek Mines; and James, who died at Ada, Ohio, when two and one-half years of age.

H ON. WILLOUGHBY W. WATSON, attorney and counsellor-at-law and ex- state senator, is interested in many of the most important corporations and enterprises of Scranton, being vice-president of the Traders National Bank, secretary and treasurer of Moosic Mountain Coal Company, treasurer of Mt. Jes- sup Coal Company, Limited, manager of the Florence Coal Company, Limited, secretary, treasurer and one of the managers of the Provi- dence & Abington Turnpike & Plank Road Com- pany, secretary and treasurer of the Leisenring Manufacturing Company, that is engaged in the manufacture of grates, secretary, treasurer and a director of the Whitehall Land & Improvement Company, and a director of the Whitehall Water Company.

Througli a careful observance of the laws of hygiene, Mr. Watson has retained his health and vigor to an unusual degree, and a stranger would not suppose that his life has covered a half cen- tury. He was born October 6, 1842, in New Mil- ford, Susquehanna County, Pa., and is of Scotch descent. His great-grandfather, Walter Watson, was born in Edinburgh, where he graduated in medicine and surgery, and where he spent his entire life, with the exception of the period of his service as surgeon in the British army during

the Revolution. One of his descendants is the most eminent physician in Edinburgh today.

The grandfather of our subject, Walter Wat- son, was born in New York City while his par- ents were visiting in America, and was taken by them to Scotland, where for seven years he was a student in Edinburgh University, graduating with the degree of A. B. and M. D. He was an excellent scholar in classics and could speak flu- ently seven different languages. After gradua- ting he came to the United States and settled in Cold Spring, N. Y., where he practiced his pro- fession with success. At the age of seventy-five he was accidentally burned to death in his home, through the catching on fire of a bed. John Wat- son University of Edinburgh is one of the finest institutions of learning in Scotland, was founded by an ancestor, John Watson.

The father of our subject, Walter Watson, Jr., was born in Cold Spring, Putnam Coun- ty, N. Y., and became a farmer in New Mil- ford, Susquehanna County, Pa., where he im- proved a homestead and resided for more than fifty years. He was active in matters pertaining to education, and held numerous township offices. His death, which occurred at seventy-seven years, was the result of having been accidentally injured. He married Candace Hammond, a native of Susquehanna County, and still a resident of the old homestead there. Her father, Col. Asa Hammond, was born in Keene, N. H., and gained his title through service in the militia; he spent his life principally in farm pur- suits and in business, and died when ninety-six years of age. His father, Asa, who was a mem- ber of an old New England family, died in Sus- quehanna County when very aged.

The family of which our subject is a member consists of eight children, all living, he being next to the eldest. He attended the New Mil- ford public school, Montrose Normal, Susque- hanna Seminary at Binghamton and Millersville Normal. Between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four he alternated attendance at school with teaching. In June, 1866, he was elected superintendent of the schools of Susquehanna County, and while discharging the duties of this position also studied law with Judge Bentley

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and Senator Fitch of Montrose, being admitted to the bar in November, 1868. Resigning as county superintendent, he gave his attention to the law, and in 1871 became a member of the firm of Fitch & Watson, their connection contin- uing until he was elected to the state senate.

In 1874 Mr. Watson was nominated by the Republican party to represent the Forty-second District, consisting of Susquehanna and Wayne Counties, in the state senate, and was elected by a large majority, carrying Wayne County, which usually gave a Democratic majority of eight hun- dred. He served in the sessions of 1875-76, and in both was a member of the judiciary commit- tee. He was again the choice of the Susque- hanna County Republicans, but in the joint con- vention with Wayne County, George Waller, of the latter county, was given the nomination. During his second year in the senate he intro- duced seven bills, all of which are laws on the statutes today. One of these provided for the foreclosure of mortgages on railroads partly in this and partly in other states. He also intro- duced bills for re-establishing the state line be- tween New York and Pennsylvania, for regulat- ing attorneys' fees on judgments under $100, and for making certain offices incompatible. While in Susquehanna County he served on the state Republican central committee, and since coming here he has been vice-president of the Central Club. He is also a member of the board of trade.

The partnership which Mr. Watson formed with A. H. McCallum of Montrose was dissolved May 1, 1883, at the time of his location in Scran- ton. In December, 1890, he assisted in organ- izing the Traders Bank, of which he has since been vice-president and a director. He is a member of the Second Presbyterian Church and fraternally is still connected with Warren Lodge, F. & A. M., of Montrose. His marriage, sol- emnized in Upper Lehigh, November 26, 1868, united him with Annie M. Kemmerer, who was born in Stroudsburg and is a daughter of John Kemmerer. They became the parents of six chil- dren, but two died while Mr. Watson was in the senate. The others are Walter L., assistant su- perintendent of the Mid-Valley Coal Company at Wilburton, Pa .; Albert L., member of the class

of 1900, Amherst College; Annie M., who is at- tending a ladies' seminary in New York City; and Candace A., who is with her parents at the family residence, No. 504 Monroe Avenue. In politics he is a Republican and is influential in the party of this state.

T. GRIFFIN SMITH, the popular gen- eral freight agent of the Delaware &

. Hudson Railroad at Carbondale, was born in this city, August 18, 1854. He is a son of Asa D. Smith, who came to Carbondale in early manhood, and followed the currier's trade here until his death, in 1861. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Mary Griffin, afterward became the wife of Thomas Orchard, master car builder of the Delaware & Hudson car shops at Carbondale for more than a half century. A second time widowed, she makes her home in John Street, this city.

The subject of this sketch is one of two chil- dren, of whom his sister, Jerusha M., married John Bowers, son of William Bowers, the di- vision superintendent of the Delaware & Hud- son coal department, and died some years ago. In the schools of the city, T. Griffin Smith re- ceived the rudiments of his education, after which he was a student in the schools of Dumfries, Scot- land, in company with John H. Orchard, who was his father's successor as master car builder of the Delaware & Hudson car shops. On his return from Scotland, he secured a position as clerk in the Delaware & Hudson freight office, and after four years, in 1877, he was made freight agent, which position he has since held. At the time he first entered the office, there were but two men employed in that department, but under his man- agement the business has increased until now he has nearly a score of men under him. A thorough and efficient railroad man, his department is run in a most satisfactory manner. The work is now thoroughly systematized under his general super- vision, and he is ably assisted by competent men.

In 1885 Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Helene Estelle Tralles, of this city. They and their children, Winfield T., Kenneth and Jennie H., have a pleasant home in Laurel

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Street, near Hendricks Park. In the Trinity Episcopal Church he has been an active worker and held numerous official positions, having been a member of the vestry, treasurer of the parish, superintendent of the Sunday-school, leader of the choir and lay reader. Of late years, however, his business has engrossed his atten- tion to such an extent that he has been obliged to relinquish much of his religious work, though retaining a warm interest in the prosperity of the church. He is a man of energy and an earnest promoter of every cause which he deems to be right, just and beneficial; anxious to engage in well-balanced undertakings which promise, either directly or indirectly, to promote the high- est interests of the community.

T HOMAS BARROWMAN. Having spent the principal portion of his life in Lack- awanna County, the subject of this sketch has an extensive acquaintance throughout the community. His long residence here, together with his active participation in all worthy meas- ures for the development of the resources of the county, has made him prominent in social and business circles. It may truly be said that few residents of Scranton have been more closely connected with its growth than has he, and it is to the efforts of such men that the city owes a debt impossible to repay. He dwells in a beautiful residence in Washington Avenue, where he is surrounded by every comfort that will enhance the happiness of life. This residence, erected un- der his supervision in 1896, is constructed of pink stone from Lackawanna County, and is one of the most attractive homes in the city.

The Barrowman family has for generations furnished to Scotland some of its most prominent men,-men who by their writings and lectures, · and by their skill as mining and civil engineers, have gained national eminence. One of the fam- ily, a cousin of Thomas, is civil engineer to the Duke of Hamilton in Scotland. Our subject's father, William, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, December 23, 1807, and became a mining ex- pert. In 1847, accompanied by his wife and eight children, he came to Lackawanna (then included

in Luzerne) County, where he did all the testing for coal in the early days, boring for the Bellevue, Diamond and other shafts in the valley. His death, which occurred in 1865, was the result of accident, his horses running away and throwing him from his carriage. In religion he was a Presbyterian. His wife, who was a lady of large intellectual powers, was born Margaret McDon- ald, in Glasgow, Scotland, whence she came to Scranton in 1849, remaining here until her death, November 9, 1887, aged eighty-three.

Thomas, a brother of our subject's father, was a prominent mining engineer in Scotland. An- other brother, James, had a son James, before mentioned, who was a gifted writer on mining engineering. Almost without exception, the men of the family were tall and possessed powerful physiques. While many still reside in Scotland, several have sought homes in the United States, and among the latter is Moses, our subject's uncle, who was an old settler of Buffalo, and still remains there. The paternal grandparents were John and Margaret Madison Barrowman, natives of Scotland.

The children of the parental family were John, who went to California in 1850, returned to Scran- ton, and died in Hyde Park in 1890; William, also an early settler of California, who returned to Hyde Park, and was an engineer here until his death; Alexander, who resides at the old home- stead in Hyde Park; Mrs. Mary Aekings, who died in Paterson, N. J .; Thomas; James, mem- ber of the One Hundred and Thirty-second Penn- sylvania Infantry, who was wounded at Chancel- lorsville and died after the war; Agnes, Mrs. Stephen Jones, of Scranton; and Moses, who is superintendent of the surgical and dental instru- ments factory in Buffalo, N. Y. The homestead, which is still standing, was erected about 1855, at the head of Lackawanna Avenue, and was one of the first large buildings in Hyde Park.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1840, the subject of this article was nine years of age when he came to Lackawanna County. He was educated in the public schools, and in 1869 entered the medical department of the University of the City of New York, but was taken ill after his first course of lec- tures and was obliged to abandon liis intention of

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entering the medical profession. After engaging in the mercantile business for a while, he opened a drug store in Penn Avenue. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a member of Company I, One Hun- dred and Thirty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, and after being mustered in at Harrisburg on the 9th of the month, was sent south, participating in the battles of Antietam, South Mountain, Fred- ericksburg and Chancellorsville. At the expira- tion of his term of enlistment, he was mustered out with his regiment at Harrisburg, May 24, 1863. On his return to Scranton, he entered the government service under General Meigs, and was placed in the photographic corps as assistant to Major Russell. For a year he was stationed in Alexandria and various points in Virginia, after which he returned home. He continued the drug business until 1890, when he sold out and retired, though he still owns his store build- ing, at No. 217 Lackawanna Avenue.

In Dunmore, Mr. Barrowman married Miss Georgia Ocksenreader, daughter of William Ock- senreader, and a member of an old family of this state. Mr. Barrowman has traveled extensively, visiting California in 1890 and the following year, with his wife, crossing the ocean to Scotland, where he spent a year in the vicinity of his old home, after which he made a tour of the Contin- ent. However, he was unable to visit as many points of interest as he had anticipated, for while en route to Rome, a cablegram obliged him to return. He is a member of the Scranton Club, and was formerly chief of the Caledonia Club. Fraternally, he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks; is prominently con- nected with the Masonic order, and is past con- mander of Coeur de Lion Commandery No. 17, K. T. Politically he is a Republican, and in re- ligion is identified with the First Presbyterian Church of Scranton.

J OHN L. HULL, a veteran of the late war and for many years a resident of Scranton, is a descendant of English ancestry, the first of the name in America being three brothers who settled in different parts of the country, one in New England, another in Maryland and the third

further south. The grandfather of John L. was John Hull, a native of Rhode Island, but through- out his active life a resident of Massachusetts, where he engaged in farm pursuits.

William H., our subject's father, was born in Tolland, Mass., whence in the early '3os he came to Pennsylvania and settled at Blakely, Lacka- wanna County, purchasing two tracts of land, one on each side of the Lackawanna River. He opened and operated one of the first coal beds in that section, and also ran a saw mill, having pine timber and excellent water power. In his com- munity he was known as a persevering, econom- ical and honorable man, one who was efficient in public office and kind-hearted in private life. His death occurred in Blakely in 1872 at the age of eighty.

The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Rebecca Parker and was born in Abing- ton Township, this county, to which place her father, Stephen Parker, a native of Rhode Island, had come in early days, there being but one set- tler in the place prior to himself. Returning to Rhode Island he married there, then came back to his farm and continued to reside on it until his death. The exact date of his location in this county is not known, but presumably it was about the close of the eighteenth century. Mrs. Re- becca Hull died at the age of thirty-six, leaving six sons, of whom five took part in the Civil War, ,and all are still living and, with two exceptions, in this county.

Upon the home farm at Blakely, where he was born in 1839, John L. Hull spent his boyhood years. His education was obtained in Wyoming Seminary and Providence Conference Seminary at Greenwich, R. I., and Andover, Mass. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted as a recruit in Company H, Fifty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, and join- ing his regiment at Yorktown went from there south, where he took part in a number of engage- ments, among them the expedition against Wel- don, when a heavy storm sunk the first Monitor and scattered the fleet, which finally reached Hil- ton Head. He was present at the siege of Charleston and the capture of Folly Island and Morris Island, and was under continuous fire in the blockade of the harbor at Ft. Sumter. After

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Charleston succumbed he joined Sherman's army and went to North Carolina, after the surrender of Johnston, being on provost duty a short time. After thirty-three months of service, he was mus- tered out at Harrisburg as a corporal and was honorably discharged in July, 1865.

In 1866 Mr. Hull started in the furniture busi- ness in Scranton, carrying on a wholesale and retail trade until 1874, when he went to St. Louis and engaged in the wholesale and retail slate business, taking contracts for roofing, etc. With a brother he owned a quarry at Pen Argyl, and after returning from St. Louis, he managed the quarry and the business here. Though no longer interested in the quarry, he is still a wholesale slate merchant and sells by carload lots in Scranton and vicinity. For eighteen months he was in the wholesale produce and commission business, which he afterward turned over to a son. He is now engaged as a dealer in agricultural imple- ments for five counties, selling mowers, reapers and rakers for the Buckeye Builders of Akron, Ohio.

The first marriage of Mr. Hull took place in Rhode Island, his wife being Miss Susan Wind- sor, who died while visiting in St. Paul, Minn., whither she had gone in the hope of regaining her health. Of her two children, one son sur- vives, Howard, a wholesale commission mer- chant of Scranton. In Scranton Mr. Hull mar- ried Miss Florence Watres, who was born in Winton, this county, and is a sister of ex-Lieu- tenant-Governor Watres. They have three chil- dren, Helene, Arthur and Robert. The family residence stands on Marion Street and Washing- ton Avenue. Mr. Hull is a member of the board of trade, politically is a Republican, fraternally is connected with Peter Williamson Lodge No. 323, F. & A. M., and the Union Veterans Union, and in religious faith is associated with the Green Ridge Baptist Church.

L ORING I. BUNNELL, alderman from the fifth ward of Carbondale, was born in Bradford, near the line of Susquehanna County, Pa., September 15, 1838, and is a mem- ber of a family long connected with the progress

of the historic county of Litchfield, Conn. His father, Isaac S., son of Samuel Bunnell, Sr., was born in that county in 1809, and when a child, at the death of his mother, was taken to live in the home of his grandfather, Samuel Hill. An elder brother of Isaac S. went to sea, and when last heard of was captain of a merchant vessel. After the death of his wife, Samuel Bunnell, Sr., left that locality and was never seen by the family afterward.

On reaching his majority, Isaac S. Bunnell came to. Pennsylvania, and for a time followed the trade of a wheelwright, but later became in- terested, as the patentee, in several important in- ventions, among them a bed-spring and a num- ber of agricultural implements. He died in Car- bondale, in the building which our subject now occupies as his office. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Harriet Tupper, was a native of Susquehanna County, Pa., and the daughter of Loring Tupper, the latter being a farmer of that county and a descendant of a passenger of the "Mayflower." By his marriage to a Miss Sturt- divant, a descendant of Revolutionary ancestry, Loring Tupper had three sons, James, John and Burton, all of whom were farmers, and five daughters, Mary Ann, Harriet, Caroline, Per- melia and Marilla. Harriet Bunnell died in 1891. Their family consisted of thrce sons and two daughters: Loring I .; W. E., a hardware mer- chant of Rockaway, N. J .; Mary J., of James- town, N. Y .; James D., formerly a sign painter, now deceased; and Carrie P., of Jamestown, N. Y.

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Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 16

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