Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 20

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 20

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In 1871 Mr. Clarkson married Miss Cornelia V. Mellen, who was born in Hudson, N. Y. After the death of her parents when she was a child, she went to New York City and for several years lived with an aunt, later came to Carbondale to make her home with her brother, Charles O., who has been connected with the Van Bergen Company, Limited, since he was nineteen years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson have an only child, Margaret J., who was educated in the Nor- walk (Conn.) Female Seminary.

A large-hearted and public-spirited man, Mr. Clarkson assists in every enterprise calculated to help the community and contributes to religious causes, especially to the Presbyterian Church, with which his wife and daughter are identified. Through his business connections he is widely known and has always received the confidence of his associates.

E ZIEGLER BOWER, M. D., who is en- gaged in the practice of the medical pro-

. fession at Scranton, was born in Delta, York County, Pa., of German and French de- scent. His father, C. F., who was born in Ger- many, came to America in 1845, and during the war was employed in the government service as a locksmith in the Washington navy yard. This trade he learned in youth in his native land, where he had done the work on the addition to the University of Heidelberg. During the Re- bellion, at the first call for soldiers, he responded, but was rejected, and later, on being drafted, was

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again rejected. On the close of the war he set- tled upon a farm in York County, just north of the Maryland state line, where he has since en- gaged in agricultural pursuits. Politically, he af- filiates with the Democratic party. His father was king's forester in Wurtemberg, and a man of some local prominence.

The mother of our subject, Angeline Grancel, was born within a half-mile of her present place of residence. Her father, Augustus Grancel, was born in France, of French and Spanish ancestry, and in childhood accompanied his parents to New York City. After some time he settled in York County, where he became a large and successful farmer, prominent citizen and leading worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was a class-leader and local exhorter. His wife was a Miss Ziegler, who was born in America of direct German descent.

The family of which Dr. Bower is a member consists of himself and three sisters, a brother having died in childhood. The sisters are Mrs. T. Ziegler, of Florida; Mrs. Frank Malone, of Chattanooga, Tenn .; and Rose A., M. D., a grad- uate of the medical department of the Michigan State University, and now a medical missionary in Congo Free State, Africa. Before receiving her degree, she was a missionary in Liberia, and upon recovering from an illness entered college, where she remained until graduation. Our sub- ject spent the first fifteen years of his life on the home farm, meantime attending the public school and one term in a high school. Having a great love for travel and adventure, he went to Florida, and from there traveled through the south and Mexico, spending some time on cattle ranches. On his return to the north, he studied for two years in Pennington, N. J., after which he began his preparation for the medical profession under Dr. Ramsey in 1891. The following year he en- tered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1895, with an excel- lent record for scholarship, being one of two in a class numbering over two hundred that graduated without a quiz. Later he passed an examination before the state board.

July 8, 1895, Dr. Bower opened an office in Scranton, where he has since carried on a general

practice. He takes a warm interest in public mat- ters, and uniformly supports the Republican party. In Philadelphia, April 23, 1894, he mar- ried Miss Sarah B. Brooke, who was born in that city and is a graduate of the Jefferson. Hos- pital Training School for Nurses. Familiarity with the profession and its needs enables her to ably assist her husband in his work, her knowl- edge of the medical science being broad and com- prehensive. She is a daughter of Capt. C. D. Brooke, who was one of five brothers that served in the Union army during the Civil War. For a time he was captain of a company attached to the One Hundred and Ninety-second Pennsyl- vania Infantry, but after being wounded in bat- tle, he was placed in charge of the work of the commissary department. Since the close of the war, he has been an employe in the Philadelphia postoffice. where his faithful discharge of duties and reliability has won the respect of each suc- ceeding postmaster.

J JOHN DEVANEY, who represents the seventh ward of Scranton upon the board of school control, was born in Laporte, Sullivan County, Pa., December 18, 1859, and is of Irish parentage and descent. His father, John Devaney, Sr., a native of the Emerald Isle, was married in County Sligo to Margaret Devaney, who, though bearing the same name, was not a relative. On coming to America he spent one year in Sullivan County, N. Y., after which he was employed on the Delaware & Hudson Canal in Susquehanna County for nearly two years, and then settled upon a farm in Sullivan County, Pa. He afterward entered the employ of McFarlane & Thome in Laporte, but removed from that place to Bernice in the same county, and from there, in April of 1872, came to Scranton. Here for a time he was in the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Company in the Dia- mond mines, but finally resigned his position and is now living retired from active labors.

The family of John and Margaret Devaney con- sisted of nine sons and one daughter, of whom the daughter and three of the sons are living. John, who was sixth in order of birth, was educated in

JOSEPH J. ALBRIGHT.

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the public schools of Laporte and Bernice. When about eleven years of age he became a slate pick- er in the employ of a coal company. When the family removed to Scranton in 1872, he secured work in the Diamond breaker, devoting his even- ings to study in the night schools. In September, 1875, he was apprenticed to the tinsmith's trade with Leonard Brothers, and served for five years, afterward continuing as an employe for three years more. Next he started in business for him- self and did well for two years, but then sold out. Since 1885 he has been in the employ of Hunt & Connell.

In 1887 Mr. Devaney was nominated on the Democratic ticket to represent the seventh ward upon the board of school control, and received the election, but after having served for seven months, the election, by act of state legislature, was declared unconstitutional, and he retired. After eighteen months, he was again nominated in 1889, and gained the election, this time serving the full term of four years. In 1893 he was re- elected to the position. At this writing he is chairman of the finance committee and member of the new high school and the teachers' com- mittee. He is active in the Democratic party, which he has represented as delegate in city and county conventions and as member of city and legislative committees. A charter member of the Tinners' Union, he has several times been chosen as its president, and was its delegate to the con- vention at Detroit in February, 1896.

J JOSEPH J. ALBRIGHT, deceased, was one of the leading business men of Scranton and helped to foster many of her infant enter- prises in the days when only a hamlet marked the present site of this, one of the most prosper- ous cities in the state. His life is the oft-repeated history of trial and triumph, of obstacles over- come, of hope conquering despair, of the gradual development of a most noble and truly grand character. That he won fame and fortune, as was his due, matters not so much, after all, as that he won in the conflicts with adverse circum- stance and gained the mastery over himself.

Mr. Albright was born in Warwick, Pa., Sep-

tember 23, 18II, in which pretty town his an- cestors had lived for several generations. They were of the honest, God-fearing German sect, known as Moravians, and though his parents were comfortably well off in this world's goods he was early taught to be independent. In 1816, the family having removed to Nazareth, Pa., he was placed in the school called to this day "Nazareth Hall," from which many of the best citizens in this state have graduated. When he had arrived at a suitable age, he decided that he did not care to follow his father's trade, that of making guns, and instead, learned the tinsmith's trade. Not more than three months were requir- ed by him in this enterprise, before he embarked in business for himself, buying tools and sheet- tin from a New York firm. At once he industri- ously set to work, and in a few months found that he had more tinware on hand than the modest population of the town could use in years. Wish- ing to dispose of this surplus, he went into the adjoining country with his wares, but he soon found this method not at all to his liking.

About this time, he then being almost of age, . Mr. Albright was offered a position as assistant manager of Henry Jordan & Company's Oxford furnace, at Oxford, N. J., and accepting the same, he remained there three years. From the first his ability was apparent, and it was no sur- prise to those who knew him, that he was next asked to take charge of the largest plant of the kind in eastern Pennsylvania, the Catherine furnace and forges, near Nazareth, this being in the hands of creditors. So well did he manage affairs there during the three years following that the good Moravians were rescued from bank- ruptcy. He introduced successfully the first hot blast applied to making iron in the United States and brought the first magnetic iron ore into this state, from New Jersey. About three years after he had taken the management of the Catherine furnace, he bought what was then known as the Clarissa furnace, forges, etc., situated in Carbon County, and in order to do this, was obliged to borrow $1,000 at three per cent interest.

But the ambitious young man had hardly launched himself upon his new venture, when a sad calamity occurred. The great floods of 1841

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along the Lehigh Valley and tributary streams, washed away the Lehigh Coal & Navigation works, canals, etc., and also swept away his own cherished furnaces and forges, leaving not one stone upon another. Though he was certainly overcome, for the time being, by this disaster, and the fact that a wife and two children were depend- ent upon him, he soon recovered his hope and courage and bravely started again. Having made terms with his creditors, who gave him ex- tended time, hc started to rebuild, and in a year he had things in running order, the furnaces hav- ing a still larger capacity than formerly. The destructive elements seemed determined to try his strength of purpose, for now fire attacked the works, and partially destroyed the plant. Again he rebuilt, this time having a good insurance, and at last was made happy by paying all his debts. As he did not like the name Clarissa, as applied to the furnaces, he changed the title to the Ashland iron works. In 1844 he became financially concerned in several furnaces near Natural Bridge, Va., and soon after a new furnace had been erected by the company, it was burned down. Being compelled to sell pig-iron at the ruinous rate of $10 a ton, under the existing tariff, he abandoned the field in Virginia, and re- turned to his old Ashland iron works, which he yet owned. The manufacture of iron had been so closely associated with disaster in his case, that he was not loath to accept an offer made by the Scrantons (for whom this city was named) to take charge of the entire coal mines of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. It has been conceded that to his correct judgment and untiring energy while in this responsible position was due much of the company's success. In 1856 he was in- duced to take a similar place with the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, and was with them until he retired from business, in 1887. He was one of the founders of the Dickson Manufactur- ing Company and was a director in it until his death. He also assisted to organize the First National Bank of Scranton, was made its presi- dent in 1872, and continued thus as long as he lived. The president of the Scranton Gas & Water Company, a director in the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company and a director of the

Weston Milling Company, were some of his other interests.

He was the first to introduce anthracite coa. into the west. Not only did he show the people how to burn it, but had with him hard coal stoves to demonstrate the superiority of the fuel and so induce a trial. He had much to do with the early development of the anthracite trade not only in Buffalo but through the west.

Mr. Albright and Elizabeth Sellers were mar- ried in 1838. She was a daughter of Cornelius Sellers, a Quaker, of French and English ex- traction. His wife was a daughter of Samuel Roberts. Mrs. Albright died January 21, 1890. Her four children were: Mrs. Rachel J. Ben- nell; Anna M., Mrs. James Archbald; Harry C., of Utica, N. Y .; and John Joseph, a manufacturer and banker of Buffalo, N. Y. Mr. Bennell was engaged in wholesale merchandising in New York City, until ill-health compelled him to re- tire. Since then the family, which includes one daughter, have resided in Scranton. Mr. Arch- bald is chief engineer for the Delaware, Lacka- wanna & Western.

The old home of Mr. Albright, on the corner of North Washington and Vine Street, was deed- ed to the city of Scranton, after his death, by the four heirs. The property, now very valuable, was further enhanced by the erection of a beauti- ful structure, known as the "Albright Memorial Library," this having been erected at the expense of John Joseph Albright. It cost over $125,000 and is a fine specimen of modern architecture. The library was stocked by means of subscrip- tions and is maintained by the city, James Arch- bald being one of the board of directors. This is a fitting monument to one who was ever prac- tical and desirous to benefit his fellow-beings, and the liberal education thus placed in the hands of the poorest boy and girl in the city will exer- cise an untold influence for good.

While the war was in progress Mr. Albright received a flattering offer through acquaintances in Richmond, to take charge of the manufacture of iron for the Confederate forces, but need it be told that he was of too loyal a nature to be tempted for a moment to assist those who were striving to undermine his country? For years

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a faithful member of the Presbyterian Church, he died peacefully January 12, 1888, mourned by all who knew him. A strong advocate of temper- ance, purity of life, gentleness and patience, he won the love and esteem of all who journeyed along the highway of life with him and surely he merited the words "Well done, good and faith- ful servant."

C OL. THOMAS D. LEWIS. There are few of the residents of Scranton who are unfamiliar with the name introducing this sketcli. It is that of a gentleman who, alike in the halls of legislature and on many a bloody battlefield, represented his fellow-citizens and up- held the principles of loyalty and justice. His. life was an honorable one, and in his death he was deeply mourned. It will therefore be of interest to the reader to review the events which gave character to his life and individualized his career.

Before mentioning in detail the principal events in the life of Colonel Lewis, it will not be amiss to briefly present his parental history. His father, Daniel, was born in Wales, and was there reared and married. January 20, 1846, a son was born, who was named Thomas, and six weeks afterward the father brought his family to America, settling in Minersville, Schuylkill County, Pa. For a few years he followed the blacksmith's trade there, but the discovery of gold in California led him, with thousands of other men, to seek that El Dor- ado. For two years he worked in the mines there, after which he started home via the Isthmus, but while crossing there he was seized with a severe attack of fever, and soon died, his body being buried in the Gulf of Mexico. His widow was afterward twice married, and is now the widow of John L. Lewis, her home being on the corner of Jackson Street and Garfield Avenue, Scranton.

The subject of this sketch was the only child of his father that attained years of maturity. His boyhood years were passed in Minersville, where he attended the common schools and learned pharmacy in a drug store. His boyisli enthusiasm being aroused by the crisis of the Rebellion, sev- eral times he ran away from home with the inten- tion of enlisting in the Union army, but liis

mother brought him back home each time. Finally, however, he was successful, and early in 1864 his ambition was realized by his enlistment in Company F, Forty-eighth Pennsylvania In- fantry, assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Corps. Among the battles in which he participated were those of the Wilder- ness, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor and White Oak Swamp. At Petersburg he as- sisted in the construction of the mine, and for more than six weeks worked in water up to his arms. He was present at the mine explosion, and took part in the engagements at Weldon Rail- road, Poplar Spring Church, Hatchie's Run, the assault on Ft. Mahone and the occupation of Petersburg. For a time his duty was the guard- ing of trains and the escorting of prisoners to Appomattox Court House. At the close of the war, he was mustered out July 17, 1865.

During the Scranton riots of 1870, Colonel Lewis was commissioned by Governor Geary and retained this commission until 1872. January 7, 1874, he became lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard, and December 22, 1875, he was commissioned colonel, in which capacity he did service until September 23, 1878. He was major of the Third Brigade on the staff of J. K. Siegfried, the brigadier-general, until he was mustered out April 19, 1879. In quelling riots in the Hazleton coal region and Wayne valley he took an active part, and was en route for Pittsburg during the trouble at that place in 1875, but was recalled. Under general order No. 23, he retired from office October 2, 1891.

For a time after the war Colonel Lewis was employed in a Scranton drug store, after which he went to Reading, and then made a trip throughi the west. Returning to Scranton, he formed a partnership with B. G. Morgan, and for three years they engaged in the drug business in Scran- ton. Prior to the partnership being dissolved, in 1871 the firm started a branch store in Provi- dence, and to the ownership of this he succeeded. running it until about a year before his death. [11 health finally obliged him to retire from active labors, and he passed his time quietly at home until his death, April 29, 1895.

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For some time Colonel Lewis was a member of the board of school control, and in 1878-79 he represented his district in the state legislature at Harrisburg. He was a member of the north end board of trade, and assisted in many enterprises for the development of commercial interests. Fra- ternally he was a Mason, and belonged to Lieut. Ezra S. Griffin Post No. 139, G. A. R., in which he held every office. He was connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a generous con- tributor to its good works. His property inter- ests were valuable, and included the family resi- dence on North Main Avenue and Putnam Street, together with the house adjoining.

At Minersville, in 1871, Colonel Lewis married Miss Emma Holdren, who was born in that place, received a good education and is a lady of amia- ble disposition and refined tastes. In religious belief she is connected with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and in that faith reared her chil- dren, Samuel M., Mary E., Jessie A. and T. Willard. She was the only child of Benjamin and Mary (Miller) Holdren, the former of whom was born near Bloomsburg, Pa., and was a car- penter and builder by trade. In middle life he went west on a prospecting tour, but died while there. His wife, who was born in Reading, was a daughter of Jacob Miller, also a native of that city and a miller there; she died at the home of her daughter in 1890, aged sixty-three.

W ILLIAM H. WEDEMAN, proprietor of a general bakery at No. 634 East Market Street, Scranton, was born in Fell Township, this county, January 29, 1852, and is of German and Welsh descent. His grand- father, Peter, a native and farmer of Fell Town- ship, was a son of Peter Wedeman, Sr., who came as a conscript to America during the Revolution- ary War, but deserted the English and joined the American troops, and took an active part in that conflict, later settling in Lackawanna (then a part of Luzerne) County.

Martin, our subject's father, was born in Fell Township, and there engaged in agricultural pur- suits until his retirement from active labors, after which he made his home in Dundaff, Susque-

hanna County, until his death, at the age of seventy-six. He married Elizabeth Jones, a na- tive of the south of Wales, whence at the age of ten years she accompanied her parents to the United States, settling in Carbondale, Pa., and there her father, Lewis, secured employment as a miner with the Delaware & Hudson Company. Her death occurred in Forest City. Of her six sons and one daughter all are living but two boys. Her oldest child, John D., took part in the Civil War as a member of a Pennsylvania regiment, lost his health through the exposure and hard- ships of camp life and forced marches, and died in Nanticoke, Luzerne County. Two sons, Louis P. and George, reside in Scranton, the former an attorney and the latter clerking in a store.

Reared on a farm, our subject in 1863 went to Herrick Center, Susquehanna County, where he remained until 1871, meantime attending the pub- lic schools. In 1871 he came to Scranton and be- gan work as a carpenter, having had considerable previous experience along that line with his father, who was skillful with tools. Here, with his brother and father, he engaged in contracting and building. After a short time here and in Dundaff, he went to the newly organized borough of Forest City, where, with his brother Louis P., he was employed in contracting and building for six years. During his second year there he be- came interested in the bakery business, which he carried on successfully, learning the trade with a baker there. Afterward he sold the bakery in ex- change for a farm in Herrick Township, where he remained a year. Again selling out, he re- turned to Scranton and worked at the carpenter's trade until 1874, when he went to Vandling, this county, and built a double house. This he sold in 1895, since which time he has been engaged in the bakery business in Scranton. He has put in a fine oven, and makes a specialty of home-made bread.

In this city Mr. Wedeman married Sybil Ship- ton, daughter of John Shipton, a native of Eng- land, who after coming to Pennsylvania was prin- cipally engaged as a contractor for the sinking of shafts. Mrs. Wedeman was born in Blooms- burg, where she was reared and educated, but much of her life has been passed in Scranton.

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She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has a large number of friends in her circle of acquaintances. The family consists of three children, Stella May, Harold S. and Flor- ence E. It is Mr. Wedeman's intention, if every- thing continues favorable, to soon erect a larger bakery, in order to accommodate his increasing trade.

R EV. PHILIP F. ZIZELMANN. In the history of any city, there are few clergy- men who hold a pastorate for so long a period as has the subject of this article, the pas- tor of Zion German Lutheran Church, Scranton, since 1860. During this long time he has built up a congregation of about five hundred com- municants and established a church that was the nucleus from which the six other English and German Lutheran Churches of this city have sprung. There are the usual societies connected with the church, a Sunday-school that is well at- tended, a Ladies' Aid Society and Young People's Union.

A native of Cleebron, near Stuttgart, Wurtem- berg, Germany, the subject of this sketch was born October 10, 1824, to Christian and Anna Elizabeth (Kranich) Zizelmann, natives of the same place as himself, the former of whom died at seventy-seven and the latter at seventy-four years. In religious belief they were Lutherans. The father, who served in the German army for six years, took part in the contest of the allied powers against Napoleon, and was present at Waterloo. Throughout his remaining years he engaged in farming and wine culture in the valley of the Neckar. His father, John J., who was born near Stuttgart, was a wholesale wine merchant there.

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Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 20

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