Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, Part 66

Author: Chapman Publishing Company (NY)
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1068

USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties > Part 66
USA > Pennsylvania > Wyoming County > Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties > Part 66

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For a time Mr. Drake engaged in the mercan-

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tile business, forming a partnership with his brother in 1841 and continuing for eight years. Afterward he gave his attention principally to farming. Since his marriage he has practically lived retired from business. His first vote was cast for Gen. William Henry Harrison in 1840 and he has voted at every presidential election since that time, always supporting Republican principles. Under the administration of James K. Polk, in 1849, he secured the establishment of the postoffice at Old Forge and he was chosen postmaster, continuing until 1885. In religious connections he and his wife are identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

A NSON W. BAYLEY, who has been a trusted employe of the Delaware & Hud- son Company since 1863 and is now an engineer upon their road, with headquarters in Carbondale, was born in Clinton, Wayne County, Pa., September 1, 1847, the son of William and Eleanor (McMullen) Bayley, natives respectively of Chelsea, Mass., and Wayne County, Pa. His father, who was a man of intelligence and educa- tion, engaged successfully in teaching school and gained an enviable reputation in educational cir- cles, where he was respected alike for his breadth of learning and his geniality toward all. His death occurred at Green Ridge, Pa., at the age of sixty-eight years, one month and seven days. His wife is still living, and makes her home in Providence, this county. Their seven children were named as follows: John W., who served for three years in the navy and is now living in Scran- ton; Anson W .; Clara E., deceased; Judson O .; Emma, deceased, and Nettie and Nellie (twins), of whoni the former is dead and the latter a resi- dent of Providence.

The boyhood years of our subject passed un- eventfully by and the outbreak of the Rebellion found him, a sturdy youth, filled with a spirit of patriotism that caused him to determine to enter the army, though still very young. He responded to the first call for volunteers issued by President Lincoln, and was enrolled for nine months' ser- vice with Company E, Seventy-ninth Pennsyl- vania Infantry, under Capt. George W. Hubbell,

of Honesdale. The regiment proceeded to Phila- delphia and was detached for duty at Ft. Wash- ington, where the youthful soldier remained, as did also his father, who was second lieutenant of the company. On the expiration of his term of service he was honorably discharged.

Returning home, Mr. Bayley began railroad- ing, his first work being the oiling of the cars at Waymart on the Gravity road, his second position that of brakeman and his third that of fireman on Gravity Plain No. 18. Later he was transferred to the mining department, where he remained for nine years, and afterward for three years he was fireman on a locomotive. From that position he was promoted to be engineer. He came to Car- bondale in 1882 and now resides at No. 140 Salem Avenue. His marriage united him with Miss Annie Tillsly, of Waymart, and they have one child, Nettie. Mrs. Bayley is a daughter of Sam- uel and Elizabeth (Shinton) Tillsly, the former a well known and expert machinist, now deceased, and the latter an estimable lady residing in this city.

In his fraternal relations Mr. Bayley is identi- fied with the blue lodge of Masonry and Cameron Lodge No. 56, I. O. O. F. In the councils of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers he has for years taken an active part and has repre- sented the organization in conventions. In reli- gious views he is a Methodist, and has been an active member of that denomination since 1870, having been chorister for more than ten years, and at present serving as a member of the board of stewards. He is well informed upon political subjects and advocates Republican principles.

H ORACE M. EMERSON. While farming is not the principal industry of Lacka- wanna County, yet those who have en- gaged in it with a determination to succeed have almost invariably won prosperity. Scott Town- ship has a prominent and successful agriculturist in Mr. Emerson, the owner of a neat farm where he carries on general agricultural pursuits. Aside from the raising of such cereals as are adapted to the soil and climate, he also devotes considerable attention to the dairy business, which has proved.

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to be a profitable industry for farmers of this locality.

A native of Massachusetts, born January 3, 1847, the subject of this sketch is a son of Thomas and Sabra (Potter) Emerson, and a grandson of Robert Emerson, the first member of the family who settled in the town of Scott. When Horace was a boy of ten years he accompanied his parents to this place and grew to manhood upon the farm where he still resides, meantime attending the neighboring district schools and acquiring a fair education. By training and natural inclina- tions he preferred agriculture, and has therefore remained in the occupation in which he was reared, making his home continuously on the old place, with the exception of three years spent in Scranton. Since the age of twenty-eight he has had charge of the homstead and owns, in addi- tion to the seventy-five acres therein, another farm of fifty-nine acres.

In 1873 Mr. Emerson was united in marriage with Miss Jeannette Hubbard, daughter of Henry and Axa (Stone) Hubbard, and a lady of estima- ble character. They became the parents of four children, George T., Harry, Carrie, and Stacy, but all are deceased except the first-named, George T., who married Miss Lillian N. Good- rich, and assists his father in the cultivation of the homestead. Interested in political affairs and local enterprise, Mr. Emerson votes the Repub- lican ticket and has served for three years as school director. In the Methodist Church, of which he is an active member, he holds the offi- cial position of steward.

G EN. ELISHA PHINNEY. It was Car- lyle who said that "the true delineation of the most humble man and his scene of pilgrimage through life is capable of interesting the greatest men. All men are to an unspeak- able degree brothers, each man's life a strange emblem of every man's; and human portraits, faithfully drawn, are of all pictures the welcomest on human walls." Our readers will be interested in a sketch of the life of General Phinney, not only because he has resided in this county so many years, but also on account of his close con- nection with the history of Scranton.

The Phinney family originated in Ireland, whence our subject's grandfather, Elisha, emi- grated to Connecticut and there engaged in farm- ing. After some years he removed to New Jer- sey, where he died. Gould Phinney, father of our subject, was born in Simsbury, Conn., and in early life was a manufacturer in Elizabeth, N. J., but later was similarly engaged in Wilkesbarre and Dundaff, Pa. Afterward he bought a plan- tation in Fredericksburg, Va., where the closing years of his busy. life were spent. He died at the age of fifty-five, while on a trip to New York City.

Our subject's mother, who bore the maiden name of Jane Price, was born in Elizabeth, N. J., and died in Dundaff, Pa., aged eighty-five. She was a daughter of Thomas Price, a native of New Jersey, and by occupation a farmer and fisher- man. During the Revolution he took part in the colonial service and was captured by the British army and kept for a time in a prison ship in New York harbor. Our subject was the fourth of six children, but only two of the number attained mature years and he alone survives, his brother, Thomas, having died in Dundaff at seventy-five years.

The childhood years of General Phinney were spent in Dundaff, and at an early age he began to assist his father in the store, remaining with him until he was twenty-one, when he succeeded to its management. At first he engaged in gen- eral merchandising only, but after a time he began to manufacture window glass. The burn- ing of his plant caused him to turn his attention to other lines of work, and for a while he operated a tannery. In 1856 he came to Scranton and em- barked in the wholesale flour and feed business in Franklin Avenue. He also became a stockholder in the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Com- pany and, under Col. George Scranton, was as- sistant superintendent in the building of the rail- road from Scranton to Greatbend. On the com- pletion of that job, he entered into a contract with the same road to complete the Factoryville tun- nel, twenty-two hundred and fifty feet, which he accomplished successfully.

The next venture in which General Phinney en- gaged was the operating of the Greenwood mines below Scranton in partnership with E. C. Schott,

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under the firm name of the Greenwood Coal Com- pany. For ten years he continued as a coal operator, after which he also became interested in real estate transactions. He aided in organizing the old Second National Bank, and was one of its directors. For five years he was president of the Merchants & Mechanics Bank. Through his various enterprises and by means of the exer- cise of sound judgment in every dealing he had become very wealthy, but unfortunately through misplaced confidence he lost almost all he had.

In 1882 General Phinney went to Georgia, where he has an interest in a gold and silver mine, and since then he has spent a portion of his time there. With three others, he owns four hundred and fifty acres, on which are three good fissure veins. During 1894 he resided in Elizabeth, N. J., and engaged in business in New York, but the following year he returned to Scranton, and now resides in Green Ridge Street. In politics he is a Republican, and fraternally is an Odd Fellow and a Mason of the Royal Arch degree. At the age of sixteen he entered the militia of Pennsylvania, which he was afterward identified with until 1863, being lieutenant, captain, major, colonel, and brigadier-general of the Pennsyl- vania Uniformed Militia under Porter. The General Phinney Hook and Ladder (now En- gine) Company was named in his honor.

The first marriage of our subject was solemn- ized in Elizabeth, N. J., his wife being Hannah Hodge, who was born there and died in Dundaff. They were the parents of two children now liv- ing: Robert, superintendent of the mill of Charles . P. Matthews, Sons & Co .; and Mary J., wife of Charles P. Matthews. The present wife of Gen- eral Phinney was Miss Eunice C. Needham, who was born in Kingston, and received an excel- lent education in Wyoming Seminary. Her father, Benjamin Needham, a native of Connecti- cut, was a geologist and mining engineer, and was quite prominent in the Lackawanna and Wyoming valleys.

General Phinney is now advanced in years, having been born in 1815, but in spite of his age, he retains possession of his mental faculties and also enjoys fair health. His life has been spent principally in Pennsylvania, though a native of

Elizabeth, N. J. He is devotedly attached to the interests of Scranton, the growth of which he has witnessed through all these passing years and the welfare of which he has promoted by his own business energy and good citizenship. That he may be spared to see its further progress for years to come is the wish of his fellow-citizens, by whom he is held in the highest regard.

W ILLIAM W. RUANE, formerly a prominent member of the select council of Scranton, is one of our leading and public-spirited citizens. He served at that time on a number of important committees, which had as their object the improvement of the various systems of city management and our greater commercial advancement. He was elected on the Democratic ticket in 1874, serving three suc- cessive terms, and then, after an intermission, was re-elected for another term.

A son of Anthony and Bridget (Durkin) Ruane, whose families had been connected with the history of the border of County Sligo and County Mayo, Ireland, for many generations, our subject was born in the first-named district on Christmas day, 1847. Until he was fourteen years old he followed the occupation of all his an- cestors, tilling the soil, but being of an adventur- ous spirit and wishing to see the world, he then started out to seek his fortune. First he pro- ceeded from the seaport of Sligo to Glasgow, from there to Edinboro, thence to Newcastle-on- Tyne and Liverpool. There he took passage in a sailing-vessel, "Chancellor," bound for New York, and safely arrived at his destination in thirty days. He found everybody in a state of great excitement, as it was during the first days of the Civil War, and he soon applied for enlist- ment, but was rejected on account of his youth. His brother, Anthony, had found a place in Arch- bald, and our subject stayed with him a short time. Then he tried his chances in Chicago, where he worked about a year. Coming back through Ohio he was at the town of Steubenville at the time the Cook family captured the guerrilla commander, Capt. John Morgan. Since that period he has lived in Scranton, and was formerly

J. ALFRED PENNINGTON.

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with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, but at present is an employe of the Mount Pleasant Coal Company. When he was in office he was associated with such well known men as George Bushnell, George Sanderson, Frank Beamish, George Farber, Reese T. Evans, Jenkin Nichols, Joseph Phillips, James Gillespie, A. B. Stevens and U. G. Schoonmaker.

The hospitable home of Mr. Ruane is situated at No. 414 Phelps Street, and is presided over by his charming wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine O'Neil. She is a daughter of Eugene O'Neil, a cousin of Hon. William O'Neil, repre- sentative from Massachusetts. She was born in Chicopee Falls, Mass., and by her marriage has become the mother of nine children: Mamie, Adella, Katie, Theresa, Maggie, Lucy, William, Jr., Eugene and Joseph. The family are members of Saint Peter's Cathedral. Mr. Ruane is one of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and was once general secretary of lodge.

J. ALFRED PENNINGTON. In former years Americans were accused of being so engrossed in business as to exclude any participation in art, but this charge, while it may have been true then, would not stand now, for not only people of wealth, but the middle classes as well, are devoting considerable atten- tion to the study of the arts, and especially of music. Men and women of culture invariably possess some knowledge of the science and find the highest pleasure in listening to the renditions of the old masters. Among the institutions in Scranton where instruction in music is given, one of the most prominent is Professor Pennington's School for the Pianoforte, Organ and Voice, located on Madison Avenue and Linden Street. The school was opened in September, 1896, and is planned on conservatory lines. Instruction is given in conservatory classes or in private. A large class in musical history has been formed, frequent musicals are given, and it is the aim of the director to afford students as many as possi- ble of the advantages of a thoroughly equipped musical institution.

The family of which Professor Pennington is

a member belongs to the ancient nobility of Eng- land, its history in that country antedating the time of William the Conqueror. Several of the name took part in the border wars between Eng- land and Scotland, and about that time, the English king, Henry VI., fleeing from the battle for his life, was taken into Muncaster Castle, the home of the family, and there secreted until es- cape was possible. While their guest, he gave the head of the house a curiously wrought glass vase, asking that it be kept unbroken, and since that time it has stood in a secure wooden case in the castle. One of the family served as lord mayor of London and was a juryman in the trial of Charles I., but was afterward confined in the tower by. Charles II., who failed to keep the promises made to him. Some of the descend- ants still occupy the castle, which is one of the most ancient in England.

On coming to America, the family was first represented in Virginia, whence, in 1790, the Professor's grandfather, William Pennington, re- moved to Illinois, settling in McDonough Coun- ty, where his son, Rev. J. R., was born. The latter has been a minister in the Baptist Church for years. He married Martha P. Lincoln, an own cousin of Abraham Lincoln; she was born in Iowa and died in Blandinsville, Ill., shortly after the birth of her only child, J. Alfred, who was born November 27, 1862.

From his parents Professor Pennington inher- ited musical talent, and from an early age he was given the best advantages in that art. For some time he was organist in St. John's Cathe- dral, Quincy, Ill. From 1881 to 1883, he studied under one of the most famous musicians of this country, Bruno Oscar Klein, then of Quincy, later of New York, now residing abroad. From 1884 until 1889 he enjoyed the splendid musical advantages of Boston, where he was a pupil in piano of Alfred D. Turner and Dr. Louis Maas; in organ of H. M. Dunham; in harmony and counterpoint of G. W. Chadwick, one of the leading composers of the American school. Dur- ing much of this time he was organist of the Harvard Street Church, Boston, which at that time had a select paid chorus of forty voices and one of the highest paid quartet choirs in the

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city. In September, 1889, he went to Europe and studied under Alexandre Guilmant, the fa- mous organist of Paris. He went to Berlin in April of the following year to become a pupil in organ of August Haupt, royal professor, and teacher of some of the most prominent organists in the United States. Upon the death of Pro- fessor Haupt he became a pupil of Dr. Heinrich Reimann, organist of the "Philharmonic." His piano studies he continued with Heinrich Ehrlich, royal professor; and musical theory under Albert Becker, director of the royal choir, maintained at the private expense of the Emperor.

While in Berlin Professor Pennington had the high honor of being the organist for the annual concerts given in the Cathedral by the royal choir. Later he played in a special concert given at the Emperor's command, in honor of members of the synod convened from all parts of Germany. March 22, 1892, he played in a special concert given in aid of the Emperor William Memorial Church, under the patronage and in the presence of Her Majesty, the Empress. Afterward he played at a concert given for the benefit of the Magdalene Evangelical Society, under the pro- tection of the Empress. No higher honor could be accorded an organist in Germany than to play at concerts given by the royal choir, and the fact that he was chosen is a proof of his superior abil- ity. In 1894 he made an extended tour of Eng- land, with especial reference to cathedral music. In September of that year he went to Paris to again study under Guilmant; also studied sing- ing under Sbriglia, who was the teacher of Jean and Edouard de Reszke.

Returning to America in April, 1895, Professor Pennington prepared a chorus for the perform- ance of the oratorio of the Messiah at Ocean Grove, N. J., under the concert direction of Wal- ter Damrosch. On the Ist of September he be- came organist at the Elm Park Church in Scran- ton, where he has since presided at the magnifi- cent three-manual electric organ that was built by Farrand & Voley of Detroit in 1893. In his studio he has a two-manual and pedal vocalion organ. His assistant as vocal instructor is Miss Katherine Timberman, pupil of Madame Mar- chesi, Paris, and solo contralto in concert and

oratorio. While professor of organ in Oberlin College in 1892-93, he instituted classes in organ construction and choir accompaniment. In that city he married Luella M. Follansbee, who was born in Cleveland and graduated from Oberlin College. Professor Pennington is a member of the Manuscript Society of New York City. Ex- tensive travel has given him a deep insight into the customs and habits of people and national characteristics, besides giving him fluency in the use of the French and German languages and breadth of mental culture.

F REDERICK KAPMEYER, of the firm of Zang & Kapmeyer, Scranton, was born in Hamburg, Germany, September 29, 1855, the son of Louis and Jacobine (Twesten) Kap- meyer. His parents were born in Germany and spent their lives principally in Berlin, where the father was employed as an accountant. He was a hard-working, energetic man, and as a citizen maintained a close interest in public affairs. The best advantages which his means permitted he gave to his children, Frederick, Charles and Ida, all of whoni are now living in the United States, Charles in Scranton, and Ida, Mrs. Borges, in New Haven, Conn.

Reared principally in Hamburg and educated in the city gymnasium, the subject of this sketch became an accountant, and later secured employ- ment as a traveling salesman, then took a posi- tion as bookkeeper in a wholesale dry-goods business. Crossing the ocean in 1882, he secured a position as salesman with a New York house, and continued in that capacity for some years. In April, 1889, he came to Scranton and formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Charles Zang, in buying out the bottling and manufact- uring business of Rudolph Bloeser at No. 12I Penn Avenue, where he has since continued. In the fall of 1896 his partner died, but the firm name has remained the same, the widow carrying on his interest in the business. The trade is large, and four teams and wagons are in constant use for delivery of orders. A specialty is made of » lager beer, Weiss beer, aromatic ginger ale, por- ter and all kinds of mineral waters, which are

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sold in all parts of the valley from Carbondale to Pittston and up the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western to Factoryville and Moscow.

In New York City Mr. Kapmeyer married Miss Elizabeth Zang, who was born in Prussia, and they are the parents of four children, Lillie, Fred- erick, John and Francis. Mr. Kapmeyer is con- nected with a number of German and fraternal or- ganizations here, including the Turn Verein, Arion, Liederkranz, Benevolent Protective Or- der of Elks, Krieger Verein, Heptasophs, Amer- ican Legion of Honor and Fortbildungs Verein.

W ILLIAM H. DAVIS, superintendent of the Sauquoit Silk Manufacturing Com- pany at Scranton and a pioneer in the silk industry, was born in Paterson, N. J., the son of William H. and Adelia Davis, natives re- spectively of New York and New Jersey. His father, who was an able business man and for many years hotel manager, traveled extensively in South America and Bermuda and died on the latter island. His wife is still living in Paterson, as is their only daughter, while the three sons, William H., Edward R. and Franklin E., are in the employ of the Sauquoit Silk Manufacturing Company and live in Scranton.

The active connection of Mr. Davis with the silk industry began in 1862 and he is thoroughly conversant with every department of the work. In the year named he secured work in Van Winkle's silk mill at Paterson, where he began in a humble position, working twelve hours per day and receiving seventy-five cents wages. After eighteen months there, in 1864, he began to work for Lewis R. Stelle, the former president of the Sauquoit Silk Manufacturing Company, and father of A. D. Stelle, the present president. In his silk mill he remained three years, meantime gaining a thorough knowledge of the various de- partments of the work. Afterward he was en- gaged as foreman with his first employer for two years and later became superintendent of the mill, resigning at the expiration of four years to take the position of superintendent with Frederick S. Dale, of Paterson. In 1886 he went to Harris- burg and opened a mill for Pelgrim & Meyers,

silk manufacturers, placing the business upon a substantial basis. On his return to Paterson he resumed work as superintendent for Mr. Van Winkle. In March of 1888 he came to Scranton, where he has since resided.

The Sauquoit Silk Manufacturing Company occupies a building of four and five stories, con- taining seven elevators, a boiler capacity of four- teen hundred and fifty, and an engine of thirteen hundred horse power. Since Mr. Davis became superintendent, the capacity of the plant has been increased to such an extent that it is six times as large as it was then, and now covers about four acres of floor space. In the busy seasons about sixteen hundred hands are employed, and the force is large, even in dull times. The suc- cess that has attended the concern is largely due to the skill, ability and energetic efforts of the superintendent, who spares no time nor pains to secure the best results, and keeps abreast with every improvement made in the industry. A pio- neer in the silk business, he has witnessed its rapid growth and development. At the time he began, in 1862, the industry was in its infancy, there were none of the modern improvements, and no plants in the United States save those in Paterson, while now they are scattered far and wide. He resides at No. 440 Adams Avenue. Fraternally he is identified with the Heptasophs and a life member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

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Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, Part 66

Author: Chapman Publishing Company (NY) Publication date: 1897 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1068

Author: Chapman Publishing Company (NY)
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1068