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 77
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 77
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
August 8, 1881, Mr. Tripp married Miss Josie H. Chase, who was born near Factoryville, Wy- oming County, daughter of Henry, and grand- daughter of Gordon Chase, an early settler of Wyoming County and member of an old Rhode Island family. Her father, who was a farmer in Wyoming County, retired to Scranton and died at the home of S. B. Tripp in May, 1885, at the age of sixty-nine; he married Elizabeth Cannon, who was born in Norwich, N. Y., and who died at the home of Mr. Tripp, February 27, 1893, aged seventy-five. Both were Methodists in re- ligious belief. They had two children, Mrs. Tripp and H. W. Chase, M. D., a graduate of the medi- cal department of the Michigan State University, member of a New York regiment during the en- tire period of the war, and deceased in Tunkhan- nock at the age of fifty years. Mrs. Tripp was one of the first students of Keystone Academy and became a skilled musician, teaching the art for some time in young womanhood. She is a member of the Providence Methodist Episcopal Church and a generous contributor to all benevo- lent enterprises of her neighborhood. Fraternally Mr. Tripp is identified with the Heptasophs and Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in po- litical belief is a Republican, but carries his con- nection with politics no farther than the casting of his vote for the candidates of his party, having always refused offers of nominations for office.
V ICTOR BURSCHEL, one of the most prominent and energetic young men of Dunmore, is now the efficient burgess of the borougli of Dunmore, and station agent for the Erie & Wyoming Valley Railroad. He was born in the city which is still his home, Decem- ber 3, 1869, a son of J. A. A. and Anna (Luchin- ger) Burschel, natives of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and Canton Luzerne, Switzerland, respectively. When a girl the mother came to the United States with her father, Parthauser Luchinger, who settled in Pittston, Pa. She now makes her home in Dunmore.
Col. Peter Burschel, the paternal grandfather of our subject, obtained his title in the German revolution of 1848, and after that struggle came
to America with Carl Schurz. When visiting their native land in 1869 they were arrested and im- prisoned, but as they had American naturaliza- tion papers they were discharged. When the Colonel took up his residence in Dunmore the place was known as Bucktown, and he entered the employ of L. H. Scranton, working for fifty cents per day. In connection with his sons he later embarked in the brewing business, erect- ing the Keystone brewery on Blakely Street, but he spent his last years in retirement, dying in Dunmore when past the age of ninety years.
J. A. A. Burschel did not come to the United States until three months after his father had located here, and in Dunmore grew to manhood. He became interested in the Keystone brewery, of which he was later sole owner, but afterward sold out and removed to Pittston, where he built the Forest Castle brewery and did an extensive business up to the time of his death, which oc- curred in 1883, when in his forty-eighth year. At the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company H, Fifty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, with which he faithfully served until the close of the rebel- lion, being clerk most of the time for Colonel, (later Governor) Hoyt. For a time he filled the office of deputy internal revenue collector for his district, and was foreman of the fire depart- ment at Pittston. He was an honored member of a number of secret societies.
An only child, Victor Burschel was provided with good educational privileges, graduating from the high school, then attending the School of the Lackawanna, and also Wood's Business College. In 1887 he became clerk in the audit- ing department of the Erie & Wyoming Valley Railroad, was subsequently made chief clerk, and in 1893 was appointed station agent at Dun- more, which position he still fills to the satisfac- tion of all concerned. In that city he married Miss Minnie Haut, a native of Dunmore and a daughter of Henry Haut, now deceased, who was an early settler of that place. Three children grace this union: Lawrence, Violet and Ruth. The family occupy a pleasant residence on Blake- ly Street.
In 1885 Mr. Burschel organized the first fire company in Dunmore, known as the Independ-
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ent Hose Company, No. I, of which he served as foreman until elected chief of the fire depart- ment in 1890. By re-election he has continued to fill that responsible position up to March I, when he was advanced to chief burgess. Through his able management the department is one of the best to be found in this section of the state. He has put in the Gainewell fire alarm system, has in- troduced all modern improvements, and has a well-organized department of over five hundred volunteer firemen. Besides the Independent Hose Company, he has organized the Neptune Fire Company, John B. Smith Hose Company, Electric Engine Company, A. D. Spencer Hose Company and Anthracite Hook and Ladder Company. He is a prominent member of the State Firemen's Association, and the National Firemen's Association, whose meetings he has often attended.
Mr. Burschel was one of the organizers of the Dunmore Electric Light, Heat & Power Com- pany, in which he is still interested. Fraternally he is a leading member of Pequest Tribe No. 339, Order of Red Men, of which he is past sachem; is a past officer in both Washington Camp No. 226, P. O. S. of A. and the Knights of the Mystic Chain, and belongs to Dunmore Council No. 1022, Junior American Mechanics. For the sec- ond time he has enlisted in Company C, Thir- teenth Regiment Pennsylvania National Guards, in which he is now serving as corporal. In re- ligious belief he is a Presbyterian. He is an earnest advocate of the principles of the Demo- cratic party, which he always supports by his ballot, and in February, 1897, he was unanimous- ly nominated by acclamation for the important office of burgess of Dunmore and was elected for a term of three years.
W ILLIAM H. HORN. The traveling public appreciates the comforts .of a good hotel. That this is true may be inferred from the fact that the Green Ridge House in Scranton has a large share of the patronage of commercial travelers, and those who have once stopped there invariably make it their headquar-
ters when returning to this locality. The build- ing is large, equipped with modern improve- ments, and fitted up in a comfortable manner. While the hotel is still owned by Captain Horn, it is under the active management of his son, the subject of this sketch, who devotes his en- tire time to making a success of the business.
For a history of the family, reference may be made to the biography of Capt. John Horn, pre- sented on another page of this volume. William H. was born in Danville, Montour County, Pa., December 25, 1861, and was brought by his par- ents to Scranton in 1865. Here he was reared and educated, attending the public and high schools. On completing his studies he became an apprentice to the painter's trade under Peter Creter, with whom he remained for six and one- half years, in that way gaining a thorough knowl- edge of the business. In 1878 he went west to St. Louis, where he was employed for a year in the mill of the Vulcan Steel Company. Thence he went to Chicago and was occupied there as a contracting painter until 1886, when he went to Buffalo and worked at his trade in that city for two years. On his return to Scranton he con- tinued the painting business in the shops of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, remaining there until April, 1896, since which time he has been proprietor of the Green Ridge House at No. 1536 Dickson Avenue, Green Ridge, Scranton.
While in Buffalo Mr. Horn married Miss Louisa Miller, a native of Germany, and they are the parents of two children, Frank and John. Mrs. Horn is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. Fraternally our subject is identi- fied with Lieut. Ezra Griffin Camp No. 8, Sons of Veterans. He is a member of General Phin- ney Engine Company No. 4, was formerly con- nected with Franklin Junior Fire Company No. I, and holds membership in the Volunteer Fire- men's Mutual Benefit Association of Scranton. During the existence of the Ninth Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard, he was drum- mer in Company A and with the other members was on the way to Pittsburg at the time of the riots, but on reaching Harrisburg learned that order had been restored and it was therefore un-
REV. JAMES B. WHELAN.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
necessary to proceed further. Like his father he is fond of a dog and has some fine specimens at his place. He has never been actively con- nected with political affairs, but keeps posted on the subject and takes an interest in matters con- ducing to the progress of the people.
R EV. JAMES B. WHELAN. St. Patrick's Church in Scranton was organized from St. Peter's Church, the first rector being Father Roche, who was succeeded by Father Whelan, the present pastor. At the time the lat- ter was called to the rectorship, the congregation was weak and the church property consisted only of a frame edifice in Price Street and a small parsonage. In 1883, the year after he came here, he began the erection of the present structure, which is built of brick, in Gothic style, and is one hundred and forty-six feet long. The in- terior decorations are harmonious and the fur- nishings appropriate. The music is a special feature, being in charge of Haydn Evans, who has organized a grand choir and whose skilled touch evokes rhythmic harmonies from the large and sweet-toned pipe organ. The congregation now numbers about seven hundred and fifty fam- ilies.
After the completion of the house of worship, Father Whelan bought ground and erected a school building in South Sumner Avenue, ad- joining the church. This is a two-story building, with basement, 45x85 feet in dimensions, and containing ten class rooms, where instruction is given to about seven hundred pupils by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. The system is somewhat similar to that of the public schools, the work being graded carefully. In the senior year Latin and French are taught, and a com- mercial course may be taken by those desiring. Music and art are taught in the convent that ad- joins the school.
In 1895 the parochial residence was built on the corner of Jackson Street and South Sumner Avenue. It is 54x62 feet in dimensions and three stories high, and both in its interior and exterior finishings is a model of the workman's art. In connection with the church there are several tem-
perance, benevolent, literary and social societies, Angels Sodality for children and Blessed Vir- gins Sodality for young ladies. To aid in the supervision of the work and the oversight of the large membership, there are two assistants.
Father Whelan is a son of Michael Whelan, a native of Ireland, who came to America at the age of sixteen years and settled in New York, where he was a hatter on Broadway. Thence he removed to Susquehanna County, Pa., where he made his home on a farm until his death at eighty- one years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Burke, was born in Pennsylvania, being the daughter of a farmer of Susquehanna County, who reinoved from there to Milwaukee, Wis., and died at one hundred and two years of age. Mrs. Whelan died prior to her husband's death; the old family homestead where so much of their lives was passed is still owned by their son.
Born in New York City, our subject spent his childhood years in Susquehanna County, where he studied in a little log schoolhouse, con- taining slab benches for seats and provided with a board by the side of the wall that answered the purpose of a writing desk. Shortly after he was twelve he entered St. Joseph's College in Susque- hanna County and when it was burned down, be- came a student in the College of St. Mary of the Angels, at Niagara, N. Y., where he completed the classical course. From there he went to St. Charles Seminary, Philadelphia, but after one year the institution was moved to Overbrook and thither he also went.
In the fall of 1872 Bishop O'Hara sent for Father Whelan, and January I of the following year he was ordained in St. Peter's Cathedral, Scranton. His first position was that of assist- ant in St. Vincent's Church, but after three months he was sent to Providence as assistant to Father Whitty in the Church of the Holy Rosary, where he remained for three years. For the five years ensuing he was assistant in Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Towanda, Bradford County, and was then sent to take charge of St. Patrick's Church at Olyphant, but left that place after six months in order to accept the rectorship of St. Patrick's Church, Scranton. Since the death of
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Father Whitty, he has been secretary of the board of directors of St. Patrick's Orphan Asylum, maintained by the Scranton diocese, where boys and girls of any color or religion are given a home and education. At present there are one hundred and thirty-six in the school, and they will be kept there until thirteen, when they will be provided with good homes elsewhere.
R EV. P. J. McMANUS. When very early in 1887 it was decided to organize St. Paul's Church in Scranton, Father McManus was appointed to effect an organization and build up a congregation,-a difficult task, but one which he accomplished with flattering success. Until such time as an edifice could be erected, he built a temporary church called the "wig- wam," which stood near the site of the present house of worship. As time passed by and the membership increased, it became possible to erect a more substantial structure, and in the spring of 1890 the cornerstone of the church was laid, the building being completed for occupancy in the fall of the same year. The church was dedi- cated to the worship of God December 21, 1890, and on the same day occurred the first baptism in the new edifice, that of Arthur Eugene, son of Eugene and Mary (Farrell) Hayden, sponsors M. J. Horn and Mary Farrell. The first mar- riage was that of Thomas Walsh and Catherine Cowley, solemnized January 1, 1891, witnesses Patrick Coultry and Margaret Cowley.
The first floor of the church is used for relig- ious services, while the second floor contains the parochial school, one of the best in the city. The space is divided into six rooms, where nine teach- ers, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary un- der the supervision of Sister Superior Cyril, in- struct pupils, beginning with kindergarten work and gradually advancing to composition, writ- ing, spelling and other grammar school studies, then taking Latin, bookkeeping, type writing, etc., until the student is fitted for business life or college. The third floor is a music studio, where the best teachers furnish instruction in vocal and instrumental music. At this writing there are three hundred and thirty pupils in the school.
Besides the other rooms there is a fine stage, with facilities for lectures, socials and public entertain- ments.
In Jeanesville, Luzerne County, Pa., the sub- ject of this sketch was born December 1, 1848, to Felix and Bridget (Dolan) McManus, natives of County Cavan, Ireland. His father, who came to America about 1840, settled in Schenectady, N. Y., afterward removed to Whitehaven, Pa., thence to Beaver Meadows, Carbon County, and from there to Jeanesville. While engaged in min- ing in the last-named place, at forty-two years of age, he was accidentally killed by an explosion in a mine. His widow reared the family in Jeanes- ville, then went to Wilkesbarre, and subsequently to Scranton, where she spent her last years with our subject. Her family consisted of five sons and one daughter, namely: Michael, who is in California; Bernard, a practicing attorney of Wilkesbarre; Mrs. Mary Ann Kelly, a resident of Wilkesbarre; Peter, who engaged in teaching school until his death in Jeanesville in 1877; Patrick J., of this sketch; and Thomas, who died in Scranton.
After having for some time attended the schools of Jeanesville, the subject of this sketch entered the Catholic college at Allegany, Cat- taraugus County, N. Y., where he remained a year. For two years following he was a student in St. Charles Preparatory Seminary in Glen Riddle, Pa., after which he entered St. Charles Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. When the institution was moved to Overbrook, he went there, remaining until his graduation in 1872. On the 14th of July, that year, in St. Peter's Cathedral, Scranton, he was ordained to the priesthood and afterward served as an assistant at Scranton, Wilkesbarre, Dunmore, then back to Wilkesbarre, and from there was transferred to the rectorship of the church at Great Bend, Susquehanna County, where he remained about three and one-half years.
In January, 1887, Father McManus was ap- pointed to organize St. Paul's Church from parts of the Church of the Holy Rosary, St. Peter's Cathedral, and St. Marys, Dunmore. This work he accomplished and now has a thriving congre- gation and substantial church, located at No. 1503
HENRY SOMMERS.
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Penn Avenue. Connected with the church are the usual temperance, benevolent and literary so- cieties, Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, Angels Sodality, Sacred Heart and Altar Societies, St. Vincent de Paul Society, a well organized literary society, three branches of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and an Emerald Society. The parish contains three hundred any fifty families that are actively identified with the congregation.
At the organization of the Albright Library, Mayor Fellows appointed Father McManus one of its directors and he was afterward again ap- pointed by the council and still holds the posi- tion. He is also a director of the Green Ridge Library, and in 1895 was president of the board. For three years he was president of Father Mat- thew's Total Abstinence Union of the Scranton Diocese, and he is now serving as president of St. Joseph's Society that has charge of the Found- lings Home. In educational and religious work he has been very efficient, and personally is re- spected by citizens of all classes and denomina- tions.
H ENRY SOMMERS, ex-county protho- notary, settled in Carbondale in 1845 and five years later removed to Dunmore, of which he is probably the oldest surviving settler. He was born June 24, 1829, in Laudenbach, six miles from Hesse-Cassel, Germany, the son of Christopher and Elizabeth (Scheifler) Sommers, natives of the same place. His father, who was engaged in transporting merchandise to various places in Germany, France and Switzerland, died in 1834, and the children were reared by their mother, who, in advanced years, joined them in America and died in Dunmore, aged sixty-four years. The older son, Peter, came to America in 1843 and secured work in the mines of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company at Car- bondale, but afterward was teaming between Scranton and Carbondale, and in later years set- tled upon a farm near Crystal Lake, where he still resides. The only daughter, Mrs. Catherine Ditmore, died in Dunmore.
Harry Sommers (by which name our subject is best known) was the youngest of three children,
and was educated in the German schools, which he attended until fifteen years of age. In 1845 he took passage on a sailing vessel at Bremen and after a voyage of three months landed at New York, proceeding from there to Carbondale, where he arrived on the 25th of August. He was apprenticed to a jeweler, John Reider, of that place and continued with him for some years. In January, 1850, he came to Dunmore, where for two years he was employed in a shop in Blake- ly Street, then bought out his employer in 1852 and continued the business there. In 1880 he sold out and retired from the jewelry business.
Upon the Republican ticket, in 1878, Mr. Som- mers was elected county prothonotary, but the supreme court decided the election illegal because held on too short a notice. He refused the ap- pointment for a year, but in 1879 again became a candidate and was elected, taking his seat in January, 1880, for three years. During that time the courthouse was completed and he was the first prothonotary there. In the fall of 1882 he was the Republican candidate for sheriff, but was defeated with the majority of that party's can- didates. Meantime, the results of the same elec- tion were contested by Thomas H. Dale, Re- publican candidate for prothonotary, whose op- ponent, McDonough (Democrat), had been de- clared elected. Pending the decision, Mr. Som- mers held the office. The contest lasted two years and ten months, making his tenure of office five years and ten months. In November, 1885, when the lower court decided in favor of Dale, he retired from the office. He has been a stanch Republican since 1860 and may always be re- lied upon to do whatever he can to advance his party's welfare. In 1889, when Maj. T. F. Pen- man became collector of internal revenue, Mr. Sommers was appointed general store keeper of the twelfth district, and held the position during that gentleman's tenure of office and eight months under his successor, discharging his duties in a manner satisfactory to all. A change of politics in the administration caused his retirement from the office in May, 1894.
In 1856 Mr. Sommers was appointed post- master of Dunmore under the administration of President Pierce and held the office under Presi-
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dent Buchanan, resigning in 1861. In 1872, under General Grant's administration, he was again appointed postmaster and continued to serve in that capacity under President Hayes, re- signing in January, 1880, to accept the position of prothonotary. In 1871 he was appointed director of the poor by President-Judge Harding of Luzerne County, and represented Dunmore in the Providence (now the Scranton) poor dis- trict. In 1877 he was again appointed, and in 1880, by President-Judge Rice, serving until 1883. During seven years of that time he was president of the board. His popularity is shown by the fact that, though Dunmore had a Democratic ma- jority of three hundred, he was elected protho- notary, with a majority from that borough of three hundred and three. At the time of the ex- citement regarding the separation of Lackwanna from Luzerne County, he worked tirelessly for the new county and was one of the stanch friends of the movement. During thirteen years of his of- ficial life he made his home in Scranton, but after- ward returned to Dunmore, where he resides on the corner of Blakely and Dudley Streets. In addition to property here he has realty in Hones- dale. He has been delegate to county and state conventions and has been interested in all public movements. After coming to Dunmore he mar- ried Miss Sarah A., daughter of Thomas Griffin, a farmer of Providence, where she was born and reared. They are the parents of two daughters: Ida, Mrs. F. L. Bishop, and Lillian, Mrs. William T. Wood, both of Honesdale, this state. The family attend the Presbyterian Church of Dun- more.
C HARLES S. JACOBS. Some years ago Mr. Jacobs began in business for himself at Scranton and since that time he has built up a large trade in his special line, that of paints, oils and wall paper. Being prospered financially, in 1891 he erected at No. 1549 Dick- son Avenue a two-story frame building, 25x64, the first door of which is devoted to the retail business, while the basement is used for storage. Here he carries one of the largest stocks of the kind in the city and is in charge of an extensive
business as a contracting painter and decorator.
The father of our subject, George Jacobs, was born in Germany and there learned the baker's trade. When a young man he came to Amer- ica and settled on the Hudson River. At Athens he married Phillipine Koesting, a native of Ger- many, and about 1860 they removed to Ledge- dale, Wayne County, Pa., thence to Hawley, the same county, where he was employed by the Pennsylvania Coal Company for some years. At this writing he still resides at Hawley. Interested in public matters, he has served in local offices. He adheres to the religious faith of his ancestors and is identified with the Lutheran Church. His wife was a daughter of Henry Koesting, who engaged in milling in Athens, N. Y., thence re- moved to Hawley, Wayne County, and from there to Lackawaxen and Milford, where he car- ried on a hotel.
The parental family consisted of thirteen chil- dren, ten of whom are living, two sons being with our subject in the painting business. Charles S., the eldest of the family, was born in Athens, N. Y., June 12, 1858, and grew to manhood in Haw- ley, where he attended private and public schools. In 1875 he was apprenticed to the painter's trade at Honesdale under Jacob Vetter, but that gen- tleman dying soon afterward, he went to Wilkes- barre, where he followed his trade. In August, 1876, he came, to Scranton and was employed as a journeyman painter under Bright & Dunbar, later for eighteen months was employed in the passenger car shops of the Delaware, Lackawan- na & Western. In 1882 he entered business for himself as a contracting painter in Green Ridge, but after a time removed his shop to Dickson Avenue, two doors south of the large store build- ing he afterward erected and now occupies. His success is doubtless largely due to the fact that he thoroughly understands the natural finish of houses, having begun work just when it was coming in style. Among the contracts he has had may be mentioned the Green Ridge and Hyde Park Presbyterian Churches, new depot at Carbondale, seven depots for the Ontario & Western, Sanquoit silk works, Casey Brothers' houses, Traders Bank, addition to the court house, Home for the Friendless, residences of
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