Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 87

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 87

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The subject of this sketch was born in Saddle- worth, Yorkshire, April 16, 1828, and was edu- cated in his father's school. At the age of four- teen he was apprenticed in Oldham to the ma- chinist's trade under Hibbert & Platt, with whom he remained until the death of the senior mem- ber. In June, 1848, he arrived in America, after a voyage of thirty-five days on the sailer "Fan- chon," from Liverpool. From New York he went to Paterson, N. J., and was employed as a machinist in the Rodgers locomotive works. Next he went to Newark to take charge of machine tools for a firm there. The place was unhealth- ful, owing to the many swamps around, and he was soon obliged to leave.

Returning to England in the fall of 1851 Mr. Broadbent became foreman in the Soho iron works at Oldham and remained there for three years, until the outbreak of the Crimean War. In the fall of 1854 he again came to America, making the voyage on the steamer "City of Man- chester," and on his arrival went to Paterson, where he secured work as foreman in a locomo- tive manufactory. From there he was transferred to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western shops at Scranton, as foreman in the locomotive de- partment, which position he held from April 13, 1855, until June, 1857. He then became a mem- ber of the firm of William Cooke & Co., and started in the locomotive business at the Cliff works, where they built the first locomotive in Scranton. The business was afterward absorbed by the Dickson Manufacturing Company, and in November, 1859, Mr. Broadbent was transferred to the Penn Avenue shops as foreman. From that position he advanced gradually until 1882, when he was made general superintendent.

In Paterson, N. J., Mr. Broadbent was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Broadbent, who though of the same name was not a relative. She

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was born in England and at the age of thirteen came to America with her parents, settling in Paterson. The seven children born of this union are: Charles Lewis, vice-president of the George F. Blake Manufacturing Company of New York City, where he resides; William Edward, a ma- chinist, who died in 1892, leaving a wife and three children; Elizabeth, Mrs. Vernoy, of Scran- ton; Martha, at home; C. S., who was formerly foreman in pattern works here, but died in May, 1896; John F., at one time with the Dickson Manufacturing Company, later with the Lacka- wanna Iron & Steel Company, but now interested in introducing the Matthews patent steel worker, and Victoria, who is with her parents. In 1872. our subject spent four months in England and other portions of the British Isles, renewing the associations of his youth. He is a Republican, belongs to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and fraternally is past officer of Union Lodge, F. & A. M., in which he is one of the two oldest members, is identified with Lackawanna Chapter and one of the three oldest members of Coeur de Lion Commandery No. 17, K. T. The position which he now occupies among the sub- stantial and successful men of Scranton is due to his energetic efforts in younger years and the sound judgment displayed in every business transaction.

H ENRY ROBERTS, M. D. There is par- ticular satisfaction in reverting to the life history of the honored and venerable gen- tleman whose name initiates this review, since his mind bears the impress of the historical annals of this section of the state from the early pioneer days, and he has attained to a position of distinc- tive prominence in the thriving city of Scran- ton, with whose interests he has so long been identified. He was born June 14, 1821, in Ea- ton Township, Luzerne County (now Wyoming County), Pa., and is descended from good old colonial stock. His grandfather, Benjamin (or probably Samuel) Roberts, came from his home in Connecticut and settled in Kingston, Pa., in 1769. A cousin of the father of our subject, Elias Roberts, was killed in the battle of Wy-

oming in 1778, and his name appears on the monument at that place, and Ebenezer Roberts, an uncle, was also a hero of the Revolution.

Samuel Roberts, the grandfather of the Doc- tor, was born in Kingston, in 1766, but at an early day removed to Tagues Hill, four miles from Tunkhannock, in Wyoming County, where he engaged in farming until 1799, when he came to Hyde Park, Lackawanna County, and pur- chased four hundred and fifty-seven acres next to the old Joseph Griffin property. After resid- ing there until 1807 he sold out for $7.50 per acre and bought the Dick Brown farm of one hundred and twenty acres, near Pittston Junc- tion, where he remained for six years, when he located in Eaton Township. In 1839 he took up his residence with his son Henry in Falls Town- ship, where his death occurred in 1840, when in his seventy-fourth year. In 1789 he had mar- ried Sarah Ogden Morehouse, a native of Fair- field, Conn., and a daughter of David More- house, who brought his wife and three daughters from Connecticut to Wyoming County, Pa., in 1786, and located on what is known as the Rob- erts farm in Falls Township, which is still in the possession of the family. David Morehouse died at the age of eighty, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Thankful Couch, at the age of seventy-seven. His parents, Jabez and Sarah (Ogden) Morehouse, were of English descent and belonged to the Puritans. The founder of the family in the new world, Thomas Morehouse, located in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1640, and the following year purchased the present town site of Stamford, the same state.

Henry Roberts, the father of the Doctor, was born at Tagues Hill, Wyoming County, July 28, 1794, and died at the old home in Falls Town- ship, June 22, 1886, at the age of ninety-one years, ten months and twenty-five days. In Ea- ton Township was celebrated his marriage to Miss Nancy Wilson, a native of Clitheroe, Lan- castershire, England, who came with her parents, Rev. John and Elizabeth (Metcalf) Wilson, to this country in 1802, and settled in Wyoming County, at which time the daughter was about three years old. Her father engaged in farming and also served as a local preacher of the Methodist Epis-

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copal Church. When twenty years of age, Hen- ry Roberts, Sr., entered the War of 1812 as sec- ond lieutenant of Third Company. Seventy-sixth Regiment Pennsylvania Militia, commissioned by Governor Snyder, but the troops were not called into active service. Widely recognized as a man of sterling worth and many admirable traits of character, he had the respect and esteem of all, and was called upon to fill all the township of- fices; was the first county commissioner of Wy- oming County, and was appointed associate judge by Governor Curtin to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his son, Samuel Roberts, who entered the army when past the regular age and was killed in front of Petersburg. The fath- er also served as school director, and was the first postmaster of Falls, filling the office from 1828 until 1836. The mother died on the 3d of October, 1887, at the age of eighty-eight years.

This worthy couple were the parents of four- teen children: John W., a farmer of Wyoming County, who died in 1895, at the age of seventy- seven; Judge Samuel, who was a member of the One Hundred and Twelfth Heavy Artillery, and was killed in front of Petersburg; Henry, of this sketch; David M., who was captain of Com- pany H, Seventy-fifth Illinois Infantry, and died from the effects of wounds received; Mrs. Sarah Hartley, a resident of Scranton; Mrs. Elizabeth Kirlin, who died in Charleston, W. Va., in 1886; Mary A., wife of Benjamin Hall, of Eaton Town- ship; Julia, who died in Rochester, N. Y., at the age of twenty-two; Edward, who was a member of the Tenth United States Infantry during the Civil War, and is now a resident of Hodgeman County, Kan .; Joseph, who was second lieuten- ant in the Fifty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, is now living on the old home farm; Giles, who has served as county commissioner and state rep- resentative from Lackawanna County; S. Tracy, a resident of Pittston, Pa., who was also a mem- ber of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, and has for twenty-six years been an engineer on the Lehigh Valley Railroad; Junia, wife of John P. Osterhout, of Belton, Tex .; and Mrs. Alice Van Tuyle, who died in Kansas City, Mo.

The early life of the Doctor was spent upon the old home farm in Falls Township, Wyoming County, and during the winter season he attended

the schools of the neighborhood. In 1841 he engaged in clerking in Wilkesbarre, Pa., but the following year went to Cardington, Ohio, where he studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. J. M. Roberts, and in 1843 entered the Jefferson Med- ical College of Philadelphia, from which he grad- uated with the degree of M. D., two years later. In May, 1845, he began practice in Laceyville, Wyoming County, where he was married June 14, 1848, to Miss Lucetta Hartley, who was born in Glenwood, Susquehanna County, Pa., a daughter of William Hartley, a farmer and lum- berman, and also ex-sheriff of Susquehanna County. She was a classmate of Galusha Grow. Of the six children born to them three are still living: Ella, widow of Dr. Guleck, and a resi- dent of Towanda, Pa .; Charles H., of Chicago, Ill .; and Julia, wife of Charles Turner of To- wanda.

In 1849 Dr. Roberts took a post-graduate course at the Jefferson Medical College and in the hospital, and in the spring of the following year located in Providence, Luzerne (now Lack- awanna), County, where he built a comfortable residence across the street from the Presbyterian Church, and where he soon secured an excellent practice. For one year he was connected with a wholesale house in New York City, his part- ner being his father-in-law, and they carried on business under the firm name of Hartley & Rob- erts. In 1858 he sold out and removed to Malta, De Kalb County, Ill., where he purchased some town property, but the following year during the gold excitement at Pike's Peak, his wife return- ed east, and he with oxen and wagons started overland to the gold fields. He crossed the Mississippi at Boston, Ill., and the Missouri at Plattsmouth, Neb., and reached Independence Rock on Sweet Water, July 4, where the com- pany celebrated. During the journey, the Doctor was accidentally shot by W. T. Rhoades of Wilkes- barre, Pa., who was slipping the case from a gun. The hammer caught sufficient to discharge a load of rabbit shot into the right arm and side of our subject, who stopped the flow from the main artery until it could be bandaged, afterward dressed the wound and picked out the shot. It was two months before he was able to proceed, but he and his friends who had remained with

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him at last reached Salt Lake City by driving only a short distance at a time. Here he recuper- ated for a week and then proceeded to Carson City, Nev. He remained in California from No- vember, 1859, until the following March, when he returned to Scranton by way of Panama, Cuba and New York, reaching his old home during the last week in March.

Dr. Roberts soon secured a good practice among his old patrons, and in 1861 and 1862 served as enrolling officer for Scranton under the provost marshal. In 1863 he organized the Thir- tieth Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia, and re- mained with them during their service, but could not be mustered in, as he had lost the use of his right hand arm by the accident on the way to California. In 1864 he was appointed by Governor Curtin as one of the commissioners to receive the soldiers' vote in the south at City Point and other places, and the following year was appoint- ed examining surgeon for pensions, and again in 1870, being the only one in Lackawanna Coun- ty, but in 1873 a board was constituted on which he served until 1886, when President Cleveland changed the officers. Without his solicitation he was appointed postmaster of Providence in 1869, and continued to fill that position until the carrier system was instituted in 1883, having the office at No. 1916 North Main Avenue. In 1866 he was elected to the select council, and was twice re- elected, serving nine years in all. He was also a member of the first board of county commis- sioners, was for several years president of the school board, and is a trustee of the Providence Presbyterian Church. It will thus be seen that he has taken quite an active and prominent part in public affairs, and ever discharged the duties that devolved upon him in a most acceptable manner, winning the approbation of even his po- litical enemies. He was first a Whig, but on the organization of the Republican party joined its ranks. voting for Fremont in 1856, and has since been one of its most stalwart supporters. In 1857 he was one of the three Republicans in Lu- zerne County, nominated on the first ticket of the party, and secured more votes than they expect- ed, receiving all but sixteen in Providence. He has traveled extensively in this country, visiting

many points in the west in 1856, 1858 and 1873; also the south and west in 1881 and 1885; Illinois in 1888; and Illinois and western Kansas and Missouri in 1889. He is now living retired at his old home in Providence, but spends a portion of his time in Towanda, Pa.

J OHN SOUTHWORTH NILES, M. D., who ranks among the leading physicians of Carbondale, was born in Waymart, Pa., April 16, 1862, and is a member of an old Ver- mont family, the date of whose settlement in the Green Mountain State is not known. His father, Andrew Niles, M. D., a man of wide research and excellent professional reputation, was born at White Creek, Vt., and in early manhood gradu- ated from the Philadelphia Medical College, after which he settled at Waymart. For forty years he was the leading physician of that town, having charge of a general practice that extended throughout that entire section of country. He now resides in Carbondale, and notwithstanding his long years of professional activity he is still engaged in practice, though not upon the large scale of his younger days. Personally he is a man of decided convictions upon all subjects, professional, political or social, and when once persuaded of the justice of a cause he supports it with unswerving allegiance.

The marriage of Dr. Andrew Niles united him with Miss Margaret Ann Dorr, a native of Cam- bridge, Washington County, N. Y., and of Dutch descent; she was a daughter of Franklin Dorr, who was at one time sheriff of Washington Conn- ty. Of her children, one died young; Harry D. is a physician at Salt Lake City, Utah, and a graduate of the Ohio Medical College; Frank C. is a traveling salesman in southwestern Texas; and Andrew is engaged in the railroad business in Cripple Creek, Colo.

The subject of this sketch received his literary education in Pleasant Mount Academy and Mil- lersville Normal School. Having resolved to be- come a physician, he entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1891. It is a noteworthy fact that he received honors from all three of these schools, on the

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completion of the respective courses of study. He commenced practice with his father in Car- bondale, but after two years started out on his own account, and has since built up a practice as extensive as that of any physician in the valley. He is painstaking and conscientious and one of the most skillful surgeons in the county.

In 1891 Dr. Niles was united in marriage with Miss Alice Hunsicker, of Collegeville, Mont- gomery County, Pa., daughter of Abram and Rachel (Rittenhouse) Hunsicker, both being members of the oldest families of the state. Col- legeville was so named on account of Ursinus College established there by the grandfather of Mrs. Niles, Rev. Abraham Hunsicker, who was expelled from the Mennonite Church on account of his liberal views. He then built a church where all of the orthodox faith could attend, re- gardless of their religious denomination. He also established, at his own expense, the first female seminary in Pennsylvania. Dr. and Mrs. Niles are members of the Presbyterian Church. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason.

W ILLIAM W. MANNESS. No ade- quate memorial of this gentleman can be written until many of the use- ful enterprises with which he was connected have completed their full measure of good in the world, and until his personal influence and example shall have ceased their fruitage in the lives of those who were about him when he was yet an actor in the busy places of the world; yet there is much concerning him that can with profit be set down here as an illustration of what can be done if a man with a clear brain and willing hands but set himself seriously to the real labors and responsibilities of life.

Mr. Manness was born on the 30th of August, 1816, in Hunterdon County, N. J., a son of Wil- liam Manness, a native of the same state, born August 17, 1733, of English and Irish descent. The latter, a farmer by occupation, married Sarah Dilts, who was of English origin. The family was well represented in the Revolutionary War. In early life our subject became a master builder at Perth Amboy, N. J., whence he removed to

Stroudsburg, Pa .. and in 1840 took up his resi- dence in Scranton, where he staked out the first furnace for the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Com- pany, with which he was connected until his death, superintending the erection of all their buildings. He also built both the old and new shops for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, the Wyoming House, the First Na- tional Bank Building, the First Presbyterian Church, St. Peter's Cathedral and St. Cecilia's Academy. He was one of the organizers and di- rectors of the Dickson Manufacturing Com- pany, an original director of the Weston Mill Company, president of the Stowers Pork Pack- ing & Provision Company at the time of his death, superintendent of the lumber department of the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company, direc- tor in the Riverton mills of Riverton, Va., and also interested in the First National Bank of Scranton. He was a faithful, conscientious work- er, reliable and energetic, and was recognized as one of the most valued citizens of his adopted city, with whose business interests he was so prominently identified.

In Scranton, April 15, 1846, Mr. Manness led to the marriage altar Miss Elvira Carpenter, who was born in North Abington, Pa., August 24, 1826, and a daughter of Thomas Carpenter, an old settler of Abington, but who later removed to Susquehanna County, where she was reared. Her mother was in her maidenhood Miss Lydia Beat- ty, and both she and her husband belonged to old and honored families of Lackawanna Coun- ty. Mrs. Manness died on the 4th of December, 1893, and just ten days later her husband also de- parted this life. He was a charter member of the First Presbyterian Church of Scranton, and from the beginning served on its board of trus- tees, being president of the same for many years. He was also a charter member of the Odd Fel- lows Lodge, and a firm supporter of the Repub- lican party. Throughout his career of continued and far-reaching usefulness, his duties were per- formed with the greatest care, and during a long life his personal honor and integrity were without blemish.

In the family were three children, as follows: Richard Olmstead, who was connected with the

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Dickson Manufacturing Company, died in June, 1886. Charles Frederick, superintendent of the converting department of the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company, died in August, 1887, leaving two sons. Mary Throop, who completes the fam- ily, is a resident of Scranton.

G EORGE H. LUTTS has spent the prin- cipal portion of his life in Scranton and is a representative of one of the oldest families of this city, his grandfather, John Lutts, having come here about 1790. The family orig- inated in Germany and was represented among the pioneers of Massachusetts. From that state, his birthplace, John Lutts removed to Pennsyl- vania and settled in Providence, now a part of Scranton. Very early in the nineteenth century he bought one hundred and thirty-six acres in what is now Green Ridge. He died in Provi- dence in 1809 when sixty years of age.

The father of our subject, Michael Lutts, was born in Providence, November 22, 1800, and in 1810 with his brother and the other members of the family settled on the Green Ridge farm, which extended from the Lackawanna River to near Dunmore. The old house stood near Sander- son Avenue and the Delaware & Hudson cross- ing. In 1856 he sold the farm and built a resi- dence the following year at what is now the head of Larch Street, remaining there until 1865. From that year until his death in 1868 he lived upon a farm in Madisonville. Politically he was a Democrat. His wife, Lydia, was born in Eas- ton, Pa., and died in 1881 at the age of seventy- two years; she was a daughter of Michael Swarts and had a brother who served in the War of 1812. Of her eleven children all but two attain- ed maturity and four are now living. Mrs. Ruth Hornbaker and Mrs. Rachael Andrews reside in Madison Township; Elizabeth resides in Scran- ton; Lucina is the wife of J. H. Gunster; John resides on a farm at Moscow; Mrs. Ann Brant died in Kansas; Michael died when eight years of age; George H. was next in order of birth; and Mary, the youngest, died at two and one-half years.

At the home farm in Green Ridge, the subject

of this sketch was born May 7, 1848. He was a lad in his teens when the war broke out and four times enlisted and put on the blue uniform, but each time was brought home by his relatives. From 1865 to 1869 he lived on the Madison Township farm, but returned to Scranton in the latter year. When a boy he had fired and run a stationary engine for the Delaware & Hudson Company, and on his return to this city, he be- came an engineer for Alexander Simpson, later was with the old Peoples Company on the Green Ridge line, the first in the city. After sixteen months of service as conductor and driver, in 187I he went to Middletown, Orange County, N. Y., and became fireman on the New Jersey Mid- land between Middletown and Jersey City. In 1874 he was promoted to be locomotive engi- neer and served in that capacity for one year and three months. Returning to Scranton in 1876, he accepted a position as engineer for O. S. Johnson in the Green Ridge colliery. In April, 1881, he became locomotive engineer on the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna & West- ern, with which he has since remained, in differ- ent departments, being now on the Port Morris run.

At No. 1032 Marion Street, corner of Wyom- ing, a part of the old homestead, Mr. Lutts built his present residence. His marriage in Madison Township, July 4, 1868, united him with Caroline Krotzer, who was born there. They are the parents of two living children; Arthur Eugene, a grocer in Marion Street, and Grace. The father of Mrs. Lutts, George Krotzer, was born in Eas- ton, Pa., was captain in the Pennsylvania militia, occupied township offices, owned a fine farm in Madison Township, and died there at the age of sixty-nine. His father, David Krotzer, was born in Easton, of German descent, and was a tailor in that city for a time, but from there re- moved to this valley and bought a farm one mile from Dunmore. After some time spent there he sold the property to the Pennsylvania Coal Com- pany and removed to Abington, where he died. The mother of Mrs. Lutts was Anna M. House, a native of York State, and now, at the age of eighty-six, residing in Jubilee, one mile from Madisonville. When a child, on the occasion of

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Lafayette's second visit to the United States, she saw that famous general at Paterson, N. J., where her father took dinner with him. She was a daughter of Rev. William and Maria (Spring- stead) House, the former a Baptist minister for many years in York State, but deceased in Madi- sonville, Pa. At the time of her marriage she and her husband began housekeeping in a log shanty, but as prosperity came to them they were able to surround themselves with more comforts. Their family consisted of eight children: Mrs. Mary Graham, of Scranton, who died in Madi- sonville; Mrs. Harriet Bird, who died in Madi- sonville; Emeline, who died at the age of four years; John, residing on a portion of the old homestead; Mrs. Clarissa Yeager, who lives near Moscow; Mrs. Caroline Lutts, who was born and reared in Madisonville; Mrs. Emma Mitchell, who died in Bradford County, Pa .; and Jacob, a blacksmith of Madisonville.

For five years Mr. Lutts was a member of Company H, Thirteenth Regiment, N. G. P., un- der Captains Pearce and Fish, and was corporal at the time he was honorably discharged. Politic- ally he is a Republican. In fraternal relations he is a demitted member of Capouse Lodge of Odd Fellows, belongs to Hyde Park Lodge No. 339, F. & A. M., has passed all the chairs of Samuel Sloan Division, B. of L. E., and his wife is a mem- ber of the Mrs. William F. Hallstead Lodge No. 82, auxiliary to Samuel Sloan Division.

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Portrait and biographical record of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 87

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