Portrait and biographical record of Wyoming and Lackawanna counties, Pennsylvania : containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, Part 70

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 70
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 70

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The mother of our subject was Ellen Ben- nett, a native of Burlington, Vt., and member of an old eastern family. She died in 1860, at the age of forty-seven. Her family consisted of ten chil- dren, who attained years of maturity, and of these, Fred died in Montrose at the age of twenty-three, and John in Hyde Park when thirty years of age. Three daughters and three sons are living, namely: Mrs. Sophia Lake, of Bing- hamton; Florence, Mrs. Shearer, of Montrose; Mrs. Rosa Lewies, of Wilkesbarre; Henry F .; J. L., and Bicknell B.

From the age of fourteen, when he ceased to attend the public school, the subject of this sketch was employed in farming near Montrose until the outbreak of the Rebellion fired every patriotic heart with a spirit of enthusiastic loyalty to the Union cause. Nor was he behind others in giving tangible evidence of his patriotism. When just nineteen years of age, in June, 1862, he vol- unteered in defense of the old flag, enlisting in Company H, One Hundred and Forty-first Pennsylvania Infantry, and was mustered in at Harrisburg. Among the eighteen engagements in which he bore a valiant part may be men- tioned the first battle of Fredericksburg, Chan- cellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsyl- vania Court House, first and second battles of Hatcher's Run, Deep Bottom, Strawberry Plains, Weldon Railroad, in front of Petersburg and Appomattox, followed by the surrender of Gen- eral Lee. At Spottsylvania Court House he was wounded in the right foot and was obliged to remain for a time in Washington Hospital; while still using crutches, he was on hand, with others, to assist in holding the fort at the time of Lee's threatened invasion of Washington. During the second day's engagement at Gettysburg he re- ceived a flesh wound in the right hip, but he kept his place in the ranks until the day closed, when the wound was dressed. At Chancellorsville he was struck by a minie-ball, but was saved by his sabre belt that caused the ball to glance to one side and lodge in his coat pocket, a very nar- row escape. Enlisting as a private, he was pro- moted to the rank of corporal, then fifth sergeant, and acted as orderly for six months. After Chan- cellorsville he was commissioned first lieutenant

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by Governor Curtin, and served as acting adju- tant from the fall of Petersburg until the close of the war. When the conflict ceased he was de- tailed in charge of all papers, books, etc., to be delivered in Harrisburg, and was then mustered out of the service in that city May 28, 1865.

On his return to civic affairs Mr. Atherton spent four months in Montrose and then removed to Olyphant, where he was employed as weigh- master for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Com- pany. Shortly afterward he was promoted to the position of general coal inspector of the south division of the Delaware & Hudson, with headquarters in Wilkesbarre. In 1869 he was inade superintendent of the Rocket Brook col- liery, on the mountain above Carbondale, where he remained one year. Next he was sent to Wilkesbarre and given charge of the Mill Creek colliery under the Union Coal Company, filling the position for nine years. Two years were then spent on the old homestead near Montrose, after which he came to Scranton as superintend- ent of the Leggett's Creek mine of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company. Later he held a sim- ilar position at the Marvine shaft, and then for two years served as assistant paymaster in the Delaware & Hudson office, resigning in July, 1892, to accept the position of superintendent of the Manville mine.

The first marriage of Mr. Atherton took place in Olyphant on Christmas day of 1866, his wife being Mary, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Black) Deary. She was born in Carbondale, of Scotch ancestry, and died in Montrose, leaving three sons: Avery, who is employed as book- keeper at the Marvine shaft; Arthur, a civil en- gineer in the employ of the Delaware & Hudson at Plymouth; and Harry, a carpenter at the Man- ville mine. The second wife of Mr. Atherton, whom he married in Montrose, was Amanda, daughter of Jedediah Safford, a farmer of Lath- rop, Susquehanna County, where she was born. She is the mother of three children, Dudley, Grace and Fred, who reside with their parents at No. 2094 North Main Avenue.

· Politically a Republican, Mr. Atherton has served his party as delegate to local and state conventions, but has never desired public office,

as his business responsibilities occupy his entire time. For a number of years he was secretary of the school board at Plains, Luzerne County, but resigned on his removal. Fraternally he is identified with the Loyal Legion and Lieut. Ezra S. Griffin Post No. 139, G. A. R., and in religious connections is identified with Providence Pres- byterian Church.

A NDREW SMITH comes of a long line of sturdy, God-fearing Scots, noted for their honorable dealing's with all men and their unquestioning allegiance to whatever they be- lieve to be the true and right. From boyhood he has led a very industrious life and that he now enjoys a fair measure of success is entirely owing to his own unaided efforts. His father, James Smith, was born in Pennston, Haddington, Scotland, and was, like his father, who bore the same Christian name, a miner by occupation. The family was an old and respected one in that locality. James Smith, Jr., departed this life when in his sixty-seventh year .. His wife, Cath- erine, was a daughter of George Hogg, a mine foreman and descendant of the James Hogg whom Sir Walter Scott immortalized as the "Et- trick shepherd." Her death occurred November 10, 1895. She was the mother of eleven children who grew to maturity and all but two of these are still living. They are James, George and Robert of Scotland; John and Richard of Bos- ton; Andrew of this sketch; Isabella, Mrs. Neil, of Scotland; Catherine, Mrs. Ormiston, of Scot- land, and Ellen, Mrs. Fortune, of Scotland.

The birth of Andrew Smith took place in Dean- head, Haddington, Scotland, June 25, 1849, and his first years were passed in Pennston. He re- ceived his education in the parish schools of Gladsmuir and was only ten years old when he began working in the mines. There were then no modern appliances and the miners were ob- liged to slide down a rope from three hundred to five hundred feet. It was his duty to push the cars to the foot of the shaft, but as time went on he became a practical miner and was promoted to be assistant foreman when he was only twenty years old. In 1872 he was made mine foreman at

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Fountain Hall, remaining there eight years. Feel- ing the need of a better education he attended school three years at Prestonpans, pursuing a general course of study. Then resuming liis work he superintended three collieries at Preston Grange. During this time he took a course of night lectures in medicine in Glasgow. How- ever, he soon turned his whole attention to the subject of mining and in 1884 came to Pennsyl- vania. Finding employment with Linderman & Skeer as a miner in their Hazleton collieries he stayed there until 1887, when he became out- side foreman for Thomas Waddell. Soon he was given the place of inside foreman with the Mount Jessup Coal Company, having his home in Win- ton at this time. For a year or more he worked for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company at Grassy Island and for the past seven years has been inside foreman at the Marvine shaft with the same firm.

In 1871 Mr. Smith married in Edinburgh, Mar- garet McLeod, of the old family of McLeods of Caithness, Scotland. Her parents were George and Janet (Barnetson) McLeod. The former, who was a mason by trade, died in early man- · hood, but his wife is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have five children: James B., on the city engineer corps; Jessie, at home; George, station- ary engineer at the Marvine mines; Kate, and Andrew, Jr. The family residence is at No. 116 Throop Street, Providence. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Christian Church, in which he is president of the board of trustees and also the treasurer. Socially, he belongs to Peter Will- iamson Lodge No. 323, F. & A. M., Improved Order of Red Men at Peckville and the Cale- donian Society of Scranton. In politics he is a Republican.

J OHN H. HOFFMAN. In the desperate struggle that threatened the life of our nation, many, who had before led the quiet lives of private citizens, proved their patriotism and heroism and offered their services in behalf of the Union. Among those who responded to the country's call was Mr. Hoffman, who, in those times that tried men's souls, was one of the

foremost in the field of battle, and whose stand- ard of duty and zeal was ever of the highest. Though less than nineteen years of age at the time of enlistment, he displayed the patriotism, courage and determination of a veteran, and was one of the countless brave men whose fidelity to duty was the secret of the success of the army.

Coming of worthy ancestors, John H. Hoffman was born in Llewellyn, Schuylkill County, Pa., July 9, 1845, a son of Peter and Catherine (Lewis) Hoffman, natives respectively of Dauphin Coun- ty, Pa., and South Wales. His paternal grand- father, Jacob Hoffman, was a member of an old Pennsylvania family and engaged in farming in Dauphin County; the maternal grandfather, Lew- is Lewis, a Welshman, brought his family to America and settled in Schuylkill County, where he spent his remaining years. The father of our subject was engaged as a contractor at Llewellyn and other places, and died at Frackville, Schuyl- kill County, at the age of seventy-six; his wife is still living in Frackville.

The eldest of eight children, of whom all but one are living, the subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days in the various places where his father resided, and when only nine years of age began to work in a colliery. For two years he was stationary engineer for the Pennsylvania & Reading Railroad. In the spring of 1864 he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Six- teenth Pennsylvania Infantry, and was mustered in as a private for three years, or until the close of the war. Among the battles in which he took part were those of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania, Petersburg, Reams Station, Appo- mattox, and was within one hundred yards of General Lee when he surrendered to the Union forces. At Appomattox Court House his life was endangered by a bayonet thrust at him, but he succeeded in warding it off. At the same place a gunshot grazed his face, and at Cold Harbor a bullet took the cap off his head. He took part in the grand review and was mustered out at Harrisburg in July, 1865.

Going back to Gordon, Mr. Hoffman soon moved from there to Frackville, and in 1869 came to Scranton in the employ of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western car shops, but after

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a short time went back to Schuylkill County. In the spring of 1870 he again came to Scranton, this time securing work in the Diamond mines, and later in Central mines. In 1880 he was promoted to be outside foreman of the Wood- ward colliery at Kingston, but after one year took a position with the Scranton Coal Com- pany near Bellevue, operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. Next he was foreman in Wyoming, and in November, 1886, became outside superintendent of the Hampton mines, the oldest belonging to the Delaware, Lacka- wanna & Western, and with one of the finest breakers in the county. This position he has since held, filling it with such marked efficiency as to materially promote the interests of the com- pany here.

In Scranton Mr. Hoffman married Miss Marga- ret Reynolds, who was born in Wales, the daugh- ter of Thomas Reynolds, now living in this city. They are the parents of seven living children: George W., Harry, Mrs. Ida Williams, May, William, Lewis and Arthur. The four eldest sons are in the employ of the Delaware, Lacka- wanna & Western, and are capable young men, whose future is full of promise. The family are connected with the Baptist Church. In politics Mr. Hoffman is a Republican and has ever stood firmly by the party. Fraternally he is connected with Hyde Park Lodge No. 339, F. & A. M., and Lieut. Ezra S. Griffin Post No. 139, G. A. R.

W ILLIAM McCLAVE is senior member of the firm of McClave, Brooks & Co., and is well and favorably known in the business world of Scranton. He has taken out no less than twenty-six patents and has been unusually successful as an inventor. A native of Scotland, he was born February 7, 1844, and was brought to America when only two years of age, living for four years in Boonton, N. J. Coming to this city in 1850, he has since made his home here with the exception of twelve years spent in Pittston and two years in Carbondale. He was united in marriage with Miss Mary Rowland, who was born in Wales, and they have one son, William R., now in business with his father and

formerly connected with the Scranton steel works as assistant paymaster.

In the latter part of 1858 Mr. McClave began learning the tinsmith's trade with the firm of W. G. Doud & Co., of Hyde Park, and was thus em- ployed when the war broke out. At the first call for troops he enlisted for three months' service, joining the Fifteenth Regiment of state volun- teers, as a member of Company K. In 1862 he re-enlisted and was mustered into Company K, Fifty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, as first ser- geant. He served under McClellan through the entire Pennsylvania campaign and received an honorable discharge at Yorktown on account of physical disability, as he had been having a very severe attack of typhoid fever. He returned home and after careful nursing and treatment recovered his health and went back to his trade. After working several years as a journeyman he started in business for himself in Pittston, where he car- ried a full line of stoves and hardware.

It was in the fall of 1877 that Mr. McClave in- vented a grate for stoves, commonly known as the Dockash grate. It was first placed in the stoves manufactured by the Scranton stove works, and proved such an advantage to the trade that the owner sold out his hardware store in order to give his whole attention to the busi- ness. For three years he traveled, introducing the new grate, and at the end of that time was induced to sell his interest in it to Col. J. A. Price, of the Scranton stove works. Then Mr. Mc- Clave set to work to invent a method of more effectively burning the waste products of the anthracite coal fields, called culm and buckwheat. There had been several attempts in this direction before, but the results were only partially success- ful. However, he would not give up until he had reached a satisfactory result, and at the end of a year or so he brought out the McClave grate and Argand steam blower. He associated with himself Reese G. Brooks, and for a number of years the new invention was manufactured in the machine shops of I. A. Finch & Co.

The trade increasing rapidly, it became neces- sary at length to manufacture on a much larger scale, and forming a new partnership under the firm name of McClave, Brooks & Co., they rented

GEORGE W. BEEMER.

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the old foundry of the Scranton stove works in West Lackawanna Avenue. Since then the pres- ent site, having a six-story brick building upon it, was purchased, and a commodious foundry and offices are now being erected, sufficient to meet all future demands of the constantly increasing or- ders. The grates are adapted to all kinds of fuel and can be placed in boilers and furnaces of any description, though the blower is only required when waste products are to be consumed. Not only can the waste of anthracite, but of bitumin- ous coal, known as slack and duff, be burned in a thorough manner. Branch offices of the company are located in Chicago and in many of the chief cities of the United States. James Beggs & Co., No. 9 Dey Street, New York, have the exclusive right of manufacture and sale in the eastern half of that state and in all the New England states.

Mr. McClave is a member of Peter William- son Lodge No. 323, F. & A. M., and of Lieut. Ezra S. Griffin Post No. 139, G. A. R. He also belongs to the Scranton Board of Trade and the Engineers' Club. One of the active pillars of the Penn Avenue Baptist Church, he serves as a trustee. In politics he is a Republican. It has been his privilege to travel extensively through- out most of the southern and western states and he is a man of wide information. His son was for five years a member of the Thirteenth Regiment, belonging to Company A, and is a young man who is well thought of by all who know him.

G EORGE W. BEEMER. The life of a farmer is not devoid of opportunities for the practice of the sterling virtues of in- dustry, perseverance and brotherly kindness. On the contrary, it affords abundant chance to those who wish to build up an irreproachable character, while carrying on the vocation in which they hope to secure a competence. That this is true may be seen in the record of the subject of this sketch, who for some years has had charge of Hillside Home, the poor farm, in Newton Town- ship. Much of his attention through life has been given to this work, in which he is considered very efficient. He is proprietor of one of the

largest dairy farms in this section, having about seventy milch cows on his place, and also is en- gaged in the breeding of fine trotting horses.

The grandfather of our subject, Henry Beemer, was born of German descent in Sussex County, N. J., January 20, 1781, and in 1820 came to Lackawanna County, where he developed a farm out of the woods, doing considerable pioneer work. On this place he died September 24, 1863. He married Mary Spangenburg, who was born July 4, 1783, in the same county as himself, and died at the old homestead August 10, 1862. Of their ten children six are yet living. One of their sons, Sidney, was born June 18, 1821, in New- ton Township, where he now resides. Another son, Elias, our subject's father, was born in New Jersey in 1806, came to this county with his par- ents, and here married Phoebe Albright, a native of New York. Their seven children are all liv- ing, and one, a son, who is engaged in the real estate and banking business at Beemer, Neb., has served as sheriff of his county and warden of the state penitentiary.

Born in this county April 14, 1848, our sub- ject was reared on the home farm and received his education in the district schools, Waverly Acad- emy and Binghamton Commercial College, grad- uating from the last-named in 1867. At the age of thirty he took charge of the Abington poor farm, where he remained for five years. No- vember 24, IS78, he married Miss Jennie Young, who was born in Ulster County, N. Y., the daugh- ter of Nicholas and Harriet (McEwen) Young. Her father, a native of Germany, came alone to the United States at the age of fourteen. His principal occupation has been that of a tanner, and he now makes his home at Salamanca, N. Y. Two children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Beemer, but only one is living, Floyd D., an unsually clever lad, whose future is full of promise.

About two years after his marriage Mr. Beemer became superintendent of the poor farm in Ab- ington, remaining there for five years. The next five years were spent in the position he now oc- cupies. Resigning in 1888, he engaged in farm- ing until he was again appointed in 1891, and since the latter year has given his attention prin-

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cipally to his work as superintendent. He is one of the well known men of Lackawanna County and has a large number of friends among the people here. For thirteen years he has been ac- tive in educational work as a member of the board of school directors, during which time he has ad- vanced the interests of the schools in his district. Since casting his first presidential ballot for U. S. Grant, he has always been a firm adherent to Republican principles. He is active in local pol- itics and in those movements which tend to ad- vance the welfare of the community in material affairs.

C ARL W. McKINNEY. The connection of Mr. Mckinney with the Lackawanna Iron & Steel Company as its general manager brought him into prominence, not only among the large force of employes of that corporation, but also in the business circles of Scranton, where he is recognized as a man of superior executive ability, fitted to superintend large and important interests. When, in 1895, ill health made it ad- visable for him to resign the position, it was felt by the company's officials and the general public that his retirement was greatly to be regretted.

A glance at the life of Mr. Mckinney shows that by resolution of character he worked his way from the modest position of office boy to the re- sponsible post of general manager, and that he was able to do so proves him to be a man of large ability, determination, energy, ambition and per- severance. He started out with no greater ad- vantages than almost every young man has, but the most of his companions he passed, rising to higher position than they, because he possessed determination of character which they did not.

The Mckinneys came to Pennsylvania from Connecticut, where the family was first estab- lished in America. The subject of this sketch was one of the four children of James McKinney and was born in Schuylkill Haven, Schuylkill County, Pa., in 1841. From that place he ac- companied his parents to Scranton in 1845, and here his active business life began. His first position was that of office boy for the Lackawan- na Iron & Coal Company, with which he re-

mained for twenty-four consecutive years. From the office he became timekeeper at the blast fur- nace and during the last eight years of his em- ployment was in charge of the blast furnace de- partment.

When W. W. Scranton organized the Scranton Steel Company, Mr. Mckinney resigned his po- sition to become superintendent of the new com- pany's plant, now known as the south works. On the consolidation of the Scranton Steel and Lackawanna Iron & Coal Companies he acceptéd the position of superintendent of the converting works and rail mill of the Maryland Steel Com- pany's plant at Sparrow Point, Md., the com- pany's bessemer and rail mill department. No- vember 15, 1893, he returned to Scranton to be- come general manager of all the mills, furnaces and plants of the present Lackawanna Iron & Steel Company, a corporation whose interests and plant value are equaled by few and exceeded by still fewer companies in this or any other country. To judge of the responsibilities of his position, it is but necessary to glance at the com- pany's plants. In this city the north and south works of the corporation furnish employment to several thousand hands; at Mt. Carmel, N. Y., are the Tilly Foster ore mines; other mines are located at Mt. Hope, N. J., and at Franklin, N. J., there is a furnace that is not now in operation. By far the most extensive plant outside of Scran- ton are the Cole Brook furnaces at Lebanon, for- merly owned by Robert Coleman and recently purchased by the company.

The resignation of Mr. Mckinney as general manager, which took effect January 1, 1896, marked the close of a long, able and honorable connection with the company. The immediate cause of his retirement was the condition of his health, which was far from good; in fact, his doctors had long urged upon him the necessity for relaxation from his arduous duties, and had urged him to travel or at least to rest. A serious illness left him unable to undergo the strain caused by many duties, and at last he determined to act upon the advice of physicians, though re- gretting to sever the connection that has lasted through so many years.

In the riots of 1877 Mr. Mckinney took an

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active part in defending city and company inter- ests. With others, among them W. W. Scranton, he was on his way to the mayor's office, intending to offer his services to assist in the protection of the city, when he was shot in the knee. After the riots were over he assisted in establishing the coal and iron police, a state organization, and was commissioned captain by the governor. Fraternally he is identified with Peter William- son Lodge, F. & A. M., the Order of Elks, and in politics is a Republican.

In this city occurred the marriage of Mr. Mc- Kinney to Isabella Lucas, who was born in Lowell, Mass. She is a member of St. Peter's Cathedral and reared in the Catholic faith their three children, Florence, William and Carl. Mrs. McKinney is the daughter of Thomas and Agnes (MacDonald) Lucas. Thomas Lucas was en- gaged in the mercantile business in Massachu- setts, later removed to Portland, Me., and in 1872 brought his family to Scranton, where he continued merchandising and also engaged in coal operations. After some years he went to Ft. Wayne, Ind., and there died at the age of seventy- six. His wife, who died in Scranton, was the daughter of a Scotchman who was a successful attorney in that country.

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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 70

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